Why Urban Farm?

...r total up to four. Such are the cycles of life and death on the new urban homestead. Bryan Welch, who raises livestock and is also the publisher and editor of the always informative Mother Earth News, wrote an editorial in the February issue called “Why I Farm” in which he says, “There’s a Buddhist wisdom in the stockman’s cool compassion. The best of them seem to understand that our own lives on this Earth are as irrefutably temporary as the liv...

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Looking for the Union Label

...d a highly catchy ad jingle from the roller disco era, “Look for the Union Label” (youngsters can watch it on youtube here). We looked for the union label and we were surprised to find it via a company called Union House which carries a functional, if unexciting line of apparel. Unless hipsters take to golf shirts in an ironic fashion judo move, these offerings will never be cool like the domestically made clothes made by the union busting folks o...

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Saturday Tweets: Squirrels, CIA Snail Mail and a Home Solar Array

great #DIY solar array how to on @instructables 6.3 kiloWatt Ground Mount Home Solar Array https://t.co/cUZi3Nj10P pic.twitter.com/jTsSHG9o3j — Eric Rochow (@GardenForkTV) January 26, 2017 Get inspired by environmentalist Rachel Carson's political fights https://t.co/Bu9Vydt3Z9 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 26, 2017 Squirrels you may encounter https://t.co/SVMxQhXFFg — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 26, 2017 How to Securely Send Snai...

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SolSource Review Part I: Assembly

...n reignited by the folks at One Earth Designs, who sent us their SolSource solar grill for testing, as part of our solar cooking initiative this summer. This device is different than a solar oven in that it does not function like a slow cooker, but as a high-heat grill. Arguments could be made that a well-outfitted solar kitchen needs both an oven and grill. More on that later! We’re going to break our initial review of the SolSource into a couple...

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How to Put Together a Small Scale Solar System

How can you use solar panels to power a few lights, run a fountain or charge some tools? It seems like a simple question, and yet I can’t tell you how many books/magazines/websites I’ve combed through in search of a basic tutorial for anything less than wiring up a whole house. Now I know how thanks to a podcast conversation between Eric of Garden Fork and Will of the Weekend Homestead. Will describes how he rigged up a few panels and batteries t...

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