On Cheesemaking

clipped from simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com Making Cheese at Home One of the most satisfying projects that I have embarked on during the Greening of Gavin is cheesmaking. It must be the mouse in me coming out, but it is just so much fun to turn simple cows milk into something so divine! All of these cheeses were made from a few simple ingredients that are readily available on-line at cheese websites or in your local area. The basic ingredients are; Whole milk (the fresher the better) Mesophilic starter (a culture to give flavour) Calcium Chloride (if the milk is homogenised) Rennet (vegetable) Non-ionised Salt I have found that once you start cheesmaking, it is very hard to stop. Since February, I make cheese on every second Friday night as a pleasurable way to spend my evening after a long week at work. A glass of red wine also helps with the process!

Current State of the Garden

Photo Challenge Week 4 of 52

Photo Challenge Week 3 of 52

Cleveland State University Forum on Foreclosures 4/23/09

Report from forum: Building our Future Beyond Foreclosure: Setting the Stage, Beating the Odds on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at CSU’s Levin College of Urban Affairs.

Robert Varley, Director of State and Local Affairs for Dominion Gas Company, and Kurt Karakul, President of the Third Federal Foundation participated in the introduction as both corporations were providing financial support for the series.

The panel presentation included Dan Moulthrop of the Sound of Ideas and ideastream as moderator, and:

David Beach, Director of the Green City Blue Lake Institute at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History who emphasized the importance of regionalism, of development on the regional scale.

Lavea Brachman of Greater Ohio and the Brookings Institution talked about the impact of state laws on incentivizing policy change in general with particular reference to regionalism.

Andrew Jackson of Greater Cleveland Partnership emphasized the importance of neighborhood development (in contrast to the downtown development orientation).

Robert Jaquay of the George Gund foundation and the Fund for our Economic Future also talked about neighborhood development, and how a cross-disciplinary approach that takes into account both economics and ecology leads to sustainability. Jaquay thought that the (most?) appropriate scale to work at is the city neighborhood along with their neighborhood development corporations.

Wendy Kellogg of CSU and the Ohio Balance Growth Program thinks it’s all about the water, and our inland sea. Relate both the economy and ecology to the land-lake relationship. Remediation is much more expensive than good planning.

I was intrigued by the idea of combining both neighborhoods and regionalism. Dividing the whole county into neighborhood planning zones (like Cleveland’s) but using appropriate scales of ecology and socio-economy would really change the suburban map. Envision productive neighborhood nodes connected by green spaces. Imagine Cuyahoga County divided into planning neighborhoods. Some of the benefits of regionalism could be achieved, but at the planning neighborhood level we could address sustainability and resiliency. At that level there would also be opportunity for a lot more civic participation.

Ecological concerns could address sustainability. Socio-economic concerns could address resiliency. To focus on sustainability without considering resiliency is short-sighted. As more of our systems are centralized and nationalized, like the power grid or just-in-time food delivery, they become brittle instead of resilient. Natural disasters like Katrina or social interventions like 9/11 expose how fragile the big systems can be. Networked, redundant systems provide strength and the resiliency to respond to challenges.

Each neighborhood could have its own educational system, public safety and justice system, ecological system, economic system, public health system. At the neighborhood planning level the various systems could be overlapped and put to work symbiotically.

It would be a retreat to the past in some senses: Cleveland used to have a series of neighborhood police stations with officers walking the beat in their neighborhood. This could be revived in the context of planning neighborhoods, and policemen could work with neighborhood watch groups that might also take on some of the aspects of disaster response teams. Policemen might patrol on bicycles and foot as well as in cars, because their jurisdictions would be smaller. At the regional level there would be provisions for back-up and specialized crime responses, but the routine aspects of policing and misdemeanor justice would take place in the planning neighborhood. Hopefully, the people living in the area would be empowered to help reclaim and maintain their own safety.

Photo Challenge Week 2 of 52

Cleveland State University Forum on Foreclosures 5/11/09

Report from forum: Building our Future Beyond Foreclosure: Creating a New Story, From Crisis to Opportunity with Alex Kotlowitz on Monday, May 11, 2009 at CSU's Levin College of Urban Affairs.

“All Boarded Up” by Alex Kotlowitz New York Times Magazine 3/4/2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/magazine/08Foreclosure-t.html

Alex Kotlowitz talked about narrative and how we use stories to make sense of the world and our lives. He believes that narratives can energize social change. Good stories help us to identify and understand feelings and motives, enabling us to be empathic. Narratives can answer contradictions, divisiveness, and give voice to the powerless.

Using the analogy of Katrina, he observed that we want to turn away from suffering. Kotlowitz came to Cleveland asking what happens to the fabric of a city where a large number of people are losing their homes. As he met people and wandered through Slavic Village he saw suffering, and things that looked dumpy, but was most struck by those who remain, those who cling to their neighborhood, and invest themselves in their space and place. By spending time with people who are powerless, he was able to share their stories, and then bear witness to what is real, authentic, and perhaps true.

One of the reasons Kotlowitz came to Cleveland to write about the foreclosures is because Cleveland is one place where people are pushing back and responding instead of passively resigning themselves to the situation. Kotlowitz referenced Nelson Algren’s observation: “American literature is the woman in the courtroom who, finding herself undefended on a charge, asked, ‘Isn’t anybody on my side?’” (Donohue’s Conversations with Nelson Algren p.279.) As a teller of stories, Kotlowitz is responding to the woman’s plea. In Cleveland’s Housing Court Kotlowitz found Judge Pianka responding to the woman’s plea by using narrative in another fashion. Judge Pianka looks for a truer story than resides in the mere letter of the law; he looks at the current situation, but also takes the time to ask how we got here. When excuses are offered and time requested, Judge Pianka reminds them of the larger story: the situation of others in who live in the same neighborhood. After Kotlowitz’s talk one of the respondents was Judge Pianka, who observed that some people and corporations were ignoring their responsibilities, and did not want to be held accountable for their actions.

Kotlowitz observed that storytelling is an act of hope. Stories look at what is, and say it might be different. Stories are fluid and help us re-imagine things, though their fluidity can take us to unexpected places. The story of people caught up in the foreclosure crisis is exciting because it becomes a question of the future of our cities, of re-building our communities, of people pulling together at the local level.

After Kotlowitz’s presentation, Dan Moulthrop, of “The Sound of Ideas” and “ideastream,” moderated a discussion with Kotlowitz and four panelists: Chris Warren, Cleveland’s Regional Development Chief; The Honorable Ray Pianka, Cleveland’s Housing Court Judge; Marie Kittridge, Executive Director of Slavic Village Development; and Tony Brancatelli, Cleveland’s Ward 12 Councilman. They shared stories that were poignant, passionate, and for the most part – hopeful. The counternote stories were cautious – fearful that Cleveland’s understated defiance might slide into hopeless resignation. Audience members pleaded for the future discussions in this series to move down into the neighborhoods, instead of remaining in an ivory tower.

52 Photograph Challenge

I'm attempting to look a bit more closely at my immediate surroundings by posting a photograph each week for a year that has been taken in our yard.

Garden Taking Form, Slowly

Today with the rhubarb in the forefront, and the straw for the potato condo in the background. By the garage are the raspberry bushes (and a few baby maple trees I have yet to cut out).

Garden at the end of February.

Natural Pest Control

lady bugs and praying mantises

clipped from simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com Organic Pest Control There are approximately 1500 ladybugs in this package. It cost me $9.99 and I feel will be worth every penny. I also picked up a cocoon of praying mantis that should carry in the neighborhood of three hundred manti. you can really make a big difference by just letting the ecosystem in your garden develop naturally and keep an eye out for what's going on. Nature wants to work with us, it's up to us though to take her up on it

Simple Deodorant

Deodorant: One part baking soda and five parts corn starch. Simple and effective; it can be applied with powder puff.

Survivors in the Herb Patch

Some wintering over from last year in our herb garden. Here's the oregano (bottom), and the sage (top). Something wonderful about the easy continuity. Something warm about the shades of green.