Just wanted to share the socks I made for my husband during Ravelry’s Ravelympics challenge (which, of course, was during the Olympics):
These are from a discontinued kit I got at KnitPicks.com, called the “sock cocktail”. It has a bunch of different patterns for the sock’s body, heels, toes, and cuffs that you can mix and [...]
This is a nice interview with plant breeder Dr. John Navazio, which spawned some thoughts about seeds, saving seeds, and propagating plants that do well in your garden.
If you’re a relatively new gardener (and even if you’ve been doing this a while), this time of year you’re being inundated with seed catalogs. How do you [...]
A friend showed me this article about the relation between taxes and population movement in the US. Basically, people move when taxes get too high. Businesses move, families move.
The states they leave are usually blue states, those that receive them are more likely to be red states. Good for the states getting them, right?
Not necessarily. [...]
Here’s a good article on poverty and feeding yourself. I especially liked the list of tips on how to eat when you’re suddenly down on your luck.
I know very well that when you’re being worried like a rat by economic problems (and the health and other problems coming out of that), it can be hard [...]
I just ran across an interesting site called Window Farms. The idea is to use the light and space of a vertical window to raise food plants in:
Their blog is quite fun to read, and gave me some ideas about what to do with a couple of windows in my house.
Take a look at this article right here.
Generations of college freshmen, asked to read Walden, have sputtered with indignation when they learned that Henry David went back to Concord for dinner with his family every week or two. He’s cheating; his grand experiment is a fraud. This outrage is a useful tactic; it prevents them [...]
A woman who has made her own wedding dress … from wool from her own sheep!
The groom’s vest was woven from the same wool also.
This is so beautiful; I love it!
Dmitry Orlov does it again: Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisation
I’m in the middle of reading this and it’s just a great article.
One quote I really like:
It is an unfortunate fact that the recent centuries of settled life, and especially the last century or so of easy living based on the industrial model, has made many people too [...]
This Saturday, as part of the five day long deadCENTER film festival here in OKC (which starts today!), a group of short films will be featured dealing with issues of sustainability and food.
Information below or visit deadCENTER’s website www.deadcenterfilm.org
Sustainability Focus Films
Saturday, June 13th at [...]
No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth.
Just been a little busy.
We got the daughter graduated (whew!), the boys are doing their band thing every day, and we’ve been doing a lot of discussion about the wedding, which is in mid-July. Fortunately my daughter has found a place she really likes, [...]
Been fun the last couple of weeks, getting ready for my daughter’s graduation, my boys starting the high school band (they integrate the junior high kids into the high school band right about now), and of course doing all my usual.
Here’s the recap:
Planted two tomato plants, and put up a post and twine trellis for [...]
Sharon Astyk’s post reminded me about Independence Days, which I had thought about in the “oh yeah I need to be doing this” but not in the sense of “oh yeah I need to do this NOW”. Thanks for the nudge!
So we’re back on. She has altered the rules a bit … every day you [...]
Swine. Flu?
Okay.
First of all, it’s not the swine flu. It’s the H1N1 strain of Influenza A, a combination of bird, human and swine flu.
So how does this work?
The flu bug is the loose lady of the virus world. It will infect just about anything with a pulse, and changes itself to make it more attractive [...]
Fact sheets about home vegetable gardening from the Tulsa Master Gardeners at Oklahoma State University.
Some of the sheets are specific to Oklahoma, and since I haven’t read all of them I can’t guarantee that their recommendations are all organic (so check out any disease treatment or fertilizer recommendations before using). But if you’re looking for [...]
If you want to learn the basics of permaculture and how to set up a food forest, take a look at this video. (1:22:27, safe for work/children). It’s really fascinating, and he gives the specific plants he uses to set up his system.
They didn’t sit around waiting for the state to repair the flood-damaged road to Kauai’s major park (which supposedly cost $4 million that the state of Hawaii didn’t have and were told would take two years to repair). Their businesses depended on the revenue that visitors to the park brought in; they faced bankruptcy if [...]
Natural World — A Farm for the Future (49 min, safe for work/children)
Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature holds the key.
It’s supposed to snow this weekend, probably starting tomorrow. We’re supposed to get a couple inches; in the panhandle it might be up to eight inches, along with high winds, blowing snow, and all that lovely stuff.It’s blustery and cold outside; I know because I went out and covered up my garden plots again, so [...]
I just found a great website that shows what plants look like if your soil is deficient in a particular nutrient. Here’s the pictures for tomatoes, but if you scroll down you can find links to mineral deficiencies in a whole list of plants.
So if you had trouble last year growing something, or your seedlings [...]
My NOAA radio just went off. The first tornado watch of 2009.
So I put fresh batteries in the radio, in case we lose power. Just need to move a couple things downstairs into the storm room and I’m set.
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