Homestead Paradise: got barren land, boosted it at a profit by Kirsten Dirksen on March 27, 2021 In the early 90s, Mark and Jen Shepard bought a degraded corn farm in Viola, Wisconsin, and began to slowly …
How will we live? urban prepping & rural resilience’s momentum by Kirsten Dirksen on April 18, 2020 “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. …
How we live now: tips from offgridders, tinyhousers, homesteaders by Kirsten Dirksen on April 9, 2020 Resilience: “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” For some, preparing for the unexpected has been a way of …
Experiments in small space gardening in Mexico City by Kirsten Dirksen on June 15, 2015 In the ruins of an old storage building, young urban farmers in Mexico City’s Roma District are experimenting with how …
Farm-to-table organic produce growing in dense Hong Kong by Kirsten Dirksen on March 23, 2015 Hong Kong is one of the densest cities in the world (in some parts there are 400,000 people living in …
Dugout shelters & pit-houses: benefits of thermal inertia by Nicolás Boullosa on May 31, 2013 Whether in homes or greenhouses, partially buried buildings (pit-houses, dugout shelters) benefit from thermal stability and the heating and cooling …
Created legendary Napa restaurant, then regenerated a farm by Kirsten Dirksen on September 10, 2012 In 1978 Don and Sally Schmitt opened a restaurant in a former french laundry in a tiny Napa Valley town. …
Dyes from your kitchen & garden: “permacouture” howto by Kirsten Dirksen on February 13, 2012 Sasha Duerr uses just about anything to dye clothing: from kitchen waste (coffee grounds, avocado pits, and onion skins) to …
A rainwater collecting tree that doubles as a clothesline by faircompanies on December 15, 2011 Christina Bertea is an artist and a plumber. She also believes her art can be not only beautiful, but functional. …
Backyard farmers by necessity: self-sufficient and debt-free by Kirsten Dirksen on April 30, 2011 When Myrna and Earl Fincher married 53 years ago they started farming their yard “out of necessity”. As Earl remembers: …
