#5 Start a container garden - learn to grow things

http://www.container-gardening-for-you.com

Plants love to grow. Plants grow, we eat them, the world is a good place. Sometimes animals eat the plants and then we eat the animals, or their eggs or milk, but over all, we need plants.


It's astounding how many people do not know how to grow things. A long long time ago when I was in kindergarten we always grew seeds - in jars or paper cups so we could watch it grow.

https://fullofbeansproject.wikispaces.com/Ms.+Barratt%27s+Kindergarten+Class

Evidently that has fallen by the way side. After all, how do you assess that on a standardized test? But we are missing out. Growing things is really pretty easy. Growing things in a container garden means you can do it ALMOST anywhere. (If you have a very dark home, with no windows or minimal light, mushrooms may be your best bet.) But assuming you have a window with at least a little bit of sunlight, or maybe even a balcony (south facing preferred if you live north of the equator) or a fire escape or even a sunny window, you are set! 

If you aren't sure about how much light you get, spend some time at home, and watch how the light moves throughout the day. In the summer it will be further north (if you are north of the equator) and in the winter it is more in the south. Get a sense of where the sunniest spot is. If you are using a patio or deck, figure out which corner gets the best light. 

Why start a container garden? To get you used to growing things. To learn how growing something you can eat can be a valuable skill, and to appreciate the food that you can pick up at your local market. You can start with some herbs - basic, thyme, chives, and oregano are really easy to start with. They like a lot of light. 

If you want to take it up a notch and have some space, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other greens work well. Peppers are good too. They don't need too much space, and can use a vertical growing space. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40462096629452447/

Plants can grow in pretty much any container - you'll want to make sure the roots have enough space to spread out, and the soil can stay moist, but it's surprising how much can grow in a small area. Vertical growing can be great - This is a super video on a vertical container garden using plastic bottles!

You can start with small containers and expand as you go. A few words of wisdom:

- Think about weight - it you have a deck that won't reliably hold a 100 gallon barrel of water - do not plant 100 gallon barrel of garden- think water weight - not the kind you get after eating a whole pizza, the weight of the water after your garden has been thoroughly soaked.

- Think about what you'd like - if you HATE green peppers, don't grow green peppers. Grow what you will actually like.

- Think about where you live and the season. If you have a home in Minnesota, don't plan on having a lush patio garden full of vegetables in November. They will likely be frozen.

Okay, this is pretty much common sense, but you get the picture.

Have fun. Be creative. Do some on line research.  These are a few sites to get you started:

• Vegetable Gardening Online has some neat ideas and fairly simple approaches
• Alpha Mom - Urban/suburban hippies has some neat experiences to share
• Preparedness Mama - has some great ideas too, as well as a bunch of interesting articles on getting prepared. I'm not 100% sure what she is prepared for, but I'll put it this way, I'd be happy to have her for a neighbor in a zombie apocalypse. I think. I'll read more and get back to you on that one. 

You can use all sorts of containers - they need to be able hold some soil, have a drainage hole at the bottom and avoid toxic stuff (pressure treated lumber should have a plastic barrier to prevent leaching into the soils) But get creative. We will come back to more ideas with this, right now the idea is to get you growing!!

If you have a compost pile started, remember soon, that vegetable waste and worm poop will become AWESOME SOIL! for your container garden.

The internet abounds with great resources on this, and we'll come back to this subject soon.

In the meantime, HAPPY GARDENING!!!

http://deco.howwewokeup.com/easy-to-diy-container-vegetable-gardening-ideas/

A dose of reality from the physical scientists...

Physical scientists are not prepared to deal with this, because there is more to this than spiritual and cultural transformation. There is social, and economic, and institutional changes that will address these threats. And social scientists do know how to do that.

# 3 CRITICAL: GET FIT

When talking with folks about adapting to climate change, one question I frequently get is: What is the ONE thing that I can do right now to prepare myself for climate change?

My response: GET FIT!

This often surprises people. Which is okay.

Most people don't see the linkages between climate change and personal fitness, at least until they are climbing a latter, in a wind storm, while hauling a tarp to cover the massive hole in the roof that the neighbors tree gauged during a a storm and there are more storms coming in the next few hours. And doing this in the dark makes it even more challenging. 

Most people don't seem the link between climate change and needing to walk three miles to get food and water because the roads are not passable due to wash outs and flooding. And then trying to haul all that back 3 miles.

And I am guessing most people really don't think about the strain being out of shape puts on their family, friends, and neighbors who will be kind enough to help with a tarp or hauling food and water.

Getting fit does not have to mean going to the gym for hours on end day after day. It does not mean training for a marathon. It means being physically strong enough to haul your own body for a sustained period of time in difficult conditions. 

Think of it this way - you need to have a mix of strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance abilities (cardio-vascular and mental) to adjust to and adapt to rapidly changing situations around you.

Our ancestors 2,000- 3,000 years ago did not have gyms or cross fit. They had everyday life. Our paleo-hunter-gatherer ancestors didn't have much in the way of carbs. In the event of extreme climate events, and rapidly adapting to shifts in environmental conditions, our ancestors would kick our rotund, soft, squishy, couch encumbered butts. 

Getting fit is a journey you can start right now, today. Go for a walk, lift some weights, challenge yourself. Go visit DAREBE.COM for some quick great tips to get started, that focus on getting fit and staying alive longer. 

You'll be glad you did. 

And even if you don't have to haul a tarp up a ladder in a windstorm in the dark, at least you will still be more fit than you are right now. So get to it!

Know where our food comes from

All too often we forget to think about where our food comes from.

OKay, sure, it comes from the grocery store. Need food? Go to Kroger, Public, Aldi, whatever. Buy food. Now we know where it comes from. What's the big deal?

Nope.

Fine, go to McDonald's, Burger King, Barbaritoes, call Papa John's. Problem solved. Right?

Nope.

So what do we mean "Know where our food comes from?"

Well, before it was at Kroger, before it was at Papa John's, where did it originate?
(No, not the central distribution warehouse, ORIGINALLY)


Let's take what the average person in the US (me at this point) has for breakfast:
Oatmeal made with soy milk and topped with walnuts and syrup, orange juice, banana, coffee with cream and sugar.

Oatmeal likely is grown in the Minnesota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. Soy milk, made from soy beans likely grown in Illinois or Iowa. Walnuts from California. Maple syrup from Canada. Orange juice from Florida, bananas from Costa Rica, cream from a dairy probably within the southeastern regional for my coffee from Tanzania (that's in east Africa).

The closest origin of my breakfast is the cream for my coffee. Nothing else is vaguely local. The most critical part of my breakfast (COFFEE) comes from the other side of the planet.

And that's just breakfast.

Adapting to climate change means adapting to shifts in local climates, it means adapting to shifts in climates EVERYWHERE. A drought or a hail storm in the midwest, a cat 5 hurricane in Florida, invasive species in costa rica, or God forbid any thing in Tanzania, and my breakfast changes.

I can substitute some items for others, but if these areas are impacted, likely others will be too. And probably not in a good way.

100 years ago breakfast would have been from much more local sources. If major shifts in climate happen quickly, it might have to again. Local eggs, fried sweet potatoes, chicory coffee... Not too bad.

Right now, I don't have to change, thank heaven's, but remembering where my food comes from, puts the specter of climate change in a different focus. I can change too. I can adapt.


But am I ready for that?
Probably, except for the coffee.

And that will be a serious crisis.


All information  on crop sources from:
US Dept. of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/cropan15.pdf

#2 What do you REALLY need?

Simple living, Kyrgyzstan style

Humans like stuff.

We like a lot of stuff.

We currently live in a world when the person who has the most stuff when he dies - wins.
And the funny thing is, we can't take it with us when we die.

But really we spend a fortune to put our stuff someplace else. It has been said that in America self storage rentals make more money than Hollywood. We spend a fortune to keep stuff we don't want in a place we don't want to go.

And what do we do when we need a boost? When we want to show someone we care? When we are bored, or something breaks and we don't want to fix it. We go shopping. To buy more stuff. Stuff we don't need, probably don't really want, and will probably put away where we don't use it or see it in a short period of time.

There is a sweet irony that best selling books instruct us to get rid of our stuff. We buy them with the best intentions, we may even read them, and possibly even let go of some of our stuff. 

Yet we accumulate more stuff once we clear out stuff. 

There are all sorts of reasons for our attachment to our stuff, but when it comes down to it, what do we actually need?

I travel a lot for work. I go long distances, through multiple airports. I have to look like a grown-up within hours of arrival. I can't afford to lose my luggage, So I travel with carry-on luggage only.  I can live for 6 weeks from when I can get in my carry-on bag because I have gotten VERY GOOD at deciding what I need. 

Not what I want, what I need.

And need is the key term here. 

Multi-purpose items, simple color coordinates, more with less.

The funny thing is, until about 100 years ago most of us, most humans on the planet across all of human history lived with less stuff for a lifetime than I carry in my small suitcase for 6 weeks of urban camping. 

Our ancestors could carry their material possessions because they knew what the needed. Sure some very wealthy folks had more than they could carry and had others to carry it for them. The significant majority of humans could carry their own stuff, long distances if needed, on foot, by themselves. (And without a rolling suit case!)

Mass consumption, the industrial revolution, the rise of cheap-throw-away goods, has led us to amass huge quantities of stuff. And when we clean it ends up in landfills.

It's not good for the planet. It's not going to make it easier to adapt to climate change. 

When it comes down to it, we need to think about what we need.

And we need to let go of the rest and share what we have with those who really do need it.

And I swear, really soon I'll get that storage unit cleared out!! 

Adapting your yard - Fruit Trees

If you are thinking of adding something special to your yard, go with fruit!

Fruit trees can provide pollen for bees, increase available food sources for local wildlife, and provide you with fresh, accessible, delicious nutrients.

I have a friend in rural Azerbaijan. More than fifty years ago his father planted an acre of fruit trees of all varieties. Today this man's children, grandchildren and great grand children feast on fruits from this orchard almost year round. The fruits are so good, and you can taste the love and sunshine in each bite. It is a wonderful legacy to him, and a gift to his family.

Look for local species that are well suited for the climate and micro-climate of your yard. Ideally, you want something that is native to your area, will drive WITHOUT extra water, fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides. A good fruit tree will provide shade, habitat, color, and lots of fresh fruit. Talk to your local county extension agent about the best variety for your yard and plant several trees if you can.

Be sure that it is a fruit you like, you will hopefully have a lot of it in for years to come!

Climate Change, the Zika Virus, and You

Climate change is expected to have some wide ranging impacts we don't think of immediately, but could have some very immediate and personal implications for each of us. 

Climate change is not only about severe storms, debilitating droughts, and other extreme weather events. It is a shifting of climates over the longer term, so that areas that were once prone to annual freezing have milder winters, or some areas that were once dry are more humid. Initially that does not sound bad at all, especially in the middle of winter storm season in the US. 

However, this can also mean that disease prevalence can shift as climatic conditions for critters that carry the diseases also shifts. This means that species of ticks and mosquitos that normally could not survive (or thrive) in some areas are now becoming more established in the US. This is know as "changes in vector ecology".

http://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), UN World Health Organization (WHO), and now many universities, research centers, and others are increasingly confident about the direct impacts these changes in climate will have on human populations. Being scientists, they often do not draw immediate cause and effect relationships because of many variables that can impact human health. However, the evidence that climate change shifts the vector ecology is becoming more convincing.

Most recently, the Zika virus has surfaced in Brazil and Latin America, spread mainly by mosquitoes, and is having tragic impacts on families. Thousands of babies born in Zika affected regions have the birth defect microcephaly. The exact link of microcephaly to the Zika virus is not 100% certain yet, but the impact of the potential linkage on health care workers, family members and pregnant women, the media and general public is growing daily. 

While the Zika virus has been around since 1947, the spread and the linkage to birth defects is growing rapidly. The symptoms of the virus are minimal. Any symptoms that occur can be easily mistaken or overlooked when someone is infected. According to recent news reports, roughly 500,000 - 1,500,000 cases of the Zika virus infectious outbreak have occurred in Brazil. And it is spreading very quickly. 

We know it exists. We know it is spread by mosquitoes. The current spread of the disease shows us that the infection, and impacts are increasingly serious. 

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pan American Health Organization

Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR For a detailed report on the history of the spread of Zika please visit NPRs "Goats and Soda" 

With winter firmly upon us, most in the US are not too worried about mosquito borne viruses. Yet soon it will start to warm up, and mosquitoes will be our outdoor companions once again. And for those of us who are having milder winters today, we might have more close encounters with these little blood suckers, and their diseases, than we used to. Thanks to climate change.

So what can we do? How can we adapt?

To start with the US CDC has some great immediate recommendations at: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html, including these nifty informational posters:

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/fs-posters/index.html

While the particular species of mosquitoes that spread this virus are not prevalent across all of the US, the established populations are prone to spread as climate change continues to march forward.

And we have to adapt.

We also have to recognize that humans, as a species are also vectors for diseases and illnesses that we carry as we zoom around the planet. But more on that another day...

Housing for the masses?

This is something that I want to come back to soon, but as we face the specter of climate change we will be facing some serious challenges of housing lots of people.

It goes like this:

• Most major cities are in areas very close to coasts. 
• Sea level rise, due to global warming, thermal expansion, and storm surge, as well as ground water inundation is going to make living close to the seas and oceans more difficult. 
• Other people who live in arid areas will find there is not enough water available to sustain them and will need to move. 

These simple facts will result in mass portions of the population on this planet moving away from where they have lived for hundreds of generations to safer, more secure places. 

We see the problems  across the Middle East and in Europe with this with Syrian refugees today fleeing the horrors of their homeland. In Kenya, in Haiti, in refugee camps around the world, thousands of families are barely managing to survive the elements under plastic tarps, with no insulation or protection. The structures that are built are designed to be temporary. 

But when Miami is under water, when New Orleans has slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, or when London is awash in waters over people's heads, where are all those humans, those families going to go?

The horrors will be different from Syria today, but the same questions remain:

How do we house people? 
How to we make sure they are safe and even improve the environment of the area? 
And do we quickly build homes are more than "temporary"?

A friend of mine in Sierra Leone shared this with me on Facebook. 
I'm not sure it's THE solution, but it could be a start.

http://www.boredpanda.com/hobbit-holes-eco-friendly-houses-green-magic-homes/

I'm a huge fan of sustainable, low cost "green" building. I'll spend more time on this issue in the near future, but for now, we all need to start thinking about solutions to the challenges we will be facing. 

For more information on these structures, visit: http://www.greenmagichomes.com/main.php

(yes, I know, these would need to be mass produced, low cost, made from sustainable materials, have appropriate zoning, and infrastructure design and support, etc. - but it is a start, and that's what we need to start working on now. Plus hey, build one of these in your yard and you know your neighbors will all be super impressed - and building social capital is very important too.)


And if you want to learn a bit about my own green building project check out the blog I wrote about 8 years ago, as I was building my own environmentally friendly office space: 
http://greened-house.blogspot.com