Shoemaking workshop in Los Angeles, Oct. 16-19

August 12, 2014

...rbara to teach a small 4 day class here in LA from Thursday 10/16 to Sunday 10/19 on how to make turnshoes, a medieval shoe style so called because it is stitched wrong side out and then turned to hide the seams. As far as I know, no one else is teaching this kind of class in the greater LA area. This is deep North Coast hippie technology, imported guerrilla style to the land of tottering platform heels. The shoes are made from custom patterns mod...

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From the Archives: Loquat Leather

Mr. Homegrown

April 29, 2014

Food, Food Preservation, Foraging, Fruit Trees, Gardening

10 Comments

...My philosophy is simply that if one is going to go through the trouble of making fruit leather, preserves, pies etc., one should use outstanding fruit. The flavor tells in the end. After all, the starving times are not upon us. Even Erik can’t get super excited about this fruit leather–as I recall it tasted mostly of lemon and booze. Then again, some people may have outstanding loquats–it sounds so from the comments on the last post. The ones we...

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Kintsugi: Creating Art out of Loss

Mrs. Homegrown

May 15, 2014

Age of Limits, Design, Domesticus

9 Comments

...od as new, as if it had never broken, but acknowledging that breakage, and making something new and beautiful out of disaster, via the practice of mindfulness. Perhaps we can learn something from this. Please do check out the video–it’s short and beautiful. In it, a young craftsman explains the rising popularity of this 400 year-old art form in Japan, says, ” …people are realizing that chasing after money and new stuff and new technology will not...

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C-Realm Podcast on the Age of Limits

Mr. Homegrown

May 16, 2014

Age of Limits

4 Comments

...and I neglected to mention during the interview is that we think there should be a conference here in Los Angeles that would gather together all the amazing people in our region who are making a difference in this world. We’re thinking hands on workshops, talks etc. Let us know if you have any ideas about how to make this happen....

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Party in the Bathroom!!!!!

Mrs. Homegrown

June 5, 2014

Animals, Cats

24 Comments

...I do lock the door, she scratches on the other side in protest–tirelessly– making a noise so annoying that I have to submit and let her in. The boys, Buck and Trout, being handsome but sadly thick, can’t even begin to open the door without her. Phoebe is deeply bathroom obsessed, though, so the boys will never be locked out. Wherever Phoebe is, she comes running when she hears me entering the bathroom. Maybe she doesn’t hear me–maybe she’s set up...

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