Making the Shed Great Yet Again

February 17, 2020

Here’s a picture from May of 1999 showing our late doberman Spike guarding me while I worked on our then 90 now 100 year old shed. Guess what I’m doing over 20 years later? Working on the same shed. Me in 1999. In 2020 I need glasses. The shed has gone through two previous improvement battles starting with shoving a foundation under it, electrification and strengthening the floor followed by a somewhat misguided attempt at insulation and ceiling...

Read…

Misadventures in Laser Cutting

Mr. Homegrown

August 5, 2019

Design

7 Comments

...l wood box. Laser cutters can also cut entirely through thin materials so that opens up more possibilities to do things that would be difficult to do by hand. I’m intrigued, for instance, with the possibilities for making three dimensional folding paper cards. You could also use the laser cutter for screen printing, making stencils, wood inlay or marquetry. Many thanks to the knowledgeable staff of the Octavia Lab!...

Read…

Adventures in Extreme Making: The White Rose

Mr. Homegrown

February 9, 2017

Design

2 Comments

For reasons I can’t fully articulate, I often think about an obscure film by the artist Bruce Conner called “The White Rose.” Conner’s film documents the moving of a huge and mysterious painting by the artist Jay DeFeo. The painting is so large that the moving company had to cut a hole in the wall of DeFeo’s second second floor apartment to get it out. Perhaps the appeal of this film is the problem solving or the obsessiveness of DeFeo. Or maybe...

Read…

Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

Mrs. Homegrown

June 2, 2016

Domesticus, Food, How-to, Solar Oven Summer

8 Comments

...ambitious you could sew in an elastic band to hold the cover tight. How-To Making the cloths is very easy. All you have to do is cut some squares or circles of thin cotton fabric, like muslin. Pink the edges if you have pinking shears–this looks better, but I don’t think the edges will unravel much anyway, because of the wax. Size depends on intended use. I can imagine eventually having a range of sizes and shapes. For instance, I’m imagining that...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Eating Crickets and Making Coffee

Mr. Homegrown

October 17, 2015

Saturday Linkages

..., according to new research. Via @keatleygarvey http://t.co/jfoJVN5JNB — UCUrbanAg (@UCUrbanAg) October 16, 2015 Banana Spook Cake – A Vintage Halloween Recipe Re-Run http://t.co/zYOyLPuW6p — Root Simple (@rootsimple) October 15, 2015 Top 33 Coffee Projects http://t.co/eWy4mIES5L — Root Simple (@rootsimple) October 15, 2015 Sitting for long periods doesn't make death more imminent, study suggests http://t.co/JoT6NiV3x8 — Root Simple (@rootsimp...

Read…