Journal of the New Alchemists

April 25, 2014

Appropriate Technology, Aquaculture, Gardening, Thoughtstylings, Water and Power

...) covers mostly their agricultural experiments, but occasionally dips into urban planning and other subjects. Biodome. Image: Journal of the New Alchemy. It’s interesting to look back at their work to see what ideas went mainstream and what faded away. What didn’t stick is what Nassim Taleb would call “top-down” approaches to design epitomized by the 70s fixation on geodesic domes and self contained ecosystems (though we’re starting to see a resur...

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Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

Mr. Homegrown

May 13, 2014

Gardening, Mistakes

25 Comments

...stuff and see what takes off. 2. Soil compaction This is a big problem in urban areas and our yard is no exception. The parkway, which gets a lot of foot traffic, is very compacted. Very few plants do well with compacted soil, including natives. The best way to break up compacted soil is with a broadfork, a spendy item. We use a garden fork instead. 3. Soil fertility When it comes to growing vegetables, in particular, you need rich soil. Get a so...

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Apartment Parking Lot Gardening in East Hollywood

Mr. Homegrown

July 31, 2014

Gardening

8 Comments

...start a garden even if you don’t own a house and how an otherwise useless urban space can be put to good use. R.J. says: I wanted to be able to give my granddaughter the experience of gardening while she was growing up but as both my daughter and I live in apartments, and have no space for gardens I needed to come up with a solution . So based on the “Square Foot Gardening Book by Mel Bartholomew I built two 5 ft. x 1 ft. square foot garden boxes...

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Saturday Linkages: Solar Projects, John Cage and Cat Litter

Mr. Homegrown

April 12, 2014

Saturday Linkages

1 Comment

...child’s Draisienne – the Frosta bicycle – IKEA Hackers http://po.st/6gp9HM Urban date foraging: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=13259 … No Men Allowed! Women Build Own Backyard Sheds http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/2014/04/no-men-allowed-women-build-own-backyard.html#.U0N9ikb3-YY.twitter … Semi-Underground House in Austin, Texas http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/2014/04/semi-underground-house-in-austin-texas.html#....

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100 Eric Rochow of Garden Fork on Maple Syrup, Welding and Cast Iron

Mr. Homegrown

March 15, 2017

Food, Podcasts

6 Comments

...ith Garden Fork impresario Eric Rochow about his adventures in maple syrup making, learning how to weld and the controversial topic of maintaining cast iron. During the show we touch on a lot of things including: Eric’s file cabinet evaporator Eric’s evaporator upgrades Eric’s flux core welding video The Instructables welding class Valpak Harbor Freight coupons Harbor Freight flux core welder Eric’s flux core welding playlist LA’s Molten Metal Wor...

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