Tag Archive for 'carmichael'

DIY: Start A Compost Bin

jesse published on June 15, 2010 in food, technology and zeitgeist. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Good Day!

Wanna Start a Compost Bin in your back yard? It can be done. You don’t need much space…

Here’s one way:

Find a Container (maybe it’s made of wood so it will someday decompose as well… in this case, I bought a metal trash can because I’m leaving this house soon and needed something I could take with me to the next place I’ll be living)

Make sure it has holes in it for air flow… oxygen good for decomposition… so put it up on some bricks or stones.

Put a layer of cardboard and dead yard clippings down first so that air can come up from the bottom.

Then it’s just like making a cake… first a layer of “brown” (dead) matter… then a layer of “green” (living) matter…

Add your saved up scraps from the kitchen. (some people say no animal products because it attracts vermin and makes extra bad smell)

For a good list of what you can compost, check this site out: http:planetgreen.discovery.com

Then add another layer of “brown” waste (sawdust, soil, grass clippings… etc…) to cover it all up and let it start really cooking… breaking down the food scraps and other compostable items over the course of the next few months.

And then maybe you want to pee on it a little bit?

Cover with a lid to keep out animals… and every time you fill up your container in the kitchen with scraps, just pull back a section of the top “brown” matter layer and mix in the scraps, and then re-cover. Or if you have enough of those scraps, create a whole new layer of “green” matter and then cover with another layer of “brown”. After a while you can mix it all up and the really useful compost soil will be down at the bottom…

P.S. Here’s a nice container for the kitchen with a carbon filter so it doesn’t smell while its sitting on your counter and slowly getting filled up…

Tupperware works too… you can freeze it as well so it won’t smell until you’ve got enough to make the trip outside.

P.P.S. For more composting tips… check out http://easycomposting.com

Good Luck… The Earth says, “THANKS… I LOVE YOU TOO!!!”

jrc

Face the Pain

jesse published on May 1, 2010 in art, build, superforest journal and zeitgeist. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I’m reading a great book these days called Nonviolent Communication for which there is also a handy website…

“As radical as it may seem, it is possible to do things only out of play.
I believe that to the degree that we engage moment by moment
in the playfulness of enriching life- motivated solely by the desire for
enriching life- to that degree are we being compassionate with ourselves.”
-Marshal B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.

I really think that the processes described in this book are going to be instrumental in the changing of the world into a more balanced system.

Then again, who is to say that the world isn’t balanced already… just in a way that we can’t understand…?

Who among us can even stomach the idea of really considering all of the situations in the world that seem to us like they need improvements… ?

How do we navigate the space between excitement about the concept of compassionate communication to the almost paralyzing sense of impotence that comes from reading the news reports about the latest Oil Spill?

And here we are off the tracks of optimism into the land of confusion…

Anyone else relate to that mind trap?

Well… if so… good to hear it… cause we’re all in this together.

And we get strength and inspiration from websites like SuperForest and from our friends and our families and we acknowledge the confusion and the pain and we keep moving…

To illustrate my point… vaguely… here’s a short video I just made… enjoy.

much aloha…

jrc

My First Post!!!: Jesse’s Seed Planting Tips

jesse published on April 26, 2010 in food, superforest journal and zeitgeist. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Hello Everyone! Very Excited to be making my first post on this most excellent website… all of my gratitude and appreciation goes out to Jackson for inviting me to be a part of the team and to all of you wonderful Superforesters around the world for being so beautiful and optimistic!!!

This post is about growing food. In a container.

Step 1: get your supplies from a gardening store or wherever you can find these things.

-The best potting soil you can find.

-Container with drainage (at least 1 foot cubed)

-Seeds. (in this case… Rainbow Chard)

-Peat Moss.

-Fertilizer to add to the soil (more nutrients for the plants to “eat” while they’re growing up)

Step 2: Fill the Container

-Mix in some of the Fertilizer into the Potting Soil (the box of fertilizer tells you how much) as you fill the container up to the top.

Step 3: Create the Holes for the Seeds and fill em half way up with Peet Moss.

-refer to the bag of seeds to see how much space you should put between each little hole and how deep you should make the hole.

-if the seed bag says to plant the seeds 1/2 inch deep… then dig out a 1 inch hole with your finger because you’ll add a 1/2 inch of peat moss to the hole so the seeds get good water drainage.

Step 4: Put the Seeds in the holes

-put at least 2 seeds in each hole to increase the chances of healthy seedlings.

Step 5: cover the last 1/2 inch of the holes with more Peat Moss and then WATER!

-you don’t want to drown the seeds… so water lightly and just enough to make the soil damp a few inches deep (2 minutes or so depending on water flow… use your intuition.)

-you’ll need to water every morning… it’s best to water in the morning before the sun gets blazing hot.

Step 6: Trim out the extra seedlings

-after just over a week or so, you’ll have little cute seedlings… cut out the tinier ones just below the soil and leave the healthiest biggest seedling from each hole you planted… they’re gonna get huge!

-P.S. the seed packet should tell you how many hours of direct sunlight the plant wants every day… (usually at least 6 hours)

Step 7: Keep Watering and 6 weeks later (give or take a few depending on your plant type), ENJOY!

As we are rapidly moving into the seasons of spring/summer here in this North America region of the world our window of time for planting from seed certain plants that don’t like a lot of hot heat is almost up… but you could follow these first couple steps and use already started transplants that you can get from a farmers market or a gardening store and save yourself a couple of weeks.

Whatever happens it should be a fun experiment and I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a wonderful feeling to help something grow.  They feel like your children… until you cut them up and eat them…

Hope you’re all having a magical day.

until next time…

aloha

jrc