Matching Your Waste Stream to Your Composting Method

August 12, 2014

...ompost pile There’s also stuff that can’t go in the worm bin. And once you build a big pile it’s best not to keep adding to it. For this reason we have a kind of “disposal” pile. It’s a compost bin that gets the materials that can’t go into the other two. Advantages: reduces the biomass of all the stuff that can’t go either in the worm bin or the big compost pile. Disadvantages: produces a low quality compost. Alternatives The labor involved in bu...

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The Arroyo Co-op in Pasadena

Mr. Homegrown

September 7, 2014

Food

5 Comments

...) and, as a co-op, we can be responsive to member requests. In addition to building a neighborhood market with a conscience, Arroyo Food Co-op is building a community around it. We bring people from all walks of life together at the co-op, for educational and social gatherings that share the theme and values we pursue in our product line. In an effort to foster connections and growth, we host a weekend meeting called “Food for Thought”, where we i...

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Straw Bale Garden: What I Learned

Mr. Homegrown

November 12, 2013

Gardening, Straw Bale Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

29 Comments

...decided to continue straw bale gardening on a smaller scale. I’m going to build some raised beds and fill them with soil, but I’m leaving room for two bales to grow nitrogen hungry crops, principally squash. I’m also planning on building a box to hold those bales so I don’t have to stake them every season. Like most things in life it’s not an either/or proposition. You can have a conventional vegetable garden and save some space for straw bale ga...

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Who Killed the Non-Electric Toaster?

Mr. Homegrown

December 15, 2014

Bread, Domesticus, Food

34 Comments

...r broken toaster. It made me remember designer Thomas Thwaites’ attempt to build a toaster from scratch and how well that project showed the complex, interconnecting supply chain involved in manufacturing even the simplest electronic device. The failure of our toaster was caused by a break in the heating wire. Following these instructions, I attempted to mend the break, but it was in an awkward location and, like most objects these days, the toast...

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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

4 Comments

...val Common Sense, does a good job of refuting this notion in a blog post, “Build a brick rocket stove: Is it safe to use concrete blocks?” The short answer is that those concrete blocks are not going to explode. But if you want something permanent you should use fire bricks and fire clay as mortar so it won’t crack. Related to this issue is our use of regular bricks in the hearth of our adobe oven. Most sources suggest using fire bricks or kiln br...

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