SolSource Review Part I: Assembly

When we wrote our second book, Making It, I wanted to include a parabolic solar cooker project. I found a castoff satellite TV dish and covered it with aluminum foil. The problem was how to position a cooking surface in front of it while simultaneously tracking the sun. If you knew how to weld this might be possible– if still a challenging project. I just couldn’t figure out a way to do it without custom welding and gave up on my dream of solar g...

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What Equipment do I Need to Keep Bees?

...natural (so to speak) keeps costs way down. You could get even cheaper by making your own top bar hives but I was taught on Langstroth equipment and I’ve just decided to stick with them out of habit. Stand for the hives After a bad experience with the wooden stands that I made myself, I bought some metal stands. But you could save a lot of money by just using cinder blocks. The important thing to note is that bee boxes should be off the ground to...

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044 Daniel Kent: Cabin Dweller’s Textbook

...carbonation system How to make your own clear cocktail ice The Old Fashion Making your own bitters Herbs of Mexico Institute of Domestic Technology classes Wool and how to wash it Roasting your own coffee with a Whirley Pop Sourcing green coffee at Sweet Maria’s and Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders Cowboy coffee Sharpening tools If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]...

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BrickTube

...all your bricks as close as possible to what you are building. In terms of tools, all you really need is a level, a trowel and a ruler. I also have a pair of brick tongs for carrying bricks (we live on a hill so this tool is almost essential), a tub for mixing mortar and a chisel and mallet for cutting bricks. Bricklayer, August Sander, 1929. I like the idea of making small garden follies with bricks and can imagine other uses for brick structures...

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Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

...g to the problem, it will also not be able to deal with the changes in the making. It is ill-suited to chaotic weather. In sum, if we don’t start growing food in different ways, we’re not only looking at a dry future, we’re looking at a hungry future. To solve this puzzle, Nabhan takes a look at at existing desert agriculture, from the Sonoran desert to China to Oman. From the ancient past right up into the present, humans have been cleverly manag...

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