Kimchi Secrets Revealed

...i champion Granny Choe at Krautfest 2009 – photo from Eating L.A. The last time I tried to make the spicy Korean fermented cabbage dish known as kimchi it was such a disaster that Mrs. Homegrown exiled the batch to the back porch where it rotted for a good two months before we got around to sending it to the landfill. At Krautfest 2009, which we helped organize back in September, we had the great privilege of learning to make kimchi from kimchi en...

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Gathering of Community Gardeners

...rt of that garden was perhaps the only thing that kept me sane during that time. I had a series of mind numbing jobs followed by periods of depressing unemployment. Having access to that little plot of land allowed me to meet members of my community and to get my hands in the soil. I harvested some fantastic artichokes, kale, onions and chard from that plot. I have a lot of love for community gardens so I am thrilled to be a part of this event. Th...

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Stirred, Not Shaken

...kinda hard to come by in Los Angeles. While it may be heresy to some, perhaps we’ll have to come up with some modifications to the rituals that make sense in this particular place and time. More on biodynamics, specifically planting by the cycles of the moon and planets, when Mr. Homegrown gets back from San Antonio next week....

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Water Conservation

...nservation. So before delving into greywater and rainwater harvesting it’s time to assess where your household is in terms of water consumption and see if that level can be reduced. It’s generally far easier and less expensive to conserve resources than it is to resort to the latest techno-eco-gadgetry. So let’s count down the major sources of domestic water use (according to percentages calculated by the American Water Works Association Research...

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Siphon Your Bathwater

...ve siphoning devices available in hardware and auto parts stores made for siphoning gas, but SuviveLA has not tested them yet. If siphoning is too much effort for ya, it’s time to move on to more permanent solutions involving rerouting your plumbing that we’ll get into in subsequent posts....

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