My windowsill plants have been feasting on the summer sun and growing fast. They needed new homes — in pots too big for the small ledge. I wanted to keep them in sight of that which they worship {the sun}, but a radiator was in the way of a furniture solution. After digging around in the remnants of forgotten projects, copper pipe and twine became my answer.
Tired of passing by that unsightly patch of dirt day after day? Longing for a few flowers to bring cheer to your morning commute?
The unassuming seedbomb can fix these problems and more! Just toss one (or a few) into that desolate dirt and watch wildflowers grow. Great for kids and renegades alike. Fun to make, throw and give away. Here’s how to make your own:
Gather some wildflower seeds native to your area, non-toxic air-drying clay, compost, and one of your favorite kids (optional). Lay out some newspaper, and grab a smallish chunk of the clay (this will be the clay you use for all of your seedballs, so as not to contaminate your source clay with compost.).
Mix a bit of clay, compost and one or two seeds together. Using the least clay you can and still hold your ball together.
Voilà! It’s pretty hard to go wrong, even if your finished product is somewhat inconsistent. Enjoy yourself! Let dry, then go beautify your ‘hood.
Sumac has something of a dangerous reputation. Turns out, the red berries are just fine for making a tart tea or wild juice. It’s high in vitamin C, so drink up. Just don’t make this with white sumac berries — that’s where the bad rap comes from and trust me, it’s easy enough to tell the difference.
What you need:
What to do:
The dandelions are out! This means spring and, what is becoming one of my favorite springtime rituals, dandelion wine.
I came across the recipe a few years ago in (the unfortunately defunct) Arthur magazine. Until this time I had thought dandelion wine merely poetic myth — so of course I had to try it. Turns out it’s a fun project and a great wine to share with friends over the winter solstice (after it ages).
As an added perk, dandelions offer a variety of health benefits, reports Nance Klehm of Arthur. “Consumed, they are a magnificent digestive, aiding the heath and cleansing of the kidneys and liver. Amongst vitamins A, B, C and D, they have a huge amount of potassium.”
So if you can hunt down a gallon’s worth of chemical-free dandelions around town, get pickin’.
What you need:
What to do:
I have a small apartment with virtually no yard. And truly, I don’t think my landlord is down with adding a permanent “lawn” fixture that appears to be a trash can (and is in fact filled with decomposing organic matter). Plus, I wanted my compost to turn to dirt faster than once a year. Call me impatient, but they say with a worm compost you can harvest fresh soil every 3 months! Thus, it was my fate to create an indoor worm compost.
I chose to do it myself, short of digging up the worms (I might be dedicated to d.i.y. but I refuse to be the crazy woman out digging for worms in the city). For that part, I found an adorable local flower shop, Amelia, selling red wigglers by the pound. They very kindly did the digging for me while I looked at their pussywillows and admired the resourceful ladder-shelf.
Worms in hand, I headed to the nearest hardware store to find 2 opaque, 8-10 gallon storage bins with lids. They look something like this:
And forty dollars (worms + bins) later I was ready to start drilling.
Here’s how: Drill 20 holes at the bottom of each bin, big enough for the worms to crawl through. Around the walls of the bins, drill more holes. These should be too small for worms to crawl through. Drill 20 holes like this in the lid as well.
Shred enough newspaper to generously cover the bottom of the bin. Wet it and squeeze out excess water (you want it damp, not wet) and put it in the bin. Put your worms in with just a little food to get them started.
You have the beginnings of your compost!
Watch to make sure it doesn’t get too wet (or dry) in there. Signs of too much water include mold, fruit flies and condensation. If this happens, let it air out for awhile and, if it’s a recurring problem, drill more holes. Signs of too dry include worms dying or trying to escape (though this can also happen if it’s too wet). Just be attentive and you’ll be fine with happy worms and — soon — dirt!
Deciding to compost is the first step. Picking the right compost for your lifestyle is the second, possibly more confusing step. After choosing one for myself, I made this flow chart (yes, me) to help you (yes, you) find your perfect fit.
Stay tuned for the next (com)post, in which I’ll reveal the compost I picked and how I made it.
In case you didn’t notice, it’s spring now.
Spring has its own tricks and traps. The mornings are icy and very slippery, the afternoons and evenings are muddy and very messy. At all times there are pot-holes, which are dangerous for bikes and bikers. But the sun is feeding us hope and we have the energy to live again.
This will probably be my last post. I always thought I would sum things up with the positivity of bike commuting and my general feelings of success and radness. While the act of bike commuting has been overwhelmingly positive, I would say that there are parts of my life that were changed by it somewhat negatively.
I could no longer drive to visit family members 50 miles away. While I could bike there (and have in summers past), it’s not practical to make a day trip. I’ve been seeing less of my parents, sisters and nephews. I don’t think this would sit as sharply in my heart, but in the past couple of weeks my father nearly died and was subsequently hospitalized. I am borrowing a car to be able to see him in the hospital, and I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to.
I hate to go all indie film on you and fill this ending with contradiction and uncertainty. I guess those filmmakers were right when they told us that real-life issues don’t reach resolution in an hour and a half — or even a winter. We tried to make the best of hitting a deer and now I’m questioning whether we made the right decision. We’re not in control and I’m not sure there are any right answers.
I’m still biking though. Since my sister and I are sharing the borrowed car, each of us ends up biking to or from the hospital with some frequency.
I still love being on the bike. I still believe it draws me into the city and allows me an intimacy I couldn’t otherwise access.
Tonight I rode home as the sun descended. It was easy to sense that the fleeting evening light in my eyes was the end of a day, a small part of a lifetime. I went a little out of my way to ride by some old haunts. I wasn’t as interested in reliving memories as I was in seeing who was there now, how things may have changed. 
To my surprise, things looked very much the same. Yet I no longer belonged there. I was the one that changed, simply by growing older — hopefully growing in every sense of the word.
Time passes, lives begin and end. All we can do is appreciate moments of beauty, show gratitude, cultivate love and try to grow.
Just when I thought it was safe to bike outside …
I woke up yesterday morning and looked out my window to find snow. And snowing. It was the 23rd of March and had been above freezing (at least during the day) for a couple of weeks. I thought we were in the clear. But no.
My sister had gone out by bike earlier that morning and sent me a text saying that the roads were bad, really bad. You should bus, said the text.
I seriously considered this advice. However, after contemplating my lack of bus fare and knowledge of the bus schedule, weighed against my general toughness, I decided to give the bike a whirl.
I made it down my street without falling. I turned the corner — also without falling. On this new street, however, I just couldn’t stay up and moving. It was heavy snow and there had been no plowing. I fought through for another block before deciding I was going to be really late for work if I insisted on doing this.
I turned around. I walked the bike home. I decided to lock it in the alley and race to the nearest bus stop. Just as I had locked the bike and taken my first step toward the thoroughfare nearby, the bus cruised past. I ran, still in my helmet. I was at the street in 5 seconds, could have been to the bus stop in another 5. I watched the bus drive into the horizon and contemplated how, if I had somehow been 15 seconds ahead of myself, I would have been on that bus. Man.
I trudged home, took off my helmet and walked back to the bus stop. I waited 17 minutes for the bus and made it to work 10 minutes late. These are the adventures of being a good citizen of the world. Most of the time it’s fun and feels good, but not always.
Today, there still hasn’t been much plowing. I think the city has given up and is just going to wait for the sun to work its magic. And shining it is. At least I know that on this snowy spring day.
Feel good about keeping the earth as safe and clean as your home with these d.i.y. alternatives to chemical cleaners.
Pippi Longstocking: scrubbing day
Most of this information was compiled by the amazing people at the Natural Alternative Food Coop in Luck, Wisconsin, and published in one of the few cookbooks I actually use, The Real Good Food Cookbook. To get it for yourself or someone else, call 715-472-8084.
Basic Supplies:
All-Purpose Spray
Dissolve the borax in hot water. Add to a 32-ounce spray bottle, along with vinegar and water. Add dish soap and up to 20 drops of essential oil if you want to add a little delicious scent. Shake it up! Spray on your sinks, tub, tile, toilet. This spray acts as a mild disinfectant. For stronger killer-power, reduce measurements of water and dish soap by half (for a higher ratio of vinegar and borax).
Disinfectant
A small dollop (roughly a tsp.) of tea tree oil in a quart (4 cups) water is an effective antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic cleaner. Use it on knobs, levers, shower curtains and other places germs and fungus like to meet and make babies. This is also great to spray on your yoga mat between classes or after a particularly sweaty session.
Drains
Got a slow drain? Pour a cup each of baking soda, salt and vinegar down the drain. Wait at least 15 minutes, then pour boiling water down the drain to wash it all away. Rumor has it that if this doesn’t do the trick you can let the mixture sit overnight and flush with boiling water in the morning. Pouring boiling water down your drains on occasion will help prevent build-up in the first place.
Floors: Tile and Linoleum
1-2 teaspoons of liquid soap in 3 gallons of water. Mop that floor! Rinse with 1 cup of vinegar in 3 gallons of cool water. Shine on.
Floors: Wood
1 cup vinegar in 3 gallons of warm water. Best thing for wood floors, according to a past landlord who kept a century-old building looking half its age.
Furniture Polish
Sure they’re famous for making salads delicious, but olive oil and vinegar have transcended the dinner plate! Mix one-to-one and use to polish your furnishings with a soft cloth. Food-grade linseed oil (aka omega-3 or flaxseed oil) also works. A little scented oil can make it even … mmmmm … what was I saying?
Glass
I don’t know who the marketing genius was who made us believe we had to buy Windex, but they’ve had us duped for decades. It’s this easy: slip a quarter-cup vinegar and a quart (about 4 cups) of water in a spray bottle. Spray on the glass and wipe until dry with a clean rag or newspaper. Stubborn spots might need a little extra spray and massaging, but your glass will sparkle.
Laundry
Oven
Mix 1 cup baking soda and ¼ cup borax with just enough water to make a paste. Scrub it onto the oven and let it go overnight, or while you complete a day’s worth of other projects (cleaning or otherwise). Wipe away the dried paste and rinse well.
Rug & Carpet Spot Remover
Right away, dab up as much as you can with a dry rag or paper towel. Sprinkle with baking soda, cornstarch or borax and let dry. Wash with club soda and vacuum.
Rust Remover
I’ve had varying degrees of success with this one, but it’s certainly better than nothing. It also puts you in the mood for a margarita, Mexican beer or tequila shot. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Sprinkle salt on the rust, squeeze a wedge of lime — enough to soak salt. Let rest for a few hours. Use rind to scrub until rust is gone.
Scouring Powder
Mix 1 cup baking soda and ¼ cup borax with a few drops of essential oil. Store in a shaker and use it like powders named after planets.
Soft Scrubs (for stubborn spots on countertops, sinks or tubs)
Mix together baking soda and liquid soap for a mildly abrasive cleaner. Work into spots with sponge and rinse. For small, enclosed places (microwaves or toaster ovens), make the paste with just baking soda and water.
Tarnish Removal
Toilet Bowl
Shake some baking soda into the bowl, pour a little vinegar around and scrub as you normally would.
Alternatively, mix a cup of borax, ¼ cup of vinegar and a few drops of essential oil right in the bowl. Let rest for a a few hours (or shorter if you really have to go), scrub with a brush.
Tub & Tile
In a bowl, mix ¾ cup baking soda and ½ cup liquid soap. Add ½ cup water and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Stir with a fork until smooth.
Good luck!
Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. After work I met some friends at O’Gara’s in St. Paul. It was wild. People with shamrock antennae and leprechaun top hats were just the beginning. There was also a parade (yes, right through the bar). This consisted of a bagpipe band in kilts and other plaid garb, followed by people in all manner of strange costume. Since swill was six-fifty we soon left to find a more affordable patch of celebration. We tried the Turf Club, but they were charging a cover … so Big V’s it was. There, I asked for a Jameson neat, which I had to repeat several times to the hard-raised woman behind the bar. And she still made it with ice. I would have been more upset if she were under 70. It’s the truth. We had found our home (though the regulars weren’t too happy about a bunch of youngsters invading).
The weather was great. I had a blast and, with Irish beer and whiskey as my main fuel source, biked about 20 miles.
There were many puddles, I’m happy to report. I accidentally went down a dirt (meaning mud) alleyway and had to walk through this giant puddle (above).
Seeing as St. Louis Park to St. Paul was a new route for me, I got to explore a bit. Some things I saw:
