Sustainable

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WWOOF Hawaii - Blog from the Big Island

WWOOF Hawaii - Tropical Fruit

Here is the latest post from Sara J, our intrepid WWOOF'er in Hawaii. Enjoy!

    I am now on Big Island and the weather is great! I’m on a small permaculture farm, only about 3 acres. It is a half mile from Kealakekua Bay in south Kona. We are off the grid and the land and animals provide about 90% of the food I eat. I’ve been here a few weeks and am falling in love with the place. Everyday there is beauty and joy in working the land and being with the animals, but there are also challenges and a lot of heavy labor to be done.

Summertime

Gaillardia Aristata - Firewheel - Blanket Flower

George Gershwin wrote, 'It's summertime and the living is easy'. It is officially summertime, but I'm not sure about the easy part. Despite a complete lack of April showers and very few May flowers we have plenty of June bugs (larvae, actually) and they have been ransacking our chile pepper transplants. I raked over one garden bed and dug up more grubs than I care to count.

Timing is Everything

DIY Cold Frame made from a reused storm door and redwood

I'm a DIY sort of guy. If I think I can build something, I'll probably try. The DIY route often works out just fine. But, sometimes a project will take a longer than anticipated. For example, I just finished building a cold frame. A cold frame is an unheated mini-greenhouse used for gardening through the cold winter months. Of course, I finished the cold frame just in time for summer. Or, maybe I'm early?

I Want to Ride My Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle

National Bike Month bicycle logo

What: Bike-to-Work Week
When: May 16-20, 2011
Where: Santa Fe, NM and Nationwide

WWOOF-ing it in Hawai'i

WWOOF Hawaii - Hansen the gorilla and a windmill

 Welcome a new blogger to EcoDaddyo - SaraJ. I met Sara through our shared passion for skiing. Of course, snow skiing is a seasonal pursuit which led Sara to travel for the summer. I'll let her tell you what she's up to.

So I decided to try my luck in Hawaii. It seemed like a cool place I'd never been; and with my love of travel, adventures, gardening, and limited finances it's only natural to WWOOF it.

A Toast to Sustainability

Ska beer and Homemade Pizza

Sustainability is hard and thirsty work. Whether you're farming organically, insulating a house or just riding your bike across town you can work up a mighty thirst. While I do like a glass of wine, after a long day's work I usually go for a beer. What tastes even better than a cold beer after a hard day of trail maintenance? How about a sustainably produced, craft-brewed beer from Ska Brewing?

On the Trail with the Lost Bus

Winsor Trail Work Crew

This Saturday I met up with the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society, the Trails Alliance of Santa Fe and the Lost Bus Boys for a maintenance work day on the Winsor Trail. The Winsor Trail is a well-loved and heavily-used trail in the National Forest just above Santa Fe, NM.

Behold! The Sustainable Cookie!

Home Made Fig Bars

I have finally made the cookie I've been planning for years. Behold! The sustainable fig bar! I was blowing big dough on packages of this treat from a classic American cookie company and thoroughly enjoying them. I just love Fig Newtons and will defend them to my grave from all the fig haters out there in the world. I have also had a few versions from various fancy bakeries that made their own. I knew mine would not taste the same as the commercial classic but with multiple pounds of figs in the freezer needing some purpose, I gave it a try.

In Just Ten Minutes a Day...

Nate Downey signing 'Harvest the Rain'

'Can I have a minute of your time?' Have you ever heard those words from a stranger, probably holding a clipboard, on the street? Did you stop for a minute or walk by more quickly? I consider my time precious and often walk past. In 'Harvest the Rain' author Nate Downey boldly asks for 10 minutes of your time every day to spend on catching, directing and using rainwater. After reading his book I'm not sure he asked for enough.

Opening the Zia Station

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Few things seem to get people as excited as a train rolling into town. I wouldn't have thought that a public meeting about a commuter rail station would pack a school cafeteria full of concerned citizens. Yet, that was the scene on March 14th as neighbors came to find out more about the possible opening of the Zia Station for the Rail Runner Express.

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