The view from Lubbock, a week into June

the view this morning

Then I scooted back

the wall of dirt that hit Lubbock around 6:30 last night

An average day for the 2Wheels Maybe blog

An average day for Mesquite Hugger blog

olla-watered homegrown tomatoes five days ago

a well-wishing dumpster near home

May the dumpsters and more wish you well!

Somewhat idle hands and keyboard...

Sometimes you reach a point where you're just trying to pay the bills, to keep the people around you happy, to have clean underwear to wear each day, and to keep the rain barrels mosquito free. That's been me lately.

Green stuff? Yes, I am plugging away there too, but more in a maintenance mode than a Mr.-Wizard-new-project-every-week mode.

Basil loves the olla!

The food-is-free planter is looking pretty good, but it's needing a little shady roof - have you ever seen a sun-burnt bell pepper? The front porch olla-planters are doing well with potatoes, tomatoes, and whole lotta basil. We picked up a rosemary plant to add this weekend.

Now you've seen a sun-burnt bell pepper!

Consuming less and recycling the rest? I'd give our household a C+. We have been taking reusable cups and shopping bags with us more consistently, but we've been eating out a lot and there's a lot of waste in the restaurant world.

A successful work commute to and fro yesterday

I'm riding the bike for most of my under-4-mile trips and I'm riding the work-in-progress-e-bike to work a few times per week. I am wishing I had bought a quality e-bike a year or two ago rather than spending so much time, money, and precious garage time piecing the current e-bike together, but it has been a fun project. The coolest part of the project has been learning to build (and rebuild twice) a lithium battery pack.

Even though lots of tempting stuff has popped up lately, I have been successful in not bringing any new projects home.

As a matter of fact, a few projects have even left this year. I don't have the nerve to call myself a minimalist, but I have been doing some minimizing, and that feels good.

The nicest green(er) upgrade has been retiring Rambo, the old Dodge pickup and replacing it with an eight-year-old Ford Escape Hybrid - by far the nicest vehicle I've driven in years. I feel pretty darned good when I'm able to keep it in electric-only mode while running about. Not a perfect solution to burning less gas, but a definite step up.

Life is good. The blogging is slow.

May all your greenliness roll smoothly along!

Simplification (Almost) Railroaded by DIY Electric Truck

[Blogger warning: this one's a rambler.]

I fell off the wagon this week. I may need a new 12-stepper.

Proof that there are people who complete EV Truck Conversions

The summer of 2017, for me, is to be the Summer of Simplification. What that means is LESS by whatever means necessary. I scaled back on the gardening this year. I've been blogging less. I have lots of stuff up for sale. (Let me know if you're in the market for an old Vespa or two, an electric convertible, a half-finished electric truck project, a bicycle or several, my old high-school hot rod, or a whole bunch of Star Wars toys I've had since 1978.) It's a year to clear out the garage, get rid of some debt, and to try to find a way to stress less and live more.

A really big part of the SoS plan is to not acquire or create any new projects. (We all have our vices, and dreaming up and investing in new projects seems to be mine. Completing projects - that's not my vice.)

So, I've quit buying parts, bikes, and how-to manuals. I've quit going to swap meets, flea markets, and garage sales. I spend less time on Instructables. I try to shop only in places that offer food and the absolute necessities. I've even been steering clear of construction dumpsters. I've been really good up until a few days ago...

I was riding home from work on the mountain bike Tuesday and I wanted to add a (very) little terrain to the commute. I rode down a few alleys. And there in the middle of town sitting in the weeds outside of a backyard fence - a little 1939 Dodge pickup. Drool. Slobber. Yearn. Back when I was looking at vehicles to convert to electric, early American pickups made a lot of sense, and snagit, they're so cool!

So I remembered this electrified Dodge truck:

Click here to check it out

 

All I'd have to do is steal the motor and transmission out of this unfinished project I have lying around (and should probably sell).

Then I hopped on Craigslist to see if anything similar was for sale. Nope. But I did find this little guy:

 

The little Courier would make a great electric truck, it's here in town, and it costs about the same as a Sondors electric bike (which is still not in the Mesquite Hugger SoS budget).

 

While I had $800 1974 Ford conversion candidates on the brain, I went back and checked out the 1974 Econoline:

 

 

But I talked myself back out of it pretty quickly and moved on to early International Scouts and then back to the Courier and then back to the old Dodge and back to my original unfinished Mazda project which then brought to mind the unfinished Silver Pigeon scooter projects...

 

And now, I am worn out, but I'm back on the wagon and trying to get rid of stuff, ride the bike, and get life down to a simpler place.

 

May you finish what you start and may your wisely-chosen green projects benefit us all.

Distillation: How little do you need?

The sky from this morning's bike ride

A front porch, some coffee, a little quiet, some birds - yep, I'm happily boring!

One of my favorite things to do lately is sit on the porch, drink coffee, and watch the birds.

It's been a stressful couple of years. I often find myself nervous.

But sitting on the porch with dove, grackles, starlings, sparrows, and a rotating cast of others, I don't feel nervous. Normally it's lightness and mirth - at least until a neighborhood cat starts stalking or I find the bottom of the coffee cup.

I don't spend that time fretting about bills and broken things and being needed. I spend that time in my favorite type of prayer - thanks.

Distillation, simplification, minimalism.

What do you have left when you remove the things that distract you?

Where does this all fit into Mesquite Huggerism? Well, there are two well-trodden paths to green - through technology or through simplification. And as much as I'd like a 3-d printed off-grid smart house, a self-driving 150mph silicon-valley speedster, and a fully automated greenhouse, I have to admit that I love time spent on a junky old bicycle and that nothing tastes better than the olla-watered tomatoes we've been growing on our front porch.

So, if you see more posts about the simpler approach, you'll know it came from front porches and sparrows.

May the wheels on your your bike go round and round, simply, quietly, and thankfully.

Carbon Munching Garden Pics

Not a lot to say today, so I will let you see how the garden grows.

This is what arugula flowers look like. 

All of the arugula plants exploded this week with tall stalks and flowers.

I (literally) tried drowning my roly-poly sorrows in beer this week. Not one little crustacean was harmed in any way, but I did enjoy the rest of the beer and the roly polies have not shown themselves. Weirdness!

The food-is-free-planter exploded - mostly arugula.

One gecko has returned to the compost box. Stubby, it's always good to see a friend!

The big honking celebrity tomato stays green.

Three little sweet peppers!

The front-porch planter fit right in.

It's hard to beat a squash flower for a final pic!

Quick and unpictured:
The new pallet garden is struggling so far. Probably a poor compost to soil ration - I overdid it with the compost.
I am learning that ollas are my favorite approach to gardening. If you garden in a dry place - try it!
Hoping to build two more pallet-lumber raised beds for the front yard soon.
Planted black garbonzo and calabacita seeds this week. Hope!
The romaine and celery still show great growth daily.

May you know the joy of growing your own!

MH 2016 and a Big Old Smudge of Vanity

Vanity.

I realized at 9 o'clock this morning that my button-down collar was not buttoned down. I have lots of those moments where I realize that something is unbuttoned, unshaven, not tucked in, or smeared with something gross and has been that way for hours. I need to mirror check myself constantly (but I don't.)

On the other hand, each time I log into my computer I zoom to the Mesquite Hugger blog stats to see how many people are clicking on. We all have our vanities, and this blog is my biggest. [My ego cries out, "Please read my blog - my self-esteem depends on it! I need the validation!"]

More to the point, I have this vanity because I love writing this blog. On the days when I don't blog, I still write. I have since 1989. I love to write. While there is a lot of vanity in it, there is also a lot of searching for a better path or a better understanding. I hope each of you has a way in which you can check yourself before you....get yourself in a nasty collision.

In the next twenty-four hours, Mesquite Hugger will receive its 25,000th page view. Thank you!

So where do we go from here?

As spring looms, the two biggest focuses will be bicycles and gardening. Both play readily into the quest for Personal Carbon Reduction, for being healthy, and for saving money. They also fall squarely in the middle of the MIWB (man I want to be) theme that is my brain's elevator music.

Bicycle themes:
Hauling cargo
Electric versus pedal-only
Car replacement
Bike lanes and safety
Any cool DIY thing, Instructable, or crowdfunding thing

Gardening themes:
More Ollas!!!
My new plan to build a convertible - a raised bed, self-watering garden that turns into a greenhouse in spring and fall!
Larger quantities
Composting and (maybe) another attempt at vermicomposting
Another run at small-scale aquaponics

Other stuff that will definitely pop up on MH:
electric cars for common folk (and ways to charge them)
vintage electric cars
getting off the gas (and diesel and coal and so much more)
solar power
recycling, upcycling, and conservation
pet adoption
alternative housing (tiny houses, earthships, shipping containers...)
wildlife conservation and appreciation
less stuff - more life
(hopefully) electric Pigeon progress

A little non-sequiturial self-promotion:
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The most important message on the page:
Thank you!!! Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! Thank you for each and every act that points this world to a better place!

May you be blessed with joy, health, and optimism in 2016, Dear Reader!

Tiny Olla Garden Update

It's a cold and breezy November day, and the garden is still offering surprises long after expected.

These two peppers surprised us this week - the only peppers this olla-fed plant has produced. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!

The Food-Is-Free planter is still producing tomatoes, and they are still delicious and juicy. This project has born more joy than produce. 

I keep thinking the garden season has ended, but The garden keeps proving me wrong.

I haven't seen a gecko in a month but I did catch a glimpse of the ultra-rare leafmunch gator this morning braving the biting breeze.

May you have a glorious day friends and may your projects, plans, and hopes bear fruit!

Carbon Munching Garden: Lessons in Ollas, Self-Wicking, and Aquaponics

[Warning: This post contains almost no wheels and no electric vehicles.]

 

Fall just started. We had a little rain yesterday. I have been watching the garden begin to wither, and I realize how much I will miss it over the next months. We still have foour strawberries and seven tomatoes ripening, but I think that will be it for this year.

The ollas have been a success, and I am very much a fan of that approach. The self-wicking pallet planter had its struggles, but it has turned into a success as well. My wife made spaghetti sauce with roasted tomatoes (from the planter) last night. And it was delicious.

I have learned a lot of things from this year's experiments.

Get bigger planters!!!

 

With the ollas - use Gorilla Glue!!! Everything else I tried eventually broke down. Also, start with better soil and feed that regularly with good compost. And, no matter what, use bigger pots! It's just like an aquarium - the bigger the container, the larger your margin for error can be. Overall, I am a big fan of ollas in big containers!

Before compost

 

The raised-bed, self-wicking, Food-is-Free-Project, pallet planter? I learned two major lessons there. The first was the importance of soil that allows water to wick. I used soil with a high clay content, and the water could not travel through it. And the garden barely survived it first six weeks.

After compost

Things did get better when I mixed in good compost with lots of organic matter. The second thing I learned (and it seems really obvious) is that it is smart to add wicks to your self-wicking garden. A piece of cotton rope or  shoestring reaching from the bottom of your planter directly to the roots of your plant - it's a straw for your plant to sip from. Good stuff!

The Aquaponics setup - not a success - I hope to take another approach at that in the relatively near future. I blame the failure on poor lighting and lack of water quality monitoring.)

One other incidental lesson, move slowly near pollinators. The wasps love the garden and were ever-present. I was stung by three wasps this summer, but none were in the garden. Two, somewhat ironically, happened when riding a Vespa scooter - "vespa" is Italian and Latin for wasp. The other sting happened on a bicycle. Speed near wasps equals pain, but they love it when you bring them flowers slowly.

What's next? I am prioritizing projects. I would love to throw together a small greenhouse and keep the momentum going, but it looks like a better time to pursue minimalism. There's too much stuff - no money, time, or room for projects. (I am hoping to find some people who have decided to pursue maximalism so we can all feel good about our stuff.) So the greenhouse (and a much more productive garden) may need to wait until next season.

May your experiments thrive and grow (great food)!

More Saturday Garden Stuff - Lubbock

Most of this summer's gardening experiments have gone well, so I thought I'd post a few more pics for you.

The Food Is Free Project planter is finally coming around. I finally figured out where I botched this one in the beginning. My soil had/has too much clay and will not allow sufficient water wicking to occur through the soil. So, I started watering and fertilizing from the top and the plants are (mostly) thriving.

I left town last week for four days. When I left town the plant had three green tomatoes on it. When I returned, there were seventeen!

The olla tomatoes are recovering from the physiological leaf roll (too much water from our monsoon a few weeks ago) and the tomatoes are looking good and tasting great. Thanks Lubbock Master Gardeners for these hardy plants.

This locust was hanging out on the back fence and I liked the look of him. So here he is for you to see. If you want a little locust info to ruminate - all locusts are grasshoppers but not all grasshoppers are locusts. Don't even get me started on crickets!

This locust was on the sweet pepper plant. I snapped this pic and then relocated her to the four-o'clock jungle at the east end of the yard.

Other news, my second try at vermicomposting was a dismal failure. It's too snagging hot here to try that in July.

My friend the grackle girl once again hung out while I mowed. She scarfed up lots of juicy bugs. It's good to have neighbors. We also have a young mockingbird hanging out and being a punk. He seems to have a strong dislike for bluejays and is keeping the pretty boys (and the neighbor's cat) at bay.

May your experiments bring you this much joy and tasty food!

Thanks for reading!

PCR: Lubbock Master Gardeners, a Garden Instructable, Random stuff

Snagit! Things were looking so good...

Okay, I admit it - I don't know what I'm doing. I am more mechanic than gardener. The front-porch-olla tomatoes have been rocking right along and putting out some beautiful and very tasty fruit. (My wife and I have been very impressed with our green thumbs.) Then we got up a few days ago and found that our beautiful green plants had turned brown and wilted overnight. Snagit, we were doing so well!

So, what do you do when you run out of solutions - you go look for smarter people who know more than you do. And I am a big fan of keeping it local, so I sought out the Lubbock Master Gardeners Association. Sure enough, a little bit of time on their site and I found some answers. Maybe physiological leaf roll, maybe bacterial canker, maybe late blight. (I still have a lot to learn.)

If you want to learn more about local gardening and conservation issues, check out these upcoming training presentations from the LMGA or consider becoming a Master Gardener yourself. Master Gardeners to share conservation tips (AJ article)

This really cool, heavily-hyphenated, self-wicking, recycled, water-collecting, good-looking, raised-bed planter showed up on Instrucatables this week. Check-it-out!

Build a Large Self Watering Garden & Greenhouse from Reused Materials

Last Saturday morning I found these size 12 mushrooms at a central Lubbock school playground.

The red wigglers arrived last Thursday and are happily munching away on newspaper, coffee grounds, and veggie scraps. Stay tuned for more footless compost.

 

 

May you find your answers, get smarter, get healthier, and help us all to heal our overly stressed world.

 

Thank you for reading!

PCR Olla Update: Tomatoes and Pollinators equal success!

For those of you following the olla progress, here are a few photos and notes from the weekend.

Getting close!

 

These are the free tomato plants from the "Preparedness Fair" that have been present in almost every olla post. I have been excited for a week now watching this tomato start to blush.

 

A welcome sight!

 

We are seeing lots of pollinators passing through - this one showed up yesterday.

Success!

 

Yesterday I reached in to check the olla for water and found this hidden and fully ripe tomato. This is our first produce from the olla planters. It was rich and wonderful. My lovely bride and I enjoyed the first fruit of the garden.

 

In the immortal words of some singer from Indiana, may "we cannot forget from where it is that [our food] comes from..." or something like that. May you find a little joy today!

PCR Updates: Ollas. Raised Bed, No Worms (Snagit!)

The runaway success (with minimal investment) is the ollas on the porch approach. The plants have thrived, flowered, and are now putting on fruit - at least the free tomato plants are. Now, if I just had a bigger porch...

Ollas on the porch are rocking!

 

Want to make your own ollas? Here is an instructable for you.

Yea!!!

The Food Is Free Project raised-bed, self-wicking planter is less of a success, but I think it's a victim of my own cheapness. I think I messed up with poor quality soil. As I add more compost and a little fertilizer, things are looking sad but better. We do have two celebrity tomatoes out there!

If you look closely, there are two tiny tomatoes in the photo.

 

My attempts at catching local worms have been less than impressive. I did come up with one very small red wiggler. I am travelling for work quite a bit, but that should slow in July, so I am going to order a bunch of worms when there is time to get them started. I am hoping to avoid last year's worm carnage. My wife has started juicing, so the Mesquite Hugger demand for composting has definitely increased. I will keep you (com)posted.

Zucchini flowers!

May your adventures in personal carbon reduction be fruitful!