I heard about the October Unprocessed Challenge and decided to try it out. I encourage you to as well! The idea is to spend the whole month eating all "unprocessed" food. For purposes of the challenge the definition is Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients. You can look for a longer discussion of that with the link back there.
I'll try to post extra recipes and food focused posts throughout the month of October.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Things that made me smile today
"Alice, you look like a farmer!"- My coworker Sister
The people at the hardware store where I've been buying lots of stuff including canning jars says "You're back again!"
The people at the hardware store where I've been buying lots of stuff including canning jars says "You're back again!"
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Imagining a city
The reality of any city, but perhaps Detroit in particular, is profoundly reliant on fossil fuels. It is all cars and trucks. It is people in boxes made of concrete, brick and glass. The boxes are lit, cooled and heated by fossil fuels and inside the work involves consuming resources from elsewhere and transforming them. There are lots of environmental reasons to want to change this reality, but I think the psychic reasons are more compelling.
Thursday this past week we were planting trees in a neighborhood called Cody/Rouge with the Green Infrastructure department at Greening. There are lots of good environmental reasons to want to plant trees. In this particular neighborhood we were actually there under contract from the Water Treatment people because that area is very low lying and when it rains there is so much runoff that goes into the storm drain area that it causes the water treatment facilities to overflow, forcing them to send some untreated sewage water into the river system. Thousands of street trees will help to fix that.
More compelling than all that though is how excited people in the neighborhood (for the most part) were to see some trees going in. The neighborhood isn't real burnt out, but about one house per block there is abandoned. The folks in the neighborhood that day wanted to talk to us, to find out what sort of tree they were getting and the ones that were home also wanted to talk to us about their yards and what else is going on there. One guy said "I think that tree is supposed to have pink flower. That'll be nice, think it will attract the ladies?" That same guy brought us ice cream a little later.
Yesterday I was part of a great big bike ride called the Tour de Troit. Most of the riders I talked to were from the suburbs or other nearby areas. Some of those were folks who worked in the city but lived outside. The folks who hadn't been there (or biked there) in the past few months were impressed with all the bike lanes that had recently been painted in the city. The ride was not a race and most folks were just wearing ordinary athletic clothes and riding ordinary bikes. Even so, the sight of thousands of bikers riding down the streets of Detroit, even when we were blocking their way, seemed to make most people we passed really happy. Lots waved or had brought their kids out to watch. Many expressed a desire to join in if they had their bike around. And in general that has been my experience of biking in the motor city. People just think it is cool that you are biking and they want to chat. Meeting folks is one of the best things about biking here, I'd never have as many interesting conversations if I was locked up in steel and glass.
Thursday this past week we were planting trees in a neighborhood called Cody/Rouge with the Green Infrastructure department at Greening. There are lots of good environmental reasons to want to plant trees. In this particular neighborhood we were actually there under contract from the Water Treatment people because that area is very low lying and when it rains there is so much runoff that goes into the storm drain area that it causes the water treatment facilities to overflow, forcing them to send some untreated sewage water into the river system. Thousands of street trees will help to fix that.
More compelling than all that though is how excited people in the neighborhood (for the most part) were to see some trees going in. The neighborhood isn't real burnt out, but about one house per block there is abandoned. The folks in the neighborhood that day wanted to talk to us, to find out what sort of tree they were getting and the ones that were home also wanted to talk to us about their yards and what else is going on there. One guy said "I think that tree is supposed to have pink flower. That'll be nice, think it will attract the ladies?" That same guy brought us ice cream a little later.
Yesterday I was part of a great big bike ride called the Tour de Troit. Most of the riders I talked to were from the suburbs or other nearby areas. Some of those were folks who worked in the city but lived outside. The folks who hadn't been there (or biked there) in the past few months were impressed with all the bike lanes that had recently been painted in the city. The ride was not a race and most folks were just wearing ordinary athletic clothes and riding ordinary bikes. Even so, the sight of thousands of bikers riding down the streets of Detroit, even when we were blocking their way, seemed to make most people we passed really happy. Lots waved or had brought their kids out to watch. Many expressed a desire to join in if they had their bike around. And in general that has been my experience of biking in the motor city. People just think it is cool that you are biking and they want to chat. Meeting folks is one of the best things about biking here, I'd never have as many interesting conversations if I was locked up in steel and glass.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Progressive Dinner for the Hub of Detroit
Went to a great Progressive Dinner for a local non-profit bike collective called the Hub of Detroit. It was $25 for an amazing ride all over Detroit in small groups where we ate at 5 different locations (mostly parks). The food was cooked by a variety of local food people.
The first stop was for some Black Bean Soup made by some guys from the bike shop. Just the perfect amount of spiciness.
On our way to the second stop is when we started encountering folks tailgating for the Lions game. Most of them were nice and just wanted us to honk and ring our bells and cheer when they said "Go Lions", but some were total assholes and had obviously already had way too much to drink.
The second stop was at OmniCorpDetroit, a local creative space, and we ate some pizza made by the Pie-Sci guys. The pizza was a BBQ Chicken Pizza, which was a little weird and too creative, but the fundamentals were strong. The space was really cool though and I am planning to take some of OmniCorp's classes this fall.
The third stop was a park down by the river where we got to eat some yummy lentil stuff with a really good creamy sauce that I should have asked what it was. In any event, it was delicious. Plus it was warm and things had just started to cool off.
The fourth stop was a little pocket park downtown in a kind of busy spot (with lots of bars and Lions fans, GO LIONS). There we ate some amazing wraps and a little beet salad. Yum yum. All that yummy stuff was by a place called Neighborhood Noodle.
The last stop was Clark Park, which is real near our house, and there we had ice cream! It was winter squash ice cream with some yummy toasted walnuts and it was by Suddenly Sauer, which is the company of a friend of my housemate Laura's named Blair. It was super delicious. And Laura was my super bike riding friend and we met a lot of people including a few folks who work with Calvin. And I forgot almost everyone's name! But I bet I get to meet them again. Maybe at Tour de Troit next weekend?
All in all well worth the $25 especially since it is going to some great programs over at the Hub.
The first stop was for some Black Bean Soup made by some guys from the bike shop. Just the perfect amount of spiciness.
On our way to the second stop is when we started encountering folks tailgating for the Lions game. Most of them were nice and just wanted us to honk and ring our bells and cheer when they said "Go Lions", but some were total assholes and had obviously already had way too much to drink.
The second stop was at OmniCorpDetroit, a local creative space, and we ate some pizza made by the Pie-Sci guys. The pizza was a BBQ Chicken Pizza, which was a little weird and too creative, but the fundamentals were strong. The space was really cool though and I am planning to take some of OmniCorp's classes this fall.
The third stop was a park down by the river where we got to eat some yummy lentil stuff with a really good creamy sauce that I should have asked what it was. In any event, it was delicious. Plus it was warm and things had just started to cool off.
The fourth stop was a little pocket park downtown in a kind of busy spot (with lots of bars and Lions fans, GO LIONS). There we ate some amazing wraps and a little beet salad. Yum yum. All that yummy stuff was by a place called Neighborhood Noodle.
The last stop was Clark Park, which is real near our house, and there we had ice cream! It was winter squash ice cream with some yummy toasted walnuts and it was by Suddenly Sauer, which is the company of a friend of my housemate Laura's named Blair. It was super delicious. And Laura was my super bike riding friend and we met a lot of people including a few folks who work with Calvin. And I forgot almost everyone's name! But I bet I get to meet them again. Maybe at Tour de Troit next weekend?
All in all well worth the $25 especially since it is going to some great programs over at the Hub.
It was a good day at the market
to have an extra long bike. Full list of items bought:
- Salad Greens from Brother Nature Produce (they have a facebook page too)
- Michigan tomatoes in bulk to can later
- Hot peppers, mostly from Grown in Detroit Some of which were almost certainly grown by my coworker Ruffino. I'm planning to make spicy pickles later this week with carrots, onions, garlic, peppercorns and hot peppers. Maybe some radishes too if I can find some.
- A huge bag of Michigan pears to dry
- Some Michigan raspberries
- Michigan onions, garlic, potatoes and winter squash (just one acorn for now). Lots of extras to start storing some for winter.
- A delicious cookie
Labels:
agriculture,
awesome,
bicycles,
cities,
Detroit,
farmers market
Friday, September 16, 2011
Yesterday's post was too long
So some brief snippets from today
- Man with gray hair and dreads who was an apprentice last year and runs Feed'em Freedom farm which is rapidly expanding and where they were putting up a low tunnel hoop house today.
- Catherine Ferguson School, a high school for pregnant and parenting young women. Has goats and a horse and geese and chickens and ducks and a HUGE garden. Super cool.
- Brand new super nice greenhouses in a parking lot downtown owned by the MGM Grand Casino.
- Near Eastern Market a site where we are about to put in a 2 acre model farm including 2 or 3 passive solar hoop houses.
- A lot of other really nice urban gardens. This city is growing!
Labels:
agriculture,
awesome,
cities,
Detroit,
farm,
Greening of Detroit,
nature,
organic
Thursday, September 15, 2011
I had my first day of work today...
and I just can't even describe how great it was. Greening of Detroit, the place that I'll be working for this year, is just pretty amazing and I could go on and on about it, but I will just try and describe a little bit about why Detroit in particular really needs the sort of work that they do with Urban Agriculture.
First let's just talk about how bad the food system of Detroit is. 56% of Detroiters get their groceries from liquor stores. Places with only processed food available in general, where there is no customer service, where there is plate glass between you and the person selling you the food and where your money is most likely going to leave the community. This percentage is even higher for people on food stamps, mostly because the neighborhoods with the worst grocery store availability are the poorest. The sort of food you can buy in these stores not only is unhealthy and thus adds to both adult and childhood obesity problems, but also a sense of just generally depression and low self esteem.
Detroit in general is not a place where people usually feel good about the place they live. Detroit has a bad rap and has been going down hill in many ways for a long time. The area of the city is larger than Manhattan, San Francisco and Boston COMBINED. There used to be 2 million people living in the city and now 730,000 folks live here, and that is still dropping.
When things get bad like they are in Detroit people tend to turn on themselves and act in self abusive ways and just try to take what they can get from life. Luckily Detroit has a history of using farming and gardening to pick itself up. In what may be the first example of urban gardening Mayor Pingree during the depression of 1890 gave empty plots to hungry people. He even sold one of his own horses to buy them seeds. This became a model for many other cities and was repeated with Thrift Gardens during the Great Depression and Victory Gardens during World War 2.
There was also a great program here during the 1970s called Farm-A-Lot which I'll try and learn more about and write about here later. The point is that Detroit has a history of using agriculture as a way of picking itself up during hard times, which with 11.6% unemployment this certainly is.
And there's plenty of space for it. There are about 50,000 PUBLICLY owned lots in Detroit with zero structures on them. Note that this doesn't even begin to address all the privately owned lots or lots with structures that should probably be taken down. There are about 10-14 lots per acre so we're talking about 5,000 acres of potential farm land. A study found that with just that publicly held land Detroit could grow about 76% of its current consumption of vegetables and 42% of its fruit. That is amazing potential to change the way Detroiters eat and live. Truly an inspiring work to be involved with.
First let's just talk about how bad the food system of Detroit is. 56% of Detroiters get their groceries from liquor stores. Places with only processed food available in general, where there is no customer service, where there is plate glass between you and the person selling you the food and where your money is most likely going to leave the community. This percentage is even higher for people on food stamps, mostly because the neighborhoods with the worst grocery store availability are the poorest. The sort of food you can buy in these stores not only is unhealthy and thus adds to both adult and childhood obesity problems, but also a sense of just generally depression and low self esteem.
Detroit in general is not a place where people usually feel good about the place they live. Detroit has a bad rap and has been going down hill in many ways for a long time. The area of the city is larger than Manhattan, San Francisco and Boston COMBINED. There used to be 2 million people living in the city and now 730,000 folks live here, and that is still dropping.
When things get bad like they are in Detroit people tend to turn on themselves and act in self abusive ways and just try to take what they can get from life. Luckily Detroit has a history of using farming and gardening to pick itself up. In what may be the first example of urban gardening Mayor Pingree during the depression of 1890 gave empty plots to hungry people. He even sold one of his own horses to buy them seeds. This became a model for many other cities and was repeated with Thrift Gardens during the Great Depression and Victory Gardens during World War 2.
There was also a great program here during the 1970s called Farm-A-Lot which I'll try and learn more about and write about here later. The point is that Detroit has a history of using agriculture as a way of picking itself up during hard times, which with 11.6% unemployment this certainly is.
And there's plenty of space for it. There are about 50,000 PUBLICLY owned lots in Detroit with zero structures on them. Note that this doesn't even begin to address all the privately owned lots or lots with structures that should probably be taken down. There are about 10-14 lots per acre so we're talking about 5,000 acres of potential farm land. A study found that with just that publicly held land Detroit could grow about 76% of its current consumption of vegetables and 42% of its fruit. That is amazing potential to change the way Detroiters eat and live. Truly an inspiring work to be involved with.
Labels:
agriculture,
cities,
Democracy,
Detroit,
farm,
Greening of Detroit,
pverty,
unemployment
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wildlife in the city
Moving from the farm to the city is different in about as many ways as you'd imagine. While the animal life might be different in many ways, it is not totally lacking. Today in the dirt in our garden I saw a millipede, a worm and a pill bug. There are also some aphids on our broccoli which I need to deal with.
There are more squirrels around then I care to count, making it unsafe for me to leave peaches on the porch, I discovered. There were also some bats flying around eating bugs last night. Birds as well, that I hear sometimes, but I haven't seen many yet. Maybe a bird feeder this winter? Probably would just be a squirrel feeder.
There are more squirrels around then I care to count, making it unsafe for me to leave peaches on the porch, I discovered. There were also some bats flying around eating bugs last night. Birds as well, that I hear sometimes, but I haven't seen many yet. Maybe a bird feeder this winter? Probably would just be a squirrel feeder.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Dumb cop
Cop: Hey, what do you think you're doing?
Me: I'm making a left turn
Cop: You need to get out of there
Me: I'm making a left turn (thinking I hadn't been heard)
Cop: Well you can't do it there. You need to get in the cross walk (I'm in the left turn lane)
Me: I was taught you're supposed to bike with the flow of traffic
Cop: Well not here
Me: *Make left turn*
Here is the relevant bit of law:
257.660a Operation of bicycle upon highway or street; riding close to right-hand curb or edge of roadway; exceptions.A person operating a bicycle upon a highway or street at less than the existing speed of traffic shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except as follows:
(a) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or any other vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(b) When preparing to turn left.
(c) When conditions make the right-hand edge of the roadway unsafe or reasonably unusable by bicycles, including, but not limited to, surface hazards, an uneven roadway surface, drain openings, debris, parked or moving vehicles or bicycles, pedestrians, animals, or other obstacles, or if the lane is too narrow to permit a vehicle to safely overtake and pass a bicycle.
(d) When operating a bicycle in a lane in which the traffic is turning right but the individual intends to go straight through the intersection.
(e) When operating a bicycle upon a 1-way highway or street that has 2 or more marked traffic lanes, in which case the individual may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable.
From m-bike.org
Here is the relevant bit of logic:
Bikes should ride with the flow of traffic. On sidewalks they interfere with pedestrian traffic and if you use the crosswalks you will end up at least temporarily riding against the flow of traffic, which makes everyone nervous. Out in the left turn lane you are visible and it is clear what you are going to do next make a left turn and as long as you follow traffic laws everyone should be fine.
Me: I'm making a left turn
Cop: You need to get out of there
Me: I'm making a left turn (thinking I hadn't been heard)
Cop: Well you can't do it there. You need to get in the cross walk (I'm in the left turn lane)
Me: I was taught you're supposed to bike with the flow of traffic
Cop: Well not here
Me: *Make left turn*
Here is the relevant bit of law:
257.660a Operation of bicycle upon highway or street; riding close to right-hand curb or edge of roadway; exceptions.A person operating a bicycle upon a highway or street at less than the existing speed of traffic shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except as follows:
(a) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or any other vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(b) When preparing to turn left.
(c) When conditions make the right-hand edge of the roadway unsafe or reasonably unusable by bicycles, including, but not limited to, surface hazards, an uneven roadway surface, drain openings, debris, parked or moving vehicles or bicycles, pedestrians, animals, or other obstacles, or if the lane is too narrow to permit a vehicle to safely overtake and pass a bicycle.
(d) When operating a bicycle in a lane in which the traffic is turning right but the individual intends to go straight through the intersection.
(e) When operating a bicycle upon a 1-way highway or street that has 2 or more marked traffic lanes, in which case the individual may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable.
From m-bike.org
Here is the relevant bit of logic:
Bikes should ride with the flow of traffic. On sidewalks they interfere with pedestrian traffic and if you use the crosswalks you will end up at least temporarily riding against the flow of traffic, which makes everyone nervous. Out in the left turn lane you are visible and it is clear what you are going to do next make a left turn and as long as you follow traffic laws everyone should be fine.
Just passing this along:
I really liked the last bit of this article:
My nominees for some to-be-agreed-upon principles: cars and trucks are the most dangerous things on the road and should yield to pedestrians and cyclists.
Cyclists are the next most dangerous things on the road, and should yield to pedestrians and watch out for cars and trucks.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable things and so should be very aware of cyclists, cars and trucks.
To ride a bicycle without brakes is a declaration of reckless indifference for one's own life and so is evidence of reckless indifference for one's fellow citizens' safety.
Everyone should always imagine, while being a pedestrian, cyclist, or driver, what the people doing the other two things are reasonably likely to think/assume/act on, and act accordingly.
We all want to get where we're going in one piece. No one wants to be talking to the cops, the insurance company, or the newspapers. And one fundamental fact of living in cities is having to deal with other people. Lots of them. So, can we all just get along?
Read the whole thing here.
My nominees for some to-be-agreed-upon principles: cars and trucks are the most dangerous things on the road and should yield to pedestrians and cyclists.
Cyclists are the next most dangerous things on the road, and should yield to pedestrians and watch out for cars and trucks.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable things and so should be very aware of cyclists, cars and trucks.
To ride a bicycle without brakes is a declaration of reckless indifference for one's own life and so is evidence of reckless indifference for one's fellow citizens' safety.
Everyone should always imagine, while being a pedestrian, cyclist, or driver, what the people doing the other two things are reasonably likely to think/assume/act on, and act accordingly.
We all want to get where we're going in one piece. No one wants to be talking to the cops, the insurance company, or the newspapers. And one fundamental fact of living in cities is having to deal with other people. Lots of them. So, can we all just get along?
Read the whole thing here.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Welcome to Detroit
After basically abandoning this blog since I returned from Nicaragua I have decided to try to revive it. I just moved to Detroit and already feel like there is lots to say. I envision to be a little bit observations about Detroit, a little urban homesteader, a little food blog and little bike blog.
So let's start with bike. I've been for those of you who may not know, my bike looks like this:

It is a Surly Big Dummy with an Xtracycle rack system on the rear. It is pretty much the best thing ever. I use it for touring and lots of around town riding. I've been a bike commuter for years, but when I worked on the farm in Walla Walla still had to use a pick up truck often for farm errands. No more though. Now that I am living the city life in Detroit it is a different story though. I have zero car and am riding in a completely different environment.
So far the motor city has been good to my bike and I. There is a nice bike lane on my street and I get to go over a pedestrian bridge on the way to work (and the bridge and its street are named after my last name, obviously they knew I was coming). The drivers have been better than I expected as well. Only got honked at a couple times for riding with traffic and many folks went out of their way to give me extra room.
Of course, with a bike like mine I get a lot of comments. Here are some choice ones:
- Guy on a Harley with his girlfriend on the back rode at 10 mph with me for 2 blocks to talk to me about the bike and the possibilities for carrying people on the back.
- Guy asked me if it was homemade. I said I wished.
- Guy in front of CADILLAC PLACE in the MOTOR CITY told me that my bike was "A Cadillac on 2 wheels"
- Guy at the bus stop jokingly asked me for a ride, I turned around and told him I could take him down the block. He said he had to go farther but said he'd catch me some other time.
So let's start with bike. I've been for those of you who may not know, my bike looks like this:

It is a Surly Big Dummy with an Xtracycle rack system on the rear. It is pretty much the best thing ever. I use it for touring and lots of around town riding. I've been a bike commuter for years, but when I worked on the farm in Walla Walla still had to use a pick up truck often for farm errands. No more though. Now that I am living the city life in Detroit it is a different story though. I have zero car and am riding in a completely different environment.
So far the motor city has been good to my bike and I. There is a nice bike lane on my street and I get to go over a pedestrian bridge on the way to work (and the bridge and its street are named after my last name, obviously they knew I was coming). The drivers have been better than I expected as well. Only got honked at a couple times for riding with traffic and many folks went out of their way to give me extra room.
Of course, with a bike like mine I get a lot of comments. Here are some choice ones:
- Guy on a Harley with his girlfriend on the back rode at 10 mph with me for 2 blocks to talk to me about the bike and the possibilities for carrying people on the back.
- Guy asked me if it was homemade. I said I wished.
- Guy in front of CADILLAC PLACE in the MOTOR CITY told me that my bike was "A Cadillac on 2 wheels"
- Guy at the bus stop jokingly asked me for a ride, I turned around and told him I could take him down the block. He said he had to go farther but said he'd catch me some other time.
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