Planting in a Post-Wild World

...ng the progress of our redesign using this system. October/November is the time for this work in Southern California. The idea is to get the plants in before the winter rains, so they can establish before the summer heat and drought hits. In temperate climates, folks are just beginning to put their gardens to bed for the winter. So you lucky people can just curl up by the fire and sip your hot cider and read this book while the rain and snow falls...

Read…

Book Review: The Machine Stops by E.M. Forester

...perhaps, to the discomfort I suspect many people were experiencing at that time, as the world rushed into modernity. We don’t hear much about that discomfort, because Progress is our modern religion, and those who once held out some concerns about its cost don’t tend to get much stage time in our cultural narratives. This little story is like finding a message of dissent in a dusty old bottle. Now, to be sure, the dystopic themes he’s working on i...

Read…

Our Disastrous Summer Garden

...po with some ideas: Spend a little less time on Facebook and a little more time in the garden. Come up with better raccoon fortifications. Take out stone fruit that isn’t performing (Kelly has wanted to do this for a long time but I’ve dragged my heels). Take better notes. Improve soil and restart a composting project. Come up with small metal cages to enclose fruit (I have a notion that involves 3D printing–more on this later). How did your garde...

Read…

Our Amazon Problem

...but finding them, negotiating with them and wrangling their ads is a part-time job that neither of us wanted to take on. Regarding alternatives to the Amazon model, there was a period when Amazon dumped all associates in California after the state went after them for not paying sales taxes. During this time, I tried using Portland-based bookstore Powell’s associate program, but it proved unpopular with our readers. There were maybe one or two ord...

Read…

What Preparedness Lessons Did You Learn From Hurricane Sandy?

...his I learned a few more things: 1) don’t assume power will be restored anytime soon. I should have bought an emergency radio/flashlight with a hand crank generator that a phone can be plugged in to. Until I find that deli, I was concerned I would lose touch with my mother and a few close friends (I know no one on this island and very few in NYC). 2) Make note of places that have outlets. Since I was able to get on Facebook, I was able to see what...

Read…