Picture Sundays: Joaquin Oro Wheat Loaf

December 28, 2014

...This is a 100% whole wheat loaf I baked this week using locally grown Joaquin Oro wheat, a high protein, hard red spring variety. It was fermented with a sourdough starter (100% hydration for the bread geeks out there). And thank you to Michael Pollan for inventing the somewhat crass #crumbshot hashtag. Look for more #crumbshots and a whole wheat bread baking e-book on Root Simple in the coming year....

Read…

Is it safe to use cinder blocks or red bricks in stoves and ovens?

Mr. Homegrown

January 6, 2015

Appropriate Technology, Rocket Stove, Water and Power

4 Comments

Source: Capturing Heat. As how-to book and blog authors we face many questions that begin, “Is it safe to . . . ?” And, for some reason, any post of ours involving rocket stoves sets off a firestorm of incoming Google hits. An old blog post on a “Redneck Rocket Stove” made out of cinder blocks prompted many to suggest that the cinder blocks would explode due to heat. Leon, of the blog Survival Common Sense, does a good job of refuting this notion...

Read…

034 Decluttering

Mr. Homegrown

January 22, 2015

Cleaning, Domesticus, Podcasts

13 Comments

...tenberg Sony Reader Kindle Paperwhite Little Free Library Movement Selling books at Powell’s and The Last Bookstore Konmari t-shirt folding method If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast i...

Read…

039 Climate Change and Be-cycling With Peter Kalmus

Mr. Homegrown

February 25, 2015

Podcasts

10 Comments

...er through his be-cycling website. You can also download an excerpt of his book-in-progress (pdf) and see slides from one of his talks (pdf). If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is her...

Read…

Cactus Thief Strikes Again

Mr. Homegrown

April 24, 2014

Gardening, Thoughtstylings

19 Comments

...and the Thorny Response Will Have You in Tears.” Stoic philosopher Epictetus set me straight on what I should really do. He says, “Stop admiring your clothes and you are not angry at the man who steals them . . . our losses and our pains have to do only with the things we posses.” (Discourses Book 1.18) And wanting to posses a Home Depot cactus is quite pathetic. It reminds me of something a friend told me, “Never drive by and look at a garden in...

Read…