We are all gardeners

April 2, 2015

Back to the Garden, Gardening, Thoughtstylings

...ther level, we need nature to remain healthy and sane. It’s not just about food or water or air quality, it’s about spirit. We are programed to be in relationship with the natural world. This is the subject of a whole different essay, but if you need convincing, check out books like Last Child in the Woods and Your Brain on Nature, or more immediately, articles on “nature prescriptions” like this one in Slate. Embracing our role as gardeners and s...

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Grillin’ and Tempin’

Mr. Homegrown

July 4, 2014

Food

3 Comments

...h 160 degrees to kill germs, says Benjamin Chapman, assistant professor of food safety at North Carolina State University and a food safety specialist at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Temperature matters far more than color when it comes to meat, Chapman says; even thoroughly browned burgers can harbor bugs. “I was not a popular person at a family cookout a few years back when I insisted we ‘temp’ the chicken as we grilled in the rain,...

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A garden that looks like a meth amphetamine lab

Mr. Homegrown

March 18, 2007

Self Watering Containers

1 Comment

...with a minimum amount of human intervention. We also need to start growing food everywhere we can. There’s an ugly concrete patio just off our back door. We could have spent much money and effort to jackhammer it and replace it with a yuppie entertaining deck but instead we’re growing food on it. We built some self-watering containers (for instructions on how to do this see our earlier post) and we’re growing collard greens, tomatoes and southern...

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What Preparedness Lessons Did You Learn From Hurricane Sandy?

Mr. Homegrown

November 2, 2012

Preparedness

12 Comments

...ries). 4) either prepare emergency food ahead of time or keep an emergency food supply. Based on how Tonga have been in NYC, I’d say a week’s worth of food is good. 5) something I’ve wanted for a while, but never had the funds for (or forgot about) is a solar powered generator. That sure would have made my life a lot easier this week! 6) have an evacuation plan. I have no idea how to get out of Staten Island by bus. I always take the ferry because...

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2022 in Review: Cats, Mushrooms and Politics

Mr. Homegrown

December 31, 2022

Thoughtstylings

5 Comments

...inez campaign. Thankfully Hugo won in November and has already got to work making our streets safer and helping tenants and unhoused people. Tech I put up a 10 meter and 2 meter radio and did a little bit of amateur radio stuff. I’m not great at it but did manage to make digital contacts as far away as Indonesia with ancient Radio Shack equipment. I also figured out how to decode airline data transmissions but did not figure out why I would want t...

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