Getting Out

...n prepare called Getting Out, Your Guide to Leaving America. We completely understand the sentiment of wanting to get the hell out of this proto-fascist banana republic we live in and we endorse this book for those who don’t want to hunker down and do the homestead thing. SurviveLA even has a former colleague in Chanai India who got out of the US several years ago and now has an interesting job and his own ultra low-cost homestead. Despite the all...

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Essential System #9 – Hydration

...ust a few hours without it. We’ve got a number of water sources around the homestead, with a few more back-ups in the works. First off it pays to have some plastic water jugs around – figure two liters a day per person minimum. There are stricter standards for tap water in this banana republic we call the USA than for bottled water so don’t go wasting any money on boxes of Evian. The Red Cross recommends changing out the water every six months. Wh...

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Vegetable Garden Note Taking

...table garden: variety planting day first harvest last harvest comments She suggested a minimum of three years of note taking. If only I had this data! If there isn’t one already, someone should come up with a social note taking app for vegetable gardening that would aggregate information for each local microclimate. Leave a comment if such a thing exists. And for more great gardening advice from Krupnick, check out iGrowSonoma.org. Most of the inf...

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Hollywood always gets gardens wrong (I’m talking to you, Maze Runner)

...consist mostly of an extensive trellis system made out of twigs. Vertical gardening! OK! The set designers had probably picked up on some of the recent vertical gardening hoopla and were using that to make for interesting use of visual space. But what was growing on the trellis? Cloth ivy fronds, my friends. Cloth ivy. The sort used to festoon wedding tables, or is sometimes found creeping dustily along the molding in B&Bs. I don’t know about you...

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How to Make a Hexagonal Raised Bed

...cessories. Mine has gotten a lot of use over the years for everything from gardening projects to building furniture. The angle at the corners of a hexagon are 60º. Therefore, you will need to set your saw to 30º (90º-60º=30º). With the saw set, you just need to cut 12 sections, each 2’6″ long, with that 30º angle at each end. Secure the pieces together with screws at the corners. Although I did not do this I would recommend reinforcing the bed by...

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