Are You Gardening on the 4th?

July 4, 2013

...In the garden today? I just got back from a three day tour of San Francisco Bay Area gardens and will be reporting on that trip soon. In the meantime, I’ve put up over 600 photos from the “Garden Blogger’s Fling” here. Above is a bee visiting a striking plant at Sunset Magazine’s headquarters. Unfortunately, I did not get the name of the plant. Bragging rights go to the person who names it in the comments . . ....

Read…

Quince: the “Poster Child of Slowness”

Mr. Homegrown

October 28, 2009

Food, Gardening

7 Comments

...to say that it’s not doing all that well. In a fit of mad, rare fruit tree planting fever, I put it in a crappy location, in bad soil too close to a large prickly pear cactus that is probably competing with it. We’ll hope it does better in the next season. Filling in for my lack of backyard quince, Homegrown Neighbor was nice enough to pop by with some she bought local Asian market. The label must have lost something in translation, but refers to...

Read…

How to Organize a Small Workshop

Mr. Homegrown

November 3, 2017

Design

6 Comments

...ial out-feed table for a table saw, miter saw etc. Use chalkboard paint to label cabinets and drawers. Clean as you work. I don’t always live up to this principle in the workshop or in the kitchen, but when you don’t have a lot of room you’ve got to put stuff back and get rid of scraps otherwise things get ugly and dangerous. Thou shalt not store crap in thy workshop. A clean and organized workshop is inspiring. Banish the crap and you’ll make spa...

Read…

Make Your Own Chalkboard Paint II

Mr. Homegrown

October 30, 2017

Design

2 Comments

...e Root Simple compound was making our own chalkboard paint and using it to label all of the cabinets in our garage workshop. In the past month, inspired by a visit from über-maker Federico Tobon, I’ve taken up the task of pimping out the workshop with a proper workbench and table saw. I’ll blog about Workshop 2.0 when I’m finished with the renovation, but the chalkboard paint hack is worth a repeat mention. Thanks to the chalkboard paint, when I w...

Read…

Pasture Standards for Laying Hens

Mr. Homegrown

March 13, 2017

Animals, Chickens

4 Comments

...n pasture. That said, the non-profit that adjudicates the Certified Humane label has pasture standards. Here’s an excerpt from those standards relating to exterior access for laying hens on pasture: R 1: Pasture area a. Must consist mainly of living vegetation. Coarse grit must be available to aid digestion of vegetation. b. The pasture must be designed and actively managed to: 1. Encourage birds outside, away from the popholes, and to use the are...

Read…