Spring 2014...

Well... it's been a busy Spring. To see what's been going on in our garden, you can check out our flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35817162@N00/

After taking a position as a Program Manager for the Douglas Market at Fair Food Matters, I've been immersed even deeper into the problems of our unsustainable and inequitable food system.

I'm learning more and more about what terrific people our farmers are and how hard it is to make a living doing their good work. I've been busy talking to folks about how the Douglass Market could play a role in making that a little bit easier for a few of them while at the same time providing access to food in a food desert and promoting food sovereignty for the Northside Neighborhood and surrounding communities.

Meanwhile, the garden moves along without me....

Many of our plantings at this point came back in the spring and provided great meals as soon as the snow melted.

At this point, there's enough biomass being produced to fight back the grass with a quick "chop and drop" spot mulching. A quick "cut" of some of our large plants produces lots of mulch to smother weeds and protect our plants.

What a great, busy Spring it's been.

Petsticides and Bees--Van-Kal Permaculture Native Pollinator Workshop

Today I attended an excellent Native Pollinator Workshop put on by Van-Kal Permaculture. We learned about the role native bee species play, a bit about how to identify them and how to attract them.

But I was especially struck by the talk of the impact "neonicotinoid" pesticides have on bee populations. Beyond Pesticides has a nice list of these here: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/chemicals.php

We don't often use pesticides around the home or garden, but when we do, we always try food grade Diatomaceous Earth first. D.E. is an organic alternative that is made from fossilized diotoms, a hard-shelled algae that cuts through the exoskeleton of all insects and causes them to dry out.

This powder then becomes de-activated when exposed to water.

D.E. will kill bees the same way that it kills any insect. But it only kills the one bee exposed, and it only kills in a limited area for a limited time. Using D.E. is like using a Scalpel while chemical pesticides are like dropping a bomb. Chemicals can often be blown around, dragged around, and carried back to nests and hives, killing off entire populations.

Just Paying Attention: Instant Lower Energy Bills

In February, we used about the same amount of home energy as similarly sized "efficient homes"(the top 20% most energy efficient homes) in our area (15 miles for this graphic, but it's about the same for a 2-mile radius) according to Consumers, whereas, in most months, we use about 15% less.

The reason is simple, we didn't pay much attention.

This month, I was back on track with things like closing the curtains at night, opening them on sunny days, and turning down the heat when we're away from the house, turning off lights, and warding off "energy vampires."

 Just those few steps saved us 27%, on our bill!

But more importantly, in our old Victorian home, small investments and PAYING ATTENTION saved us over $250 JUST THIS MONTH, when compared to the average home our size. 

Mind you, that average home likely has newer appliances, windows, etc.

And we generally keep our heat the space we're occupying to between 68-70 degrees, so we're not freezing or anything.

We just have a nice programmable thermostat and we use it!