Chickweed mystery solved!

 

(My salad. The little leaves belong to the chickweed. Dressed with lemon, olive oil and salt. Yum!)

Harvest time is here, or was. It was brief but amazing. I pulled all my lettuce from my sub-irrigated bucket and made a salad. Mixed with the lettuce was a handful of chickweed, which I did not plant.

It turns out my twin sister Katie - an urban farmer and permaculture designer who is teaching me all about plants - had an answer for me.

"I put it in there," she said when I asked how I ended up with mixed greens. It seems Katie has made a habit of harvesting chickweed seeds off plants in alleys, parking lots and sidewalks. She decided to tuck some into the bucket. The salad was better for it.

(She speaks about scavenging seeds with completely unaffected joy. Her hilarious love of plants - she flirts with them to help them grow - is what has made this phase of the project so fun.)

I think pulling the lettuce out of the bucket with my hands made me feel a bit too rustic because aside from washing off the dirt I didn't do anything to the greens before I dropped them in the bowl.

For most of the 15 minutes it takes me to get through my salad I resemble a bunny sucking up a giant mouthful of, well, chickweed and baby lettuce.

It is not exactly first date food. Unless you are lucky enough to be dating someone hilarious and unflappable. In that case carry on. I hope your next course involves something covered in sauce and you are eating it with your hands.

How to keep your bike from breaking down

My first lesson about who the Bike Pirates were came about because my own bike was a hunk of junk - at least it was in the hands of someone who knew nothing about bike mechanics.

Lured by its beautiful frame (I am a sucker for anything forest green) and thick tires, I paid a couple hundred dollars for a ride that took most of the force of my legs to move.

I like a good workout, but when I am cruising along the streets in the summer or trying to get to work I would prefer if my face didn’t resemble a hot water bottle.

I tried to get it repaired but was told that was just the way the bike worked.

Reselling a broken bike seemed like a sure way to screw my karma for life.

The first plan was to leave it out on the street for anyone to find but a former friend noticed the Bike Pirates at an outdoor event and dropped off the bike to them.

I plan to buy another bike this summer, but for someone who just uses it for short cruises the idea of paying $300 (on the low end) for something I don’t know how to take care of and fix myself leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

So back to the Bike Pirates where I can purchase an old bike and learn how to overhaul it myself.

The brainchild of a member of Toronto’s anarchist community, Bike Pirates is designed as a space where people of all incomes, beliefs and backgrounds can learn how to fix their bikes. The entire organization is volunteer run. I wrote a short story about my trip to the workspace here.

I filmed a video, but some head-scratching technical troubles ( I am about as handy with a finicky Mac as I am a bike) is holding that up. Stay tuned.

Here are some tips from volunteer Ainsley Naylor on how to clean your bike or keep grease and grime from causing damage.

Her full text is below.

“Details on cleaning your bike:

To clean your bike you should use a *Degreasing* agent — not soap, which will leave a film/residue. Bike shops and places like MEC carry degreaser, which can be used on your entire bike to clean off surface rust, grease, dirt, sand, etc.

You can dilute this up to 1:10 and use a spray bottle to apply it. Wipe with a rag. For more stubborn rust on mechanical parts (i.e. chain and gears) you may need a wire brush, and for cosmetic rust you can use steel wool — it does a great job of cleaning up handlebars and fenders (etc.).

Lubricant:

You should always be sure to wipe off all degreaser before lubing your chain. Chain lube should be applied every time you clean your bike and after every time you ride in the rain, or if you chain seems dry (every month or two depending on how much you ride).

Chain lube comes in many varieties. natural/biodegradable, light, heavy, dry lube are all things you may find in a bike shop. These are generally intended for different environments — one lube is better for being out in the weather, and one is better for indoor/track riding. One is better for bikes with lots of gears and one is for single-speed chains. Ask around and decide which is best for you. Prices vary.

Apply lube to a clean chain. You only need one drop per chain link. After applying, run chain through your gears then wipe off all excess/visible lube. You really just need it to seep into the inside moving parts of the chain links. Too much lube will attract more dirt and debris and get things dirtier than you want."

How to survive a tornado

Tornados are relatively rare in southern Ontario, but when they touch down they damage not only our property but our general sense of security.

The violent windstorms have been all over the news in the U.S. In April, Harvard Health Publications, part of the Harvard Medical School website, published a guide on how to survive a tornado.

Here is the full text of the tip I find a bit frightening, mainly because in times of crisis it seems to make sense to flock to the mall à la Dawn of the Dead to scoop up rubber boots and shovels. 

"Avoid “long-span” buildings. Shopping malls, theaters, and gymnasiums can be especially dangerous because the roof is supported only by the walls. If there is no time to leave such a building to get to a safer place, get under a door frame or something else that could deflect falling debris."

Their information was compiled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. There are links to both sites if you wish to dig further.

Looking around for information on how safe it is to be on the seventh floor of an apartment building. I know enough to stay away from the windows and am fairly sure it would take a storm of biblical proportions (enjoy this video message from Harold Camping that at least for now threat seems to have passed ) to do serious damage. But wondering what it would take to make the building sway? I'm hoping I don't get to find out.

P.S. The fact that Rogers has a commercial leading into Camping's prediction of the next rapture seems like a sign of the end of the world to me.

How to escape a sinking car!

A Manitoba couple who managed to escape when their truck landed in a sinkhole did everything right, according to a cold water safety expert.

The pair tried to drive across what looked like a large puddle, but which turned out to be a sinkhole that swiftly swallowed their car, according to an article by the Canadian Press.

The first thing they did was roll down their windows, which allowed them to escape. They also managed to save their dog.

“I would like to find out how they knew to get out of the window right away, but am very happy that they knew that,” said Manitoba Prof. Gordon Giesbrecht in an interview with the Star.

“Bottom line is, if they hadn’t done that they would have died.”

Giesbrecht, also dubbed Dr. Popsicle, is known as a cold water safety expert and has staged several experiments with sinking cars in water to learn more about the best way to get out.

The simple answer? Get your windows down and get out while the vehicle is still floating!

Giesbrecht said unfortunately over the years people have been taught that you want to stay in the car until it sinks, allowing the pressure to equalize so you can open the doors. By that time the car is at the bottom of a body of water and your chances of getting out and to the top are very slim, he said.

“Every second that goes by your chances of survival go down and after the first minute they drop precipitously,” said Giesbrecht. 

"When you vehicle ends up in the water the event will be over in three minutes one way or another. Your best chance of survival is in the first minute."

My plants are thriving!

Behold, my beautiful, healthy baby radish. The plants in my apartment are thriving, some perhaps a bit too much as I am now wondering whether I will be forced to remove my couch to make space for grow racks.

I have not replanted my tiny vegetables yet - that day will come soon - but I am really happy I have managed to get them past the wee sprout stage without multiple deaths. Plants are hardy little things, but early on I thought I killed at least three of them by allowing more than a hair-thin stream of water to hit them shortly after they sprouted. One of the lettuce plants is still growing at a very sad angle - but it is alive.

The wildest part is the sub-irrigated bucket has not required watering since we planted it more than a month ago. Highly recomended for anyone looking to grow plants but doesn't have the time to fuss over them.

I must admit I have been thinning out the top by pulling out the occassional leaf or two.

Baby lettuce, not a surprise, is delicious.

 

 

Rita Chretien and other amazing survival stories

I can't stop reading stories about Rita Chretien, a Canadian who survived seven weeks in the woods in Nevada living off fish oil, trail mix and snow. As the amazing details of her ordeal run dry - but thirst for her story persists - media outlets are posting lists of similarly unbelievable tales.

The Canadian Press put out a great list, read it  here.

Another interesting list popped up at Oregonlive.com. My favourite was the tale of Doris Anderson, 76, who survived alone in the woods for two weeks in extremely cold weather. She got lost on a hunting trip with her husband. I'm guessing Ms. Anderson is not someone you would want to cut in front of in the line at the grocery store.

 

A lighter, lower-cost way to purify water

Researchers at Boston University have developed ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to purify and disinfect water, according to a report posted on Electronics News. The new technology will be a lower cost, lighter, more durable alternative to mercury lamps which could mean wider distribution in developing countries. It also means no mercury to deal with.

There is a video on the link showing how it works.

I already have a clean water supply and purification tablets. Not sure I am ever going to need UV light-emitting diodes but I plan on buying a camping stove  (Thank you Les Stroud) to boil water, among other things. 

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.

Sewing kits, whistles and multipurpose tools

  
  
 


 I am going to need a bigger purse.

A New Hampshire company called Adventure Medical Kits sells (what looks like) a bewitching multi-purpose survival tool in a waterproof case with a compass, knife, LED light, quickstart fire-starting tinder, heavy-test braided nylon cord, stainless-steel wire, and an emergency sewing and fishing kit.

The knife has an emergency whistle built into the handle. The lid of the case is also a mirror or emergency signal. Adventure Medical Kits markets this particular item under their survival brand dubbed SOL. It stands for Survive Outdoors Longer as well as the funny but less family friendly version of SOL. You know the one that starts with a word rhyming with Hit and ends with Out of Luck.

It costs (US) $60 and a company spokesperson said it will be available at Mountain Equipment Co-op (as well as a few other sports retailers) in late March.

It also contains a wee booklet with 60 survival tips and strategies from U.S. backpacking expert Buck Tilton.

Unfortunately the multi-purpose tool I usually carry in my purse (Leatherman Super Tool 300 ) seems to have gone missing.

Just in case my twin sister (who gave it to me as a gift last year) is reading this, I just wanted to be clear I have not given up all hope. Hopefully it will turn up in one of the cracks in the couch.

Based on the pliers, saw, bottle opener (so important), screwdriver heads and rave reviews from a few highly skilled friends, I still consider the Leatherman the king of multi-purpose tools.

My only problem is if this product proves to be high quality (by that I mean fun to play with) I might have to purchase both.

I must remember that having money for groceries is also important when it comes to my survival.