Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Chicken Diaries: Workshop at Garden for the Environment


The first chapter of our gallusian (Gallus gallus domesticus) saga begins this Saturday when GFTE is hosting a chicken and duck workshop. I hope that I will be better equipped to handle the responsibility of adding new members into our growing arc of creatures (the kids don't qualify as domesticated animals but we still have to feed them). So many questions. What do you think I should ask? Want to join me? Here is the link.

A Little Off Topic: Weaving to-go


While mining the web on food related material I came across a crusading weaver with a simple loom you can make out of card stock and use anywhere. I tried it out recently with great results. It was fun and meditative. I did much of it in the park while the kids were playing. It was also great to feel that I was doing something that humans have been doing at least since the Neolithic. Instructions and how-to videos are at actionweaver.com

To start with I used some cheap acrylic yarn I found at SCRAP. If you use left over wool and then wash it, it becomes a very tight cloth. I want to try making a bunch of small pieces this way and stitch them together into a quilt-like wool blanket.

Article: NYT, No Progress on Food Safety

Not to be complacently smug about it, but the recent scares with salmonella and nuts did not even raise one of our eyebrows at home. Knowing where most of our food comes from helps us keep a leveled head about this. I'd be interested to know how organic, locally sourced produce compares with industrial production (send me a link if you have seen a study). In light of the fact that dispersed, small-scale food production is one way to increase food safety it is worth examining this angle. The article is at NY Times.