The Energy Environment Simulator

January 22, 2014

...condition? It’s been the centerpiece of Nik’s living room ever since, even making a cross country move. The device demonstrates energy inputs and demands. Depending on how you turn the knobs, you can either engineer a future of never-ending power or, on the other extreme, your own personal zombie apocalypse. One of the energy sources is labeled “new technology.” This could either be solar or that UFO doughnut from the Thrive movie. The only info w...

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Eight Things to Consider When Saving Vegetable Seeds

Mr. Homegrown

September 24, 2013

Gardening, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening

18 Comments

The directions for seed saving in our last book, Making It, almost got cut. Perhaps we should have just changed those directions to “Why it’s OK to buy seeds.” The fact is that it’s not easy to save the seeds of many vegetables thanks to the hard work of our bee friends. That being said, Shannon Carmody of Seed Saver’s Exchange gave a lecture at this year’s Heirloom Exposition with some tips for ambitious gardeners who want to take up seed saving...

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Recipe for the World’s Best Whole Wheat Pancake

Mr. Homegrown

January 8, 2014

Bread, Fermentation, Food

22 Comments

...ea salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder The night before making these pancakes I take a tablespoon of mature starter and add it to 100 grams of freshly milled Sonora wheat flour and 110 grams of water. This mixture will be the 200 grams of starter you’ll use in the recipe. The next day mix all the ingredients together, fry them up in a pan and get ready to have your pancake paradigm shifted. New frontiers in baking Freshly milled...

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Stern Sprouted Wheat Vegan Cookie or Health Bar Type Things

Mrs. Homegrown

January 6, 2014

Food, How-to, Recipes, Wheat

9 Comments

...et Baking parchment (helpful) Rolling pin (optional) • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together all ingredients and grind them up somehow. I used our wonky, cheap Chinese food grinder and sweated and cursed my way through the whole process (but heck, I was burning calories!). You could also use a food processor, though Miscovich notes that food processors tend to leave irregular chunks of fruit and nut behind. All things considere...

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2013 in Review Part I

Mr. Homegrown

December 30, 2013

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...atellafemoral syndrome, aka bad knees. In May I did what I should have done 20 years ago: hire a personal trainer to set up a gym program tailored to my needs and weaknesses. After many hours at the YMCA I’ve got PT syndrome under control but I’ve still got a lot of work to do. Thankfully, I’m back to running and fencing. February In February in Los Angeles it should rain. It didn’t. The year was the driest on record: 3.6 inches, making it a deser...

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