I’ve been having trouble with plantar fasciitis for some time now. Particularly in my right foot, though both have had trouble. I switched to a pair of Birkenstocks which helped but the problem has continued. I walk to and from work. At work I’m on my feet much of the time. The other day it got so bad that I could hardly put weight on my right foot. So yesterday I picked up a pair of Z-CoiL shoes.
Unusual, but trying them on my foot felt better. I’m going to wear them at work today and see how it goes. I’ve talked with some other library workers who are very happy with their Z-Coils. Hopefully it’ll help!
Doggy Disaster
Bad timing. Just as I stepped onto our patio to walk McCoy, the rottweiler from upstairs exited the hallway. McCoy leaped over basil planter catching his leash in the tomato cages. Down went the cages, mulch covers got ripped off, dirt (and baby plants) got all messed up. McCoy was tangled up in the tomato cages and just freaked, pulled his head out of his collar and took off.
Thankfully he just ran over to the very nice rottweiler and did his normal submissive belly rollover and pee performance. I was terrified that he would dash into the street but after greeting the other dog he just followed me back inside. Maybe this will cut down on his barking whenever the rottie is walked outside our patio.
In the exposed planters I did find signs of growth. There was even a seedling started in the tomato box.
Ryan is at a meeting so doesn’t know of the disaster yet. McCoy is sure to be in the dog house tonight!
Landblog: Work & Technology
Ran Prieur has an interesting post up on his site about choosing appropriate technology.
if you’re raising your own food through permaculture, no-till gardens, perennials and self-seeding annuals, fruit and nut orchards integrated with small animals, you can surpass even the efficiency of forager-hunters. And you can do the same thing with shelter, using indigenous materials to make thick sun-absorbing buildings with super-efficient wood stoves, that require no electricity or gas and far less wood burning than stone-age shelters.
There’s much more in his post. It’s very interesting. Particularly in light of what other people are doing or not doing. I had a conversation with a co-worker recently who wasn’t sure if she was going to have a garden because of our drought. I suggested that they set up a rain-catchment system to take advantage of what rainfall we do have. We may be in an apartment right now which limits what we can do but we’re trying to do what we can in our limited space. Aside from learning as much as possible we’re also growing at least some food. Particularly things that are high cost like herbs and tomatoes. We do have to make good choices, live locally, and be much more self-reliant than we are now.
I’ve added several links about Peak Oil to the links list on the site. It’s time (past time really) to get busy.
Arugula and Tom Thumb Lettuce
The arugula and lettuce are up! We noticed yesterday when heading out for our walk that they had already sprouted. Here’s the arugula:
After our almost three hour walk yesterday to look for row covers I ended up ordering from Gardener’s Supply Company since they had a variety of row cover materials. Hopefully they’ll get it sent quickly. It is ready to ship. Once that arrives I’ll cut it to fit the various containers and keep them covered during the cooler weather. The greens seem fine with the cold nights we’ve been having but the other plants probably need more protection.
Row Covers
We decided to buy some row covers for the patio garden. In part to keep the wicked squirrels out, but also to keep the tomatoes warmer. Last year the tomatoes took a long time to start producing due, we think, to the cold night time temps. We found row covers for sale online but they weren’t in stock so instead of waiting we decided to shop locally for them. 4 different stores and no row covers! It wasn’t the lack of row covers that bothered me so much, it was the blank look on the sales peoples face when asked if they carried them. I’m thinking that if you work in the gardening department you should know what a row cover is!
It really reminded me of an incident that happened years ago (back in our college days) when we were in a music store. A woman came over to the salesperson and asked if they had anything by Tchaikovsky. The salespersons got a confused look and then said, “I don’t know but you could check in the Alternative music section.” LOL!
Cages
The tomato cages arrived yesterday. I set them up on the boxes.
I’d like to get some row covers to put over the cages and the other boxes to help warm things up. It’s still cool at night although most of the danger of frost should be past. There’s always the possibility of a late frost.
