Cob Oven Workshop with Ben Loescher

May 8, 2015

Events

...ns of these ovens, and has great expertise in both adobe construction and earthen plasters and finishes. You will leave the class with the knowledge necessary to build an oven of your own, with materials that you may already have in your yard. What Will I Learn? Local considerations and the siting for your earthen oven Soil and material selection, sourcing and testing Foundations and oven base design and materials Sizing Sand Form and Oven Domes N...

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Cutting Dovetail Joints With a Router Jig

Mr. Homegrown

January 5, 2018

Design

3 Comments

...at I needed to cut some dovetails. Dovetail joints are used most often for making drawers. The arrangement of the joint makes for a drawer that resists racking. Dovetail joints also prevent the front from coming off with repeated use. Even without glue the joint wants to stay together. It’s also, I think, very attractive. The two most common dovetail joints are through dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. And half-blind dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. Since...

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Cottage Food Operations Workshop Offered by UC Cooperative Extension

Mr. Homegrown

May 18, 2015

Events, Food

1 Comment

...food business, UC Extension has a class coming up that will help you get started. UCCE assures me that the information provided will be of interest to anyone thinking about starting a Cottage Food operation, not just farmers. For more information contact: Rachel Surls, Sustainable Food Systems Advisor UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles County (626) 586-1982 ramabie@ucanr.edu. Here’s the info: Who should attend? This workshop is designed especial...

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Tools for Conquering Internet Addiction

Mr. Homegrown

May 22, 2015

Thoughtstylings

15 Comments

...b induced state of acedia. As Nicholas Carr observed in his prescient 2008 article in the Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” I’ve noticed that my attention span seems to be shrinking and that I’m less able to sit down and read books without the temptation to jump on the Internet and look stuff up. I’ve also noticed that I’m having a harder time initiating and completing the sort of gardening, cooking, food preservation and general DIY projec...

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Skyglow Raises Awareness of Light Pollution

Mr. Homegrown

May 26, 2015

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...y we lose our sense of wonder. But light pollution also harms many of the earth’s organisms, from migrating birds to insects. This is one of those problems that would be relatively easy to fix simply by making sure that lighting is not directed upwards and by using bulbs that emit light on a limited portion of the spectrum. And we’ll save energy in the process. Unfortunately, as the Los Angeles Weekly recently reported, the City of Los Angeles has...

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