Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
A seedy idea. Tableware/Birdfeeder.
Another reason to be thankful for creative & smart people.
Have a BBQ. Toss and shatter your plates. Watch as the birds eat it up…
Love.
Original Post at Food Republic.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
Human Vending – Grab and Go – Healthy?
What do you think about the idea of Healthy Vending Machines?
And is this stuff really healthy anyway? Kinda seems like in order to truly be healthy, food should look like it came out of the ground, off a tree, or something of that nature. Once it’s all processed, whether with good ingredients or not, isn’t it just nullifying much of what started off healthy?
I guess it’s better than a robot spitting out Mountain Dew and Little Debbies, but the nature of our grab and go culture is what leads us to eat things that are not healthy. We want it faster, in the car, on the way, and without the effort of cooking, preparing or taking up any time. And therein lies the problem with eating healthy. We can do better. Healthy vending machines are a start, but not an end goal.
(And don’t get me wrong, my kids still eat their share of junk on occasion, but we’re making strides, including limiting the snacks we buy. At this point, most of the snacks our kids get, come in the form of whole fruit…)
(original article at inhabitat.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 1 Comment
Popping about.
The garden is off to a smashing green start.
We’ve already harvested the early strawberries. There’s plenty of greens to eat.
Other things popping about: red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, beets, chili peppers, heirloom and other tomatoes, leeks, yellow and red onions, rosemary, thyme, basil, sage, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
Living Off The Land: Foodie Week #2 (hard to call it Foodie week when it’s now taken a month. Such is life as a dad, husband, entrepreneur, and employee. No more promises or schedules for this blogger.)
So, getting back to my Foodie posts, I want to take a few minutes of your time to encourage you to live off the land this summer. Well, not really, but what I would like you to do is to close the gap between the food on your table and the field it was grown in.
Last Spring, I surprised my wife (not in a good way, she was just surprised) by heading out in the backyard in the middle of the night and digging up a strip of grass to do some planting. It wasn’t huge, but neither is our city plot of land. A deal was struck! She got some room for flowers, I got some room for veggies.
I’ve been wanting to grow some of my own food for a while now. Here’s a few reasons why:
- To Close the Gap.
When you walk around the grocery store and see boxes and cans and microwavable trays, and each product has 50 ingredients in it, you get a very abstract picture of where food comes from. I wanted to close the gap between the field and the table. I wanted to cook with veggies and herbs that I could see their whole life cycle. - To Teach My Kids About Real Food.
Those products in the grocery store have dozens of ingredients that I can’t pronounce, much less tell you where they came from. One day my son who was 3 at the time asked me, “Where do Graham Crackers come from?” Not a clue. What does it say on the box? Well, clearly there’s pyrophosphates in there son. Eat up. – Got me thinking, do I really want to give my kids food that I can’t pronounce the ingredients? Or myself for that matter? - I like to cook and I want my food to taste better.
I’m not particularly that good at it, at least, not to where I’d hope to be…but I love to cook. The garden is inspiration. You can’t help but want to be a better cook when you’ve got access to fresh off the vine tomatoes, lush herbs and crunchy lettuce you just pulled out of the ground. When it comes out of the ground, gets washed and goes right into a meal, it tastes better. period. - Saving Money
I think this is possible. I didn’t run the numbers last year, but conceivably, with the right mix of veggies, the right planting schedule, eating what’s “in season,” it is conceivable that you could actually save money. It doesn’t really cost that much to get up and running. Last year we spent less than $100 and had a serious bounty. I plan to do it again this year with more intentionality.
So, that’s why I started and I want to encourage you to grow something. I’m not saying that you should give up your day job and become a farmer. I’m not saying rip up your whole yard and make the whole thing edible. Here’s a few ideas to get you going though:
- Grow Something. Anything.
Head to the bookstore and look at the magazines. There’s a ton of them out right now that give you ideas from a window box, to container vegetable gardens, to 3×6 raised beds, to the works. Buy some seeds and grow! - Start at a pace that makes sense for you.
Don’t rip up the whole yard if you’re not ready to deal with the ramifications of it. Not everyone is as crazy or impulsive as I am. Starting with a 5×20′ garden may not be right for you. But, there is a happy place between nothing and full-fledge farmer that is right for you. - Don’t be discouraged by some things not growing.
Truth be told, at least half the seeds I started last year died before I could plant them outdoors. That sucked. But the other half didn’t. That was awesome. Don’t be discouraged. It’s not all going to grow. - Start with plants from the garden store.
Starting from seed can be a lot more work and a lot more defeating. Start with 3-4″ or 12″ plants from the garden store can be a winning recipe. Most of those plants are bred to live in your local area. You’ll have a greater chance of early success. - If you’ve got kids, get them involved.
Everyday, my boy was out in the garden asking if there were any cucumbers or tomatoes to pick. It’s a great way to get them going in the process and even encourage them to eat more fruits and veggies. My boy loves Thyme. He says it’s his favorite herb. Does your kid have a favorite herb at age 5? They could.
I’d love to have some conversation about your successes and struggles.
A few garden shots from last year…
Posted by jeremyscheller | 1 Comment
Thoughts: Who Killed the Electric Car
So, I just got done watching “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and here’s my main thought…
All things being equal, I think most logical, coherent and breathing people can agree on 1 thing: No pollution is better than some pollution. End of argument. Smog=bad. Clean air=good. It’s only slightly above neanderthal in its comprehension quota.
I have little doubt, before or after watching this film that big business is self-intererested in serving the needs of its share price far beyond it’s responsibility to further the health and well-being of humanity. I have little doubt that our democracy has holes in it like swiss cheese where money is the filler that closes the gaps. I have little doubt that if these guys can make the Tesla Roadster run on electricity, then GM, Ford and Chrysler could come up with a long-term, viable, profitable solution to the problem of vehicle emissions.
Bottom line, I think most of us were told when we were kids to, “put it back the way you found it, or better.” There’s no excuse for demoralizing future generations by not solving problems that we can solve today. Electric car or no electric car, we should be interested in taking care of this world we’re here to steward. Zero emissions is a stewardship goal, not just an environmental freak movement.
If for no other reason than to be entertained and make you say, huh? add “Who Killed the Electric Car? to your netflix queue.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 1 Comment
I'm a sucker for high efficiency…
With our new furnace:
- we heated 1 extra bedroom
- had a lower electric bill (1 room switched from electric baseboards to gas)
- used 32% less natural gas over the same time period last year.
The average temperature was roughly the same, so I’d say this is going to save some money in the long run. I should mention too that we’ve been keeping the house a little warmer this year. Chilly toes don’t agree with my pregnant wife so much this year. Thermostat is set to 71 when we’re home compared to 67/68 like I like to have it.
For this month alone, using last year’s natural gas rate as a comparison, we saved approximately $76 on natural gas for the month of December with our 95% efficiency furnace.
Good for budget, good for earth. Of course, I’ll be paying off the furnace/air conditioner/air filtration system for the next 5 years, but what the heck, huh…
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
Solar Decathlon: Great Impact with Less Impact.
- Getting energy from completely natural sources is a good thing. The cost of the wind and the sun is free. Harnessing its power is the only expense to figure out.
- Fossil fuels are dirty. Visit Los Angeles and notice the brown haze that sits on the horizon or try to see farther than a mile or two in Linfin, China. The damage is from fossil fuels plain and simple and it’s just not that pretty to look at.
- As the world gets more polluted, any good capitalist can see a huge market for greener technology. The green economy will be the building blocks of the economy over the next half century as fossil fuels dry up and governments mandate energy sources that rely on electricity from increasingly natural sources.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
A Good Food Manifesto for America
I’m a foodie, and more and more I’m becoming a foodie purist. I believe that underlying our healthcare crisis is a food crisis that is causing diabetes, heart disease, childhood obesity and the majority of the issues that form the baseline for our healthcare “needs.”
Take a moment to think about the food you eat with a few of these resources:
1. A Good Food Manifesto for America at ChangeThis by Will Allen.
2. The Movie or Participant Guide of Food, Inc.
3. The Omnivore’s Dilemma Book or Audiobook (my fav)
4. Or just make something good and fresh to eat.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
This week in Prefab: Place Houses via Inhabitat.com
I love this house and I can’t believe it’s a prefab.
Maybe it’s just the chartreusie pea green set in the foggy Pacific Northwest, but I think the angles, color, and contrasting materials make this prefab model especially tasty to the eyes.
Read the article over at Inhabitat.com or
Check out the Place Houses website.
Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments
This Week in Prefab: SwellHouse
The SwellHouse is a new prefab package from The Office of Mobile Design.
The SwellHouse advertises mass-customization. In essence, it’s mass produced, with the ability to quickly customize it to your modular needs…It essentially comes as a bunch of boxes that get shipped from the factory, bolted together on site with all the energy, plumbing and information systems hidden away in the cavities.
I like the standard design of this house. The “S” model as the call it, has sliding panels and walls that merge the inside world and the outside world by creating courtyards on the inside of the building. They use stand “green” practices and materials to make this house have a smaller environmental footprint, aside from the smaller footprint of the factory produced modular building process overall.
Check it out.
