WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

2 different sized terracotta flower pots

1 bolt that will fit in the pot holes

4 washers

2 nuts

something to lift the pots – a baking pan is ideal

1 or more candles – the more flames the better!

1 lighter

First, attach the smaller pot to the inside of the larger one, by inserting the bolt into the hole. Put a washer on every time the terracotta will touch metal. Screw on the nuts tightly. Place candles in the baking sheet. Light them.

Next, place the attached pots upside down overtop of the lit candles. Wait about 20-30 minutes, and it will begin radiating heat. Be safe! Make sure the candles/pots won’t get tipped over easily and that the pots are secured ontop of the baking sheet.

Heating a space without electricity is useful for situations when you can’t afford/don’t have access to adequate heating in your home, to save money, living in a portable shelter such as a car or a tent, or choosing to live “off-grid.” It can be used in black-out situations, or if you ever choose to build a cabin for yourself in the woods. Really, anytime you need to heat a space and don’t want to use/cannot use electricity.

DIY projects such as these are often attributed to the “living off-grid” ideology/movement, but are not restricted to it. You don’t have to have an off-grid lifestyle to implement ideas such as these into your life, or use when it is appropriate for you.

Natural Crossdressing 

After spotting some caterpillars on a birch tree, Nina thought that a pair of them would make a perfect moustache. Using honey to help encourage the caterpillars to stop crawling up her nose and stay on her upper lip, she photographed her new look. Crossdressing, an act that is generally thought of as a highly unnatural act, transpires here using entirely natural materials

Mended Spiderweb Series

Nina searched in the forest for broken spider webs which she mended with red sewing thread. These repairing patches were made by inserting segments of the thread one at a time directly onto the web. Smaller threads were held together by the web itself whereas larger pieces were assisted with white glue.

Nina often found that in the process, she would accidentally cause more damage to the web. Then later, the spider would reject her repaired patch and replace it with its own web again, leaving the red thread to fall on the floor.

Nina also thought that she would take the opportunity to teach the spiders how to advertise:

Members of my family have been part of this club for a long time, and despite having the word game in the title, the Fish and Game club isn’t centered around hunting, at least not so much anymore. They do fish throughout the summer though. They’re very community based; the meetings I went to were very focused on having discussions about the lake the club is on, and getting people’s opinions on matters brought up by the president. After one of the meetings, we went for a walk and they showed me “blocks” that my grandfather had built in order to help preserve the shoreline.

The area the club house is built on was once a gravel pit, so when harsh rains would come their way the water would run down the hill and basically ruin the shoreline. And then there’s the waves from the lake itself and it was just a mess. These blocks help keep the shoreline from receding by allowing the water to drain through them and keep the dirt and gravel intact. Very cool. We also went out and walked to an island that is usually not accessible due to the lake itself. As we went across, they talked about how interesting it was to see what was on the bottom of the lake, like the stones and the neat little clusters and formations they formed over time, and how the different levels of the lake’s bottom were now visible.

It was mucky…very mucky…but very worth it. There were even stumps from trees that were once rooted in the lake who knows how many years ago.

(more…)

After joining the Horticulture Club, and previously knowing very minimal about plants and how to care for them, we have learned so much. The Horticulture Club aims to bring people together to educate, learn, explore and have fun with plants.

Activity 1: Dinosaur Planters

An activity that we had the privilege of participating in was planting grass and moss into wire frames that were in the shapes of fun animals and dinosaurs! We got to work on the Brachiosaurus shaped frame. We were instructed to start by emptying the old dirt that had been unchanged for the past 20 years of use, and to pack it full with fresh new dirt.

We were then able to plant some grass seeds into the dirt, and were encouraged to make fun designs with it! We then learned how we can grow our own moss, which was very interesting. We observed as some of the executive members of the group explained that when you put equal parts of buttermilk and water into a blender, and then add a bit of existing moss (dead or alive) and blend it up, you can then pour or paint this sludge mixture onto dirt- or whatever you please! Moss grows best in areas with more shade, and misted with water.

We decided that our dinosaur would look best with a grass-y spikey Mohawk, beard and fuzzy boots, with a mossy body. It will be excited to see the outcome once the seeds start sprouting and growing! It was a great activity to get everyone’s hands dirty, and learn how to re-purpose old items into new life to decorate a space.

(long post ahead, click to read more) (more…)

Earlier this year, my brother Alex decided to bring back the tradition of gardening at our house. (My nonno, an Italian immigrant used to have a garden here, too).  This project got me interested in what exactly went into tending a garden, so I decided to find & help out.

Because of this garden, we have been able to harvest: carrots, cherry tomatoes, onions, zucchini, green beans, snow peas, spinach, lettuce, kale, radish and cucumbers!! ***I am planning on making kale chips for the class at some point**

He taught me about pruning — a vital part of maintaining a healthy garden so that the plant can “focus its energy on fruiting” instead of excess leaves.

The garden itself is a square foot garden, meaning it does not allow room to step in between rows of plants. Instead, he built trellises in order to let plants grow upward. This apparently can triple the amount of garden space!

Unfortunately, the big beef tomatoes did not turn out well. We’re not sure why.

Animals can pose a threat to your garden as well. That’s why catnip is a good way to draw your cat to the garden (leaving its scent, urine and fur around) to ward off unwanted visitors like rabbits.

Soon, we are going to gather dried/brown matter (leaves, and some of our ornamental long grass) and mix it with grass clippings. This mixture will be kept for a few months to a year (with regular checking) and become compost!

Growing your own garden has many benefits, from the economical to the spiritual, as it provides the satisfaction of eating food you put your own work into. I had no idea so many variables went into creating a garden and can now say I have a better understanding & appreciation for this type of work.

On Monday, Emma and I visited the Hagen Aqualab with Areanna Balbar, one of the execs of the Marine and Freshwater Biology Society.

the first stop on our adventure was checking out the Skates – a creature that looks like a sting ray but is more closely related to a shark. The females lay eggs in a thing called a mermaid purse!

we met many animals. This creature is a green crab, they have the ability to REGENERATE arms and like to fight each other.

these are seastars! They eat mussels – their stomach comes out of their body and they liquify their prey, changing its chemical composition so they can slurp it up! They can also regenerate arms.

this seastar has 10 arms instead of 5.

this large sea star is beginning to go limp. This is because it is losing water, and this is its natural reaction as a way to retain water.

Many students research and perform experiments in the Aqualab. There are a variety of freshwater and saltwater creatures.

The Marine and Freshwater Biology

This club meets once a week and talk about related courses, hold study sessions, and sometimes host events such as Movie in the Pool.

Tree climbing is a great means of exercise. It utilizes total body strength training. In the next few images I will describe you the correct technique to climb young straight trees with no branches.

1. A dead tree is an unsure tree. When approaching a tree it is important to make sure that it is alive all the way through. A dead tree is unsure, by that I mean its structural integrity is questionable.

2. Size does matter. The ideal tree size is a tree that you can comfortable wrap your hands around the diameter of the tree with your fingers intertwined, and your thumbs almost touching. If the tree is too thick you will be unable to create this grasp and will be unable to create the leverage needed to support your body weight leaving you unable to propel yourself up the tree. If if the tree is too thin it will simply break. The images above depict a tree that is too thin [left], a tree that is too thick [middle], and a demonstration of the hand grasp around a tree of the correct size [right].

3. Lose the shoes. This form of tree climbing requires the participant to be barefoot. The removal of shoes, allows for the ball of the individuals foot to be used in the climb. The benefit of being barefoot allows you to create friction between your foot and the tree bark. Therefore when you are selecting a tree it is also import to ensure that the tree bark is ruff to further aid you in the creation of this friction.

4. Ball planting. Notches on the tree are used as your theoretical latter. The balls of your feet are planted on top of these notches. These notches help support your weight and utilize lower body strength to assist you with the climb. Trees without notches are very difficult to climb.

5. Mounting. Before ascending the tree it is essential to test your strength. This safety strength test is performed by recreating the pose in the image above and holding it for 1O seconds. Your body will sway to gravitational forces. This sway will occur throughout your climb. You must be able to counteract this sway through the manipulation of your body.

6. Foot-hand-foot-hand.  Now that you are mounted, tree asention can occur. It is important to make your way up the tree using the formula: right foot-right hand-left foot-left hand. This formula puts your body in proper alignment, lowering your center of gravity and as a result enhances your balance, decreasing  strain on your back and upper shoulders.

The above image shows students of outdoor school participating in my very educational tree climbing tutorial using the steps described above.

2006-present
“Fallen Fruit invites the public to bring homegrown or street-picked fruit and collaborate with us in making a collective fruit jams.  Working without recipes, we ask people to sit with others they do not already know and negotiate what kind of jam to make: if I have lemons and you have figs, we’d make lemon fig jam (with lavender).  Each jam is a social experiment.  Usually held in a gallery or museum, this event forefronts the social and public nature of Fallen Fruit’s work, and we consider it a collaboration with the public as well as each other.”

See more from Fallen Fruit here.