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All Blog Posts (696)

A Nice Day at the Garden

(Photos by Mike Levin)

I dropped by the garden this weekend. The workday last weekend was a huge success. If you recall, the summer growth in McRorie Community Garden was begging for attention.…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 23, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

The House at 1540 E. Terrace Lane, by Bert Woodall

The house at 1540 E. Terrace Lane was just plain ugly. It was built in 1949 by a man named Robinson whose plumbing supply business grew prosperous in the post-war construction boom. Robinson was a simple man and his architectural standards began and ended with the word sturdy. It was a narrow house, and unlovely from the…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 18, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

HOME VAN PET CARE PROJECT NEWS

Photo of Sassy, the beautiful Irish Setter owned by Sandy Lack in Reno, taken by Michael Levin

From Elizabeth Howard, Coordinator

“. . . I live in the house near the corner, which I have named Gratitude.” Mary Oliver

Many times now I come home and there are bags of pet food on my… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on September 17, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Toxic Waters

NYTimes :: QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?"

JENNIFER HALL-MASSEY, on the detection of chemicals like arsenic and lead in the water of her community near Charleston, W.Va.

===…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 13, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

Secrets to Living to an Old Age

Gertrude Baines was the world’s oldest person at 115. She was born in Shellman, Ga., on April 6, 1894, and died Friday. Her favorite foods were bacon and fried chicken. When asked what the secret was to living a long life, she smiled…

Read the rest here...enjoy!

Added by Michael Levin on September 12, 2009 at 11:16am — No Comments

GUERILLA LUNCH-FARE

That is what Arupa calls the food people are bringing to the perimeter of St. Francis House and to the downtown plaza to give to the people turned away after #130 is admitted to St. Francis House for lunch...

Read the rest here in the Caring Zoobirds… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on September 1, 2009 at 2:47pm — No Comments

Curbside Gardens and Wildflower Lawns

Shmal mentions curbside gardens as a comment in the Community Gardens blog post. This is one I saw on the PedalPalooza Permaculture ride in Portland, OR. The idea is that even if your community garden is full, you can manage to plant some good things if you're creative.…

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Added by Michael Levin on August 25, 2009 at 7:00am — No Comments

WOODSTOCK 40 YEARS LATER: SEEDS FOR A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS

WOODSTOCK 40 YEARS LATER:

SEEDS FOR A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS

by Flash Silvermoon

It's really hard to wrap my head around the fact that Woodstock happened 40 years ago on Aug 15 1969! They say that if you can remember the 60’s, which were really the late 60's, then you weren't there but I beg to differ.

It amazes me that my memories of those days and particularly Woodstock are as vivid as if they were yesterday. Considering the substances that flowed through my… Continue

Added by Flash Silvermoon on August 23, 2009 at 1:02pm — No Comments

Community Gardens

(Seaside Community Garden - photos by Michael Levin)

A new community garden is being organized in Winter Park, FL! A group cleanup occurred last weekend. Plans are in the… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 22, 2009 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

The Changing Face of Paradise

Florida has often been referred to as a paradise, partly because its abundance of beautiful palms. In fact, palms are a key element of classical versions of paradise like Atlantis and the Garden of Eden. Likewise, most of Florida's most iconic scenes include palms—holding the ends of a hammock on a sunny beach, being violently whipped by hurricane winds, silhouetted against a pastel sky as a smoldering orange sun sets into the Gulf of Mexico. But, as anyone who’s paddled Florida’s Gulf coast… Continue

Added by Lars Andersen on August 20, 2009 at 10:43pm — 1 Comment

School Yard Garden Project

My middle schoolers here in Arizona are undertaking a big project~ a schoolyard garden. The garden, which they have named, "The Secret Garden" is in the planning stages. We have some mesquite trees and benches, and a pretty white arch at the entry, but not much else. The kids are learning about native plants, pollinators, and water harvesting. They have recently expressed interest in planting a vegetable garden. They would like to donate the produce to the local food bank. I think this is a… Continue

Added by Alicia Mohler on August 19, 2009 at 11:42pm — 1 Comment

The Ganga Boogie Band

GANJA BOOGIE BAND

I was driving my VW van, my seven year old son, Miguel, in the back, as our small, slow moving caravan of school bus, VW beetle and truck, labored up the dusty, dirt, Brown Mountain road to Nogo, Arkansas after a circuitous route, from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Austin, where others joined us to commence our adventure. This was the early contingent of sixteen hippies going to live on 40 acres on the edge of the national forest.

I remember questioning,… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on August 18, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Gainesville and the Bat Situation - UF bat house collapses, thousands left homeless...

It looks like there's a dire situation in Gainesville, FL. A bat house has collapsed. Thousands of bats are homeless.

Here's some detail from the University of Florida:

University of Florida News: "Thousands of bats left homeless when the internal… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 18, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

The Earth, Weather and the Seasons

(NOAA Image)

Claudette, the first tropical storm of the season hit the Florida panhandle today. Our garden in central Florida is a long way from the panhandle. The skies are blue and puffy white… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 17, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Great Day at the Garden!

Today, I visited my patch at the garden. Click on the photo above to see some of my favorite things in the garden. You'll see some nice, ripening jalapeños. The cinnamon basil is finally growing enough so I can grab handfuls of it. There are some delicious cherry tomatoes. You'll see some urban mandalas. The mandalas have been moved to new places in the garden… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 16, 2009 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Don't Fence Me In

Howdy, Zoobirds! Thank God It's Friday! This little tune should get your weekend started off right. Thanks to Marko Stankovic in Belgrade for the…

Added by Michael Levin on August 14, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

H2Oh No! World Act of 2009 (S.624)

Ina Calvano sent me this video and request from Houston, TX:

"I just watched a video from charity: water, in which Matt Damon shows us the terrible plight of the hundreds of millions of people who live without access to clean water and sanitation. Read the rest here, in the All About Water… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 13, 2009 at 8:54am — No Comments

Pepper Dress

I've been looking for a reason to include Super Alisa in my Zoobird blog. Her writing is amazingly clever, funny and on target. This pepper dress was the ticket. Her stuff has nothing to do with organic gardening, but hey, it's peppers and we have a Pepper Zoo. WTF. Anyhoo, it's funny, worth browsing and I like… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 11, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Home Organic Gardens ::: What to plant now?

(Pedalpalooza Permaculture Tour - checking out Home Organic Gardens in Portland, OR - photo by Michael Levin)

UPDATED!

Fall is approaching. How do you decide what to plant? It depends on a few things, like where you live and what you like to eat! Portland folks love home gardens. Oregon has fertile ground and lots of rain. Florida, on… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 9, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

NATIVE HIPPIE WHEAT

NATIVE HIPPIE WHEAT

By

Sh’mal Ellenberg

“Grow wheat?

Kenge, what do you mean, grow wheat?”

“We can grow wheat,” he tells me. “I know we can grow wheat.”

Lance and Kenge were confident, convincing,

While I wondered, “What do they know?”

To plant: we ordered 100 pounds of organic wheat from the co-op.

Till it comes,

In the meantime,

We will prepare.

We organized a six person shit shoveling… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on August 8, 2009 at 2:42pm — No Comments