Loquat Season

April 8, 2007

...of these trees live in public spaces, the parkway and people’s front yards making them prime candidates for urban foraging i.e. free food. The tree itself has a vaguely tropical appearance with waxy leaves that look like the sort of plastic foliage that used to grace dentist office lobbies back in the 1960s. In short it’s a real tree that looks fake with fruit that nobody seems to care about. The loquat tree invites considerable derision from east...

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Grab and Go

Mr. Homegrown

August 15, 2006

Preparedness

...f the contents of our first aid kit in a subsequent post. 6. Fire Our fire making kit includes waterproof matches and kindling material made with dryer lint and candle wax 7. Repair kit and tools We wear a Leatherman multi-tool at all times on our belt. 8. Nutrition Our grab and go bags contain an array of Cliff bars and other items with a long shelf life. 9. Hydration We have both extra water and a ceramic water filter. 10. Emergency shelter We h...

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Block Party Weekend

Mr. Homegrown

September 11, 2006

Thoughtstylings

...d, that it must transform or die. Sooner or later it must generate its own food, fuel, water, wood and ores. It must use these at the rate that nature provides them. It can . . .” -Paul Glover Los Angeles: A History of the Future as quoted in the LAEV Overview SurviveLA dropped in this weekend on a block party thrown by the apartment homesteading pioneers at the Los Angeles Eco-Village. Founded in 1993, the Los Angeles Eco-Village is a so called “...

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Buddy Burner

Mr. Homegrown

January 12, 2007

Preparedness

10 Comments

...s a huge wick. That inferno effect is what you want. Control your flame by making a damper out of a piece of aluminum foil folded into a long rectangle three or four layers thick and as wide as the can, but much longer so that you can use the excess as a handle. Slide the foil back and forth to expose or repress the flame as needed. To recharge the BB, place chunks of wax on top of the BB while it is burning. The wax will melt down and refuel it....

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The Tiny House

Mr. Homegrown

January 15, 2007

Design

...of your urban homestead, leaving plenty of yard space for growing your own food. And these small building literally sip utilities making them ideal for hooking up to solar power and very cheap to heat and cool. They are also expandable as your needs or family grows. And perhaps most importantly, they prevent expansion of all the things we don’t need, the giant plasma screens, the inflatable Christmas decor and all the other clutter causing detritu...

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