Gaea's Box of Rocks

I'm Satisfied

2012-01-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

A rousing cheer to the matron of husbandry for her frugal, almost wasteless use of an entire chicken. The best part is I have now duplicated that feat!

So, yesterday I cooked a whole chicken and after processing, this is what I have left after feeding us (probably at least 8 meals total), the dogs (4 meals or more), and a tasty cooked-carrot snack for dogs and chickens:

Yay! Now those old chickens in the pen who aren't laying any more better watch out...

Just for the Record:

2012-01-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

This poignant essay exemplifies how I feel about it, also. I hope my family will honor those wishes if the situation arises for me.

Considering

2011-11-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

If one assumes this is true:

Look beneath the colorful differences in cultural expression and you find at the core everyone wants to breathe clean air and drink clean water. They want tasty, nutritious food uncontaminated with toxins. They want meaningful work, a living wage, success and happiness for their children, and security in their old age. They want a say in the decisions their governments make and they want to live in peace.— David Korten
Then one must assume those who deny climate change or finite resources, the causes of poverty or the ravages of inequality, or insist that opportunity for all is available (in the developed countries, at least) are only uneducated, illogical, or afraid to clearly see and comprehend. So which is it, and how do you change that?
Let's look at things in a more narrow view - say, those who live in the United States. The media pap fed to the masses - is it a consequence or cause of the disinterest and ignorance routinely displayed by the general US population? This article demonstrates the actuality of American disjunction with the rest of the world, but I want to know the reason why US markets don't respond to the same offerings that attract knowledge-seeking, globally informed citizens from anywhere else. Are the majority of us too stupid to care about anybody else? Or too egocentric to consider the views and events of other people or countries worth our time? Or are we so stuffed with inanities from popular culture and the mass marketing tricks used to brainwash us into consuming without thought of consequence that we have developed a mind-numbing complacency about the true state of our global crises?
To reduce even further, I quite seriously wonder about people I know personally, let's just say friends or family, who I believe are good people and also well-intentioned people, who even have a rudimentary grasp of the value of ecological awareness in small ways such as recycling or using less poisonous chemicals for cleaning or feeding their family, yet still won't or can't realize the bigger picture of resource scarcity, either on a personal or global scale. I'm not sure how emphatic I should be to try to share my knowledge about global issues that quite likely will sooner or late become personal issues for all of us. Just sharing that frightening information (which I do believe I have tried to do on a very minor scale, and it has never been taken seriously or well received) could very well create rifts between them and I...not what I want to accomplish at all. Is there a way to bring enlightenment without alienating those whom you basically need to scare silly?

Get With the Program!

2011-11-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Why do so many people hand out Almond Joy candy bars for Halloween? I don't even know anybody who actually likes those. Especially kids. And this holiday is for the kids, isn't it? Hello?

random

2011-10-24T12:30:00.001-07:00

Reverse that innocence claim

2011-10-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

More recent DNA analysis demonstrates clearly that the Black Death was, indeed, due to Y. pestis and its associated flea/rat vectors. Ah, well. Sorry, black rat.

Mage Wisdom

2011-10-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite quote of the week (er, last week) courtesy of John Michael Greer:

Thus we’ve arrived as a society, and at a very late stage in the game, at the same point that classical philosophy reached after the execution of Socrates, when it became uncomfortably clear that having a small minority of people passionately interested in asking and answering the right questions was no guarantee against catastrophic levels of collective stupidity.

I think he may be a medievalist...castastrophic levels of collective stupidity. Such prose!

The Men in White Coats Are Not Coming For Me After All

2011-10-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today my biology professor lectured - with a straight face - about global warming and the nearness of depleted oil resources. In our lifetime, he said, oil would be so expensive it would be unthinkable to use it for something so inefficient as transportation. It was incredibly gratifying.

Did the mostly freshman students comprehend or believe? Doubtful, for the most part, I think. Regardless, it's refreshing to know that I'm not insane, after all, along with all the rest of the peak oil community. Now if only the rest of the world would listen to all these students graduating from universities...

I think I know how the Christians felt when the Roman emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan.

INNOCENT!

2011-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Apparently the black rats have been exonerated in the Case of the Black Plague (1348-49), at least in the view of these interviewed archeologists. Do all agree? I don't know but would like to. I'm sure the rats would like to know, too.

10 years ago, this book suggested the Black Plague was actually a virus.....now THAT is what I call pandemic. Let's hope the authors are wrong that it will probably happen again, and soon.

Just a little cheer for Saturday!!

MY FAVORITE GARDENING BED UPDATE

2011-07-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

That cucumber on the right wants not only to grow up the gate, but has another runner creeping around the fence enclosure behind this bed, on the other side of the fence.

The prettiest beans ever! Very quick to flower and wildly prolific. Also open pollinated, so I'm saving seeds this year. If I'm not careful these beans may take over the world....

I can't remember the name, but these are Asian long beans. I cooked some REALLY long ones last night and now I see that I need to pick these before they reach this length, they were a bit tough. The ones you see here are now in my fridge, awaiting ingestion.

2011-07-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

Finally! The newbies found a friend within the Old Guard (the black hen).

Big row of tomato plants, setting fruit but no sign of red yet. Sigh.

An odd assortment of beets, gourmet white turnips, kohlrabi, corn, basil, carrots, and to be honest I'm not sure what else. Gardening by surprise is the BEST WAY!

I'm definitely planting more Zinnia seeds next year. They are beautiful and just want to grow and grow and grow and grow...

My favorite bed this year -

the wall of beans (3 kinds), 2 tomatoes, 2 cucumber, and 1 watermelon, along with the few asparagus plants that I didn't kill this spring.

This pix is from June, I'll throw a July pix of this space later, it's amazing.

Want to see the beans, too? You won't be sorry!

The choice of one.

2011-05-31T12:39:00.001-07:00

Like it. A lot.

Surprise

2011-04-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought hail could demolish tiny baby tomato plants....? I just never thought about it before. Some had so many leaves severed I couldn't even find the little sproutlings. I hope they still have some for sale at the garden store.

The beets suffered but I'm eating 'em this weekend, anyway. Just maybe not the leaves.

The swiss chard and spinach are trying to recover.

The artichoke plant looks pretty devastated. It HAD tons of long, huge leaves. Sniff.

AND I have poison ivy all over the right side of my face. Lovely weekend coming up.

Continuation...

2011-04-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

ENERGY: I thought my aversion to coal-produced energy would be obvious and not need to be stated...so with nuclear power out of the question (in my mind), coal being environmentally unfriendly, and solar so far quite unrealized but also being very energy-intensive to initiate, the answer is use less. Do with less. Many do. We can, too. Of course, I am aware that such a statement would be political suicide for any candidate except in a nation populated by Roz and Roz clones! ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Ok, so after some thought I realize having "less energy waste" is not a political platform. It IS an issue in our world, but needs to be chosen, not forced. Kind of like democracy. You have to want it and you have to choose to do it. But I maintain my position that our current political leaders - almost exclusively - do NOT promote efficiency in either lip service or their actual lives. However, it seems the vast majority of our populace also either doesn't think being frugal or thrifty with energy usage (or anything else, for that matter) is desirable or sexy. Or even worth considering. I'm not sure how that mindset evolved. It must take generations to shift from one end to the other. Developed nations, and in particular ours, seem to find profligate consumption a badge of pride. I can't help but wonder if this is the end result of decades of insidious marketing. How else would citizens acquire such drastically different views in the span of roughly 60 years? I quite sure waste of any kind was not tolerated or especially encouraged during the years following the great depression.... So in answer to William's comment from the last post, no, that kind of thing can't be enforced. I guess a lot of people currently are wasteful because they want to be. A sad statement of our citizenry. Not very smart, either. A more prudent mindset would be conservation....not gonzo energy expenditure! SECULAR GOVERNMENT: Yes, the Christian Right does whine louder than the rest of us...and apathy OR a charismatic leader may put us all under the reign of a religious dictator. Let us pray that won't be the case! I LOVE the shorter term limits idea. Agreed, the sheeple are contributing to the problem. I'm starting to see a thread of similarity running through these issues here.... EMPATHY: I don't think everybody is entirely self-absorbed. We might not all empathize about the same things, but I like to think (i.e., I don't want to live in a world where this isn't true!) all of us have the capacity for different aspects of empathy, given our priorities. It's the priority part that I think we are missing the boat on. That being said, we ARE spending too much time handing out the fish instead of teaching to fish. Also, some don't WANT to learn how to fish. That would be too much like work! And also, unfortunately, there are always those who just aren't any good at fishing, no matter how hard they try. Certainly, I want to live in a world where their IS something these people are good at...but finding that thing is definitely a challenge, and cost and labor intensive. But wouldn't that be worth it, in the end? Surely, if even some of us are concerned about future generations, that means we care about people who AREN'T EVEN BORN YET! That demonstrates a capacity for empathy...I think it's a part of human nature. Just not a particularly nurtured or rewarded one. That's what makes it special, maybe? OVERPOPULATION: Of course it will inevitably correct. But the sadness involved...well, that's part of the motivation of my previous post, few readers though it had. I don't have any illusions that it will be heard by many or understood by any or accepted by the majority...far from it! But at least I made my position clear. Now, I'll work on my skills so that if I'm around, I can help clean up the mess. But again, we all choose how many children to have...at least, in my experience. But I realize my life doesn't encompass all situations. For some, having children is a way to guarantee survival later in life. I can't really argue with that desire! But I do despise the situation that makes that the only apparent answer. So let me amend that - in the USA, in my socioeconomic bracket, we choose how many children to have. And even this number, to me, seems over-optimistically large, of late. Unfortunately, it's starting to seem that the problem isn't so much with our government (although I'm not saying there aren't problems there) but is with the general populace at least as much. There seems to be a similarity running through these issues...that of denial of a problem, or maybe a refusal to face fact. Or maybe, everybody just thinks that everybody ELSE should do the dirty conserving deeds...but not themselves. Or conversely, the thinking that if everybody else is living the high life, well fuck it! So will I.... I certainly can't deny the suggestion of this line of thinking appearing in my mindset occasionally, as well. It's depressing as hell. Seriously, though - the emphasis these days seems to be on consuming, convenient, cheap, disposable, dumbing down, getting more than the next guy in line, mindless distractions, loss of the concept of honor, loss of a work ethic (or even ethics in your personal life, too, but I'm no saint there), technology overload or at least over-reliance (again, guilty myself!), and I'm sure I'll add more to that list once I sleep on it. In other words, all the wrong things. Obviously, this whole post, and really the previous post, is really just a pipe dream, no one in their right mind could run with this kind of platform. Does that mean I'm a seriously small minority? I really kinda doubt that. Or that politics are insane and increasingly out of touch with the reality of day to day living for those of us non-elites? Or both...??

Manifesto

2011-03-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

I don't feel my beliefs are represented in Congress pretty much at all. Here is a small list of a few suggestions, although I reserve the right to add to these subjects at any time. I suspect this will not be popular with many, if any. Am I really the only one who thinks this way?

The Fair and Sustainable Platform:

All people deserve access to health care. Coverage should not be determined by profit-making companies. In fact, making money from a pool designed to assist with medical bills is amoral. It means somebody is getting charged too much or paid to little, or not enough people are getting the medical care they need.

Different wages for different jobs, yes. A difference in salaries greater than 300 percent, such as the typical janitor and the CEO of the company he works for? No. Income inequality, especially to that degree, is just asking for trouble for everyone in that society. Look it up.

Access to higher education should be within reach for anyone who is motivated to succeed. I think that the freedom and resources for learning to read and write is an intrinsic human right. I feel this is a true human right, unlike reproductive freedom.

No pork-laden bill passing in Congress. The bill, and that's it. I suspect lobbying was originally designed to bring matters to the attention of lawmakers, so they could have appropriate information before voting on a bill. Today, the lobbyists for too many industries are more like party hosts, supplying extraneous fripperies instead of facts and information of substance. Maybe the whole idea needs to be scrapped and reworked.

Accountability. Yes, this is difficult to police. Without it, corruption will rule the day. That's even harder to live with, isn't it?

Defense spending more in line with global standards. All countries live on the globe, and all countries should share in watchdog activities, within their financial means. Our pro bono UN policeman job is bankrupting the US. Are they going to rescue us when we can't pay the bills? That's a foolish expectation.

Stop sending jobs for Americans to other countries - this should be more expensive to do, not less. Since it's not...we are exploiting people less fortunate than us.

Corporations do NOT deserve the same rights as individuals, who are real people. Actually, maybe they should have less rights than illegal immigrants, who are, in fact, human beings.

No tax cuts for gas and oil companies, among others. Spend that money to help citizens pay for heating costs, since there aren't enough jobs to go around.

We are stewards of the earth, not rapists. Let's preserve a little for future generations, otherwise known as our children and their children, et cetera.

Resources also need to be preserved for the sake of preparedness. Since when was having a back-up plan for survival foolish?

Our infrastructure in this country is old, and getting older all the time. How many jobs could be provided for by turning our attention to aging bridges and such? Oh, right...this isn't MY idea. It was done before.

Separation of church and state (i.e., government) was a pillar for the establishment of this country, which gave residence to many who fled religious persecution. A theocracy was not developed by the crafters of the constitution. A democracy was the plan.

It's irresponsible and arrogant to assume we can control the containment of radioactive waste thousands of years into the future. Basically, we are creating energy we feel entitled to at the expense of future generations, to whom will fall the responsibility to oversee the safety of these radioactive by-products from our reactors. I firmly believe that our ingenious, adaptable minds can come up with a cleaner, more fair way to generate energy. Please shut it all down. Today.

Also, it's environmentally responsible to keep a tight check on energy waste itself, and show a little restraint. Our ancestors certainly didn't need the amount of energy the citizens of our country seems to demand these days. A little reduction in the consumption on everybody's part could actually be better for us. It makes you think of others. Is that a bad thing?

One thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to empathize and bury our dead. Does that mean we actually care about other people? If so, then shouldn't we make sure the folks in our midst who can't take care of themselves are assisted by those who can? I'm speaking of older people who don't have family left, children, and people with disease or defects that prevent them from being as functional as the rest of us. Are we still people if we just cast them to the side, not helping provide them with food, shelter, and a little human kindness? Programs that help people in dire straits are not entitlement programs, they are social safety nets. These need to stay funded, not get cut first when bloated budgets need to be trimmed down.

Finally, the big bad wolf. Stop reproducing so much. How is infinite growth in a finite space sustainable? IT'S NOT. IT WON'T WORK INDEFINITELY. The whole population, at some time, will be paying the piper on this one. Guaranteed. The problem is, I guess we all have to decide to not be the fecund beings we are, since involuntary sterilization would cause a riot bigger than the Civil War. Of course, a massive die-off due to overpopulation may also cause a riot. Which path will we choose?

Okay! Time to start throwing the tomatoes! I'm ready to duck or debate!

Couldn't have said it better myself...

2011-03-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

This guy is so good at putting my nebulous thoughts into succinct and stimulating prose!

But the mainstream left has a naive world view: "People are good, but passively ignorant. A few Bad People are hiding the Truth. If we point out the Bad People and reveal the Truth, the good people will Wake Up. Then we will be able to Change the System from within, to make a Better World for Everyone."

My view is more like this: People are well-intentioned but Actively Ignorant. We are masters of believing whatever makes our lives feel Meaningful, and then finding evidence to support it. If you threaten the stories that make people's lives feel Meaningful, they will kill you. But if you reinforce these stories, they will reward you, even if you exploit them. This leads to giant systems that feed on Active Ignorance, the way a fire feeds on dry sticks. Like a forest fire, the present system is fundamentally destructive and unstoppable. The best we can do is to channel the destruction so that people who are Paying Attention will have a good chance to survive.
posted at www.ranprieur.com by Ran Prieur, March 25, 2011

From Peter Lame, on Facebook:

2011-03-25T09:32:00.001-07:00

Peter Lame'

Question for the "Tea Party": What took you so long to get angry?

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and
appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Dick Cheney allowed energy company officials to dictate energy policy and push us to invade Iraq .

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed for political reasons.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we invaded a country that posed no threat to us and spent over 2 trillion (and counting) on said war.

You didn't get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies
that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when Bush ran up 10 trillion dollars in combined budget and current account deficits.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend over a trillion dollars in taxbreaks.

You didn't get mad with the worst 8 years of job creation in several decades.

You didn't get mad when over 200,000 US citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.

You didn't get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement and home values.

No . . . You finally got mad when a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.

Illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick . . .

Oh, Hell No!!

BIKING ACCESSORIES

2011-03-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Rather, homegrown biking accessories. I think I need to make these panniers, but I'm afraid the bike will be too heavy for me to ride without falling off!!

How to Become Popular

2011-02-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Once you buy a gun, everyone who does not own one clamors for you to take them to the range. Even people who don't LIKE guns. Life is so amusing at times.

I AM AN URBAN HOMESTEADER - URBAN HOMESTEADING IS WHAT I DO!!

2011-02-21T04:40:00.000-08:00

In celebration of Urban Homesteaders Blog Like a Pirate Day (oops, I mean Urban Homesteaders Action Day), I will talk about my urban homestead.

I love my urban homestead.

I love BEING an urban homesteader.

This I have wanted to do for a long, long time...at least, have a farm. But I finally decided since I never seem to have the money for a farm, I would just farm here in the city. Which, as far as I can tell, is traditionally (meaning, from probably back before WWI?) called urban homesteading, among other things.

I have backyard chickens, a rainwater catchment system, a composter and a compost heap, I use a wood stove for (supplemental) heat in the winter, thus why I have a log pile, racks of wood, and a rack of kindling. I have 3 raised garden beds in the backyard with 2 hardy kiwi plants and a butt-load of strawberry plants, a peach tree, and a VERY prolific raspberry bush, straight from the Smoky mountains (a gift, along with the chickens. We urban homesteaders help each other out! For free! I know, this is an odd concept to some folk who might like to trademark common, everyday words....but I digress). Near the driveway, I have an asparagus bed READY TO HARVEST THIS YEAR! YAY! I have more beds, there, too, and a huge rosemary plant. In the front yard, I have another rosemary bush and more raised beds, along with a blackberry bush and 2 blueberry bushes (both struggling). In the house for now but soon to be back outdoors I have dwarf lemon tree (which perhaps I didn't hand pollinate properly...we'll see I guess) and an dwarf orange tree undergoing serious medical treatment. Which I may also not be doing properly, but since he's still hanging on, I will continue to practice my primitive plant doctoring skills. Let's all murmur a few words of encouragement to the universe any which way you think may help, eh? Thanks....

Lessons

2011-02-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

Exquisite instruction from a friend, teaching 11 how to split a log of wood properly:

"Keep your eye on the crack!"

...And Now A Word From Our Sponsors!

2011-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

This is too funny NOT to post. Score!!

Which One Is The Right Choice?

2011-01-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

Trying to live with a small, or at least smaller carbon footprint, can be overwhelming sometimes. I'm not sure how to make decisions regarding which choice is the greener one. For example: Getting to work. At first, I considered biking instead of the 15-minute drive....and I was thinking about giving it a shot. I figured I could handle the challenges of arriving at work rather sweaty, bringing my (stainless steel) water bottle, packed lunch, AND a change of clothes. But I was intimidated by the no sidewalk, no shoulder, no bike lane road I would have to share with many half-awake drivers speeding around me, so I haven't even tried to bike on that particular road, much less during the morning rush hour.

Now I work and home, and at first I thought that must be greener, right? After a few years, however, I have started to realize a few more factors to consider when touting this as a greener choice. First, I have to keep my computers on all day now, to work, instead of shutting them down while I'm gone. I have to light the room I'm in, and I have to heat the house. Granted, I wasn't lowering the thermostat when I left for work in the past. I do keep it around 64 in the winter, and 79 in the summer...but sometimes after being in these cold or pretty warm temperatures all day for a few weeks, I get tired of being uncomfortable all the time, and change the thermostat for a while. In winter I've started using the wood stove to supplement warming the house, and this is effective in some ways. It provides a toasty room for raising my body temp for a while, to stave off the chill, and it slowly billows throughout the house, raising the immediate temperature a few degrees and thus keeping the heat pump from kicking on. When I use renewable wood for heat, however, I have to GET the wood here! Mostly I scavenge deadfall from the neighborhood, and ask folks with piles of wood if they want me to haul it away for free. Friends know to tell me of any wood available where they live, too, and a few had trees cut down, so I paid my handman neighbor to fetch it all for me. I bought a chainsaw (electric) to cut it down to wood stove-sized pieces....but this, too, uses resources - such as being another in a long list of chainsaws living on this street alone (I just didn't feel a chainsaw was a good borrowing tool. It's not like a wrench. It has a manual and everything! Besides, I'm going to need it next year, too, I imagine), burning the coal that TVA uses to supply my electricity, using oil to lubricate the chain, disposing of it when it finally breaks, and all the driving that the future maintenance and repair will entail. Granted, some of this is minimal resource use...but multiply that by every chainsaw living just in my city. Every drop of water in the tsunami is part of the flood. I guess it just seems that every option has unsuspected pitfalls of carbon impact, making choices very difficult, indeed.

The bottom line is this: Am I using more energy by being home alone, which entails heating, lighting, and cooking for 1 person than I would be in an office setting, where the heating, lighting, and lunch cooking are done for many people? Certainly, fewer resources are probably used for providing the same for many instead of for one, and yet, my heat would still be on, even if I wasn't home. I would still be cooking my lunch, just doing it at night instead of during the day.

So which option IS the greener choice? How far down can you calculate the lowest common denominator for choices like driving to work versus working at home, in an effort to figure out the smallest carbon footprint?

Double Dippin' Banks

2011-01-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

First, we bail out the banks for losing casino bets. Now, taxpayers again get the shaft as banks walkaway after starting foreclosures and kicking out the residents, then deciding NOT to finish the foreclosures, causing cities (i.e., taxpayers) to foot the bill for securing, maintaining, and/or demolishing the domicile.

Just as it seems they can't put us down any more, the banks find one more unprecedented way to demonstrate their disdain for the average citizen...obviously, the only real enlightenment is money grubbing on a vast scale and appalling greed and self-interest, at least according to these con men (and women, I'm not sexist) wearing suits. Armani suits, no doubt.

Post from anonymous

2011-01-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

Homeless go without eating. Elderly go without needed medicines. Mentally ill go without treatment. Troops go without proper equipment. Veterans go without benefits that were promised!! Yet we donate billions to other countries before helping our own first!!!! 1% will re-post and 99% of the people on Facebook won't have the nerve to r...epost this!

A FB reader is concerned....

But of course

2011-01-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

Obviously, investment bankers don't read Cicero:

"According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another."

No Thanks!

2011-01-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Eeewwwww......printed food? Shades of Soylent Green!

2010-11-28T07:53:00.000-08:00

Gallop on the beach!!! Yay!

Oh, I love it ;)

2010-10-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is a bit raunchy, but great!

For the brower challenged (such as myself) here is Pharyngula, thanks PZ!

The Story As I See It

2010-08-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

Why I believe we are on a downward spiral, globally:

Climate change. Even a cyclical, natural (although I personally doubt we are entirely unconnected to this) change in climate could, and is predicted by scientists, to flood many current coastlines and create unlivable temperatures in a large portion of our food-producing areas globally within 20-50 years. Where will all the people go?
Overfishing. A vast portion of this world receives food from our oceans. At current fishing and consuming rates, bluefin tuna is predicted to be seriously endangered or extinct within 3 years.
Dead zones in the oceans. Run off of industrial waste, pesticides, fertilizers, and oil have created these areas of rot in our oceans. They are only getting bigger, and they probably aren't going away.
Impending fresh water wars. This is already becoming a problem but it's off the radar. Most folks don't think about it, unless you're one of the hungry ones because the country upriver from you dammed off your local river to irrigate crops for their own people. Fresh water is, like food and air, something nobody can live without. Ever.
The logistics of feeding an exploding population. The so-called "Green Revolution" helped our planet produce enough food (theoretically, anyway) for the population at that time. Since then, our global population has grown and continues to do so. Can the increased application of more chemical fertilizers and more pesticides bump production up significantly in the coming years? Particularly when larger and larger portions of the population are demanding their rights to a heavy meat diet such as what we have in the US? Are the only people who get to eat going to be the ones who have money?
Excessive use of petroleum-based fertilizer and pesticides that are depleting the soil. Organic food and farming is making a comeback, but it is slow going. Agribusiness has found efficient ways to produce food (less satisfying and less nutrient-rich) but these methods will, in time, turn those fields to dust, unable to grow anything. Returning organic material to the soil by means of composing, instead of throwing it into a landfill, will help replenish the soil and ensure that it lasts for many more years. Livestock manure plays a part, too, along with proper crop management. But these are too time consuming and expensive to be seriously considered by big food production complexes.
Deforestation. In the name of progress, more and forests and farmlands are being razed and contributing to soil depletion. Trees and plants "exhale" oxygen and "breath in" CO2. Humans and animals do the opposite. Symbiotic relationships don't survive when one side of the equation is seriously depleted.
Loss of community. Humans are social animals. We need interaction with others; not the same for everyone, but very few folks wish to live in a vacuum, and even fewer can do it and stay sane. People still have communities and support systems today, but instead of relatives that live with you and neighbors you interact with, these connections can be far flung and hard to reach, making communication less frequent and not face to face. Not feeling as a solid and known part of your own local community, I think, fosters a kind of "renter's mindset" instead of "owner's mindset" regarding local issues, needs, and goals. It also practically ensures that a few people fall through the cracks, such as elderly, lonely folk dying because they don't have enough to pay for air conditioning or food, or children who are molested or neglected because everyone was too busy with their own lives to notice what was happening, or cared.
Loss of a sense of collective responsibility. Maybe this should be a part of #8, but my point in this case is more corporate responsibility. If a legal creation of words can participate as a citizen (and that is where we are headed, don't you doubt it) then it also needs to follow basic tenets of humanism - and how that falls between pleasing stockholders and marketing lethal products (cigarette, anyone?) is a moral issue everybody has to answer for themselves. But unrestricted greed has already threatened to push the global economic train over the edge, yet no accountability has been demanded by the real people, you know, the ones who actually breathe air and eat food.
A belief in entitlement. Many developing countries are desperate to achieve the standard of living enjoyed by the US and other established nations. Unfortunately, a finite amount of resources is difficult to dispense globally. Especially when those who have don't wish to change their lifestyle to help accommodate the ever-increasing numbers of people who feel they, too, deserve to live like us.
Reliance on finite fossil fuels. A finite material cannot, ultimately, provide unlimited growth. To believe such is a delusion of incredible scale. To assume that technology (powered, of course, by this same finite fuel) will step in at the last moment and provide us with a different cheap and prolific energy source is, in effect, betting the future of the next generations on a game of roulette. Don't our children deserve better than that?
People in power doing everything they can to maintain the status quo. Let me state this more bluntly - this very small percentage of the population already possesses most of the wealth (which means access to resources), and yet keep grasping for more and more, with less and less for the remainder of the world's population to share. Or maybe they would rather we all fought over it?
A "throwaway" mindset. Don't fix it or even build it to last, throw it in the landfill and buy another one! It would be almost impossible to keep a vacuum or blender for 20 years these days anyway, because the models and parts change yearly so these items HAVE to be replaced, instead of getting repaired. The manufacturer (and the retailer) make more money when you replace an item rather than buy a part or two to fix it. This is an aspect of capitalism that promotes waste and does not encourage companies to build machines with the quality needed to ensure they will last for a long time.
Many people no longer know how to survive with0ut the myriad of services our society has in place. This includes, among others, food preparation from raw ingredients, grow your own food, service your own machines/tools, build a shelter, ensure your water is drinkable, dispose of your own waste (organic and trash) properly.
Unsustainable mindset. All people need limits. Certainly, I don't hold myself up as able to resist things I want as compared to things I need as often as I should. But I can state definitively that awareness of the true cost (in labor, excessive resource use, and fairness) of how much everything I use in my life helps adjust my thinking more and more.

All of these factors contribute to each other and interact in lesser and greater degrees. Many of these concerns show signs of becoming critical within the next 20-50 years. I probably won't be here for the last part of that....but my son and my nephew will, and the children of everybody I know. What kind of world are we leaving them?

Somebody's been reading my mind!

2010-07-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

(From a comment on Pharyngula, PZ Myers, SciBlogs, Why climatologist used the tree-ring.....):

Posted by: glenister_m | December 17, 2009 6:33 PM

In one of David Suzuki's books he laments that if aliens were observing us they would have to conclude that we were an insane species.

Reasons include:
- if we hunt a food species faster than it can reproduce, it will go extinct and can not be used as food in the future. Yet this is what we are doing to fish and other aquatic species we depend on
- we need clean air and water to survive, yet we contaminate both by dumping our wastes into them (eg. exhaust, sewers, pollution, etc.)
- we are aware of health/environmental problems, (eg. ozone layer, global warming, pollution, smoking, etc.), but will actively resist stopping the causes until we are forced to
- we are aware that exponential growth is unsustainable in any form (eg. population, crops, finances - we live on a finite planet), yet we continue to act as though it can be although that logically leads to our own destruction

Oh, and another thing...

2010-07-07T09:51:00.001-07:00

Let us all mourn the passing of the used-to-be-respected Science Blogs....now in bed with PepsiCo, who has established a blog on "nutrition" (can I even say that with a straight face?) to dwell amongst the real questioning and honest science bloggers. Oh, for shame, for shame....apparently in the end, money does buy everything. Is nothing left sacred?

UPDATE: (I am rather late with this) Apparently Seed decided to yank the Pepsico blog after their bloggers started leaving in droves....good call, but the damage was still done. Is this the beginning of a new era of science and reporting? Well, heck, conflict of interest doesn't seem to apply to Wall Street, so why anywhere else:?

Is it okay to be "Just Not Made That Way"?

2010-07-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just a copy of this comment to one of Sharon's posts ('cause I want to keep this on hand, it expresses my views perfectly):

"Instead I think people just need to suck it up because taking responsibility for supporting the true costs of your lifestyle, whatever that lifestyle is, should not be morally optional. As has been pointed out, this doesn't mean that everyone literally has to garden (that's just an example for the purposes of illustration, like pickles) but that specialization in our economy and our ability to externalize costs has gotten way out of hand. So it's so interesting to read this b/c I've been trying to figure out how to express this idea. It's a really really hard thing to say to someone. It is nearly impossible for people to hear and they react strongly b/c this idea competes directly with the powerful ideologies of capitalism and the American dream."

Sharon's original post can be found here.

need i say more?

2010-05-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

how do you look at yourself in the mirror if you work for monsanto?

TOXIC

2010-02-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

"They killed their mother..." Jake Sully in the movie Avatar is anguished at what his race had done to the Earth.

Fiction? Or really going on?

Poisoning the people and planet...all to make a buck or produce luxuries?

What a crock. Accountability is a lost art, is seems.

Wanna laugh?

2010-02-08T04:19:00.000-08:00

Beer

Thank You Chickens!

2010-02-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ah HA! This morning, 5 eggs in the coop. Obviously, these may have been in there for a few days...I will be careful when using them. It was still quite cold, so I'm sure they are fine. Back in the habit of checking for eggs at night, hooray! Except when it's cold out....

Avatar

2010-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

I'm not surprised the conservatives are affronted by the movie Avatar. As to why, well, I'm quite sure it wasn't exactly the story itself - it's an old story that has been told many times before. I don't think it was special effects, either - a thick, verdant forest, awe-inspiring vistas, and the Na'vi themselves who are lean, fit, and graceful - surely these things didn't provoke the wrath of the right-wingers. Nope, I think what makes them so fired up about this movie is the reflection they see of themselves. Rapacious, black-hearted greed, the arrogance of thinking superior firepower equals higher morality, and the belief that they have a God-given right to take what they want, regardless of the cost in lives. Not a pretty picture - not one I would want to see when I look in the mirror. Of course they aren't happy with this production, and no doubt aghast at the popularity it is enjoying. Yet this image of soulless corporate imperialism is ingrained in the global view of our country.

However, there are many here in the United States who also see this, and despair that our path has led us here. Giving unfeeling corporations the power to ravish and annilate in the name of progress, with no mercy or compassion for those whose lifestyles depend on the land that holds those resources we desire is just another step on the path we chose when our ancestors first laid eyes on this lovely continent.

Is is possible to change our ways? Can we teach ourselves to rein in that urge to possess, to acquire, to destroy in the name of progress? Why is it that our comfort and luxuries seem to rank much higher in the grand scheme of things than cooperation, sharing, and simple respect for ways of life that are different from our own?

RAW AND PRIMITIVE

2009-12-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

I finally found the hasp and lock I'm going to put on this rustic-type chest I'm building. I can't wait to finish it now that the hardware is here, but the holidays have me too busy with other things. Rats!!

Tsk, tsk

2009-11-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

"Where I come from, the description of a nation that leaves its children behind in hunger while showering its upper classes with lavish amounts of more luxury than they know what to do with evokes pictures of present-day Somalia or latter-day Rome and the let-them-eat-cake France of Marie Antoinette. Not of a socially and politically highly developed society of the 21st century."

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

Ilargi at The Automated Earth makes point that should be blindingly clear to all of us...where this is going, and where it will end. Eventually.

Are you and your family ready?

Meyer Lemons...I can't wait to try you!

2009-10-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Looking good, finally getting yellow! Just a few more days...maybe a week.

What price will we pay for our modern world?

2009-10-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

Are we living as the rich during the final years of the ancient Roman empire? Are we sowing the seeds of our own destruction by maintaining bloated, gluttonous capitalistic lifestyles and steadfastly refusing to change more than a little, along with the many who refuse to change at all? Is it disbelief of the true horror? An unwillingness to look the unthinkable straight in the face – utter desolation of the earth and all living things we know on it? Or perhaps defeatism – that one person, one decision, one change can't change it all, so why bother? Some just don't want to take the time, too busy with their own private lives - and I know that some just don't want to give up what they have to share with others, either those around them or the yet-unborn who will be sharing what's left of this place after we are dead and gone – our children and their contemporaries.

According to the latest by climate scientists, to save our world from near devastation, we must stop carbon emissions now. Not slow down, not gently curtail. Stop. Now. Or else, a new, scarier number of 4-degree change – scattered in various locales planet-wide – will come, and quickly.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48791

So, can we do it? Can we downsize, scale back, power down, go back to doing things the way our ancestors did? Can we learn to live in partnership with the globe and nature, instead of raping and pillaging the earth and weaker nations like 17th century pirates, taking everything we can and destroying what's left?

Unfortunately, as much as I believe in the ability of our race to do so, to drastically change our lives to save those who come after us, I just don't see it really happening. Humans have an immense and unimaginable capacity for love, compassion, and selfless sacrifice. But the flip side of that is also present, the dark and miserable world of greed and fear, that can blind and even paralyze those who allow such malignancy to permeate their thinking and their lives. Our modern culture exalts covetousness, makes ever changing new standards for material possessions as tokens of power and success, and, sadly, promotes the ideal of outer beauty being the pinnacle, making all that fall beneath that level not valuable, disregarded, and destined to be thrown on the waste heap. These twisted ideals will not help us easily change from years of wanting the newest things or our sense of entitlement ranging in scope from a latte at Starbucks to air conditioned houses in 70-degree weather. It will be too much sacrifice, too much forgotten. Not many are strong enough to give up today so that there IS a tomorrow. Our urge to hold on to that which we have grown to like or accustomed to, that which defines us and our niche in the complexity of life, is the culprit. We feel comfortable in routine. Yet, our kind has the ability of incredible adaptability, which would give us the strength brave the unknown and give up our comfortable complacency, if we cared enough.

So what if the scientists are wrong? What if climate change is no threat, and we all drastically change our lives for no reason? It is possible – nothing is guaranteed right, in my experience, even coming from those who have studies things for decades. So let's look at the gamble. Okay – we don't change, and the scientists ARE right. We made a wager and lost – not lost our lives so much maybe, but lost the future of all who may come after us. Our children, their children, the future of mankind, one might say? Hmm...what a bet to lose. That's more irresponsible than the Wall Street bankers gambling on sub-prime mortgage securities using credit derivatives with the potential to blow the whole financial system wide open. For us to wager that the scientists are wrong is a worse crime – affecting not everyone here today, but the unknown children of unknown generations – the potential vision of our race, swept away by a tide of corpulent greed and fear of regressing, fear of the unknown. Too bad, humans. Better luck next time, eh? Let's not lose this bet. Who knows what might be lost?

Blog Action Day 2009

Friends

2009-10-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Not doing too well on the gardening side (and doing really, really bad catching gardening photos) so here's a little aside.

Old and new friends from out of town visit and everybody gets a chance to relax. Life is good :)

Small but luscious

2009-07-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

These are nifty little tomato family ground cherries - they do taste an awful lot like a cherry when ripe - the more ripe they are, the sweeter they are. I love tearing open the little lantern package to get to the fruit....until I have to open more than 4 or 5. How in the world am I going to make jam out of these????

july 25 jog

2009-07-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to go, but I did! I'm SO glad now. A total of 19 minutes, with a couple wicked hills. I did go easily at first, then around halfway the difficulties kicked in - also going back up all the hills! I wanted to stop for a walking break again about halfway home but didn't - and finally got a little quickie runner's high - oh yeah, baby! Chills and everything! It was only a couple of minutes but man was it worth it - it almost got me all the way back up the BIG hill. Exquisite.

July 24 - fourth day jog?

2009-07-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

I was really stiff and sore this morning, even tho we went on a bike ride yesterday around noon, to pick up some hamburger buns for dinner. So, instead of jogging outside in the nice, cool, air, I decided to stay in and stretch with some weights for a while and then do 21 minutes on the elliptical, and boy was I feeling that 80 degree thermostat setting! Good cardio and I do feel all warmed up and stretchy now. My breathing is getting better!

July 23 - third day jog

2009-07-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Whew! Okay, time was 14 minutes total - 7 minutes in, 7 minutes back. Again, it took less time to return so I was reduced to running in a circle in the driveway while I waited for the next minute on the clock. I guess tomorrow I will have to run out a minute or two longer, so I can run right up the porch, to the door and in when I'm done. I had a few episodes of serious enjoyment this time - when your body is moving but nothing hurts and even your breath is fairly quiet, and it's as if someone else is doing the work and you're just along for the ride. This was only when going downhill, though...I guess that's to be expected. I did really haul it up one section of hill because there was no shoulder so I wanted to get off the road as soon as possible - it made me feel good I could do it without choking up a lung. Exuberant!

July 22 - jogging second day

2009-07-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

I made sure to time it today, so I can increase my time each day. Total running (running? who am I trying to kid? a tortoise could outrun me right now) time was 12 minutes. I just went straight down my road - I've never even biked down this section - only been on it in a car. I actually got further than I thought I would, luckily for me my halfway time (6 minutes) was up right at the top of this hill - so I got to turn around and coast all the way back! Now that I did enjoy, and my breath didn't burn so much this day. Unfortunately, it was faster going back downhill, so I got back to the house with a minute or two to spare, so I had to keep going back up the NEXT hill, then turn around and finally go inside, elated.

July 21 - First day of jogging regimen

2009-07-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

I forgot to look at a clock when I ran out the door, so I guess maybe I was out for 10 minutes? That might be a really high estimate, though...It was hell! My lungs burned with every heaving breath, my thighs felt like they were on fire. I couldn't hear the birds for the raspy bellow I forced out at each step. I kept thinking it would get better shortly, but I don't think it did except when I glided down a particularly steep hill. That one section was actually fun for a few seconds! I did drop to a walk for a minute or two to catch my breath about halfway through, but I'm not going to count that. Those'll just be part of the package.

GRRRRR....

2009-07-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

It LOOKS like poison ivy...and I'm scratching like mad (or, trying not to)

POISON IVY NEMESIS?

2009-07-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

IS IT OR ISN'T IT?

The canning challeng met!

2009-07-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

I will have to wait 2 weeks to try the pickled green beans, to let the flavors meld. If they're good, I hope to make a lot more...we love them here and my sisters do, too. The recipe for the cucumber pickles suggested waiting 6 weeks (6 weeks???) for full flavor appreciation...I just might have to dive into a jar before that....besides, I need to know if they are good enough to make again, right?

JUNE 30, 2009 HARVEST

2009-07-06T10:07:00.001-07:00

a little here, a little there...

2009-07-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

On the top, my ugly but free, homemade tall potato planter. They are getting bigger, and I hope feed us for a while after harvest! To the right of the potato planter is a green pepper plant...also doing well, but as I don't particularly like them, I didn't waste the film. It's bad enough I'm going to have to eat it. HA!

The cucumbers are LOVING this weather, even in partial shade. I guess this is a good spot for them...Note to self: Remember this for next year.

The return of the dog!

2009-07-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

Since she came back after her wild and stormy adventures, I took advantage to get more and better pix of Sadie.

Hmm, still more work to do I guess. At least she was safe in the house during this storm, though you wouldn't know it to hear her. And she drooled all over my foot pedal. Foolish girl!

I guess I'll actually give this post a name...

2009-07-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Do these artichokes look ANY bigger than last time???

2009-07-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of lovely fruit and veggies, ripening in the warmth and sun!

I had no idea chickens were so neat! (uh, in the cool sense, not the clean sense)

2009-07-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

In the top picture it looks like Thorn has some sharp words to give Cheeks...Thorn is the biggest of all the chickens, now...but not the head o' the bunch. At least she can hold her own...since she gets preferential treatment from me, the bringer of the food...I wonder sometimes if the rest of the hens are jealous of her special status. Or do they think she's just crazy?

i is not a college graduate...just a piece of paper, anyway

2009-07-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Potato harvest from the back garden - just 1 section of 2. Yummy! and I think I have again been misspelling "potato" (sorry, Bill, I keep trying to remember) We all have those mental blocks...I just have VERY heavy ones...

Growing Challenge update! (along with all the other posts)

2009-07-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

These are June 26 blue ribbon green beans (climbing) - thanks, Mary C.! in the front are various types of bush beans.

Next are my favs, the purple podded beans...but they aren't as prolific as they were last year. Maybe they just need some time, I hope!

On the top are the potatoes growing in tires...I only saw a few blooms, but I am certain they should do fairly well. The harvest from the back garden (mostly shade, remember) was okay, and very tasty. These ought to produce quite a bit more, if I'm lucky.

second story view of the back garden

2009-07-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Finally, a picture of the whole back garden. This is quite old, though, as I have since harvested the garlic (right front), first potatoes (just behind that), and most of the brassicas (white cover). I only got about 4 servings of broccoli, and I had to pull up the cauliflower before it even blossomed. The cabbage looked to be doing well later, but then the green caterpillers found it...now, I'm afraid, it is destined to be compost. The chickens don't care for the cabbage...hmph.

Front garden quickie

2009-05-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

The front of my house has more real sun than the back, but is on a main street. So I do a lot of container gardening, but also have started to amend the flowerbed soil and plant directly in it, too, like the artichokes. I think I planted them too close together...ah, well.

These front pototoes are part of an experiment to see A) where they grow better, back or front B) If you really get more yield the higher you hill them, and C) if there is enough sun right here to grow ANYTHING (if so, that decorative bush is gonna have to go!)

There is more planted here, but the pictures were really hard to identify (to the untutored eye, of course. I knew exactly what they were). There are 2 thriving cherry tomatoes, several peppers, a couple kale (for the chickens) and several celeriac. A couple asparagus crowns are here against the brick, some sunflowers, and lots of herbs on the steps. Also some very failed leeks that I am hoping will miraculously start growing. Hmm.

why are you growing ears already?

2009-05-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

This multi-color corn (seeds from sister - thanks!) is growing little tiny ears with big kernels. The plant is only 10 inches tall. What the.....?

Feeding frenzy!

2009-05-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

The chickens love their treats...and I love giving them lettuce that I don't want to eat, as the slugs attacked these poor plants mercilessly for months. I handpicked so many slugs off I dream about the nasty things at night sometimes. I'm sure the rain washed all the snail trail goo off, but I still don't think I can actually put it in my mouth. sigh. Maybe fresh lettuce for me in the fall, then. Hopefully all the slugs will be chicken feed by then.

Growing potatoes in tires!

2009-05-21T17:10:00.001-07:00

This is the pototato tire experiment. I will keep tract of the yield from the many plants in the doubled tire stack as compared to the single tires, since they are in the same area, and see if I get more potatoes! Hedging my bets - I also have several rows in the back garden and a cage in the front garden bed, too. Pix later!

Bean and asparagus bed

2009-05-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

I planted six different kinds of beans, but the black beans haven't come up at all. Surely the slugs didn't get them all! I replanted but still see no signs of life. Guess I need to sprout those guys in a paper towel to see if they really are viable. I wonder if I can get my money back? The cowpeas were seriously devastated by the slugs...no great loss. It's the green beans and purple podded green beans I am craving, and we want to make pickled green beans later this summer, a great way to start canning, I think!

The asparagus bed is right next the beans...ferning out and looking good! Next year we can harvest a couple of stalks, but the real harvest starts in 2011! I'm excited already.

The corn is on the other side of the fence from the beans (chain link fence). Oddly, some of the tiny plants have started growing little ears already but the plants are less than 10 inches tall...is that normal? I will take a picture soon to document this occurence. If all else fails, I will eat it as baby corn in a stir-fry with the other baby corn that is growing well (not started as a transplant).

green growing stuff

2009-05-21T16:42:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have a garden full of green stuff that I'm not so inclined to eat...next year, I'm planting more things that I like! I need a good greens recipe...I guess not growing up being served such things, I don't really consider greens (except lettuce) food at all ...or else I haven't found a good enough recipe for my discerning palate.

Good things are in store eventually, though....garlic (almost up to my waist!), tomatoes thriving, brassicas doing the best they can in the shade (poor leggy things), and I hope all these potatoes make lots and lots of tubers (and I hope they store well)!

I have started celeriac (never tried it, too expensive at the store) and it seems to be pretty happy. I hope I like it! The cucumbers are growing, slowly, and even have a couple of blossoms. Some herbs are finally sprouting but I forgot what I planted! And I have one lone carrot. That's okay, I'll plant some more when we get back from Michigan. I did harvest one turnip but I need more to actually cook something! The beets are coming along fine.

THESE ARE MY FAVORITE GIRLS!

2009-05-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

(In the chicken world, of course) Ivy (the boss lady), Cheeks, Bossa Nova (the more mature lady), and my favorite pet, Thorn. Great name, from my kid! (Oops, they are actually in reverse order. How do you work this stupid thing, anyway?)It fits her perfectly. I love it that they eat all the slugs I pick off the veggies! They don't seem to like the cabbage worms...who would have thought chickens could be so picky? Love them and the eggs:)

back again!

2009-05-19T14:27:00.001-07:00

Too busy to write earlier, planting things, so now that everything is growing (some better than others) I hope to keep a diary of what I did, when I did it, where I put it, and (later, of course) how it GREW!

so here were the seedlings...a few, anyway. I guess I didn't take any other pictures...sorry, kids. I love ya anyway.

No photos!!

2008-08-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

My digital camera takes only floppy disks (don't ask) so I need to find some more before I can get more photos...sigh. Too bad, because the garden is blooming (except for the squash, which didn't make it) and the hen house is almost finished!! Soon....bucka bucka bucka...the sound of fresh, almost free range eggs...yum!!

2008-06-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

I planted some seed corn yesterday as on a whim I bought just one lone corn plant at the nursery last week. Hmm, pollination, anyone? Right. So, a friend gave me some seed corn - quite a lot! I only planted about 6 kernels. Knee high by the Fourth of July? Well, not quite this year. I am also waiting for some bush beans planted in situ to peek their heads up and join the party!

GAEA'S BOX OF ROCKS

2008-06-09T10:57:00.001-07:00

My first blog entry. Wow.