taylorblogone

leather draft harness for dogs 2.0

2011-06-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

2nd Harness made from two reclaimed weight lifting belts and recycled copper rivets and reclaimed D - Rings. Recently found some driving lines and a goat halter thing that work pretty well for Irwin. Still learning gee and haw . . .

leather draft harness for dogs

2011-02-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

WARNING : PROTOTYPE . . . I've been working on a harness system for dogs (with Irwin as my model for 100 lbs. size) integrating leather collar and belly strap with a wool britchen and a choke chain to keep them all together. This is the leather underside.

Tan Your Pelts With Nature's Tools by Jim Miller

2011-01-07T06:18:00.001-08:00

Our ancestors lived very close to the circle of life. Thankful always for the food, tools and clothing that came from a successful hunt. Warmth, color, protection and camouflage are shared with us by our four-legged brothers through the giving of their pelts. Today, one need only walk the roadside to find animals whose lives were taken. Thoughtlessly and sometimes without knowing, left there to become crow food. Whether you are seven or seventy, for the beginning tanner a road kill could become a rewarding first project.
Many of these pelts are in perfect condition. Nonetheless, a pair of rubber gloves are recommended when handling these critters from the wild. My hat is made from the first pelt I ever tanned. It was a large, fluffy road kill raccoon I named Ricky. But whether from the trap or the road, each animal comes with a complete tanning package -- no chemicals are needed. The process is an easy one and will start you on the way to using all of the animal when you take it's life. So let's get started.

Nettle Cubes !

2011-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

2010-12-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

feral parrots of telegraph hill

2010-05-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Feral Vermont Amazonian Pacu

2010-05-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

From WPTZ Plattsburg . . .

Late last week, alert employees of the Vermont Marble Power Division of Omya, Inc. spotted an odd looking fish in Otter Creek near their Sutherland Falls plant in Proctor. The employees collected the fish and contacted the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Department fisheries biologist Shawn Good later identified the 15-inch, 2.5-pound fish as a Pacu (Piaractus brachypomus).
The Pacu, native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of South America, belongs to the Serrasalminae fish family, which also includes the various species of Piranha. Pacu can grow quite large, up to 36 inches or more, even in captivity. Despite their size, they are a popular aquarium fish species, and are widely found in pet shops and private aquaria across the country. "Many aquarium fish like this Pacu are often kept by hobbyists because they are considered exotic and out of the ordinary," explained Good, who chairs the department's Aquatic Nuisance Species Committee. "However, even when kept in larger aquariums, many of these exotic fish species will outgrow their owner's ability to care and maintain them."
Unfortunately, when pet fish outgrow their aquarium homes, many misguided owners choose to release them into a nearby waterbody, thinking they are doing their pet a favor by setting them free. "Illegal aquarium releases are a common source of exotic species introductions in the U.S.," said Good. "More than 38 species of unwanted fish and dozens of plants, crayfish, and snails have become established in waters of the U.S.
These species not only impact native aquatic ecosystems, but they also affect the economy and recreational activities that rely on these ecosystems. While the environmental and economic consequences for many exotic species are unknown, some infestations have cost millions of dollars for control and management. Eurasian watermilfoil and the northern snakehead fish are just two examples that probably originated from aquarium sources.
This incident marks the latest of many discoveries of exotic aquarium fish swimming around in Vermont waters. In 2005, a fisherman caught an Oscar - also a South American fish species from the Amazon region - while bass fishing in Lake Hortonia in Rutland County. That same year, a Middlebury College professor found a tropical catfish in Lake Dunmore, in Addison County. Even the common goldfish has been found living, and unfortunately even thriving, in some Vermont lakes and ponds.
"It seems that the general public is largely unaware of the dangers posed by releasing aquarium fish into Vermont's waters," said Good. "I can't stress enough how serious this is". Some aquarium fish, plants and other aquatic animals such as exotic snails can devastate Vermont's natural habitats and severely impact our native aquatic ecosystems if they are released into the wild. They may also introduce dangerous disease organisms that can severely impact native fish and wildlife populations." "In this case, the Pacu that was released into Otter Creek would never have survived the coming cold weather, because it requires a warm climate," Good said. "However, if it had been another species like the northern snakehead, it would be an altogether different situation. There are many species of common aquarium fish that could establish populations in Vermont if they were released, and that could cause immense damage to our native fish populations and ecosystems."
Because of this threat, a new regulation was passed in 2009 listing fish species that are prohibited from being imported, sold or possessed in Vermont. The purpose is to protect Vermont's valuable natural resources. The list includes a number of aquarium fish species. For more information on the Prohibited, Restricted, and Unrestricted Fish Species rule, visit the Department's website at http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com and follow the link under Law Enforcement to "Rules and Proposed Rules."
"In addition to the new regulation," said Good, "it is illegal to release fish into the public waters of Vermont." The potential penalty for unlawful introduction of fish to Vermont waters is a $500 fine. Rather than releasing unwanted aquarium fish and plants into the wild, there are other, more environmentally sound and legal, approaches, such as give them to another aquarium owner, advertise to give them away or donate them to a public facility, nursing home, or business that has an aquarium or water garden.
If these options are not available, you can dispose of the fish by placing it in a container of water and putting it into the freezer. Because cold temperature is a natural anesthetic to tropical fishes, this is considered an acceptable method of euthanasia.
New sightings of exotic species should be reported immediately to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department at 241-3700, or a local Fish & Wildlife District office. Preferably reports should be accompanied with a photo of the fish. For more information on the dangers and risks of releasing aquarium pets and plants into the wild, visit Habitattitude's website at http://www.habitattitude.net/.
__________________

Invasion Nation: Humans, Seeds and Migration

2010-05-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

Invasion Nation: Anthropogenic dispersal of pioneering species and their perception as invasive rather than successive or beneficial in the industrial era.

Abstract:
Organisms are inherently migratory and seeds, fungi, bacteria and insects have dispersed across continents. Human dispersal and natural dispersal are inherently equal in our ability to distribute other species, however, we degrade ecosystems and have co-evolved with numerous other survivors of our civilization, in places that have been disturbed, some organisms thrived in the face of this adversity and reproduce in higher numbers, more frequently and produce enough stored energy to survive long migrations and extreme conditions. Investigations into the true nature of invasive species reveal political ambitions to maintain chemical industrial infrastructure in farming at all costs and make carcinogenic chemicals somehow seem more benign than organisms that have crosses a political boundary. The study of invasion biology has lost sight of succession, acclimation and other fundamental beliefs in the fluid nature of life on earth, and ecological facts. Invasion Biologists' view a static world where very little contact and migration occurs and ignore many relationships that are beneficial or unaffected by each other's presence. To determine the extent that a local forest had been subdued by non native species, samples along 4 transects were counted and identified. There were no observable effects on native species from grasses or dandelions identified close to paved or dirt roads.
Introduction:
Humans and countless other migratory species have traveled long distances, and often transported other organisms within their migratory movements as they expand and contract their territory. In evolutionary biology, species recede and advance in pulsing patterns as climatic changes occur. Sometimes this takes place more rapidly than their ability to evolve and adapt to changing circumstances, other times it makes areas that had been hostile and makes them ideal. Birds have migrated thousands of miles annually for millions of years often dispersing organisms. Storm events such as hurricanes and floods have been known to redistribute species thousands of miles, often as seeds and spores, a surviving in both salt and fresh water. Natural dispersal of organisms is found to be frequent and long distance, and receiving biota are resilient and accustomed to such events. Man aided dispersal can in no way be distinguished from natural dispersal (Theodoropolous 2001). As we approach the sixth mass extinction of planet earth, attributed primarily to anthropogenic disturbances, is it logical to label certain highly adaptable species as “invasive”,“noxious or“alien when they may be the best suited for small scale wild harvesting, bioremediation and wildlife habitat in some areas? In a theory that aims to suggest a consistent reason for invasions asserts that a plant community becomes more susceptible to invasion when there is an increase in the amount of an unused resource (Davis et. Al 2000).
The use of the term invasive species was first coined by Charles Elton in 1953. Elton was highly influenced by a fellow Oxford student, Alexander Carr Saunders, secretary of the Eugenics Education Society, which promoted the study and practice of selective breeding in humans. Eugenics also suggested pseudo-scientific notions of racial and ethnic superiority and was crucial to Nazi scientists who justified genocide and human experimentation through this scientific discipline. The prejudiced mentality towards living organisms deemed “out of place” migrated into the sub discipline of invasion biology. Terms such as genetic pollution, which are still used today, have the heritage of a hate-based philosophy, and often trigger reactionary emotional responses to romanticized ideals of nature rather than logic or sound scientific reasoning.“the field of invasion ecology has largely dissociated itself from other sub-disciplines of ecology, particularly succession ecology”(Davis et al 2001).
The sub disciplines of invasion biology or invasion ecology are controversial within ecology and have far reaching ecological and economic consequences. (Grime, J.P. 2001) Chemical corporations stand to lose billions of dollars if a more relaxed stance is taken towards invasive species, or integrated pest management begins to take favor, governmental and private eradication programs could loose funding and many researchers and field workers could loose their jobs. Monsanto, the maker of Round-up, the most common of all herbicides containing the compound glyphosate, falsified data on at least 2 occasions in scientific laboratories. Monsanto has also been convicted of false advertising in French court, and has created more than 30 superfund sites.
In terms of habitat destruction, threats to global biodiversity, soil erosion and water contamination, the three plants that have consumed the largest areas of land are wheat, corn and soya. Although these plants do not often colonize undisturbed habitat, their use as an agricultural commodity, especially when grown in large monocultures that often contain genetically modified organisms (GMO) may pose the greatest threat of any species, displacing more native species than any other organisms. The use of “round-up ready”GMO plants has spurred what scientists call “superweeds”. These are crops that are round up ready (resistant to glyphosate) that have spread from one field to another, and also common weeds like Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri), which has selected a glyphosate resistant gene after constant exposure to the substance.
While some see invasive species as“the second greatest threat to biodiversity”(Vitousek 1996) others view invasive species as a solemn symbol of succession, resilience and abundance. They symbolize a reminder that nature always finds a way to rebuild it self, literally from the ground up. Seeds, like most organisms, have evolved to survive in the most hash conditions, but are much less likely to succeed outside of their optimal range of preferred soil and climate. After countless generations of breeding and selection, both with and without human intervention, some terrestrial plants have evolved to favor soil and microclimates that has been modified by human use. Feral waste areas are often mistaken for being crowded out by invasive alien species, when in fact, they are the only thing that can survive there at that time, filling the niche of an extinct or ecologically extinct organism. Ecologists coined the term “subsidized species” to describe organisms that respond well to human activity (Klemens 2000).
There is research coming out demonstrating the possible benefits of of some introduced species. Although it receives much less funding from herbicide companies than studies that include massive eradication efforts. Beneficial relationships between introduced species and native have often been overlooked and understated. They often provide forage for both native and domesticated animals, including cows, goats, chickens, turkey, ducks, bees, deer, butterflies, birds, and countless others. Invasive species have often been introduced as a ground-cover, to hold in exposed soils and preventing erosion. Many aquatic species such as water hyacinth can remove toxins from human sources of water pollution, and can then be used to make bio fuels and other non-food products.
Almost every introduced species in the United States prior to World War II had some kind of use in medical professions or as a food or fodder crop for livestock. When post-war suburbia became an institution, people began to look down upon growing a food garden as backwards and a sign of poverty, and suddenly there was a much larger yards and lawns than people had owned before, so landscape companies and nurseries began importing“exotic”plants as show pieces in their yard to add color, textures and sophistication to their yard. Most of these plants cannot survive in the wild, but there are exceptions that adapt to, and thrive in some local or wide ranging conditions. We can see similar trends in flora that followed the destruction of habitat for rail travel in the United States and how plants adapted to the newly disturbed train track areas. Some species such as Eucalyptus, where planted along the railroads to serve as future railroad ties were later found to be inadequate. Although Eucalyptus serves many functions in native habitats, it may also alter other aspects of nearby native plants, animals and aquifers.

Methods:
To determine if terrestrial plants labeled invasive truly reduce biodiversity in undisturbed natural habitats, waste areas or ecotones of two such areas. By making an evaluation of what species and how many are present in each samples of 4 zones establishes an idea of what plants are tolerant of non native species and if areas that contain non natives there is a reduced diversity of native species. If there are invasive species present, they should lower the diversity of the area and occur in an unrivaled abundance, limiting or prohibiting the growth of native species.
Using a tape measurer to determine a transect and recording the different species present in 4 locations along 10ft. x 1ft. strip of vegetation progressively distant from a paved road. If a plant is truly invasive and a threat to native species it will have migrated out of disturbed, shoulder areas into areas that contain primarily native species. After identifying the species present, and determining which, if any were labeled invasive species it could determine wether any of the invasive species might prohibit any natives from completing their natural cycles of reproduction. To determine the proper identification of terrestrial plants I employ a typical guide to the the most common and invasive plants of North America.

Results:
After identifying and counting all the observable species along transects in 4 zones, there was no evidence indicating that any non-native species had either colonized outside of disturbed areas, crowded out native vegetation or reduced biodiversity on this site. The biodiversity was higher in some areas that contained non native species than areas where only natives were present. The most abundant species in the area were native wild flowers, and all 4 transects were within 100 feet of a paved or dirt road. Although this study is small and produces inconclusive evidence scientifically, it does not fit any theories about invasive species and how they interact with natives in terrestrial habitats. While grasses and dandelions might be a big problem for agriculture and industry, it does not seem to be much of a problem for forests, deer or bees.

The other possible invasive species that was present was grass. It is unknown to me at this time if this species of grass is native or introduced, but I find it safe to assume that it has been in contact, and hybridized with at least one non native grass, so I will give the benefit of the doubt that it is potentially an invasive species. It occurred in limited numbers in the 2 samples closest to the paved road.
In most situations except the most fragile ecologies such as deserts oases and small tropical islands where there is a small population of endemic and rare species, it is much more likely that both native and non-native species will learn to cope with each others company, and while species are constantly going extinct for many reasons, invaders will also continue to adapt, evolve and continue to migrate as conditions continue their cycles of fluctuation and succession.
When Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) invaded Lake Erie it lowered eutrophication levels, which lead to more invertebrate growth, resulting in a 5 time increase in yellow perch catch between 1990 and 1996 (Sagoff 1999). Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and Waterlettuce (Pistia stratiotes) have increased dragonfly species richness in South America by providing perching and refuge sites for them (Steward and Samways, 1998)

Discussion:
Although it does not surprise me that an ecosystem by the road side could be resilient from outside invaders, there are always threats lurking from not so far away places. The only a few non native plants were noted, and they were closest to the road, occupying waste soil, and relatively few of them; the dandelion (taxacarum officinale), a plant that has been cultivated and documented by humans as a green and medicinal root for centuries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a consistent food source for domesticated animals and dozens of species of wildlife in North America. It is rumored that sailors used dandelions on sea voyages to prevent scurvy, with abundant Vitamin C present in their leaves, and there is evidence they were brought to the New World both accidentally and intentionally on early voyages of explorers and settlers. It has been used in phenology studies to track changing temperatures and their relationships to the flowering time of plants. While many domesticated crops failed to show any difference, wild plants have responded to changing temperatures by flowering earlier in the spring. Dandelion is an excellent candidate for further studies of wider scope in phenology because it is so common.
While many rare species such as keystones species continue to be killed intentionally by humans or by our development and consumption habits, a wide range of species have also adapted to tolerate our presence and in some cases, thrive from our impact on the planet, some in captivity, some free to roam and procreate in the wild. While reductions in biodiversity may be taking place, it is unfounded and naive to assume that“invasive species”bear much responsibility towards our loss of diversity when global warming and climate change, over development and consumption. The threat of “invasive species”is more often used as a selling point of chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides than by real ecologists. The Chemical Industry thrives on the psychological view of invasive species and many pests in general as scapegoats that creates a culture of fear towards the natural world and promotes the constant expansion of large scale agriculture, mining and development into natural habitats which poses a far greater risk to biodiversity than exotic plants can ever impact any ecosystem.

Literature:
Theodoropoulos, D.I., (2003), Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience, Blythe, Ca: Avvar
McNeely, J., (2001), Land Use and Water Resources Research, Invasive species: a costly catastrophe for native biodiversity, Director, IUCN Biodiversity Programme, Gland, Switzerland
Inoue, M.N., Goka, K. (2009), The invasion of alien ants across continents with special reference
to Argentine Ants and Red Imported Fire Ants. Biodiversity, 10(2) 67-71.
Grime, J.P. (2001), Plant Strategies, Vegetation Processes, and Ecosystem Properties.Chichester:John Wiley & Sons, LTD
Johnson, E.A., & Klemens, M.W. (Eds.). (2005), Nature in Fragments: The Legacy of Sprawl, New York: Columbia University Press
Colautti, Robert I., MacIsaac, Hugh J. (2004), A neutral terminology to define 'invasive' species" (PDF), Diversity and Distributions 10: 135–141,
Hails, Rosie; Timms-Wilson, Tracey, (2007) Genetically modified organisms as invasive species? In: Nentwig, Wolfgang, (ed.) Biological Invasions. Springer, 293-310. (Ecological Studies, 193).
Charles S. Elton and the Dissociation of Invasion Ecology from the Rest of Ecology, by Mark A. Davis, Ken Thompson and J. Philip Grime, (2001) Diversity and Distributions, Blackwell Publishing

2010-05-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

Charles S. Elton and the dissociation of invasion ecology from the rest of ecology
Blackwell Science, Ltd
MARK A. DAVIS1,*, KEN THOMPSON2 and J. PHILIP GRIMES, Department of Biology, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN 55105 USA, 651–696–6102, *Corresponding author, E-mail: davis@macalester.edu; 2Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The Universityof Sheffield S10 2TN, UK

Abstract. Despite several decades of research, the field of invasion ecology has not been very successful in developing reliable generalizations regarding the mechanisms and predictability of invasions. In this essay, we argue that one impedi- ment in the field’s development has been that the field of invasion ecology has largely dissociated itself from other subdisciplines of ecology, par- ticularly succession ecology. Taking an historical approach, we suggest that this dissociation began with Charles S. Elton, the generally acknowledged father of invasion biology. We argue further that, despite periodic calls to end what some have regarded as a spurious distinction between native colonizers and introduced invaders,

INTRODUCTION
Species invasions are widely recognized as a serious threat to environments and economies throughout the world (Wilcove et al., 1998; Dukes & Mooney, 1999; Pimental et al., 2000). Unfortun- ately, ecologists have not been able to provide much assistance to land managers because the field of invasion ecology has progressed so slowly. A recent assessment of the field has concluded that it is still largely anecdotal, with few reliable generalizations (Williamson, 1999). We believe that the field’s development has been hampered for decades due to an unfortunate dissociation from other fields of ecology, particularly succession ecology.
The dissociation of invasion ecology from succession ecology is apparent from any casual
invasion ecology has continued to pursue its own generalizations with limited success. We suggest this dissociation may be exacerbated further by incentives produced by the realities of publishing and securing funding for research and also by the use of electronic search engines to identify related articles. We offer several examples of how invasion ecology has benefited from research on succession and regeneration conducted on native species and conclude that the field of invasion ecology would do well to do more of this type of communica- tion and collaboration among subdisciplines.
Key words. Biological invasions, invasion ecology, succession, Charles Elton.
examination of the bibliographies of papers from the two fields. Each seldom cites the other. For example, three of the most recent and thorough assessments of invasion ecology are by Lonsdale (1999), Williamson (1999), and Dukes & Mooney (1999). Together the three articles contained 182 citations. Of these citations, 106 included the words ‘alien’, ‘nonindigenous’ and /or some form of the word ‘invasive or invader’. Not one cita- tion includes the words ‘succession’, ‘recovery’, or ‘secondary’. A very different pattern is revealed by a review of the bibliographies of recent succes- sion articles. For example, three recent articles on subalpine forest succession ( Donnegan & Rebertus, 1999), tropical succession (Hughes et al., 1999) and succession following hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and massive forest fires (Turner et al., 1997) contain 202 references combined.

Feral cats to be evicted from future site of George W. Bush's presidential library

2010-05-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

LA Times

DALLAS — Unwelcome neighbors where George W. Bush's presidential library is planned in Dallas are losing their homes.

Some feral cats have lived in the Southern Methodist University area for years. SMU in 2005 began a feral cat removal program, in an effort to control the feline colony.

Volunteer Althea Webb says it's "hard to move cats." She says that at one point, about 18 wild cats lived in the area, but now she rarely sees more than half a dozen.

Webb says some of the remaining cats may be moved to a nearby bushy area.

Construction is scheduled to begin in November on the George W. Bush Presidential Center, with a single building housing a library, museum and policy institute.

The complex is expected to be finished by early 2013.

-- Associated Press

Wild Gourmet CSA

2010-04-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

From VPR:

For most people, a hike through the woods is just a hike. But for some Vermonters it can be like a trip to the grocery store. Wild edible foragers pull everything from the obvious mushrooms and berries, to obscure greens, roots, and barks. We talk with two foraging experts, Les Hook and Nova Kim, who supply restaurants around the state with their findings, and lead educational workshops.

WILD GOURMET CSA!

Wild Organic

We collect and use only the finest, ethically, wildcrafted ingredients
(collected by ourselves).

This includes a wide range of unusual and hard-to-locate plants (yes,
mushrooms are plants, too) and, never collect more than we anticipate we
will need for ourselves, for market, membership, reserve and for gifting.

Therefore, we limit the number of memberships we will accept and keep only
a very limited supply on hand from season to season.

It has always been our policy to promote and encourage alternative
economic resources besides "just" timber or agribusiness.

We promote the use of our wild edibles while
conducting and collecting research on the various plant forms
(native and immigrants) occurring in the wild,
encouraging and educating the public to the benefits derived from
their usage, and
helping to preserve the plants' natural habitat, thus ensuring a
continuing supply for generations to come.

Please contact us directly if you would like additional information or would
like to sign up. Thank you!

http://www.wildgourmetfood.com/Wild_Gourmet_CSA.html

Tinkering with Eden

2010-04-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

by Kim Todd

Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

A study of birds, beasts, fish, and plants that have undone a paradisiacal New World.Todd, a Montana-based writer, knows well that the true culprits are not rats, starlings, and "Hessian flies," but the humans who knowingly or unwittingly introduced them into North American ecosystems. Lampreys, once blocked from entrance by the natural barrier of Niagara Falls, now swim in the western Great Lakes because humans built canals to bypass such impediments; nutrias and parakeets now fill the southern swamps and national skies because pet lovers were careless about their charges' whereabouts; brown trout fill rivers and lakes because wildlife managers put them there. Even so, Todd profiles not thoughtless humans but such dangerously pesky critters as the pigeon, which came to dominate the American cityscape in the 20th century (as she notes, an 1883 article on bird life in New York's Central Park "curses the flocks of noisy sparrows but doesn't mention a single pigeon"); the European honeybee, Apis mellifera, which displaced native pollinators (and is now itself being displaced by hybrids); and the mosquito, which, Todd notes, augured the extinction of countless Hawaiian bird species, the victims of avian malaria and other diseases. This study amounts in the end to a skillfully written series of natural-history sketches, but little more. In the face of the ever-quickening destruction of native ecosystems through the introduction of alien species—rabbits in Australia, pine trees in South Africa, kudzu in the southeastern US—Todd is curiously dispassionate. Peter Matthiessen's Wildlife in America, now 40 years old, is in many ways more urgent, as are more recent books like Jason and Roy van Driesche's Nature Out of Place and Harold Mooney and Richard Hobbs's Invasive Species in a Changing World. All are far more useful, too, for readers concerned with environmental issues of the sort Todd touches on.Overall, a readable but distinctly ancillary account.

Nitrogen Fixing Trees: Multipurpose Pioneers

2010-04-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

by Craig Elevitch and Kim Wilkinson
P.O. Box 428, Holualoa, HI 96725 USA
agroforestry.net
copyright 1995,1998
(Printed originally in the Permaculture International Journal, Issue No. 56)

Nitrogen Fixing Trees for Agroforestry
Nitrogen fixation is a pattern of nutrient cycling which has successfully been used in perennial agriculture for millennia. This article focuses on legumes, which are nitrogen fixers of particular importance in agriculture. Specifically, tree legumes (nitrogen fixing trees, hereafter called NFTs) are especially valuable in subtropical and tropical agroforestry. They can be integrated into an agroforestery system to restore nutrient cycling and fertility self-reliance.

On unvegetated sites, "pioneer" plants (plants which grow and thrive in harsh, low-fertility conditions) begin the cycling of nutrients by mining and accumulating available nutrients. As more nutrients enter the biological system and vegetative cover is established, conditions for other non-pioneering species become favorable. Pioneers like nitrogen fixing trees tend to benefit other forms of life by boosting fertility and moderating harsh conditions.

NFTs are often deep rooted, which allows them to gain access to nutrients in subsoil layers. Their constant leaf drop nourishes soil life, which in turn can support more plant life. The extensive root system stabilizes soil, while constantly growing and atrophying, adding organic matter to the soil while creating channels for aeration. There are many species of NFTs that can also provide numerous useful products and functions, including food, wind protection, shade, animal fodder, fuel wood, living fence, and timber, (see chart for specific species yields) in addition to providing nitrogen to the system.

Nitrogen: From the Air to the Plants

Nitrogen is often referred to as a primary limiting nutrient in plant growth. Simply put, when nitrogen is not available plants stop growing. Although lack of nitrogen is often viewed as a problem, nature has an immense reserve of nitrogen everywhere plants grow--in the air. Air consists of approximately 80% nitrogen gas (N2), representing about 6400 kg of N above every hectare of land. However, N2 is a stable gas, normally unavailable to plants. Nitrogen fixation, a process by which certain plants "fix" or gather atmospheric N2 and make it biologically available, is an underlying pattern in nature. (See box below for details on how nitrogen fixation works).

How to Use NFTs in a System

In the tropics, most of the available nutrients (over 75%) are not in the soil but in the organic matter. In subtropical and tropical forests, nutrients are constantly cycling through the ecosystem. Aside from enhancing overall fertility by accumulating nitrogen and other nutrients, NFTs establish readily, grow rapidly, and regrow easily from pruning. They are perfectly suited to jump-start organic matter production on a site, creating an abundant source of nutrient-rich mulch for other plants. Many fast-growing NFTs can be cut back regularly over several years for mulch production.

The NFTs may be integrated into a system in many different ways including clump plantings, alley cropping, contour hedgerows, shelter belts, or single distribution plantings. (See figure below). As part of a productive system, they can serve many functions: microclimate for shade-loving crops like coffee or citrus (cut back seasonally to encourage fruiting); trellis for vine crops like vanilla, pepper, and yam; mulch banks for home gardens; and living fence and fodder sources around animal fields.

FAO, 1984. Legume Inoculants and Their Use, FAO of the United Nations, Rome. Excellent practical handbook for inoculation.

MacDicken, Kenneth G. 1994. Selection and Management of Nitrogen-Fixing Trees. Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Morrilton, Arkansas, USA.

National Academy of Sciences. 1979. Tropical Legumes: Resources for the Future, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C..

Nitrogen Fixing Tree Association (Currently the FACT Net). 1989-1994. NFT Highlights. Nitrogen Fixing Tree Association, Morrilton, Arkansas, USA.

Sunny and Steve in Central Park

2010-04-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Dandelions with "Wildman" Steve Brill

2010-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

There are no poisonous look-alikes. Other very similar Taraxacum species, as well as chicory and wild lettuce only resemble dandelions in the early spring. All these edibles also exude a white milky sap when injured, but chicory and wild lettuce leaves have some hair, at least on the underside of the midrib, while Taraxacum leaves are bald. Unlike the other genera, Taraxacum stays in a basal rosette. It never grows a tall, central, stalk bearing flowers and leaves.
Dandelions are especially well-adapted to a modern world of "disturbed habitats," such as lawns and sunny, open places. They were even introduced into the Midwest from Europe to provide food for the imported honeybees in early spring. They now grow virtually worldwide. Dandelions spread further, are more difficult to exterminate, and grow under more under adverse circumstances than most competitors.

Most gardeners detest them, but the more you try to weed them up, the faster they grow.

The taproot is deep, twisted, and brittle.

Unless you remove it completely, it will regenerate. If you break off more pieces than you unearth, the dandelion wins. "What's a dandelion digger for?" a dandelion asked.

"Itís a human invention to help us reproduce," another dandelion replied.

Collect dandelion leaves in early spring, when they're the tastiest, before the flowers appear. Harvest again in late fall. After a frost, their protective bitterness disappears. Dandelions growing in rich, moist soil, with the broadest leaves and largest roots, are the best. Select the youngest individuals, and avoid all plants with flowers. Some people eat the greens from spring to fall, when they're very bitter. Others boil out the summer bitterness (and water-soluble vitamins) out in two changes of water. Itís all a matter of preference.

Dandelion greens are wonderful in salads, sautÈed or steamed. They taste like chicory and endive, with an intense heartiness overlying a bitter tinge.

People today shun bitter flavorsótheyíre so conditioned by overly sweet or salty processed food. But in earlier times, we distinguished between good and bad bitterness. Mixed with other flavors, as in a salad, dandelions improve the flavor.

I also love sautÈing them for about 20 minutes with onions and garlic in olive oil, adding a little home-made wine before they're done. If you're not used to the slight bitterness, cook them with sweet vegetables, especially sliced carrots and parsnips. Boiling dandelions in one or more changes of water makes them milderóa good introduction if you're new to natural foods. Early spring is also the time for the crownógreat sautÈed, pickled, or in cooked vegetable dishes.

You can also eat dandelion flowers, or use them to make wine. Collect them in a sunny meadow, just before mid-spring, when the most flowers bloom. Some continue to flower right into the fall. Use only the flowerís yellow parts. The green sepals at the flowerís base are bitter.

The flowers add color, texture, and an unusual bittersweet flavor to salads. You can also saute them, dip them in batter and fry them into fritters, or steam them with other vegetables. They have a meaty texture that contrasts with other lighter vegetables in a stir-fry dish or a casserole. A Japanese friend makes exceptionally delicious traditional dandelion flower pickles, using vinegar and spices.

The taproot is edible all year, but is best from late fall to early spring. Use it as a cooked vegetable, especially in soups. Although not as tasty as many other wild root vegetables, Itís not bad. I remember finding large dandelions with huge roots growing on the bottom of a grassy hillside. They were only mildy bitter, so I threw them into a potato stock. With the added scallions, tofu, ginger, carrots and miso, this became an excellent Japanese miso soup.

Pre-boiling and changing the water, or long, slow simmering mellows this root. Sweet vegetables best complement dandelion roots. Sauteing the roots in olive oil also improves them, creating a robust flavor. A little Tamari soy sauce and onions complete this unusual vegetable side dish.

The leaves are more nutritious than anything you can buy. They're higher in beta-carotene than carrots. The iron and calcium content is phenomenal, greater than spinach. You also get vitamins B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc by using a tasty, free vegetable that grows on virtually every lawn. The root contains the sugar inulin, plus many medicinal substances.

Dandelion root is one of the safest and most popular herbal remedies. The specific name, officinale, means that It's used medicinally. The decoction is a traditional tonic. Itís supposed to strengthen the entire body, especially the liver and gallbladder, where it promotes the flow of bile, reduces inflammation of the bile duct, and helps get rid of gall stones. This is due to its taraxacin. Itís good for chronic hepatitis, it reduces liver swelling and jaundice, and it helps indigestion caused by insufficient bile. Don't use it with irritable stomach or bowel, or if you have an acute inflammation.

The modern French name for this plant is pissenlit (lit means bed) because the root and leaf tea act on the kidneys as a gentle diuretic, improving the way they cleanse the blood and recycle nutrients. Unlike pharmaceuticals diuretics, this doesn't leach potassium, a vital mineral, from the body. Improved general health and clear skin result from improved kidney function. One man I spoke to even claims he avoided surgery for urinary stones by using dandelion root tea alone.

Dandelions are also good for the bladder, spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines. Itís recommended for stressed-out, internally sluggish, and sedentary people. Anyone who's a victim of excessive fat, white flour, and concentrated sweeteners could benefit from a daily cup of dandelion tea.

Dandelion rootís inulin is a sugar that doesn't elicit the rapid production of insulin, as refined sugars do. It helps mature-onset diabetes, and I used it as part of a holistic regime for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Dandelion leaf infusion also good at dinner time. Its bitter elements encourage the production of proper levels of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. All the digestive glands and organs respond to this herbís stimulation. Even after the plant gets bitter, a strong infusion, is rich in vitamins and minerals, and helps people who are run-down. Even at its most bitter (Taraxacum come from Arabic and Persian, meaning "bitter herb"), it never becomes intolerably so, like golden seal and gentian.

The leafís white, milky sap removes warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores, and soothes bee stings and blisters.

Unlike most other seeds, dandelionsí can germinate without long periods of dormancy. To further increase reproductive efficiency, the plant has given up sex: The seeds can develop without cross-fertilization, so a flower can fertilize itself. This lets it foil the gardener by dispersing seeds as early as the day after the flower opens.

Feral Hemp in Nebraska

2010-04-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

A video featuring Dr. Dave West on the colorful history of industrial hemp in the midwest and it's feral offspring.

Burdock @ Flora Health Herb Encyclopedia

2010-04-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

Burdock root, also known as gobo or "Poor-man's potatoes", is an important food in Japan known for it's many healing properties. Traditionally, burdock root was used in Europe, India and China to treat respiratory disorders, abscesses, joint pain, urinary problems and to overcome serious health challenges by stimulating cellular regeneration, detoxification and cleansing. The German Pharmacopoeia lists this herbal drug for treating gastrointestinal complaints, as well as joint and bone conditions. The tea is also considered to be a traditional blood purifier and diuretic. Up to seventy-five percent of the root is made up of complex carbohydrates known as fructo-oligo-saccharides (FOS), including 27-45% inulin. Based on clinical studies, intake of FOS significantly increases beneficial bifidobacteria within the gastrointestinal tract and eliminates bacterial pathogens. This ultimately stimulates the immune system and effectively suppresses abnormal cell growth. The high levels of FOS in burdock root and its water extract also help to keep blood sugar levels constant and reduce hyperglycemia. Burdock root and its tea also contain at least five powerful flavonoid-type antioxidants that are more powerful antioxidants than vitamin C. Based on many studies with animals exposed to toxic chemicals, the tea very effectively protects the body against cellular damage and abnormal growths. The tea also has powerful anti-inflammatory activity based on studies and reduces liver damage from toxic chemicals. As a mildly bitter-tasting herb, it increases saliva and bile secretion, which aids digestion and cleanses the liver. These qualities of burdock root tea support proper hormone balances within the body and this may explain its traditional use for treating acne, eczema, endometriosis, fibroids and psoriasis. Burdock root tea can also be applied externally for treating skin conditions.

Animals in Vineyards from Jim Clark

2010-04-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

"It’s no mistake that an animal noted for its nose has become wine’s mascot. In California, that nose is being put to use to sniff out disease in the vines. Vintners donated $33,000 to a project to train golden retrievers to sniff out and identify the vine mealybug, which can contaminate grape clusters with larvae and egg sacs, killing the vine itself within five years. The dogs are being trained to detect the pest early by smelling out its sex pheromones; once trained, they are expected to bark when they encounter the smell in the vineyards.

Dogs aren’t the only animals helping out in the vineyards, though. As I mentioned before, winegrowers in California and New Zealand are using falcons and other predatory birds to protect their grapes from other birds such as starlings, which like to eat grapes. The more traditional alternatives include expensive netting over the vines, visual repellents (scarecrows, of a sort) that startle invasive birds, or even loud noises or recordings of birds in distress. Using falcons is a natural, organic approach, especially in Marlborough’s case, where the birds themselves need the help to repopulate.

In California Getty Pollard’s company B-1RD has developed the Vineyard Falcon Crop Protection program, which uses trained falcons. The falcons don’t hunt down and kill starlings in the vineyards; their very presence is enough to discourage the starlings from swooping down and landing for a meal. The falcons got their first test at Gallo’s Two Rock Vineyard in Sonoma in 2004; Dennis Devitt, the winegrowing manager, considered them very effective and successful.

Other animals can contribute as well. Some of the biodynamic vineyards in Alsace are grazed by sheep, controlling the cover crop and fertilizing at the same time. Many sheep also roam the vineyards of New Zealand; some growers let them remain there during the growing season, when they nibble at the vines’ leaves, thereby trimming back the canopy and exposing the grapes to direct sunlight. Biodynamic theory holds that monocultural farms – farms with only one crop – are naturally imbalanced; the mixture of different crops and animals makes a better, healthier ecosystem. Grazing sheep and horse-driven plows help redress the imbalance (The horse-driven plow reduces compaction of the soil.)."

Feral GMO ?

2010-04-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today we feature an summary of a chapter from the book "Biological Invasion" that poses an interesting question about a lesser known invasive species . . .

By:

Rosie Hails and Tracey Timms-Wilson

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Pathogen Population Ecology, OX1 3SR, Oxford, UK

The release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a controversial subject. Some perceive it to be the single most important development in biology since the discovery of natural selection. Others are concerned that the movement of genes with no reference to natural species boundaries could pose new ecological risks. One conjectural risk is that transgenes will either cause the host species to become invasive or they will escape from the original host species and cause other species to become invasive. Gene flow between species occurs naturally, although the frequency varies within and across kingdoms. Such gene flow is responsible for creating new combinations of genes, with the potential for introgression or speciation. Hybridisation has been proposed as a stimulus for the evolution of invasiveness in plants (Ellstrand and Schierenbeck 2000), suggesting that new combinations can create genotypes with different, and perhaps surprising ecological behaviours. Do transgenes pose particular risks in this respect? Is it possible to predict the probability that transgenes will cause invasiveness in recipient organisms?

hog wild or wild hog

2010-04-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hog Wild
Look out, Vermont — feral pigs are on the loose
BY JON MARGOLIS

for original article see:
http://www.7dvt.com/2010hog-wild

Ah, Vermont, where one is rarely far from nature and its wildlife: the hermit thrush and the brook trout, the moose and the mink, the wild pig and the white-tailed deer, the…

Wait a minute.

Wild pig? As in boars?

Yup, they’re here. Not many of them, not everywhere, and not a breeding population. Not yet.

But Vermont is now one of 44 states in which at least a few feral pigs live, according to the generally recognized authority on the subject, John J. Mayer Jr. A research scientist and manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C., he says the nation could be on the verge of a “pig bomb” as the voracious animals expand their range. Boars have a habit of churning up farms and gardens and devouring every lamb, calf or kitten they can find.

According to Mayer, wild pigs will eat almost anything, animal or vegetable. They don’t actually eat mineral, but so voracious are they that, when thirsty, they’ll dig up a yard to get to its underground sprinkler system and chew right through the PVC pipe.

Wild pigs also damage trout fisheries. By rooting, eating and excreting along riverbanks, they pollute the water, and by removing vegetation, they cause erosion that covers trout redds (spawning areas) with silt.

But don’t panic, at least not yet. First of all, Vermont’s feral pigs are probably not full-fledged boars (Sus scrofa) but some combination of boar and regular old pig (Sus domestica), visible on the farm and edible on the plate.

Furthermore, wild pigs do not routinely attack humans. Unless the human is walking his or her dog. Wild pigs do routinely attack dogs.

Boars are not native to Vermont. Whence do they come? New Hampshire. The animals are not native to that state, either, but they were imported from Germany more than 100 years ago to be hunted in Corbin Park. Austin Corbin, founder of the Long Island Rail Road, created the roughly 20,000-acre fenced impoundment in 1886.

The fence is supposedly boar proof. It is not, however, people proof, and in and around Cornish and Croydon, about eight miles east of Windsor County, Vt., some of the locals — perhaps unhappy about being excluded from all that land while millionaires paid thousands for exotic hunts — cut holes in the fence. Some are so big, Mayer says, “You could drive a truck through.”

It is through those gaps, he notes, that several wild hogs have escaped and swum across the Connecticut, probably making landfall somewhere between Windsor and Hartland.

Boars reside in a similar, if smaller, impoundment in Vermont, Wild Hill Preserve in Fairlee, where either the fences are stronger or the neighbors are calmer, and there have been no reports of porcine getaways.

Right now, Mayer estimates, there are fewer than 100 feral pigs in Vermont, and the weather may prevent them from ever establishing themselves here. “Piglets may not be able to survive a cold winter,” he suggests.

But this past winter was mild, and there are established boar populations in Michigan and four western Canadian provinces, which are as cold as if not colder than Vermont. What can be done if a breeding population does establish itself? Basically, nothing, Mayer says. Extirpation is all but impossible.

Besides, it’s likely that hunters, a potent lobby in Montpelier, would fight extirpation efforts. They want enough boars to survive to be hunted. Among other consequences, then, a wild boar population could create a long-term political squabble pitting gardeners, anglers, farmers, hikers and environmentalists against hunters.

Political boars. Now, there’s a concept.

The three sisters and their feral polyculture friends

2010-04-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

It's time to start gardening here in Vermont, and although my indoor starts were not as successful as I might have liked, there is still hope for a bountiful garden, much of which is already growing from a combination of wild weeds being left fallow for a year, reseeding annuals from the garden in years passed and surprise perennials. I have included a rough draft guide to how I might lay out some of this garden after some double digging. As this is my first season in this garden plot (and Vermont in general), I don't quite know what to expect. However, I am familiar with the three sisters, and I happen to have some corn bean and squash seeds laying around, so if you have never heard of this ancient polyculture, practiced by many indigenous groups in the Americas, please read on in this excerpt from Toby Hemmenways book, Gaia's Garden, from
Chealsea Green Publishing . . .

Nature binds plants into interdependent communities and associations. Indigenous people, too, have crafted plant combinations that weave synergies among species. In the past two decades, ecological designers also have blended plants into communities that contain partnerships. Permaculturists call these imitations of natural associations guilds.* Formally defined, a guild is a group of plants and animals harmoniously interwoven into a pattern of mutual support, often centered around one major species, that benefits humans while creating habitat.

Guilds are one way to bridge the broad gap between conventional vegetable gardens and wildlife gardens by creating plant communities that act and feel like natural landscapes but that include humans in their webwork. Vegetable gardens benefit only humans, while wildlife or natural gardens specifically exclude people from their ecological patterns.

Gardens for wildlife are immensely valuable, but they are only a partial answer to habitat loss. As I’ve said before, if we ignore the material needs of humans in our urban and suburban landscapes, we’re doomed to continue our voracious consumption of wild land for factory farms and tree plantations. Ecological gardens, using guilds and the other tools described in this book, help our developed land to blossom into nourishing places for both humans and wildlife.

The Three Sisters

Let’s begin our exploration of guilds with a very simple example that illustrates some essential principles. Then we can proceed to more complex guilds—ones that go beyond vegetables.

Familiar to many gardeners is the Native American triad of corn, beans, and squash, a combination often called the Three Sisters. The trio qualifies as a guild because each of these plants supports and benefits the others. The beans draw nitrogen from the air and, via symbiotic bacteria, convert the nitrogen to plant-available form, boosting the growth of all three vegetables. The cornstalks form a trellis for the bean vines to climb. The rambling squash, with its broad leaves, forms a living parasol that densely covers the ground, inhibiting weeds and keeping the soil cool and moist. Further cementing this trio together comes the news from scientists that the roots of the corn ooze specific sugars that are the perfect nourishment for the nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Together, the Three Sisters produce more food, with less water and fertilizer, than a similar area planted to any one of these three crops in isolation. Jane Mt. Pleasant, an agronomist at Cornell University who has blended her Iroquois heritage with her research, has shown that total yields of this guild, measured in calories, are about 20 percent higher than comparable yields of corn grown alone in an equal-sized plot.

Look at how many interconnections this guild bears. Beans furnish nitrogenous fertility for themselves, the corn, and the squash; squash shades soil for the benefit of all three; corn feeds the bean-hugging bacterial nodules and creates a trellis for the beans. Three plants, weaving at least eight connections. The Three Sisters guild is a perfect place to begin creating a richly connected garden.
Growing the Three Sisters Guild

Mark out a series of planting mounds about three feet apart, a couple of inches high, and a foot or so in diameter. (To calculate how many mounds you need, figure that you’ll get about four or five ears of corn per hole.) Then poke three or four kernels of corn into each mound. Your favorite sweet corn variety will do, although Native Americans developed shorter, multi-stalked cultivars specifically for this guild, such as Black Aztec, Hopi White, or Tarahumara sweet corn, so you might consider a similar many-stalked variety. When the corn sprouts, start mounding the soil up around the young stalks. Don’t cover the sprouts; just build up earth around the base. These mounds, by exposing soil to the air and sun, will warm the sprouts, speeding their growth. The mounds also improve drainage. Don’t thin the corn—you want two or three stalks per mound, hence the greater-than-usual distance between mounds.

About two weeks after planting the corn, select some pole beans, rather than a bush variety. Common pole bean varieties such as Blue Lake work well enough, although I’ve been told that very vigorous hybrid pole beans clambering up skinny hybrid corn stalks can pull the spindly corn down. Again, old-style varieties used traditionally in the Three Sisters work best. These include less-vigorous climbers such as Four Corners Gold and Hopi Light Yellow. But plants are forgiving, and most varieties will do well enough.

If you can, coat the bean seeds with a legume inoculant specific for beans (available from many seed suppliers). This ensures that the all-important nitrogen-fixing bacteria will find a happy home among the bean roots. Plant two or three bean seeds near the edges of each corn mound.

At the same time you start the beans, plant squash or pumpkins between each mound. Don’t use zucchini, as their tall stems will push the corn aside. Grow a vining squash variety that will sprawl over the soil.

Aside from these trio-specific instructions, grow the Three Sisters by following the cultural guidelines on each vegetable’s seed packet. After harvest, leave the stalks, vines, and other organic debris on the ground to compost in place. This returns some of the extracted fertility to the soil and protects the ground from erosion. Although much of the bacterially fixed nitrogen will be concentrated into the protein-rich bean pods, plenty will remain in the vines and roots, ready to go back to the earth.

Taken from:
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/natural-polycultures-mimicking-nature-in-your-veggie-garden/

new blog to follow . . .

2010-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

As I have moved to Vermont to finish school at Sterling College < sterlingcollege.edu i have started a new blog about Vermont and all things Feral in nature check it out . . . feralvermont.blogspot.com

INVASION of the ALIENS! Science or Pseudoscience? by David I. Theodoropoulos

2010-04-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

Las Sombras Biological Preserve, Box 337, La Honda, CA

"Alien invaders" are a hot topic. In his book "Alien Invasion" Robert Devine vilifies botanic gardens- Quote:

"Kanapaha, like almost all botanic gardens, is loaded with invasive exotics…By helping fuel the alien invasion, botanical gardens give legitimacy to the dangerous status quo… most botanic gardens are oblivious to the issue of invasive species…"

He claims that you have "a reluctance to discontinue sales of exotic plants that have been big moneymakers" for botanic gardens (Devine 1998:206-208).

Unfortunately, invasion biology, with its irrational fear of the movement of species, is a century out of step with ecological science.

Natural dispersal has been frequent, long-distance, and beneficial (Section Title Slide) (Axelrod 1959; Clark 1988; Clark et al. 1989; Crow et al. 1988; Darlington 1957; Darwin 1948; Davis 1983; Davis 1988; Elias 1994; Elliott-Fisk 1988; Gleason & Cronquist 1964; Kuc 1995; Menard 1974; Munz & Keck 1959; Neill 1969; Orban 1995; Paus 1995; Peglar et al. 1989; Simpson 1942; Thornton 1971). Dispersal is essential to maintaining biodiversity, and has been a powerful driving force of evolution (1).

(Text Slide) Contrary to the antiquated and discredited ecology on which invasion biology rests, natural biota are not coevolved, tightly-integrated, perfectly balanced systems. (Text Slide) All evidence from modern ecology and paleobiology indicates that current species assemblages are recent, non-coevolved aggregations, that species disperse independently, and species interactions form and dissolve readily (Davis 1983; Kellman 1980; Lawton 1998). (Text Slide) All extant species assemblages are resilient and are accustomed to integrating new members (Vermeij 1991). The fossil record is clear (Text Slide) - invasion increases biodiversity (2), and the experimental record indicates that the greater the rate of invasion, the higher the diversity of the resulting assemblages (Robinson & Edgemon 1988). As Turner (1996) stated, "life evolves at the edge of chaos, the area of maximum vitality and change."

(Text Slide) Invasion is identical to entirely natural processes - note this dense, invading monoculture (Photo Slide) - this is our native bracken fern [Pteridium aquilinum] (3). No scientific model can distinguish this from an "alien" invasion. (Text Slide) Again and again, we find "invaders" to be disturbance indicators only, symptoms of industrial abuse of the land (4), integrating ecologically, and with many beneficial effects that are carefully ignored by those promoting a "crisis" (Colwell & Dodd 1995; Essink & Dekker 2000; Francour et al. 1995; Holland et al. 1995; Kuuispalo et al. 1995; Marshall 1991; Peles et al. 1995; Sagoff 1999; Stewart & Samways 1998).

(Text Slide) The data indicate that in all cases, including even the oceanic islands, anthropogenic dispersal has increased biological diversity (Baskin et al. 1995; Harrison 1999; Harty 1993; Hickman 1993; Klick et al. 1989; Moulton & Pimm 1986; Simberloff 1986) (5). The alpha diversity of species counts has risen, beta and gamma diversity have increased, and phylogenetic omega diversity has risen. Novel assemblages have formed, new functional and structural elements have been added to landscapes, and entirely new ecological interactions have arisen.

Anthropogenic dispersal is an essential conservation strategy - at-risk clades need to be naturalized in new regions to prevent extinction, and hyperdiverse preserves established (Theodoropoulos 1993, 1999). There are no theoretical limits to diversity (Cornell & Lawton 1992).

see : http://dtheo.org/AABGAPaper.htm for full text

Raspberries

2010-04-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Raspberries are a widespread group of plants in the rose family that grow as perennials in all the lower 48 states and Alaska except the states of the south along the gulf coast between Texas to Florida. In colder areas, the canes often die back to the root completely to overwinter. Nevertheless, they produce canes every year that flower and bear fruit on secondary branches when the canes are two years old. There is some debate as to whether the species found in North America differs from it's European and Asian counterparts. Many varieties in cultivation are hybrids of the European (Rubus idaeus) and the North America variety (Rubus strigosus). Vermont is noted for it's diversity of raspberry species in particular. It is possible that the raspberries in Bear Swamp are a variety of species and could include Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentals), purple raspberries (Rubus odorous), European (Rubus ideas), North American Raspberries (Rubus strigosus) or a rare wild hybrid of Black and Red Raspberries known unofficially and with adulation as (Rubus Neglectus). They play an important ecological role in the wild as browse for an number of fauna including multiple species of bears, deer, birds and smaller mammals such as raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, skunks, chipmunks and host insects and larve in the short lived Raspberry season of the early summer.

Raspberries play an important role as a flower crop for domestic and wild bees. Humans have also found the raspberry to be a highly lucrative and delicious food crop, sold fresh, dried, frozen and prepared in jams, they are also made into liqueurs and dyes. Russia is the world's top producer, harvesting 95,000 tons in the 2003 - 2004 season, while Serbia grew 79,000 tons and the United States sold 48,000 tons (FAO). For centuries, humans have also used the leaves of Raspberries to make teas that are widely used by women during pregnancy (KA Petrie 2000). There is evidence to support that the fruits have numerous beneficial health properties, including a high count of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and posses nearly twice the amount of antioxidants as apples (Wu X 2004). However, this source of information has been produced by a highly monetized and politicized body of private enterprises and government organizations, and may be of questionable quality or misleading. They have been hybridized into countless varieties to suit a wide range of climatic conditions. Raspberries have been considered invasive as they can be spread in numerous ways, including propagation by bird droppings, human cultivation in the form of transplanting dormant canes, plug plants produced from tissue culture, and from their own form of reproduction, suckers, technically referred to as basal shoots that can spread in gardens if they are not maintained.

Rejuvenating the Bear Swamp Trails. Troy Janusz. Sterling College ASRP. 2008

The Boreal Ecosystem. James A. Larsen. Academic Press. 1980

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Food Fact. 2003

Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice. KA Petrie, MR Peck. Elsevier. 2000

Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont. Thompson EH, Sorenson ER. The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2005

Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States. Wu X, Beecher GR, Holden JM, Haytowitz DB, Gebhardt SE, Prior RL. Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center and Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2004

Happy Dogs in Nice Gardens By Tanya Kucak

2010-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

From a dog's point of view, your backyard is a smorgasbord. Every dog
I've known has enjoyed finding new edible foodlike substances. To
make your garden safe for your dog to explore, you can eliminate the
most obvious dangers.

In the long run, it's more effective to fence off selected areas of
the garden than to cage the dog. Bear in mind that dogs are pack
animals who want to be wherever their people are, not isolated in a
far corner or left alone for too long.

Most dog owners know chocolate is toxic to dogs, but they may not
realize they need to avoid using cocoa mulch. Grapes (and raisins)
are also toxic to dogs, so keep dogs out of the vineyard. Emergency
vets point to snail bait (metaldehyde) and rat bait, as well as
antifreeze, as the most dangerous household poisons for dogs. Snail
bait based on iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, is nontoxic to dogs and
birds.

Another hazard is fertilizers, whether in open bags or freshly added
to the garden. Dogs are irresistibly attracted to the odor of manures
and organic amendments, but they can get diarrhea or worse when they
eat some. In my experience, it doesn't help to bury the organics a
few inches deep or mix them with soil. Alfalfa meal is a dog's idea
of a special treat. With access to the garden within a day or so
after amendments have been added, I've known a dog who feasted on the
whole shebang, including mulch, lava rock, and any chemicals that
were used (the proof came out over the next couple days).

If you can't keep your dog out of the garden for a couple days, use
compost tea as a liquid fertilizer. Once it's added to soil, its odor
is less likely to attract dogs. You can find recipes for either
fermented or aerated compost teas.

Dogs lick and taste everything, so if you use any pesticides, your
dog will get a dose. Eliminating all pesticides will make your garden
bird-friendly as well as dog-friendly. You need a variety of insects
to attract birds. Putting birds in charge of controlling insects
saves you money, improves your soundscape, is more sustainable, and
adds entertainment value.

The long list of poisonous plants includes oleander (don't use the
twigs as chew toys) and lily bulbs (for dogs who like to dig). If
you're putting in a new landscape or have a new puppy, consult a
handbook of poisonous plants to figure out which ones are worth the
(usually minor) risk. But remember that pesticides are a far greater
hazard and toxic at smaller dosages.

My idea of a dog-friendly garden doesn't include agaves with
needle-sharp leaves or grasses with sharp awns that can be inhaled or
embedded between toes (weedy foxtails are the biggest offenders;
native needlegrasses may pose a small risk). But dogs can peacefully
coexist with prickly bird-sheltering plants such as barberries or
gooseberries, and even thorny roses, in a well-designed garden.

The key to having a nice garden and a happy dog is training. Just as
you have to teach your dog how to behave indoors, you have to
establish the ground rules outdoors. Some dogs catch on right away;
others need consistent reminders.

A dog-friendly garden has play space, access to drinking water, a
designated "bathroom" area, and rules about where the dog is allowed.
Play space can be a small area for tug of war, a big meadow for
retrieving a frisbee or ball, or running paths that include
dog-sculpted tunnels in the shrubbery. To make cleanup easier, train
your dog to use an unplanted mulched area for elimination. You can
even buy or build a system for composting pet waste.

Each dog is different. Observe your dog to discover her favorite
sun/shade napping places, if she likes to dig or likes water, if she
likes to run the fence lines or sit by the gate to watch the world go
by, or has a favorite squirrel-watching post. Provide more of what
the dog likes so that when unsupervised, the dog will respect your
garden.

If your dog's idea of a good time is digging, you can provide a sand
pit and bury dog toys in it, instead of patching up your garden beds.
I've discouraged infrequent diggers by covering the soil with mulch.

If your dog overindulges in fallen apples or picks tomatoes on his
own, you may need to keep up with harvesting or fence off the edibles.

Tanya Kucak has lived with doberman pinschers, a cockerpoo, a golden
retriever, a saluki, a beagle, and a rat terrier (not all at the same
time!).

sidebar

Checklist for a dog-friendly garden

* eliminate all pesticides

* avoid cocoa mulch, grapes, oleander

* keep dangerous items inaccessible

* use compost teas to fertilize

* plan training time

* cage plants, not dogs

* offer napping places in sun and shade

* allow play space

* provide fresh water

* designate "bathroom" area and manage poop

* add diversions

Invasive Feces

2010-04-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Humans and countless other migratory animals have traveled long distances, and often transported other species within their migratory movements as they expand their territory. In evolutionary biology, species recede and advance in pulsing patterns as climatic changes occur more rapidly than their ability to evolve and adapt to changing circumstances. Natural storm events such as hurricanes and floods have been known to redistribute species thousands of miles, often as seeds and spores surviving in water. As we approach the sixth mass extinction of planet earth, and the dispersal of exotic species have been primarily attributed primarily to anthropogenic disturbances, is it logical to label certain highly adaptable species as “invasive”, “noxious” or “alien” when they may be the best suited for survival in some areas?
The use of the term invasive species was first coined by Charles Elton in 1953. Elton was highly influenced by a fellow Oxford student, Alexander Carr Saunders, secretary of the Eugenics Education Society, which promoted the study and practice of selective breeding in humans. Eugenics also suggested pseudo-scientific notions of racial and ethnic superiority and was crucial to Nazi scientists who justified genocide and human experimentation through this subject. Much of this prejudiced mentality towards living organisms migrated into the sub discipline of invasion biology. Terms such as genetic pollution, which are still used today, have the heritage of a hate-based philosophy, but recently has come to be associated with Genetically Modified Organisms and their spread into organic crops and wildlands and may pose the greatest threat of any “invasive species”.
This sub discipline is controversial within ecology and has far reaching ecological and economic results. Many of the species responsible for the highest loss of diversity, and covering the largest areas of earth with monocultures are factory farms and monoculture crops, most notably, corn, soy and wheat have displaced more native speies than any other organism. Some figures suggest that invasive species cost Americans $136 billion annually, about a third of which comes from herbicide use in conventional agriculture and raises the price of food. In Canada alone the herbicide industry grossed over 26 billion in 2004. Chemical corporations stand to lose billions if a more relaxed stance is taken towards invasive species, and governmental eradication programs could loose funding and lay off staff.
Recently there has been some research into the possible benefits of of some introduced species. Beneficial relationships between introduced species and native have often been overlooked and understated. They may provide forage for both native and domesticated animals, cover exposed soils preventing erosion or remove toxins and algae from human sources of pollution.

The corporate book review

2009-11-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

A review of

Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World
To fully confess my sins, I did not but read through the introduction of this book, 30 minutes before the library closed in the small town where I was staying the night before I put it down. Partially by choice, partially by the fact that the library was about to close. But it piqued my curoiusity enough to keep reading while the library was open while hundreds of thousand of other books lay dormant so it was interesting to me. It seems to touch upon the same lines that "Let My People go Surfing" by Patagonia's founder. Preaching the eco-liberals the values and virtues of Natural Capitalism and how it will save the world and make money. This sounds like music to my ears, and I'm sure to many others. That's the American dream, live long and prosper, oh, wai, that was Spocks Vulcan Dreams. So is this a Utopian dream of a modern day Adam Smith, or a realistic view of globalisation and how we can all live better. The first few pages struck me, as Gary explained how he grew all this food for him and his friends at a New Alchemy Institute in a magical green house, but then was moved by the horrors of a Kraft Foods pavilion in Disneyworld and decided to try to compete, and infact, was able to outsell Kraft eventually. Now I am not one to judge at this point, my point is to raise a few questions about this type of approach, and it's consequences on the environment and society. A triple bottom line is great, but is it really a tripple bottom line if shareholders and economic growth trumps the latter two (social and environmental growth)? I do believe that one can make money, and heal the wounds of the people and the land, but my question is how much, and for long? What of the negative consequences of the some of the less desirable aspects of functioning and competing with the business as ussual crowd. Can you tip the scale, and from there are you just puting band aids on flesh woulds ?

Some of the main issues with global capitalism that concern me:

*using gasoline as the only means of trasporting the product

*lowering workers wages to save the company in times of crisis

*using plastics to store the food even if it can be recycled

*having the food pasteurized so it can be kept on shelves longer

*creating a product that can make more money than a biz as usual, but is not affordable to the masses

Wild and Feral Southern California

2009-07-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

NATIVE SPECIES

Blackberries (Rubus ursinus) Perennial Cane - Rose Family
Cycles : Greenish red foilage hibernates over winter with it's leaves intact, although possibly redish or purple brown. New green growth in spring, small white flowers emerge, from which the greenish blackberries protrude. They turn red, then black and are tart to sweet as they age.
Habitats: Close to creeks, shaded areas, swampy areas, bottoms of canyons, edges of meadows from Canada south into Mexico
Uses: Berries can be made into baked goods or eaten fresh, or dried, leaves and vines made into varoius concoctions for ailments from stomach ache to diariaha. Roots also used medicinally by Native Americans of the west coast from Canada to Mexico

California Bay (Umbellularia californica) Perennial Tree - Laurel Family
Cycles : Loses a few leaves in fall, slow growth in winter and faster in spring as flowers growth in winter,
Habitats: Bottom of slopes, near streams, chaparral, open areas and shaded canyons from coastal Oregon south to San Diego.
Uses: The leaf is very similar to store bought bay leaves (Lauris noblis), but the California Bay is much more potent. It's leaves can cure headaches and toothaches an relieve mild stomach pain, but if used in excess can also cause them. The leaves are used as a tea, flavoring for foods, as a flea repellent for animals and to repel pests in storage areas. The nuts or fruits can also be harvested. They are green and turn purplish black like olives. They are dried, roasted, then cracked open and eaten, they possess a coffee like flavor.

Oak Tree (Quercus agrifolia) Perennial Tree - Oak Family
Cycles : Acorns are brown in fall and litter the ground, some branches die and turn yellow gold, in spring new leaf growth and flowering turn the colors to light green and yellow
Habitats : Areas below the pinyon juniper forests, below 4,000 feet, canyons, hillsides, creeks, ravines, streams
Uses : As a wood, one of the most important to humans, the nut, acorn can be made into meals, soups, breads and flour, but must be boiled or leached well

Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) Succulent Perennial - Cactus Family
Cycles : Tunas or fruits of the cactusappear in summer and fall, with new pads growing in late winter, early spring that can be eaten raw, in salsas or fried with other veggies.
Habitats : Rocky hillsides, ravines, sunny slopes, desery canyons, gardens, farms, sandy soils, clay soils, requires good drainage,
Uses : many of the feral vareites have been improved to have less spines, the fruit, young pad are edible and prepared in many ways

Walnut (Juglans californica) Perennial Tree - Walnut Family
Cycles : Leaves and fruit are shed in early winter and new growth begins in late winter, with flower clusters, and green walnut fruits by early summer, turns brown in fall
Habitats: Creeks, lower canyon areas, hillsides, foothills, coastal areas, oak forest edges
Uses: the nuts are very nutritious, like miniature store bought walnuts, but smaller and harder

FERAL SPECIES :

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Herbaceous Perennial - Sunflower Family
Cycles : In the fall and winter dandelions (tooth of lion in french) slow their growth, during spring and summer, they flower and seed, but many dandelions in the same location may be at different stages of growth.
Habitats: in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils
Uses: The flowers have are used to make dandelion wine, the greens can be eaten raw or braised, and the root makes a tea with a earthy taste similar taste to coffee, reportedly good for the liver.

Fennel (Foniculum vulgare) Perennial Herbacous Shrub - Parsley Family
Cycles : Dies back to root in late fall and winter. New growth in late winter early spring, producing yellow flowers in spring and seeds in the summer and early fall.
Habitats : Disturbed hillsides, canyons, chaparral, creeks, roadsides, sidewalks,
Uses: The leaves are edible as early as possible, as well as the bulb, and the seeds are also edible, cleans teeth,

Loquat - (Eriobotrya japonica) - Perennial Tree - Rose Family
Cycles : Dormant in fall and flowering in winter, fruiting in early spring, new leaf growth in the summer
Habitats : medians, front lawns, empty lots, alleys, landscaping, parks
Uses : as a delicious fruit, dried or fresh, oten peeled, with a large seed that can be dried and roasted as a coffee substitute

Mallow (Malva pariflora) - Herbaceous Annual Mallow Family
Cycles : New growth in late winter early spring, producing producing purple flowers and pods
Habitats: disturbed soils, clay soils, empty lots, medians, farms, wildlands
Uses: in a salad, stir fried, in soups, colon cleansing and weight loss tea,

Stinging Nettle (Urticca spp.) Herbaceous Annual - Nettle Family
Cycles : Dies back in fall and winter, new growth after first winter rains in garden beds, creeks, canyons, forests,
Habitats: garden beds, creeks, canyons, forests, sidewalks, empty lots, alleys
Uses: Harvested carefully with gloves and tongs, cooked like spin

Loquat Lust

2009-04-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

The only difference between love and lust is trust - ?

The moment the first flavor crystal of sweet nectar bursts in your mouth, a new fruit exists that you may have never noticed. One of the most ubiquitous trees of Los Angeles, yet also one of the most neglected Yes, they taste very uncannily similar to many others, yet unique. I can think of at least 5 fruits that bear resemblance to loquats; peaches, apricots, mangoes, apples and cherries. They have a wide range of flavors depending on variety, ripeness and various other factors such as water, sun and nutrients. They are one of the most forgiving of all edible fruit trees, needing little, being favored by few pests, the humble loquat produces copious amounts of fruit annually in medians, front yards, alleys, abandoned properties, public parks and even gas stations. They are a very useful trees, the leaves being used for medicinal purposes, fruit and seeds (used to make a coffee or tea sbstitute) have all been used by humans for hundreds and thousands of years, with significant improvements in the taste over the last 500 years. Here is a recipe and a slice of history via wikipedia and from the forthcoming book "Feral Culinarian": the mildly wild food book.

^ Raw Loquat Jam
< attributes : vegan, raw, local
< useful tools : vessel
< preparation time : 10 minutes

* loquats

Loquats are known to be of indigenous origin Asia, where they have been domesticated for over two thousand years. They thrive in a wide variety of conditions of climate, soil and light, and after being pollinated by insects, they produce a peachy colored fruit in late winter or early spring. The leaves are analgesic, antibacterial, antiemetic, antitussive, antiviral, astringent, diuretic and expectorant. Quite a resume for such a small fruit. The size ranges from 1 to 3 inches with at least one 1/2 inch pit.

Jam is a sweet pasty substance usually made from combining heat, sugar, fruit (with pectin) and preserved in jars. Most common sugar comes from politically unstable regions where farmers are watched by guards with guns and governments, murderous rebel groups take bribes from international agribusiness firms. Loquats are delicious with their naturally present sugar however, and not often commercially available. Many people regard them as ornamental trees and plant them on medians and front yards, unbeknownst to residents and locals. I suggest appreciating the fruit in it's own season and eating it as quickly as possible, because without sugar and pectin, this will not last more than a week or two. Try using what ever fruit is in season to make a raw jam, strawberries, raspberries and melons can often defy the seasons and grow year round in Southern California and other hot dry climates.

To make, remove the seed(s) and thin peel, then pulverize the flesh into small pieces. Keep the seeds for planting, or roast them on a fire, grind or mill and put the grounds in your coffee making device to make loquat coffee. Continue mashing the rest of the fruit and put it into a jar in a cold place. It is a fine compliment to smoothies, ice cream, yogurt, pies, cake, other pastries as well as salad dressings or salsa. Cut the flesh into quarters to dehydrate.

high noon in the garden of snails sparrows and squirrels

2008-06-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

It has been eight years now since it first happened. The constant evolution of space and time in the garden of snails and squirrels allowed me to expand my web of relationships with life. The first day, I don't remember if i actually took stock of my backyard as it stood. I was 17 years old. I had just moved on up to a nearby enclave. "The Cheviot Hills California Country Club Estates" was a fairly tale island of Stepfordesque proportions, named after a developers contest picked the name "Cheviot Hills" and British theme of street names. The neighborhood was once a Spanish Land Grant Rancho, and for a short stint, a golf course, was built in the 50's on a platform that it constantly aimed to pitch itself as a step above every other neighborhood in the immediate area including Palms, Mar Vista and Beverly Wood. The one edible thing on the property was a lemon tree that was hanging over the fence of an adjacent property. Other than that a fine sample of poisonous and exotic mid-century horticultural nightmare. Thorny bougainvillea, rodent dominated ivy, the sappy mess of giant bird of paradise and heavenly bamboo, (not a real bamboo) and the worst canopy tree, the ficus. Above ground, ficus harbor crows, squierrels, below grounds the destructive roots break pipes and sidewalks. A diverse group of animals inhabit the hills of cheviot such as the coyote, raccoon, opossum, crow, sparrow, hummingbird, parrot, duck, squirrel, rat, mice, lizard and an abundance of insect critters were the primary players in this ecosystem. Many of them lived on site, or in the nearby sewer drains, golf courses, freeway underpasses and basements of the area. In the house and yard (and somewhat beyond for brief periods) lived a canine, (owen) contributing feces, urine and fur mostly on the back side of the guest house, and a feline (boo) contributing the same on a smaller, more discrete scale. This area is also where things like urbanite, planters, mulch bags, straw bales and garden tools and fertilizer concoctions were kept, in an area about 3 feet wide.

The design parameters have changed about five hundred times, a wide range of species have been encouraged, cultivated, tolerated and contained. This can also be seen as a Venn diagram with these overlapping themes. The original banana was planted near the guest house, so it could be picked from the flat roof, which could be reinforced for a rooftop garden, passive and active solar panels, ovens and dishes. It could be a great place for summer fossil free bbq. Other flora I have tried to include both things that are expensive at markets or just unavailable. Things that you wouldn't see in a neighbors yard. I have taken note of some of the fruit trees in the neighborhoods where i grew up, and everyday I find new trees. Typical fruit trees like avocado, oranges, lemons, loquats, kumquat, blackberries, apples, apricots, plums, grapes, peaches and bananas. A much wider exotic variety exists on a lesser obvious note, (papaya, mulberries, guavas, macadamia nuts, pomegranates)in public and private areas. For over story trees, I have let the volunteer peruvian pepper tree colonize along the fence among the vines. I planted a pear tree that will be ready for grafting soon, a passion fruit vine, a kiwi vine (male and female), chayote, raspberries, blackberries, three large artichoke plants, a suriname cherry, elderberry, pineapple guava and loquat. In the front yard, I have put in more bananas, two dwarf tangerines, a nectarine, low chill cherry, pakistani mullberry, strawberry guava, hawaiian kona coffee bushes, allspice and an apricot tree have encroached their way into the stagnant landscape of suburbia. Most of the trees were planted close enough to be picked from the sidewalk.

I manned the jackhammer for days on end into steel reinforced concrete, every last foot provides space for food, animals, medicine, fibers, and wood for small projects, snacks and barbecues. Once the concrete had been plowed and sculpted to the flow path of my zones and sectors of influence, I had set into motion a modest yet powerfully change.
Long before Craig's list had a farm and garden page, I was perusing from cheap and free plants, mulch and stones. I happened to find a gold finger banana tree for $5-15 dollars US. In small, lesser known suburb of sprawling West Los Angeles, it is rare for the person to be three blocks away when communicating over the internet. The banana sat in the shaded corner of the patio pre-construction for about a year. It grew about two inches and shrunk maybe three. Once I planted it in a better solar location, in deep, rich soil and organic compost with mulch, it has grown to a height of about twelve feet in less than 2 years.

Some of the other pest that are usually tolerated cross a threshold that demands immediate action to prevent further damage. It is best to gather all the interested parties into one area to determine the best outcome. In a recent snail infestation, I began to study the snails in my area. I had been fascinated with them since childhood. My grandmother even made me a snail birthday cake one year. Oddly convenient to find that the common garden snail of California was brought here as an immigrant (by immigrants chefs) of the gold rush era as a delicacy to be fed to wealthy miners who struck it rich.

Today the fauna were in an uproar over the heat wave. The resident squirrel came into my room for the first time, brave soul. When I emerged in the late morning, there were two hummingbirds perched on the line to our house, enganged in a uproar of clickety chatter. The usual large black carpenter bees that live in the wood fence were present at their favorite yellow flower vines I have yet to identify. The parasitic wasp was having a feast of aphids and grubs on the late season brussell sprouts, and I was enjoying the raspberries with the honey bees placidly browsing the white flowers that they turn in to berries. Soon the herbs, raspberries and lettuce will all be in arms reach of my favorite outdoor reading spot, and I will eat the raspberries while laying down and reading. it's even better than being fed grapes.

avocado atonement

2008-04-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

The liberation of threatened and marginalized fruit remains a problem in the homeland, while people are encouraged to eat subsidized “edible food-like substances”, in the words of Michael Pollan. These urbane vigilantes are taking the harvest into their own hands, with a mature avocado tree in the middle of a construction site. While "gardeners" who "mow, blow and go" often rake and remove the avocados natural mulch,
the UC Agricultural research division found that "70 Percent Reduction in Yard Waste Going to Landfills in Ventura County. Not only has the green waste helped in controlling a terrible avocado disease, using the green waste in avocado orchards has reduced significantly the amount of materials going to landfills. The integrated control methods have allowed growers to rely less on fungicides while achieving greater control than with fungicides alone. These practices have done much to maintain the productivity of the $350 million a year avocado crop, saving growers as much as $50 million annually from avocado root rot".

http://ucanr.org/delivers/impactview.cfm?impactnum=577

literature review of deep economy

2008-03-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Every now and again, an uncomparable book passes through my fingers by chance, like finding Fast Food Nation among the magazine racks at a big-box super-market, Deep Economy (the wealth of communities and the durable future), by Bill McKibben was not vernacular to the Economics section of the Beverly Hills library. I thought I knew what to expect from this book, but it surprised me at every turn with striking, well researched figures and poignant analysis of both global economics and that of communities. Although it became evident that the author had been jet-setting to almost every continent to scribe this work, I could think of no better way to use that fossil fuel than educating Americans of the massive situation that our mindsets and industries consume and waste, and illustrate vibrant solutions to problems that plauge both worlds, the first and the third, with surprisingly similar solutions.

Bill touched on the sentimentality of use of the word community. I have been weary of the term and how it has been raped by the corporate media to legitimize their dominance and attempt to dispel the obvious and widely accepted truth that multinational corporations have destroyed community and ecological infrastructure since their outset as "beings" in the earlier twentieth century. From food to fuel and plastic to pensions, he covers so many aspects of the financial reality of American life and it's enormous effect on the rest of the world. As Eric Scholsser Francis Moore and Michael Pollan wrote of the bleak post of American agribusiness and still were compelled to end on a positive note, McKibben has done the same for globalization. Answering with flying colors the undisputed rhetoric of Adam Smith and his modern economic cheerleaders equatable to Ben Friedman in his take on global economics "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" and "The World is Flat".

Inspiring words and stories that valued the marginal and embraced, small, slow and sometimes up side down in a mono-directional speedway of monetary growth. Like Paul Hawkins' Blessed Unrest, this book paints a picture not often seen by Americans who watch TV and commute in an SUV, that another pond is possible, and if you dip your foot in it may not be as cold as you think. Among the dense, stellar research and scathing figures are heart warming stories that anyone can enjoy.

Although I was familiar with Bill McKibben before this book, I had not read any of his previous books and I was delighted to hear someone put into readable print the idea that the developing world and the over-developed world must come to a compromise. We first worlders change our highest values from net worth to net connection. Putting value back into our bioregional and keeping it there will benefit our short term economic woes, as well as our long term global environmental crisis.

a gift to humanity

2008-03-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

be soft, be humble like earth so that flowers of many colors can grow from you ~ Rumi

With every death come a new life and with the passing of a great architect, poet, humanitarian and writer will surely bring abundant life to many places on the planet that his life has not already brought. He is and will be dearly missed and his work will continue to inspire people of all races, ages and genders throught the world and maybe beyond. Racing Alone, to Sidewalks on the Moon, he has forged new ground and unearthed ancient routes on the path to wisdom and generosity to cultures.

reading the landscape of economy

2008-03-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks I have attempted to focused my reading to macro economic issues, often as they relate to globalization, local ecology, micro-banking, fair trade and alternative and complementary currencies. There are so many wonderful books out there, that I wanted to share a few of the ones that have been helpful in my research.

Deep Economy - Bill McKibben

Interest and Inflation Free Money - Margrit Kennedy

Alternatives to Economic Globalization - International Forum on Globalization

Blessed Unrest - Paul Hawkins

Ecology of Commerce - Paul Hawkins

Natural Capitalism - Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawkins

Cradle to Cradle - William McDonough, Michael Braungart

Eco Pioneers - Steve Lerner

Critical Mass - Philip Ball

Hemp Horizons - John Roulac

Natural Wealth of Nations - David Roodman

It's All for Sale - James Ridegeway

Divided Planet - Tom Athanasiou

We Own It - Honigsberg, Kamoroff, Beatty

The Lure of the Local - Lucy Lippard

The Paradigm Conspiracy - Denise Brenton, Christopher Largent

Sustainable Cities - Bob Walter, Lois Arkin, Richard Crenshaw

Ecovillages - Jan Bang

Banker to the Poor - Muhammad Yunus

White Man's Burden - William Easterly

timelapse

2008-02-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't
own it, but you can use it. You can't keep
it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it
you can never get it back.”

- Harvey MacKay

How time travels in html . . .

It has been almost 9 months since my last entry, good thing no one noticed but me, hehe! It has been on my mind but alas, we all have our short comings. I feel like a fruiting mycelium body emerging after a long hard rain ready to express my spores upon the earth. Let me fill you in on what I have been up to in fifty words or less. Begining in August I began publishing the Los Angeles Permaculture Guild Newsletter every month, in email digest form, but now also available on the web for your viewing pleasure. I traveled to distant lands, namely Mexico, (to work with City Repair on the Gila Sol Project) and Big Sur (for the Permaculture Teachers Training Course at Esaleen). Working with Architects and Landscape Architects consulting for perennial arid gardens and food foresting has been my primary work outside of school. I have authored a sample food book proposal,
The Arid Food Book which will include interactive mapping and video cooking shows in it's final inception.

tim dundon talks

2008-02-05T03:56:00.000-08:00

projects

2008-02-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

organic panic

2007-08-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

art yard and craft hard

2007-06-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

With warm regards, I hold to the house hold that produced such a well thought event on a nice summer afternoon. It couldn't have been better having no less than 2 picnics / bbq's, but a brand new skatepark in highland park, los angeles...schucks

featuring . . .

- - Succulent arrangements & repurposed art for sacred garden spaces
by Steve Mixdorf marking the official launch of Tao Spaces.
taospaces.com

- - See Andrew & Jennifer Draper's beautiful Vegetable and Herb gardens
and native plant garden, deck, tiled patio, pergola, and sheet-mulched
areas and/or talk to Andrew, Jen, Paul, and Steve about your gardening,
hardscaping, landscaping, remodeling, and catering ideas and
possibilities. beautygrows.com gatherparties.com

- - Rocket Stoves, solar cookers, tomato cage art, and more by Ray
Cirino - L.A. Times featured treehouse builder, cob expert, and
permaculture enthusiast. Ray is also well known for his large scale
Water Woman art project enjoyed by many at the Burning Man Art Festival
since 1996. raycirino.com

- - Chinese Lanterns and other Stained Glass art by Linda Parker.
lindaparker.org

- - Illuminated Wire and Fabric sculture by Sean Sobczak.
sandmancreations.com

- - Beautiful sculptural turned wooden bowls by Mark Fitzsimmons.
http://treecycler.org/

- - Unique hand-crafted meditation bowls by Greg Vineyard.
www.vineyardcreative.byregion.net

- - Abstract fine paintings on repurposed glass panels by Jason
Schaper. http://www.jasonschaper.com/

- - Handcrafted jewelry by Lisa Wahpepah with proceeds benefitting the
non-profit Descendants of The Earth and their work to preserve the
earth, indigineous tribal practices, and Native American ceremony.

- - And much much more: Fine Art by Nial McGaughey and others.
Biodiesel/WVO demonstration by Jennie Gaio. Electrical Conduit creations
by Paddy. Energy saving bulbs by Elizabeth Vejar. Too much to list.

2007-06-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite foods since childhood is artichokes. I was recently informed (yesterday) of the difference between an artichoke and a cardoon. They are both in the thistle plant family. The cardoon is propagated for it's stem rather than it's flower (as opposed to artichoke). I have found the stem of the artichoke to be better or as good as the infamous heart. Boil or steam as much of the stalk as you can with the chokees until it is soft. Try it with a maple syrup butter sauce or olive oil, garlic and fennel. Ranch dressing works too.

The leaves as also edible but bitter depending on the variety, eaten by the romans for lower blood cholesterol and improving liver function. It has been labeled "noxious" in California and Australia, aka people consider it a weed.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Cynara+cardunculus

carrot puddin pie

2007-06-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

basic ingedients:

a few carrots

a few dates

a few walnuts

stumbled upon this recipe after buying too many dates at the culver city farmers market. Take a few carrots and a few dates and pulverize them. Either mortar and pestle or cuisnart. Then take some walnuts and crush them evenly into what ever you use as the pie dish. Then pour in carrot puddin. Simple and easy, add variation.

bad lawns and path to freedom

2007-05-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

rainwater harvesting students with brad lancaster

2007-05-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

interior decorating on homeless hillsides

2007-05-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

What does interior decorating have to do with the homeless. Well, everything. For starters, dome village has been essentially evicted, auctioning their fiberglass walls and roofs on ebay to the highest bidder. I have attempted to live on a private feral hillside consisting of some almond and fruit trees, a dilapidated shack without any pathway for about 1/4 of an acre. While I was able to begining to make trails, irrigation canals, earthbag domes, bathrooms and kitchens, no sooner than a few days after i put up a tent, complaints from the property owners and neighbors claiming "it looks like a homeless village down there" or "there are clothes everywhere". Needless to say I was saddened to see how one temporary housing unit and a few garments can change perceptions so rapidly.

It was as much a blessing as it was a curse. A realization came to me that these concept eco utilities and food forests would better serve the community in a more accessible place to a diverse group of people who might find eco utilities useful, and be inspired to create or improve their own habitat. I realize that this is more easily said then done, and social trends can be difficult to predict or influence, but there is a need for examples. Several locations in urban areas of Los Angeles are being scouted and developed by a professional team of misfits to inject pro biotic energy into the air, water and soil.

Gaia Tourism

2007-05-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

After 3 long weeks I am back in Los Angeles, California. After visiting cities, towns and hamlets up and down the west coast, using several different modes of transport, I have been reinvigorated with new ideas, old thoughts and good food. I quite a few projects lined up, both digital and reality based to keep me busy for the next 6 months. Some of the places I have visited;

Lost Valley

Portland

Sebastapol

Mt. Shasta

Permaculture Army

SF Critical Mass

Coyote Creek

san juan buatista

Cal Poly

Earthflow

Introduction

2007-04-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

http://farmerbarter.googlepages.com

Welcome to a new community space where people can exchange ideas and goods with one another freely. It's not just for farmers or traders, anyone can participate. While this project is based in Los Angeles County, anyone can participate. Have a loquat tree that needs to bee picked, make a comment, have extra compost, tools or rocks? Make a comment. Meet up with other locals, with similar interests or interesting recipes, post other resources and networks. Fossil fuel free transportation, biodegradable or reusable containers, organic foods and garmets, and all other renewable resources are recommended and encouraged.

Please direct any questions comments or concerns to the box below

2007-03-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Mike Davis serves a cold dish of reality for Los Angelinos, who may have fears deeply rooted in superstition and hysteria, among other misconceptions. Examining the likes of good weather, bad disasters, and ugly suburbs mike manages to pen a sharp social history, and informed ecological study of one of his favorite topics and home, southern California. From letting Malibu burn to tenement apartments and the bubonic plague the stage is set for a revelation of fact and fiction as he examines hundreds of novels and dozens of movies of disaster in Los Angeles. Together with his other southern California literature, "Magical Urbanism" and "City of Quarts" he is on the way to map out a new history from the propagandistic textbooks barely suitable for toddlers picture books.

2007-03-05T10:54:00.001-08:00

Although the first free workshop was this last weekend, the next two are quickly approaching. Mark's raw milk presentation was amazing, David was able to explain permaculture very quickly with an informed global environmental background.

The next two workshops will be more hands on. Farming techniques and natural building respectively. Please come along and bring a friend or two, an instrument and or food n drinks.

See you there

Permaculture Workshops

2007-03-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

~www.sustainablehabitats.org~
~www.gaiajournal.blogspot.com~

Day one. Saturday march 3, 2007-
10am – 4pm - info@sustainablehabitats.org

This Free Introduction to Permaculture Class is an outline of the
science and art of Permaculture. It will define the term, its history,
its founders and the curriculum of the design course certificate, its
ethics and foundations. It will describe the benefits and show some of
the most important work undertaken by permaculture designers.Learn the
truth from one of America's leading experts on raw milk. Mark McAfee,
is regarded by many in the industry as the foremost expert in raw milk
safety and raw dairy product markets and technology.
Contact / rsvp . . . david . . . 323 . 667.1330
~
Day two. Saturday march 10, 2007
10 am – sunset - info@sustainablehabitats.org

Come to silverlake where a community food center is being created in a
residential neighborhood. Learn sheet mulching and planting techniques
and tips on garden design.
Contact / rsvp . . . david . . . 323 . 667 . 1330
~
Day three. Sunday march 11, 2007
Sunrise – sunset – taylorist@gmail.com

Join us in highland park for food and drinks, the basics of earth bag
construction techniques, native plants, swale building in an
educational setting. Bring potluck food, family, pets and any tools
and skills that you have.

Contact / rsvp . . . Taylor . . . 310 . 429 . 1283
~

Fruit Gathering, Food Not Bombs and Biofuels

2007-02-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif

Last week I took students from Los Angeles Leadership Charter School walking in residental area of Silverlake mapped by Fallen Fruit and talked to them about indigenous culture in Los Angeles for the last 10,000 years. Although we ate no native plants, many students tasted kumquats for the first time. The field trip was coordinated by the nutrition network(a program from my former Community College, (Los Angeles Trade Tech). The students also toured Food Not Bombs facility, AgLago, and Lovecraft Biofuels.

Garden Greens

2007-02-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

In response to recent raids on Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries, I have included this salad. Thankfully the number of dispensaries has increased 2,350% in one year, so stoping more than a few would be a massive operation. Although some people report stomach discomfort from eating raw cannabis leaves, due to microscopic thorns, I find them quite pleasant. Somewhat spicy with a rich buttery flavor. Ingesting cannabis can be more effective treatment with stronger results, although for maximum strength, the flower tops are the most highly recommended.

This salad was made with california walnuts along with other spicy greens like mesclun, mustard and some kind of purple lettuce, balanced with red oak lettuce, and roma tomatoes, all from the backyard except the walnuts. My favorite dressing I have tried thus far is ranch.

Farmlab and Truth

2007-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

Farmlab Schedule

Begining last December, Not A Cornfield inc. has initiated a "salon" with different activists and artists each week. The first was Fritz Heag, an artist worknig on a project to redesign typical lawns into "edible estates". Fritz gave an informed history of the from lawn begining with English nobilty and finding it's way into surburbia. He carefully selects applicants who will continue upkeep and are friendly with their neighbors. He plans to complete 7 "estates" over the next year, one in each of the 7 climate zones of the US.

Other speakers include Friends of the LA River, Ballona Creek project and most recently "Helen Samuels will discuss her experiences working with young people on collaborative cultural restoration projects, environmental justice issues, and related topics". This has been the most inspiring speaker thus far that i have seen here. Her ability to connect social and environmental issues so seamlessly, it was truly a breath of fresh air. Her visit also facilitated an interesting discussion about american youth.

Also this past Saturday, I was able to visit the LA Eco Village for a slideshow by Kat Steele, founder of the Urban Permaculture Guild, who was one of the one thousand people chosen by Al Gore to give his slideshow presentation to people all over the country, in effect being able to reach more people who did not see Al Gore's movie, and create a dialouge that would not often be present in a movie theater.

zucchini dog

2006-12-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

zucchini
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Culinarily, zucchini is considered to be a vegetable. However, biologically, the zucchini is a fruit, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower. Zucchini are traditionally picked when very immature, seldom over 8in/20cm in length.
Zucchini is one of the easiest vegetables to cultivate in a temperate climate.
In Mexico, the flower (known as Flor de Calabaza) is preferred over the vegetable, and is often cooked in soups or used as a filling for quesadillas.

If you have hot dog buns, you can either put the raw, washed zucchini in the hot dog bun. Also it can be steamed, baked, grilled or boiled, with fixins like mustard, kechup, relish, onions etc.

tv too long to blog

2006-12-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

tvboy
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

"Do you know we are ruled by TV?"
-- from the poem An American Prayer by Jim Morrison

"They put an off button on the TV for a reason. Turn it off . . . I really don't watch much TV."
-- President George W. Bush, C-SPAN interview, January 2005

painting two . maorimask

2006-10-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

mask, originally uploaded by taylorone.

creayted in the art studio of los angeles trade technical college in the fall of 2005

film four . debo of malibu

2006-10-18T18:24:00.000-07:00


A short film following the path of a stranger in a strange land.

film three . ultra sonic sound

2006-10-18T18:22:00.000-07:00


A Short music video of "Ultra Sonic Sound" by DJ Hive. Video by Taylor Arneson. Created in 1999.

film two. duck 2001

2006-10-02T16:26:00.000-07:00


Short video made in the spring of 2001 in Southern California. Sean Maung. Brandon Levinstien

film one. duck

2006-09-28T12:49:00.000-07:00


A short film made by Taylor Arneson and Sean Maung in the year 1999.

painting one. untitled

2006-09-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

flagmoney, originally uploaded by taylorone.

acyrlic paint and paper on a 24 x 30inch canvas made in the year 2001

photograph four. felis hobbes

2006-09-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

, originally uploaded by taylorone.

photograph taken in the spring of 1998 originally printed on 8 x 10

photograph three. night horn

2006-09-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

, originally uploaded by taylorone.

color print made in the spring of 1998, 8 x 10

photograph two. milifido

2006-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

, originally uploaded by taylorone.

color print made in the spring of 1998 original size 8 x 10

photograph one. miliunicom

2006-09-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

, originally uploaded by taylorone.

black and white print taken in the fall of 1997 on the roof. 8 x 10 (military universal communication).

tres amigos/as

2006-09-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

tres
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Photo taken at the Los Angeles Public Library, downtown by taylor

HUG Video

2006-09-18T21:30:00.000-07:00


<a href="http://hugllc.com/">Hunt Utilities Group, LLC </a> is a forming a ecological campus in Pine River, Minnesota. They have constructed a building system made from natural building materials; clay, sand, straw, and wood. They have also employed passive solar and geothermal heating to make it through the bitter cold winters.

Making Cob: The sculptable building material

2006-09-18T21:23:00.000-07:00


Make cob with clay, sand, straw and human energy. Cob is a wonderful non-toxic natural building material. It can be used to create ovens, dwellings, and sculptural forms.

Ecological Democracy

2006-09-18T19:05:00.000-07:00


The idea of Ecological Democracy is discussed at length by practioners from India, Brazil, UK, Tanzania, Finland. Ecological Democracy puts human and environmental rights at the center stage of development.

A Civilization is a Terrible Thing to Waste

2006-09-18T18:58:00.000-07:00


An interview with found object artist & dumpster diver Neil Benson on the importance of recycling to sustainable development. Neil Benson is a founding member of "The Dumpster Divers," a Philadelphia-based found object art collective. Please Visit us Online @ http://www.dumpsterdivers.com

Caifornia Community Energy

2006-09-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1960775756799889197&q=california+community+energy&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

TreehuggerTV: Urban Homestead

2006-09-18T18:29:00.000-07:00


Path to Freedom shows us how their urban homestead saves energy. From solar panels & biodiesel to grey water showers to sustainable agriculture, see how these urban homesteaders use clever ways to reduce their ecological impact.

TreeHuggerTV: An Eco-Film Festival

2006-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:00


Sneak peaks of " Who Killed the Electric Car" and the Brad Pitt narrated documentary "Design: E2." Plus feedback on Al Gore's film " An Inconvenient Truth," lovesexy news on the world's hottest vegetarian, and a German study on the ever-warming sun.

Be the Change: A New Era of Green Activism

2006-09-18T16:28:00.000-07:00


Be the Change: A New Era of Green Activism Profiling the actions of student activists working towards environmental sustainability at UC Santa Cruz.

Energy Fair at Crestone

2006-09-18T16:12:00.000-07:00


The 17th annual energy fair at Crestone Colorado is Sept 2-4. There will be demonstrations on a variety of alternative housing, solar and wind, permaculture, etc.

Green Building with Josho Somi

2006-09-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Green Building with Josho Somine permaculture designer/artist Join us as he teaches how to build a living willow chair, and discusses his philosophies behind his work. We live in a world today in need of such refreshing views of building in a more sustainable artistic way. Dharma Dog Tracks: are mini modular video casting projects. Tracking the people, places and things of a rapidly changing environment called earth. Its dedication is to those who seek to revolutionize the world by taking responsibility for that which looks at our inner life more than the material life, and how interconnecting with alternative models is in the best interest of all living things. www.dharmadogpictures.com

Angel's Nest

2006-09-18T15:44:00.000-07:00


A tour of a sustainable home in Taos New Mexico made of straw bale, tires, popcans and bottles. The electricity is generated through wind and solar technology. Rainwater is captured as culinary water and there is a bio-diesel/hydrogen fueling station. Visit empowermentchannel.info for more info.

the ecovideo blog...

2006-09-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

is a collection of short films, videos and slideshows that inform the viewer of solutions to problems that effect communities in every corner of the world, that can be implemented by anyone on a daily basis.

Gaia University Flyer

2006-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

gaia flyer
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Click on the picture of this flyer to go to the http://www.flickr.com site. Download the medium size to print (you can do 2 per page that way).

Tijuana, the moderns, and hydrogen hybrid huxters

2006-09-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

b house
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

This week has been a cornacopia of different flavors. After a 3 day workshop in Tijuana ending Saturday, I was tired. On wendsday I attend a Permaculture potluck. We met at David Kahn's residence to witness the transformation of his front lawn (now front swales). I almost didn't recognize his house with the white picket fence removed. David's projects are coming along nicely, his website is { www.sustainablehabitats.org/ } My guacamole was sucessfull after a slight hesitation when I told people it was "gleaned" from the avocado tree on the corner of gennesee and lexington.

On Thurday I was asked to attend an architectural meeting for a new hybrid house adaptation made of recycled steel shipping containers and glass in the Venice Canals. After much debate some of the materials were finalized and are being submitted to the California Costal Commission. Architect Whitney Sanders and his firm create a very modern atmosphere using creative materials and techniques. { http://www.sander-architects.com/ }

That evening at the Peterson Automotive Museum I attended a event hosted by Honda, Toyota and Rio Hondo College. There were several hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicles on display. Several professors from their Alternative Fuel Program gave well informed, but predictable talks on Bio Fuels, Electric and Natural Gas vehicles.
By the way, if hydrogen has gallons, they would be $9.00 each?
{ http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?docid=814&EventID=23 }

graff psych

2006-08-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

graff psych
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Graffiti is a type of deliberate application of a media made by humans on any surface, both private and public. It usually takes the form of publicly painted art, drawings or words. When done without a property owner's consent it constitutes vandalism, although in many countries the owner must press charges before it would be considered a crime.
Graffiti has existed at least since the days of ancient civilizations such as classical Greece and the Roman Empire.

Guacamole Map

2006-08-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

guac map
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Bring your own chiles (if you like), onions (unless you have a really good eye for wild ones) and maybe some spices. There are several pepper trees on ther train tracks, I recommend to either bring a pepper grinder, or use only the outer pink shell of the peppers in the guacamole. Simply follow the blue line. If you want a fruit snack, check the small Peach Tree on Veteran Ave at Exposition or Ayres north of the guacamole route.

The word Avocado comes from "Ahuacuatl", the Aztec word for testicle tree. The name may come from the way the fruits hang from the tree in pairs, or the fertility powers it possessed. Avocado was a main source of fat in many indigenous diets and also contained many curative powers. The leaves can be applied to wounds as a poultice, the skin is used as an antibiotic remedy for intestinal parasites and urinary infections, and the oils and seeds have an excellent effect on the skin and hair. The oil can be found in many high end beauty products.

The fruit was brought to California around the turn of the century and has made a happy home here ever since as one of the most valuable trees in Agriculture. Avocados in California are a billion dollar business. Some varieties can fetch $3.00 per avocado, and each tree can produce thousands. So save money, resources and fuel, plant Avocado in your yard or neighborhood.

Farmers Fruit

2006-08-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

102_0269
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

This raw vegan salad, contains from left to right, chanterelle mushrooms, wild arugula, edible flowers, sprouts, salmonberries, and nori ricecake. All were produced in California, the ricecake and salmonberries were produced in the central valley, while all the other ingredients were grown in the Santa Monica Mountians organically. On your own for dressing.

If you are considering going to Vons, Ralphs, Jons, Bristol Farms, Trader Joes, Whole Foods or Safeway for produce, by all means, a farmers market close to your area will be a much healthier, cheaper, and simpler alternative that gets your money closer to family farms, cutting out the middlemen. However, the myth that it is too hard, or not practical to grow your own food is absurd. And myths purporting all the food at farmers markets are from the neighborhood or even the state may be unfounded. I frequently see food from Mexico, Fresno, and other regions at least 300 miles away. Often the food is gorwn with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides unless labeled otherwise. Major market chains like the ones mentioned earlier have much of their food shipped from even further away (up to 2000 miles), and use more chemicals and genetically modified crops than do farmers markets.

quantum mechanics

2006-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

102_0313
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

It is probably true quite generally that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently take place at those points where two different lines of thought meet. These lines may have their roots in quite different parts of human nature, in different times or different cultural environments or different religious traditions: hence if they actually meet, that is, if they are at least so much related to each other that a real interaction can take place, then one may hope that new and interesting developments may follow.
- Werner Heisenberg

room with a view....

2006-08-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

102_0314
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

I sit in the streets with the homeless

My clothes stained with the wine
From the vineyards the saints tend.

Light has painted all acts
The same color

So I sit around and laugh all day
With my friends.

At night if I feel a divine loneliness
I tear the doors off Love's mansion

And wrestle God onto the floor.

He becomes so pleased with Hafiz
and says,

"Our hearts should do this more."

Yucca, b(yikes) and Tofu

2006-08-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

102_0320
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Saturday morning began with a Christopher Nygeres class on fibers and basketry. While such things are indeed labor intensive, they were not as difficult as I had previously imagined. Within a few hours of leisurely strolling through the San Gabriel Mountains a group of 10 had made baskets (or in some cases, drink coasters), in addition to making a brush and rope from yucca fibers. I also started my first fire without the use of fossil (or veggie oil) fuels. We used a flat piece of Willow, and a stripped branch, spinning the branch with a piece of leather to create a burning coal. Then added dry grass and blowing air on the coal. Couldn't have been more simple, (unless you use a lighter).

While I was waiting at the Art Center College of Design for my dad to get off work I had a peek into the exhibit b(yikes!)

June 25 — August 31, 2006

Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, CA 91103

This exhibit is more of a road map to the most eccentric cycles ever created. Including 2 bikes that ride on water, one controlled by a goldfish and motion sensor, and one made almost completely of bamboo.

Summertime in Los Angeles is not known for it's mild temperatures and this season is no exception. Anyone at this weekend's tightly packaged tofu festival { http://www.tofufest.org/ } will attest that it was hot, and the festival was the coolest place to be in Little Tokyo, however, a little more shade trees would have been quite nice. There was quite a large turnout for this event on Sunday, since it's hip to be square there was a tofu eating contest, live performances and a cook off featuring celebrity iron chefs. If only local raw foods could get this much attention...

Books

2006-08-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

book
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Ecovillages:A Practical Guide to Sustainable communities
by Jan Martin Bang

Ecovillages have arisen around the world in response to the social fragmentation of modern life and its alienation from nature. They provide a variety of ways of living in community with others and with nature and are linked worldwide through the Global Ecovillage Network. While interest in this approach to sustainable living is rapidly increasing, there is relatively little literature on the topic and none that brings the design principles of permaculture to bear on the successful design of these communities. Ecovillages explores the new departures in personal, social and ecological living represented by this phenomenon. This book explores the background and history to the ecovillages movement, and then provides a comprehensive manual for planning, establishing and maintaining a sustainable community, using a permaculture approach

The Natural Step for Communities
by Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti

"resonates that any true sustainable grassroots revolution depends not just on inovation but democratic process"

Maps of the Mind
by Charles Hampden-Turner

An eclectic collection of charts and concepts that illuminate the mind and it's labyrinths.

Street Gallery: A Guide to 1000 Los Angeles Murals
Robin J. Dunitz

Old, but good reference to a wide range of painted, tile and mosaic murals, both interior and exterior, in Los Angeles County. See history through a populist lens and diverse communities in almost every decade for the last 100 years.

Civilizations: Culture, Ambition and the Transformation of Nature
by Filipe Fernandez-Armesto

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto theorizes a resolution to the nature of civilization, that societies become civilized by taming and warping nature. Exploring 17 habitats the book zeroes in on features that reflect the quality of life and source of survival in civilizations across ten millennia.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
by Toby Hemenway

Easy to use and understand tour through the permaculture garden.

Farms of Tommorrow Revisited: Community Supported Farms-Farm supported Communities
by Trauger Groh and Steve McFadden

Ten examples of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms with first-hand information and advice from the farmers themselves. Valuable to anybody interested in the CSA movement in the United States (or the world), or to farmers wishing to start their own CSA program. Helpful appendices on getting started, acquiring land, sample budgets, and typical CSA shares are included

Fostering Sustainable Behavior: an Introduction to community-based social marketing
by Doug McKenzie-Mohr and William Smith

Published in 1999, this 176-page book details how to uncover the barriers that inhibit individuals from engaging in sustainable behaviours. It provides a set of "tools" that social science research has demonstrated to be effective in fostering and maintaining behaviour change. The guide also details how to design and evaluate programmes. The strategies detailed here, and the methods suggested in order to implement and evaluate them, form the basis of an emerging field that the authors refer to as "community-based social marketing" (CBSM)

Sustainable Cities: Concepts and Strategies for Eco-city Development
Edited by B Walter, L Arkin, R Crenshaw

"Sustainable Cities shows how urban developement and the environmentcan co-exist in a sucessful partnership that will result in better air quality, cleaner water, more nutritious food, less commuting time, quieter and more nature oriented surroundings, a richer community life, less urban stress and improved health for the people who live and work in cities"

Second Nature: Adapting LA's Landscape for Sustainable Living
Edited by Patrick Condon and Stacy Moriarty

TreePeople's grand vision, with practical details for turning L.A. into a sustainable space to live. Site designs for single-family, multiplex, public, and commercial sites.

The First Angelinos by William McCawley

In a well-organized, clearly-written manner, William McCawley has taken the scraps out of the basket and fashioned a beautiful quilt that brings light and life to an oft-maligned people. He has done an amazing amount of research in putting together this volume. If "God is in the details", then it is the details of religion and custom that elevate a people from the mere "diggers" I learned about in school to an intelligent society well-adapted to its environment. This is an essential resource for anyone studying or teaching about California (including fourth-grade teachers), and invaluable to those who simply enjoy learning more about Southern California history.

Discovering Green Lanes
by Valerie Belsey

Valerie Belsey shows how to identify them on the ground, how to recognise them on antique maps, and how to locate documents and other records which will reveal who used them in past times. She also discusses their ecological value, the current controversy about who should be able to use them, and how to get involved in restoring and protecting lanes in your area. Discovering Green Lanes includes useful contact information, key dates in highway history and sample survey forms for recording wildlife in your local green lane.

Extreme Simplicity
by Christopher and Dellores Nyerges

The book describes their efforts to do "integral gardening" on every bit of usable land, to produce food (for people and wildlife), medicines, fragrance, shade, and useful tools. They describe how they went about raising earthworms, chickens, rabbits, bees, a goose, a pig, and their dogs in their typical back yard. The Nyerges' also take the reader along their journey to installing a wood fireplace, solar water heating, and a solar electric system. Though there is much "how to" in this book, it is full of personal stories and rich reading of the learning they experienced along the way. There is a section on recycling, and a unique section about the economics of self-reliance.

California's Utopian Colonies
by Robert V. Hine

Study originally published in 1953, in the years before the hippies and their experiments in communal living-focuses on Fountain Grove, the Theosophical colonies Point Loma and Temple Home, the Icaria Speranza Commune, Altruria, the Kaweah Co-operative commonweath and Llano del Rio. Includes a new introduction by the author, maps, illustrations, bibliographical note, index. xviii, 209 pp.

A Field Guide to Roadside Technology
by Ed Sobey

The author says he was inspired to write the book by the questions his kids asked him on drives and his not being able to provide answers. Sobey's book explains types of bridges, power plants and industrial sites, what all those covers and plates in the sidewalks and streets are, and what all those wires and devices hanging from utility poles do.

City of Quartz
by Mike Davis

Excellent source for political history of Los Angeles this century. Very sensitive to social trends and problems. Well written, with lots of informationthat is relevant today. Also bought Magical Urbanism by the same author but have not read it yet. If you have let me know if you like it or not.

Sustainability on Campus
by Peggy Barlett and Geoffrey Chase

Good source for students who are interested in making changes on campus. Have not finished yet, but looking forward to it. Published by MIT press, which is a pretty good source. Stories about many colleges and how they went about helping some of the ecosystems on and off campus.

Reefer Madness
by Eric Schlosser

I really enjoyed they way this book is formatted with only three main chapters. They all seem disconnected at first but he really pulls them together well. It centers around the black market economy and how it is connected to many different, obvious and not so obvious areas. Fast Food Nation, the authors first book, is also very well written.

Crossing the Rubicon: The decline of American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
by Michael Ruppert

The introductory chapters include the author's expereince as a police officer witnessing CIA, LAPD and gang involvement in drug trafficing. And how those activities relate and connect to "terrorist" organizations. Well put together timelines of nine eleven and the activities of our white house employees confirm foul play, and constant and consistant perculiarities and incongruencies of different branches of governement were astonishing.

This is jimson weed

2006-08-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

jimson weed
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Do not attempt to consume this plant. Is has been used by natives as a halucinagenic medicinal in what is now southern california, and other parts of the united states.

In 1676, British soldiers were sent to stop the Rebellion of Bacon. Jamestown weed (Jimsonweed) was boiled for inclusion in a salad, which the soldiers readily ate. The hallucinogenic properties of jimsonweed took affect.

As told by Robert Beverly in The History and Present State of Virginia (1705): The soldiers presented "a very pleasant comedy, for they turned natural fools upon it for several days: one would blow up a feather in the air; another would dart straws at it with much fury; and another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner like a monkey, grinning and making mows at them; a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll.

"In this frantic condition they were confined, lest they should, in their folly, destroy themselves - though it was observed that all their actions were full of innocence and good nature. Indeed they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallowed in their own excrements, if they had not been prevented. A thousand such simple tricks they played, and after 11 days returned themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed."

South Central Farm and Zach De La Rocha

2006-08-05T19:46:00.000-07:00


A short music video of Zack De La Rocha, Son De Madera and Quetzal at the south central farm. Music recorded by Sherman Austin. Video of concert and eviction by Taylor Arneson http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/ http://www.southcentralfarmers.org/

Wild Foods, Electric Cars and Land Use Interpertation

2006-08-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

fire starter
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

A week ago this very Sunday evening, I was watching {"The New World" (really bad)} on this very laptop, in my tent, on the sidewalk adjacent to The South Central Farm. Imagining all that has happened on this continent from Columbus to Villarigosa sends through my body. Many changes both for the good and bad, where do we go from here? Into the acceptance of a fascist "New World Order" ? Into the creation and maintenance of a new economy of nature? Or are we stuck somewhere in between. Do you know what i mean?

In the morning I woke up early to the sounds of an industrial machine, know as the Alameda Corridor. http://www.acta.org/
As I left downtown for the inland mountain areas of Pasadena, I wonder what i will discover today. I found Christopher Nyerges
{ http://www.christophernyerges.com/ } in the parking lot a few minutes early. We were going on a wild foods hike with a group of summer camp kids near the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories { http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ }. Here we were able to identify several edibles varieties of plants including dandelions, miners lettuce and apazote. We found cultivated varieties of Fig, Zucchini, Tomatoes and wheat growing wild near the water. We also found powerful medicines used by the native tribes of southern California and elsewhere. Jimson weed is a powerful narcotic that has killed and hospitalized youth experimenting with it's powerful compounds. Also South American Tree Tobacco, a common invasive in southern California brought accidentally through trading. It contains roughly 100 times more nicotine than the common manufactured cigarette.

Friday afternoon Russell Sydney { http://www.rsydney.com/stc.html } and I went up to Santa Barbara for the premiere of the Movie "Who killed the Electric Car?" { http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/ } a fascinating look at the political climate behind the electric car production in California. We got a chance to tell folks in Santa Barbara about the Sustainable Transport Club and also to meet the owner of the Santa Barbara Electric Bike Company { http://www.sbebc.com/ }.

Saturday I visited the Center for Land Use and Interpretation { http://www.clui.org/ } . I have always wanted to visit, and my intuition was right. I think they are on the right track for illuminating industrial environmental concerns from a very professional and well informed point of view.

Film Screening

2006-08-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

scheme1
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

::FILM SCREENING & "100 Mile" POTLUCK::

Join Path to Freedom and Messiah Lutheran Church/Iglesia Luterana Mesias for a screening of...

THE GREAT WARMING (80 min) -- Narrated by Alanis Morisette and Keanu Reeves
It's more than just the heat....

We are living at the dawn of a new epoch. Year by year, degree by degree, Earth is growing warmer... a legacy of the Industrial Revolution, population growth, and our addiction to technology, speed and power.

Just as other generations spoke of a Great Plague and a Great Depression, our children will be compelled to endure The Great Warming - and find a way to conquer its consequences.

When: Sunday, August 13th
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Messiah Lutheran Church is located just down the road from Path to Freedom at 570 E. Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91104, on the southwest corner of Orange Grove Blvd and Madison Avenue.
Cost: $5 - $15 suggested donation / Space is limited so please rsvp
RSVP at http://www.pathtofreedom.com/calendar
{ if you decide not to attend, please be considerate, and send us an email informing us of your cancellation}

Loose Change - 2nd Edition

2006-07-27T11:32:00.000-07:00


Documentary concerning national security, september 11th, conspiracies and lies.

ray fish dish

2006-07-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

ray
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Did I metion to you I am working on a cookbook. Or something like that. There may not me a whole lot of "cooking" involved so i don't want to mislead people. Something like a permaculture guide for a low energy footprint, including a meal or two. Also insight on shelter, transportation, health and fashion will be a dish best served cold.

sleep surfing

2006-07-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

100_1337
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

this is a camping buddy enjoying the million dollar view of his dreams. We slept well on the bluff overlooking the pacific ocean in the 27 miles of scenic beauty that is known as malibu

http://platial.com/taylor/places?detail=98720

Willie Dancing

2006-06-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

In 1990, the IRS gave Nelson a bill for $16.7 million in back taxes and took away most of his assets to help pay the charges. He released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? as a double album, with all profits going straight to the IRS. Many of his assets were auctioned and purchased by friends, who gave his possessions back to him or rented them at a nominal fee. His debts were paid by 1993.

Willie Dancing6
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

tennnessee tipi

2006-06-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

tennnessee tipi
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

workin floor

2006-05-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

The Cob Recipe:

50% to 85% sand
50% to 15% clay
minced straw
water

Cob is made from sand, clay, and straw. Every cob mixture is a little bit different, however, and you may vary the ratio of ingredients to suit what your soil naturally has in abundance. You'll want to get to know your soil and try out a few sample mixtures before you can come up with the right recipe for your land.

workin floor
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

cob chicken

2006-05-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Chickens were first domesticated in Asia about 8000 years ago. The average American eats about 80 pounds of chicken per year, which makes it by far the main source of animal protein in the American diet.

The polutry industry has created bottom-line driven factory farms where chickens live and die in terrible conditions. They're full of antibiotics and chemicals, and genetically engineered to grow artificially quick. The people who work in such factories also suffer terrible injuries in the attempt to keep up with speeded-up assembly lines.

cob chickn
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

purty burdy

2006-05-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

This owl was found flying repeatedly into a glass wall outside of Ketchum, Idaho. I picked him up and gave him some water and stuff. He couldn't stand up at first, but he recovered quickly and was up and flying in no time at all. What a catch.

purty burdy
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

hi5

2006-04-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

hi5
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Why? I don't know.

yodo

2006-04-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

100_0900
Originally uploaded by taylorone.

Bob Barker saving the LA Elephants from captivity @ city council.