I'm back

As you may have noticed I haven't been posting lately. I took a break from computers to refocus my energy. I've been reading some good Homesteading books and getting all sorts of crazy ideas in my head for this up coming summer. All I need now is the snow to melt and maybe a little sleep. I'll fill you all in on what I've been up to in another post.

Toilet rebuild

Today I'm replacing the old fill valve in our toilet with a new water saving model.  The new fill valve allows me to adjust how much water goes in to the tank and sits in the bowl. So, less water will be used with each flush. The kit cost less than $10 and  the no tool installation is very DIY'r friendly.

Remember, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"

Cuttings

I haven't had much success in the past trying to root cuttings. Out of the six angels trumpet cuttings I took this fall only two have made it this far...    I've decided to start trying different types of plants and methods of propagation, hoping that with practice I'll master the art.

A person I work with gave me some pieces of her jade plant that had broken off. Some of the pieces already had roots forming so they should root pretty easily.  I also found a $.75 African Violet that was in the clearance section at the garden center I work at.  I chopped the African Violet up and dipped the pieces in rooting hormone. I'm using Vermiculite as my soil-less rooting medium.  They are now hanging out under a grow light in a portable greenhouse so the cats don't eat them.  Let the waiting game begin...

Keep'n the dehydrator fired up

The melon and orange turned out great. My portabello mushroom kit had it's first "flush" leaveing me with a excess of baby portabellos. so, I decided to try dehydrating a small batch for later use.

But if the Dervaes family gets their way I wont be able to use the terms urban homesteading or urban homestead here on this blog.  Here is a Facebook page that was setup about the issue. Take-Back-Urban-Home-steadings

Fire'n up the dehydrator

Melon and an orange. Sliced thicker this time.

Mango Green Tea

Inspired by a strawberry and green tea blend I saw at the grocery store, I mixed some of the mango that I over-dried the other day to this evening's cup of green tea.
The result was better than expected. I think I'm going to start experimenting with dried fruit and tea blends.