Hamlet’s BlackBerry: Dealing With the Crisis of Overconnection

February 19, 2013

...who among us actually feels better after an info-crack bender? Published in 2010, William Power’s Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age , is a reasonable, balanced and practical guide to navigating our hyper-connected age (and how ironic it is that the fast pace of technological change makes “BlackBerry” a quaint reference in 2013–the book, however is more relevant than it was in 2010). Powers does...

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Plum Lemon Tomato Power’s Heirloom Tomato

Mr. Homegrown

July 18, 2007

Vegetable Gardening

1 Comment

...confirmed cases of food-borne illnesses in domestic tomatoes. Again, urban homesteading revolutionaries, GROW YOUR OWN! We found that label and it’s a tomato called “Power’s Heirloom”. Here’s how the Seed Saver’s exchange catalog copy describes it, “First offered in the 1990 SSE Yearbook by Bruce McAllister from Freedom, Indiana. His seed originated in Scott County in southwest Virginia over 100 years ago. Heavy yields of 3-5 oz. yellow paste toma...

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How to save tomato seed

Mrs. Homegrown

September 19, 2013

Gardening, How-to, Miscellaneous, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening

14 Comments

...are bone dry, transfer to envelopes or glass jars for storage. Be sure to label! *I just lost a batch to germination. I blame the heat. It didn’t seem like they’d be fermenting that long, but after I drained my seeds I saw the tiny little white nubbins poking out of the seeds. Now I have to begin again. This is one reason why you should not wait ’til your last tomato to think about saving seeds. Also, this is a reminder to keep a close eye on you...

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Moonshine

Mr. Homegrown

September 15, 2007

Fermentation, Food

...ours in France we visited a few years ago who recounted how their families used to ferment the excess fruit in the yard and take it to a licenced farmer to distill into the French version of moonshine, eau de vie. Here in the states it’s illegal to distill anything yourself but perfectly o.k., as a recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out, for agricultural corporation, Archer-Daniels-Midland to distill pure ethyl alcohol, sell it to co...

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Pasture Standards for Laying Hens

Mr. Homegrown

March 13, 2017

Animals, Chickens

4 Comments

...n areas; 3. Minimize any build-up of agents (e.g., parasites, bacteria, viruses) that may cause disease; 4. Prevent hens from coming into contact with any toxic substances. c. The minimum outdoor space requirement is 2.5 acres (1 hectare)/1000 birds. Land used for cropping (except grass or hay) is not accepted as part of the Pasture Raised space allowance and must be excluded from space calculations. d. The maximum distance that a hen has to walk...

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