Monday, November 30, 2009

Giving thanks . . .

Lots to be thankful for on the urban permaculture front. A couple of those bean sprouts have actually emerged from the soil! Also, I was able to sprout some purple basil in an AG3 using a tea bag as a medium. Curious to see what the longterm results will be.

Oh the big news, I finally bought some test leads and merged Aerogarden with aquarium. It seems to be holding steady after a week. The main question is, why?

On the not-so-thankful front, the crayfish seems to be eating the basil roots. Which is ironic, considering that herb might join him in a sauté pan one day.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Updates

Jeremiah (my crayfish) moulted again. He looks a lot more intimidating now.

I am moving closer to merging the aquarium and the Aerogarden. In fact I have two AG's parked next to it. All I need is some more tubing or alligator clips. The fact that the aquarium's own pump stopped working adds urgency to the project.

Outside, my onion is going nuts. It's still in the 50s 'F here so I haven't had to move the plants in yet. But when I do I might do a Florida room type thing with all the Aerogardens together. I need to restock them all.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

AeroGarden Minis on sale


First-generation AeroGarden 3's on sale at the online outlet. A steal, and should be useful to just about anyone who likes plants, cooking, or light.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I got the cilantro to sprout!

Cilantro is notoriously hard. The only other time I've got it to go was actually via aquaponics! This time I put all my remaining seeds in an AeroGarden3 and cleaned everything with ozonated water via the Tersano Lotus. After a week some mold started to appear anyway. I cleaned it up with some more Tersano juice and a couple of days later . . . voilĂ ! Since I started with so many seeds (about 18) I might have enough to get two AG3's going . . . supplying me with tasty cilantro for my Mexican and Oriental dishes throughout the winter.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

I got a crayfish in my tank


I noticed they had crayfish at the pet store so I picked one up for 99 cents + tax. Since I am worried about them eating the snails I got the meekest, mildest one. In fact this guy looked like he was about to get beaten up if he stayed there another night. There were some really aggressive looking fellows in there, reaching up and trying to catch the fish swimming by. This one has super tiny claws and was trying to hide in a corner. I unsuccessfully tried to scan him on my scanner; he must have thought he was being abducted by aliens.

I get lizards on my bike


I have caught this guy coming inside to sleep on my bikes twice. Apparently the tubes remind him of branches.

I get spiders on my Jeep


As I have been spending more time outside I have been paying more attention to the spiders I see. I appreciate, even admire them now. I see a metaphor in their patient, elegant work for the things I have to do to succeed. This spiderweb has stayed on my Jeep for more than a week, even though I have been driving around.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

LA: Can't we just get along?


From LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-biking2-2009nov02,0,2055848.story

I'm not a vehicularist. I believe in as much separation as possible. But there are times to be assertive. It's hard to explain.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Quarry


I've been curious to see what my venus flytrap caught after I left it outside for a while. After a couple weeks it's opened up and I can see it was mostly mosquitos.

Tersano Professional


I was checking out Tersano's Professional website. Looks like they also have a version for making buckets of the stuff. Seems like a no-brainer for people who do a lot of cleaning. I wonder if you can use it in pools.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Plenty of peppers


I have four or five peppers on the sole survivor of the half-dozen plants I got off Fleabay last year. They included a "mystery" plant in my order so I'm not totally sure this is a poblano. And the onions have sprouted up again after the heat of the summer has passed.