Rain- The Best Gift of All

December 27, 2009

...to sprout. In the new year one of my projects is going to be upgrading the rainwater harvesting system. In addition to the existing rain barrels, I want to make sure that any excess water is absorbed by the landscape. Currently a lot of water runs down the driveway during a rain. This is made worse by a downspout that feeds directly into the driveway. The driveway of course channels the water straight to the street where it goes to the ocean. It w...

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Rainfall Harvesting Math

Mr. Homegrown

January 3, 2007

rainwater harvesting

...ain a fair amount of water after a rain, but they will still work fine for rainwater collection. Data on both yearly and monthly average rainfall can be found on the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration website. For our house here in Los Angeles, we have a collection area of 992 square feet, a pitched asphalt shingle roof and an average of 15.06 inches of rain a year. So the average amount of rain we could collect in a year would...

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What does the loving landscape look like?

Mrs. Homegrown

April 16, 2015

Back to the Garden, Gardening

18 Comments

...dead, and began to transform his yard and the street area by capturing the rainwater, mulching and planting trees. Along the way, the neighbors began asking for help with their yards and over time, the whole neighborhood has become a little slice of paradise, a shady oasis full of edible trees like pomegranate and mesquite. He said wild animals, like quail, are even moving back in. I still remember the pictures from his presentation, but I’m havin...

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Gluten Intolerance . . . Is It All In Your Head?

Mr. Homegrown

May 16, 2014

Bread, Food, Thoughtstylings

26 Comments

..., and so they did. The finding led Gibson to the opposite conclusion of his 2011 research: “In contrast to our first study… we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten.” Nocebos, incidentally are placebos with a negative effect. If I tell you you are going to get sick there’s a good chance you will. All human beings are highly suggestible. How powerful are placebos/nocebos? A recent study showed that placebos/nocebos work even if you t...

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Make Your Own Chalkboard Paint II

Mr. Homegrown

October 30, 2017

Design

2 Comments

...e Root Simple compound was making our own chalkboard paint and using it to label all of the cabinets in our garage workshop. In the past month, inspired by a visit from über-maker Federico Tobon, I’ve taken up the task of pimping out the workshop with a proper workbench and table saw. I’ll blog about Workshop 2.0 when I’m finished with the renovation, but the chalkboard paint hack is worth a repeat mention. Thanks to the chalkboard paint, when I w...

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