Guerrilla Grafters

Guerrilla Grafters are splicing fruit-bearing branches onto city trees in SF!  Super cool.

Read the whole story here: http://www.fastcoexist.com

Buzz

We need to respect bees, especially the Queen Bee.  Come on humans, we can do better.  
Support holistic beekeeping practices. 

Happy America Recycles Day!

So fall, so good.

Autumn is officially here & I am loving it.

Off to do some camping this weekend & thought I’d share this Prayer of the Woods. 

Meeting my sweet baby nephew

Nancy brought Evan to California. Needless to say, I loved him.

It's World Water Week!

Water use it wisely and drink lot's of it too.

Time Exchange

I keep hearing more & more about Long Beach Time Exchange & found that Time Banking, exchanging skills & services for Time Dollars, has been a model with roots back to 1980. 

The concept is simple: One hour equals one time dollar, regardless of the service given, so there’s really no bartering involved. From dog-walking to graphic design, community organizing to tutoring, cooking lessons to massage therapy, everyone’s time is valued equally.  When someone helps you, they earn a credit that they can spend with any other member on any of the services in the network. It’s a powerful idea that helps to grow stronger communities.

Sounds like a good idea to me.  As someone who has thoroughly enjoyed the service of volunteer work, the idea of having time dollars credited to me would make the experience even more rewarding. 

Links: 

Long Beach Time Exchange

Time Banks USA
Time Dollars

Spectacular Design

Ron Arad's Curtain Call

Denver

Three day weekend + the mile high city + two of my favorites = Good times

Talking Heads appreciate civil servants!

Talking Heads: Don't Worry About The Government from Spencer M. Rohan on Vimeo.

Happy Independence Day!

Dottie

The other day while walking home I spotted Dottie working in her yard.  I said hi and told her I had always admired her yard. 

She invited me for a tour of the rest, so impressive… she has tomatoes, Japanese cucumber, Australian beans, raspberries, blackberries, a huge grape vine, orange tree, fig tree, pineapples, carrots, beets, potatoes, passion fruit, every herb you can think of, Myer lemons, chard, artichokes, brussels sprouts and more.  She has lived in the house 78 years, in addition to gardening she is a mechanic and handywoman, ocean enthusiast, and motorcycle lover.  She regularly cans and pickles her abundant produce. 

I’m sharing a few pics snapped with my phone while I was there… she didn’t want to be photographed, but I have to tell you she was very fit and had the most adorable white hair. 

I hope we become friends!  

Smart Travel

How cool!  VIA Rail Canada is cyclists friendly:   

“Whether you’re a Sunday biker or a professional cyclist, taking your bike on board with VIA Rail allows you to discover all the culture, history and authenticity of these regions from a whole new perspective,” said Steve Del Bosco, VIA’s Chief Marketing and Sales Officer.  “When you take the train and your bike not only are you helping to reduce our carbon footprint, you can relax and have fun getting there too.”  www.viarail.ca

Unfortunately, Amtrak doesn’t make it as easy but it’s still possible.

What a great way to plan a summer holiday! 

I use to take my bicycle on the train in Melbourne but it wasn’t exactly encouraged… in Tempe the light rail has vertical bike racks that get the bikes out of the way but require some serious upper body strength to use. 

Whether for daily commutes or exploring bike/train/bike is a great to way travel.  Happy Summer!

Yogi

The practice of yoga is an art & science dedicated to creating union between body, mind & spirit. The Eight-Limb Path of Yoga does a good job illustrating the aspects of yoga that can be used not just for exercise but also as guidelines for conscious living.  There is no order or hierarchy of theses elements, we are all unique individuals & can emphasize one branch & then move on to another as suits.

We have all heard before that it’s not what happens that matters but how you react to it. Implementing these philosophies may help you to react in the way that is best for your life.  

Yoga can be a complement to any religion & can be used to strengthen existing believes.  Even if the thought of joining a yoga class & practicing postures is not for you maybe you can take the time to contemplate some of the guidelines & use them for your own path in life. 

Radical

Man Meets Whale - Sea Movies from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

Beautiful and Inspiring Art + Engineering

I can't wait to see one in person!

At sea... or just at harbor.

Since I have been living near the ocean I have been enjoying it thoroughly by bicycling, running, and doing yoga near it, surfing and swimming in it.  One thing I had not had the chance to do was to take a boat out on it.  Well, I got my chance twice in the last week!  First on a sailboat and then on a duffy, both times I got to take my turn as captain!

Hydraulic Fracturing, boo.

Natural Gas, it sounds like a great energy alternative but in reality it’s just another nonrenewable resource.  Processing natural gas for use is quite labor and resource intensive but the extraction of natural gas is what is most alarming.

Many times natural gas is mined through a process called hydrofracking (fracking, hydraulic fracturing) it can be a dangerous and destructive process.   Hydrofracking requires the use of nearly 600 chemicals (many of them toxic) that can leach into our drinking water, produces hazardous wastewater which can contain radioactive substances and toxic chemicals, depletes local water supplies, and may result in dangerous explosions.

This documentary, Gasland, shows the dangers of Hydraulic Fracturing.

If this is bumming you out.  Please take a minute to visit this site:

Save Our Environment

You can quickly send a letter requesting that a misleading Exxon Mobil ad be taken off the air before it further distorts the public debate around hydrofracking. 

Do what you can to support RENEWABLE energy resources! Thanks. 


Check out this related article: Mark Ruffalo wants you to stand up against hydrofracking

A super fantastic week.

Just in case...

Hydroponics

It seems to me that hyroponic gardening can be as low-tech or high-tech as you wish.  I have had great success growing green onions and mint in some old shot glasses. Sometimes I start mint here and then plant it in the garden... or just pinch leaves off as needed.   The only upkeep is changing the water and rinsing the roots every few days. The green onions are really fun because they grow really fast... It's great to just use sissors to snip fresh green onions when needed.  You can get about three regrown sprigs from your store bought green onions before it's best to start over.

I recently spotted a classy way of doing a similiar thing online: 

Image and more information on grow bottles can be found here: http://inhabitat.com/grow-your-own-hydroponic-garden-with-the-growbottle/

RarelyWrongErin: Fall & Winter

Reposting this from my friend Erin's Blog.

RarelyWrongErin: "You may recall that I told you about the amazing film, Fall & Winter, that my amazing friends are making... Here's the new trailer."

Companion Planting

Companion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity, on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity.

With this idea in mind I have planted garlic chives around my tomatoes and borage with my strawberries.  I just learned about the "three sisters" apparently the "three sisters" are the old ladies of companion planting.  I am also growing corn and plan to attempt a pole bean growing up the stock so I was almost there.

More info and image taken from here: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/teach/2003045238014436.html

Bike LB or Bike Somewhere

Friday night I worked a booth at the Long Beach Bike Festival.  The Long Beach Bike Festival & Tour of Long Beach continues Saturday so if you are in the area head to Pine Avenue & Shoreline Drive to join in the fun as we continue to make Long Beach the most bicycle friendly city in America.


There was a viewing of the movie Riding Bikes with the Dutch, a film by local cycling advocate Michael Bauch.  You don't have to be in Long Beach to check it out:

Remember, Bike to Work Week is May 16th-20th!  If you can't bike to work, just bike somewhere.


Have fun & be safe.

You are getting sleepy...

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Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday by a team of U.S. Special Forces and CIA operatives, a sampling of facebook reactions:

"Just landed. Watching CNN, what a historical moment in the fight against hatred."

"OBAMA IS THE MAN!! SOMETHING GEORGE W. BUSH COULDN'T DO!!!"

Lot's of these: "AMERICA.... FUCK YEAH!!"

"Oh hell yeah we got that bastard!"

"Sorry, but ima need to see his death certificate."

"Maybe this is just the European news coverage, but why does everyone celebrating in the streets look like they should be wearing shamrock necklaces and screaming at me on St. Patrick's day? WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING SHIRTS!? We did not just win the World Series, come down off the telephone pole."

This was very popular: "what a Disney weekend princess married, bad guys killed. The world lives happily ever after"

"They traced Bin Laden through our game of Words with Friends. I guess we know who lost"

"Ding dong the Bin is dead"

"I have a sinking feeling this is not over..."

A slew of this misquote: "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Seldom is facebook this amusing..."

Potable Water

Blah, blah, blah, we’ve all heard it before… bottled water is not the way to go.

Seriously, I do hope the trend of bottled water is coming to an end.  I still see folks wearing ugg boots with shorts so I'm not overly optimistic.

Check out this documentary, Tapped.  Yikes!

Should dollars really come before people and the environment?  I think not.

Farmers' Markets

I am very lucky to have three weekly Farmers' Markets within bicycling distance from my home.  

Have you found a local Farmers' Market yet?  If not, use this website to find yours.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Most markets have flowers, baked goods, honey and more alongside the fruit and vegetables.  

Get some cash, enjoy a more interactive shopping experience and be inspired to try new recipes in the kitchen.

Dirt!

Composting.   Just started doing it at home and I'm amazed at our reduction in actual trash.  It is great to reduce our input to the landfill and nice to know that one-day we will have our own nutrient rich compost to add to the garden.


However, there have been a few bumps along the way.  I was at an urban farm recently and asked if they had any earthworms to share, to help speed up the decomposition process of our kitchen scraps.  I was given grubs instead and they are about 20 times more disgusting than an earthworm.  (At least to me, apparently people eat these!)

After filling a few buckets that we had been using we decided to purchase a larger composting container:

Now we have to find a home for our Soilsaver.  The last concern for composting in this urban setting is finding materials with a high carbon content such as leaves or straw, to mix with our high nitrogen kitchen scraps... gardening stores sell straw for a crazy high price but I have found a local tack and feed store where I can get a bale for $7.  I have composting friends in the same situation so I will be able to share the load but still have to get some help to unload it from the car and to find space to store the hay for layering.


So... I was just at an Earth Day event and explaining the above to a woman who runs a composting class... she said I should be vermiposting not composting if I don't have much carbon content to add.  I told her I had considered this but the city (where I bought the Soilsaver for a discounted price) was out of the vermiposting bins.  She said she would get me one and exchange it for the composting container I already received.  I will be replacing the Soilsaver with a Wriggly Wranch soon and instead of hay I will be buying red wigglers!

If you want more on soil watch this excellent film, Dirt! The Movie.  It's well done and will be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

Happy Earth Day!

Composting, one year later

Edible Landscaping

Spring is here! 


Now is the time to plant your summer crops.  Some easy summer crops to plant now include: strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, watermelon, squash, cucumbers, onions… even pumpkins.

Good Luck.

Watch it.

Watch this movie and remember your power as a consumer.  Every dollar you spend is a vote!

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Everyone was posting this to facebook this week, love it.


"Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes? Yeah, me neither."