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Archive for the ‘tv episodes’ Category

Solar Oven follow-up

Posted in announcement, community, sustainability, tv episodes, tagged , , , , , on September 28, 2009| 2 Comments »

Here are some links for more info on buying, making or using a solar oven and even some full blown 3 course meals, cakes, cookies casseroles,  recipes  solarovens.org sunovens.org solarovens.net This next site provides plans for constructing solar ovens http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/.  You may even come up with some cool new ways and materials.  Some will work and some won’t, either way you can’t help but learn something.  I can promise that every solar cooker you see is  the result of someone thinking of a better way to do it. Who knows you may have an idea that no one has thought of yet. If you do come up with something better — Hey I would love to hear about it.  For questions or to schedule a demonstration for your group here in the Central Valley contact: Marcia Alter 805-458-1241 or email address malter1101@alocom.  And, of course you can see our attempt at making and cooking with a solar oven at holeinthefence.net Episode 6 Something Old, Something New and Something Entirely Different.

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Episode 6: Something Old, Something New, Something Completely Different

Posted in tv episodes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Hey all!

Well, I’ve FINALLY finished this episode. The past few months have been…epic. Lots of things going on in the Blackwell household, the biggest thing being the move to Austin.

But enough about me. This episode has it all: intrigue, humor, excitement, fun, children, and Tom Ogren. Take a look. Leave a comment if you would like to encourage our behavior.

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Episode 5!

Posted in tv episodes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

We have a wonderful, shiny new episode for you! It’s summer garden planting time, and that’s just what we do. We’ve learned a lot from last year’s planting and we use that to make this year’s garden even more prolific.

But wait, there’s more! In this episode we have a lively discussion about sustainability and government with Adam Hill, newly elected county supervisor. He’s also a former English professor of mine from Cal Poly, so the conversation is an easy and a fun one to have.

And if you act now we will even throw in a segment about building a clothesline, complete with all of my struggles, mistakes, and brilliant recovery. In the end, it actually works. And five months on we’re still hanging clothes exclusively. FYI, major money savings! Check out the Project Expense Tracker and our Energy Savings Tracker to see how our savings are adding up.

But you must act now! Hurry, my mom is standing by to hear your opinions of our latest endeavor!

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The dirt on red wigglers [Supplement to Episode 4]

Posted in tv episodes, tagged , , , , , , on April 29, 2009| 2 Comments »

The wigglettes!

Hey gang! Here’s a bit more information about the worm bins we created in the last episode. So now you have NO excuse not to start one. 🙂

  • First, make sure you get red wigglers for your bin. They like working in close quarters. Earthworms are just the opposite. They hate being confined and are much better out in the wide open spaces.
  • Next, our dear little babies don’t like light; that is why we painted the drawers black. To keep it dark. Even though they have no eyes they are light sensitive. Too much light exposure paralyzes them and they dry up and die in less than an hour. Then you cry. Then you have a little wake, with music and a nice glass of wine…. Anyway, keep the bin in a shady cool spot with good air circulation.
  • Now, make sure they have enough “bedding”, i.e. wet newspapers. No glossy or fancy paper. Keep it simple. They will eventually digest all the bedding into compost also.
  • Tip: The ratio is 2:1. Two pounds of food for every pound of worms. There are about 1000 worms in a pound. One pound of worms can eat 2 pounds of food in a day. Yes, that’s a LOT of kitchen scraps!
  • Finally, don’t give them any moldy or spoiled food or the bin will start to smell and attract flies. Keep it fresh. And remember no meat, dairy or citrus. They are picky eaters in that respect and will just high tail it out of there.

If you want to make worm tea or wrangle give a holler. We got people and places for you to go to learn more. Tell us how you are doing, too. We’d love to hear how well (or not) it’s going!

I wrangled for the first time about a month ago. Because it’s more precious than gold, I used the worm tea for my favorite plants and I started some tomatoes with the compost. It is, without a doubt, the BEST, MOST COMPLETE compost you can find. And you can grow  your own!

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Episode 4!

Posted in tv episodes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2009| 3 Comments »

All right, gang, we’re back with another jam-packed episode!

One of our goals has been to make this into a collaborative effort, and it continues move in that direction. Jeff Jensen, my friend from High School (that place I went to nearly 20 years ago!) sent me some music to include in this episode, and I’m thrilled to add him to our growing collection of great artists. (Now if only I could get Fear Factory. What, not the right tone? Okay, fine.)

It’s also really cool to see the progress we’ve made on both the filming and editing front. We’re actually improving. Although we can only improve so much with me in front of the camera….

This episode sees us doing a little catch-up to get on schedule with the seasons: we pack the summer garden tearout in with the what I call a “winter garden medley”—photos of the garden as it grows over three months. Now our filming schedule will only be a month off instead of six….

We also take a trip to Mt. Olive where I learn a LOT about organic farming, and, inspired by their worm bins (200 tons of compost?! Seriously?!), I set out to build my own.

Join us! And let us know what you think!

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