Sustainable SW Blogs

 

...ready for etching and final polishing.91,102,74,0,B

 

10 years old

We support Santa Fe Seed Stewards offering a great series of gardening classes this summer in addition to ours. If you are an experienced or newbie to gardening here in Santa Fe, check these out. No need to sign up, just show up!

Santa Fe, NM: The Santa Fe Seed Stewards, a project of the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners, will present a 5-week series of free gardening classes beginning July 7, 2022, and running through August 4 from 6-7:30 pm. The classes are part of the community education component of the Seed Library at the Southside Branch Library. The series includes two feature film screenings, and workshops on seed saving, fall vegetable gardening, and drip irrigation. The Santa Fe Seed Library is operated by the Santa Fe Seed Stewards in partnership with the Santa Fe Public Libraries. The following classes will take place at the Southside Branch Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive on five consecutive Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 pm.

The series kicks off with a screening of “Seed: The Untold Story.” This
award-winning film follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000-year-old food legacy. With Vandana Shiva, Winona LaDuke, Jane Goodall.
Thursday, July 7, 6-7:30 pm.

Then on Thursday, July 14, 6-7:30 pm, Seed Stewards and Master Gardeners Susie Sonflieth and Diane Pratt will present “Seed Saving for Resilient Gardens” They will cover the basics of harvesting, processing, and storage of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds through hands-on demonstrations.

Next up on Thursday, July 21, 6-7:30 pm, it’s Kelly Nace with The Firebird for “Drip Irrigation Basics” and best practices for setting up a DIY water-wise drip irrigation system.

The film “Kiss the Ground” will be screened on Thursday, July 28, 6-7:30 pm. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, the film explores the astonishing capacity of our soil, if coupled with regenerative practices, to reverse our carbon footprint and feed the world.

Finally, on Thursday, August 4, 6-7:30 pm, “Planning Your Fall Vegetable Garden” rounds out the series. Local vegetable guru Jannine Cabossel, aka The Tomato Lady, offers proven techniques for extending your gardening bounty well into the cooler fall months.

In addition, on Saturday, September 24 from 1-3 pm Seed Stewards and Master Gardeners Susie Sonflieth and Diane Pratt will offer “How to Save Seeds for Resilient Gardens” in conjunction with the Master Gardeners Let’s Grow! Education series. The class includes the basics of harvesting, processing, and storage of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds through hands-on demonstrations and will be held at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds, 3229 Rodeo Road, outdoors under the portal of the Exhibit Hall.

Resources for seed saving, growing vegetables from seed, growing tomatoes, soil preparation, seed viability, seed isolation charts, and much more are posted at https://SFEMG.org and https://santafelibrary.org

 

This is something I suggested to the new owners last year.  If the catchment tank overflows, all that extra water would just pool up by the foundation (not good).  I routed a 2" line from near the top of the tank to 30' downhill from the Casita.  There is a screen at the end of the line to keep critters from making their way into the water supply.  The tank is nearly full, and we have a good chance of more rain coming Sunday and Monday - so this line may very well get a chance to serve its intended purpose.  93,101,69,0,B    

A little plumbing job for the owners of the Casita.  A small (cold water only) lavatory.  Luckily the water and drain lines were rather easy to get to for the hookup.  Leaving the connections exposed until they pass the leak test.  86,94,73,0,B

I think I've watched over 100 of this guy's YouTube videos.(He has posted 606 videos to date.)84,95,73,0,B

 

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Proverbs 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. 

 

...probably to a coyote95,100,74,0,B

 

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What do these have to do with a modification I will be making on the rover?94,100,74,0,B

Grand opening in November...91,06,76,0,B

Five pounds of freshly blended bronze poured this morning in 4 batches.  Each batch is 600 grams of copper and 60 grams of aluminum.  93,97,70,0,B

 

16 more skulls on order.  It is brutal casting these during the summer, but it was a bit chilly today so I was able to crank out five of them.  75,95,76, .12",B

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 

 

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The new owners of the Casita have done a great job of making it their own.  Very nice interior touches and a buttload of solar that doubles as shade on the south side.  92,99,74,0,B

 

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Ended up with a nice little storm last night that wasn't in the forecast. Total accumulation over 5 hours ended up at .81". Caught 1600 gallons off my rooftops and pumped 2000 gallons into one of my creek tanks. Last time I got a good amount of rain out of one storm was on December 10,2019 with .74". Previous to that was 1.15" on December 7, 2017 (I keep very detailed weather records). I've been wanting to try adding my real time weather station data to a video and finally got my shot. My weather station is a discontinued model that I bought years ago from https://ambientweather.com. You can see my current conditions on WeatherUnderground at KTXALPIN105. The desert sure soaks it up fast...95,100,66,0,B

Nice visit today with Luther Krueger who came out to include The Field Lab in his solar cooking series on YouTube.  My solar oven heated up nicely today.  Clouds rolled in just before it got to 400°.  76,105,77, .81",W