Firegardener

Photo Challenge: Week 21 of 52

2009-10-25T13:01:00.003-04:00

Seasons are changing. I missed a couple of weeks, and there have been a lot of changes in the yard. We're burning more wood, getting some of the junk wood cleaned out before it really gets cold. The leaves have started falling.

State of the Garden: Beginning of October

2009-10-04T14:22:00.002-04:00

Not much doing in the garden now. Still pulling in the italian squash, and sauteeing them in olive oil with onions, or making them into "zucchini" bread. Still lots of tomatoes in the green vanguard. Getting ready to pull all the remaining kale and freezing it for the winter.

Photo Challenge: Week 20 of 52

2009-10-04T14:20:00.001-04:00

Photo Challenge: Week 19 of 52

2009-09-27T12:52:00.003-04:00

Italian squash still going strong. Last week we fixed a zucchini bread, this week we're going for a cheese/squash bake.

Photo Challenge Week 18 of 52

2009-09-20T13:57:00.003-04:00

Starting to think about how to approach next year's garden. The biggest book influencing us at the moment is Gaia's Garden. We're going to try to build a guild based on our dogwood tree that will appeal to birds, and a guild based on our little peach tree.

Photo Challenge: Week 17 of 52

2009-09-13T12:24:00.002-04:00

Photo Challenge: Week 16 of 52

2009-09-06T12:46:00.004-04:00

Pause in the pictures

2009-08-30T12:24:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we were in Maryland for my mother-in-law's funeral. She'd been suffering a while, so it was one of those good family times. Today it's raining, so I pulled some beans out of the garden, and we'll have them for lunch.

Photo Challenge: Week 15 of 52

2009-08-16T13:59:00.002-04:00

Photo Challenge Week 14 of 52

2009-08-10T20:19:00.004-04:00

The harvest begins in a steady way: the tomatoes are turning, the squash is coming on, and finally, the beans.

State of the Garden: August 2nd

2009-08-02T13:22:00.003-04:00

With all the rain we've been getting, we haven't had to do any watering. The lettuces are going to seed, but the kale is going strong. Green beans are starting to come on. Our patch with the edible flowers is overflowing. We've started harvesting short cucumbers, and the italian summer squash is looking good.

Photo Challenge Week 13 of 52

2009-08-02T13:20:00.001-04:00

Photo Challenge: Week 12 of 52

2009-07-30T20:49:00.001-04:00

Photo Challenge Week 10 of 52

2009-07-12T12:03:00.006-04:00

Frugality Strategy: No Spending Days

2009-07-07T21:44:00.001-04:00

great frugal idea to experiment with

clipped from simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com

No Spending Days

I know it sounds simple, I bet a lot of us think we don't spend that often, but in reality with drive through, pharmacies and department stores on every corner, not to mention those coffee shops, I'm amazed at how often we actually spend money. When I was starting my no spending days (which a reader introduced me to), I remember really struggling to not spend money on any day

So just how do no spending days work?

- You set yourself a target, for example to start no spending 2 days a week. Circle those days on the calendar, put it in your diary, wake up and remember today is a no spending day.

- On a no spending day you do not buy anything, not for yourself or your partner or your children.

- On a no spending day you will have to go without whatever it is you forget/want/need such as groceries, magazines, gum, bottle of wine, coffee, lunch out, bus tickets etc.

Rolly Through the Screen

2009-07-05T12:19:00.002-04:00

State of the Garden at the Beginning of July

2009-07-05T12:14:00.002-04:00

We've been harvesting the lettuce and mustard greens like crazy. We've been fighting with someone or something about our pole beans, but we've added netting to the chicken wire barrier and I believe we're making some progress. The potato condo is a total washout so far, though the straw is compacting nicely and getting weathered.

Photo Challenge Week 9 of 52

2009-07-05T12:12:00.004-04:00

Firewood Notes

2009-06-28T13:16:00.002-04:00

clipped from simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com

Windfall, and how to split wood by hand

Tools that are helpful:

Splitting maul

Wedge

Axe

Safety glasses

Hearing protection

Cut your tree into firewood lengths to fit your stove. 16 inch is common and a full cord of 16 inch wood is a good (tight) stack that measures 4' x 4' x 8',

Split and ready for stacking and drying. All woods have different properties, where heating and cooking are concerned.

Photo Challenge Week 8 of 52

2009-06-28T12:48:00.004-04:00

Independence Day Strategies

2009-06-21T13:41:00.001-04:00

consciously building your independence

clipped from sharonastyk.com

Independence Days

Plant something:

Harvest something:

Preserve something:

Reduce Waste:

Preparation and storage:

Build community food systems:

Eat the food

weeded

Our Resident Rabbit

2009-06-21T12:17:00.003-04:00

The first time Eileen came to look at this house she spotted a rabbit in the backyard. We took that as a good omen, and bought the house. Ten years past before we saw another rabbit around. This year we're seeing lots of rabbits on our walks; often the rabbits are outnumbering the cats inside or out. On my morning walks I've also seen a fox on several occasions. Our rabbit has been nibbling clover in the front yard, so when I cut the grass I've been leaving the clover section go. Today we caught the rascal on camera:

Photo Challenge Week 7 of 52

2009-06-21T12:15:00.003-04:00

Photo Challenge: Week 6 of 52

2009-06-14T21:53:00.003-04:00

Photo Challenge: Week 5 of 52

2009-06-14T21:51:00.002-04:00

On Cheesemaking

2009-05-31T15:14:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-31T14:24:00.003-04:00

Photo Challenge Week 4 of 52

2009-05-31T14:17:00.004-04:00

Photo Challenge Week 3 of 52

2009-05-25T21:33:00.003-04:00

Cleveland State University Forum on Foreclosures 4/23/09

2009-05-17T16:12:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-17T15:53:00.002-04:00

Cleveland State University Forum on Foreclosures 5/11/09

2009-05-12T20:28:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-11T21:48:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-10T16:20:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-10T16:01:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-03T21:28:00.009-04:00

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

2009-05-03T15:08:00.004-04:00

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.

Storytelling and Television

2009-04-26T16:43:00.002-04:00

we live in screenworld

clipped from www.netvibes.com

As TV, landing on the moon is boring

Conversely, the adventures of the Star Ship Enterprise, also a video-driven space adventure, is far more compelling.

The fact that Star Trek is fiction and the moon landings are real is, for all intents and purposes, immaterial.

In Screenworld, does ‘reality’ matter any more?

For us, Iraq has become just a bad movie, a kind of Waterworld that simply has no plot (like the original) and no end (also like the original).

What must we now do?

adapt the ‘rules’ of visual story-telling, but marry them to real life.

characters, an arc of story and a sense of adventure.

Garden Coming To Life

2009-04-26T15:18:00.003-04:00

Oregano and sage wintered over nicely. Today's our first hot day; our thermometer's under the mailbox out of the sun, but above our sidewalk so it reads high in the morning--but it says over 90. On the way to church this morning there were lots of women jogging, families bicycling, and men walking.

I've got some garden projects on the agenda:
mixing our fertilizer,
constructing the potato condominium,
buying straw, and
stringing up our bean netting.

Our Other Daughter

2009-04-12T16:32:00.004-04:00

Rolly, though there is some contention about how to spell her name: my daughter prefers Rollie. The pronunciation is (rock and) roll-ee.

Planting Pumpkins

2009-04-10T21:44:00.003-04:00

Very helpful guide.

clipped from greengardenwashington.blogspot.com

How I plant a pumpkin plant

Step 1a: Look at seedling:

Step 9: Done!

City Art on Rooftop: open hand or closed fist

2009-04-07T20:13:00.006-04:00

This article presents a new way of seeing the city, and a way of consciously participating in art with an open hand. The choice is so often one of open hand or closed fist. Last night we watched an episode of the Mentalist where one was encouraged to grab hold tightly of love, when it appears. A sure way of squeezing the life out of it; love blossoms on the support of an open hand. Walking into a cold, stiff breeze on a winter's morning leaves one with a choice: clamp down tense and tight, or open up and let the coldness flow past. The picture of the monks at the bottom of the post working on a sand picture is another example of opening one's self to the present.

clipped from bldgblog.blogspot.com

joked that someday he should bring a laser pointer up there to the roof deck and give a new lecture, pointing out specific offices visible around us in the nighttime sky.

you could narrate a kind of local micro-history of nighttime spaces in LA.
It wouldn't be giving a lecture so much as becoming a planetarium.

perhaps it could be a new form of immersive storytelling: local novelists stop by every third Friday of the summer months and, in the darkness, using laser pointers, they invent family dramas, murder mysteries, political thrillers, and end-of-the-world catastrophes, all the while pointing to specific rooms and halls within which the action takes place – even the specific computer monitor, visible in someone's unblinded window, where plot-defining government secrets are thought to be stored...
Alternative fictions of the city.

the brilliant Access Restricted program

a "free nomadic lecture series that opens rarely visited and often prohibited spaces

a microphone

and a laser pointer

the mandala will continue to be on display through June 8, 2001. On that day, the monks will dismantle the mandala and deposit the sand in a body of water. This process symbolizes the transience of life and the ideal of nonattachment to the material world.

Gratitude

2009-04-05T15:49:00.004-04:00

I am living with this prayer, and loving it.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of all creation,
Through your goodness we have bread from the earth.
Blessed are you, God,
Of your abundance we have eaten, and
By your goodness we live.
We thank you for:
Land, and life, and love,
For food, and family, and friends.
For all these, oh Lord our God,
We thank and bless you.

Welcome

2009-04-04T13:56:00.002-04:00

Welcome! Thanks for taking some time to visit this conversation.