A Primitive Bow Workshop

...computer screens to update this website, it was a great relief to spend a Saturday carving primitive bows in a workshop led by local self-reliance expert Christopher Nyerges. Kelly and I have been into archery for many years, off and on, but we’ve never tried to make our own bow. Root Simple pal John Zapf carves a bow to match that stylish hat A bow seems like a simple device until you try to make one that will work repeatedly without breaking. A...

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Michael Thiele and the Love of Bees

On Saturday, September 21st, Erik and I will be attending a day-long Biodynamic Apiculture Workshop with Michael Thiele, sponsored by the fine folks at Honey Love. We hear there are still some open spaces, so please join us if you can. Erik has seen Michael Thiele speak, and says he is mesmerizing. Michael Thiele is the founder of Gaia Bees, and co-founder of The Melissa Garden (a honey bee sanctuary and resource center). His approach toward bees...

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Easter Lessons

...st on naturally dyed Easter eggs, I decided to have a go at dyeing eggs on Saturday night. The eggs our ladies deliver are all shades of beige to brown, so I worried that they’d not take dye as well as white eggs, but the post promised good results with brown eggs, and the dyes were deep and earthy enough that it seemed it would not matter. The technique was simple–a one to one ratio of organic matter to water, boiled 15 minutes or more, cooled, a...

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Starting a Sourdough Starter Talk at Artisinal LA

...I’ll be doing a short talk at Artisinal LA this Sunday October 13th at 4pm on how to start a sourdough starter. Artisinal LA (yep, the “A” word) is a showcase of local small food vendors. In case you’re not in LA this is what I’ll be demonstrating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bGLF8B_pZ0 Mark Stambler, who co-founded the LA Bread Bakers with me and Teresa Sitz, will also be doing a talk on baking bread at 4pm on Saturday....

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Free Biodynamic Composting Seminar in LA on November 16th

...about composting from a master of the art–for free! We’ll be there. Date: Saturday, November 16th (rain or shine) Time: 10 AM – 1 PM Location: The Pico-La Brea area. You’ll get the exact address when you RSVP. RSVP to Rayna: [email protected] And here’s the details: Learn the Secrets of BioDynamic Composting from Jack McAndrews Recognized as one of America’s leading experts on biodynamic organic agriculture, Jack’s biodynamic composts have been t...

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