1st rule of gardening: build up the soil by Kirsten Dirksen on December 13, 2010 Every year Jacqueline Kennedy starts her garden by throwing local horse manure under her veggie patch. Her soil is now …
Dirty rags (trapos sucios): zero waste redesigned clothing by Kirsten Dirksen on December 9, 2010 When a company that collects the trash and cleans the city of Barcelona had 1,285 uniforms to get rid of, …
Non-toxic, no-VOC paint for any wall (+ finishing plasters) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Michael G. Smith has spent the past couple of decades using natural materials to build all parts of a home, …
Avoid VOC: homemade natural paint (clay and milk) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Paints are one of the biggest sources of VOCs- Volatile Organic Compounds- inside the home and their synthetic ingredients have …
Urban composting toilet: poo from loo to garden in 1 year by Kirsten Dirksen on December 2, 2010 Flush toilets allow us to avoid confronting just how archaic our sewage systems are. Ninety percent of the world’s sewage …
Heirlooms, hybrids, non-GMO corn & breast of Venus tomatoes by Kirsten Dirksen on December 1, 2010 Heirloom vegetables are big at farmer’s markets, popular among backyard gardeners and now they can even be found in supermarkets, …
A no-VOC earth plaster for a breathable, bioclimatic home by Kirsten Dirksen on November 29, 2010 Modern homes are often built so air-tight to provide good insulation that they don’t allow for fresh air to enter. …
Small homes: a boat, a dream shack & twins in a tiny house by Kirsten Dirksen on November 26, 2010 The godfather of small houses built his tiny shack in the 19th century (see video Thoreau’s simple life at Walden), but it …
Fermented pet: care and feeding of sourdough starter by Kirsten Dirksen on November 24, 2010 Homemade sourdough bread can be a vocation for life. Once you have caught some wild yeast and created a sourdough …
Slow sourdough: catch wild yeast for a better loaf of bread by Kirsten Dirksen on November 23, 2010 In the long history of bread-making, commercial yeast is a relatively new invention (evidence of breadmaking was found in Egyptian …