Ikea Karlstad Couch Hack

March 23, 2015

Design

...at in the process. To prevent this we took to putting a stack of our least favorite books underneath one end. While this was going on the cats, like marauding Visigoths, took to using both arms of the couch as a scratching posts. It was time for an intervention, an “Ikea hack” that would save the couch from the hydraulic jaws of the bulky item pickup truck. I set as my goal to make new arms for the couch that would be sturdy and cat-friendly. The...

Read…

June: National Bathroom Reading Month

Mr. Homegrown

June 26, 2008

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...are a water quality report like this one to what kind of water is good for making beer. Performance Bicycle Catalog. We get a lot of these catalogs since every few months we break a bike tail light and have to order a new one. They just don’t build bicycle accessories to last! These bike catalogs, aimed at recreational cyclists who drive somewhere to ride their bikes (note the cover) feature lots of god-awful candy-colored spandex outfits, $5,000...

Read…

The Difference Between Mulch and Compost

Mr. Homegrown

March 31, 2015

Gardening

2 Comments

...aves, shredded cuttings and bark, etc., spread on soil or around or over a plant to provide insulation, protect from desiccation, and deter weeds. Also: textile or other artificial material used for the same purpose. I’d argue that compost, properly defined, is fully not partially rotted organic material (or textiles or plastic, though I don’t like plastic mulch). The distinction is important. If you integrate mulch, i.e. partially rotted material...

Read…

Pakistan Mulberry Fever

Mr. Homegrown

May 26, 2014

Fruit Trees, Gardening

14 Comments

...r the weekend. Now I need a regular Pakistani mulberry fix. If I wanted to plant one Bay Laurel Nursery has several varieties. It’s mostly a warm climate plant but some varieties do better in lower temperatures. Here’s what Steve had to say about his six year old tree which he thinks is the “Cooke” variety: It has totally thrived and become huge. I have to top back huge vertical branches every year after harvest season and tie limbs down laterally...

Read…

Is Purslane the New Kale?

Mr. Homegrown

June 27, 2014

Food, Foraging, Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

29 Comments

...water than what falls naturally from the sky here). You can eat the whole plant: stems and leaves. It has a salty and slightly lemony flavor reminiscent of New Zealand spinach. There’s always a huge bin of it at Super King, our local Armenian supermarket. In Armenia it’s gathered in the wild and used either raw in salads or lightly sauteed. There’s even a World Cup tie-in. The color of the plant in South America is associated with green/white soc...

Read…