Picture Sundays: Joaquin Oro Wheat Loaf

December 28, 2014

...This is a 100% whole wheat loaf I baked this week using locally grown Joaquin Oro wheat, a high protein, hard red spring variety. It was fermented with a sourdough starter (100% hydration for the bread geeks out there). And thank you to Michael Pollan for inventing the somewhat crass #crumbshot hashtag. Look for more #crumbshots and a whole wheat bread baking e-book on Root Simple in the coming year....

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Is it safe to use cinder blocks or red bricks in stoves and ovens?

Mr. Homegrown

January 6, 2015

Appropriate Technology, Rocket Stove, Water and Power

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Source: Capturing Heat. As how-to book and blog authors we face many questions that begin, “Is it safe to . . . ?” And, for some reason, any post of ours involving rocket stoves sets off a firestorm of incoming Google hits. An old blog post on a “Redneck Rocket Stove” made out of cinder blocks prompted many to suggest that the cinder blocks would explode due to heat. Leon, of the blog Survival Common Sense, does a good job of refuting this notion...

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034 Decluttering

Mr. Homegrown

January 22, 2015

Cleaning, Domesticus, Podcasts

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...tenberg Sony Reader Kindle Paperwhite Little Free Library Movement Selling books at Powell’s and The Last Bookstore Konmari t-shirt folding method If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast i...

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Food Preservation Disasters

Mr. Homegrown

April 2, 2014

Food, Food Preservation, Mistakes

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...me preservation projects. Some of the recipes I tried were from unfamiliar books and dubious websites. Some sources I’ve come to trust: The National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website. Kevin West’s book Saving the Season: A Cook’s Guide to Home Canning, Pickling, and Preserving . Between those two sources I’ve got just about all the recipes I need. One Ring to rule them all When you’re done processing jars and they’ve cooled down, remove...

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Analysis Paralysis

Mr. Homegrown

January 28, 2014

Design, Thoughtstylings

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...ternet made it worse by providing way too many possibilities. A quote in a book finally broke my analysis paralysis spell. The gist of that quote was that we are all called by a higher power to build. I realized that I needed to set a deadline, get off my ass and construct the raised beds that I had spend endless hours researching, planning and discussing. I told Mrs. Homegrown that this Saturday I was buying lumber and cutting wood. I quickly dre...

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