Beans 101 (Return of Bean Friday!)

...should note that we’ve done a lot of posts about beans, and have gathered favorite bean recipes from our readers. So if you’re looking for recipes, look for the Bean Fest tag. Check the recipes tag, too.) A pot of beans, I’d argue, is one of the keystones of cheap eating. A big pot of beans costs little, and can morph into many meals over the course of a week. This not only saves money, but it saves time. It rescues you from the dreaded “what’s f...

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End of Season Tomato Review

...s were grown in cages made from concrete reinforcing wire (instructions on making tomato cages here) in raised beds with a drip irrigation system as pictured above. As an experiment for folks in apartments or with limited space, we grew a bunch of tomatoes in self watering containers on a strip of concrete next to the back wall of our garage (note crappy picture below). You’ll see that we were too lazy to put the container tomatoes in cages–don’t...

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Build a Solar Dehydrator

...ct, we’ve got a few too many tomatoes at this time of the year. One of our favorite ways to preserve our modest harvest is with our solar dehydrator. There’s nothing like the taste of sun dried tomatoes, but unless you live in a very dry desert climate like Phoenix, Arizona you can’t just set fruit out in the sun and expect it to do anything but go moldy. In most places in the world, including here in Los Angeles, the relative humidity is too high...

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C-Realm Podcast on the Age of Limits

...cast. If you’re not familiar with the C-Realm you should be–it’s one of my favorite podcasts and covers a difficult to summarize array of subjects that will interest readers of Root Simple. After our interview, KMO talks to Archdruid John Michael Greer who had a similar reaction to the conference’s mashup of drum circles and near term extinction enthusiasts. One of the many things Kelly and I neglected to mention during the interview is that we th...

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Shoemaking workshop in Los Angeles, Oct. 16-19

...s were custom made because they made them for themselves. We will start by making a 3D pattern of our foot and transferring it to the leather you select. Once the upper and sole are attached we move onto turning and hammering, closure and finishing and finally gooping the soles. You will get experience with patterning, cutting, skiving and various stitching methods you can transfer to future leather projects and of course, you will be leaving with...

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