093 Micheal Judd on Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist

September 21, 2016

...profit supporting agro-ecological research.” He’s also the author of a new book, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist. During the podcast we discuss: What Michael learned from living in Latin America for 20 years His circular straw bale house Handling water through swales on contour Dealing with homeowner’s associations Pawpaws Custard apples InStove rocket stove Cocktails American persimmons Mulberries and grafting mulberries Jujubes Grow...

Read…

Empty Your Attic!

Mr. Homegrown

June 12, 2017

Domesticus, Tidying up

2 Comments

One of the occupational hazards of how-to book authors and bloggers, such as myself, is a tendency towards ex cathedra statements. But sometimes you’ve just gotta stand out on that balcony and release a bull. I’ve got a short but important one for you today: Thou shalt not store crap in your attic. Here’s my reasoning. If you’ve got stuff “out of sight and out of mind,” you don’t need it. Two weeks ago, I pulled everything down from our attic and...

Read…

Designing the World’s Most Pretentious Garden Shed

Mr. Homegrown

September 13, 2016

Design, Gardening

11 Comments

...n’t help but admire the design. For ideas I thumbed through a coffee table book of 18th century French revolutionary architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux’s oddball sketches But fabricating a waterproof sphere from used headboards and pallets is beyond my carpentry abilities. Nevertheless, I came up with a few scribbles: Thankfully, most of my thoughtstylings stay in the sketchbook like the idea of a 20-foot tall observation chair on top of the shed. Ke...

Read…

Searching for Energy Vampires

Mr. Homegrown

April 27, 2017

Water and Power

13 Comments

...d cut off the internet. This would stop the urge to compulsively check Facebook and watch YouTube cat videos. Hit the big red button and you’d have to settle down with a book. But the “internet of things” in our household (a “smart” irrigation controller and a Ring doorbell make this impracticable). The Man always finds a way to keep us connected and dependent! Our old microwave consumes the next greatest amount of power at $3.88 a year. The micro...

Read…

116 Being the Change with Peter Kalmus

Mr. Homegrown

March 7, 2018

Podcasts, Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...boratory, with a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University. He lives in suburban Altadena, California with his wife and two children on 1/10th the fossil fuels of the average American. Peter wanted me to remind listeners that the ideas and opinions he expresses in this interview are his. Peter is not speaking on behalf of NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or the California Institute of Technology. During the podcast we discuss: Climate change g...

Read…