Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Horror movie

I am not fond of, and don't watch, horror movies. However, Brian and I watched one last night and yes, it was disturbing but this one is different. It was also very educational, and motivating. I recommend it to EVERYONE. Even if you, like me, don't care for scary movies.

Here is a link to the movie on hulu. You can watch it right here from your computer. For free! It's 1.5 hours in length. Warning: There are lots of facts and statistics thrown at you.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

More cargo bike fun



I put the cargo bike together last week. I took it for a test ride only to discover the bottom bracket was too low. I thought I could get by with it, I would just have to remember- no pedaling in corners. Monica assured me this was the wrong idea. So out came the hacksaw and welder. I made a few changes and its was back together the next day. I gained 2 inches without affecting my steering angle too much.

I mounted a flat bed and a gm parts crate on it until I build a box. The kickstand is temporary, I'm working on a better design. We decided to take it to the grocery store today. I was a little worried about getting 5 miles from home, loading it with groceries and having a problem. So I loaded a Datsun engine block in the box and took it for a spin. 85 lbs and it handled with no problem. We bought 65 lbs of groceries, the bike laughed at me. The only problem I noticed is my cantilever brake sucks. Before I mount the front brake I'm going to try and get a set of v-brakes. This thing is a smile making machine. I think I'm ready to start building another one.











Saturday, March 6, 2010

Pupa not cocoon

Well, the strange 'thing' we found in the backyard that we thought was some sort of cocoon is a Luna Moth pupa. Or at least it looks very similar to the picture of one we found on Wikipedia, here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actias_luna

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What on earth?

When cleaning out the beds on Sunday I came across a lot of creepy crawlies, including worms. Tons of worms!

Brian, however, hit the jackpot when he dug up this. I thought it was a piece of a carrot at first. Upon realizing it was indeed not a carrot and that I had no idea what was in my hand, I tossed it in a panic. It landed on the side walk and we went back to digging. A few minutes later we look over and it had squirted a bright yellow liquid from itself. DI-SCU-SSTING! But I'm still so curious as to what the hell it is. Our guess is a cocoon of some sort. Any ideas?




The same, but different

We are at it again. Sunday we finally started some seeds. Brian made soil blocks and we planted tomatoes, jalapenos, and celery. Last year we had a bounty of Juliet tomatoes which we loved. We dehydrated and froze a bunch, and they were very tasty. However, we couldn't find any organic Juliet seeds this year so we opted for the Amish Paste which we've read good things about.






Last year, in an effort to turn our back yard lawn into a garden, we covered the grass with cardboard and put raised beds atop the cardboard. The beds were filled with soil, of course, and we filled the area outside the raised beds with bark. And later, straw.

This process worked well for us but as we began planning for this year we debated keeping the beds. The beds are filled with weeds and we decided it would be easier to remove them without the boxes in our way. So, we started that process on Sunday as well. This is what we have so far.


In this space I planted lettuces, carrots and beets.






We both think it looks and feels more like a little farm.