gardening
sastyk | August 23, 2012I find the ways we define ourselves by what we eat fascinating. We do this project of self-definition both through what we DO eat and what we refuse to eat. In Martin Jones' fascinating book _Feast: Why Humans Share Food_, he observes that our taboos about food can be so powerful that they are actively detrimental - observing that are indications that ancient peoples in coastal areas have had such a strong taboo against the ocean and fishing that they starved to death with easy access to plenty of fish. Most of us have a powerful sense, instilled culturally, about what we do and don't…
sastyk | July 13, 2012There's a fascinating article using Zillow analysis to figure out the value of food gardens to residential housing. This isn't news to a lot of us, but it is nice to see the numbers quantified:
Minor Kitchen Remodel. Cost: $14,917 Return on resale: $14,645 Percentage Return: -1.8%
Major Bathroom Remodel. Cost: $26,060 Return on resale: $24,264 Percentage return: -6.9%
Here’s how a garden stacks up:
Average cost of a garden per year (what people spend today): - $70
Average value of a garden per year (in produce): + $600
Average value of a garden per year: + $530
So, the…
sastyk | May 30, 2012I try to post this once a year or so, because most of the people who read my blog also play in the dirt, and with playing in the dirt comes minor injuries that you really don't want to turn into anything nasty. So, if you haven't had a tetanus booster in the last decade, or don't remember having one, now is the time to get updated. Tetanus is not avoidable by good health practices, boosting your immune system, etc... - it is caused by a bacteria in the soil entering into your body through a wound - often wounds so small it would never occur to you that it could threaten your life. You…
gregladen | January 25, 2012'Round here, people are using phrases like "That's Crazy Talk" and "Outlandish" and other quaint Aphorisms of the Great Plains. Why? Because the USDA has just released its new Planting Zone Map. It turns out that all the climate zones have moved north permanently. Thus the new map. You can plant stuff never before plantable right here, this year, now. The climate change has happened, and continues; A new and changed map is expected again in a few years.
Click the map to visit the site and start planning your garden!
sastyk | December 1, 2011Erica at Northwest Edible Life has a great post about her imperfections as a garden, and very relevant, because all of us have our Waterloos in the garden, and it is probably a bad idea to take them too seriously. But we do.
I've imbued my personal Golden Grass Fed Cow of urban homesteading with magical properties and strapped it to my identity one cheerful blog post at a time.
The Punk Gardening Angel of Reasonable Expectations pats me on my shoulder and consoles me: "It's really okay...Carrots are healthy and your kids like to eat them, and you do buy the bulk organic bag, after all, and…
sastyk | October 6, 2011Kate at "Living the Frugal Life" has a great post on the merits and techniques of sheet mulching in the garden. Since this has been the key to soil improvement (and we have dreadful soil) in our garden, I wanted to highlight it.
Significant soil improvement is one of them. This isn't exactly surprising; it's routinely mentioned as the "other" benefit of the technique besides weed control. But knowing intellectually that it would help the soil didn't quite prepare me for the fat earthworms I've been coming across. They're not inordinately long as worms go, but they are rotund. Wider…
grrlscientist | May 28, 2010tags: Kurjenpolvi, flowers, travel, gardening, Helsingin yliopisto, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day, photography
Kurjenpolvi.
A red-and-white geranium photographed at Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki) in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 May 2010 [larger view]
Canon SX100 IS.
grrlscientist | May 27, 2010tags: Puna-keltaisia kukkia, flowers, travel, gardening, Helsingin yliopisto, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day, photography
Puna-keltaisia kukkia.
A red-and-yellow Evening Primrose, Oenothera macrocarpa, photographed at Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki) in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 May 2010 [larger view]
Canon SX100 IS.
pronald | March 16, 2010Tomorrow's Table's Swiss-Gruyere pie made it to the pi day Pie Bake off finals.
If you have time to peruse the entries, please do. Vote here.
sastyk | February 21, 2010Because of the enormous impact of agriculture on climate change, pick up any book about "green" solutions and you'll find the suggestions that you grow a vegetable garden. Bang into the "we can't go on as we are" end of the environmental movement (mine), and you'll see the general assumption that growing food is part of any process of adaptation to lower resource use.
This often then morphs into the assumption that all of us should be able to grow all of our food, or a vast majority of it - that sustainability means the country life for everyone. You might think that because I do produce a…
sastyk | February 5, 2010Note: This is a rerun from ye olde blogge. As the book deadline approaches, expect to see some of my previous opi making appearances here. Since I've got more than 1000 of them, it shouldn't be too boring, I hope. I hope this one will help some of you in garden planning this year.
There are a million gardening books out there to tell you how to grow perfect tomatoes and lettuces. And that's important, especially after the blight disaster last year - in my house, salsa is a food group. But the reality is that for those of us attempting to produce a large portion of our calories, tomatoes…
grrlscientist | September 13, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Flower box in Rautatientori (downtown Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Dahlia blossom.
Photographed in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Dahlia blossom.
Photographed in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 10, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Dahlia blossom.
Photographed in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 9, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Wild rose, Rosa acicularis.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This is one of a large group of wild rose flowers that were blooming outside the front door of the cafe. The scent they produced was unbelievably strong and sweet and -- dare I say it? -- otherworldly.
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Common Burdock (Thistle), Arctium pubens, blossoms.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Poppy blossom.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I am really pleased with this image and hope that you like it too.
Ripening poppy seedpod.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 6, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Tufted Loosestrife, Lysimachia thyrsiflora.
Helsinki mystery flower, can you identify this?
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This isn't the best picture I've ever taken, but I hope it's good enough that you can identify the plant.