flock of birbs @dthompson@toot.cat

*drake shun* *heavy wet snow*
*drake approve* *light fluffy snow*

snow tomorrow, and probably a lot of it. might be fun but it's also been nice to not have to shovel yet this winter. I hope its not the wet heavy stuff that makes me want to die.

"what popped up would change computer programming for the next 30, 40 million years"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1WtHWoORQ

finished reading Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1. for a book entirely about ecological theories, it was surprisingly engaging. now, onto volume 2 which covers how to put the theory into practice.

love when someone tells me my card is declined when i know that cant possibly be the case and then I go somewhere else and it works just fine.

omg @GwenfarsGarden I just found out about a PDC in my state that I think I could make happen. 1 weekend per month for 3 months. that's doable! http://www.permacultureseries.org/

has anyone around here had success finding free sources of organic matter for mulching garden beds? I read about people being able to get leaves and wood chips from people that are just getting rid of them anyway but I have no established relationships with anyone that could give me those things.

the best joke in the history of the world is cutting a piece out of a cake and then taking the rest of the cake.

why is every youtube video thumbnail some white dude making a stupid face while holding something with giant clickbait words overlayed? I hate it.

my wife bought taro cakes from the viatnamese grocery store yesterday and I've never had them until now and they are so good

I commute into Boston via commuter rail from the Worcester area, so this construction impacts me in a big way. I hope the trains are reliable during the construction process and I hope commuter rail service will improve with the proposed West Station.

looks like a really good design for the Allston I-90 interchange rebuild project has been chosen. I knew they wanted to straighten the highway but I didn't know about all of the other non-car benefits it would create: a new commuter rail station with potential for expanded service and new rail lines, bike lanes, more green space near the Charles river, and no raised highway eyesore. I can't wait to see that awful part of the highway get demolished.

https://www.telegram.com/news/20190110/state-chooses-design-for-i-90-allston-project-that-minimizes-negative-impact-on-worcester-metrowest-commuters

I'm starting to think that I should have bought dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties. there's so many damn variables it's hard to choose the right thing! on one hand I want to create shady spaces but on the other hand I can't create too much shade or I can't grow other things.

in the meantime, while I learn more, I figure that it's best to not let my lack of knowledge paralyze me and just keep planting as many perennials as I can. once I have the plants, I can divide/move them around as needed. but also trees are very important, and those feel like more of a "permanent" decision and it's really hard to get those right. I planted two standard size pear trees in the fall and I am not happy with where I put them so I'm going to move them in spring.

I counted and I am growing over 60 perennial plant species, with more one the way in the spring. I am happy with the diversity of plants I've been able to grow in just 2 years, but I'm still lacking an overall design plan for the entire garden. I know that I want a permaculture forest garden, but it's hard to balance various desires, particularly in zone 1, next to the house, where I want to shade the house in summer, create a private sitting area, and have a full sun annual bed.

home improvement rabbit hole: we want to paint the dining room, but first we want to remove the ugly wallpaper border. so we start removing it only to find that there is another border underneath. however, someone installed crown molding on top of it so to fully remove it we have to take down the crown molding. upon peeling off layer 2 we notice that there is yet another border underneath it. every project I ever do turns out to be vastly more complicated than it seems.

got this in the mail yesterday (in a past life it was a library book in Portland, Oregon) and I've already finished reading it. it's a story about a garden, not a manual, but there is a lot to learn from it. #permaculture

grr phone, that should be "monstera"

big ol' reasonably priced monsters at wegmans? hell yeah!