Composting the Deceased/ My DIY Funeral Fantasies

December 9, 2013

...of Composting Humans or Animals: This is entirely above ground. First you build a platform of sticks/small logs to provide drainage and aeration, about 1.5 feet high. The deceased is placed on the stick pile. The body is covered with a 1 foot layer of mixed greens and browns–the makings of compost. Then over that goes a massive pile of carbonaceous material (“browns”: dry leaves, wood shavings, etc.). This layer is to be 10 to 12 feet deep. Huge!...

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Roots Simple’s Last Minute Gift Guide

Mr. Homegrown

December 23, 2013

Fermentation, Food, Food Preservation

2 Comments

...ion kit. Yes, you can make one yourself, but this is a nice all-glass model. Plus, when you buy this you are supporting Ernest Miller who has given countless volunteer hours to build LA’s Master Food Preserver program. What did you give to the homesteaders in your life? Or did you forgo gifts altogether?...

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Bread Ovens of Quebec Free e-book

Mr. Homegrown

January 7, 2014

Appropriate Technology, Bread, Food, How-to, Resources, Water and Power

...and I understand why. If you’re interested in more information on DIY ovens, I’d recommend The Bread Ovens of Quebec along with Kiko Denzer’s Earth Ovens and Alan Scott’s The Bread Builders (brick ovens). If you’d like to see an oven built in the Quebec style, these folks have posted their experience of building one....

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Nomadic Furniture

Mr. Homegrown

February 5, 2014

Design

7 Comments

...e about that thoughtstyling). The subtitle of the book sums it up, “how to build and where to buy lightweight furniture that folds, inflates, knocks down, stacks, or is disposable and can be recycled.” You can see more of their work thanks to a recent retrospective of their work in Vienna. My favorite project in the book is the series of “knock-down living cubes” made from 2 x Douglas fir and plywood. There’s one for kids, one for work, another fo...

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Greywater Design and Installation Workshop

Mr. Homegrown

February 8, 2014

Events, Water and Power, Water Conservation

18 Comments

...in class. Learn How to design a system for your home and landscape How to build a system- you’ll create a “mock-up” of a real system with real greywater parts What parts you’ll need for your home How much greywater you produce and how many plants you can water What soaps and detergents are “greywater friendly” Tour Real L2L greywater system Gravity “branched drain” greywater system from sinks Date: February 22, 2014 – 10:00am to 12:30pm Location:...

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