Advantages and Disadvantages of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

February 20, 2014

...soil, we’ve got to grow our veggies in raised beds. There’s just too much lead and zinc in the ground, according to our local soil lab. Putting together three new beds recently got me to thinking about the ups and downs of gardening in raised beds. I thought I’d list off the pros and cons: Pros: Keeps roots away from contaminated soil. Good for disabled or elderly gardeners. Neat. If high enough, can keep out some critters–and keep veggies above...

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Fantastical Garden Images

Mrs. Homegrown

January 31, 2014

Gardening, Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...Sudama bows at the glimpse of Krishna’s golden palace in Dwarka,. ca 1775-1790 Not to contribute to the dreaded analysis paralysis, but this Pintrest collection images of fantastical gardens– from medieval sources to contemporary artists–may inspire your own garden, or at least give you a good dose of winter inspiration. Well worth a peek. Thanks to BoingBoing for the lead....

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Kitchen Alchemy

Mr. Homegrown

November 6, 2008

Food, Recipes

3 Comments

...iled on this blog are a kind of alchemy, symbolic gestures that ultimately lead to the kind of societal transformations that Pinchbeck writes about. These symbolic gestures need not be over sized, nor do all of them require land. Cooking homemade meals from scratch, as often as possible, is just the kind of alchemy one can practice anywhere you’ve got food and a source of heat. And what is cooking anyways, but a form of alchemical transformation?...

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Analysis Paralysis

Mr. Homegrown

January 28, 2014

Design, Thoughtstylings

17 Comments

...kespeare describes this condition in Hamlet. The re-design of our backyard lead to the worst analysis paralysis I’ve ever experienced. Weeks went by with no progress. Ideas came and went. The internet made it worse by providing way too many possibilities. A quote in a book finally broke my analysis paralysis spell. The gist of that quote was that we are all called by a higher power to build. I realized that I needed to set a deadline, get off my a...

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Meet the Solavore Sport Solar Oven

Mrs. Homegrown

April 29, 2016

Solar, Solar Oven Summer

15 Comments

...our first trial, and had trouble getting the oven up to cooking temp–which lead to a lentil disaster. I failed to notice the lid clips were there at all first time out because they are not immediately obvious. They are small metal hooks which are permanently affixed through holes in the oven’s body. They come up over the lip of the lid to hold it down tight. The good thing about these clips is that they are very simple and would be easy to replace...

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