Chicken Guantanamo

...ch and scratch down every plant they find edible behaving, as the Petaluma Urban Homesteaders put it, “like a pack of delinquent teenagers”. Our chicken housing consists of three zones. Zone one is the hen house–that aluminum structure on the right in the photo above. It contains a roost for the chickens to sleep on at night and a nesting box for the hens to lay their eggs in. Zone two is a secure run covered in 1/2 inch hardware cloth–the area le...

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Keep Those Bikes Locked, Even in the Garage!

...ock your bike when out and about. Leave it unlocked for one second in most urban areas and you can bet it will be gone when you return. In San Fransisco, for instance, bike theft outstripped iPhone theft 3:1. But there’s another kind of bike theft that a lot of folks don’t think about–theft from your home or apartment. Yes, even at home base your bike needs to be locked up. Some thieves drive around in pickup trucks looking for open garages with u...

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A Recipe for Injera

...ation by Sandor Ellix Katz. This is a life changing recipe book that every urban homesteader should own–so go out and buy a copy! So here’s how we made injera based on Katz’s recipe: Ingredients 2 cups sourdough starter (check out our post on an easy way to keep and maintain a sourdough starter) 5 cups lukewarm water 2 cups whole-wheat flour 2 cups teff flour (an Ethiopian grain available from Bob’s Red Mill at Whole Foods) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teasp...

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As Above, So Below

...for looking at nebulas, galaxies and star clusters even in light polluted urban areas. Primitive astrophotography. I held my camera up to the eyepiece to get this photo of the moon last night. I have to thank, in particular, Rob J of the San Jose Astronomical Association who sent some links about how to host a star party, how to host a school star party and inspired me to get the telescope out again. Here’s some Dobson related resources: Sidewalk...

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Saturday Linkages: Beetle Party, Floating Homes and Cilantro

...browsing #goatsquad #citygoats #urbanagriculture @ucanr @ucdavisvetmed @UCUrbanAg pic.twitter.com/98Noy6XipG — Alda Pires (@piresalda1) June 9, 2018 First time I’ve seen a canoe being towed on the downtown #yeg bike grid. #yegbike pic.twitter.com/QcemoJhr2M — Damian Rogers (@abcrimlaw) June 7, 2018 Vacant land and urban agriculture are rejuvenating wild bee populations. Bees love cities. What can cities do to love them back? https://t.co/A7mrxmd5...

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