Maintaining a Worm Bin

...wet and compact. Fudge is a less than ideal environment for worms. In the picture at the top you’ll see my most recent working side. There’s a lot going on in there still, some big food pockets, wood shavings everywhere, but the texture is becoming too black and dense overall. Compost worms like a little air, a little “wiggle room” and a diversity of habitat. It was past time to change this working side to a resting side. Resting comes before har...

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Connect with Nature Project #2: Rediscover Your Feet

...your knees soft and springy, even slightly bent. Take your arms out of the picture. No swinging arms. Fox Walking is not striding, it’s creeping. Clasp your hands in front of you or hold them bent softly at your sides. Whatever is most comfortable. Just keep them still. Lift one foot, transferring all your weight to your grounded foot. Lead with the toe. Let the ball of the foot, touch earth first. Before committing to lowering your heel, pause to...

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Federico Tbn’s Self Irrigating Pots

Federico Tbn sent me some very cool pictures of two self irrigating pots (SIPs) he built out of found materials. The one in the picture above uses a water jug and a five gallon bucket. Unlike my really ugly SIPs, Federico has taken the time to ornament the outside of the bucket. Federico says, This one is a variation on the 5 gallon bucket system. The handle on the jug was a convenient way of inserting a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe to refill the r...

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To each hen her own egg

...e is speckled, one is light olive green and the other dark olive drab. The picture doesn’t capture the olives at all. It’s useful to be able to associate each hen with her egg, so you know if there are any problems with her laying. Unfortunately, these four ladies look so much alike–and tend to visit the nesting box in pairs–so we haven’t been able to ID their eggs yet. Closer surveillance is required! *** And while we’re talking chickens — Update...

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On the Difficulty of Finding Pastured Animal Products

...tion–specifically eggs and meat from a farm that looks like the one in the picture above. I’m hugely disappointed. And I wish I could be more specific but I don’t want to end up in a lawsuit. Let’s just say that at this point I’m not aware of any animal welfare rating service that I consider adequate. Let’s not even talk about the joke that is the USDA. I do think there is a entrepreneurial opportunity here for someone to start a reliable third pa...

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