Wonderful site on Homesteading... done in an Urban setting! Great encouragement and tons of info. Very well done. Thanks for sharing with all of us. 

 ~ Larry ~

Friday - November 28,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  6:49 AM PST

TO DO'S

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.

~  Robert Louis Stevenson ~

We all have been busy over the last few days with all sorts of "to dos."  The work was started off by cleaning out the garage - trying to get things back to some semblance of "normal" after the roofing/solar project. But today we are trying to get the front yard landscaped again.  It looks like a disaster!

Why? On Wednesday a tree service came and cut down the date palm tree that was in the front yard. A day before we had to remove all the edible plants underneath to make adequate "drop zone" space.

It was very sad to see the massive palm go, but it was something that had to be done (it actually should have been taken out years ago when the yard was just plain ol' grass).  In fact it was a dangerous and messy tree -- dangerous during those 60-80mph Santa Ana wind storms when the fronds act like projectiles and severely damage plants and once broke a window; messy in that there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of "dates" (non edible) that fall into the yard, sprouting like grass everywhere, making everything sticky to walk on and attracting hordes of flies.  Date palms like that don't belong near to a house on a small lot like this one was.  So it had to go.

The look and feel of the yard now is hard to get used to (bit of a shock - a wide open, bare feeling) and with tree "dust" everywhere!  Today, the guys will be putting back the plants they temporarily took out.  We gained some valuable growing space and in a couple months the area should grow back and fill in the monstrous void.... hopefully as fast as possible!!!

And to make matters worse, so to speak: when the trimmer dropped the massive palm head, it fell to the ground with such force that it broke the water line to the house. Water began bubbling out of the grown.  JC had to turn off water to the house till the leaks were temporarily stopped. The guys patched up the pipes temporarily until we can get someone out here on Monday.  Until then, we have a huge trench dug in the yard with piles of wet dirt. Pretty messy.

With that, so much work is needed to be done in the yard for winter. Perennials divided, herbs cut-back, falling tree leaves to be hand-picked out of the beds, winter crops planted, seeds harvested, dead summer annuals yanked and replaced and the list goes on. Year round gardening in So Cal offers little time to take a break - always something needed to be done.

Weather Report:  Warm and extremely dry!

Thursday - November 27,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  6:40 AM PST

GIVING THANKS

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.  ~ W.T. Purkiser ~

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ~ Charles Dickens ~

Wishing everyone a joyous and bountiful Thanksgiving/Harvest Festival. 

Weather Report:  Chilly morning and evenings, warm & sunny afternoon.

Wednesday - November 26,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  6:40 AM PST

WHERE DOES OUR FOOD COME FROM?

FoodRoutes - Find Good Food map can help you connect with local farmers and start eating the freshest, tastiest food around.

Sustainable Table - Serving up healthy choices.

The Meatrix - Flash animation movie based on the popular Matrix movies. Find out about the dangers of factory farming and learn how you can escape the "Meatrix."

This link has nothing to do about food so to speak, but artwork tells an important message.

Does The Homogenization of Culture Disturb You? - We dream of a different future!

Readers, have you any other links to share?

Weather Report:  Chilly morning and evenings, nice & sunny afternoon.

Tuesday - November 25,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  10:44 PM PST

GARDEN OF EATIN'

Our sweet potato harvest was pretty pathetic this year -  small and thin. We had a better harvest last year with average size tubers. I think it's because the bed was shaded by our neighbor's large pecan tree. We are really starting to dislike that tree as it is affecting sun loving crops.  Otherwise, the peas, broccoli, radishes and other green leaf crops are growing well. 

With all the leafy greens like arugula, miner's lettuce, peppergrass, cress, mache, kales, mustards, and the like, growing well due to the cooler weather we can now resume to have a large salad with each meal.  YUM.

Weather Report:  Chilly morning and evenings, nice & sunny afternoon.

Monday - November 24,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  11:26 AM PST

He immediately scolded Cassidy (and she of course looked completely bewildered as if to say "But I was only playing!") and, not sure if the bird was injured, he gently placed it in a box till one of us gals got home.  The good news is that the pigeon's not injured -- only has a few missing feathers.  We are certain that it's a tamed bird as it has absolutely no fear of humans at all. 

But unfortunately it has no band, so are unable to find the owner.  This has happened one time before -- we had a friendly pigeon hanging around the yard that fortunately had an identification band.  JM mentioned, not a few days back to me that someone around this area must be raising pigeons as she sees them fly around in a circular flight path each morning.

We've tried to send the bird on its way, but it has a hard time flying (missing a few tail and wing feathers).  So, we shall let "Quinn" reside here till he/she's well and able to fly away home.

FRUGAL THOUGHTS

PTF discussion board is really hoppin'!  There are some great postings from fellow travelers and kindred spirits...

One poster has started a topic about listing 10 ways to practice frugality each day. 

Weather Report:  Chilly morning, nice & sunny afternoon.

Sunday - November 23,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  2:43 PM PST

Although we now have solar power, our goal is to continue to kill even more watts.  We occasionally use candles in the morning (should use more) and are looking into purchasing a few oil lamps. 

Last night we experienced a light frost - unusually early this year!   Wonder if this means a long, cold winter to come? We covered delicate plants as a precaution and will have to again tonight as the temps are expected to dip into the low 30's again.

Weather Report:  Sunny and warm.  Temps in the low 70's.

Friday - November 21,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  4:42 PM PST

This afternoon, a guy from the city came by to inspect the system and we passed!  The city inspector even took time to comment that is was a job well done

Right now as I am writing this entry, the only electrical appliances that we have on now are this computer and our refrigerator (both Energy Star).  So, it could be possible that this entry is powered by the sun! (We haven't figured out how to read the watts output indications yet)

  The hard work and hours the guys put into installing the panels and JD's attention to detail certainly paid off.  Also, a special thanks to Alan at Energy Efficiency who coached us in this project and to Robert who helped us with the electrical work.    There are things that could have been done better, otherwise it's has been a worthwhile learning experience and a tremendous blessing!

Weather Report:  Overcast and cool - temps in the low 60's.

Thursday - November 20,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  7:48 AM PST

There's an inner urge to create inside of each of us that we need to take the time to nurture. Whether it's planting a flower, writing a letter, baking a cake or knitting a hat, we are using our hands as a form of human expression and inner desire to create.

We are the ones we've been waiting for! {Hopi Nation}

Speaking of knitting hats, our knitting group will be donating children's sweaters, adult and children's hats to our local homeless shelter for the holidays.  It makes us feel good to see someone wearing our hats when the temps get chilly.

Weather Report:  Warm.

Wednesday - November 19,  2003                             posted by Anaĩs at  10:32 PM PST

Also, need to figure out how to squeeze some more space for winter squash and pumpkins as they grew poorly this summer - possibly due to being overcrowded. Analyze each spot in the yard to see if it's being productive and, if not, what could go there instead.

The neighbor's yard is overgrown with all our divisions and we'll have to utilize that space more for planting cut flowers we can sell to restaurants. Can't really do much planting in our front yard as we are waiting for someone to come and take out the massive date palm tree. We are going to be doing a little shuffling around of plants this Fall and Winter season!

Today the guys are working on expanding our worm bin to a larger area underneath the rabbit hutch.

Weather Report:  Warm.  Temps in the 80's

Monday - November 17,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  1:47 PM PST

MADE IT !

The guy at the city said that we have qualified for the rebate!  What a blessing! We celebrated last night with popcorn popped on our hand-cranked Whirly Pop.

Oh, yeah - got a bit excited over the successful solar panel installation in my post yesterday that I forgot to mention that there is a bit of electrical work that needs to be done and the city inspector needs to come out. The major task is pretty much complete and just a matter of tying up "loose ends."

Once everything's connected our meter should run backwards - that'll be a sight (dole out the soy ice cream!). I do have to clarify that our solar system is "grid tied." PWP wouldn't give the rebate otherwise. I am wondering if they would allow a small battery incase of a power outage? I'll have to check into that.

Also, we are looking into solar water heaters. Wonder if the city will have rebates one day? I talked with a guy from Solar Roofs and he said to stick with gas as it's cheaper, more cost effective and would take double the years to pay off to install a solar heater vs gas, We really don't use hot water much expect for baths and very dirty dishes as we wash clothes using only cold water.   Still, it's something to look into for the future.

Now it's onto fixing up the garage which needs paint, flooring and doors. Also, like to build some shelving to store seeds and craft supplies. After that it'll be re-paving the driveway (as it's still mulch) and tearing out the rest of the concrete patio. We still have our hands full, but at least there is no deadline that we have to beat as with the solar system - should be fun to see it all come together!

Our experiment with growing Fall/Winter tomatoes is looking to be quite successful!. The plants are growing well and aren't afflicted with any disease and loaded with tomatoes - some as big as baseballs!  Though not ripening as fast as they do in the summer, they are a welcomed addition to our meals.

We harvested our first big crop of broccoli and a few snow peas are starting to trickle in. The avocado's blooming again and guava fruit are started to grow larger on the trees. We are even still harvesting some strawberry's, though but a handful. We really like the Seascape strawberry variety, they produce they're hearts out all year.

In addition, the citrus fruit are starting to ripen; a few meyer lemons, moro blood oranges and ruby red grapefruit.

Weather Report:  Bit cloudy, cool.

Sunday - November 16,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  3:37 PM PST

DOWN THE STRETCH WE COME....

They're Uuuuuup!!!!!  All we need to do is connect the wires and VOILA!!!!  We'll  be "off the grid!" or so to speak.  It was sure a stressful couple of months, but in the end it has worked out. It certainly was a very good learning experience that might only come around once in a lifetime.

Thanks to PWP who offered the great incentive! 

Weather Report:  Another nice day!

Sunday - November 16,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  6:38 AM PST

SAVING HIS CORNER OF THE EARTH   NINETEEN-YEAR PASADENA RESIDENT JULES DERVAES and his family own a vintage 1917 home on Cypress Avenue. But despite his old-fashioned abode, Mr. Dervaes has his mind on the future.   “For many years, I’ve been conscious about the environment and what we should do to reduce, reuse and recycle all the waste we create everyday,” he said. “I strongly believe that although I may not be able to change the world, I can at least change my ‘footprint’ on this earth.”   This commitment to the environment led Dervaes straight to PWP’s energy and water conservation programs and he’s been a steady customer ever since.   Most recently, he gained a little energy-saving shade for his home – not to mention an unlimited supply of guacamole – when he purchased two avocado trees through PWP’s Cool Trees Program. He has ripped out his lawn and replaced it with drought-tolerant and edible plants, secured a

Jules Dervaes (Mike Marshall Photography)

composter from the city for his organic garden, uses energy-efficient light bulbs and, spurred by PWP rebate offers, installed two new water-saving toilets. Now he’s planning to install solar panels on his rooftop.

Dervaes has earned additional PWP rebates for purchasing several EnergyStar energy-saving appliances as well as a high-efficiency, water-saving washing machine for his 1,500-square-foot home.

“Our electricity bill is considerably less than in previous years,” he reports. “In 2000 we were using an average of 10.6 kilowatt hours per day and now we average 6.8 kilowatt hours. Without PWP’s rebate program, we may never have upgraded our equipment; but with the extra incentive, we felt we could afford to buy EnergyStar products and replace old appliances,” said Dervaes. “But our participation wasn’t limited to just saving money. To us, it was one more step toward reducing the strain on our limited resources. We are very appreciative of the city’s efforts to assist us in making our world a greener (and cooler) place.”

Follow his lead! Call PWP’s AnswerLine today at 744-6970 or visit www.PWPweb.com to learn about our money-saving rebate programs.

~ Article Courtesy Nov - Dec PASADENA IN FOCUS ~

Weather Report:  Another nice day!

Friday - November 14,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  8:44 AM PST

LIKE THE WEATHER

Certain parts of LA are still digging out from the intense storm Wednesday night and areas of Watts look like a winter wonderland.

A few years back, we got interested in weather signs and lore so we borrowed books from the library about forecasting weather and such. JD challenged us to predict the weather without the help of a weatherman by observing the clouds, the wind, the animals, and the tales of weather lore.  One of our assignments was to sit in the backyard for an hour and observe the signs around us and then deduce from those signs, how the weather would be the next day.  This experiment happened in June, so we were thinking that this would be way too easy -- So. CA weather would be sunny, just like it almost always is!

 Much to our surprise, our individual observations of nature's signs (wind direction, birds and so on) were all pointing to rain.   So after the hour was up we compared notes and found out that everyone had the same conclusion -- it was going to rain tomorrow!

 Skeptical, we grumbled a bit about how old fashioned weather lore was crazy and then turned to modern technology and the local news channels to see if our prediction would be mirrored by the weather men, and it was not!  They all predicted it was going to be sunny and warm.  Now we were really skeptical of those old clichés of weather prediction!

 Well to make a long story short -- the next day it did RAIN!  Our "predictions" were right on!  It was an unexpected early summer rain storm that even caught the weathermen by surprise! So, it just goes to show you that there is some truth to old weather lore. Back in them ol' days, folks needed to know how to predict the weather before the weather channel!

Ever since then, we've been aware of changes in the weather - being in tune with the weather makes you more aware of your surroundings and the rhythms of nature.

EVERYBODY'S TALKIN'

Our forum's starting to liven up with great discussion - like Urban/Suburban Homesteading  All are welcome!

Weather Report:  Clear skies.  Going to be a sunny and warm today, again.

Thursday - November 13,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  6:35 AM PST

Actually, THREE rainbows arced down from the sky.  Then the sky completely darkened,  the weather was changing, an intense storm was brewing...  this was not an ordinary thunder shower.

Suddenly the flash and crackle of lightening.  You could tell this was not the ordinary So. Cal lightening, this was the kind that lit up the whole sky. Lightening even went sideways across the entire horizon. Certainly was an awesome light show.

Luckily we are in the "highlands" so to speak and just experienced a deluge of rain and the show of intense lightening and thunder.   But the storm wrecked havoc in the lowlands; fast flowing water turned streets into small rivers, cars were swamped and stalled in intersections with water up the hoods, city blocks were dark with power outages,  air travel was interrupted and even a knee-deep layer of frozen rain/hail covered the ground in some areas while five inches of rain was recorded in just two hours in the Compton/Watts area!  A storm of which the likes have never been seen in these parts - ever! It was unbelievable!

The weathermen on the local news were using their lasted techno weather gadgets to track the storm and were elated that they had weather to report! It's usually a local joke that the weathermen/woman's jobs here are basically non-existent as So. Cal basically doesn't have any weather.  They certainly had a job last night.

And since I'm on the topic of weather: Study: Global Warming and California

Weather Report:  Clear skies.  Going to be a sunny and warm today.!

Tuesday - November 11,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  6:49 AM PST

It would be nice some day to put in an old "wood" stove and perhaps fix up our fireplace to working order.

The budget on the food bill has gone a tad bit up this month as we have been sending "goodie" packages to a relative of ours in the service who was deployed to Iraq earlier this year. { DYK that 7,500 Soldiers Have Been Wounded Since April? } Thankfully, there's Trader Joes - whatta store! It's easy to get all sorts of healthful and tasty munchies to send our cousin at reasonable prices. Nothing like having more for your money!

Every time I've been to TJ's recently, they've been packed with people due to the supermarket strike going on. A friendly cashier told me that people come in and exclaim: "they sell eggs for only $1.79!" She thinks that TJ's has snagged some new customers because of the strike since these newbies thought TJ's was a specialty wine store, not knowing they have "essentials" like milk, bread and cereal. I know I'm singing the praises of TJ's but the store's been a real blessing - they have quality, organic food (and yummy goodies) at prices a family can afford!

WILL KNIT FOR FOOD

Changing the subject: I've been commissioned by a friend of a friend to reproduce an X-mas stocking that was knitted long ago by a family friend of theirs who has since passed away.  They would like to continue the tradition of matching X-mas stockings for each new family member and apparently it looks like they'll likely need more soon. Luckily, it's quite an easy design to replicate, so I shouldn't have a problem.   It's going to be an exciting challenge!

ANOTHER "DUH" MOMENT

In case you haven't noticed, we had a bit of a problem with the comment boxes!   I was wondering for awhile there where'd all the comments gone? I had forgotten to change the coding *duh*.   It's fixed now.

SOME PROGRESS

Good news to report on the solar/roof project! Yippeee!  So far the guys just got the brackets and some racks up and are waiting on additional parts scheduled to arrive on Wed. In the meantime, they've started roofing the other side of the garage and are installing the day-lighting system.

We gals are trying to figure on what 'green' eco-friendly product we can use to cover the broken, uneven, ugly concrete that's in the garage.   There are some neat products out there but it's hard to find something within our price range.  We're going to have to put our heads together to come up with something creative or track down some material that's being thrown away and recycle it.

ATTN PTF READER'S:  The Oct-Nov newsletter's ready!  Enjoy!

Weather Report:  Sunny and warm.  Temps in the 70's.

Monday - November 10,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  11:24 AM PST

Our yard has lots of volunteers-- seeds, I mean. Popping up in an unexpected place, this papaya has decided to grow in a bed of mache. I think it's from a papaya we bought at Wild Oats last year, the seeds of which we dumped into the compost!

I still continue to see Monarch butterflies flitting around the yard. What a welcome and cheerful sight they are. Also, this past weekend our neighbor's pecan tree was assaulted by a flock of wild parrots. What a tremendous commotion they made. All you could hear was their incessant squawking and thudding sounds  of the pecan shells as they pelted the grass lawn below. I remember when we used to harvest pecans from the tree and made pecan pie. The past several years the tree's been decimated by birds and squirrels.

The pansies have stopped dying from the intense heat from a few weeks back, so now we'll be able to start making some extra income!  Although, the pansies take up a bit of edible growing space, they are a very lucrative (seasonal) cash crop in our area.  Our clients prefer our flowers over all others and pay premium price for the quality.

Today the guys are working in putting up the racks for the solar panels. We finally got some help and correct parts from Energy Efficiency - although the guys are still doing all the work themselves. 

In addition, here are some more photos of the coop area.    The guys added an awning over the "chick-inn" to protect the ladies from rain and keep the food dry.  For the two screen doors we have made little burlap curtains out of old coffee bags that can be rolled down when the weather's cold.

Weather Report:  Sunny and warm.  Temps in the 70's.

Friday - November 07,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  6:14 AM PST

NEW COOP

We have pretty much completed the chicken coop renovation.  Only a few minor touch-ups remain to be done, otherwise it's a drastic improvement over the old coop.  Leftover bamboo and pieces of wood we had lying around were used to build this new structure and we only needed to buy a few things.  The gals are livin' in style and certainly approve of their new digs!

Speaking of our gals, the chickens are molting (very bad hair, - er... feather day) and have not produced much eggs these past couple weeks because the weather has alternated between hot and cool spells. The ducks on the other hand are oblivious to the changes of temps and steadily give us two eggs a day.  The ducks and chickens have a really good relationship and they hang out together, although they are all extremely selfish when it comes to who gets a bug or the first dibs on the fresh greens we pick for them.  That's when tempers flare and 'every-birdy' shoves and scuffles for a bite.

Cooking with duck eggs makes the baked goods richer but we don't eat scrambled eggs so we wouldn't know how they taste scrambled.

There's a lot of work which needs to be attended to in the garden, especially in our neighbor's yard.  The neighbor is kind enough to let us tend a wild garden with wildflowers along with herbs and a few veggies. This summer it got a bit overgrown, so over the weekend we'll have to tidying the plants up a bit. 

Also, this is a good time of year to sort through all the seeds housed in a large filing cabinet we rescued from the side of the road.  In addition, we will have to put the newly saved seeds in glass jars.   So, one of us will have to do that job and get all the seeds in order.

With all the projects and work that needs to be done, our lifestyle is regrettably becoming a little cluttered.  Housework, organizing and de-cluttering have been put aside for sometime now and it's not very healthy to have such a mess on our hands.  So we'll have to tackle that soon. *urgh*

Weather Report:  Cool

Thursday - November 06,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  8:07 AM PST

HOPES & DREAMS

With all the work that's going on here, the Sept-Oct issues of the PTF newsletter have become an unfortunate casualty due to lack of time. Not wanting to pronounce this November issue DOA, we've found  a little time to work on collecting some great articles and hope to publish the issue at the beginning of next week.

In addition, we've been working on an online store for PTF so that we can offer extra seeds that we've saved from our garden. With the rapid loss of biodiversity we feel it's critical to revive the skills of seed saving and become seed stewards. Due to limited space, we find it challenging to successfully collect all varieties of plants that we grow.  Because of our circumstances in restricted space, we are unable to save all the seeds that we'd like to.

The cool crop veggies are recovering nicely with the winter-like weather we've been having.  We've been busy working in the garden, clearing out dead annuals, collecting seeds, transplanting, composting and so on.

In addition, there is some progress to report with the roof. The guys (and one of us gals) shingled one side yesterday and it really looks great! While roofing they received comments from people passing that it looks quite professional. Great confidence booster! 

I believe I mentioned that we hope to turn the garage into a workshop area for the community?  A place people can come and take part in workshops and get-togethers. We are really excited about the possibilities and this gives us an excellent opportunity to reach out and share our blessings with others. Our dream is to operate a resource center to help encourage ecological consciousness and sustainable living skills.

As we fix  up the garage we'd like to incorporate eco and resourceful renovation techniques. So, we gals have been busy reading and researching green materials that we can use,  tracking down sources and comparing prices. It's a wonderful learning opportunity to have a garage as a practice model to develop our skills which we hope to use in the future when we tackle our house.

Weather Report:  Crisp, sunny day.

Wednesday - November 05,  2003                               posted by Anaĩs at  9:11 AM PST

BUSY

We went from summer to winter temps (and rain) in two days!  Frost advisories were issued to some parts of the Southland last night.  So Jack Frost is on the prowl a bit early this year.  Also, our first rains of the season usually come sometime in January, so the rains are early this year.  But it really helped the plants recover from the brutal three weeks of hot temperatures. 

Oh, I guess some of our readers are wondering how our progress on the solar panel installations is going as I haven't said a peep about it recently.  Here's a bit of a modified and conservative rundown...

 So far we've run into a few (never-ending) difficulties.   The solar company that we contracted with ordered the wrong parts and drew up wrong schematics.  Frustrated, we took it upon ourselves to find the correct mounting system and JD drew up the plans himself.  In the meantime, the roof is yet to be completed due to the rain and other stuff that got in the way (roofing company sold us defective singles, etcetera, etcetera ).   We've called around for help and assistance from another solar installer in the area, but they are new at this sort of stuff too and weren't quite sure either.   Everyone has different opinions and some are even contrary to what the instructions state!   JD called different three people and got three different answers! Unbelievable really.   So, it looks like we are on our own for this job. Haven't found someone who would have pity on some DIYers and lend us a hand to help us out of this jam.  

We received this piece of literature in the mail out of the blue, perhaps someone is trying to give us a hint (?)  Maybe we really should call 1-800-WOE IS ME (*grin*) The have pretty humorous sayings, like this one on "Mistakes"  We read the catalog out at the supper table the other day, everyone was laughing - even more so that some of the sayings are sooo true!  Can't believe this guy's making money off of this STUFF. 

Weather Report:  Crisp, sunny day.

Tuesday - November 04,  2003                                  posted by Anaĩs at  8:35 AM PST

Woody Harrelson states : "All I'm worried about is my mind. If I can get my mind right, that's my only concern. I've got to live.

Like Ghandi said one time, this mother came to him and said, "Can you help my son, he's really addicted to sugar and it's really affecting him badly and I'm trying to get him to stop." And Ghandi goes, "Come back in a week." Her son ended up quitting the major sugar, and she talks to Ghandi later, she says, "He quit, it's amazing," and asks, "Why did you want to take a week?" Ghandi replied, "I had to quit myself!"

So I'm looking at all the areas in my life, and it's not like I have the right to preach to other people about BioFuel while I'm still riding around in gasoline powered cars far too often. It's not a revolution, it's an evolution."

Weather Report:  Crisp, 'fall-like weather.