Last Summer's Gardens on My Street

I meant to post this during the winter, when everything's brown and gray; last summer I went around to  my neighbors' yards and took pictures of various gardens and landscapes.   My original post was "Yards of Distinction," where I pointed out a couple of yards on my street where they had done some unique xeriscaping from the traditional grass yard.  I was going to follow up with another post on front yard gardens, since they have multiplied on our street; of course, like most well-intentioned posts, this one never got off the ground.

Now that my time grows short as a footloose and fancy-free blogger, I decided to post those pictures from last May:
Some of my neighbors weren't home so I wasn't able to get permission right away for taking pictures of their yards; the yard after this first one (the one with the closeups) was more successful because the gardener/neighbor was home and was happy to show me some of the finer points of her garden.  The second picture is of a nice looking green pepper, and I think the next picture where she is pointing out something in the foliage was of an heirloom variety of something (the vegetable escapes my memory of over a year ago).  I'm sorry I forgot your name, helpful gardener/neighbor, and will rectify this when I appear at your door with the url for this blog.

The fourth and fifth photos are of Mark and Mike's yards, respectively.  Mark has a great garden system that involves a rubbermaid-type container that he crowds with tomatoes and lettuce.  It all looks simply delicious and seems relatively painless to grow.  I'll have to get a more in-depth story on his before the end of the season.  Now that I have a microphone for my iTouch I can start doing better interviews and (hopefully) some short videos of various things going on in the world of sustainability

End of Summer A Blues: Okabashis to be returned

It's not even the middle of June and already the summer's almost over for me; soon I will be hunkered down in graduate student-mode, reading my butt off like I have the past fall and spring.  I can't complain, though -- I got to blog whenever I wanted, got to have a really fun birthday/sleep-over for my son, had a barbecue, and got to read and watch manga and anime non-stop for almost two months.  I cannot complain.

Now onto some late-breaking updates; remember how I was all happy about my Okabashis and how sustainable they are?  Well, they may be sustainable, but they aren't sturdy, and almost a month into getting them they developed cracks and tears in the uppers. 

Here's a picture of my poor Okabashis with the tear on the right one.  It has since grown a little larger since the taking of this photo, because I had no other slip-ons for taking that walk down the driveway to get the mail (I got another pair soon after, however). 

On the left one is a crack near the ball of the foot (there's also one on the right, not shown).  Maybe it's because I got a larger size so I could wear socks, and the shifting of my foot caused the tear, or maybe it's just the general design of the sandal.

In any case,  now I've got to run them through the washing machine and then send them back to Okabashi.  I downloaded the return form, but sending things back to the manufacturer is not one of my fortes,  so we'll see if I actually get around to it. 

So now I have a new pair and they seem to wearing quite well -- it's a different style and (I think) one for women, so maybe it'll hold up since it's closer to my shoe size. 

New Cargo Carrier!

The old child carrier that I got when DJ was small, and then became a bike trunk after he outgrew it, was stolen out of our carport a couple of months ago.  I hadn't used it in a while;  the universal adapter didn't fit well on the Gary Fisher and would keep falling off during trips.  It was also getting old and weather beaten and my idea was to remove the canvas part and fit it with a piece of plywood and make it into an honest-to-goodness cargo trailer; unfortunately, someone else had the same idea.  Because I have panniers on the Gary Fisher I have been able to stuff at least two reusable grocery sacks-worth of groceries on the bike, but for larger hauls I was going to have to come up with something else.

First, I looked around for DIY cargo carriers, and saw this great site and I encourage everyone reading this to check it out.  It's a called Community Bike Cart Design, and if I was a welder I would totally try to make one of these things.  I almost DID take a welding class with Santa Fe's Community Ed program just so I would have the skillz to make one; then I realized it would just be like the glass bead making class I took where I bought all the equipment and then never did anything with it because I am afraid of combustibles.  So, unless making the thing requires wood and maybe a power drill, I was not going to be doing no welding.

Community Bike Cart Design has different-needs type carriers, like an ambulance carrier and a "Bicycle Empowerment Trailer."  I donated 10-bucks to them because they are a super cool group like The Kickstand. 

I finally broke down and got this Aosom cargo trailer on Amazon for 100-bucks.  An okay deal, actually, considering I got the bike carrier for DJ, used, for 50-bucks.

Today I took it on a first trip to the grocery, taking the new bike path behind Buddha Belly which lets me off right at the side entrance of Publix.  The path is still officially closed, but try telling that to pushy cyclists like myself. This photo (I think) is actually of the stretch behind Publix -- the entire path goes all the way to 8th Avenue which is going to be super great for commuting to campus in the fall. 

Here are a couple of photos of the results of the shopping trip.  I was able to fit three bags, a six-pack of beer, and a small bag of charcoal and still had plenty of room left.  The cover fits over it really neatly; I would have been happy with just an open trailer, so I consider the cover a bonus.  Scotch-garded it before I left so it'd repel some water if it gets sloppy rainy, as it has been the past week (thank goodness!  We really needed the rain -- hey, it's raining right now, in fact!).

There are two problems, one with the trailer and one with the bike.  I was not able to inflate one of the tires; I think the stem is crooked but I don't know how to fix it and will have to consult with my bike mechanic.  Oh yes, you didn't know?  I now have my own bike mechanic -- okay, it's DG's brother, but he is so nice and decent it makes me take back everything I've ever said against bike mechanics.  Even with one under-inflated tire, however, the trailer performed magnificently!

The bike, on the other hand, is going to have to get traded back in at Spin Cycle.  Maybe I'm just so used to the Gary Fisher, but I think it's more that the frame is too small.  I'll try raising the seat but I think I just have to get another bike -- I'm using the Schwinn I got originally for the Burley ride-along because it doesn't have quick-release wheels, which won't take the rear-hub adapter for the trailer. 

Very, very happy with the new cargo trailer; it will become especially useful during the parts of the fall and spring semesters when I am constantly lugging books and teaching materials back and forth between campus.  And, of course, it will be super-handy for hauling lawn chairs and a cooler to the Homecoming Parade!  Yay!

Need-a-Bag? Project now at High Springs Market!

Ugh, I have to get back to housecleaning but I wanted to quickly post on the Need-a-Bag? project's newest franchise and franchisee.  Jackie is the mom of two adorable children and writes the Accidentally a Mommy blogspot blog, and now she is the project's newest member!  She emailed us about a month or so ago and wanted to start up the project out at the High Springs Market.  Here is a photo from their maiden voyage at the HSM.  I also have a post from when DJ and I went out there and bought some yummy gulf shrimp before they all died, but I will post on that later.  Perhaps I can convince Jackie to send the AE periodic dispatches from the HSM (hint, hint).

Let's all give Jackie a wild round of applause (CLAPCLAPCLAP!) for being brave enough to venture on her own into the uncharted frontiers of High Springs, Florida, and for getting herself mixed up in a really nutty sustainability project!

Photo from Jackie, featuring her absolutely adorable little girl GS (for "Good Scout"), holding some local honey, no doubt.

Need-a-Bag Project Update 06.5.10 -- Tote Bag Roundup!

Note: The Need-a-Bag? project was created to promote sustainable bagging at the Hwy 441 Alachua County Farmer's Market each Saturday morning. We supply reusable tote bags reclaimed from thrift stores and garage sales. The Need-a-Bag? project also utilizes old tank tops as tote bags by sewing up the bottoms (these are called t-totes). We invite you to read the other posts on the project by clicking the "Need-a-Bag? Project" label at the bottom of this post.

DG had to work overtime to round up some new totes; this is the time of year when EVERYTHING is in season and people are snatching bags off the fence faster than we can hang them.  It's a good feeling!  Anyway, to keep it short and sweet today I've assembled a few of the faves from the new collection.

This is probably the favorite -- it was probably slavishly produced by someone out of a beloved pair of jeans and is totally in step with the Need-a-Bag? philosophy:  Take pants, cut off bottom, sew up bottom, use left over material to make handles, then tie with cute fabric/scarf belt -- voila!  And it even has pockets to put the Need-a-Bag? label!

Moo-cow bag is perfect for the little shopper on the go; DG thought the right eye rubbing off in the washing makes it look demonic but I think it is adorable!  The photo definitely makes it look more friendly/less demonic.

And, finally, here's another farm-themed bag for the really little shopper on the go.  Look how cute it is, the label is almost as big as the bag!  You could fit maybe a strawberry in this bag or possibly five blueberries.

There was an awesome Swiss Army tote bag that was practically brand new that DG procured and I wanted to steal it but she stayed my hand; she has already given me her fabulous Strand Bookstore tote bag that I have coveted so I cannot complain!  She got a ridiculous number this week, and all for less than a dollar each; we have finally begun to follow Jean's philosophy of tote purchasing.

Florida Legislature Pushing Cyclists Into Bike Lanes

The Gulf oil spill has a been an incredibly disturbing event and it's been hard for me to blog about the usual stupid stuff I like to yammer about, but the way cyclists are treated in Florida is a really important issue to me, as well.  

Currently, cyclists in Florida have equal rights on the roadways.  That may change if a 16-word addition to highway safety bill, HB 971, moving through the legislature is not vetoed by Governor Crist.  It seems cyclists will be marginalized and restricted to either using bike lanes or using only the right-hand side of the road if the bill goes through with the current language pertaining to cyclists.  Here's part of the Orlando Sentinel piece:

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, who said Wednesday that he often rides a bike and cannot understand why his fellow cyclists would be against his proposal. 

"If they don't want to ride in the bike lanes, why are we spending all this money on them in the first place?" Aubuchon said.

Obviously, Rep. Aubuchon has never had to make a left turn at a busy intersection while on a bicycle.  A lot of this is simple belly-aching on the part of motorists who feel like bike clubs hog the roads when they are pedaling in formation.  Having been both outside a car on a bike and inside a car trailing a cyclist or cyclists, I know each side of this debate by heart.  But as I've said before on this blog, I'd rather ride very slowly behind a cyclist when I'm in a multiple-ton vehicle than side-swipe a cyclist because I couldn't see them on the right side before turning.