Putting Your Civic House in Order: How the Young Members of the Family Help

July 10, 2017

...children can be made the means of contributing to the family income, thus making it possible for them to stay in school longer. In one district two inexperienced young boys in their very first garden venture raised so much produce that they supplied the table for a family of seven for a whole year and had a good deal to sell besides. It proved the practical value of instruction in agriculture, brought about a better appreciation of it and inciden...

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News From Nowhere

Mr. Homegrown

May 25, 2018

Thoughtstylings

9 Comments

...ecause they are needed: men make for their neighbours’ use as if they were making for themselves, not for a vague market of which they know nothing, and over which they have no control: as there is no buying and selling, it would be mere insanity to make goods on the chance of their being wanted; for there is no longer any one who can be compelled to buy them. So that whatever is made is good, and thoroughly fit for its purpose. Nothing can be mad...

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I Made an Enzo Mari Table and So Can You

Mr. Homegrown

October 24, 2023

Design

6 Comments

...terial than the examples in this book. I experienced my own contradictions making this table. Using reclaimed lumber meant the base was free but the decking material used for the top (it’s an outdoor table) was expensive. And my little modernist experiments in furniture–this table and my Gerrit Rietveld chairs–live outside, while a Medievalist arts and crafts fantasy plays out in the furniture I’ve build for the inside of the house. Such is the fa...

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By Hand and Eye

Mr. Homegrown

February 12, 2018

Design

1 Comment

...lden section, for instance, and the shelf spacing came from an exercise on page 131 of the book. Far from being restrictive, I found the principles in Walker and Tolpin’s book liberating. I now had a starting point for any design project. For modern folks it’s difficult to imagine working without a ruler. Walker and Toplin explain, Instead of asking, “How high is this base dimension in inches?” pre-industrial artisans would have asked, “How tall i...

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115 Inventing a New Word: Apisoir

Mr. Homegrown

January 31, 2018

Animals, Bees, Podcasts

14 Comments

...he reasons he thinks we should support local honey. You heard it first on Root Simple! During the podcast Michael mentions: Rowan Jacobsen’s book American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields “Merroir“ Bee Local Honey Planet Bee You can reach Michael via his Facebook page and his email is michaelalberty@gmx.com. Apisoir, apisoir, apisoir! If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-...

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