Growing on up... 10 feet and growing!

Tomatoes are the king of the garden come summer.   In just a few weeks they can tower over their counterparts, creating a jungle right in the middle of the city!   When you are out there in the summer garden, you feel quite small, almost like you've been transported to a whole 'nother world.

Trellis systems, either with wood, string, or wire, are necessary to keep these giants from toppling over.

For my tomatoes, I am using wire/metal cages but had to add another layer after they topped 10 feet!  Lucky I had these wooden a-frame ones on hand that we built a few years back.   Now if the tomatoes grow beyond that, um, guess I am going to have to top them!

What trellising methods do you favor?

Now, if these giants would produce a bumper harvest, then I will be one happy guy - not to mention my sister, too!   She's been anxiously waiting the onslaught of summer crops so she can start putting up.

:: Resources ::

Tomato Trellising System

String Trellising of Tomatoes

Staking and Training Tomatoes

Trellising Systems

Anais, here.  Aren't those tomatoes just gorgeous?   Yeah, yeah, Justin is right.  I am a bit impatient!   Though we are harvesting and eating fresh tomatoes, I can't wait until I can get enough to start canning.    Anyhow, sorry about the lack of postings but it  appears our website(s) were (again) under a denial of service attack.  It's hard to post any updates when these attacks happen! One day I will get through the backlog of urban homesteading blog posts.

This week, another outdoor bathing (or showering I should say) facility is being erected here on the urban homestead. This one is situated in our "citrus grove" and will also be a trellis structure for climbing vegetables. What a luxury, the urban homestead now has two showers! Yet another simple and practical solution for low impact living and irrigation practices. That's how we like to do things here on the urban homestead - keep it simple.

Ladders and lodgepoles lean up against the block fence

In goes the first pole! Justin and Jules start work

Justin, now in possession of the camera (oh, dear!), snaps a photo of me harvesting dinner (I just harvested a zucchini)  Farmer D 's the the background looking over the afternoon's work on the shower/trellis structure.

Here's where the zucchini ended up. Joining a few other homegrown goodies to top a homemade homegrown herb pizza crust.

On a different subject. The shirt that I am wearing is about as old as I am. Honest. It has been passed down three generations. Talk about second (third) hand! Unlike clothes to today, it's not disintegrated on me yet and that's how our family saves money. We are able to live frugally and yet well. Oh, and the pants - they are hand me downs from a friend.

Since it was a busy day on the urban homestead with all sorts of projects going on, Jordanne treated everyone to some delicious homemade sun baked cookies in Sport Solar Oven

Energy Note

Solar Update: Our solar panels have passed the 8,000 mark!

Shine on!

In Search of Good Food

A documentary film tour of California's emerging sustainable food systems write about their LA experience and stop at a super productive urban farm.

Here's looking at you kid

Chicken Behavior

In our backyard menagerie all our animals are friendly and have their own personalities but out of all our feathered friends, Estella has the most character of all. She always comes running to greet you every time you walk into the animal enclosure and looks you square in the eye by tilting her head to the side. Of course, you can't avoid her eye contact and ignore her wanting to "chat" so you acknowledge eye contact and make silly conservation which goes something like "hey chickie doodle" "is that right?" "yeah?" "you don't say" then pat her head, stroke her cheeks. After our little intimate exchange, she's content to go her merry way.

Ray has some fun

"Upscale" Gardening

A term coined by local permaculuture artist, Ray, who made our beautiful trellises out of scrap metal and who stopped by today to check out how the "giant tomato" is growing. Even though I had sent him photos he was blown away by how massive the tomato was and impressed that it was still loaded with fruit. He even spotted a few blooms thanks to the wonderfully warm weather we've been having.

Plantings
Getting Ready for Spring

Fruit trees (low chill anna apples) and (low chill) blueberries go back in the northwest side "sweep" along side the house.

Please note, this journal entry was written on Tuesday (April 18th), sorry for the belated post everyone. Besides being busy, I just hadn't felt like posting lately (posting fatigue I guess you could call it)- not very good of me I suppose.  Well, better late than never as they say:

Cool Spring

Because it's been unusually cool and damp in early April, the start of planting season has been a pretty shaky one for some of the vegetables. A few of the squash seeds rotted and the many others are just waiting for the soil and air temps to warm up before they peak up through the soil.  

The other day we picked a handful of ripe strawberries and only 2, you read right, deuce, blueberries.   It looks like we'll get a decent crop of blueberries this year and that's pretty exciting. I think after years of trying them in different spaces in the yard, the blueberries have finally found their ideal growing spot. The fence line blackberries are loaded with snow white flowers and many happy bees. Soon it will be berry time. After a "dry" spell during the winter with only oranges and a few guavas, spring and summer can't come around fast enough. Learning to eat seasonally and adhere to nature's rules truly puts our food supply into a whole new perspective.   Living in Southern California, we are blessed throughout the winter with a citrus and avocados which keeps the diet slightly varied.

While visiting our neighborhood nursery early this week to pick up some lodge poles to complete the trellis, I ended up chatting with one of the customers.   Word has it that "Mt. Vesuvius" tomato is "the tomato" to get this year.   She went on to say that one of the guys (I am thinking who's with the nursery) went to Italy and brought back some seeds of this tasty paste variety and that our local nursery is the only place you can buy it - pretty exclusive tomato, I'd say.    She peaked my interest (didn't need much urging to gain my curiosity - that's for sure) and will definitely pick up a few plants when they arrive.

The lodge pole arbor is taking shape! Even though we needed to move this structure, it has found a home in another part of the yard.   

The guys also sunk the four other lodge poles in the ground of the "Gilligan's Island" trellis that is erected in front of the garage. This trellis will be home to a few grapes and should really look lovely hanging with clusters of sweet grapes. The outdoor eating area onside of the garage is being transformed back into a cozy little nook and should be ready for our outdoor knit-together and tea parties (my mouth is watering, thinking of freshly made cucumber sandwiches).

Since it's spring and the air is fairly clean with a few clouds, the solar panels are now producing a whooping 10 kwh a day! With our using an average of 6 kwh a day, we are definitely covering our energy use and sending green power to some lucky person in Pasadena.

The last few days have been too lovely to spend time in front of the computer, so posting, as you can see, has been sparse. I have a good excuse-- the outdoors, sunshine beckons, catching up with friends while chatting on the front porch in bare feet.   

We've also been busy getting our display ready for Earth Day. There's so much going on in general that I just barely touched the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps postings will be more consistent next week.

IF NOT US, WHO?

The news and endless opinions of this and that can be certainly angering and at times truly depressing. But, one can dwell on those such thoughts too long and nothing ever gets done.   One person asked us the other day  something to this effect: "Don't you ever think at times the world is just going down the wrong path and all our positive actions are useless."   Boy, did he hit the nail on the head, that very thought often does cross our mind. We often wonder "why even bother?" But such emotions are short lived (on good days). We told him that even though it's insanely frustrating, we just have to take control over what we can - and that is us, our lives. Worrying and wondering about things beyond are control are, in fact, a useless exercise.

I know what I have to do today, and that's all that matters.  

HACKED

Unfortunately our online "neighborhood" washacked (and our ptf email hijacked) over the last week, creating a security breech which allowed a spyware/virus to embed itself onto the forum. The people responsible also sent out email that contained a virus to all the forum users masked under the PTF E-Neighbors [dervaes@pathtofreedom.com] so this looks totally legitimate.

We apologize to all those who were affected by this unfortunate incident. I guess sites that are popular are a target for such ill mannered folks.

Update 4/23: Sorry folks, it's been hacked again.  I will call our hosting service provider tomorrow and complain about their not protecting their message board program that comes with our web site hosting plan. This is ridiculous.

BOOKMARKS
Going Green on College Campuses

Students at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., have spent the month of April "doing it in the dark." Studying, that is, or hanging out with friends or anything else they do in their dormitories -- just with most of the lights dimmed and with electronics turned off and things like phone chargers unplugged, all in an effort to save energy. It's part of an Earth Day competition to see which dorm can conserve the most.
read article

{Sounds like our "power down" day concept.   Everyone is competitive so why not focus that competitiveness into something positive.}

Restaurants can help trim foreign oil reliance

With the price of crude oil soaring, the restaurant industry could make a serious contribution to the fuel supply if most of its waste cooking oil can be recycled as biodiesel, according to industry and renewable fuel experts.
read article

Taking Care of What We've Been Given (Wendell Berry)

To be convinced of the sanctity of the world, and to be mindful of a human vocation to responsible membership in such a world, must always have been a burden. But it is a burden that falls with greatest weight on us humans of the industrial age who have been and are, by any measure, the humans most guilty of desecrating the world and of destroying creation. And we ought to be a little terrified to realize that, for the most part and at least for the time being, we are helplessly guilty. It seems as though industrial humanity has brought about phase two of original sin. We all are now complicit in the murder of creation. We certainly do know how to apply better measures to our conduct and our work. We know how to do far better than we are doing. But we don’t know how to extricate ourselves from our complicity very surely or very soon. How could we live without degrading our soils, slaughtering our forests, polluting our streams, poisoning the air and the rain? How could we live without the ozone hole and the hypoxic zones? How could we live without endangering species, including our own? How could we live without the war economy and the holocaust of the fossil fuels? To the offer of more abundant life, we have responded with choosing the economics of extinction.
read article

Scientists condemn US as emissions of greenhouse gases hit record level

The United States emitted more greenhouse gases in 2004 than at any time in history, confirming its status as the world's biggest polluter.
read article

A warm tropical "pineapple express" has descended on the southland bringing showers and occasionally torrential downpours. Already by afternoon our rain gauge measured over 1" of rain! The storm is expected to linger till tomorrow dumping more, much needed, rain.   Late Friday another storm is expected.

The lodge pole trellis structure that we constructed back in 2001 has finally been dismantled. Now that the concrete has been removed and there is more ground, the trellis looked out of place as if it were jammed toward the back of the property.   The guys carefully dismantled it.   It will now relocate it in a more centrally positioned area that will cover the broken concrete walkway that skirts along the perimeter of the garden.   The removal of the concrete has really played havoc with the set-up of the backyard. Now that we have ground in which to plant and erect structures, we are totally revamping the whole look of the backyard.   It's a little sad to see, a bit of nostalgia. But good things are in store for the backyard and it will be neat to watch it slowly transform back into a paradise.

Also, with all the new things happening in the backyard, our harvest this year will probably suffer due to the redesign. That's one of the reasons we put off taking out the concrete as we knew that our yearly 6,000lb harvest records would suffer. But there is a growing certainty that with the concrete out, in a year's time we could match or beat this 3 ton record.

TIME OFF

As you can see from our calendar our outreach program has been very, very quiet lately.   Much has to do with the weather being so unpredictable and our being so busy and a few other personal things that needed attention.   But this time off has allowed us to take a much needed breather and spend time to ourselves, allowing us to deepen our commitment to living a more sustainable life.

Last summer we introduced what we coined a "Self-Sufficiency Series" of events and workshops to help others gain the skills necessary to become independent. We invited skilled folks around the southland to put on workshops to share their skills with others.

We'd like to be host to this "SS" series again and much more, but, in a few months, we are faced with having to have a new roof put on our home. We pulled the permit in January and the city gives a 6 months time frame. Unfortunately, this coincides with the months that are ideal for community outreach programs held here at PTF.   Sure, we could find someplace else, but we are spoiled with the environment our facility provides, a far cry from a closed in conference room with AC and artificial lights.   It's often remarked that our  homestead is like a different world, a peaceful place far from the maddening crowds.   We hope the construction won't be too much of an incovenience which will allow us to plan for a series of events and workshops.  

I already have a full page chock-a-block full (2 columns) of events that we'd like to put on here at PTF.    We purchased a few new great documentary films (TBA) and are in negotiation to obtain a few more that are newly released.

Of course, we could, with our skills that we have gained over the years, host a variety of workshops from cooking with a solar oven, knitting, crocheting, using/making olive oil lamps, backyard chickens/ducks, soap making, candle making, gardening, beekeeping, biodiesel, seed saving, making a profit in your own backyard, and much much more.  

These past few months we've come up with many great ideas that PTF could be a part of, but juggling that aspect with life here on the homestead will be a certain challenge this year but a challenge worth tackling.   We may not be able to do all that we hoped, but all we can do is look forward.

PTF FUNDRAISER

We were invited to attend a screening of the End of Suburbia in Eagle Rock the evening of April 1st. Jules will be giving a power point presentation after the EOS film to give people solutions to the problems the film poses. The lady putting on the event was generous/kind enough to offer to pay and came up with a great arrangement that had never offered to us before.   She thought it would be great if folks attending could contribute towards a purchase of a sustainable project/item here on the homestead that would be used as an example for others who are interested in reducing their impact on the planet. So we gave her a list of things that would be a valuable addition to the urban homestead.

Firing up the cob
LIGHT MY FIRE

It was good to get back into using the cob oven. However, the cosmetic coat of plaster still needs to be fixed from the rain damage a few months back. Once the temperatures warm up we'll get around to wetting the oven and giving it a good recoat of plaster.

I spent much of Monday afternoon baking (bread, granola, rice pudding, croutons and dinner rolls), finishing just before the rain drops started to fall. Nothing beats freshly baked bread from the oven with a smidgen
of butter. Yum!

The lodge pole arbor is scheduled to be moved from one side of the back yard to the other. All this re-landscaping is making our heads spin. Once we come up a new idea we end up kicking what's been there for years. We then have to find a new, growing space for that.   It's all fun, but a bit overwhelming to bring in the new and keep the old.   Making it harder is the small amount of space we have to work with, but we have taken up challenges before. This just adds a new chapter in the history of the ever evolving urban homestead.

THE HARDEST PART

I picked up the recent issue ofDelicious Living Magazine, free, from our local Wild Oats. One of the article featured a few conscious folks, one of them being Julia Butterfly Hill. She puts into words what I think many of us are feeling right now:

"So often we are conditioned to run from the uncomfortable and difficult and numb ourselves from them or fight them. None of these are life-affirming places in which to stand. What is more powerful is to look at these opportunities rather than challenges -- each opportunity for growth, clarity and power."

Julia Butterfly Hill's favorite green habits:

Bring reusable containers everywhere you go. "When we use disposables, like coffee cups, paper towels, and to-go containers, we are literally throwing our planet and future away."

Shop for clothes at thrift stores. "Or when I buy something new, it is only from conscious companies that use organic cotton or hemp and pay good wages to workers."

Clean up your beauty routine. "I only buy products that are free of animal products, were not tested on animals, and contain no parabens or petroleum derivatives."

Support small, local farmers. "I do my very best to shop at farmers' markets. I also do my best to support cooperative stores, even when on the road. These are a vital part of a healthy body, community, and planet." continue article>>

This journal hopefully, provides not only a place for us to convey our our success, failures, hopes, judgments, dreams, frustrations and joy but a unique opportunity for growth.  

Every day is a struggle and each night we hope to have learned from the struggle.  
It's our mission that we aren’t just writing about the latest sustainable practices that you should incorporate in your lives, instead, it's our hope that we share with you sustainable steps that we have implemented, slowly put into operation or will put into action our lives.

The ripple starts here, we can't just tell others to change if we aren't, ourselves, the change.

We hope to continue to be conscious consumers and not post too many links to products, books, etc., tempting one to buy more other that what we have ourselves purchased in the past, present and future.

TAKING IT TO THE LIMITS

We received another wonderful, detailed email yesterday from another traveler who lives in an apartment complex in South Pasadena, just a few miles from us. If he can make such changes in his what I would call "not ideal" situation, change is possible anywhere. What a truly, truly inspiring letter, makes us want to accomplish more -- let's push the limits.

Hooray for folks like this couple.

Hello Dervaes Family,

Just wanted to give you a small update regarding our progress. I wrote you last summer seeking advice about a garden that my wife and I and were creating in our apartment complex, with two of our neighbors.

Maybe you remember? We were attempting to work with what we have, which is a space between two parking garages that is shaded for much of the day. You suggested a few leafy edibles for us to try, such as chard, lettuce, collards, etc...

Well, we followed much of your advice and the garden has been a success! Leafy vegetables grow without any problem. We got a late start last summer, but were still able to grow plenty of salad fixings before the cold weather hit. We started with two planters 8ft x 4ft and a small compost pile. Believe it or not, despite the small amount of light, we even got tomatoes to grow.

We had to try and it worked! We also grew some carrots. Some of these veggies were a little stunted, but still more tasty then the store bought stuff. (maybe it is just pride)Well, the success was encouraging. We decided to attempt some winter crops. The leafy stuff still did just fine, but mostly anything else just flat out failed! I guess It doesn't hurt to try. We did get the broccoli to flower, which was surprising, and were able to harvest six small plants three times. Just barely enough for three meals. Sure, it was a little leggy, but actually tasted fine.

Anyway we got the bug and started to utilize the colder weather to make some additions to the garden.A couple of the neighbors decided that they too wanted to compost, and began saving food scraps. One neighbor even collected bags of dried leaves for us. She made an arrangement with the gardeners at her work and started taking leaves home every day! We explained the process to those interested, and quickly realized that we would need more bins. We added three simple chicken wire containers to keep everything looking clean for the management. We also began looking on "craigslist" for free items that could be useful.

One thing that is always being given away is broken concrete pieces. We decided to build an herb spiral. We don't have a truck, so we made multiple trips to many locations in our Honda Civic with the seats folded down. We must have looked a little crazy when we were loading it up! Crazy is a relative term. We collected enough to finish the spiral and to build a retaining wall at the base of the (evil seed dropping) palm tree, which kept washing out anytime it rained. We planted comfrey under the palm tree, which grows so fast it is incredible.

We also collected a couple of old pallets which we are now using as makeshift table tops for more containers and seedlings.Realizing the importance of SUNLIGHT, we began to brainstorm options for expanding the garden where there is more light, so we can grow heartier crops that will actually feed us.

We came up with many ideas, most of which were just not practical or would not be allowed by the apartment complex. Ultimately we ended up buying six large containers (the kind designed to hold kegs of beer - plastic which gives us a little guilt - but in our price range at $6 each verses $20 for metal) We put these in front of our cars in our parking spots. Many of the other neighbors keep bicycles, and storage bins, and other junk, so why not planters?

No one seems to mind, so far. Watering will not be easy, but this is what we have to work with at the moment.Our balcony also gets lots of light so we decided to utilize it for more than just hanging out (though having comfortable space to entertain is still important) So far we have a dwarfed orange tree, and a fig tree. Both seem to be doing great. The warm weather put buds on the fig tree sooner than expected.

Don't know if these trees will do well enough to give us fruit, but we are confident and hopeful. We also built a worm bin for the porch for additional food scraps and things that can't go in the compost pile but will make the worms happy. We are looking for other ideas for the porch, but are taking it slow rather than forcing ideas...there are plenty of other projects to maintain, and with working in the movie business, we don't have as much time for projects as we would like.The gold line runs right behind our apartment, and their is plenty of dead space on Hawthorne street next to the train. We decided to guerilla garden some raspberries, blueberries, and a few other perennials.

We aren't really that discrete about the process and have decided if anyone asks us what we are doing we will just tell the truth. We have even come up with some ideas about how we might get other neighbors on that block interested and involved, and possibly even getting the city to sign off on putting in some fruit trees and other edibles in. It seems likely that in the future, people will have to get involved when the oil runs out. Right now everything is doing better than expected in these areas, despite the fact that the soil is rocky and full of clay.

Again...it doesn't hurt to try! We do not have time to organize the neighbors right now, but maybe it will be something we will pursue in the future. Even if we move away completely, hopefully someone will be observant enough to find the berries and harvest them.The best news of all of this is that we got a call yesterday and found out that we now have a space at the El Sereno community garden. It is in L.A., but only a short bike ride from our apartment in South Pasadena. It is a relatively new space (they built the garden within the last year or two), but we have been on a waiting list for about five months. I actually had forgotten that we had ever applied, and didn't have much hope since the guy in charge had told me that they were hoping to have El Sereno community members before surrounding neighbors from different cities.

Luckily my wife is persistent and had written several letters expressing our interest. I guess it is true that "the squeaky wheel gets the oil," because they decided to give us a plot. It will only cost us $40 for the year, and will provide us with 100 square feet of actual dirt! We are very excited. Now we will be able to grow what grows best in the apartment space, and other more substantial crops only a mile or so from our apartment. Lucky for us, the garden has rules that you can't use pesticides or synthetic fertilizer. We met some of the gardeners at a monthly meeting and everyone seems really nice. We'll be working on prepping our soil this weekend. The previous tenant apparently didn't do much to their space (probably the reason they aren't participating anymore) so the soil is dried, cracked, exposed and unhealthy. It will take a little time, but we'll get it into shape.

There are still a few projects we want to concentrate on. The biggest is some sort of water storage system. We almost got our hands on six free water barrels, but that fell through. We are hoping to eventually collect rain water at the apartment. There are a number of gutters that go into the garden and it is just a matter of finding water barrels. We haven't broken down and bought them yet, because we are convinced we will find them for free. Another idea we have been toying with, is to develop a crude grey water system. Our friend in Flagstaff (who attended your Bio-diesel workshop with me) has been collecting grey water simply by bringing a bucket into the shower. Sounds silly at first, but...whatever water goes into the bucket is then put through a sand filter which goes to a storage container. That water is then used to water his garden!

Kind of different, but not a bad idea when you are a renter with no control of your plumbing. The other major item on our list of things to do, is to get to know more of our neighbors. We are going to throw some potluck dinners in the courtyard, and hopefully share some of our veggies. Getting to know your neighbors is tougher than it looks, especially in L.A.

We have been talking about this for a while, but we've been waiting for warmer weather.Well, I guess that is about it. I wanted to let you know all of this, because you have been a vital part of our inspiration, and even though I have thanked you before, I wanted to thank you again. What you are doing is very, very important. You are creating a ripple effect. Your actions have helped to create my actions, and my actions are creating positive actions in others. Not only have some of my neighbors become interested and (somewhat) involved in our project, I helped convince a co-worker and his sister to take a permaculture workshop.

We didn't even know what permaculture was until I met you met you and saw what you were doing! Thanks again.Press on!Guy

BOOKMARKS
News clips
Flying is Dying by (George Monbiot)
" if we want to stop the planet from cooking, we will simply have to stop traveling at the kind of speeds that planes permit. This is now broadly understood by almost everyone I meet. But it has had no impact whatever on their behavior. When I challenge my friends about their planned weekend in Rome or their holiday in Florida, they respond with a strange, distant smile and avert their eyes. They just want to enjoy themselves. Who am I to spoil their fun? The moral dissonance is deafening."

Weird, I just wrote something along those lines of thought when I wrote on February 27th that:

To be truly self-sufficient one has to spend a better part of the day doing chores that will help one make it to the next. So much for time-off and vacations - right. One day, besides food and energy, even vacations will have to be localized. No more jet setting to places thousands of miles away.

Campaign Against the Plastic Plague
Plastic bags are everywhere! Everyday, we are handed countless plastic bags: when we go to the grocery store, retail clothing store, book store, restaurants, etc. Yes, sometimes, plastic bags are convenient, as they are water resistant and light and inexpensive compared to paper bags. Most of the time, plastic bags are superfluous and avoidable. It seems as though store clerks are often eager to hand out plastic bags for any and all kind of purchases. Sometimes, a plastic bag is just not necessary for that apple you are about to eat or that soda you are going to drink right away. Here are some questions we should ask ourselves whenever we are handed a plastic bag:

This simple act of bringing your own bag, can make a difference.   It been more than a year now that we have religiously (except on a few occasions) used canvas shopping bags.

When shopping, especially at Trader Joes when I fill a shopping cart full, I end up bagging my own groceries to keep from holding up folks in line (who, on occasion, can get down right antsy if the line isn't moving fast enough for them).   I get this feeling that the workers are intimidated by using such green bags - why? Are they that difficult to use?

Yeah, they don't stand up straight and stiff like paper bags, but isn't it like using a plastic bag?

CALLING ALL READERS AND LURKERS

Wow, there have been some lengthy post lately and now another. Hope you readers, don't mind.   Trying to clean out the "to post" draft folder where I have jotted down thoughts and observations.  

What would you like to read more of on this journal, how can we improve or are we doing just fine? Your thoughts, suggestions, comments on how we are doing (good, the bad) insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Biodiesel Mixin' Mixer

Backing up just a bit:

Sunday, May 16, The Biodiesel Mixin' Mixer was another success with many attendees from across the Southland.

Thanks to all those who brought contributions for the potluck (it was quite a spread!) and toKPFK for spreading the word.

This past Sunday, we hosted PTF's first Homebrew Biodiesel Workshop. Reservations were filled within days.

Due to the hands-on activity and because of the risk of certain chemicals, the size of the class was restricted, so we had to turn away quite a few but we hope to have another one sometime soon.

We all were glad to get that session behind us. With everything that's done for the first time, there are jitters and anticipation of pulling it off.

JD worked on (always coming up with cool ideas! ) a pretty nifty titration card to help with the titration process, JM worked on another handout for biodiesel safety and terms.

Biodiesel 201
The afternoon went well. The attendees got to test and titrate four different WVO sources, did a test "blender" batch, and also made a batch in the water heater reactor. We provided each participant with safety equipment and a folder with all the various reference material and handouts.

One guy who attended, brought some plastic containers filled with used cooking oil - which we tested and found to be pretty good waste grease. He says that where he lives, people leave them on the side of the street. (Thanks for the grease Brian!)

GREASERS

Speaking of biodiesel, now that we are running B50 (50% homebrewed biodiesel) and working our way up to B100, the Suburban's exhaust is smelling more like cooking oil and there's no more of that black yucky smoke. (Still considering a SVO system - in time).

A recent news article posted on the web is fueling the revolution toward grease power --Drivers Eye Vegetable Oil As Cheap Fuel

Most SVO'ers argue that biodiesel is not eco-friendly - when in fact it's less toxic than table salt. Yes, there is lye and methanol involved in the process - but these are all natural accruing materials. Don't get me wrong we are neither on one side or the other - we are open minded and on a journey to find the best answers & solutions.

We've been receiving lots of emails and calls regarding biodiesel - the movement is starting to pick up and there's a rash of people we know that are buying diesel cars -- especially now with gas prices so outrageous.

Future of transportation?????

END OF OIL

Think gas is expensive now? Just wait.... yeah we heard all that before --- but this time it's REAL. Read National Geo article onTHE END OF CHEAP OIL).

It's inevitable. But just how soon will the vital fuel become so scarce and expensive that we're forced to make hard choices about how we live?

It's the end of the world as we know it......

LOOKING FORWARD

A new journey has begun...

Water reclamation: Yesterday we ordered aGrey Water system from Real Goods. Yep, a big investment there - but the benefit will be to help cut back our water usage.

This will go down in the cellar (uh, if we can even get down there -- the guys are starting to tunnel their way in through the spare wood and parts) to filter the tub and sink water.

The water will then be pumped out into a pond (constructed "wetland") in the garden. We plan to stock the pond with toads (borrowing some tadpoles from the Arroyo Seco near our house) and other natural water plants.. It's going to be a big job, but really look forward to reclaiming and using less water.

To help assist us, we borrowed the bookCREATE AN OASIS WITH GREYWATER from the library - great resource with practical applications.

Water conservation: A couple of weeks ago, we went down to Highland Park to pick up the dual flushCarmoa toilets fromC & L Supply.

This toilet will greatly reduce water consumption with a 1.6 / 0.8 gallon two button dual flush system. Thanks toPasadena PWP for their generous (time limited) $180 mail in rebate!

Love those rebates!

We still need to buy a waterless, non electric composting toilet for the back 1/2 bath -- it is a bit more expensive, so we'll have to wait on that. We are looking at theEnviroLet brand.

A recent acquaintance bought over three "rain barrels" (THANKS, Marie!)

These food grade containers are marvelous and what's even better is that she can get more of them. Whoohoo!

It won't rain here till probably at least December (if we are lucky) but that's something else that needs to be done - harvesting rain water and building a cistern.

Water is definitely on the brain these days!

Roll out the barrel

First batch of CP soap

FIRST BATCH

The other night, we gals made our first batch of cold process castile soap. After seeing John Mikrut give the soap making class (See May 3rd posting), we were confident enough to tackle this project (THANKS - John for the great workshop!).

Thankfully with the garage as a workshop, we could do our stuff and not mess up the kitchen.

We still have yet to take it out of the molds to cure, but so far it looks to be turning out OK -- we hope. If the bars cure well, they'll be given to friends to try.

ANIMAL FARM

Life on our little farm is certainly never ending and there's never a dull moment.

Here's some updates on the condition of our animals:

Moonshadow's (our bunny) eye condition is continuing to improve (see May 23rd post) - though she still has a bit of mucus accumulation and is still a bit swollen over the top eyelid.   Homeopathic and natural treatments are much slower than shots or antibiotics, but it's much better for the animal.Moonshadow after a hard day's digging

Quack!Dawn, one of the ducks, is recovering from a small festering bump or lesion (bumble foot) she got from bruising her foot on a rock. It's where a hard lump skin forms over cut.  JM treated it daily with iodine and salt water washes.

A local couple who adopted two ducks from us called the other day with the same complaint about one of their ducks, though their duck's condition was much worse and dangerous. They had wanted to take her to the vet as the foot was inflamed and swollen and she was limping badly, but JM gave them some advice on home treatment and natural remedies.

The good news is that the duck is recovering nicely, although they had to cut out the hardened piece of pus - which we heard wasn't a very pleasantjob.

Our chickens are doing fine and, with the warm weather, are giving eggs. Of course, some of the hens continue to go broody and need to be put into the broody pen. But like a scene from Chicken Run, they often break out in mass escapes.

Our "mascot" (the Un-Mighty Quinn, the pigeon who adopted us -- read Nov 24 blog entryof his first arrival ) brought home a "friend" over the weekend. (We think the other pigeon is a female and Quinn is a male, but aren't sure.)

They hung out together whole afternoon, though there's been no sight of the other pigeon for the last couple days.

Quinn is certainly a character. When we have workshops or gatherings he makes sure to get in on the action, hanging around and intently "listening" and watching all the goings on. He wants to be included in the fun.

The Un-mighty Quinn

New grape trellis on garage

TRELLISING

JD designed and built ( with the help of JC & JR) a lovely new trellis above the garage opening. What was once a "nothing space" should hopefully be producing some tasty grapes this summer.

It was pretty cheap to build and looks like " a million bucks."

There are still more trellises and arbors that are in our plans to be built as we want to utilize as much vertical growing space that we can.

FABRIC GALORE

We are definitely going to have to find some time to start sewing some new "threads."

We picked out some cotton pieces that caught our eye from the load we picked up from a friend's garage we are helping clean (she has loads more in her house we haven't even touched yet) and are selling the rest.

Our goal is to sew an outfit by the end of summer -- yikes, summer's almost here!

Groovy

GARDEN REPORT

The weather, as I mentioned in my last posting, is cooler. A dense fog bank from the coast keeps the sun pretty much hidden for much of the day.

JC is planting another batch of greens to replace all the ones that bolted during that heat wave of a week or two ago.   He's also planting another round of squash, beans, tomatoes and more summer veggies to keep a continuous flow of new plants to replace those that will be finished in a couple of weeks.

The tomato plants are huge -- and green! Hope the fruit will be as well.  We harvested our first sweet cherries - yummy! The French beans are producing and they are a tasty addition to our meals not to mention a big hit with our customers.

The Anna apple trees are loaded with small fruit, and we can't wait till they ripen!

The Nasturtiums and Pansies are still blooming - with the help of lots of fish fertilizer and compost tea.   This is a tremendous blessing, as the customers continue to order lots of edible flowers and with the wedding season coming up we hope that they will order more.

Last week one of biggest customers had a large order of 40 boxes (2000) Nasturtium flowers, which we were happy to fill!

WHAT A RIDE!

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming…’Wow! What a ride!’”

~ Author Unknown ~

JM is trying to track down a decent priced projector, she had found a real good one on Recycler, but when she called, the guy said it had sold - boy, those things go fast!

Whew, this post was a looooooongie - certainly making up for lack of time and not being able to publish due to some glitch in our Microsoft (duh) program.

Folks, I am still behind on emails, so please be patient. I will get to them as soon as I can. Lots of emails are coming in and I am trying to answer your questions as fast as I can. Thanks for your understanding.

I had a good chuckle from this posting on PTF's forum :Dream about PTF (no need to worry Peg, the only grass we have is a pathway through the front yard - and the grass was salvaged from a dumpster after a commercial shoot. Have to say, though, this patch's time will be short lived- it's destined in the next few weeks to be replaced with native grasses.)

A friend came by yesterday and told us that we are overextending ourselves, when he heard that JD has an very painful inner ear infection and has not feeling well for the past couple days. We pray that he will be healed soon.

Thanks for all the positive feedback and encouragement. It's really an inspiration to hear from fellow travelers. Wishing you all the best in each of your journey's.

Weather Report: Back to cooling down.

The guys finished the redwood patio cover off the side of the garage on Friday. Looks great guys, thanks!We are going to grow grapes over it for shade. It'll be a nice  cool place to eat or just hang out.Planning to hang an old chandelier from one of the beamsusing it for a planter -- perhaps ivy. I think it would look really neat!  

Weather Report: Warm.