Search Results for: label/water conservation

367 results

Urban Homestead on Craigslist. Act Now!

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
15 Comments
...coop, a koi pond and apple, cherry and plum trees for sustainable food production. There is an efficient furnace and a low-emissions woodstove for auxillary [sic] heat. This wonderful home is located across from the city water works park and just 2 blocks from schools, the clinic, Sacajawea Park and the Yellowstone River. This property is perfectly set up for those with a green thumb or those who wish to live a greener lifestyle! For more...

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The Return of the Paper Collar?

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
3 Comments
During the summertime in the warm climate we live in I often find myself wishing for the return of the paper collar. What better way to deal with ring around the collar than to just throw out the old collar and put on a new one? I have a theory (unproven, admittedly) that using paper collars would have less environmental impact than all the water and detergents we use to scrub out ring around the collar. Of course, the best solution would be to...

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Terror of Tiny Town

Mr. Homegrown
Animals, Chickens, Gardening, Self Watering Containers, Vegetable Gardening
4 Comments
...rs made with old pop bottles (more info on how to make a pop bottle self-watering container here and here). These pop bottle containers look like they’d work well for starting seeds, as they provide a constant source of water. Nance Klehm, another intrepid Chicago resident, informed us that someone just gave her two bantam chickens for her backyard, the perfect compliment to her chihuahuas. Some say that bantams are better for smaller backy...

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Tomato Review #1 Red Currant–The World’s Smallest Tomato

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening
5 Comments
...n Mexico, and produces fruit measuring about one centimeter across. Red Currant is an indeterminate tomato, with a delicious, sweet taste. A malfunctioning drip line has has meant that our specimen probably did not get enough water, but nevertheless it has managed to produce fruit despite looking unhappy. If we had more than the paltry number we’ve produced, they’d make for a tasty addition to a salad. That malfunctioning drip line me...

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Broom Corn–or is it Broomcorn?

Mrs. Homegrown
Domesticus, Gardening
18 Comments
...can grow sweet corn you can grow it, but it’s less fussy than sweet corn, being tolerant of both drought and poor soil. However, the best broom material comes from big healthy plants raised on good soil with plenty of water and sunshine. The midwest used to be broom country. You definitely want to plant your broom corn in blocks instead of long rows, so you get good pollination rates. It’s really tall stuff (up to 15 feet), a...

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How to clean a stained coffee cup

Mrs. Homegrown
Cleaning, Domesticus, How-to
9 Comments
...the first pass. As I described in the sink post, the trick here is to keep the mug on the dry side, because baking soda scrubs best when only slightly damp. Your sponge or rag should be damp, but the mug shouldn’t have water in it. Just a swipe with the magic powder does it. I don’t like housework, but this sort of cleaning makes me happy....

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Essential System #5 – First Aid Kit

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
2 Comments
...than medical tape – use it to adhere bandages, deal with blisters and a host of other things Any prescription medications that you take Syringe – for cleaning out wounds – you can also improvise this with a water bottle Antibiotic cream If you already have a first aid kit you can pimp it out with a few of these items. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of large bandage material such as the sanitary napkins. One acqu...

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Essential System #6 – Fire

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
5 Comments
On the crazy path of life you may someday find yourself needing to build a fire. When it’s wet and when kindling wood is lacking this can be a challenge. Which is why we always have fire starting implements on hand including a butane lighter and waterproof matches. Most importantly we carry something to really get the fire going – our homemade wax and dryer lint fire starters. To make a wax and lint fire starter, save up the ends of...

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How to Make Soba Noodles

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Recipes
11 Comments
Last month I took an amazing class with author and chef Sonoko Sakai on how to make soba noodles by hand. She’s a great teacher and I managed to make a halfway decent couple of servings of noodles during the class. Like many Japanese arts, soba making has a series of very precise steps. The recipe itself is simple (just buckwheat flour and water), though you do have to pay close attention to the temperature and humidity in the room. Whil...

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