Search Results for: label/solar/page/7/2011/04/making-it

404 results

Make a Spore Print

Mr. Homegrown
Mushrooms
5 Comments
Making a mushroom spore print is a fun activity for the kidlings and it̵7;s simple: 1. Pick a mushroom (from the wild or the supermarket) and break off the stem. 2. Put your mushroom, spore side down, on a piece of white paper (or a 50/50 split of of dark paper and white paper to check subtleties in the color). 3. Put a glass over the mushroom and wait 24 hours. The next day you should have something that looks like the picture above. Spore...

Continue reading…

Alternatives to the Funeral Industrial Complex

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
40 Comments
A casket made by the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey in Louisiana. If there̵7;s one business I̵7;d like to see shut down and rethought it would be the funeral industry. I̵7;m not going to mince words. The funeral directors I̵7;ve had to deal with just wanted to turn grief into dollars. When my dad passed on his pastor warned me about what would happen at the funeral home, telling me that they would try to up-sell my mom and I. He sa...

Continue reading…

Laundry to Landscape Legal in LA

Mr. Homegrown
Water and Power, Water Conservation
4 Comments
...ming that you don̵7;t need a permit within LA city limits for “a graywater system in a one or two-family dwelling that is supplied only by a clothes-washer and/or a single-fixture system.” Though, confusingly, it also goes on to say, “Any alteration to the building or plumbing, electrical or mechanical system requires a permit.” I guess we shouldn̵7;t expect clarity from a department that can̵7;t seem to get a...

Continue reading…

Home Baked Bread in Five Minutes

Mr. Homegrown
Bread, Food
9 Comments
...rticle, “Five Minutes a Day for Fresh-Baked Bread” by Zöe François and Jeff Hertzberg, explains their simple recipe. Combining just flour, water, salt and yeast, with no kneading, you make up a very wet dough, let it rise for two hours and then either bake it or stick it in the refrigerator. The dough keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks, taking on a sourdough flavor as it ages. When you want a loaf of bread you tear off a softball...

Continue reading…

Make an Aluminum Can Lamp

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
RLeave a comment
Inspired by an article in Wilderness Way, SuriviveLA made our own post-apocalyptic lighting out of two aluminum cans. According to the author of that article, Del Gideon, the Vietnamese used to make these lamps back during the war. You can also use these lamps to heat up water. Making one is easy: 1. Remove the top off a can. We like to do this by scoring the inner ring of the top with a razor blade and then using a pair of pliers to bust it o...

Continue reading…

Vote Yes on 2 (if you’re in Cali)

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
4 Comments
t removing animals from confinement will lead to disease outbreaks. Since these researchers get their funding from industrial agriculture, one can̵7;t expect anything but biased, junk science. Given the funding situation, it̵7;s also wise to view all extension service advice, even tips directed at home gardeners, with skepticism. We̵7;ll be voting yes on 2 and, sorry UC, you̵7;ll never see any alumni contributions from us!...

Continue reading…

New Year’s Resolutions

Mr. Homegrown
Reviews, Thoughtstylings
5 Comments
It̵7;s a week for formulating New Years resolutions and I have two that stem from reading Ferran Adrià̵7;s A Day at elBulli . Adrià is one of the main proponents of “molecular gastronomy” (though he rejects the term) a style of cooking that involves not just unusual ingredients, but the creation of entirely new forms of cooking. Think dry ice, freeze drying and culinary thoughtstylings such as “Spherification.” B...

Continue reading…

Showers to Flowers

Mr. Homegrown
Water Conservation
1 Comment
Here̵7;s the truth, I̵7;m lazy. So when it comes to the aforementioned greywater strategies such as bucket flushing and siphoning, while we might try them for a while we̵7;ll most likely quickly tire of all the repetitive effort barring some apocalyptic water shortage. SurviveLA agrees with Art Ludwig, author of Create an Oasis with Greywater that the best greywater systems are the simplest, and involve the least amount of effort and...

Continue reading…

Michael Tortorello on Urban Homesteading

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
4 Comments
...;The wonders of permaculture plus a jab at aerated compost tea. “Finding the Potential in Vacant Lots” Recent boom and bust cycles have left us with a lot of room to grow stuff. “Food Storage as Grandma Knew It“Tortorello actually tracked down some folks who have functioning root cellars. “The Spotless Garden“On aquaponics. Don̵7;t name those fish! “Making Flowers Into Perfume“ Build that still...

Continue reading…

Garden Design: Quantity vs. Quality

Mr. Homegrown
Design, Garden Design, Gardening
5 Comments
...that he most talented creative folks I̵7;ve met crank out lots of material. So how do we apply the quantity over quality principle to laying out a garden–especially since you often get only one chance a year to get it right? Above you see some of Kelly̵7;s ideas for the parkway garden we planted in the fall. I think it is at this first point in the process–when you̵7;re just sketching out ideas–when it̵7;s best...

Continue reading…