We are going to need a bigger bucket

 

I am going to need a bigger bucket, shelves and possibly a very large lamp.

I have been growing lettuce in my apartment for about a month and am pleased to report my crop is doing well. A bit too well, so I may have to plan to thin out my bucket to prevent things from getting too crowded.

The rest of my tiny garden, planted on April 10, also seems to be thriving. A few of my plants have not come up, at least one arugula seed seems not to have made it. Not as freaked out by plant life as I was when I started but am still rather worried about the progress of some of my baby vegetables.

My beans however are growing at an extremely rapid, almost obnoxious pace.

At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if I came home and found them smoking cigarettes and stealing lunch money from my basil. 

Katie and I will be changing up the shelving this weekend.

 

How fire ants survive a plunge

The Daily Mail online is reporting on a technique used by fire arts to survive a sudden drop in the water.

To find out how the tiny, stinging insects dealt with flooding, scientists dropped 8,000 of them into water. The solution? They bind together using their claws and jaws to create a living raft. The scientists found that the ants could form the living rafts in as little as two minutes and in the wild could float along for several months.

An explanation from the Daily Mail on what happens to the ants on the bottom is below.

“The ants that form the base of the raft are usually on top of the water, but if they are knocked underwater, they are able to survive due to pockets of air trapped beneath the surface, it was reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

There is a video.

Safe to assume the Queen ant is on the top of the heap or somewhere her three sets of legs won't get wet. So are her young, according to the story.

Eating grubs: Better from the forest or the store?

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that hunter Brett Potter, 45, survived two nights in the Urewera Forest (with temperatures hovering around 5C) by sleeping in a hollow log and keeping his energy up by eating huhu grubs.

(According to this website, huhu grubs are high in fat and protein and taste like peanut butter when cooked.)

Potter got lost tracking a deer, but was carrying a survival blanket, flashlight, a firearm, map and compass. He also had two muesli bars. Potter was found after a 20 kilometre hike. After a good meal, he rejoined his group and continued the hunt.

I have read about the high protein content in bugs for many years, but am not sure how easily I could get them down — even if they were the only potential food source.

Last month the New York Times reported on the decision made by the owners of Netherlands chain store Sligro to market insects as a sustainable source of protein.

Options include mealworms, buffalo worms and locusts, some dipped in chocolate.

A portion of the article reads:

Dutch breeders of insects, who until now have supplied the market for pet food — insects for geckos and other lizards, salamanders, newts, frogs, birds or fish — have jumped at an opportunity to open a new market and have founded a trade organization to promote the idea. The government is backing them, and last year it appropriated $1.4 million for research into insects as food, to prepare legislation governing insect farms, health and safety standards, and marketing through retail outlets.

I imagine that even if you liked snacking on the store-bought bugs (I'm guessing they would be a bit crunchy), eating them live in the wild would still be a fairly unpleasant experience.

The condo farm part 2

(My tiny vegetables!)

A few weeks ago, my twin sister Katie taught me how to make a sub-irrigated planting container to grow lettuce in my apartment. While spacious, my rented condo has very poor light. So we put together a shelving system with hanging florecent lights to act as artificial sun. We also planted several new types of vegetables.

Here's a video showing how we did it. The full instructions are below. Happy planting!

 

What we used:

Two metal shelving units, about three or four feet high, standing side by side.

Duct tape

Fluorescent hanging light fixture

Two full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs

Two one-foot-long aluminum chains, 1/2" wide, and four metal S hooks

24 peat pots

Plastic tray

The new vegetables and their fancy names:

Lolla Rosa Darkness lettuce

Arugula

Little Gem Cos lettuce

Tomahawk lettuce

Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean

Easter Egg radish

French Breakfast radish

Italian Parsley

Teddy Bear sunflowers

All the supplies were picked up at Home Depot. The shelves we used were Rubbermaid, which were the perfect height and had great and adjustable shelving space but, despite several efforts to secure the screws, required reinforcement with duct tape.

Once the shelves were put together, we stood them next to each other with about a foot and a half of space between them beneath my window.

For the lights we used T-8 (slimmer lower energy fluorescent lighting tubes) full-spectrum tubes. We rigged the light system just in time. My lettuce has been growing for a few weeks and prior to our grow light being set up the sprouts were only receiving light from a single fluorescent bulb.

As a result the new sprouts have become a bit "leggy" or longer and taller than they should be as they grew in search of the sun.

(Image of leggy, but beautiful, sprouts on the left)

Once the tubes were loaded in the fixture, we secured pieces of wire, which came with the shelves, to the top and attached the “S” hooks and chains. Those hooks and chains were used to hang the light fixture from the highest of the three shelves on the metal unit. As the plants grow the height of the light can be adjusted by raising and lowering the fixture on the chain links. 

Our vegetables were planted in tiny peat pots. When they outgrow their first pots (fingers crossed) there is no need to remove the plants -- the entire pot can be placed inside a larger planter and packed with soil. The roots will “bust through” the sides of the peat pots when they are ready, says Katie. but we will give them a helping hand by slitting the sides and removing the peat pot bottom when its time to plant.  

We fill the peat pots with soil, firm it down and place the pots in a plastic tray to catch water overflow.  Then we moisten the soil with water to ensure all the soil and the pots are wet.

Create labels. You can use popsicle sticks, but cardboard cut into similar sized strips worked. Katie recommends cut-up tetra packs and a sharpie for label making. She insists on writing the name of the plant, when it was planted, and the approximate growing times.

When planting seeds, the rule of thumb is to plant them at 1 to 1.5 times their depth.

Katie has dubbed the farm "Tall Acres"

Now all we have to do is wait for the new vegetables to grow.The light will be on inside my apartment between 12 to 14 hours each day. The tubes do not get hot so fire is not a concern.

My only problem will be if I need to leave town for a few days. Wondering how much people charge to come over and turn on and off my artificial sun.

How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack (the book)

 

(Slightly frightening image is from www.howtosurviveagardengnomeattack.com)

Happy Friday. Most of the content in this blog comes from lessons or tips experts have shared with me. But some of my material comes from searching for stories online with the word survival or survive in them to see what pops up in Google News.

Behold, the story that caught my eye this morning. The Garden Gnome Defense League sells a book called How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack.

I do not anticipate an attack - I do not have a lawn - but it never hurts to be prepared for any scenario and many of the tips on their website would work well in a variety of emergencies. If Gnomes are not serious enough for you please enjoy this link on surviving a bear attack from the Art of Manliness.

The full text of ten tips the Garden Gnome Defense League believes will save your life is below.

1. Practice exiting from a first-story window: You may need to jump out when hunted by a hoard of gnomes. 

2. Memorize room layouts: Those little bastards will cut the power during an assault.

3. Keep a weapon in every room: So that every location provides you a fighting chance at survival.

4. Practice rising from bed in attack mode: Use one hand to reach for an illumination source (a flashlight) and the other to reach for a weapon.

5. Keep floors clear: The last thing you want is to be making a clean escape only to trip on Fido’s chew-toy.

6. Have a second bicycle: Garden gnomes always disable your car andbicycle before their large nighttime attack. You’ll need a second bike hidden away.

7. Don’t yell “Help”: Instead, yell “Call the Police.”

8. Install a panic button: Dialing 9-1-1 requires three pushes of a button and then a rational explanation to the person on the other end of the line. A panic button requires a single press.

9. Dress in layers. A gnome blade or arrow has a harder time penetrating through several layers of clothes.

10. Memorize Morse code for SOS: You may need to bang out an emergency distress call on the water piping of your house to alert other family members!

 

 

 

What Les Stroud thinks you should have in your apartment

If you follow the blog you know I am extremely interested in stocking up on supplies, just in case the basic services we all hold near and dear shut down or I have to spend more than three days in my home.

Last week I posted questions I put to Les Stroud, host of the hit television series Survivorman and author of Survive!, about the pros and cons of living in a city during an emergency. 

I also asked him about what I should buy or have ready in my home. The answers are below. For reference a full list of items Stroud thinks everyone should have on hand are detailed in Survive!

Q: What are some key items people should have in their apartments in case of an emergency?

A: The ability to boil water always seems to be the first thing people look to do in an emergency situation.

I keep a general two-burner camp stove with a propane canister and matches always ready to go as well as a large jug of fresh water. It’s important to have items that all people, men and women, are comfortable using.

Q: What skills should people living in cities learn in case of an emergency?

A: First aid, water procurement when it is scarce. After that people are most comfortable in their own homes, but if there is no heat or electricity and food chains are shut off then it comes down to what you have in the house that can help you.

Stroud also said that having an easy and safe way to heat your home is a very good idea.

I have bottled water and pills to purify more suspect sources, but I like the idea of having a two-burner stove for boiling. Summer is coming, so I am not worried about the cold but I am wondering whether I need to start thinking about safe sources of heat for next season.

Things to add to the (always growing) shopping list.

P.S. The photo of Stroud in front of the roaring fire is by Laura Bombier, who apparently takes all the photos of him. Guessing, based on the locations she is working in, she would also be handy to have around if things went south.

Les Stroud: The pros and cons of being in a city during an emergency

Photo by LAURA BOMBIER

One of the reasons I have become so preoccupied with self-reliance is my lack of faith in the abilities of most of the people around me, or more specifically how people would behave during a massive emergency.

Not that I have the finances to buy land outside the city, but I am curious about whether during a crisis or disaster - based on my assumptions people would panic and hoard food in cities - if I would be better off totally alone.

To find out, I turned to Les Stroud, host of the hit television series Survivorman and author of Survive! The book is basically a list of tips to get you out of extremely hairy situations.

Below are two questions I put to Stroud via email on surviving in the city.

Q: What are the advantages or disadvantages of being with a crowd - or in a major city - during an emergency?

 A: “The primary disadvantages of a crowd are that supplies become scarce and often quite quickly,” said Stroud. “Panic can be contagious and there is a greater chance that there will be sick or injured to deal with,” he said.

“However the advantages outweigh the situation: emergency help is likely close at hand, rescue organizations are more likely to concentrate on crowded areas, natural leaders will likely be present, more people are available to search out supplies and find reliable supply lines, long distance communication is much more accessible (and) hands are available to deal with the sick or injured.”

Q: Do you believe that people in urban centres are mentally prepared (or have the supplies) to handle a severe natural disaster or sudden shut down of basic services?

A: “Absolutely not.

“We are caught up in the day-to-day reliable living we have known for years,” said Stroud. “The water turns on with a twist, the heat comes on when we set the temperature, the garbage magically disappears at the curb, there is a store on every corner with supplies that never seem to run out. We are lulled into a sense of comfort and reliable survival, so why waste the closet space on a home survival kit?

“That said, I believe the panic and the problems would be relatively short-lived because eventually when facing a severe natural disaster people will begin to use their innate will to live and will become ingenious and leaders will emerge.

"People will get fed up with not having what they are missing, or they will begin to cope with the fact that they are doing without, because, in the end, all we really need is the most simple form of water food and shelter.

After that everything else is a bonus and deep down we know that. It just might take a big disaster to remind us that we are more resilient than we thought.”

So cities are not so bad and there may be hope for mankind. But still, I'm stockpiling enough food and water to last me and my loved ones for 72 hours. (Stroud believes having supplies and water or ways to purify water is also key)

Next step, stocking up on board games to kill time until the dust settles.

How to grow vegetables in your apartment

Last week my twin sister Katie taught me how to build a sub-irrigated planting container out of recycled materials, so I can grow lettuce in my apartment. The full story can be read here.

I posted the full instructions below (watch the video, I promise it will help) but wanted to include a short list of some of Katie’s go-to websites and places where she learned some of the skills she uses to farm in the city.

www.yougrowgirl.com : Created by Gayla Trail in February 2000 for “people who want to grow but whose garden space is less than ideal,” according to information on the website.

http://rooftopgardens.ca/en: The Rooftop Garden Project, sponsored by Alternative’s magazine in Montreal.

 She also suggests entering sub-irrigated planter on YouTube. Here are a few links to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el1tn0FpiVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO8gfaSw-Do

My apartment has fairly terrible light. So our next project will be building a grow light. We plan to post that video in two weeks.

Happy planting!

 

THE PROJECT: Kids can do this says Katie, but, of course, let the adults handle the box cutter and the drill.

What we used

1. 16 litre Canola oil bucket with lid. The lid will become your false bottom or reservoir top.
2. 1 litre yogurt container (we did not use the lid). The yogurt container will act as a support to keep the false bottom or lid off the actual bottom of the bucket.
3. 20-inch PVC pipe with end cut on a 45-degree angle. Once the container is assembled this pipe will be used to fill the reservoir with water.
4. 2 10 litre bags of potting soil that contain compost
5. Box cutter
6. Drill and ¼ inch bit
7. Towels to mop up the spills

 

1. If your bucket has previously contained soil, sanitize it to ensure pathogens from previous planting cycles aren’t passed on to this season. We put ours through an industrial dishwasher but you can use a home dishwasher, or wash with hot water and soap and then rinse with a one-part bleach to nine-parts water solution and let air dry. If there wasn’t any soil, hot water and soap with an air dry will do. 

2. Pop the Canola oil spout out of the lid to create a circular opening for the pipe to run through.  If the lid does not have a spout proceed to step three.

3. Use box cutter to trim edges off lid of Canola oil bucket so it fits snuggly inside the bucket. 

4. If the lid did not have a spout, you’ll need to cut a hole in the lid for the pipe to run into the reservoir.  Trace the pipe diameter at the rim of the bucket lid and cut out tracing with box cutter.

5. Trace the top of the yogurt container onto the center of the trimmed bucket lid, being careful to not overlap with the pipe hole.     It is important that the hole you cut in the center of the bucket lid is slightly smaller than the diameter of the top of the yogurt container.  This allows the bucket lid to rest firmly on the container, creating a secure top for the water reservoir.

6. Poke a ring of ¼ inch holes, one inch apart, one inch above the base of the yogurt container.  Repeat this process at two, three, and four inches above the base.

7. Place the hole-punched yogurt container in the bottom of the empty canola bucket and rest the Canola oil bucket lid on top, creating the false bottom. It should look like an upside down hat.

8. Once both parts are inside mark the height of the false bottom or lid on the outside of the bucket, then remove lid and yogurt container.  Steady bucket on its side and drill a hole one inch below the traced line to act as an overflow hole for rainwater or human watering error.  Drill a second hole at the same height on the opposite side of the bucket as a back-up overflow.   

9. FINAL ASSEMBLY.  Place yogurt container, open side up in the bottom of the bucker and rest cut Canola oil bucket lid on top.  Insert pipe in the smaller hole in the Canola oil bucket, with the cut or slanted end of the pipe inside the bucket. NOTE: It is very important to make sure the slanted side of the pipe is inside the bucket. If you place the flat end inside water cannot be poured down into the reservoir.

10. Fill the yogurt container with moistened soil and firmly compress the soil with your hand.  Steady the pipe with one hand so its straight up and down and fill the rest of the bucket with firmly tamped down soil. Now is a good time to get the old towel beneath the bucket to catch any extra water or soil.

11. Moisten the rest of the soil until a teaspoon of water runs out of a squeezed handful. This may take several litres. It is best to use a watering can, but any pitcher will do. Wait at least five minutes between each litre to allow the water to soak in.

12. Fill the reservoir by pouring water down pipe until water flows out overflow holes you drilled in the bottom.

13. Spread seeds and tuck in according to their specific needs for germination or transplant tiny plants into buckets based on their adult spacing needs.

14. Clean up water mess. 

We have sprouts!

 

There is new life in my apartment and I am filled with a mix of pride and a bit of trepidation.

On Monday night, my twin sister Katie came over and taught me how to build a sub-irrigated planting container to grow lettuce in my apartment. There will be a video on Monday showing how we built it, as well as a full list of instructions.

Sprouts can pop up as early as two days and as long as 14, says Katie, an urban farmer, permaculture designer and whole foods chef.

So why would my lettuce sprouting cause me alarm? I don't have enough light. My rented condominium has some southern light and some light from the west, but lettuce needs steady light for most of the day.

The plan was to build a grow light this weekend to simulate sunlight before the sprouts came up. Apparently the lettuce had other ideas.

I called Katie in a bit of a panic before I left for work to ask what could happen. Half asleep and completely calm she explained the sprouts could grow taller than usual - or get "leggy" - searching for light. The danger there is they could grow too fast and tip over or get weak. But, sprouts come up in batches so even if we lose the first round my entire crop is not doomed to fail.

We briefly discuss rigging the lamp in my bathroom as a temporary light source, but realize it has the wrong bulb.

I let her go back to sleep, take pictures like a proud and anxious parent and continue getting ready for work.

I'm heading to Home Hardware on the weekend to get everything we need to make sure the lettuce has a fighting chance. At least until it matures to the point when it can be considered salad.