Compost and Pharmaceuticals

...concentrated animal operation facilities. But we’ve got a lot of hormones making their way into the environment due to agriculture, according to a study done by Temple University, Animal manures (poultry manure and cow manure) contribute to a significant load of estrogen hormones in the natural environment. Conclusions Clearly we may have some big societal problems caused by the overuse of pharmaceuticals and waste generated by industrial livesto...

Read…

An update on Phoebe

...cat, Phoebe, is doing. Because we know so many people care–and at risk of making this a maudlin sick pet blog–we wanted to let you know she’s in the hospital tonight (Monday night) and will probably be there most of tomorrow. She started having trouble breathing today, and needs to spend some time in a box full of oxygen, while her genius veterinarian, Dr. Zimmerman, does some tests and re-jiggers her treatment program. Phoebe is in heart failure...

Read…

From the Archives: Loquat Leather

...My philosophy is simply that if one is going to go through the trouble of making fruit leather, preserves, pies etc., one should use outstanding fruit. The flavor tells in the end. After all, the starving times are not upon us. Even Erik can’t get super excited about this fruit leather–as I recall it tasted mostly of lemon and booze. Then again, some people may have outstanding loquats–it sounds so from the comments on the last post. The ones we...

Read…

My Brand New Homebrew Soda Carbonator

...husband award this Valentine’s Day. He surprised me with my very own soda making machine. This is not a SodaStream–it’s better. It’s an industrial strength CO2 tank topped with sturdy dials and valves and whatnot, all sourced from the local homebrew shop. He’s going to do a how-to post soon (tomorrow maybe?) on how to put together the parts, and how to use it. So hold on for those details! Right now, I’m just going to gush. I’ve been wanting some...

Read…