Guerilla Gardening

Yes, there's a movement! Search "guerilla gardening", and you might be as amazed and gratified as I am.... it seems that around the globe, city people are changing the barren landscape by installing planter boxes & plants in abandoned soils... from what I see online, we're looking at- obviously- connected computer users and gardeners with the wherewithal to buy bags of soil, etc, and it looks as if it's mostly flowers planted- but never mind that, I say. It's happening. Reclaiming the Commons- it's happening all over.
Here's the site with the flowers-in-a-grate picture: http://weburbanist.com/2007/08/21/urban-ecological-subversion-the-art-of-guerilla-gardening-in-public-spaces/.

Naturalizing a Community Pharmacy

Great success with naturalizing poppies! At least one hill where I strewed the seeds bloomed and seeded again; I've saved more seeds of poppy and native tobacco to throw out by the waterways where they'll presumably get what they need. The tires were a bust- I'd set up three tire planters by the railroad tracks, making them pretty and green-looking; I guess that caught some attention- at least, the tires'd just been sitting there for months before I planted in them.
I know this is a good time of year for poppy planting, but not so sure about the tobacco- I'm thinking that if the native is now setting seeds, it's the native time to strew them around, since that's what the plant's doing anyway. As for the Aloe Vera- probably the most immediately and universally useful of the three I'm concentrating on- I've got some pretty good pups going, but haven't found good, useful places to put them yet; maybe under public trees that're already regularly cared for. We'll see.

Peak Oil

The following links are to reports sponsored by the U.S. government regarding peak oil. There's been a lot of talk about this, of course, from conservative geologists to radical solutionists who say that peak oil may occur as soon as 2010..... the one thing they all agree on: peak oil is coming. The lifeblood of modern civilization is thinning, decreasing, while we use more & more to sustain our lifestyles. I've included the links in answer to the Many who say that Hubbert ( the original peak oil theorist) was wrong, wrong wrong.....and yes, he was wrong in some specifics- he didn't include new oil recovery technologies, frinstance. Or the incredible increase in demand- think China, think SUVs- but overall, peak oil theory is accepted as fact- even by the US government. Check out the links:

http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/others/pdf/Oil_Peaking_NETL.pdf

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:9SOVttckKiAJ:www.projectcensored.org/newsflash/The_Hirsch_Report_Proj_Cens.pdf+peak+oil+government+report&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
Interesting, too, that one of our major oil rich families- the Bush Dynasty- is now investing in water-rich land in Paraguay- they now own the world's second largest natural water source.(http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.phpaz=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=24247)
Is it really just paranoia that makes me fearful of these people controlling our oil, our water? ....when's control of the air we breathe coming?

Oh SHIT

It's everywhere. I'm truly getting that chickens & dogs have a difficult time remembering my very stern orders to shit in the mulch pit..... NOT in the paths. Well, these heedless animals leave it everywhere.... including my front porch. Fortunately, it's easy to find; if you don't see the shit first, you'll smell it- and if you don't smell it, you'll certainly notice the clouds of flies hovering around it. shit. Happily for us, it's not difficult to deal with: we scoop it up with handfuls of straw and throw it in the pit, which we keep covered with straw or green cuttings to keep down the flies. Sweeping and hosing does for the paths and my porch, and provides a daily chore that keeps me focussed... and I still love the animals, even while I sweep and curse at em. I guess we don't need any pictures for this one.....

Worms, Mighty Friends of the Soil

WORMS are a big surprise to me…. Their amazing abundance in the earth, for one thing. Where can they possibly come from? They seem to appear overnight in the ground; hundreds of them if they like the conditions: plenty of rotting worm food, dirt, and moisture. They aerate the soil- at least they will if they can get there in the first place- then add their nutritious “castings”, really worm scat by another name. They add potassium to the soil, adding that excellent nutrient to plants we grow in it….. they’re good chicken food, too.

Check these guys out! This photo's from the mulch pit, one turned over shovel-full!