Hitch Hikers on my plants

So just a quick update as I am at work early and I have to get to work soon. Yesterday morning I went out  to check out my plants as I often do. I enjoy the brisk morning air and the smell of all the plants. While inspecting my raspberry bush I noticed an odd hitch hiker.

Random mushroom s decided to start growing. They were cute and Talia's father is a mushroom picker so I figured I would let him have a look. who knows, maybe they are edible. Unfortunately by the time I got some homething odd had happend...

They had all shriveled up and died (but a new one seems to have popped up). I had watered the plant in the morning so I am thinking that I is what caused them to die but I dont know.


On a slightly different topic, I got the first produce out of the garden. A couple days ago Talia picked a ripe raspberry and last night I picked the first strawberry of the season. Talia and I split it and it tasted AMAZING!

~(' ')~

Garden Bombing and Strawberries

So yesterday Talia and I decided to go over to my parents house and randomly put all the plants into their garden. Over the last couple of weeks my mom has been complaining about having too much house work to do and not enough time. And every time she comes over she has commented on all the plants I have been getting ready to grow and how she hadn't done anything in the garden. Several of these times she has suggested that we come over and do her garden so when I found out that my parents were going to the cottage this weekend I knew I had a chance to do something fun and random.

Saturday afternoon I called my parents as they were heading up to the cottage and asked if I could borrow the car to do some "shopping". I never had any doubt that I could borrow the car so the real purpose of the call was to find out if any work had been done on the garden. As I suspected, nothing. But I did find out that they had started to work on the red ant problem which was good.

Side rant: I tried to call my brother 3 times (and I left a message) to find out when he was around to let me into the house.... Nothing! >.< but it serves him right as I ended up setting the house alarm off at 9:30 Sunday morning and woke everyone up. Unfortunately that also ment waking up my sister who is visiting until Wednesday (Sorry Tanya). I was told she was going to be away with friends all weekend.

Anyway, back to the gardening story. We arrived at my parents house pretty early (9:30) and as I haven't been had to turn on/off the alarm for many years I had completely forgotten the alarm code which rudely woke up everyone. Talia and I looked over the garden and planned out what we wanted to put in. We also asked my brother if there were any plans for specific veggies just in case.

Then it was off to the home depot to get some plants. Sadly, if I had thought of this a couple weeks ago I would have started plants at our place and then we would have paid much less but as it turns out there was a sale on so it didn't cost so much. We managed to get 6 pepper plants (3 different kinds), 6 tomato plants (3 different types), 6 cauliflower, 6 brussel sprouts, 2 bags of sheep manure, 1 pack of green pea seeds, 1 pack of yellow bush bean seeds, 1 pack of spinach seeds (they look weird, kind of like whitish pepper corns), and a pack of little posts to label the garden with.

When we got back we went to work turning the garden over and mixing the manure in. We also rescued some onions in some planters to try and make things look prettier.

First we planted the beans first and then we wanted to transplant the strawberries from their back deep bed into a half of the front deep bed. Unfortunately this is where we encountered more red ants. My parents had been successful in getting rid of the red ants in the bid deep bed but the ENTIRE small deep bed with the strawberries is completely infested. We managed to pull out 12 plants or so and washed them in a big bucket of water to try and get rid of any ants that were on it but that was it. We didn't want to risk encouraging the ants to migrate back into the big deep bed. I did notice something really weird about the ants. They seem to be playing eggs on the strawberry stems. I have never seen ants do that before. You can sort of seem them as little black dots in these pictures.

After the strawberries and beans/peas were planted we moved onto the second large deep bed where we planted the rest of the plants.

The backyard boxes. The small deep bed in hidden in the back to the right of the visible boxes

Strawberries on the left, beans and peas on the right

Side view of the strawberries and beans

There was 1 plant left over from last year that survived. I think it is a chard or something. Along the left side from back to front are the tomatoes and peppers. The right back corner is the brussel sprouts followed by the cauliflower in front of them. The front right corner is where we planted the spinach. The front left corner had the red ants so we left it bare, just in case they hadn't been completely evicted

So that was yesterday. Today most places are closed but we did find out that home depot's garden centre was still open so we decided to go early in the morning to get some strawberries. The original plan was to take some from the deep bed in the back but after getting 12 out we decided we would just go and get some from the store. We picked up 2 big planters of strawberries that each had 8 - 10 plants in them. I also grabbed some biodegradable rope to tie the plants up when they get bigger and a little 3 pronged garden thing to use for the worms. I am hoping I will be able to break up the compost a bit better with it and get some more air flow going.

The strawberries didn't fill the planters completely but we figured that if we leave some spots open for runners then in a couple years we will have lots and lots of berries :)

Random Wandering for the WIN!

So this evening Talia and I went wandering. We went to home depot to pick up some dolomitic lime to try and solve the problem of the worms and while we were there we found some of the strawberry planters that I had wanted to get a couple of months ago. And they were 50% off!!! Made me really happy that I didn't buy them earlier in the year. Now instead of being $19.99 they would only be $10.

The one sad thing about the strawberry planters was I was only able to get 3 of them. There were more but they were all bent up and missing handles and with both Talia and myself putting in opposite directions we couldn't get some of them apart.

We grabbed the lime and then wandered into the store to look at stuff there. Talia was looking for some storage ideas and I wanted to see if there was a way to connect a standard backyard hose to the kitchen faucet   so I can more easily water the plants on the balcony. Turns out there is a universal adapter. Its used to connect portable laundry machines and dish washers and the likes. Double win!!!

Talia didn't find anything interesting the the storage area sadly but I and winning. But wait, there's more. I go up to the checkout counter and they scan everything. I am expecting around $45 plus tax... Ya, it turns out that the strawberry planters are actually $5 so I guess it was 50% off a previously lowered price. TRIPPLE WIN!!!!

I also think I may have solved a problem I have been having with growing herbs. I have never liked growing herbs because I always end up killing the plants when they are very small. Not by picking them but by watering them. I find that the stems of herbs are just too weak to handle watering even if I used a nozzle to make the water more like rain. My idea was to plant the herbs (or other plants) into egg cartons and them put the egg cartons into pots. To water them rather than watering the plant I put the water in the pot and the egg carton and soil will soak up the water from beneath and the plant will never be damaged. I am currently trying it out with peppers and radishes.

~(' ')~

Moving Day past 2

So it was moving day for most of my garden today. I moved out most of the tomato plants and several more of the warmer weather plants. I'm hoping that if the weather stays nice I can move the rest of the plants out in the coming weeks.

Remaining on the list is Mr Grapefruit tree. Miss Lemon, Baby Lichee, and Teeny bopper Mango.

On a slightly sadder note the vermicomposting experiment isn't working out so well. I was having a real problem with fruit flies for the last week and it was really starting to smell today so I had to take it out of the apartment and put it on the balcony. I have done a bunch of research and from what I can tell the problem is too much food and possibly too much acid. So for the next 4 weeks I am going to let the worm finish eating what is in the bin right now and later tonight I am going to get some dolomitic lime and add that in just in base.

saved by the scream...

so tonight i cooked dinner for the coming week. cauliflower mac and cheese and rosemary potatos.

i had to first make bread for the crumble on to of the mac and cheese. then i made the rosemary potatoes which needs to bake in the oven as its last step.

i also started making the mac and cheese. everything was going great but the potatoes had to come out when i wasnt really ready for them and i ended up putting them in a bad place on the stove while i finished the mac. half way i deceided to move things around and not thinking grabbed the handle of the frying pan with my bare hands. screaming and diving for the sink to put my hand in cold water.

thankfully talia took over and saved our food. now i am icing my hand in cold water and waiting for the pain to stop

~(>.<)~

outdoor time

So nature as spoken to me and told me that it is time to move more plants outside on the balcony. I chose to move the rest of the apricot trees as well as the chilli pepper (mostly because it doesn't seem to be doing well inside).

Today was just amazing weather. Like I said in yesterdays entry, Talia and I went biking and so its not a surprise that today we went biking again. We both slept in this morning (woke up at a whopping 8:30 am) and then slowly managed to get ready to go down to the St Lawrence market.

Sadly, either because we were there so much later or because its later in the season there was no rhubarb so that means no rhubarb crumble for this week. But we grabbed everything else for lunches in the coming week.

Then it was of to Karen's place to do some community crafting. I helped put split rings on, decorated some bags, and stuffed plushies for Talia. Oh did I forget to mention that we biked to Karen's? Well not all the way, we wanted to see how long it would take to bike to Downsview station and Talia isnt comfortable on main roads yet.

Talia's bike seat is bothering her a lot so we may get her a new one.

We didnt stay too late at Karen's. Only until about 5:30. After getting home we had dinner (Turkey fajitas) and then it was back to crafting for Talia. I was kind of crafted out and the weather was calling to me so off I went to figure out what it was saying. Turns out it was time for me to move a bunch more of my plants out. I kept the tomatoes, peppers and fruit trees in just in case but most everything else went out.

I'm not 100% decided about the setup in the bedroom right now. I want to try and get the pineapple up ont he the dresser but I think I have to wait a few more weeks for the weather. When the tomatoes and peppers go out then we will see. Maybe by then it will be time for Mr. pineapple to go out as well.

Ideas to ponder

So I have been feeling a distinct lack of time in which to do creative things recently.
The problem is that life keeps getting in the way and a week will pass by and I won't have been able to find time to do anything.

Another problem I have noticed is that when I do have time I can't think of what I want to work on next. So what I am going to do is lost some of the ideas I have floating in my head.

Software ideas:

1) I think its time to revisit the USB bridge. This was an idea I originally had when I was working as a research assistent at York university. At the time I found myself frequently moving from computer to computer all while lugging my personal laptop to stay connected to my supervisor on MSN. So the idea came to me to try and link my laptop to the desktop so I wouldn't have to always be switching between the keyboard on the desktop and the one on the laptop. If I could connect the machines using a sills USB cable I could forward any mouse movements and key strokes from one computer to the other computer. I actually found an application that does this but through a network cable instead of a USB cable. I tried it for a while but I found it was a problem because all the computers weren't always on the same subnet. There was also the issue of network delays and security.
One of the main advantages of using a USB cable is that all computers I know of have more than 1 USB port but only a single Ethernet port. Now you can use wireless networks which most laptops have but there is a concern with security and key logger viruses that could be sitting on any computer connected to the same network. Also, it is conceivable that someone could take over your computer with a network based version but with a USB version they would have to physically connect a cable to your computer.
Extensions can also be added to the USB version where other devices besides the keyboard and mouse are shared; like scanners or printers.

2) graphics on the Android. Mostly this is to practice my android experience and possibly make some advertising money.

3) what about an android app that teaches you to program android apps? That's an idea I had this morning on the way to work.


Micro energy production:
Anyone that knows me knows that I and an environmentalist. I think that radical ideas are needed to change how the world operates. So with that in mind I have been thinking of ways in which to generate power in a more sustainable way. Now please remember that I am in now way an electrical engineer or anything like that so many if not all of these ideas could be completely impossible.

1)wind peer on a micro scale? There has been a lot of noise in the media over wind power and people arguing over whether it is a potential power source for us. This combined with the annoying kids who live 1 floor above us gave me the idea. Every time its windy the kids tie a bag to a string and watch it fly around in the wind. Also, several times the wind coming up the side of the building has been strong enough to lift sticks. So I had the idea to put fans on the side of buildings to generate power. Not a lot and not large fans. Just small ones. I was also thinking about some of the streets down town where the buildings act as wind tunnels. An addition to this idea would be to put micro wind turbines in the subway tunnels, but only at the entrance to each station where the trains would be slowing down anyway. That way the train generates power, the fans increase resistance and help brake the train, and everyone benefits

2) Sound power generation. I had this idea a long time ago when I was downtown and the noise of the streets was really getting to me. I started thinking about all the energy that goes into making all the noise (car horns, construction machines, thousands of people talking) and I wondered if it would be possible to collect that energy. In theory a microphone pics up sound vibrations and then turns it into a current in some cables. so what if we had hundreds of small microphones all hooked up to a single source. The down town core could be covered in them and possibly dampen all the noise.

3) Lightning induced current. I remember several years back watching an episode of myth busters about perpetual motion or free energy or something and I remember them creating a solenoid and hoisting it up by some power lines and actually being able to induce a current in the solenoid. I also was thinking about lightning a couple weeks ago when we had a really heavy thunderstorm and thinking to myself that if we could only collect the energy from a couple of lightning strikes a year we could probably power a major portion of the city with it. The problem has always been storing that much electricity without burning out your batteries. Its just not possible. But what if you were to create a building that was basically a big solenoid attached to a lightning rod at the top. If a second solenoid was positioned inside the first solenoid it may be possible to induce an electric current (far less powerful) in the inner solenoid as the lighting energy wound its way from the tip of the building down to the ground. Would it be possible to collect even some of the energy from the lightning?

well those are just some of the random thoughts I have been thinking. Hopefully I will get a chance to work on some of them in my life :)

~(' ')~

biking

just a quick update. the weather was really nice tonight so after dinner (turkey fajitas by request of Talia) we went biking. Not a long bike, just into the park south of our place. Somewhere far away from cars so Talia could relearn how to bike. She hasn't been biking in may years.

While we were in the park we passed 2 rabbits (or maybe the same rabbit in 2 different places). I took a picture and if I remember I will post it later

~(' ')~

Drinks are on me

So Talia came home today with a killer headache. Possibly because she hadn't eaten in about 8 hours but most likely because of the sudden change in pressure that came with today's rain.

So when she came home she requested I make her a chocolate monkey. Now those of you who don't know what a chocolate monkey is, its really simply. Take a banana (that's the monkey part), take some creme to cocao (that's the chocolate), and blend them together with some milk. In our case we use soy milk.

Now I have tried a couple different ways to make a chocolate monkey more interesting mainly by adding milk chocolate to the mix. In the past I have grated it but this time I decided I would just take a chunk and toss it in the blender with the bananas.

To finish it all off and make it look a little different I just some shavings from the chocolate bar and put them on the top. Talia really liked it and I quite enjoyed the way it looked too.

I only added the shavings to Talia's glass because I didn't want to have that much chocolate.

I still an not 100% happy with the chocolate shavings in the drink. It comes out a little lumpy. Next time I think I will try and melt the chocolate separately and then pour it in as I pour the drink in as well.

~(' ')~

weather

So I had a really crappy afternoon and to try and make myself feel better I decided to do a little gardening. The weather outside was amazing (23+ degrees) and the temperature is supposed to stay above 16 for the rest of the month so I decided to put some of my plants out.

When talia came home she was a little concerned about them so I decided to bring the nice gooseberry back in. The rest should be fine because they are cold weather plants.

from left to right I have the blackberry, the gooseberry I brought back in, an appricot tree( Yes its not a cold weather plant but I have 5 more if this one dies). Behind to appricot is an onion, next I have a potato that I just planted, the small one next is a garlic plant followed by another potatoe. Finally on the far right I have the other gooseberry that randomly wilted. i am hoping it is still alive and just suffered some transplant shock.

~(' ')~