Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

...it rockets up past 200F pretty quickly even without the clips. So, at this time of year, working at midday, all I had to do was watch the time and temperature to make sure the oven didn’t get too hot. I put the tray in the oven, closed the lid (no clips, making the heating is less efficient on purpose) and waited about 10-15 minutes. The temp would quickly rise above 150F and the wax would dissolve, then I’d take it out before it got any hotter. F...

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De-Cluttering for DIYers, Homesteaders, Artists, Preppers, etc.

...from experience, I know I don’t need a hundred canning jars on hand at all time, much less their dented and rusty rings to be able to preserve food a couple of times a year. You might not really need that bin full of fabric scraps. But somehow this stuff does accumulate. Thin it out. Also, as we develop experience with any skill, we tend to find tools and techniques which work best for us, and we drop tools and techniques which don’t fit our style...

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Our new front yard, part 3: design

...and soil and water requirements. But the most difficult, is the factor of time. No other designer has to deal with that, except filmmakers, and they only have to do it once. Gardens are time based installations which are always changing. You have to account for both plant growth and seasonal change. Some plants are longer lived than others. Some are summer or winter dormant. Plants flower and they stop flowering. They lose their leaves. Weather d...

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Digital Götterdämmerung

...spring shut. He’s also realistic that we might all need to carve out some time for low-quality web surfing but that this time needs to be contained rather than sprinkled throughout the day. During the one month fast Newport suggests developing a long term plan with what to do with our spare hours. In addition to my quixotic furniture building mission I’ve vowed to improve my drawing skills and finish reading a few long books on my literary bucket...

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We are all gardeners

...them. Second, remember that we are all influencers. As I said above, every time we vote, every time we buy something, each time we take a trip or choose a place to live, we are influencing the landscape and we are influencing people who have more power over the land than we do. (An aside: At this point I suspect permaculture folks are going to say what I’m talking about when I say gardening is permaculture, and I won’t disagree. But I’ll also say...

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