I just bottled my wood sorrel infused apple cider vinegar. I have it growing everywhere and I need to weed it constantly so I usually eat it. I do a few times per year to grab all of it and make it into a vinegar. Its one of my favorites vegetables / herbs
A random hollyhock also grew last year but didn’t bloom. I love hollyhocks they are beautiful and kind of giant which I enjoy.
We planning on our first and I am unsure if we can afford one. Still trying anyhow and just going to struggle I guess.
If we could frame the “population crisis” as this cost of living crisis and parental support this could be a change.
Once I purchased a house I had the same goal starting with my neighborhood. I started with the Seek app which allows you to take a picture of a plant and it will identify. I used it whenever I walk around my block and my house. Start with the ones you see the most. Start with plants since they are static and most common. Start with flowers since those are the most distinctive and easiest to identify via the app.
If you are really interested there are a few books that I found very interesting. First would be a foraging / herbalism book for your region. I can’t recommend what that is since I only know for the Upper Midwest in the USA. I found I could remember a plant best if I knew what it was for and could interact with it. (I.e. use it or eat it)
The second is Weeds: in defence of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants. If you live anywhere where other people live you will mostly see “weeds” the most human plant. The author is from England so it might not be about all your weeds but they are global travelers so you will see lots of overlap. It’s a fun long term project. Good luck
They are two ways for species to reduce their population. They way it happens for everything that cannot control their own birth rates (i.e. everything except us) it a catastrophic death rate increases via disease, predication or hunger. We control our birth rate to have get to a sustainable levels. Seems cruel to go the other way
Maybe these productive gains we have been making for decades can be used to help with the small population
I thought they mentioned the expense and climate change. They obviously didn’t go into depth. I thought it was interesting that its important enough that NPR is bringing it up
There’s always a sweet spot for temperatures. I love a 70 degree day and a 50 degrees night.
Very true for all seasons. Remember it will be both hotter and colder than you expect. Usually in the same day
Exactly. Nothing sticking out
Best time of the year to camp is spring and fall. The nights are cool while the days are warm. You are either too early or too late for mosquitos. It can be less busy as well.
Summer camping gets too hot both during the day and at night.
I had winter camping every year in scouts. We two subzero night in a quinzhee hut one year. It was awesome. We did the old boiling water in a nalgene water bottle in our sleeping bag before bed and slept great in the cold. Great memory
Being able to read a campsite is a skill to find the best one and where to place everything. Tent placement is key.
Good point. I got to do that. I have one that’s a little too long for my footprint. I’ll have to cut it to make it exact
Tarps are your friends. Obviously get the footprint sized ones for your tent but bring extras. I like to have one in front of my tent for shoes and things to keep it cleaning going in and out. Or I like to use it to change on if my tent is too small. Great to throw over or wrap things to avoid the dew in the morning. Got to bring a tarp
I was kind of surprised how fast it grew this year
That’s the way to do it. Plants are hardier than they look and can survive a lot. Hostas are invincible and will hold on for a long time. If you can get a perennial to survive the first year it’s usually good to go. It’s the 3rd year things really take off
I planted some in 2021 in a not great arbor. After years of struggling we just figured it had died or didn’t have enough sun. We got a wooden arbor last year and the hops found it grew like 6 ft with one vine.
This year we have like 15 vines from it going up the entire 8 ft and taking over the entire arbor. I think we will get our first nugget this year. So be patient with your non sprouted one
I thought that Rupert Giles was the coolest man. Its who I want to be. A librarian who is also a badass.
The two that I have had the most success were both hobbies I enjoyed that had a regular group that happens weekly. One was an in person weekly DnD game at a local game shop. It was great to chat about TTRPGs DnD and other nerdy things with everyone since I loved it. (It was in Chicago and few of the older people played with Gygax which was awesome.)
The second was a weekly distance running group that I am still kind of a part of. We run for an hour for a similar route and then go out for pizza. It was great to chat with whoever was my own speed. when running and then with everyone for food afterwards. I do some endurance sports and it was fun to hear about all the crazy things the really good ones did.
Both were weekly, in person and were things I was interested about. These are the key