A: To freak out my neighbors.Homebrew Husband and I go on approximately one date a month, if we’re lucky. Lately they’ve been less frequent, and have included our little guy, which does take some of the romance out of the mix. Anyway, last Friday was Date Night! We dropped our daughter off for an evening of…
DIY vs BUY Dishwashing Detergent
We were unloading the dishwasher yesterday and Homebrew Husband pulled a sparkling wine glass out of the top rack. Forgive me that ad-copy imagery, it irritates me even to write it, but there it is: the night before we had enjoyed wine with friends, and my man willingly unloads the dishwasher. The new look of better…
Father's Day Dreams
As boys, we are taught to dream big. To throw the game-winning touchdown, to fly the Space Shuttle, to slay the dragon. The world is our oyster, we can be anything. Over time, the probabilistic realities of life and our own limitations get in the way. We grow up and take the jobs that our…
Duck Egg Fettuccine with Oyster Mushrooms and Herbs (Plus the Mushroom Kit Winner!)
As promised, today is the day to announce the winner of the Back to the Roots Oyster Mushroom Giveaway. In a few weeks, our lucky winner is going to be sporting some serious Fungus Among Us action, just like this: But first, an idea for what you can do once you harvest your can’t-get-fresher-than-this mushrooms….
Fear And Sowing In Suburbia
I had a long conversation with my mother-in-law yesterday. She lives in California, and she told me that word on the Cali street is, if your home is burgled you don’t call the cops, because they won’t come. Because of budget cuts, there aren’t enough police officers to take a report at the scene of the crime….
Chicken Crack: Homestead Upcycling
I am not the first to observe that livestock are an excellent way to convert waste scraps into food. But seeing your chickens go to town on a big bowl of, essentially, garbage, really hammers home the adage that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. This past weekend, like many, Homebrew Husband spent five leisurely hours…
The One Edible You Must Grow
Herbs. If you grow nothing else yourself, if you buy all your lettuce and tomatoes and chard and cucumbers at the market, promise me you will at least grow your own herbs. Now I might be bit biased because I did my culinary externship at a restaurant known for its herb-enhanced cuisine, but I can’t imagine…
Birds Eye View: An Overview Of The Garden
I talk a lot about my garden, and if you are kind enough to read this blog, you know a lot about my garden. A reader asked me to put up a garden map or layout to make it more clear how all the parts of “my office” come together. It is still a great…
The Chicken Coop Is Done…Enough.
The builder of our chicken coop turned it over to us with just a few final details left to handle: painting, notably, and any sort of facade-bling we wanted to add. We painted Coop 2.0 gray because that was the only color exterior paint we had on hand (you may recall me saying that exact…
Garlic Rust and Gardener Waterworks
Last year, Nick really got on board with the gardening thing. His support and assistance and enthusiasm is what has allowed my backyard garden to become our urban homestead. The gateway plant, the crop that drew him into the entire gardening ethos, was garlic. Nick was so enamored of the way hardneck garlic scapes curl and twist,…
Back To The Roots Oyster Mushroom Kit Giveaway!
UPDATE: Nikhil has offered to give away a Back To The Roots Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit free to one lucky reader! There are three ways to enter – use all of them for triple entries! First way to enter: go to the Back To The Roots Facebook Page and like the page. Leave a comment…
Let's Call It A Vacation: The Mother Earth News Fair Getaway
Homebrew Husband and I made a very last minute decision to attend the Mother Earth News Fair this past weekend. We weren’t going to brave the ride to the fair with our son, Young Mr. Screams-In-Car, but a combination of things came together late Friday that convinced us it would be worth attempting the hour-long drive. Chief among these was…