Back in the summer of 2008 when I was first ordering plants for our winter garden, I came across an item called "tyfon" or "Holland greens." It was in the section of the Territorial Seed catalog devoted to cover crops, and indeed when the seed packet arrived it said "EDIBLE GREEN MANURE." How appetizing! But in farming lingo, a "green manure" is just a cover crop that improves the soil... multiple sources said that tyfon could be eaten by people as well as animals, so I ordered it, along with several other crops that Territorial promised were winter-hardy.
This is a response to a blog post called "When will White People Stop Making Movies like Avatar?" by Annalee Newitz. The post made me upset when I first read it, but I hadn't seen Avatar yet, and besides, her argument is protected by the good old rhetorical ploy, "If this makes you feel defensive, you must be a racist." Now that I've seen the film, I disagree more strongly on a number of points and w
My mother's new album of stories and songs is now available on CD Baby!
 You can download individual tracks for $.99 or the whole album for $9.99, or buy a disc for $12.97. More information about the disc is available on her Web site.
In preparation for tomorrow evening's Green Living Emporia meeting, which may or may not actually happen, here's a list of plants we grew in the garden's first year:
So as some of you know I am taking Mental Health Counseling courses this fall. I am going to be working on getting a Mental Health Counseling degree so I can become a licensed counselor in Kanas, one of the five hardest states to become licensed in.
On June 28, 2009 we spent the day in Kansas City at the Urban farms and gardens tour. A self-guided tour of urban farms and gardens in the area. Check out our photos!
It was great to see so many active farms in the KC area. There is a great use of urban space and it gives a good sense of what people can start doing to have more local food available.
Soon after I bought my first recumbent bike, I became a devotee of chain wax instead of oil. When I was a kid, we always used 3-in-1 oil on our chains, but it only took one application of that stuff to the long dangly chain of a Bike-E to make me realize my error -- oil got all over my leg! I had to remove all the oil with a rag and replace it with wax. I was so sold on wax that once when I took my bike to a small-town shop for unrelated work and the well-intentioned mechanic thought my chain looked "dry" and oiled it for me, I made him wipe the oil back off and gave him a lecture!
So as you all know Ben and I made it official 5 weeks ago. It has taken some time to get all the photos together and find the time to upload them but now there is a lovely selection here on our site. Only about 15% of the photos we have are on the website as I am sure none of you really want to see all 1000 or so images, however if you really do let me know and I'll hook you up. I have selected those I think are the best and displayed them here.