Los Angeles: A New Beginning

February 15, 2019

Appropriate Technology, Bikes, Thoughtstylings, Transportation

...n once said, “it has become easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” But that’s just what the mayor began to imagine thanks to the unlikely conjunction of an algorithm and a raccoon. He realized it was well past time to learn to dig not learn to code. It was time to build sea walls instead of apps, bus lanes instead of battery packs, affordable housing instead of Olympic villages. With all the freeways gone he was able t...

Read…

I Built a Set of Gerritt Rietveld Crate Chairs and So Can You

Mr. Homegrown

November 30, 2020

Design

3 Comments

...ed, as a kit and as plans—truly democratic furniture that even a kid could build with a modest amount of tools and dimensional lumber from the big box store. I made a set of Rietveld’s crate chairs and a crate table for our backyard. The crate chair is a nod to the Morris chair. It’s low slung, kind of like a beach chair (there’s also a taller version). While simple, the chair’s design shows an architect’s appreciation of how planes intersect and...

Read…

On the Problem of Food Storage and Hoarding

Mr. Homegrown

October 29, 2018

Domesticus, Tidying up

23 Comments

...d a few built-in cabinets. If there’s another thing I’ve learned it’s that building additional storage always leads us down the path of over-consumption. If the Food Network ever makes a foodie hoarder reality show, we could have been on an episode thanks to the shelves we added to the utility room. Those shelves quickly filled with aspirational but never used ingredients such as tapioca flour as well as mediocre food preservation projects that I...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: DIY WiFi Antennas, Cardboard Drones and Giant Crabs

Mr. Homegrown

February 4, 2017

Saturday Linkages

...num https://t.co/p8KPpoZLcL — Root Simple (@rootsimple) February 2, 2017 Rebuilding, Testing and Documenting Self-Made Wi-Fi Antennas https://t.co/fdXIr2eUyj pic.twitter.com/b9yObicrLF — lowtechmagazine (@lowtechmagazine) February 1, 2017 Parks Without Borders: Creating a Seamless Public Realm https://t.co/dPTRd1ReyK — Thomas Rainer (@ThomasRainerDC) February 1, 2017 A residential contractor shares what's in his tool belt https://t.co/IYNGyS2h...

Read…

The Best Way to Get Bees For Free

Mr. Homegrown

April 12, 2016

Animals, Bees

5 Comments

...t bees is to invite them to settle down on their own. Here’s how to do it. Build it and they will come Set up your bee housing (Langstroth hive or top bar hive) and the bees might just move in on their own. It’s happened to me twice now in seven years. You should have your boxes ready to go anyway, since you can never predict the day someone will call with a swarm that needs a home. This readiness applies to tools too. Have all your bee tools in a...

Read…