So Much Poultry, So Little Time

...to hippify the uniforms a bit . . . -When the economy hits the skids people start thinking about keeping chickens. I spoke to the editor of the always informative Backyard Poultry Magazine about this phenomena. She said that she tries to tell people that you should keep chickens in good times and bad (amen!), but that when the economy tanks Backyard Poultry’s circulation soars. We predict Ben Bernanke will put together a coop behind the Federal Re...

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Book Review: What the Robin Knows

...ets of bird sounds and bird motion you see and hear in that place, at that time or day, at that time of year. To facilitate this recognition, he teaches you the five basic types of calls birds make (alarm calls, companion calls, etc.), using online audio files to help with the most common birds. He goes on to teach about behavior, predators, etc. Once you understand the baseline you will be able to tell when the baseline is disturbed, and eventual...

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Self-Righteousness Fail: We Bought a Car

...d that will happen when it feels safer to do so. Induced demand During the time we had no car we figured out our transportation needs almost effortlessly. Having had only one car for a long time we already knew how to use the public transportation system. When we needed a car to go to a far flung suburb or out of town we rented one. We also perfected the fine art of bumming rides. But when an almost new and well-cared for car dropped into our hand...

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A Year after The Age of Limits: 5 Responses to the End Times

...the future will bring, but it seems fair to say that right now we are in a time of change, and a time of difficulty. It also seems fair to say that your personal experience of these changes and difficulties will vary, depending on where you live, the skills and connections you possess, and how much money you have, etc. The changes will happen in different ways in different places on different timelines. Nonetheless, I believe the US is in a slow d...

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Root Simple’s New CritterCam

...hat mammal is chewing on our fruit? How often do coyotes visit and at what time? (We’ve seen them two times in the backyard). Are rats visiting our chicken feeder? When does a broody hen get up to eat? What critters are hanging around the chicken coop at night? Use the camera’s time lapse function to look at shade patterns in the yard. I’ll share the results on the blog over the next year. The first night I used the camera I pointed it at the grap...

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