Marvelous home gardening site

Rainy-Side Gardeners. Here's a nice example of why this is such a great site*:

Complete Organic Fertilizer

Steve Solomon developed a fertilizer mixture specifically for our maritime climate. It is best to buy each ingredient in bulk, as it is cheaper over time than buying small boxes of fertilizer. Store in metal galvanized garbage cans and keep moisture out.

Four parts seed meal (cottonseed or canola meal is usually readily available here in the Northwest.)

½ part lime in equal amounts of agricultural lime and dolomite. Leave out the lime for acid loving plants such as rhododendrons.

½ part phosphate rock or bone meal (for vegetarians phosphate rock would be the obvious choice).

½ part kelp meal.

You won't need to be precise when measuring this out. The seed meal and lime are the most important ingredients, and as you build your supply of fertilizer, you can add the latter ingredients as you can afford them. You can mix them all at once or store them separately and mix what you need as you use them.

For many of the plants listed in the Plant and Gallery Guide, I recommend using this formula.

Recommended Reading:

I highly recommend the book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. The author, Steve Solomon, developed the complete organic fertilizer recipe. Even if you garden strictly with ornamentals, this book will help you understand our climate, cold spring soils, and what our plants need for year round health. Solomon goes into detail about our soil structure as well as the need to fertilize specifically for our unique situation. A must read, in my opinion, for gardeners in the maritime Pacific Northwest.

Book Description: Here's a fully revised edition of this regional bestseller- considered to be the definitive food gardening manual for the Pacific Northwest. This is the bible of vegetable gardening for anyone turning the soil west of the Cascade Mountains-from Western British Columbia to Northern California. It includes the basics of soil, when best to plant, the art of composting, what varieties grow well here, which seed companies are reliable, information on handling pests, and an extensive section on the cultivation of each vegetable.

* (*Except for plugging Amazon.com (plug deleted from this repost -- support your local bookseller or if you must buy online, shop Powells.com where shipping is free for orders over $50.)

Terrific post on Obama, transport, and climate at Reality-Based Community

Michael O'Hare:

I think Mark is cutting Obama far too much slack on global warming. Habitability of the planet is not a lagniappe that might spiff up an economic stimulus. It's a very big deal, at least if you care about your grandchildren, not to mention the hundreds of millions of Bangla Deshis who will be on the road looking for a place to live in a crowded neighborhood, and sooner than we thought last year or the year before. Think this is bad?: imagine it in Dacca, and not for a day, but permanently.

Surely we can wait on something so big and so slow while we fix the economy, right? Nope; we already did that (wait), since the early eighties. Now it's an emergency. Expensive, though, right? Yup, we spent it for nothing in Iraq and frittered it away in stupid finance tricks, but Obama has to play the hand he was dealt, not the hand he deserves.

I have occasionally worried that for all his many merits, our new president is a senator from a corn state and a senator from a coal state. Not for long, and he didn't grow up there, but unfortunately simply ending the unspeakable irresponsibility of the Bush administration about climate is not enough. In particular, talking about roads and bridges in an infrastructure speech without a mention of transit or land use policy isn't in the ball park: it isn't "could be better"; it's flat-out wrong. We have a lot of bad infrastructure that makes us drive a lot of bad cars too much. We don't need to spend a penny on roads or anything to do with squeezing another few years out of the gasoline commuter lifestyle; we need to spend billions on undoing the damage it's already done, and now. Those unemployed hardhats can lay track and pave bike paths just as well as they can pour lane-miles.

I'm sorry to say, Obama has, on the whole, dropped the ball on climate change; he's not anti-science or anti-environment, but he's failing a big test here. I've wallowed in the pleasure of anticipating leadership from a basically serious person with his heart in the right place up to now, like the rest of us, but I am declaring the honeymoon over. From now on he needs to start saying what we need to hear on the biggest issue of the next couple of decades. "Better than Bush" encompasses a range from A down to D-, and on the environment, we need A- leadership, not a Band-Aid or a headpat. And we especially don't need enabling of a catastrophic carbon addiction, whether implicit or explicit.

All together now, and you too, Barack:

No.More.Roads.
No.More.Parking.
No.More.Sprawl.

See Riverfront Park-Minto Brown bridge design ideas

Bike evangelist Eric sends:

On Monday, Dec 8, at 5:30pm, there will be a brief "work session"before the Salem City Council meeting to unveil 4 designs for the proposed bridge from Riverfront Park to Minto- Brown Island. The work session is not structured for public comment, so it will just be an opportunity to look at the designs. Later the City will solicit comment. In any event, it's a great opportunity to see what could be the next piece in downtown park connections. It's also an opportunity to show City Council that bicyclists care. If you are interested, please consider attending.

http://www.cityofsalem.net/MeetingAgendas/default.aspx

Also, Friends of Two Bridges has established a tentative date for the Union Street RR Bridge opening ceremony. This is contingent on construction being complete, so it's far from definite. Nevertheless,

you should pencil in Saturday, February 21 for the inaugural ride across the river!

Against Turning the Road Gang Loose

A lot of people who always say that more pavement is the solution to any problem have latched onto the current economic meltdown, arguing that more pavement is really a jobs program. Tom Toles does a wonderful depiction of where this leads.

Infrastructure spending is an investment, and there are some jobs available building infrastructure. But the time when you're reeling drunk from the temporary price collapse of oil is not the time to make big, long-term capital investment decisions.

We need to make investment decisions as if oil was still $140 a barrel, because it will be there again soon enough. Then the money invested in infrastructure would truly be invested, because it would make us more capable of coping with that $140/bbl oil, and $200/bbl oil and so on.

Oil is down only because our economies can no longer function on "hallucinated" currency (h/t to James Kunstler for the perfect description of our credit binge). We'll be in a long recession or depression, and as long as daily pumping capacity even slightly exceeds world demand, prices will be low. But that's a big if, and an unpleasant one. In a world of 6.7 billion people and climbing, keeping oil demand below extraction capacity means that the per human usage has to keep going down just to stay still. And that means economic misery is baked in. As soon as "recovery" starts to gain steam, demand will increase. We're at such a tenuous balance around 87 million barrels per day (for all liquid fuels) that the instant demand exceeds supply, prices will leap up again.

President-elect Obama said something that made me feel a lot better about him right after his election: he said that falling oil prices made it even MORE vital that we deal with our energy addiction, because of our history of alternating between hysteria and coma when it comes to thinking about energy. That's an important insight, and for the guy in the White House to recognize that bodes well for us.

All the money that the road gang is lusting after would create just as many jobs if turned onto building a new electric grid and into electrifying heavy rail and building a close, fine-grain network of light rail systems that will enable America to get through its perpetual adolescence of auto addition once and for all. And then, when oil prices shoot up again, we'll be in the catbird seat, instead of on the torture rack.

UPDATE: Oregon Environmental Council adds this.

New resource book for the new reality: Toolbox for Sustainable City Living

Just ordered a copy here. $20 delivered to Salem. Looks fantastic. These skills will be increasingly important in the years to come:

About the book

The Toolbox for Sustainable City Living is a DIY guide for creating locally-based, ecologically sustainable communities in today's cities. Its straightforward text, vibrant illustrations and accessible diagrams explain how urbanites can have local access and control over life's essential resources: food production, water security, waste management, autonomous energy, and bioremediation of toxic soils. Written for people with limited financial means, the book emphasizes building these systems with cheap, salvaged and recycled materials when possible. This book will be an essential tool for transitioning into a sustainable future threatened by the converging trends of global warming and energy depletion.

Topics covered in the book include:

• Aquaculture: ponds, plants, fish and algae
• Microlivestock and city chickens
• Rainwater Harvesting
• Low-tech bioremediation: cleaning contaminated soils using plants, fungi and bacteria
• Constructed Wetlands/ Greywater
• Autonomous energy: bicycle windmills, passive solar
• Biofuels: veggie oil vehicles, methane digesters
• Struggles for land and gentrification
• Humanure and worm composting
• Floating Islands to clean stormwater
• Asphalt removal and air purification
• And much more!

About the Authors:

Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew are co-founders of the Rhizome Collective, a non-profit organization based in Austin, Texas. Over the past seven years, they have transformed a burnt-out warehouse into the Rhizome Collective: a thriving Center for Community Organizing and Educational Center for Urban Sustainability.

Stacy and Scott both have extensive experience in the fields of ecological design and community activism. Stacy is Rhizome's Program Coordinator and Scott is the Director of the Educational Center for Urban Sustainability. They have designed and built numerous sustainable systems for display as teaching models, including constructed wetlands, rainwater collectors, aquaculture ponds, windmills, passive solar devices, and bioremediation tools. They also created and host RUST, an intensive weekend seminar in urban ecological survival skills. Scott and Stacy have authored numerous articles on sustainability and the Rhizome Collective and frequently give presentations on radical sustainability at universities and political gatherings across the country. They have taught workshops in locations as diverse as the Bronx to East Timor. Scott has also been active in building a community based bioremediation program in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Support Salem Cinema

One of Salem's unsung treasures is Salem Cinema, bravely offering films that speak well of people, complete with the rare options that were once considered standard features in better movies:  plot, characters, intelligence, charm, and a window into the common humanity of other people, people whom you would have thought were completely unlike yourself.  When you only have one screen, you don't waste it on movies you aren't proud to show.

A little independent movie house that shows terrific small movies, week after week, is a rare treasure indeed, especially in a town the size of Salem.  Like running a bookstore, there is more than a grain of truth to the saying that the way to make a small fortune as an independent movie house is to start with a large one.  One of the ways you can help ensure that this little gem stays around is to give yourself and your friends some respite from Netflix and cable --- make a point to support Salem Cinema, far and away Salem's best movie option.

 

At Salem Cinema we passionately believe that while the current economic news is bleak, escaping to the movies is still one of the most inexpensive forms of leisure and enjoyment available in this great country of ours.  We know we are all in this crisis together and are happy to not only continue to provide a sanctuary of exceptionally high quality, thought-provoking entertainment at the same reasonable prices we charged well over a year ago, but to bring back our special annual holiday savings offer as well.
You can once again purchase $30 worth of our CineBucks
for only $25 during the entire month of December!
CineBucks come in $5 increments and work just like cash at our box office or concession stand. Pick some up for friends, co-workers, teachers and relatives...and even pocket a few for yourself!

Good advice for citizens: Establishing the performance-target ethic

How can citizens determine whether their government is performing well?

One way is to compare its current performance with past performance, but this has some obvious shortcomings.

Another way is to compare its current performance with that of similar agencies in similar jurisdiction. This approach, however, also comes with some flaws.

Another possible approach is to compare a jurisdiction's or agency's performance with the targets it has set for itself. For this to work, however, public officials will have to accept the responsibility for setting such targets.

Consequently, Bob has focused the November issue "On why citizens need to establish The Performance-Target Ethic." You can find it at:

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/thebehnreport/November2008.pdf

Survey re: Cherriots Cuts (do before 12/8)

Please take this survey to help us decide what services are important to you!

The Public Hearing on proposed service reductions will be held at the Board of Directors meeting on December 11, 2008, at 6:30 PM, at 555 Court Street NE, Senator Hearing Room, Salem, Oregon.

This survey will help us make the best choice for you.

The last day to take the survey will be Monday, December 8, 2008

Opportunity to Help Shape Cherriots Cuts

Dates and times for four (4) Open Houses to receive input from the community about service cut options. 

These events will be held in the Senator Hearing Room:

·       Dec 1, Monday from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM 
·       Dec 2, Tuesday from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
·       Dec 2, Tuesday from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
·       Dec 5, Friday from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

The Senator Hearing room is the main meeting room at Courthouse Square Transit Center (Court St. @ High St.)

There will also be a public hearing on December 11.  

(503) 588-2424 x2328

Salem-Keizer Transit

Where was Ted?

Governors' Climate Summit.