$1,250,000 worth of plastic, metal and toxic chemicals to be dumped into the ocean

In the name of science.   People are looking to drop drones into hurricanes to better study them.  Where do all the shredded parts end up, including all the good lithium ion and other interesting chemicals in the batteries?   As someone who lives on the East Coast, I understand the destructive power of hurricanes, and the need to track them, but given that a) you can't do anything about them anyway, and b) we have dozens of different radar/photo images of the hurricanes, and c) years of modeling data already, why throw millions of dollars of plastic into the Gulf Stream?

"...And the small drones are disposable — once they hit the water, they won't be recovered..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/drones-hurricane-research_n_5398485.html

Repost: cows with holes cut into their stomachs

Cows are being fitted with holes cut into their rumens for "inspection", ostensibly to allow researchers to better understand how they're digesting their food.   It's not enough that they're born, the males killed for veal, the remainders fattened on a high calorie diet and then slaughtered, but people apparently feel the need to cut into them while alive.  Have some respect.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/cows-with-windows-in-their-sides-graze-in-europe/story-e6frfrnr-1226927032843

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Why your lasagna garden sucks

I'm putting the finishing touches on the garden this year, recovering it from a year of disuse.   This entailed a lot of digging, leveling, picking and raking.  The previous owner had the rows going perpendicular to the gradient of the hill, which ensured standing water on the high side of each row.  This gave rise to the notion that "the area isn't good for a garden".   Newly levelled with rows at about a 30 degree angle to the gradient, I think I have a better chance.

I have an early harvest - a harvest of trash that is.  The previous owner was a no-till/lasagna gardener.  A great, labor-saving idea provided you have the right materials; alternating layers of "green" and "brown" compost separated by paper/cardboard/etc.   What is not part of the equation, is all the plastic packing tape attached to said cardboard.  Combining the torn and rotten cardboard and the plastic tape I ended up with two full wheelbarrows of trash.   The weeds and other organic material (and bits of cardboard too far gone) ended up raked into a corner, uphill from the garden so that as they rot the nutrients flow downhill.  Here's the last pile (along with a lot of smallish rocks which I've raked out of the beds).

 

 As you can see there's little shreds of non-degrading plastic all over the place.  Put a rake down, drag it over the ground, and you find some.  While you can argue that it helps keep the soil from clumping, so does sand.

Ok, rant over.   This fall I'm probably going to adopt some kind of lasagna technique to cover up the garden for winter.   I don't mind the odd mouse nest (hey it's just nitrogen) and it will help the worms winter over.   One thing I've used in the past is that "contractor paper" - the heavy brown kraft style paper which you can get at your local Big Box store.   I'll smother that with the last few batches of lawn clippings and be good to go.
Moral: Plastic is not compostable!

Putting in the garden

The garden is almost ready.   The total fenced area is about 1800 sq ft, but I'm only cultivating about 1000 sq ft.   The rest will be used for chickens.  I have a 6' wide path around the garden area, which I call the "chicken moat" - no bugs will be safe.   How is this related to LNT?  Plan Ahead and Prepare, and Dispose of Waste Properly - by growing food that I need, and composting the chaff, I reduce my overall footprint - my Trace, if you will.


Here's the main garden area - note the birdfeeder, which allows me to convert seed into nitrogen.

Next up is the old potato garden - a little wet, but the previous owner pulled 75 lbs of potatoes out of it.   Clearly needs a little help.

Separate and up near the house is the berry patch and rhubarb.

Mint appears impossible to kill.   Despite being repeatedly mowed last year, it's roaring back up.

 

Some ornamental quince - we got some fruit out of it last year, hard as a rock.   It's super high in pectin however, so it's going to get added to my jams and jellies.  The hummingbirds are fond of the red blooms.

No pictures of the herb garden, but the garlic, sage and oregano is exploding already.  It all overwintered, which surprised me.   The rosemary died, which also surprised me but I guess it's not hardy in this zone - and last winter was a doozy.