“Deek” Diedrickson on GardenFork Radio

Treehouses, homemade canoes and Labrador Retrievers. What more can you ask for in a radio show? Eric Rochow of GardenFork recently spoke with Deek Diedrickson, microhome builder and author of the new “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks” book in an episode of GardenFork Radio. Deek and Eric (two men cut from … Read more

Tiny Homes Simple Shelter

I have a new favorite tiny house book and I have been anxious to share it with you. It is Lloyd Kahn’s Tiny Homes Simple Shelter Scaling Back in the 21st Century. Lloyd contacted me about two years ago and said that he wanted to do a book on tiny … Read more

Under a Mushroom

I fell in love with my first tiny house when I was in fourth grade, and it was the size of a mushroom. The book “Under a Mushroom” by Anita Lobel was located in the bookshelf of my classroom, and during nearly every free reading period, I would take it to my desk and pore over the delightful illustrations. They showed small, fantasy creatures living under mushrooms complete with small furniture, pots and pans, miniature wood stoves and even curtains made of flowers. After school I would run home and attempt to make my own “mushroom house” underneath a pine tree.

The story is about a Troll family who live under a mushroom in a meadow. They are content in their tiny home, but a bit bored. One day it begins to rain and various other creatures (Glumps, Dimmles, Gizzygonks, Tomtes and the like) show up to come out of the damp.

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Gnome Home

When I was six years old, one of my Christmas presents was the book, Gnomes, by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet. Even at such a young age, I was charmed so much by the little nocturnal creatures and their tiny  homes, that I was bound and determined to also live in one. The book was so well written and so beautifully illustrated, it was as if Huygen and Poortvliet had been studying the little people for decades.

Written with a naturalist’s hand, Gnomes is a guide to the life of the little woodland and garden creatures. It covers everything from courtship and marriage, children, food gathering, handicrafts, and the building and care of the gnome’s tiny underground house.

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