Search Results for: label/time banking

474 results

Pop Quiz Answer

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
13 Comments
The answer to yesterday’s pop quiz: as our friend Nic Sammond put it, “Your shelving was designed by Tokyo Electric Power?” Alas, I can’t pass the blame off on anyone but myself. When the big one hits, we’ll have a giant salsa bowl of pickles, jams and broken glass. It’s well past time to install some bungee cords across the shelves. And we’ll make our quizzes a little harder next time. ...

Continue reading…

How Not To Bake Bread

Homegrown Neighbor
Bread, Chickens, Food, Mistakes
22 Comments
...chickens. I tend to be a very experimental cook. I like to learn from my failures. Often things taste good but aren’t pretty, but after a few tries I can make them taste and look good. But not bread. It defies all of my time tested methods of how I teach myself to do things. I’ve been reading books on baking and they make my head hurt. How much protein is in the flour or what kind of enzyme does what is way beyond my comprehension at...

Continue reading…

Bean Fest, Episode 7: The Home-Ec Supper Club

Mrs. Homegrown
Events, Thoughtstylings
13 Comments
...if we’d only had beans and rice, we would have been happy. That’s the key to this. It’s not about the food, it’s about the company. Worry about food was just excised from the scheme. We all had a good time. No one was stressed, not even the hosts. We all pledged to do it again in a month at someone else’s house. And so–we hope–a tradition is born. We invite you to start your own Home Ec Supper Club in yo...

Continue reading…

Side Yard Hops Trellis

Mr. Homegrown
Beer, Gardening, Herbs, Hops
17 Comments
...use are Golden and Chinook. Since this blog also doubles as my garden diary I’ll note that the Golden is on the southeast and the Chinook on the southwest. It’s important to keep the bines labeled so when it comes time to make beer you know which variety is which. When I planted the Cascade and Nugget in the ground I got them mixed up. They look and smell different when mature so I’m pretty sure I can tell the difference come ha...

Continue reading…

We Grow Houses

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Pests
2 Comments
The last time a television news crew showed up near our domicile we were living in San Diego for a brief stint in grad school and those dozens of microwave relay trucks that showed up were beaming vital information about the former apartment of Gianni Versace assassin and spree killer Andrew Cunanan. So when we spotted a NBC news truck near the Homegrown Revolution compound we assumed our Los Angeles neighborhood had produced a new celebrity kil...

Continue reading…

Nettle Harvest

Homegrown Neighbor
Foraging, Herbal Medicine, Herbs
9 Comments
...nd all, in my backpack. I transplanted it into my front yard when I got home. The nettle grew and set seed. So now I have a nice big nettle patch in my front yard. The nettle patch has grown so lushly that it stings me every time I walk to my car. It borders the entire driveway. I’m kind of immune to the little stings at this point. I hardly even notice it. But a friend of mine got stung rather badly the other day as I forgot to warn him a...

Continue reading…

Propagating herbs via cuttings

Mrs. Homegrown
Gardening, Herbs
11 Comments
...f the things I’m ripping out, so that I can replace them later.  I decided to document the process for the edification of all ya’lls. A note on timing: If you live in a cold winter climate, this will be the wrong time of year to take cuttings–wait til spring. But in a warm winter climate this is the ideal time. We plant perennials in the winter, so that they can use the rains to get established before the long, dry summer. You&...

Continue reading…

Homemade Cat Toys

Mrs. Homegrown
Animals, Cats
53 Comments
Top to bottom: Trout, palm frond, twine, acorn, plastic strip This is advice for new cat owners coming from relatively new cat owners: don’t waste your money on cat toys. Cats are fickle, ungrateful little creatures. Novelty is more important to them than just about anything else. And I don’t mean genuine novelty–they don’t need newer and stranger toys all the time. Rather, individual toys seem to get stale for t...

Continue reading…

Safety Films Night

Mr. Homegrown
Bikes
1 Comment
Homegrown Revolution, in support of the ongoing two-wheeled revolution, is putting on an evening of vintage bicycle and traffic safety films at the Echo Park Film Center on Sunday November 4th. It’s a special benefit for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. Watch as little Jane and Johnny take to the streets for the first time to learn the rules of the road. But bring your motoring friends as well, since we’ll also serve up a selectio...

Continue reading…

My Trip to Maker Faire

Mr. Homegrown
Bikes, Solar, Thoughtstylings
3 Comments
...extemporaneously. This worked out for the better, as I was able to pull up a member of the audience to demonstrate her solar cooker–much more fun than showing pictures of solar cookers. And, after all, maybe it’s time we retire PowerPoint. Some of the things I spotted at Maker Faire: Long lines for the tiny house. I’ll review Lloyd Kahn’s awesome tiny house book later this week (he gave a talk just before me). Not sure...

Continue reading…