First wine cap harvest!! I was warned these things are aggressive and uhh that has borne out. I'm makin a frittata tonight 😋
oh I don't think I ever showed you guys my hurricane toilet kintsugi. you heard me I said HURRICANE TOILET KINTSUGI.
Seeing as how we did not have running water, we had to use buckets to flush (this was part of my work during the immediate aftermath-- hauling buckets into ppls houses if they couldn't do it for themselves. not glamorous but much needed). And if you're manually refilling the tank all the time, you just set the lid aside.
One day I knocked ours over and shattered it 🥲 got online for a replacement part but 1) the lid by itself is almost as expensive as a whole new goddamn terlet and 2) they are heavy and costly to ship. also, this particular manufacturer made it needlessly complicated to match the model # on my tank lid with what was available online. What the hell is up with that? Defeats the point of part numbers. Anyways.
I got a kintsugi kit-- not a legit one with actual gold, those are like ninety clams minimum-- and just stuck it the fuck back together. I really cannot think of anything more emblematic of this experience/my mental state. Poetry
Reblogged oneheadtoanother
thinking about what is and what isn't allowed in frame with reference ecosystems in prairie restoration
Explanation from OP in the replies
restoration ecology tends to want to restore to a past state of an ecosystem, but magically that past state never involved people! Harvest, reciprocity, etc are all ignored because we pretend there's such a thing as prairie without people. Turns out, that imagined prairie never existed, there were always people here and there should people involved in restored prairie too!
Reblogged
There are 160,000 UK farm workers (as opposed to owners and managers). Of these, some of the most gruelling agricultural work is done by around 45,000 seasonal migrant workers, either in fields in all weather or in the sweltering heat of polytunnels. The UK attracts migrant farm workers with six-month temporary visas. A United Nations special rapporteur, Tomoya Obokata, an expert in human rights law and modern slavery, has suggested that the UK is breaking international law with its seasonal work scheme by failing to investigate instances of forced labour. Claims of exploitation and bullying on UK farms are also becoming more common. Meanwhile, in an effort to appease farm managers, the UK government recently announced a five-year extension of this scheme. Food and farming organisations have urged the UK to produce more fruit and vegetables as part of a wider shift towards a less carbon-intensive food system. To scale up domestic production will require more workers harvesting crops in poor conditions, especially migrant workers who don’t have the same legal rights as British citizens. Seasonal migrant workers, for example, cannot bring family members to the UK and have no access to benefits, while their visas are often tied to one place of work which typically includes accommodation which leaves them particularly vulnerable to abuse. A call for increased labour, without a call for improved conditions, could mean more exploitation on British farms. Exploitation is not limited to the allegations of a few bad apples either. It is so widespread that it threatens the resilience of the UK’s food system. A recent report found that more than half of migrants at risk of labour abuse work in the food system. A more resilient food supply will require better working conditions, pay and housing for workers in this sector, the report concludes.
25 February 2025
Source: theconversation.com
Reblogged meowthiroth
FIBER ARTISTS, I want to know what yall do the most so let’s do a demographic poll
I know we are all victims of the fiber art rabbit hole and nearly all of us dabble in more than one craft, so please vote for your MAIN one, the one you do the most, the one you can do with your eyes closed, and maybe share in the tag what else you do! I hope I covered most of the crafts.
REBLOG for sample size!
Reblogged gardening-guy
🚨 GARDENING PSA: Mulch Alternative 🚨
ok, so it's that time of year where everyone on all the medias of socialing are saying leave the leaves, use leaves as mulch, and they are all ABSOLUTELY RIGHT DO NOT IGNORE THEM!!
but for those who either live in apartments or cookie-cutter homes where they tore down all the trees and then planted crape myrtles along the main road and nowhere else (iykyk), then there is a solution for y'all, too.
get yo'self a paper shredder! or find someone that has one and steal their remnants. altho highly recommend at least you feeding the shredder yourself, be it yours or someone elses. just because a shredder can destroy it, doesn't mean it can be composted. CDs, for example. but also glossy or magazine paper CANNOT be used. either cardboard devoided of any tape or matte or office paper.
i used some leaves for the strawberries i'm keeping outside in pots when i planted them about a week ago, but for the ones in the greenhouse i was too tired today to walk down the hill to the shed and grab the mower and mulch leaves so i just went into my craft room and shredded some things that are in my gigantic pile to be shredded and called it a day. i bought a shredder specifically for compost (soon to be chicken coop bedding) and i love it. i mean, the pile to shred is bigger than the shredder, but that's a me problem not a you problem. you need a mulch alternative. therefore i present to you, my friend, the shredder.
happy shredding!
Reblogged official-nature-posts
kp777-deactivated20241106
By Patrick Barkham
The Guardian
May 27, 2023
York groundsel was a cheerful yellow flower that slipped into global extinction in 1991, thanks to overzealous application of weedkiller in the city of its name.
But now the urban plant has been bought back to life in the first ever de-extinction in Britain, and is flowering again in York.
The species of groundsel was only ever found around the city and only evolved into its own species in the past century after non-native Oxford ragwort hybridised with native groundsel.
York groundsel, Senecio eboracensis, was discovered growing in the car park of York railway station in 1979 and was the first new species to have evolved in Britain for 50 years, thriving on railway sidings and derelict land.
But the new plant’s success was short-lived, as urban land was tidied up and chemicals applied to remove flowers dismissed as “weeds”.
It was last seen in the wild in 1991. Fortunately, researchers kept three small plants in pots on a windowsill in the University of York. These short-lived annual plants soon died, but they produced a precarious pinch of seed, which was lodged at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank.
Andrew Shaw of the Rare British Plants Nursery had a vision to bring the species back to life, but when tests were carried out on some privately held seeds very few germinated successfully.
So Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog, quickly authorised a de-extinction attempt via its species recovery programme, which has funded the revival of the most threatened native species for 30 years.
“The Millennium Seed Bank said the seed was getting near the end of its lifespan and so we thought we would only have one more chance of resurrecting it,” said Alex Prendergast, a vascular plant senior specialist for Natural England.
Natural England paid for a polytunnel at the Rare British Plants Nursery in Wales, where 100 of the tiny seeds were planted. To the botanists’ surprise, 98 of the seeds germinated successfully. The polytunnel rapidly filled with a thousand York groundsel plants.
In February six grams of seed – potentially thousands of plants – were sown into special plots around York on council and Network Rail land.
This week, the first plants in the wild for 32 years began to flower, bringing colour to the streets and railway sidings of York.
This de-extinction is likely to be a one-off in this country because York groundsel is the only globally extinct British plant that still persists in seed form and so could be revived.
But Prendergast said the de-extinction showed the value of the Millennium Seed Bank – to which plenty of York groundsel seed has now been returned – and there were a number of good reasons for bringing the species back to life.
“It’s a smiley, happy-looking yellow daisy and it’s a species that we’ve got international responsibility for,” he said.
“It only lives in York, and it only ever lived in York. It’s a good tool to talk to people about the importance of urban biodiversity and I hope it will capture people’s imagination.
“It’s also got an important value as a pollinator and nectar plant in the area because it flowers almost every month of the year.”
Reblogged tomorrowsgardennc
It's a good time to start seeds indoors in the majority of the US. Cold climates depend on this time.
Some libraries have free seed programs. Connect locally. Now.
Don't panic buy. I mean it.
If you are in the US, you have access to your state (and county) Cooperative Extension Service! This is a taxpayer funded program all across the nation. They exist to help gardeners garden better, farmers to farm better, homemakers to homemake better, 4H, and a host of other things. Quality depends on how well they are funded by the government. If yours is kind of crappy check out neighboring states with similar climates. Some still give out old, outdated info.
They have a ton of free information online and some even offer free or low cost classes. This is usually out of a land grant university in your state.
This matters b/c gardening has a HUGE local component. What works best in California is not what works best in Vermont, won't be planted at the same time, some types of plants and even down to the cultivars of the plants will do better in some situations and not in others.
For example:
- planting calendar for Western North Carolina vegetables and herbs
- Texas A&M page with a bunch of organic gardening resources in PDF form
- Online Growing Groceries Classes 2025 with the King county (Seattle I think??) Master Gardeners - $8 per class each class is 1.5 hours long. Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who assist the Extension Service.
- Midwest Blueberry Production Guide (PDF) - this is REALLY good I have it on my desk at work.
- An online 4 hr beekeeping course from the Univ of Oklahoma for only $20
- An online 10 hour poultry course from Penn State for only ~$50 - Penn State has a lot of really good online written resources on small time animal husbandry for free too.
- UGA's National Center for Home Preservation - Did you know that the internet is full of terrifyingly unsafe food preservation info? Here's an excellent and free science-based resource for preserving your harvests on things you find on a great sale at the store.
- Univ of Arizona extension event calendar of things they have going on all over the state.
Most classes used to be in person, but since the lock downs many of them are online.
If anyone needs any help with this, I'm happy to help, just let me know what state you're in and what kind of info you're looking for.
Reblogged plantyhamchuk
“This is my first cabbage! You know, a lot of times they’re kind of soft, but this one is solid! It’s going to be good eatin’!“ “What are you going to make with it?” “Well, this one I’m giving to my parents. You have to give the first one away or you just spoil the whole spirit of gardening.”
always reblog cabbage lady
raise the happiness level of your entire dash
Reblogged official-nature-posts
A caveat to this study: the researchers were primarily looking at insect pollinator biodiversity. Planting a few native wildflowers in your garden will not suddenly cause unusual megafauna from the surrounding hinterlands to crowd onto your porch.
That being said, this study backs up Douglas Tallamy's optimistic vision of Homegrown National Park, which calls for people in communities of all sizes to dedicate some of their yard (or porch or balcony) to native plants. This creates a patchwork of microhabitats that can support more mobile insect life and other small beings, which is particularly crucial in areas where habitat fragmentation is severe. This patchwork can create migration corridors, at least for smaller, very mobile species, between larger areas of habitat that were previously cut off from each other.
It may not seem like much to have a few pots of native flowers on your tiny little balcony compared to someone who can rewild acres of land, but it makes more of a difference than you may realize. You may just be creating a place where a pollinating insect flying by can get some nectar, or lay her eggs. Moreover, by planting native species you're showing your neighbors these plants can be just as beautiful as non-native ornamentals, and they may follow suit.
In a time when habitat loss is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction, every bit of native habitat restored makes a difference.
Reblogged
garden update // january 16th
obligatory ice photos from the "extreme winter storm" that wasn't extreme at all.
although good news is that a "hack" that i saw on pinterest ages ago - using clear umbrellas as cover to your round container garden - has proven to work! even with some opening at the bottom. they're kids umbrellas, but still bigger than expected.
majority of the work i've been doing has been in the greenhouse. i believe i finally have the perfect setup - not only for my disabilities but for the plants, too. my germination rate and health of the plant babies has never been better.
i invested in 4 more heat mats (gonna have to get a 5th one soon), plus the expensive seed starting mix in a bag, PLUS no drainage 1020 trays with domes. i'm running out of space extremely quickly. my dad is building another table, but won't be here for another week. he's been building tables the exact size of the heat mats. much to parsley's dismay, the heat mats are for the plants and not him.
i've already started the process of transplanting the pepper plants into their final pots before being sold; that's how fast they are growing. after 2 days of being in the new pots they're showing signs of almost outgrowing the domes too. only *some* peppers in the middle of the trays got stretched, not too bad for winter sun hours. had to remove a lot of lower leaves when i did transplant because they were touching the soil and that's no bueno. knock on wood they'll stay healthy (and i'll have room for everything) for 5 more weeks.
oh, and look at this crazy leaf mutation! it's from a guajillo pep seed that i saved back in 2022.
i'm keeping it for myself and seeing what gonna happen 👀
Quick fiber arts round up
I made this peach to be a pincushion but due to its extreme cuteness I couldn't bear to stick it with pins. So I made a pumpkin and a speckled egg for that purpose:
Also finished an embroidery kit my friend got me for Christmas last year. I haven't embroidered since high school, so this was a good way to get back into it.
And another one of my freeform net wall hangings to go in our newly remodeled bedroom
Reblogged bongjoonheaux
villainous-queer-deactivated202
‘And I thought,
“By golly her little vibrator would work perfectly”.’
where’s that post that goes “the farmer isn’t going to sex up all of his flowers individually”
Reblogged tomorrowsgardennc
Two of my fav reads of 2024:
- Grow Your Soil! by Diane Miessler
- Worms Eat My Garbage, by Mary Appelhof & Joanne Olszewski
Both are great resources, with lots of easy to digest info for gardeners at any level
Reblogged
https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2024/12/03/sheep-flock-graze-in-honeysuckle-solar-farm-to-help-farmer-gunthorp/76424837007/
Solar sheep graze and help farmer expand under fully electrified Honeysuckle project
"...The sheep moved here from their other home, LaGrange County, this past spring. Females then birthed their lambs, seizing the fresh emerging grasses like fescues and rye, red and white clover and flowering plants that had been purposely planted to both feed them and maintain the soil’s health.
Now, with a smaller flock and a reduced need for nutrition, all of the remaining sheep will be driven back to the 275-acre Gunthorp Farms, near Mongo, by the end of November. There, they’ll find shelter in barns and greens that have been harvested and stored.
By spring, the adults will return for the next cycle of life to begin anew."
...
"The sheep do an effective job of controlling the green growth. Every one to three days, the farmers move the flock to a different area, or paddock, confined by a simple electric fence. There's a dog and a drone to help. But the sheep don’t need much prodding. Once the farmers open up a new paddock, the sheep head right into it, Gunthorp said, because they know they’ll find fresher, more choice greens.
“Sheep are really selective grazers,” he said.
Lightsource bp reports that the seeds of 25 species were planted, including 20 native species like little bluestem, purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, nodding wild onion and common spiderwort. It didn’t set out to plant a tall-grass prairie, though.
"The Honeysuckle site has a pollinator-friendly and sheep-friendly mix," Tyler Kanczuzewski, Inovateus’ vice president of sustainability, said. “Some of the plants will grow a little higher in peak season.”
He said solar companies tend to raise their panels a bit higher depending on the crop or if they want to grow taller pollinator-friendly plants. "