please, no more plastic

I’ve written before about plastic on this blog, I’ve talked about cutting down the usage of plastic bags with reusable produce bags and about creating your own seedling pots out of paper. Small steps, but important steps. Two days ago the NY Times wrote about the culminating piles of trash collected in our oceans. One massive entanglement has grown to be roughly twice the size of Texas.  Let me repeat that: twice the size of Texas. Most of this trash is plastic. The avoidable, pervasive and oh so toxic material of modernity.

Please click here to view the whole article. Nurseries and growers use a tremendous amount of plastic. Perhaps starting with one simple target would be good, like putting pressure on the nurseries to put pressure on the growers, to stop using the plastic tags in each and every plant. Imagine how many of those tags are discarded a year. Now think of our oceans. Tragic. I would also encourage all of you who don’t already, to return your used black pots to growers and nurseries, most will gladly take them back for reuse.

 

 

chicken coop design

I love the blog Design Sponge, and as I’ve written earlier I also love the artwork of Jill Bliss. This week there’s a lovely combination with Jill Bliss guest blogging over at D’s and she’s focusing on gardening, rain barrels and chicken coops. Almost a hand-tailored combination for me to enjoy over my morning cup of tea. I would encourage you to go over there and take a peek, I’m really liking her post on chicken coops. I love the one with the living roof! **All photos are from the Design Sponge site.

 

pineapple sage, you’re beautiful.

Thanks to this plant, well and to the incredibly temperate weather we’re having that allows me to sleep with the windows open in November, I woke up this morning to the sound of a hummingbird’s wings as it feasted on the crazy number of scarlet flowers on my pineapple sage (salvia elegans). I love this plant. The crushed leaves truly do smell very pineapple-y, and they even have a slight pineapple taste. This particular bush is taller then me and wider then it is tall. And the hummingbirds are plump and making good use of the clothesline right above it, a perfect perch. The sage hardly needs any water all summer and will even sporadically bloom during the summer, but fall is it’s glory. Hundreds upon hundreds of red flowers. And it transplants without a hitch. Dig up a chunk and now the hummingbirds love the front yard too. Highly recommended, a great plant for the beginning gardener to boost your confidence!

 

west virginia wins

Really? This is amazing and I want to go. Now. Tonight.  There are over 3000 pumpkins lit at 748 Beech St in Kenova, WV. Hands down best halloween decorations. And in the second photo doesn’t it seem like there’s a decorated chicken coop?

Hope you all had a good and perhaps even meaningful Halloween! xoxo

 

seed bombs

Every day I walk past lots that are full of broken glass, scraggly foxtailed grass and cracked cement. Typical city adornment. A lot of people have been taken with the idea of seed bombs and are lobbing tiny balls of hope over many fences within busy city borders. I looked around on Etsy because I am obviously fascinated about the breadth of homemade crafted goods people offer on there. Sure enough there were some seed bomb offerings, and I’m loving these by the shop Visual Lingual.

Now for those of us not living in the Midwest here is a recipe to make your own.

Seed Bomb Recipe:

5pts dry red clay (to hold them together until the rain)

3 pts dry organic compost (for seedlings nourishment)

1 pt seed

1-2 parts water

*Combine dry materials, add water until a paste is thick enough to form penny sized balls. Allow the seed bombs to dry for 3-4 days in the sun. For those of you in California the seeds from lupine and california poppies are great plants to use.

Now while I LOVE this idea, and would encourage folks to try it out, I have a few caveats.

*Make sure that the seeds are for local native plants only. I know cities aren’t exactly natural, but we can still hope to encourage the wildlife that need native plants to take up residence. It would be totally irresponsible to throw seed around from non-native invasive species.

*Please stick to lots and city cracks only. Do not bomb any area set aside for wildlife. The ecosystem is fragile and I’d hate for your enthusiasm to have catastrophic interspecies  effects!

 

derek jarman’s garden

There are books out there that I read so slow, as slow as I possibly can, because I don’t want them to end. Ever. That’s how I feel about the book I’m reading right now by Derek Jarman. Derek Jarman’s Garden with incredibly moving pictures by Howard Sooley, was the last book Derek Jarman wrote before passing from AIDS in 1994. He began the garden in Dungeness, Kent in 1986 and transformed the bleak apocalyptic land facing a nuclear power plant into an inspired garden of plants, sculpture, symbolism and intention.

The whole book looks and reads like a dreamlike state. I can’t believe I haven’t read this until now. My highest recommendations.

Image by Urban 75

Image from Wikimedia

Image by tanetahi’s flickr

 

fall tea to prevent colds

First, let me apologize for my sporadic posting lately. My acupuncture program is really in full gear and honestly, I’ve just been too tired! But I’ve missed it here so it’s nice to be back this morning. These days whenever I’m at school I make a big cup of medicinal tea to put back in some of those nutrients I’m burning through while trying to pay attention. I thought I’d do a weekly herbal tea recipe here. Since everyone around me seems to be hacking with a cough or burning with fever I’ve been paying close attention if I feel even a bit run down.

My favorite recipe right now for preventing a cold when I first feel it coming is elderberry and ginger tea with honey.  For 1 strong steaming cup: At least 1 teaspoon dried elderberries (only the black, ripe ones!) and 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger with a little honey or lemon to taste. Let it steep while covered for at least 20 minutes. It tastes so good and will make you sweat a bit to move that nasty cold out of your system. It’s also a really lovely purple color.

Tea cups print by Etsy shop Sollinero

 

sidewalk sighting #5/everyday rainbow

A truly earnest sight on a cloudy day walk to school.

 

cactus jungle fieldtrip

I love going to nurseries. I go there for work and sometimes on my day off, I go there again. Just recently I went to a nursery here in Berkeley that I’ve never been to before even though it’s been around for 20 years. I guess the stars finally aligned correctly and me and two other gardeners went there to check it out. They use 100% organic soil mixes, and they also grow all of the plants in Berkeley. Which means no shipping from So Cal or Oregon. Lovely, important. If you ever are visiting Berkeley it’s a must see, and if you’re here this week they are having a 30% off sale on all of their native plants. Check out their website and their blog to get better acquainted.

 

asian pears for lung health

This is the asian pear that cost me $3 at the farmer’s market yesterday. I know, I know! I didn’t know it was going to be that much until I got up there and handed over the cash in shock. Yes urban farmer’s markets tend to be more expensive then the grocery store. What is it like outside of these limits? Anyone? So this fancy asian pear has had a photo shoot and it’s pal has already been consumed. In Traditional Chinese Medicine we learn that the fall is a really drying time for the lungs. This can lead to a hacking cough, a sore throat, dry skin and a scratchy throats. Their lovely solution for this problem is to eat steamed asian pears. Although I bet any old pear could make a stellar substitute. The beauty of this is manifold. You can eat them this way as a preventative medicine, as an aid to help with symptoms that already are ailing you and it tastes really good.

Recipe: Cut pear into slices and steam for about 10 minutes, covered. Traditionally you are to add rock sugar before serving. I drizzled mine with honey instead. So simple and really good. And the tickle in my throat is gone. Enjoy!