Remember to Label Those Jars!

June 13, 2012

“Label, label, label!” This was one of the most important lessons I learned in my Master Food Preserver training. You’ll note, from the jars above, that I’m not very good about this. When were those jars canned and what’s in them? I have no idea. They were probably the result of some late night canning frenzy two years ago. At the time I probably thought to myself, “I’ll label them in the morning.”...

Picture Sundays: Tropic Snow Peach

Mr. Homegrown

January 29, 2012

Picture Sundays

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A new feature on Root Simple: picture Sundays. Today, the first fruit tree on our compound to break dormancy–a Tropic Snow peach....

Picture Sundays: Trout Smells Kraut

Mr. Homegrown

May 13, 2012

Animals, Cats, Picture Sundays

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Somehow, in a post about a handy fermenter from the Farmer’s Kitchen, I failed to put up this shamelessly cute picture of our cat, Trout, interfering with the photo session. If you’d like more proof that the internet is some kind of million typing monkey/non-linear/collective unconsciousness generation machine, try typing “cat and sauerkraut” into Google. You get a fluffy and deaf white cat who loves sauerkraut. We can...

Picture Sundays: A Handy Handyman

Mr. Homegrown

January 27, 2013

Picture Sundays

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Kelly found a soggy flyer on a sidewalk near our house. The front showed a picture of a man with a mullet hairstyle holding a trophy below a headline “Best Handyman.” On the back said handyman promised the services you can see above. I laughed, then realized that it was my exact jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none set of skills. Well, except for “hydrophany” and gutters. And you’ll have to go to Kelly for both the fi...

Picture Sundays: Bike Rack With Bee Smoker

Mr. Homegrown

August 19, 2012

Animals, Bees, Bikes, Picture Sundays

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Bike Snob NYC predicted back in 2010 that beekeeping would be the new fixed-gear. Don’t know where I found this picture (Facebook?) but it looks like bikes and bees are achieving a kind of synergy. I think this is a custom rack just for that handsome Dadant smoker, which like the design of the bicycle, has not changed much in a hundred years: Dadant smoker in 1910. Does this mean that Dadant will come out with a titanium smoker?...

Picture Sundays: Bike Rim Dome

Mr. Homegrown

February 17, 2013

Picture Sundays

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Bike wheel trellis via Homesteading/Survivalism. While it wouldn’t work with kids that like to climb, this is a nice use of bike rims. I could see it as a dome over another structure. No idea where this picture came from–it’s gone viral in homesteading circles–if you know, leave a comment....

Picture Sundays: Good News and Dog Carts

Mr. Homegrown

September 23, 2012

Picture Sundays

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First off, Governor Brown signed the California Homemade Food Act, AB 1616, into law this past week. So Californians will soon be able to make and sell “non-hazardous” foods in a home kitchen and sell them. But how will those goods get delivered? Above, a bakery in Holland using that long lost mode of transport, the dog cart. Picture via Terrierman’s Daily Dose....