Connect with Nature Project #2: Rediscover Your Feet

...ing your own two feet. They are the primary interface between you and the earth, but they are often neglected and abused, shoved into hoof-like boxes, forcing you to clomp around as if you are numb from the knee down. How can you know the earth if you can’t even feel it? The simplest way to reconnect with your feet is to just take short walk with bare feet. Grass and sand are great , but don’t wait until you have somewhere “nice” to walk. Go for a...

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Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

...g to the problem, it will also not be able to deal with the changes in the making. It is ill-suited to chaotic weather. In sum, if we don’t start growing food in different ways, we’re not only looking at a dry future, we’re looking at a hungry future. To solve this puzzle, Nabhan takes a look at at existing desert agriculture, from the Sonoran desert to China to Oman. From the ancient past right up into the present, humans have been cleverly manag...

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Maintaining a Worm Bin

...bove you can see the left side of the bin, the new working side, full of fluffy, moist, leafy material. On the right is the new resting side. The worms are going to be much happier with all the breathing room in the new space. I’ll start adding food on left side–a bit more conservatively than usual, since there isn’t a big worm population over there yet. The worms living on the right side will start moving over pretty soon, leaving the pure castin...

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My Brand New Homebrew Soda Carbonator

...load overall. The set up isn’t cheap — we’ll talk about the price of the parts in the next post. I’m the first to admit it won’t make sense for every household, but it is actually a very worthwhile investment for us. The other great thing about this device is that it will carbonate just about anything you can cram into a bottle. You’re not limited to just charging water and then adding flavor to it. The mind reels with the possibilities. My first...

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An update on Phoebe

...That’s a really good run for a cat born with a ridiculous handbag for a heart. We can’t hope for too much more. It is possible that her heart simply can’t function well enough any more to sustain her, but we’re hoping that an adjustment of her meds will buy her a few more good months, and we’ll be able to bring her home tomorrow night. We won’t know until tomorrow. It’s hard to leave a pet behind in a vet’s office, even such a good vet. Poor Phoe...

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