HOMEGROWN

Celebrate “culture” in agriculture & share skills like growing, cooking, canning

Charlyn
  • Female
  • Corvallis, OR
  • United States
Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share Twitter

Twenty First Street Urban Homestead

Loading… Loading feed

 

Charlyn's Page

Latest Activity

Jennifer commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Betty Lou is....Billy Lee?'
"If only you could ask him/her—although that would be a fairly delicate conversation. And, I suppose, the writing is already on the wall or, rather, the wattle is on the rooster."
May 13
Charlyn posted a blog post

Betty Lou is....Billy Lee?

            Denial is a powerful thing….for weeks, we have been looking at the peeps as they grew into peepsters and pondering Betty Lou. She was bigger than the other Barred Rock; her comb was a brighter red and more pronounced; her peep chest butts were more forceful than the others. But, I just thought “She was born a few days earlier.” Or “She has a stronger personality than the Buff Orpingtons. Barred Rocks are a more aggressive chicken, after all.” I never thought—is she a he? You would…See More
May 12
HOMEGROWN.org commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Beeswax Candles'
"Folks: For even more detailed instructions on each step of the process, see Charlyn's awesome Beeswax Candles 101."
Mar 20
Chris commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Beeswax Candles'
"Couldn't find it on Amazon but I found an amazing salve recipe that not only uses beeswax but would definitely be very useful to me.... Homemade Tiger Balm!  (: (: How to make Homemade Tiger Balm"
Mar 20
Charlyn commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Beeswax Candles'
"There's a book called Making Herbal Medicine that has the process. I took a class from the author, we made salves, and it was pretty straightforward.  "
Mar 19
Chris commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Beeswax Candles'
"Well that's certainly timely and helpful.  Bought some raw beeswax from a local beekeeper a month ago and was wondering how to process it into clean beeswax.  In addition to a few candles, I'm looking to make some lip balm that…"
Mar 19
Charlyn posted a blog post

Beeswax Candles

  One of the benefits of having a bee hive in the backyard is “free” beeswax. We’ve been gathering our wax for several years, working out a way to clean it sufficiently. After some experiments, Mark bought a colander from Goodwill, lined it with an old tee-shirt, and melted the comb down over a pan of boiling water. When he lifts the colander, the hot wax streams through the fabric and cools on the surface of the water. Voila! A disc of clear beeswax!  The disc lived in the larder for a year,…See More
Mar 10
Charlyn commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Soil Maintenance in Raised Beds'
"I like the idea of overgrown flower pots-- reminds me to put some cosmos and marigolds in with the veggies! Nice image. "
Feb 13
Jennifer commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Soil Maintenance in Raised Beds'
""It was Transformative": Well said! Thanks for the soil tips—not to mention the chili recipe. (Is it dinnertime yet?)"
Feb 11
Charlyn posted a blog post

Soil Maintenance in Raised Beds

            Being a serious gardener is not about growing the purple-podded peas and heirloom tomatoes, searching the catalogs for new and exciting varieties of potatoes. It’s not about new and fancy gadgets, or garden art and colored flower cages. It’s not even about planting your own starts on a rainy day, slipping them into the ground under the cloche just before the hail sets in. Being a serious gardener is about maintaining the soil. And it is not easy, nor for the faint of…See More
Feb 10
Charlyn commented on Matt Volz's blog post 'What I strive for (what homesteading means to me)'
"I think we are workingtowards the same thing--simplfying your life  so you have time to do what you love, rather than working to support a life you don't.   I like living in town so that I don't have to drive everywhere."
Nov 24, 2012
HOMEGROWN.org commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Homesteading, defined'
"For interested parties, here's the Mother Earth News story announcing the 2012 Homesteaders (comments at the end), and here's HOMEGROWN's blog post on the winners."
Nov 6, 2012
Charlyn posted a blog post

Homesteading, defined

I wrote this in response to the comment on Mother Earth News, about The Homesteaders of the Year (I'm one) not being self-sufficient and living off of their land....               I call our home an Urban Homestead to evoke the days when people traveled west, settled on a piece of land, and went to work to improve it, turning it into farmland. Was this always the best decision for the land? Probably not. Did they all remain on the land?—not at all. They moved to town, diversified their skills,…See More
Nov 5, 2012
Charlyn posted a blog post

The Problem is the Solution

I’ve been considering two principles of permaculture this week: Distribute the Surplus and the Problem is the Solution. The first is easy—the second, not so much so. Distribute the Surplus happens, formally, twice a year. In the spring, we send off the extra tomato starts into the world. I’ll start eight to twelve seeds for each variety, which means, in a good year, we have about 80 extra plants. They leave home in April. People now wait for the announcement. In fact, Nancy starts asking…See More
Oct 7, 2012
Hugo commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Potato Harvest'
""Why do I plant potatoes every year? They're cheap to buy." I ask myself this question about a lot of things that I grow. But you said it, " I love eating my own [anything!]" "
Sep 21, 2012
Carrie Seal-Stahl commented on Charlyn's blog post 'Potato Harvest'
"Thanks for sharing :)"
Sep 18, 2012

Profile Information

Fill in the blank:
Official Urban Homesteader...
A bit about me:
I'm not ready to tell you all of this, so I'm not going to fill in a lot below until I've been here a while.
Latest greatest meal cooked at home:
tomatoes
Currently reading:
lots
Currently listening to:
silence
My latest DIY project:
fence
How did you find HOMEGROWN.org?
blog reference
Web site I recommend:
http://I don't do lots of websites...

Charlyn's Blog

Betty Lou is....Billy Lee?

            Denial is a powerful thing….for weeks, we have been looking at the peeps as they grew into peepsters and pondering Betty Lou. She was bigger than the other Barred Rock; her comb was a brighter red and more pronounced; her peep chest butts were more forceful than the others. But, I just thought “She was born a few days earlier.” Or “She has a stronger personality than the Buff Orpingtons. Barred Rocks are a more aggressive chicken, after all.” I never thought—is she a…

Continue

Posted on May 12, 2013 at 7:45pm — 1 Comment

Beeswax Candles

 

 

One of the benefits of having a bee hive in the backyard is “free” beeswax. We’ve been gathering our wax for several years, working out a way to clean it sufficiently. After some experiments, Mark bought a colander from Goodwill, lined it with an old tee-shirt, and melted the comb down over a pan of boiling water. When he lifts the colander, the hot wax streams through the fabric and cools on the surface of the water. Voila! A disc of clear beeswax!  The disc lived in the…

Continue

Posted on March 10, 2013 at 3:36pm — 5 Comments

Soil Maintenance in Raised Beds

            Being a serious gardener is not about growing the purple-podded peas and heirloom tomatoes, searching the catalogs for new and exciting varieties of potatoes. It’s not about new and fancy gadgets, or garden art and colored flower cages. It’s not even about planting your own starts on a rainy day, slipping them into the ground under the cloche just before the hail sets in. Being a serious gardener is about maintaining the soil. And it is not easy, nor for the faint of…

Continue

Posted on February 10, 2013 at 9:42pm — 4 Comments

Homesteading, defined

I wrote this in response to the comment on Mother Earth News, about The Homesteaders of the Year (I'm one) not being self-sufficient and living off of their land....       

 

 

 

     I call our home an Urban Homestead to evoke the days when people traveled west, settled on a piece of land, and went to work to improve it, turning it into farmland. Was this always the best decision for the land? Probably not. Did they all remain on the land?—not at…

Continue

Posted on November 5, 2012 at 9:31pm — 1 Comment

Comment Wall (1 comment)

You need to be a member of HOMEGROWN to add comments!

Join HOMEGROWN

At 12:34pm on September 14, 2012, Jennifer said…

Hi, Charlyn. Welcome to HOMEGROWN! My name is Jennifer, and I'm the flock tender here (site updater and tweaker, feeder and waterer of content). I’m so glad you found us, and I hope you’ve already started making your way around the site. You can always find the latest additions to HOMEGROWN at the very top of the homepage, and if you’ve ever got questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment on my profile page or shoot me a message. No pressure to share anything before you’re ready (or ever—some folks prefer just to browse!), but I hope you begin to feel at home soon.

 
 
 

Badge

Loading…

Join us on:

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

© 2013   Created by HOMEGROWN.org.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Community Philosphy Blog and Library