Search Results for: label/build%20it/2010/06/the-urban-homestead/2011/04/making-it

979 results

All Politics Are Local

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Thoughtstylings
8 Comments
...ronment: our household, our block, our school district, our city. All politics are local and the good thing about local politics is that you can make a difference. For instance you can: start a community or school garden volunteer to teach gardening or food preservation plant trees build neighborhood resilience and tolerance create bike lanes and walking paths legalize backyard poultry and bees Not that these local goals are necessarily easy, but...

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Tomato Can Stove

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Preparedness
2 Comments
...ks on the same principle as a charcoal chimney starter and it is simple to build. 1. Use a 28 ounce can – I used a Trader Joes tomato can. First, drill a bunch of 1/8 inch holes in the bottom. 2. Next, drill eight 1/4 inch holes about 3/4 of an inch from the top and bottom of the can. 3. Lastly, thread three pieces of heavy wire up through the 1/4 inch holes in the top and bottom to function as a stand for the pot. The wires should extend about tw...

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Hexayurt

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Preparedness
2 Comments
...ill, responding to our rant about designing for a world dominated by 4 x 8 building materials, sent a link to this unique yurt-shaped emergency shelter which can be built out of 4 x 8 sheets of nearly anything (the globe shaped thing on the right is an inflatable satellite dish). Designed by software engineer Vinay Gupta, who is working on this project full time, the “Hexayurt” costs somewhere between $200 and $500 to build, and requires only six...

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Pee on your Compost

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Composting
1 Comment
...be diluted before applying directly to plants since salts in your pee can build up in the soil. Dilution should be at least 10 parts water to one part urine. Peeing directly on plants can burn them as anyone who owns a dog already knows about. Urine is easiest to apply to non-food crops, though it’s perfectly safe to use on fruit trees and bushes. Applying it to root crops is more controversial, and frankly seems like a practice best left to hipp...

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Self Watering Containers

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Self Watering Containers
22 Comments
...watering containers such as the Earthbox® are available, it’s possible to build your own with these detailed instructions (warning–long pdf) by Josh Mandel. Or take a look at our how-to video: We built our self watering container with an old plastic storage bin. The ubiquitous five gallon bucket also makes an excellent choice. Clever and water-wise folks may want to trick out their self watering containers with overflow tubes to carry excess wate...

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