De-Cluttering for DIYers, Homesteaders, Artists, Preppers, etc.

February 9, 2015

...ve, rather than buying specialty supplies. Are your decorative candles and oil lamps in the house bright enough and safe enough to use for emergency lighting? Can you improve that? What about cooking? If you ordinarily grill a lot, play with that. Can you make non-standard things on your grill, like oatmeal and coffee? If not, how are you going to boil water? If you camp, all your camping equipment can perform double duty in emergencies. I can’t r...

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The Best Way to Get Bees For Free

Mr. Homegrown

April 12, 2016

Animals, Bees

5 Comments

...d doesn’t last long. Some folks suggest a cotton swab dipped in lemongrass oil and stuck in a medicine bottle with holes in it. Better, I think, is to mix wax and lemongrass oil and paint that on your frames. Used equipment that once held bees is also a powerful attractant. Once bees figure out a good space they will come back to it. Where to put a swarm box Something that happened to us last week will show you how random and inexplicable bees can...

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Happy World Car Free Day

Mr. Homegrown

September 22, 2007

Thoughtstylings

1 Comment

...let history be the judge of who’s insane (I’m not putting my money on the oil addicted). In the meantime let’s focus on that tricked-out grill you paid extra for to enhance the meanness of what the designers in Detroit have already managed to make plenty sinister. Do me a favor, step back and ask yourself why you and the car manufacturers have altered the anthropomorphic features of front grills to express homicidal rage. Oh angry middle-aged dri...

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Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

Mrs. Homegrown

June 2, 2016

Domesticus, Food, How-to, Solar Oven Summer

8 Comments

...g tray out of a shallow cardboard box (a canned cat food case) lined with foil. It barely fit in the oven. It doesn’t even sit on the floor, in fact, but balances above, because the sides of the oven are wedge shaped. Hard to explain, but this should make sense to someone with a Sport. Back in March, when we got the oven, it peaked around 150F if it didn’t have clips on the lid to seal in the heat–which would be perfect for this project. Now, with...

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What to do with not-so-good tomatoes

Mrs. Homegrown

April 21, 2015

Food, Recipes, Tomatoes

13 Comments

...chment paper or foil to help with cleanup. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil–using maybe a couple of tablespoons of oil per sheet. Next brighten them up with just a few drops of balsamic or red wine vinegar per piece. Finally, give the whole sheet a generous sprinkle with sugar–the sugar is important–and salt and pepper. Put them in a low oven–around 300F- 325F. They’ll need to cook a long time, maybe two hours or so. The exact cooking time depe...

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