August 29th, 2008 josh
Now that I live in a house with a yard I’m becoming interested in growing my own food. I mean come-on, what other money saving hobby do you get to eat? This year as an experiment we started many things from seed but also bought a few seedlings to plant. We’ve got: tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, beets, radishes, basil, oregano, lettuce, thyme, sage, rosemary, and garlic. The house already had mature blueberry bushes and some awesome strawberries, both of which taste way way better than anything you’ll find at Kroger, Fred Meyer, or even New Seasons.
Of course not everything turned out great but considering the small amount of time and resources we put into this experiment we’re very pleased. Our carrots were eaten by slugs or some other random creature within minutes of sprouting. The lettuce was not very enthusiastic about the container we planted it in. But the zucchini is doing well, we’ll have a small pile of jalapenos, 10,000,000 tomatoes, and lots of fresh herbs. Next year I’m looking foward to adding potatoes, onions, squash, thai basil, and who knows what else…
To help prepare for next year I’m reading a book called The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. The folks who wrote it have a blog where they document their experience living and growing their own in the heart of L.A. Even though the book suffers from a serious lack of proof-reading, the information in it is well organized and very accessible to noobs like me. They prove that growing your own food can be cheaper, easier, more beautiful, and more satisfying than maintaining a traditionally manicured yard. Say no to lawns and yes to edible landscapes. Sell your lawn mower and buy a compost tumbler! Disconnect your downspouts and install a rain barrel. Hang a 400w HPS light in your closet and grow tomatoes & herbs year round! (well, maybe that’s a bit extreme… you get the point.)
Posted in homesteading | 3 Comments »
August 13th, 2008 josh
…though really I feel closer to 26 or so.
Anyway, Hollie managed to post her pictures from the party before me. For some reason the only part of the party documented was the amazingly entertaining pinata smash:
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August 8th, 2008 josh
After close to a year of owning only one bike I decided it was time to once again expand my collection a bit. Plus if I’m ever going to actually do some bike camping / touring I’ll need a capable ride. I read about some different frames and while I really like the Long Haul Trucker, decided instead to try a mountain bike style touring frame so that I could get as upright a riding position as possible without getting ‘bent. The Thorn Sherpa sounded like an awesome bike but since they’re only sold in the UK and the US dollar isn’t exactly worth a whole lot over there it seemed silly to pay the premium plus the import taxes. The next day I found someone in canada selling their frame so I jumped on it. I spent the next few weeks researching and agonizing over what components to build it up with.
I’m pretty happy with how it is turning out so far. I’ve switched out the Brooks B17 saddle for a wider B68. I’m still experimenting with different handlebars. Originally I planned to use nashbar trekking bars but they were not a good fit for me. The flats on the them are too straight and I need them angled a bit. Titec h-bars were interesting but not right either. I settled on On-One mary bars and so far they’re the best angle but are too wide. Oh well, the hunt continues.
So, here’s the spec list and of course some pictures:
frame/fork: – thorn sherpa
bars: – on-one mary
brake levers: – avid sd7
brakes front: – avid sd7 v-brake
brakes rear: – avid sd7 v-brake
shifters: – SRAM x.9headset: – FSA Orbit XL
pedals: – crappy used generic
saddle: – B68
seatpost: – thorn
tires: – Panaracer Pasela Tourguard
wheels: – sun rhyno lite rims & deore LX hubs
front derailleur: – shimano deore xt rd771
rear derailleur: – Sram X-9 Rear Derailleur (Long-cage)
cassette: – shimano CS-M580 LX 11-34
crankset: – sugina xd500 24-36-48
chain: – SRAM pc-951
bottom bracket: – Shimano BB-UN54 English 68 x 115 mm
rear rack: – Blackburn mt-1
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