I am inspired to attempt a recipe for a burger I found a couple of days ago from an Australian blogger. It was like she was reading my mind, my cravings. The photos and the recipes are lifted from her blog, Down to Earth. Pay her a visit if you haven't before, as it a pleasure to read a happy blogger proud of her life.
CHICKPEA BURGERS
But on Sunday evening I had an invigorating interaction with two young women. I looked out my window and saw two beautiful young women admiring my latest art project – pencil posts. They asked if they could take pictures and also asked me to get the two of them in a shot.
In my weekly Farmer’s Market buying, blogging framework I try to pick something new. This week of *A* - the redux – I didn’t spot some new thing to try. I had hoped I would be seeing towering amaranth plants in our community garden. Not. I have not had any success with any of the amaranth seeds I planted in May.
As a kid in the late 50’s and early 60’s I remember our getting a ‘lug’ of peaches each summer. A lug was a wooden crate of individually wrapped peaches. Each peach was wrapped in tissue. What a treasure.
The floor consists of peach pips that are packed by hand onto a glued surface and filled with a silica sand and resin mixture, then sealed with a twin pack urethane. The sharp edges of the pips are grinded off, firstly to expose the nice red colour hue of the pips and secondly to make it very comfortable to walk on them with bare feet.
The first reaction is that this must be a really green alternative. But, as you can see the silica sand / resin mixture, the ocean of urethane negates the natural peach pit part. Right? Well, I am not ready to dismiss this out of turn. Just for the use a peach pits alone I want to keep this in my mind.
Stones. Stones are a basic of our building tradition. For me, nothing says trite or boring like a granite countertop. I want to scream when I see a televised design reveal showing a granite counter and every other human yelling, “Awesome!” I want to hurl at the robotic utterances, vapid designs and monstrous waste of natural resources. Stones are being blasted, gouged from the earth.
Leave the damn stones in the earth. Quit digging pits and start collecting pits from peaches, olives, cherries and apricots. Capture a vast diversity of plant stones now being tossed into landfills.
Figure out how to make the resin finishes from recycled plastic waste. And, as usual, I love to take the commercial product and try to figure out how to hack it. How can we in the do it yourself category carry this off?
I’m not stuttering, that isn’t a typo – it just cracks me up to think of using waste to hold waste. I wrote last month about trash dummy. Well this waste basket is a project for later, but damn it, I want to blog about it now because I had a long encouraging chat with a neighbor last evening about waste. (More on that later).Thanks everyone! Glad you all like it. Now for a little FAQ...
How long did it take you?
A freakin' long time. I started it on Monday and worked on it for a couple of hours a day until last night. I'd say it took at least six to eight hours, probably more than that. I set up a little work space in the living room so I could watch crappy reality TV while I worked on it. I think that kept me from going insane.
Did you seal/protect it with anything?
I sealed the whole thing with Mod Podge. I still might give it a coat of polyurethane.
HOW DID YOU DO IT?! I LOOOVE IT!
It's easier than it looks! The base uses the same technique one would use to make a magazine bowl, only instead of shaping it into a bowl you leave it flat and coat the whole thing with Mod Podge. For the rings you cut magazine pages into thirds and, starting at one corner, roll the pieces around a bamboo skewer (or a pencil or other similar object). Brush a little dab of glue on the opposite corner and seal it up to make a thin paper straw. Then flatten out the straw and coil it around your finger to make a ring, gluing down the tail. Repeat about 399 times and hot glue them on top of each other in a shape you like, and seal with Mod Podge. Hope that makes sense.
How strong/durable is it?
It's sturdy enough to function as a trash can. It wouldn't take much to destroy it if you tried, but I wouldn't try if I were you, at least not in my house.
Have you tried doing it with just a few colors like a pattern or something?
I haven't but that might be cool, maybe with some patterned paper. I like the random, colorful look of the magazines though.
Well, I have stacks and stacks of design magazines to purge. I have scheduled purging all my books and magazine the last week of September. By then I hope I have become completely at ease with not being in front of a screen for hours and hours at a time. I also suspect I could sell these or give them as gifts if were able to produce more than one.
Now I will put it aside for a season and turn to the tasks at hand. The neighbor who came to my door last night needed me to throw her rotten vegetables from a half dozen plastic bags into the composter. She had ventured out of her little lavender home to the compost bin by the garden, but just couldn’t abide the idea of lifting the lid and having fruit flies around her face. *sigh*
I was happy to dump the slimy vegetables for her and commiserated about the guilt of letting food go off. When we talked of waste I shared my stories of no plastic bags from the grocery store due to taking my homemade produce / bulk food bags and laundry basket. She was intrigued, but she was adamant she had to have plastic liners. I explained I put all wet waste into a glass (or metal or plastic) container with a lid until dumping in my wormery. My paper, metal or glass recycle stuff didn’t need a liner though I think papers in bottom catch in water droplets from washing out cans, bottles. And, I told her about my Trash Dummy for all of the plastic that I think I am keeping out of my house. *sigh* I want to see how much it expands trash dummy rather than simply weighing or recording it.
We ended our conversation with my telling her to just observe herself and play around with ideas, confessing it took a year for me to figure out some of my basic strategies that now seem so simple. I reminded her that we have been habituated by advertisements to think we must have countless products that are just not necessary; e.g., paper towels, plastic bags and shampoo. Well, the shampoo reaction will wait. The woman was so intrigued. She came by not long after with bags of fresh vegetable to share with me.
Maybe I could make her a waste waste basket this fall? Oh, and did I mention I am not very fond of crafts or cutesy stuff? For some reason this waste waste basket is appealing to me.
The thing is, I am not a consumer and I may only be guessing, but I believe there are many millions of people who don’t realize the limitless potential of re-purposing trash. So for those who are compelled to buy – during this time of transition – there is at least this refreshing alternative to using any more natural resources.
Re-purposing, local artists and millions upon millions of ideas, trash items and stuff. I snagged many of these images from Inhabitat a website rich in sustainable design ideas. I have referenced this website before and I am especially excited about their participation in international designs that function for the many, rather than simply for the wealthy few. The Hippo Bottle and Glasses for Global Poor were an examples of this.
I still believe that eliminating the consumer addiction is the ultimate direction. But it took a century to get us this brainwashed as a nation into this mess. It will need some real re-education to manipulate the sheeple away from destructive consumerism; euphemistically labeled progress. Speaking of labels, this designer jacket is exclusively labels.
different products from three different designers. And an additional irony is trash basket made from trash.
I have this half-thought-out theory that about 50 years of modern art and craft-as-art (say starting with Pop Art) have been about dealing with the overwhelming plenty of industrial consumerism, and we are starting to see the beginning of post-plenty art.
Just like cooking by looking at what is available and making something delicious out of it, this art of looking at what is there and transforming it through skill, instead of thinking of something and finding the resources to make it, isn't so much a technique as a world view.
But it's a really important shift.
If Rosa would develop this I would guest post it. This is indeed a shift in perspective.
When I started my mobile home remodel three years ago, I left the shed in the back out of most of the original work. These snapshots are a sort of show and tell or the shed's rebirth into a welcoming space. This photo show how shed-like and utilitarian the little structure was when I bought the place (not the land). There was a huge storage container, 72w x36d x42h sitting in the path right outside the shed door. As a space planner I was miserable with the lack of traffic flow for any real functionality of the back area, hinged storage box and shed. Added to this was a fence and a gate that swung in the path of the shed door.
The previous owner put down carpet inside, a counter and shelves. He claims he worked in this windowless box of mold. (I’d bought after a winter of flooding rain and mold was everywhere. He also said his teenage kids slept there when they came to visit and to surf or scuba. BTW, the big mystery box was for all of the scuba and surfing gear I guess.
My first project was to demo that storage box and paint the shed exterior to match my add-on rooms.
During the construction phase I found all kinds of broken mirrors in the park dumpster and put them to use as
fragmented surface for the fence. I spent a winter experimenting with adhesives I had left from projects. I finally had to admit defeat and purchase adhesives made for mirrors. My goal was to give the narrow (3’) walkway in back some light and sparkle. It definitely opened it up. I then painted the top fence with all of the leftover paint from my home remodel and past home projects. This gave my exterior the smile it needed.
The piece de resistance turned out to be a 15 minute inspiration to paint the pavers black and white. They were pink like the scalloped border bricks I STILL haven’t eliminated. Blek. Lava rock was everywhere and I had to find more pavers from neighbors and around my place to fill in where the big box had sat. Damn. It was a spontaneous decision that proved to be the signature element of my home. Who knew?
Two summers ago a friend I hadn’t seen in years came and helped me finish the shed into a guest house. We were helped by a neighbor who put in two windows and the shelves. All of this was barter or friendship. I am blessed.
Twice I have rented this little tiny room out for several months at a time. This has helped me survive my losses in income. My lease disallows subletting, so I really can’t do this on the up and up. I could probably rent it for storage if I would get rid of everything in there, but then I’d not have it for tools and overflow.
I asked that same neighbor to mount the bed frame mobile home at the back and up high enough for me to put an under-counter refrigerator inside. The original mobile home back door was mounted at counter height just inside the door. There are two shelves under this counter for all of my storage boxes.
As a guest house it really isn’t practical. Nobody I am friends with now would stay in this little room without a toilet, refrigerator or microwave. And heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer are also an issue.
I think that the ultimate use will be clearer to me as I become more adept in my sustain-ABILITY. Like the word responsibility, I actually hear the emphasis in my own head as ability, a self measurement.
So many, many things to learn and know. This little shed, like my little home, was a wonderful training project.
Today I am simply going to share some of the colorful projects in my little community. I would love to take the credit, but my role has largely been that of a chronicler and cheerleader. I have painted a hell of a lot, and planted some – but the manager of the park is a young woman with no ‘off’ button. So far, the contributions of time, tools, paint and objects have transformed this place. The best part must be the anonymous giving. These little surprises that are left here and there and we don’t know 
wh
o placed them.
I simply can't believe the number of people (especially men) who say stupid shit about the fence. How terrified are people of color? (Jeebus, what an appropriate question in this racist culture.) It is fucking paint, folks. I am not attempting to re-wire your homes or remove your plumbing. If you are that upset about 70-100 fence slats no longer in their faded, moldy state - please avert your eyes and hurry past the cobalt blues, aqua, raisin, lilac, paprika, etc. Keep your arms close to your body so as not to touch the happy boards.
If I hadn't titled this post as I did, I don't believe readers would ever be able to figure out the graphic above. I am the first to admit that my methods are unorthodox. My garden is a true urban garden. My containers are made up of all free materials and are in keeping with the design aesthetic I like to call, "Yes, it is a a rusty ole' thing and it is beautiful." or somesuch . . . Admittedly, there are many people (family and friends included) who don't see beauty where I see beauty. Part of the problem is that my vision holds all of the lush edible vegetation covering every rusty object in my domain. Until I get the green growing the place does just look like a junk heap. The goal will be year round food, blooms and living green air cleaning machines.
Today I am preparing the initial plans for my garden. These plans will then become the template to add all of my ideas for what I want to plant and when I want to plant. I could do elevations too if I really wanted to create layouts in the oil drums that allows for great height at the center, bushy plants surrounding and trailing plants at the edges.
Yesterday our community garden had its first work detail. Several young residents and a guy my age went to pick up the load of topsoil and horse manure (dried) from an ad I’d found on Craig’s List. They also went to a second spot and picked up aerated soil for a total of about 4-1/2 to 5 yards. Once back here a half dozen of us sifted through the pile and took wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow to two separate plots. One neighbor, a nurse during her day job, worked for several hours spreading the soil and then began at one end of the larger garden and turned the soil one spade full at a time.
The other benefit was a heightened sense of excitement for the next stage, and the next. Several people felt the need to talk about what a good feeling it was to join together in this task. All of us were astounded to see the pile of dirt go down. We actually finished it all but the pile of dirt clods, grass and sticks we’d sifted out. This last pile was spread out so that the dirt could be dried completely. We will then pulverize it as much as we can to make it spread-able.
The kitchen daydreams continue with another wonderful design called Flow. Here is an incredible prototype invented by John Arndt that completely captures the reuse, reduce, recycle concept and more. It is called Flow and it incorporates whole systems in drying dishes, watering plants and composting kitchen scraps. I don’t even know if it is for sale. I know that I am going to create my own knock-off of this inspired design. I think you will enjoy this.
The dishrack takes advantage of the smallest amounts of wasted water and puts it to use to water the herbs and edible plants growing in the planter boxes. The rack also eliminates the need for a cupboard allowing the dishes to be easily accessible. The plants also help attract dust which helps to keep the dishes clean and the dripping water helps to wash off the dust.
My own kitchen has some problems. It is temporary as I ran out of money when I moved in and renovated. I re-used the old white (stained) laminate counter I’d pulled from the trailer and tossed. The old counter is resting on two IKEA cabinets without doors. My kitchen sink is a big plastic laundry sink I bought for about $20 with a faucet costing 3 times that amount. I made curtains for the fronts from a paint cloth. I made a top channel in each and threaded them onto an electrical conduit or pipe I installed with electrical clips. This is the setup until I have enough money or courage to buy or make a concrete counter with a stainless steel sink. To make this would not cost much, but the work demands some real strength and competence. It intimidates me something fierce.
The temporary nature of my kitchen set-up also includes the old jalousie windows that leak. These windows were originally lower, but I asked the handyman to raise them. It turns out that the new location is perfect for catching all the rainwater that flows off the curved trailer roof. When it rains I line up cans with bowls and pans on top of them to catch the row of droplets coming in the back windows. So, wouldn’t a window conservatory affair with planter inset at the sill height and these dish draining racks above be perfect? I think so.
I will continue to daydream and to draw up plans on the computer. It is just a matter of time because it always works out somehow with found objects, barter or bargains. It just does.
Check out Flow.
I daydream . . . a lot. I believe it is a critically important part of living. I am thrilled when I solve problems through daydreams. During my years in university study I once jokingly wrote a syllabus for a class I imagined in Daydreams 101.
I would like to clarify that I am interested in stealing these ideas and using them in my own DIY way. I haven't the income to even consider buying. That is a sad admission because I believe these designers (like authors, musicians, artists, etc.) should be compensated for what they do. But, that is a post for another time if not another blogger.
