Good morning DMV! Our next Repair Cafe is THIS SATURDAY, Aug 16th! Doors open at 10:30am, and we'd love to see you there!
New to Repair Cafe? Bring a broken item or a question, and let's work together to figure it out. Repairs and consultations are free, and we have snacks to share.
PLEASE NOTE: We CAN do knife sharpening at this event after all. See next post for more details.
@keithfrankish.bsky.social For fiction, I recommend #solarpunk and #hopepunk as a genre.
For climate communication and activism (and it works in other sectors, too) Saving Us by @kathhayhoe
So, that wraps up another #SolarPunkSunday! TY to @carapace , @MaQuest , @BrambleBearGrrrauwling , and @jblue for their posts, and @corbden for the #SolarPunk-themed playlist! Join us next Sunday (though my participation might be on the light side - Pow-Wow next weekend!).
One more post, and then I'll re-toot some of the posts from earlier today and last night (yes, we started early). HT to @anubis2814 for this brilliant post!
"Richard Scarry created the most #solarpunk world you can imagine and Its left us feeling frustrated as to what we could have without #capitalism. I don't want a jet pack I want an apple car. #IWW #unions "
#Massachusetts - #GrowFood #Northampton raises more than $1M for #AtRrisk communities
Namu Sampath, Thu, July 24, 2025
NORTHAMPTON — "#GrowFoodNorthampton is growing.
"The local food and #farming justice group has raised over $1 million for an effort to increase support for vulnerable community members, it said in a statement.
"The money will go toward providing more #FreshFoods to families experiencing hunger, will establish #CommunityGardens at #LowIncome housing sites, will support #LocalFarms and #gardeners, and will go toward implementation of #ClimateResilience measures.
" 'All of these efforts are critical right now due to drastic #FederalCuts to local food and farming programs, the ongoing #ClimateCrisis, and ever-growing #inequities in the local food system and beyond,' the statement said.
"The fundraising effort began late last year. There was an 'outpouring of support,' and the financial goal was met ahead of schedule, the group said.
"The organization will still accept donations through the rest of the summer, and supporters can opt to add their names to a campaign contributors list, which will be installed at the Community Garden in Florence.
"The organization also said it would accept non-monetary support from the community.
" 'Community members are invited to attend summer events, share the campaign with friends and family, and volunteer their time,' the statement said."
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/grow-food-northampton-raises-more-170811234.html
#SolarPunkSunday #BuildingCommunity #FoodJustice #FoodSecurity #FoodInsecurity #CommunityGardens #LocalProduce LocalFarmers #BuildingResiliency
#Georgia [USA] - ‘Without Walls’ Farmers Market makes debut in #GardenCityGA
By Brontë Sorotsky
Published: Jul. 26, 2025
GARDEN CITY, Ga. (WTOC) - "A new initiative to help #LowerIncome families buy #HealthyFood and make smart choices kicked off Saturday in Garden City.
" '#FeedTheHungry' is meeting people where they’re at to make the community as a whole healthier.
"From #okra to #nectarines, a new farmer’s market in Garden City has no shortage of healthy options. The idea for this farmer’s market came from a lack of resources when it comes to fresh foods.
" 'Trying to address #FoodDeserts in this community. And what does a #FoodDesert mean? That means limited access to fresh food,' said Charice Stroud, a volunteer with Feed the Hungry.
"Stroud is working alongside state representative Carl Gilliard to increase that access with the start of the first '#WithoutWalls' #FarmersMarket.
"On Saturday, this new farmer market kicked off with #pickling demonstrations, fresh juice making, farmer’s selling #LocalProduce, and more.
" 'It builds a healthier community, right? That’s our overall goal,' Stroud explained.
"Feed the hungry is partnering with #AgraUnity, a coalition of #BlackFarmers that focuses on supplying the food deserts In #WestChathamCounty.
"Those local farmers will be selling their products, allowing people in the community to access farm to table food at a more affordable price.
" 'We want to empower people. And a part of that is your health, what you’re consuming each and every day. So, you can come in and get some good ideas for what to bring back to your home and your family,' Stroud said.
"The 'Without Walls' Farmers Market will be held every 4th Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4704 Augusta Road in Garden City."
Source:
https://www.wtoc.com/2025/07/26/without-walls-farmers-market-makes-debut-garden-city/
Love this story! What a great idea -- #FruitWalls!
[Photos] Restored #FruitWall in the #Netherlands
November 2, 2022 by kris de decker via #NoTechMagazine
"Melle Smets, Dutch artist and our collaborator at the Human Power Plant, stumbled upon this beautiful fruit wall in #Dorrepaal, the Netherlands. By planting fruit trees close to a specially built wall with high thermal mass and #SouthernExposure, a #microclimate is created that allows the cultivation of #Mediterranean fruits in #TemperateClimates. Previously: Fruit walls: urban farming in the 1600s."
https://www.notechmagazine.com/2022/11/restored-fruit-wall-in-the-netherlands.html
#Massachusetts - Learn, tinker and play at the #SpringfieldMuseums this summer
Ashley Potter
Fri, July 11, 2025 at 7:25 AM EDT
SPRINGFIELD — "Families can turn up the heat on summer fun while staying cool in air-conditioned halls at the Springfield Museums.
"Now open seven days a week through Aug. 15, the museums are offering a slate of activities including hands-on exhibitions, live entertainment on the Quadrangle Green, and music inspired by cultures from around the globe.
"Most summer activities are included with Museum admission, and that cost is waived for Springfield residents with proof of residence.
" 'I am hoping that visitors and their families leave the museums this summer thinking ‘I’ve learned something new,' said Abby Garner, Family Engagement Coordinator for the Springfield Museums, in an interview with The Republican.
" 'Whether that is from the #planetarium, one of our #musical performances, the additional activities we are offering, or from one of our visiting exhibits.'
"Some of the Museums’ summer activities are returning favorites, like the return of Giant Bubbles with Mr. Vinny, a show on the Quadrangle each Friday afternoon that encourages children to watch, chase and pop bubbles. The Toe Jam #Puppet Band, a children’s entertainment troupe that combines #music, #puppetry and #storytelling, also returns.
"Other activities, like hands-on experiences in the Cat’s Corner, Hasbro Games Art Discovery Center and #SparkLab, were curated by the Museum’s education staff for this year’s summer programming.
"In the Cat’s Corner, located inside of The Amazing World of #DrSeuss Museum, guests can read some of Ted Geisel’s stories and take part in facilitated art activities. In the Hasbro Games Art Discovery Center, located inside of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, guests can participate in activities that range from arts and crafts to dress-up and puppet play. In the Spark!Lab, located inside of the Springfield Science Museum, make projects inspired by inventions and innovations in American history, or invent something totally new.
" 'Activities can change from week to week in our drop-in spaces, so there are new experiences often for visitors looking to visit more than once this summer,' Garner said.
A focus on music
"The summer schedule also offered the opportunity for more live music at the Museums.
" 'We’ve had musical performances on and off throughout the years, and they’re always really special events, especially when the weather’s nice and we can have them out on our #QuadrangleGreen and kids can dance and #sing and #play,' said Larissa Murray, Director of Education for the Springfield Museums. 'But we wanted to make it more of a featured event, something that you could plan for as opposed to it just happening now and again.'
"Wednesdays are a strong turn-out day for the Museums, Murray explained, making it the perfect opportunity to test out a new music program.
"As a result, the Springfield Museums are offering a 'Music on Wednesdays' program this summer, with a different group or performer scheduled each week. The live music begins on July 9 with the Community Music School of Springfield performing #BombaYPlena music from #PuertoRico and #WestAfrican-inspired drumming and dance."
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/learn-tinker-play-springfield-museums-112542385.html
#solarpunksunday #gardening #jardin #garten #bloomscrolling #FleurisTonFil #flores #花 #insects #insekten #InsektenSamstag #昆虫 #insectos
Garden colors
Marshmallow root flowers
Starfruit, Thai Giant
Peppers (mostly madhatter, Trinidad perfume, cheiro do norte, Sweet Imposter, zavory)
Maypop, Passiflora incarnata with Xylocopa virginica (eastern carpenter bee)
Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/
By changing our diets now, we can avoid the food chaos that climate change is bringing
Published: August 6, 2025
Excerpt: "This trajectory of climate-driven food price hikes – leading to social unrest and political decay – is not inevitable. The scientific consensus shows that the biggest opportunity we have for reducing food’s environmental impacts across many countries is increasing the amount of plants we eat and reducing meat and dairy intake.
"This could help us better deal with shocks. It’s likely such shifts would be better for related climate shocks such as flooding and storm surges.
"Plant-rich diets are beneficial because eating plants is a far more efficient way of delivering the calories and nutrients we need for a healthy lifestyle than eating animals that are fed on plants.
"My team and I found that a shift to plant-rich diets in the UK would free an area almost the size of Scotland. As climate change hits food production, some land currently producing animal feed could be used for human crops instead. There would still be plenty of land left which could – if sufficient policies are put in place – be used to meet biodiversity targets while improving access to nature for millions and improving mental health.
"The plant-rich diet we investigated isn’t vegan. It’s not even vegetarian, although it does include a reasonable (and healthier) amount of meat and dairy. For example, it still includes a hamburger every fortnight." [Well, personally, I prefer a buffalo burger once a month or every two months, but yeah...]
Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025
Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/
East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP): "To find a community orchard near you, click on a county on our Home Page’s interactive East of England map."
https://applesandorchards.org.uk/community-orchards/
WWT: "We are the wetland restoration charity. We create, restore and protect the world's most vulnerable wetland habitats for future generations."
https://www.wwt.org.uk/
The #FourSisters: Nurturing a time of plenty
"For the #Mandan, #Hidatsa and #Arikara people, seeds are even more than miraculous kernels of life. They are relatives and storehouses of ancestral memory, linked back to a time of abundance connected to the land. That is why the seed sovereignty project generates so much excitement throughout the community. Last month, the program’s first Food and Seed Summit drew around 100 enthusiastic participants.
"The college’s #FoodSovereignty effort aims to help reverse the cultural loss from the MHA Nation’s 1940s dislocation by flooding from the massive Garrison Dam. The seed sovereignty project engages faculty and community members, elders and USDA researchers to cultivate food security in the Three Affiliated Tribes.
Sowing #Sovereignty: Reclaiming #IndigenousAgriculture in #NorthDakota
By Tracy L. Barnett, June 10, 2024
Excerpt:
"Like others from her community, Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills grew up hearing the stories about a time of bounty, when the Three Affiliated Tribes farmed the rich bottomlands of the Missouri River. They grew nearly everything they needed in a tight-knit network of communities where work was shared and abundance existed for all.
"The stories were all that remained from those days – and the seeds.
" 'We had a lot of independence, even up to the 1940s,' Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills told Buffalo’s Fire. 'Then, with the Garrison Dam, that had some devastating impacts in terms of our ability to grow our #TraditionalFoods.' "
@corbden "I've got a shorter list that's meant to be a mixtape played in order that tells an emotional story arc starting in the mid-twentieth century and ending some unknown time in the future. This was the starting list and the other grew from there."
1. VNV Nation - Foreword
2. A Perfect Circle - Imagine
3. Queen - Under Pressure - Remastered 2011
4. Pomplamoose - Big Yellow Taxi
5. Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
6. The Postal Service - Sleeping In - Remastered
7. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
8. Phoebe Bridgers - That Funny Feeling
9. VNV Nation - All Our Sins
10. India Ramey - King of the Ashes
11. Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain
12. Meg Barnhouse - All Will Be Well
13. VNV Nation - Resolution
14. The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight
15. grandson - Die Young
16. Jewel - Hands
17. Puscifer - The Humbling River
18. Barry Manilow - One Voice
19. The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
20. Thea Gilmore - Inch by Inch
21. Andra Day - Rise Up
22. Nina Simone - Revolution (Pts. 1 and 2)
23. Becky G - Bella Ciao
24. KOU - RIOT
25. Tom Morello - Hold The Line (feat. grandson)
26. Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires
27. Seeming - Goodnight London
28. R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
29. Craig Connelly - You Are Alive
30. Blue Öyster Cult - Dancin' In the Ruins
31. The Decemberists - After The Bombs
32. John Denver - Rhymes and Reasons - "Greatest Hits" Version
33. Live - The Dolphin's Cry
34. Gaia Consort - Move To The Country
35. The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Peaches
36. The Decemberists - Sons & Daughters
37. MGMT - Kids
38. Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine
39. Iris DeMent - Let the Mystery Be
40. Amy Steinberg - Exactly
41. Vienna Teng - Landsailor
42. John Lennon - Imagine - Remastered 2010
43. The 5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) - From the Musical "Hair"
44. Enigma - Return To Innocence
45. Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken
46. Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers - 2005 Remaster
47. John Denver - Poems, Prayers and Promises
48. The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds - 7" Edit
49. Hum - Green To Me
50. VNV Nation - Only Satellites
51. Highly Suspect - My Name Is Human
52. The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)
53. VNV Nation - Perpetual
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Un8eqgCBenhljaLk25jvo?si=10cade86a5f2416b
The surprising shifts #ClimateChange is bringing to #Vermont #farms: #RicePaddies, #peaches, #saffron
By Maeve Fairfax
Jun 26, 2025
TOWNS STATEWIDE — "Vermont’s farmers are growing crops that better suit the state’s warmer and wetter climate — and branching into products that provide income even when traditional crops fail.
"Since 1900, annual temperatures in Vermont have increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and annual precipitation has increased by 21% over the same span, according to the state. The changes have forced agriculture to adapt in sometimes surprising ways.
"Now that winters are milder, it has become commonplace for Vermont orchards to grow peaches. Nick Cowles owns Shelburne Orchards, and 35 years ago, he saw a bedraggled peach tree at a hardware store and bought it on a whim. Since then — especially in more recent years — peaches have become a lucrative addition to his business.
"Peach trees like rain, and so the increased precipitation in Vermont does not bother them. Historically, temperatures posed a problem for peach-growing.
" 'It takes around 15-17 degrees below zero in the winter to kill the bud, and it used to be that there would be a stretch in the winter that we would get those temperatures. I figured we would get a peach crop maybe every third year,' Cowles said.
"Now, he said, 'it’s rare that they freeze out.'
"Innovation is also making Vermont a more peach-friendly place.
"Farmers have used new technology to develop more cold-hardy peach varieties, Cowles said, and he now has trees that ripen at different times so that the picking lasts longer and brings in more customers.
"In Ferrisburgh, Erik Andrus has turned his hayfields into rice paddies.
"His Boundbrook Farm uses the rice-and-duck farming technique, a pesticide-free method in which ducklings are released into rice paddies. They control weeds and pests — and provide fertilizer.
"The farm mostly grows cold-tolerant rice varieties from Japan, which sits at a similar latitude to Vermont, but has recently started to grow loto rice from Italy.
"The farm once accidentally planted Koshihikari, a variety of Japanese rice poorly suited to the cold. It did eventually mature, but not until October, which Andrus said was 'a little bit of a nailbiter.'
"Floods and droughts appear to be striking Vermont more frequently, but the rice grown at Boundbrook Farm is fairly immune to both, Andrus said.
"The plants can be underwater for two days without being harmed, and the grains are protected by a husk that means they won’t be contaminated by pollution from floodwaters. Because the varieties can be planted in floodplains, they can get water even during droughts.
"Andrus said 'flood-prone bottomlands' are the best places to create rice paddies. Vermont has many such areas, and rice could represent a path forward for farms impacted by flooding.
"He works as a consultant at Cornell University, where a team of researchers is studying rice-farming techniques in the Hudson Valley. They are also offering workshops and creating resources for farmers.
"But nothing like that exists in Vermont, and acquiring the tools, seeds and knowledge to create and manage a rice paddy without help is unrealistic for most farmers here.
"Andy Jones, the manager of Burlington’s Intervale Community Farm, said it has become easier to grow crops that like it warm: peppers, eggplants, melons, sweet potatoes.
"The member-owned farm has also seen increased yields of cold-weather spinach, lettuce and kale grown in unheated greenhouses in the winter. The flip side is that, for several weeks in the summer, the farm has had to stop growing some of those crops because it gets too hot."
