Growing Your Own Soapnut Tree

...ou can use as a greywater safe laundry detergent, dish and hand soap. Mrs. Homegrown wants to rip out my beloved Mission Fig tree to plant the one that Craig at Winnetka Farms gave us last year. I’m going to chain myself to the fig. That being said, I wish we had more room to plant our soapnut tree. Sapindus Mukorossi requires a fertile soil and a frost free climate. It’s a tall tree that can take as long as ten years to begin fruiting. A friend o...

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Erik’s 2012 New Year’s Resolutions in Review

.... Improve writin’ skills. Celebrate the wonderful awesomeness that is Mrs. Homegrown each and every day. I’ve got the book but not the license. Fail: Get HAM technician’s license. Learn Morse code Attend CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) classes. Organize messy office so it doesn’t look like an episode of Hoarders. Organize supplies in garage into labeled boxes: still messy. Turn the garage into the ultimate man cave. Increase running dista...

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My Favorite Lettuce Mix

...We grow lettuce mixes almost every year and we’ve never been disappointed. Homegrown salad greens are much better than store bought. Plus, at least where we live, they are easy to grow. We just sow the seed directly and water them in. We thin by eating the seedlings. Judging from the crowding in the photo above, we need to eat some more salads soon. There’s never been pest problems save for the edible, and aggressive, fennel seedlings you can see...

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Bushcraft Video

...” Or as he says, vid-ee-ohs. You watch him to kick back with a friend. Mr. Homegrown will forgive me for confessing that I have a YouTube crush on this guy. As does my girlfriend, who I turned on to the channel. And she doesn’t even do any of this stuff! Yup, this guy will blush to know he has groupies in LA. I’d recommend: Meet the Bushcrafters: Here he’s telling the story of how he got into this stuff. Shelter and Fire in the Rain — mostly becau...

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Nasturtium Powder

...Just don’t let them get so dry they lose color. (Important note from Mrs. Homegrown: Careful with this microwave trick! It’s a new one for us. It worked perfectly for Erik when he dried a whole bunch of leaves, but today I tried to dry just one leaf, a celery leaf, as an experiment and it burst into flame after about 30 seconds. Scary!!!!! We think it success has to do with mass and moisture: lots of leaves, not just one.) Put the dried leaves in...

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