tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49178888923606849802011-07-29T02:22:17.662-07:00Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-2443636354514268162010-08-23T09:24:00.000-07:002010-08-23T10:44:36.281-07:00

Earlier this summer I stopped filling the birdfeeders for a while. The birds don't really need it in the summer time, and I was mostly only getting piggy starlings and grackles that would fling the seed at the feeders hither and yon, and pigeons on the ground to clean up after the grackles. When I did refill the feeders, I first used pure millet, then switched to "dove mix," millet, milo,

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89806343225322364242010-08-11T17:07:00.001-07:002010-08-11T17:29:11.363-07:00

Last week I was remarking to some friends how odd it seemed that I only got two swallowtail caterpillars this year, when I have so much dill and parsley and carrots in my garden. Then Sunday night around 9 p.m. I went outside to pick some dill for my dinner, and when I came inside I realized I had brought in one caterpillar and one egg. I went back outside to pick some longer-stemmed dill for

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-7487823348397940212010-08-05T15:48:00.000-07:002010-08-05T16:10:19.963-07:00

On Tuesday night the swallowtail chrysalid on the carrot was looking darker, although not yet transparent, but by the time I got up at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning the blessed event had already occurred and the butterfly was emerged, flexing his wings, and crawling up the stick and over the cheescloth covering on the jar, so I assumed that he had been out for some time already and was ready to fly.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-37839988681094124782010-07-24T19:04:00.000-07:002010-07-24T19:50:43.619-07:00

The carrot swallowtail had been in the "sling" position for almost 24 hours and I was starting to worry; I couldn't remember how long it normally took for them to pupate after them slung themselves up, but I don't remember it taking that long.I was checking on her one more time tonight, and just happened to catch the very beginning of pupation--I've never actually been able to watch it happen

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-27734508333529897152010-07-19T16:24:00.000-07:002010-07-19T16:51:07.441-07:00

Last summer was a sadly swallowtail-less; I think I just got my parsley out too late. But this year I have babies again. Or rather, I have one newborn and one teenager.On Friday, my friend C. found two tiny eggs on my dill (although one of them is a dud--you can see right though it) and I found a big, fat third instar caterpillar on my carrots. The caterpillar molted into forth instar that

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-24311771540734186192010-06-25T12:49:00.001-07:002010-06-25T12:57:38.855-07:00

This was my I-have-work-to-do-but-I'm-trying-to-avoid-it-so-let's-make-something-fussy lunch today:Salad with Forellenschluss lettuce from the garden, kiwi, bleu cheese, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and a quiche with a homemade crust, local eggs, baby kale from the garden, onion, sweet potato, smoked cheddar and bleu cheese. YUM. Kiwi, bleu cheese

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-85393681432239895652010-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:002010-06-22T20:35:23.147-07:00

First the fail: Rhubarb season is coming to a close, and here in Duluth it grows everywhere: vacant lots, alleyways, in overgrown hedges, everywhere. I figured that the neglected rhubarb with long, skinny, green stalks would be more tart than maintained rhubarb, but I thought I could simply add more sugar to compensate, so on my way home from the farmer's market the other day I picked a bunch of

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89527273243741128202010-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:002010-06-18T17:49:36.773-07:00

This was part of my dinner tonight:Forellenschluss lettuce, baby beet greens, baby kale, baby chard, and the last of the spinach, with dried apricots, raw walnuts, raw garlic sliced paper thin, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. If I had some good crumbly cheese on hand, I would have tossed that it, too.I've never grown my own greens before this year, so it is a

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-51442155023076137382010-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:002010-06-08T19:26:29.573-07:00

The Three Sister garden was a total fail. Out of a packet of 75 corn seeds, I have exactly two (count 'em, two) corn sprouts. I did plant them a touch early, and some of them could have rotted in the ground, but I still suspect squirrels or starlings ransacking the plot, since the next day my mounds were rather flattened and there was a large amount of bean seeds tossed aside. So the beans

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-33932704211283131142010-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:002010-06-06T15:00:04.070-07:00

I was too shy to actually go to the planting yesterday (crowds of friendly people? oh, how terrifying.) but my neighbors did something awesome and deserve recognition:Orchard Vision Blossoms on Duluth's Hillside

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-26039634441408706112010-05-24T11:18:00.000-07:002010-05-24T12:35:41.360-07:00

Is it crazy to plant a Three Sisters garden in a climate that is not especially hospitable to two of the three elements? Is it crazy to put out frost-tender plants before June 1 in Duluth? Perhaps, but what fun is a garden if you can't be a little crazy, and besides, I figure that if there are volunteer squash sprouting in the compost pile, that it is officially warm enough to plant squash (and

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-1667678140452108692010-05-03T16:57:00.000-07:002010-05-03T17:47:20.248-07:00

The broccoli was up to nine sprouts, but then the next day it was down to four, and the zinnias still had one sprout, but it was a different sprout than the day before. I had deer mice in my mudroom last fall/winter, and had hoped that as the weather warmed up that they had moved on to greener lands, but apparently not.So the whole sprouting set up had to move to western windows of the front

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-91860845729169533652010-04-18T15:20:00.000-07:002010-04-18T15:26:13.055-07:00

In the sprouting race going on in the mudroom, Calabrese broccoli is currently in first place with a whopping nine sprouts (the first ones poked up on the 16th, five days after planting). In second place is Bright Jewel zinnias with one sprout that just came up today, and everything else is tied for third place with zero so far.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-11550630782266302842010-04-13T17:19:00.000-07:002010-04-13T17:32:05.268-07:00

I wasn't planning on starting seeds indoors this year. I don't have grow lights or a heat mat or even a suitable place to set them up, so I was just going to buy transplants of long-season crops and direct sow everything else. But then when my seed order came from Baker's Creek, then sent along a free sample pack of tomato seeds, and I can't not plant them, but in Duluth tomatoes need to be

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-72657969363110478272010-03-20T15:48:00.000-07:002010-03-20T16:20:13.818-07:00

If you, gosh darn it, just can't get enough of me, stuff that I write can currently be found in a few more places:1.) I've been writing a regular outdoors column for Zenith City News. The paper comes out every three-ish weeks, and for the time being my column appears on a rotating basis with a couple other columns, so it's kind of sporadic, but there it is. Here's a direct link to my most

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-8159884542298783852010-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:002010-03-18T16:19:42.237-07:00

The rhubarb is coming up.It doesn't quite look like something I would want to eat yet.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-5449767454798603632010-03-05T10:43:00.001-08:002010-03-05T10:55:49.765-08:00

I know these people! They're awesome!Fisher-Merritts are Organic Farmers of the YearCongrats to Farmer John and family!

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-49972103096132900502010-02-25T20:16:00.000-08:002010-02-25T20:33:44.993-08:00

For years I have wanted a stand-alone freezer, and even gave serious thought to whether it would be possible or practical to haul a little chest freezer up the stairs of my last apartment. When I was getting ready to buy a house, one of of the first non-essential things I wanted to get for it was a stand-alone freezer, but then I got lucky and the house I bought came with a freezer in the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-7289561903939985542010-02-08T16:04:00.000-08:002010-02-08T16:20:08.156-08:00

Attention nerds and treehuggers: The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up this coming weekend, February 12-15. This is an annual event where citizen scientists (that's you) can help provide data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to help them track bird populations. Here are two posts I made about it last year: Birds, Climate Change and Citizen Science and My Un-big Day.I don't get a lot of

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-45323938638808266032010-02-01T16:42:00.000-08:002010-02-01T17:19:49.570-08:00

Up until recently I worked at the local co-op, where I got a lot of free food and got an employee discount on the rest. Now I'm working full time as a freelance writer and have to actually, like, budget out how much I spend on groceries. So I kept my receipts for the month of January and tallied them up. Subtracting HBC and household stuff ($16.92) and cat food ($48.33 to feed two cats canned

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-35403739317331688582010-01-01T14:32:00.000-08:002010-01-01T14:51:13.020-08:00

I made some yummy lunch today, and since I haven't done a food post in a while, here it goes. Measurements are approximate, since it was a cleaning out the fridge/throwing stuff together kind of meal. Very filling, high in protein, and almost vegan (and you could sub agave for the honey).CABBAGE CARROT CASHEW STIR FRYcanola or sesame oil4 oz. firm tofu, diced1 carrot, thinly sliced1 leek,

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-81071683013612351292009-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:002009-11-17T09:16:35.463-08:00

I finally finished building my compost bin, and I could not possibly feel more butch about it. Okay, I guess I could feel more butch if I'd sawed all the lumber myself (the guy at Home Depot did most of it for me, although I did have to trim some pieces... which I did with my teeth! okay, I used a hand saw). Still, sawing and hammering and drilling is very satisfying work, and I ended up with a

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-29698654286915486102009-11-04T09:01:00.000-08:002009-11-04T09:42:59.746-08:00

A month ago, just before the frost hit, I went and picked all the green tomatoes on my sungold plants and brought them inside. This is the first year that my little potted tomatoes produced enough fruit that there was any left at the end of the season, so this is the first time I've tried ripening green tomatoes indoors, and it seems like some kind of impossible magic trick. The skin is a

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-37964480785566193012009-10-13T17:05:00.000-07:002009-10-14T07:33:49.546-07:00

Oh look, everyone hates me. (Click on "comments.") La la, that's okay, because I hate everyone, too.I'm not going to bother to respond over there, since I really don't need to waste my energy on internet squabbling. When I e-mailed the City Council I was aware that my message could be forwarded to local media, but I was not anticipating it being posted on the newspaper's gossip blog, and I

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-83784407910522186442009-10-08T10:52:00.000-07:002009-10-08T11:28:10.346-07:00

It's a house. It's got an ancient furnace in the basement, and two (out of three) radiators upstairs don't work. The electrical is ancient enough that when I had extra outlets put in (because there were exactly zero outlets in the dining room or in the room I was going to use as an office) it ended up costing three times what I thought because the electrician couldn't connect the wires to my

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-34578028635178842472009-08-29T18:37:00.000-07:002009-08-29T18:45:34.998-07:00

The last of the basilA few sprigs rosemaryA couple garlic clovesSmall handful raw pumpkin seedsA few shavings of parmesanEnough olive oilSalt & pepperCombine until pesto. Serve with cooked fusilli and pattypan squash sliced thin and fried until just crispy.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-76024859190605824932009-08-17T09:10:00.000-07:002009-08-17T09:45:42.440-07:00

Personally I was happy with the cooler than average summer we were having for most of June and July, but my tomatoes have really appreciated the heat and humidity of the past week. I've been able to harvest a couple handfuls of Sun Gold cherry tomatoes so far, and my so-called Early Girls are starting to show some color now, too. My cucumber isn't doing to well; most of the fruit rotted on the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-92134006051405732982009-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:002009-07-19T11:30:51.647-07:00

The lupine I planted two years ago from wild-gathered seed finally bloomed this year, all shades of blue and purple. The flowers are fading now, and some volunteer Evening Primrose is coming up, getting ready to bloom. I hope my landlord will continue to not mow this little patch of the yard even after I'm gone; the lupine, at least, look enough like garden plants that it should count as a "

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-91789138681277164602009-07-10T07:14:00.000-07:002009-07-10T07:53:31.918-07:00

Been busy fishing for a house this summer, and finally caught one. I just got the inspection done, so I think I get to relax a little bit until I close on August 31, and then I get to panic about moving in and fixing stuff. But--house! And a big sunny 50x140 lot for a garden.This year's container garden continues to chug along, although it needs some real fertilizer. (I needed more potting

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-86631689936879295782009-06-17T10:52:00.000-07:002009-06-17T10:57:51.275-07:00

Two links from the Wild Ones e-mail list:Missouri scientists are using native switchgrass and gamagrass to remove toxic residue from military firing ranges.andAmerican Chestnuts help fight climate change.Go natives!

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-60099515063316384432009-06-02T16:09:00.000-07:002009-06-02T16:45:55.460-07:00

Earlier this year, I was hoping that I would have bought my house by now, so that I could have a real garden in the actual dirt this year. But it took me longer than anticipated to get paperwork stuff in order, and then everything I've looked at so far has either been a Scary Mold House of Doom and Woe, or somebody else snatched it up before I had a chance to put in an offer. So no house yet,

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-14704141655968531602009-05-15T08:26:00.000-07:002009-11-17T09:27:52.126-08:00

House hunting and related angst has pretty much consumed my life this spring (who knew that "affordable" and "inhabitable" was such a tough combination?), plus I'm working extra hours at my day job, so I've had very little time for writing or blogging. Or for nature walks, for that matter, although I did get out for a brief frolic this week. Every spring I seem to miss the most ephemeral of the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89138871390864499602009-04-27T08:24:00.000-07:002009-04-27T09:00:00.412-07:00

I've never grown cabbage before last year, and never really got the hang of container gardening to begin with, and I think I probably overcrowded my cabbage, since it never formed heads and just sat around getting leggy. I brought it inside last fall, because it was still alive and some of them looked like they were just about to form heads. But they never did, and continued to get leggier and

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-546396401562345322009-04-19T19:10:00.000-07:002009-04-19T19:42:59.017-07:00

Turns out a few slightly sniffly redpolls are the least of my concerns--I've got bigger reasons to take down my feeders. Please note that I live in a city of 85,000, nowhere near the edge of town or even near any woodsy places bigger than half a block or so, and that my apartment is sandwiched between three very busy streets. All the same, there's a freakin' bear in the yard.This photo was taken

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-52127653965559102932009-04-14T08:55:00.000-07:002009-04-14T09:40:56.683-07:00

It's been a finchy winter in the northland. Earlier in the year there were lots of crossbills hanging around, and although none of them came to my yard (I do not, admittedly, have the most crossbill-friendly yard) I did get to see them on hikes and such. And then later in the winter into early spring, there was a redpoll and siskin explosion, and everybody on the bird lists was reporting huge

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-71052709349259064582009-03-30T09:09:00.000-07:002009-03-30T09:18:09.831-07:00

This isn't a blog where I crow about getting published or other writing stuff (I'll probably put something like that together later, when I have more clips; tried doing a free thing with wordpress but I don't like their layout, and I don't want to pay for a real website yet) but I had a little something published in Mother Earth News, and just noticed today (thank you google alerts!) that they

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-8421192320639103192009-03-25T15:57:00.001-07:002009-03-25T16:13:17.494-07:00

According to the New York Times, the Obamas are planting a kitchen garden on the south lawn of the White House, the first vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt's during WWII.While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-48654955805257357162009-03-20T14:00:00.000-07:002009-03-20T17:42:48.663-07:00

I got a few miraculous days off work this week, and I made plans, but thanks to the weather and Alamo's car rental policies those plans fell through, so I'm stuck at home on a grey, cold, icy spring equinox weekend.But it ain't all bad. My geranium flowered again today, for the first time since November. Check it out:The flower stalk juts out fourteen inches from the nearest joint, and the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-2557994157175380152009-03-02T09:35:00.000-08:002009-03-03T19:44:08.872-08:00

This just in at Alternet:America's Love Affair with Really Soft Toilet Paper Is Causing an Environmental CatastropheAmericans have been long chastised for our environmental footprints (and for good reason). But the latest report from environmental groups including Greenpeace should give us major reason to pause. The Guardian could not have said it any better:The tenderness of the delicate

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-81668886840383365692009-02-28T19:16:00.001-08:002009-02-28T19:58:43.425-08:00

Since I haven't made a food post in a long time, here is my dinner tonight:Chard, squash and quinoa. I hadn't intended it to be a vegan iron fest, it just sort of worked out that way. I had some squash to use up, and chard was on sale at the co-op, and I wanted some grain on the side that would finish cooking by the time the squash came out of the oven.Below are the recipes, which don't really

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-42987610531935170972009-02-24T12:02:00.000-08:002009-02-24T12:48:14.376-08:00

Usually when birders post their bird lists, it is to boast about seeing 7,000 species in three hours or whatever. Which is all well and good for them, but it can leave the rest of us feeling a little inadequate, like whatever birds we might have seen aren't as "important" because they're common or were only seen in small numbers. (But then, I'm not really much of a lister, and I'm certainly not

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-29510425054192065102009-02-10T18:23:00.000-08:002009-02-24T12:50:29.065-08:00

A study released by Audubon today found that almost 60% of the 305 bird species in North America have shifted their range to the north as climate change raised temperatures over the past 40 years (average January temperature rose about five degrees Fahrenheit during the course of the study). Birds' ranges moved northward an average of 35 miles, although some have moved a great deal more than

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-41428915409282759092009-02-05T18:19:00.000-08:002009-02-05T18:52:15.889-08:00

There's been a change in the air recently, and for a few weeks now the days have been getting noticeably longer. Today was a luscious almost-getting-to-be-spring-like day, with the temperature easily topping 30F and warm sunshine all day. This afternoon, a friend and I went walking through the portion of the Superior Hiking Trail that goes through Hartley Park. I'd never been on that portion

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-3473700434039324062009-01-21T19:24:00.000-08:002009-01-21T19:33:12.230-08:00

Some HMOs Madison, Wisconsin, are offering rebates on health insurance if the insured eat more fresh produces, particularly by subscribing to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program). What a great way to support local farmers, healthy diets, and more affordable health insurance! Too bad my insurance company doesn't do that. I don't belong to a CSA, but I sure do eat a lot of vegetables.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-4416450702356779612009-01-15T08:51:00.000-08:002009-01-15T09:46:00.156-08:00

The broccoli I brought inside in November didn't handle the transition very well, and it crumbled up and died after about two weeks, but the cabbage I brought in in October not only has survived but has become beautiful. I don't think it'll ever be edible/tasty, since it's still not quite forming heads (some of them are slightly more head-like than the one pictured here, but the leaves are still

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89592159422646266232009-01-05T13:56:00.000-08:002009-01-05T14:03:57.773-08:00

There was an article in the paper yesterday about how research has linked the lead content in bullets used for deer hunting with lead poisoning in bald eagles. (Link, but it probably won't last very long and you'll probably have to register to read it, because the local paper is stupid like that, but do read it if you can.) I am slightly embarrassed by my own species that it took us this long

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-51949124501596814602008-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:002008-12-15T09:23:07.988-08:00

Two days before the blizzard, I was on my way to the bus stop, and this particular bus stop is a good little place or birds. There's a tiny city park--really, just a wedge of green between two busy streets--with lots of trees, including some nice spruce, plus some tall boulevard and yard trees. It's a popular corner for nuthatches, and there's often woodpeckers, too. So when I heard a tap tap

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-7132301073886956922008-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:002008-12-15T09:19:50.090-08:00

It is currently 17F outside and snowing lightly, as it has been all day, a grey, overcast day. It's less than two weeks before the solstice, and the days aren't getting much shorter at this point. I was just outside shoveling, and a chickadee was serenading me with his spring song, fee-bee, fee-bee.Hey, that territory isn't going to defend itself, and I guess it's best to find a mate extra

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-91714046715949466712008-12-02T17:17:00.000-08:002008-12-02T18:30:00.520-08:00

Actually rather unfrightful today, but it's working on it, so I'm trying to get the apartment ready for winter. Attempted to put up fresh weatherstripping on the doors today. The back door went fine, but on the front door there is a small gap between the door and the frame, but then right inside the room the carpet is lumpy enough that once I put the weatherstripping on I couldn't open the door

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-83147559411853795992008-11-25T16:28:00.000-08:002008-11-25T16:49:59.069-08:00

Because I am a very, very, extraordinarily lazy gardener, I just got around to bringing my pots and things in the garage today. This is something I really should have done a month ago, since almost everything out there was long since dead.Yeah, I said "almost":I tossed some parsley seeds in my pot of dill last spring. The dill is long gone, but the parsley keeps on trucking.But I was more

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-26442304286495882282008-11-21T10:26:00.000-08:002008-11-21T10:37:58.843-08:00

When I brought my geraniums in from the outside to try to overwinter them, the flowers looked like this, bright pink and deeply saturated. I originally had them out on the indoor landing outside the apartment where there is a west facing window, but then decided that I wanted to bring them inside the apartment so that I could enjoy the flowers more, not just say hello when I was coming or going.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-55511482434906461332008-11-19T07:53:00.000-08:002008-11-19T08:00:18.004-08:00

There was an article in the paper on Sunday about voluntary simplicity, and one of the sidebars was a list of gadgets and experiences and frivolities, things like "television" or "health club membership" or "strawberries in December," with the newspaper asking the reader how many of these things they would be willing to do without. There was a related poll conducted by the Pew Research Center

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-17088478108857824232008-11-08T12:53:00.000-08:002008-11-08T13:11:12.229-08:00

Every year I try to keep an eye out to see which flowers are the last to go before winter hits for good, and even though it is now the second week of November and we are getting our first real snow today, it's not even close to the end of flower season. The bergamot in the yard still has a few frail wisps of color, and on my walk to/from the bus stops this morning (a total of about 4 blocks), I

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-40931842804581584302008-11-04T07:30:00.000-08:002008-11-04T08:00:32.946-08:00

In America, today is election day. And of course you all know I'm going to tell you to go vote for Obama, so I'm not going to bother typing out all the reasons why.Instead, I'm going to focus on this: if you are in Minnesota, please vote yes on the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment. This amendment will raise the sales tax by 3/8 of one percent (about thirty cents on an $80 purchase) and

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-80226793556668732972008-10-30T09:18:00.000-07:002008-10-30T09:54:35.550-07:00

I haven't been posting as much naturey stuff as I used to. Partly because this summer was kind of crazy and I didn't get out as much as I'd like, but also partly because I have been giving too much credence to probloggers who go on and on about how a "successful" blog post should always have photos (and bullet points, and short, snappy, googleable text, and other things I don't really care about

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-31852074909773872532008-10-23T10:52:00.000-07:002008-10-23T15:40:41.278-07:00

It's always sad when the temperatures start dropping and garden stuff starts to wither up, especially in Duluth where the growing season is so short, and especially for me because I guess I'm just not very good at container gardening because the plants don't start to mature until right about when the frost hits. So this year I thought I'd experiment and try to extend the season a little bit, so

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-21354271626061391652008-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:002008-10-12T20:11:05.203-07:00

Today I got a chance to try some chokecherries Thoreau style--dead, ripe, and a little wilted. I've recently been reading "The Forager's Harvest" by Samuel Thayer, which is an amazing book on wild foods, highly recommended, and in it the author extols the virtues of chokecherries. He says he regularly eats chokecherries fresh off the bush and like to make chokecherry fruit leather without any

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-70069781137018052932008-10-03T09:09:00.001-07:002009-03-25T13:23:58.574-07:00

Last spring I had some sprouty Yukon Gold potatoes, and rather than just throwing them away, I decided to put the in a pot to see if they'd grow. (I tried the same thing with garlic last year but didn't have much luck. I stuck the cloves in the dirt and waited, and all summer they didn't really do anything (I think a few put up feeble little stems) so in the fall I just put the pot back in the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-24844966263467657702008-10-01T13:25:00.000-07:002008-11-08T13:13:53.163-08:00

Mint is great for a lot of things, but it's kind of a pain in the garden because it has no sense of boundaries and, given the chance, will spread everywhere. Which is why I, and a lot of other gardeners, usually grow mints in pots, to try to keep it at least a little bit contained.But apparently in the past somebody at my apartment building was not so cautious. Next to the patio out back, there's

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-15798634143009781982008-09-27T17:53:00.000-07:002008-09-27T17:58:23.043-07:00

I am now helping to advance the cause of Gonzo Science. Come check it out.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-54126758184897260752008-09-16T18:43:00.001-07:002008-09-16T18:48:01.066-07:00

Today was the first time I've biked down the new Lakewalk expansion out to 36th East, and it is beautiful, even if it doesn't go along the actual lake at that point. It passes through some very pretty wooded property, over Tischer Creek and some little tributaries. It's hard to believe you're sandwiched between two fairly major thoroughfares; it feels very secluded and woodsy. It actually

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89369886181808801842008-09-15T07:28:00.000-07:002009-03-25T13:23:55.601-07:00

Most people wouldn't want to eat something that has the word "choke" in the name. Most people don't know what's good for them. But I digress.Sometime around 1633, in a book called "New England Prospect," William Wood wrote, They be much smaller than the English cherry, nothing near so good, if they be not very ripe; they furr so the mouth that the tongue will cleave to the roof, and the throat

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-41058311859388598492008-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:002008-09-04T09:39:23.259-07:00

I was cruising the freelance writing job boards this morning, and I saw that a major blog network was looking for someone to write for their "green living on a budget" blog, and I thought, gosh, that's right up my alley since I am both poor and eco-conscious. So I went to check out the blog and, uh, yeah. Of the seven posts on the front page, five of them are encouraging the reader to buy some

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-43475716799100448162008-08-27T11:30:00.000-07:002008-08-27T11:38:58.323-07:00

There was an article in the paper yesterday about the native meadow planting by the EPA building on the eastern edge of town, so I thought I'd go out there and see how it was coming along.They've really done a nice job keeping the invasives out, and I'm impressed that they've done it with minimal chemical use. (On the Wild Ones e-mail list that I'm on, it is often debated whether or not it is

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-75725422906027157602008-08-14T19:21:00.000-07:002008-08-14T19:38:56.964-07:00

I have to admit that I can't really get behind all the principles of Leave No Trace. I mean, it's a good theory, definitely, and I agree with the general concept that we shouldn't go mucking up nature. But taken to its extreme, Leave No Trace removes all human activity from the wilderness experience, and in doing do negates the whole point of the wilderness experience: people are not going to

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-30621240627015884752008-07-28T09:46:00.000-07:002008-08-27T11:38:23.198-07:00

The other day I was moping, so I went out for a walk in an desperate attempt to find some therapeutic green space, and look what I found:Serviceberries! There was a huge, sprawling patch of them, filling of the weedy ditch of a potholed street in a shady part of town. There were more than I could possibly eat. I grabbed a handful off the first patch of trees, but then as I kept walking there

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-56947712592501021042008-07-21T09:46:00.000-07:002008-07-22T09:35:34.124-07:00

Speedy was getting so big so fast that we had to get ready for her to pupate (ahead of schedule, of course, because she is Speedy). I made up a nice dish of soil (because sometimes they burrow in the dirt) and stuck three sticks in it (because sometimes they do it on sticks or other vertical surfaces). I made a point of collecting a variety of sticks, a thick one, a thin one, and a

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-27333025842770567622008-07-16T10:18:00.000-07:002008-07-16T10:28:13.638-07:00

I wouldn't say that my parents were early proponents of the local foods movement, but they did teach me a few things: local strawberries are the best kind of strawberries (supermarket strawberries are acceptable only in a very dire emergency) and supermarket sweet corn is not even worth considering but fresh-picked local sweet corn is food of the gods.We had such a cold and wet spring that the

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-53790664169331283402008-07-15T09:53:00.000-07:002008-07-15T10:07:52.103-07:00

I finally managed to catch Speedy when she was molting, and I got a few crappy pictures through the plastic terrarium. This picture was taken when she was still in the process of inching out of her old skin.When they're freshly molted, the head and lighter parts of the body are pale and colorless, and it takes a few minutes for their face to turn black again.In this picture, the old head capsule

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-56038347297448783712008-07-09T10:51:00.000-07:002008-07-09T16:06:53.762-07:00

Well, I meant to document our swallowtail's progress more thoroughly on my blog here, but Speedy is just zipping through her instars way faster than our swallowtail charges last year. Or maybe it only seem faster because this is our second year with swallowtails, so we're old hands at it now, or because this year we only have one and not six to worry about.But, wow, she's gotten really big

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-83422550990069561502008-07-02T20:37:00.000-07:002008-07-02T21:07:18.660-07:00

We found a black swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley today.Just the one. Last year we had six. We left two of them outside (they both died) and brought four inside (one died). So now we're kind of morally obligated to bring in any caterpillars we find and try to raise them.Duluth is on the northern edge of their range, and while the species is not by any means a rare butterfly, they're not

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-52215182096608845742008-06-24T11:31:00.000-07:002008-08-26T09:30:39.300-07:00

Last Sunday kicked off National Pollinator Week (last Sunday was also my birthday; I don't think anyone planned it that way).By now, everyone should be familiar with the problems facing honey bees: worker bees are just up and leaving the apparently healthy and functioning hive, and nobody knows why. There might be some parasite or virus that scientists haven't been able to pinpoint yet, but from

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-52518387265851240262008-06-17T19:29:00.000-07:002008-06-17T19:42:45.187-07:00

We've had a colorful visitor in the yard recently, and today I finally got some decent pictures of him.Like many other birds, it's the bright, flashy male that the entire species is named after, which is kind of insulting towards the female. I mean, she exists, too, she's half the species, and she's often very pretty in her own right. But with the Indigo Bunting, you can almost forgive those

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-35750181747395471342008-06-13T10:32:00.000-07:002008-06-13T11:09:48.384-07:00

To make up for my two recent text-only posts, here is a photo-centric one.We went walking yesterday and found the stump of this huge tree, probably a Black Willow, but I don't really know my willows that well, and there's a kerjillion of them and they hybridize.Looks dead, huh? Nope, not quite.There were clumps of fresh sprouts coming out of the trunk. Sure, you can cut through a five-foot

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-36360053502506642192008-06-12T10:42:00.000-07:002008-06-12T10:49:34.275-07:00

There was an article in the local paper recently (not online, sorry) about how a bunch of local farmers are struggling to be able to afford petrochemical fertilizers—because just like with oil, the price of those have been going up and up, too—and some of the farmers are reduced to trying "alternative" fertilizers, like manure.It's a sad commentary that manure is now an "alternative" fertilizer.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-76334321196588264092008-06-05T09:22:00.000-07:002008-06-05T09:27:21.119-07:00

This is one of the more offensive things I've read in a long time:Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol1.) Making a spectacle of your own religion is always a good idea, and 2.) In what universe is this a useful or practical solution?, and 3.) Is cheap fuel really the answer, anyway?Do they really think God wants Americans to drive big cars and to drive them long distances? Personally, I

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89580568311486679002008-05-29T15:16:00.000-07:002008-05-29T15:40:30.897-07:00

The rufa subspecies of Red Knots are on the fast track to extinction. They migrate over 9,000 miles, from Argentina or Chile at the bottom of South America to the Arctic tundra at the top of North America, and to make that unimaginably long journey, they need a steady supply of food along the way. They make a stopover in Delaware Bay to gorge themselves on horseshoe crab eggs, but horseshoe

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-9772476211003249532008-05-26T12:10:00.000-07:002008-05-26T13:08:43.685-07:00

No, not that kind of leek, this kind of leek.In the grocery store they're called ramps, but in field guides they're called Wild Leeks, or Allium tricoccum. A wild relative of cultivated leeks, onions, shallots, garlic, and chives, they look like a flamboyant green onion once you dig them up.They sort of taste like it, too. This was my first year harvesting them, and in the past I'd been warned

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-80073405050221738092008-05-24T05:34:00.000-07:002008-05-24T05:40:41.557-07:00

I noticed at a gas station yesterday that gas there was up to $3.85 a gallon. The newspaper today says that a few miles up the road in Two Harbors it's $3.94, and across the border in Hurley, Wisconsin, it's $4.25.Every day I am gladder and gladder that I walk, bike, or bus everywhere I go.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-64170218428134854022008-05-21T18:17:00.000-07:002008-05-22T07:20:55.749-07:00

As promised: cookies. The inclusion of molasses and whole wheat pastry flour make these very slightly more healthy than the average cookie, but don't let that put you off thinking, "Eww, healthy=boring." These cookies are amazing. The fresh orange juice and zest and all the spices really make them sing with flavor. Warning: they are highly addictive. It would be worth your time to make a

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-25241838591015287982008-05-21T11:05:00.000-07:002008-05-21T11:54:49.702-07:00

Another announcement: A green living website that I've written some articles for just launched, and while it's still rather skeletal, it looks like it will be pretty neat. So go check it out: www.ecovian.comSomeday I will post actual content here again. Maybe a cookie recipe with pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-70909284317342609432008-05-16T09:58:00.000-07:002008-05-21T11:49:39.170-07:00

I have stepped into the realm of paid and semi-professional blogging, and have started a blog over at today.com, and I'd really like it if you gave it a visit and would let me know what you think. I'm still fiddling around with it,and am slowly getting used to the wordpress-based interface, but the basic structure is there, and I've got a few posts up.At All Natural Cat, I'll be writing about

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-84730857616205683172008-05-14T07:29:00.000-07:002008-05-14T07:36:19.213-07:00

This isn't the kind of blog where I air my dirty laundry, but I will air my clean laundry.Ah, spring, when a young woman's fancy turns to hanging laundry out on the line. Okay, there's also gardening. Does it make me weird that all winter I look forward to hanging my laundry outside again in the spring? I don't care.Seriously, this is one of those instances where the green benefits are

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-10493841126623751492008-05-09T09:14:00.000-07:002008-09-16T19:25:09.190-07:00

Moose!Moose in Duluth!My friend and I were trespassing mildly, walking along the Lakewalk extension that is not officially Lakewalk yet but is instead a muddy path dotted with construction vehicles, and there were these enormous tracks in the mud--six inches long, with a stride of about three feet--that really can't be anything but moose.This is well into the city, at least a mile and a half from

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-66058730324283083682008-05-06T17:24:00.001-07:002008-05-06T18:16:55.584-07:00

I had some errands to run today, and since it was such a nice spring day, I decided to ride my bike. On my way out I stopped by the Wild Ones planting to see how the Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorium) was coming along, but it's still just buds. I don't think it bursts into its weird smoky flowers until summer. Believe it or not, this plant is related to roses and apples.The park was full of birds

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-35430083784345432742008-05-01T12:21:00.000-07:002008-05-03T19:53:57.208-07:00

(This is my flower post from a few days ago.)You know it's spring when the scilla is blooming. This is Siberian Scilla (Scilla siberica), also known by the terrifically ugly name of "squill." Though it grows somewhat wild now, this is not a wildflower exactly, but a garden flower gone astray. It must have been popular at one time, because it grows in yards all over the city, but I don't see it

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-78921433544366460602008-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:002008-04-28T10:30:44.432-07:00

There's an abandoned lot that I sometimes pass on my way to work. It might get mowed once or twice in the summer, but mostly it is left to the weeds. Now, and for the next six months or so, every time I walk by it the grass comes alive with sparrows.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-68872929506368710612008-04-26T06:04:00.000-07:002008-04-26T06:17:27.323-07:00

Yesterday I had this post on flowers all written out, but Blogger wasn't letting me upload a photo. So I was going to put the post off until today, and try my luck then.Today it is snowing.The flowers I was going to post about are still blooming, through the snow, but now I feel more like posting poetry. This is a poem by Susan Ludvigson, taken from the anthology, "Vital Signs: Contemporary

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-40001931007355170472008-04-21T08:57:00.000-07:002008-04-22T09:39:44.268-07:00

I read an article yesterday about greenwashing, and how people are growing increasingly wary of unsubstantiated or dubious claims of environmental friendliness.Decades after the first Earth Day, many Americans suffer from ‘green’ overload.From the article:Sixty percent of people said they agreed with the statement, “I often wonder if a product is really ‘green’ or if the company is just saying

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-84455461480160628542008-04-18T10:35:00.000-07:002008-04-18T11:01:54.785-07:00

We had a mango whose ripeness was sadly miscalculated, and by the time we cut it open it was mostly brown and inedible. That seemed like such a tragic waste of a mango, so I turned to the internet, and apparently it's really easy to sprout a mango from the pit. (On some gardening sites, there were people in Mexico saying that mangoes were so easy to grow, they grew like weeds in their lawn. I

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-34977569389854506842008-04-13T07:55:00.000-07:002008-04-13T08:22:02.421-07:00

Despite the freak blizzard on Friday (although maybe not that freaky with global warming a.k.a. climate change a.k.a. global weirding), on my way to the bus stop this morning I saw more robins than I could count, rocketing back and forth from tree to tree, staking out bare patches of grass, looking wide-eyed and hopeful, singing cheerio, cheer-up, cheerio, cheer-up.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-10304464337192003802008-04-09T08:39:00.000-07:002008-04-09T10:19:58.691-07:00

A few weeks ago I installed a handy-dandy page view counter on my blog, and one really neat thing about it is that, among other things, it tracks the search terms that people use to find my blog. A very surprising result is that a ton of people end up here because they're googling something regarding Dr. Organics. Note that I installed the counter months after I made my one post on Dr.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-42590905957611128252008-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:002008-04-05T17:06:46.014-07:00

Another phenologically important event: the first butterfly of the season. It was, as it often is 'round these parts, a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa). (Lots of great pictures here, alas that I don't have any of my own.) Another common contender for First of the Year is Milbert's Tortoiseshell, and that's what I thought this one was at first, since they do look rather similar and I am not

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-39792206707151130462008-04-01T10:00:00.001-07:002008-04-01T10:03:08.240-07:00

Huh. Here I thought it was spring, but then I wake up this morning and there's an inch and a half of fresh snow on the ground.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-50473190377242890052008-03-30T08:05:00.000-07:002008-04-05T17:07:48.826-07:00

Walked to work tody, and was rewarded with birds that could have been swans. I only saw them fly overheard, and at first took them for geese, but there was something vaguely ungooselike about them. The bodies seemed slimmer, and the wings looked longer, and the way they moved seemed slightly different than geese, like the tips of their wings moved in a different way. The light was bad and I

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-72549694985786825792008-03-25T21:39:00.001-07:002008-03-25T22:21:16.065-07:00

I had to go in to work tonight for a special project, and I knew I'd be there later than the buses run, so I rode my bike and it was my first ride this year. Back in college, I used to be hardcore and ride year round, but I have apparently grown frail and decrepit in my old age (I'm 28).The weather was just about perfect for it, sunny and upper thirties with no noticeable wind, just cool enough

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-75142271187527822782008-03-22T12:30:00.000-07:002008-03-22T12:34:48.465-07:00

My basil and parsley finally sprouted too! It just took them twice as long as the package said it would. There's a good crowd of parsley, just a few basil sprouts as of this morning, and the dill is coming in thick and green... I might have to actually thin it out.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-43062109786264676202008-03-19T20:22:00.000-07:002008-04-05T17:08:51.888-07:00

I do not have my Barbie Dream House quite yet, and the landlord won't let me tear up the whole yard, so for now my gardening is largely limited to containers. I don't even have a good place indoors to start seeds--everywhere in the apartment that it is warm and sunny enough for happy sprouty seeds, it is also full of cats, and all the cat-free places are dark and cool.But I'm trying anyway,

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-20772396744116066112008-03-09T12:40:00.000-07:002008-04-05T17:09:14.488-07:00

It's so depressing to come to work this time of year... okay, it's kind of depressing to come to work year 'round. But now, after a long northern winter, when spring is finally starting to make itself known and when so much is happening, I hate having to come in to work and spend more or less all the daylight hours cooped up indoors.So sometimes I walk to work. It's only about two miles, but it's

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-53836713302633621322008-03-09T09:25:00.000-07:002008-03-09T09:40:13.089-07:00

In response to the Compost Maven's Lesbian Kale Sauce, I present to you my favorite kale recipe. As you can see, it's very complex and exacting. But I really enjoy the combination of sweet and salty and earthy, and the colors are awfully pretty, too. I'll take pictures next time I make it.Kale-Yam-Pecan Stir Fry1 bunch kale, washed-n-chopped1 yam (a.k.a. orange-fleshed sweet potato) sliced

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0