Tree, Bush, Vine, Mushroom

last of the frozen blueberries (rinse out baggie, reuse) Today was fabulous. Almost 60F, sunny, a mild breeze. Amie and I went outside and worked – well, she sat and drew, I worked. I made a new 4’x16′ bed near the fence, for peas and lettuce (it will be shaded by the summer hoop house). …

Workshop/Studio, Root Cellar, and Future

Turns out we won’t be replacing our old, rotting, dirt-floor small shed with a new and larger, insulated workshop/pottery studio. The previous owner had an unwieldy septic system put in, and some digging today confirmed that part of that system lies within 10 feet of the corner of the old shed – and closer than …

A Phenological Ambition, More Mice, Naps

One of my ambitions is to make a phenology of this place. I’d love to use many media. Words foremost, then drawings, paintings and photographs, and  occasionally audio recordings and videos (but those I wouldn’t be able to stick in my favorite “container”, the book). To make a little drawing every day, of the newly …

Eat Real Food Challenge

I stopped reckoning our food consumption for the Riot a long time ago: the Riot way of calculating our food consumption and production was never clear to me. And so, though the growing and storing and preparing of food are almost constantly on my mind, I haven’t kept track, which made me feel at a …

Riot for Austerity – Month 16

Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Gasoline. I can’t wait for the temperatures to go up and the rains to stop so I can bike Amie to school. 9.96 gallons per person (pp) in cars + 10 miles pp on public transport =  24 % of the …

Humongous Planting

Over five hours of fairly uninterrupted work I planted: Anise Hyssop (mint!) Aster: September Ruby NE Broccoli Blend 09 Broccoli: Waltham Brussels Sprouts: Roodnerf Cabbage: Charming Snow Cabbage: Earliana cabbage: red express Catnip Chard: Bright Lights Chard: Fordhook Giant Charming snow cauliflower chives: Purlie Collards: Evenstar Cornflower: Bachelot Button eggplant: Applegreen eggplant: diamond Hyssop kale: …