Why I Garden #16

Submitted by TimJFowler on Thu, 2010/08/05 - 8:45pm
in
Squash Blossoms and Honey Bee after the rain

The monsoon rains have been coming pretty regularly and everything in the garden is growing with vim and vigor. I expect that the various squash and other vining plants will soon break out of their beds and overwhelm any slow moving bystanders. Of course that includes the weeds, but the fruit and veggies are keeping pace. My only worry is that I might miss pulling any of the insidious Siberian Elm (aka Chinese Elm) seedlings that are sprouting from any and everywhere.

Game On

Submitted by EcoMommyo on Tue, 2010/07/27 - 12:17pm
in
Apricot Jam, Butter and in Marsala

I would have written sooner but I’ve been canning. The apricots are here and it’s game on.

Due to an amazing turn of weather this spring, fruit trees all over town actually escaped a late frost and managed to set fruit. It has been several years since this miracle happened last and right now I see piles of apricots lying in the street all over the place. It practically makes me want to weep. Pick your fruit, people! Someone, somewhere will appreciate it not only because it is delicious but also because you can avoid attracting vermin to your neighborhood in search of rotting sweets.

A Walk in the (Santa Fe National Forest) Woods

Submitted by TimJFowler on Fri, 2010/07/23 - 4:22pm
in
Closed to Motorized Vehicles

Do you hike, bike, ride a dirtbike, ATV or OHV in the Santa Fe National Forest? If so, the Forest Service wants to hear from you, really! After years of study the Forest Service has written a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for five alternative Travel Management Plans in the Santa Fe National Forest. This is your opportunity to share your reasoned and informed opinion of how to best manage motorized travel in the Santa Fe National Forest. Read below for the travel plan alternatives, DEIS and public meetings.

SFNF Travel Management Plan Alternatives

Have McLeod - Will Travel

Submitted by TimJFowler on Fri, 2010/07/16 - 12:20pm
in
IMBA Trailbuilding School in the Santa Fe National Forest

I've been a trail user for years, hiking, biking and skiing trails across the nation. Over the years I've seen many good and bad examples of trail design and building. Now thanks to the International Mountain Bicycling Association, I have some formal training in how trails should be built and maintained. The IMBA Trailbuilding School rolled through Santa Fe and provided a day of indoor education and outdoor application of trail maintenance techniques.

Moving Images – Part 3 – Terminator Urbanism

Submitted by Brett Frauenglass on Sun, 2010/07/11 - 8:36am
in
Terminator Urbanism

A couple of years back, a colleague of mine took me on a tour of a project he was working on out at Mesa del Sol, a new development on the South side of Albuquerque beyond the airport. With only a vague knowledge that our firm was involved in some planning there, I rode shotgun South through town to the last highway exit before the Indian reservations and empty desert take over. The road up to Mesa del Sol is one of those works of civil engineering that look like a Michael Heizer landform sculpture, with long flowing embankments on both sides that cut dramatically through the terrain.

Hero without a Cape

Submitted by TimJFowler on Wed, 2010/07/07 - 3:46pm
in
Tim with Dale Ball

How would you recognize a hero if you met one? Most heroes don't wear capes (that I've seen) so spotting one could be tricky. I recently met a local hero, who is responsible for creating the very popular Dale Ball Trail System in Santa Fe, NM. I really wasn't sure I would recognize him. Fortunately, this hero was wearing a name tag.

Gleamin' in the Rain

Submitted by TimJFowler on Tue, 2010/06/29 - 4:11pm
in
Bruce and his Solar PV panels in the rain

We all know that washing your car seems to bring on the rain. I've found another way to encourage precipitation, tour a Solar Photovoltaic System. After a sun-filled week the skies clouded over and unleashed a downpour about 30 minutes before I visited a friend's solar system. Despite the non-power producing weather, Bruce showed me his PV system and we climbed up on the roof during a lull in the showers. At least the solar panels were nice and clean!

Kill Your (old) Refrigerator

Submitted by TimJFowler on Wed, 2010/06/16 - 9:58am
in
Energy Star Rebate Check

A few weeks ago I wrote about an appliance rebate program in New Mexico. The NM Energy Conservation and Management Division offered $200 rebates for upgrading either a refrigerator, clothes washer or furnace (lots of $ still available for furnace upgrades). Well, we jumped on it and bought a new Energy Star refrigerator and replaced an early '90's vintage fridge. Thanks to my handy-dandy Kill-A-Watt EZ* I discovered how much money we are actually saving with the new fridge.

We're Having a Heat Wave, a Tropical Heat Wave

Submitted by TimJFowler on Wed, 2010/06/09 - 5:20pm
in

The temperature's rising, it isn't surprising. So... how do you beat a heat wave?

Stewart Brand's Little Green Book

Submitted by TimJFowler on Fri, 2010/06/04 - 4:08pm
in
Stewart Brand

Stewart Brand, editor of The Whole Earth Catalog, author of How Buildings Learn and founder of The Long Now Foundation has written Whole Earth Discipline: An EcoPragmatist Manifesto. I'm generally leery of manifestoes, but given Mr. Brand's resumé I decided to chance reading it. I'm still considering Whole Earth Discipline (and have incurred the wrath of my local library by keeping it overdue). Brand makes three statements in his book - Cities are Green, Genetic Engineering is Green, and Nukes are Green. Is he radical, practical or both?

Syndicate content