Composting

Yeah, I have nothing to say today. Same as yesterday. So I'm going to let someone else do the blogging for me. Here's a video from the Sierra Club on backyard composting:

Weekend Report

Saturday morning I got up bright and early and dashed down to Findlay Market to see what goodies were available. I found (and brought home) asparagus, spinach, sorrel, eggs and a pot of thyme, all locally grown. I also found fresh fava beans at Madison's so I grabbed some of those as well. I'm going to make sorrel soup from the recipe I found on the Cincinnati Locavore blog tomorrow night.


I'd planned to spend the rest of the weekend at home finishing my spring cleaning, but today was just too nice outside and I dropped everything this afternoon to get in a quick two and a half mile hike over at French Park. I'm glad I did; I heard reedy calls of Gnatcatchers several times and I also heard the first Red-Eyed Vireo and Hermit Thrush of the season. Larkspur and Blue-Eyed Mary were in bloom as well. Unfortunately, French Park seems to be a bit sparse on native wildflowers and heavy in the introduced and problematic Garlic Mustard; there was scads of it blooming on the hillsides. I guess deer don't care much for its flavor.

Walking

I read a fascinating article in the New York Magazine last night about walking and how shoes are wrecking our ability to walk properly. It makes the case that our feet have been honed by four million years of evolution to carry us everywhere and that shoes, even the ones designed for maximum comfort, thwart the abilities of our foot to work properly. I'm not going to try to paraphrase the arguments here; read it for yourself and see if they don't make a good case for going barefoot.

But barefoot is hardly a choice for me, even when not working. Despite the fact that I walk an awful lot for pleasure, my bare soles are tender and I couldn't walk across more than a few feet of pavement without wincing and mincing, not to mention the dangers of encountering glass or dog poop. The article did suggest some footwear that is designed to allow the barefoot gait while offering some protection against our urban environments, but they tended to be ironically expensive for things trying to be so very natural.

That leaves me considering investing in moccasins. Proper ones, made of real, durable leather, not the little slippers designed only for indoor use. The New York Magazine article only mentioned moccasins in passing, but they're really the time-tested footwear for walking as close to barefoot as possible while adding protection for the foot. I found a place in Minnesota that will custom make moccasins using the outline of your foot as a template. Before I try that though I'm going to look around locally a little more and see if there isn't a moccasin-maker a bit closer to me so I could try them on first.

In the mean time, I am going to go and have a look at Vibram Five-Fingers for kayaking purposes. They look a bit silly, but also fun.

European Wall Lizards

IMG_3766
Originally uploaded by Calypso Orchid

I read an interesting article in National Geographic News about European Wall Lizards this week. A few pairs were released on a tiny island in the Adriatic Sea in the early 1970s. They reproduced unchecked and unobserved for the next thirty years and when scientists were able to return to the island (hindered previously by war) they found some astonishing changes in the lizards. Not only had the lizards changed in behavior, but their heads had become larger and they'd evolved a new structure in their intestines which allowed them to make the change from an insect-based to a plant-based diet. It's a truly astonishing rate of evolutionary change.

The article initially caught my eye because Cincinnati has been home to an introduced population of European Wall Lizards since 1951, when a handful of lizards were released by a member of the Lazarus family, they of department store fame. In fact, the lizards are sometimes known locally as "Lazarus Lizards". I've encountered them often around town; they especially seem to love Mount Adams and other areas with lots of stone walls.

Ramp Report

I cooked the ramps I purchased at Madison's at Findlay Market for Sunday breakfast. I cleaned the ramps by snipping off the roots, rinsing them well in cold water and cutting them into two-inch sections, green leaves and all. I sautéed a couple of pieces of bacon until they were nice and crisp, then set them aside. Then I cooked the ramps in the bacon fat until they were tender, which took about seven minutes. I seasoned them with black pepper and crumbled the bacon into them, then served alongside scrambled eggs. The taste was somewhat like that of a garlicky green onion. They were delicious, but probably not eighteen dollars a pound delicious. I don't think I'll be buying them again unless it's at a proper ramp festival in the mountains, but I'd happily forage for them if I'm ever lucky enough to find them growing in the woods.

Waste less food, save more energy

Waste less food, save more energy
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

I picked up this great tip from Planet Green today! I'm using the whiteboards to keep track of the fresh produce in my fridge, as well as a freezer inventory. I'm guilty of buying produce and forgetting about it until it's become inedible. This will also cut back on opening the fridge or freezer door (and letting all the cold air pour out) and staring at the contents while trying to decide what to make for dinner.

The whiteboards were a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a glass-doored refrigerator.

Around town

I found trillium blooming for the first time this spring during my quick walk around the Caldwell Nature Preserve yesterday after work. Digital cameras are terrible at photographing white objects; the nuances tend to get lost. Trying to photograph a white flower is difficult for this reason and I was crawling (carefully, so as not to smush other wildflowers) all over the hillside trying to find a trillium in just the right amount of shade. I think I'll start carrying a sheet of paper with me for creating my own dappled sunlight in the future.

Early this morning I went down to Findlay Market and blew my grocery budget for the week. I brought home a few things I've not cooked with before, including rhubarb, ramps ($18 a pound!) and the spice Grains of Paradise. The afternoon was spent in the company of friends down at the Earth Day celebration at Sawyer Point. Somehow the rain held off and we managed to score a few good freebies, including CFL light bulbs. Here's a tiny handful of useful links I picked up today:

• Get a bin, find out what items can be recyled and find information on hazardous household waste drop-offs - Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services
• Soil fertility testing kits are available for a nominal fee from the Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District
• The Ohio River Sweep will be held this year on Saturday, June 21st
• Enright Ridge is an Urban Eco-Village is a community fostering a sustainable urban neighborhood, located on the west side of Cincinnati
• Although I didn't see them at the Sawyer Point Earth Day celebration I'm posting a link to Little Miami, Inc. - dedicated to preserving my favorite local river

There were many, many more and I certainly don't mean to exclude any worthy organizations. It's beyond the scope of my tired fingers to list them all.

Earthquake in Cincinnati!

I was just awakened (about 5:40 AM) by the windows of my bedroom rattling and my bed rocking back and forth. The shaking lasted about ten seconds. The morning news is reporting other people feeling earth tremors in the area. I've never felt an earthquake before!

According to the USGS it was a 5.4 degree quake centered in southern Illinois.

From WCPO: 5.4 Earthquake Rocks Illinois, Rattles Tri-State. We even made the world news; here's a report from the BBC.

Juniper Berries

I decided to cook the lamb shanks I've had in the freezer for a while now and I found a nice recipe for Greek lamb braised in red wine. The recipe called for juniper berries and I did manage to find some - at more than five dollars for a little jar! I purchased them anyway so I'll have to find some other uses for them. According to Chowhound.com they have an affinity for the following foods: allspice, apple, bacon, black pepper, boar, duck, goose, marjoram, onion, pâté, pork, sage, shallot, red wine, thyme, venison, vermouth.

The juniper is an evergreen tree native to Europe and North America and it produces small bluish berries (actually a tiny, densely packed cone) which take three years to mature. Juniper berries have been used since the times of the ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians. Pliny mentioned that they were used in place of expensive imported black pepper and juniper berries were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Juniper berries are probably best known today for giving the liquor gin its characteristic flavor. The word "gin" is a corruption of genièvre, the French word for juniper.

Celtic lore tells us the juniper grown by the door will discourage thieves (probably because it's a prickly plant), while hanging strings of dried juniper berries will attract love.

The Return of the Cicada

WCPO reported today that Cincinnati is due to see a return of the periodic cicada this summer. I was in town for the 1991 and the 2004 emergence and those were spectacular. This year's brood is more to the east of the city than those previous emergences so I'll probably have to take a drive to see it in all its glory.

Photo by tlindenbaum by way of Flickr.