Recent Posts
Backyard Gardening, Year 5: Expanded Beds and New Seed Starting Setup
This year, I've more than doubled my garden space! I added new plant varieties—and now, we have bees! See how my 250+ bulbs did and learn how I'm keeping track of everything in the yard.
Book Review: Retrosuburbia: The Downshifters Guide to a Resilient Future by David Holmgren
Not everyone has 40 acres and a mule. This book explains how to be more sustainable, off-grid, and productive on a regular neighborhood lot!
Tutorial: How to Make a Braided Rag Rug From Old Sheets or T-Shirts
Upcycle old shirts and sheets into wonderfully colorful braided rugs in 6 simple steps! Minimal or even no sewing; easy-to-follow instructions; lots of photos!
Backyard Gardening, Year 4: Spring Planning, Planting, and Improvements
Each year I try to level up a few gardening skills—and this year we have to landscape along a new front fence and incorporate the chickens into our routine!
Backyard Chickens: Why We Got Them, Where We Set Up the Coop, and What's Next!
Chickens? We weren't going to get animals until our kids could do the chores. Here's why we changed our minds and how we got chickens set up in our backyard.
Book Review: The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler
We're accustomed to working on our jobs, our marriages, and so much else. What about our families? This book explains how families can be happier, healthier, and flourish together.
Making the Most of Our House with No Unused Space
The average American family uses only 40% of their floorplan—but we're not average! Here's how we make the most of our space, and how you can, too.
Incremental Organization: How We Made Our Garage Better For Playing, Storing, and Working
Every week, we ask: What’s one incremental thing we can do to make our living space work better for us? This week, we tackled the garage.
Building Raised Garden Beds in Our Backyard
Our first home improvement project was to create a 200+ sqft garden in our backyard. Here's how we built our raised wooden garden beds!
America Needs Strong Towns and Community, Not More Infrastructure
How do we build prosperity? The key is in little actions that have big payouts—because human cities are complex systems that learn and adapt, not complicated machines we can fix.