Party in the Bathroom!!!!!

June 5, 2014

...and fiendish, she is in heart failure) and she’s on lots of diuretics, so water is good for her. I am her tub slave. Phoebe says, “Hmm, the rate of flow lacks that certain je ne sais quoi, Fix it. Now.” So, turning on the tub is my first duty whenever I enter the bathroom. If I don’t do it, she’ll stare daggers at me until I obey. Next the boys rush in, probably having heard the water running. They each have their own objectives. Trout likes to j...

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The problem with polar fleece: it’s in the ocean, it’s in sea creatures, it’s on our plates

Mrs. Homegrown

August 17, 2016

Domesticus

24 Comments

...essen the shedding by using liquid detergent and fabric softener in a cold water wash, but this is not a solution, just a mitigation. It turns out that over the years here at our house we’ve sent a good deal of these stray fibers into the soil around our house, since we’ve been using a greywater system. I’m not sure what to think about that. I doubt that the fibers are as disruptive in the soil as they are in a marine ecosystem, but still, it’s no...

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Hops in Containers

Mr. Homegrown

August 2, 2009

Beer, Gardening, Herbs, Hops, Self Watering Containers

5 Comments

...badly. Hops suck up a lot of water and, thanks to the SIPs, I only have to water once a day. The SIPS are full of potting mix with a ring of organic fertilizer placed on top of the soil as specified in Josh Mandel’s directions. I have periodically added an organic liquid fertilizer to the water reservoirs as hops need a lot of nitrogen. Cascade cones almost ready to harvest in late July I don’t know how my hops will do in SIPs the second year, and...

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Beads and Roman Sandals Won’t Be Seen

Mr. Homegrown

October 9, 2006

Permaculture

...herb spiral which is essentially a mound. In the permaculture version the water hungry plants are placed at the bottom of the mound and the dry plants at the top, the idea being that the water collects towards the bottom of the mound shaped spiral. We didn’t do the mound thing out of laziness and a lack of materials, and because the herbs we planted don’t require much water anyways. As for the spiral shape itself, we’d like to think that it’s our...

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Going Gray!

Mr. Homegrown

August 7, 2009

Water and Power, Water Conservation

10 Comments

...as you know takes a good bit of water, so I thought our not-so-gray shower water would be much appreciated by the little yellow bastards. Another benefit is that we won’t have to deal with the recurring shower clogs which have been forcing us to use drano. The drain setup was super simple from a plumbing perspective, so all I did was cut off the old drainpipe, replace the drain assembly, and route a new pipe out to the garden. It took three 22 deg...

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