It’s the first of May and the Sun has been out somewhat today. The porch garden is doing well.
The plants are still pretty small but you can see some of them standing back. The “Salad box” is the most noticeable right now. The lettuce, spinach, and arugula don’t mind the cooler weather as much.
At the other end the Swiss Chard and some of the Teddy Bear Sunflowers are starting to take off as well.
Last year’s star producer – the Thai Pink Egg tomato is also doing well this year. Our early sprouting plant is getting bigger and it now has a few more plants to keep it company.
The Herb box has two of the more successful sunflowers and quite a few basil and (possibly) oregano plants but the herbs are all still quite small.
Our other tomato box is supposed to have our Siletz tomato and the ground cherry. Nothing has come up but I did start some new seeds – so hopefully I’ll have something soon.
Sun Ovens
I forgot I wanted to post a picture of one of our Sun Ovens. We picked up two of these on Ebay in great condition and saved quite a lot. So far the clouds and weather haven’t cooperated for us to use them. I did manage to get a picture, though, during a brief sunny moment.
As the weather improves we should be able to use it much more. I can’t wait to bake some bread in them!
Peak Oil reached?
WSJ: Saudi Arabia to double investment in energy production – Apr. 22, 2005
Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, also said the kingdom had tossed aside its production cap set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and is willing to sell its customers every barrel of oil they want
Back when the US peaked the same thing happened – we reached 100% production capacity. Saudi Arabia putting aside production caps suggest that they are pumping at capacity. It may take some time to recognize whether or not we are at peak but this is a disturbing sign. There is a long thread about this news at the Peak Oil Forum.
To Cob or Not to Cob
Lately we’ve been looking at cob as a possible building strategy. Granted this is more long-term thinking since we don’t have a property yet and won’t for awhile. We’ve been looking at a couple books.
The Hand-Sculpted House: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage is a good one that we both really liked. The pictures do a good job of showing the possibilities while the text is very informative. It seems like a good option. We’re also considering straw bale or some combination of the two.
Happy Birthday!
McCoy is four years old today! He’s had extra treats and walks in celebration. Hard to believe it’s been four years already.
Grinding Fresh Flour
We’ve made fresh flour! Our grain mill arrived today and we all took turns grinding our organic wheat into flour.
Tomorrow Kate’s going to take the flour and turn it into bread. There wasn’t time this evening since the grain mill came too late. I’d like to get a solar oven soon – and bake the bread without using any electricity! Should be fun.
