Why Your Garden Should Be Dark at Night

March 28, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Q_fWil-1E A confession: I was a teenage astronomy geek. This hobby that gave me an awareness of how depressing it is to live in a city so brightly lit that you can count the number of stars in the night sky. A documentary, currently streaming on Netflix, called The City Dark details just how many other problems lights cause that you might not have thought of: Lighting confuses migratory birds. Millions crash into...

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Ten Uses for Palm Fronds

Mr. Homegrown

April 7, 2014

Gardening

22 Comments

...torial using coconut fronds, so I’m not sure this will work with Washingtonia. 8. Palm frond origami. I’m excited about this idea. Here’s how to do it. 9. Use as a symbol of victory. Palm fronds have symbolic meanings across numerous cultures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu4I8bDQsS0 10. Rob a liquor store. I’m not making this up. Via Bob in Oz. One runner-up idea: hugelkultur. I’m skeptical. What did I leave out? Basket weavers do you have any...

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Choosing the Perfect Tortilla Press

Mr. Homegrown

April 9, 2014

Food

17 Comments

...press. Cooks Illustrated Magazine also recommends a wood press. Gloria also sent along the following video which shows how you can make your own wood tortilla press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTEnWmF4B98 In the next edition of Taco Tuesday, I’ll describe what we’ve been serving in our tacos....

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The Elf and Ethics

Mr. Homegrown

April 22, 2014

Bikes, Transportation

9 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYHRNG95duU The Elf is a kind of aerodynamic, electric assist tricycle with solar panels to charge the batteries. It’s a type of vehicle, somewhere between a bike and a car, that a number of inventors have tinkered with over the years. Good arguments exist for and against this type of transportation. On the one hand it uses far fewer resources than an automobile. But one could also argue, as does the owner of a bik...

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The Other Kind of Fencing

Mr. Homegrown

June 6, 2014

Fitness

9 Comments

...studied for its benefits to cognitive functioning in older people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HId7Q7117c8 An ad for a Ukrainian fencing studio. A healthy alternative to video games I asked a high school student in our club why he chose this oddball sport. He said, “I was playing too many video games and my parents made me do it.” He ended up loving and being very good at fencing. And, indeed, the sport does have the qualities of a video game:...

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