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Michael Levin's Blog (509)

Rain Barrels

I saw a rain barrel collection setup last weekend at Indigo Green Store that made me want to do one myself. Abundant Edible Landscapes has installed a large drum and fitted it with a solar panel to power a small electric pump for irrigation. Fantastic! We're in Florida and there's lots of rainfall. Even so, the soil is sandy and not absorbant. It's also a good idea to utilize rainfall as a… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 31, 2010 at 9:41am — No Comments

McRorie Gardeners Justin and Lindsay say Hi!

Added by Michael Levin on January 30, 2010 at 1:38pm — No Comments

Random acts of Kindness

I dropped by Shmal's Facebook page and found this in his latest post.… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 29, 2010 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Weeds and Fallow Gardens

Yesterday I ran across a tattered copy of "The People's Guide to Gardening" at Indigo Green Store's Earth Bag Homebuilding workshop. It said leaving our garden bare for a little while after weeding is the best way to keep the little weeds from coming back so soon.

So, there you have it. It makes sense that weeds cling sometimes to other plants.… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 24, 2010 at 11:32am — No Comments

Italian Steel, Legendary Frames and Good Vibes... It's easy as ABC

I dropped by 8th Ave Bikes and Coffee this weekend. I'm calling it 8BC from now on, because I'll be talking abut the good vibes, Italian steel, and legendary frames to my friends.

What we have here is a… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 24, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

A Great Day at the Garden 1/17/10

Yesterday, I headed up to McRorie Community Garden and had a look at my patch. There were some radishes ready to pick. Thanks to Zoobird Bob Tuskin and his Survivalist seeds for these! I gathered some mint and collard greens, as well.…

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Added by Michael Levin on January 18, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Community Gardening....at McRorie

The photo above is one of the first I took of the McRorie Community Garden. It's been a cold December-January, and some freezes have had an impact on the plants in our garden. But, today, for the first time in weeks, it's both warm and dry. The sun is shining. You can click the photo above and see the album I made of the McRorie Community Garden and all the people there. It's… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 17, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

How to Make Kombucha Tea

I've been curious about kombucha ever since Zach Lutz wrote about here on Zoobird. I tried it for the first time the other day at a coffee shop in Orlando called the Drunken Monkey.

Read the rest…

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Added by Michael Levin on January 16, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

One Love - A Great Day at the Garden 1/13/10

We have had some cold weather here in Gainesville, haven't we? Well, settle back, click the video above and listen to One Love performed by musicians around the world and have a stroll through McRorie Community Garden with me...

Here's yours truly, happy to be at the garden. But, it's been freezing at night and some… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 15, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Falkland and S Georgia Island Wildlife

You probably saw Sandra Critelli’s viral Stingray photos (more accurately known as Cownose Rays or Golden Rays Rhinoptera Bonasus ) as they circumnavigated the web. If you missed them, click here. Sandra just took a new set of photos from the Falkland and S Georgia… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on January 12, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Life is like a Mustard Seed

"What is life?

It is like a mustard seed - smaller than all seeds.…

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Added by Michael Levin on January 2, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Zoobirders! We'll all be thinking about times gone by and the coming year today. Zoobird has grown to hundreds of members this year. Thanks for all the content. We've got the whole healthy, organic lifestyle represented here. If you see something missing that you'd like, just let us know.

My favorite parts of Zoobird have been the new fiction, the fun I've had telling about Great Days in the Garden, and all the things… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 31, 2009 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

War Is Over, If You Want It: John and Yoko, 40 Years Later

Thanks, Shmal - The Nation: "“WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT” – a full page ad in the Sunday New York Times Dec. 27 must have puzzled many readers. The ad marked an anniversary: it was 40 years ago today that John Lennon and Yoko Ono launched their “War Is Over!” campaign, with billboards in New York, London, Hollywood,… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 28, 2009 at 3:33pm — No Comments

A Great Day at the Garden

What a beautiful afternoon! Click on the photo above to see some gorgeous pix of the garden.

My jalapeno peppers yielded a few hot ones for the weekend. There's nothing better than fresh picked peppers. These aren't too firey hot, but they're a lot hotter than Poblanos or… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 27, 2009 at 12:30am — 4 Comments

So Many Songs in My Mind

Holiday time can be miserable, especially if you're on the street. Extreme conditions can be euphoric, too. I interviewed Richard Emerson on Swampcast one day at Lake Eola in Orlando. You can hear the euphoria in Richards… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 26, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Gratitude is a Sickness Suffered By Dogs...

Elephant Journal points us to an article in the NYTimes entitled "Now Sending | Dictator Cards". It's good to remind ourselves of the ways various people… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 25, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

A Great Day at the Garden

The birds were singing, the breeze was blowing and you could smell the rosemary in the garden the other day. I've been all over the place the past few weeks and had finally a chance to drop by my patch to tend the plants.

That's McRorie community gardener Nick in the photo above. He and I chatted and I hope you all get a chance to meet him virtually here at the Zoobird community. I wrote about this latest Great Day in the Garden on Elephant… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 23, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

The Omnivores Dilemma and Everything Else...

Whenever I begin a blog post with the title "...and Everything Else...", I'm going to do some free associating. So brace yourself.

It's a sunny day here in the Swamp (as I affectionately call Florida, where I live now). Here I am, minding my own business and just piddling around. I really should be outside, riding a cool, red bike I just got. Click the photo below to go to the Bike Zoo and read along with me… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 20, 2009 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

Community Supported Agriculture

Before we begin, please set the tone by clicking on this music video* and smile while you read this, because it's going to make you feel good!

What is community supported agriculture (CSA)? CSA's are farms that operate on the community's promise to support them, sharing the risks. Magnolia… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 17, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Want to work on an Organic Farm? Magnolia Farms is calling...

Magnolia Farms is in Live Oak, FL and serves Gainesville and the surrounding area. So, if you're local, you can sign up - it's CSA, community supported agriculture.

Darlene and Mike McElwee need helping hands at our farm in exchange for food shares. How cool is that? They also… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on December 16, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment