It's a relatively modern problem, where you, a scrappy solarpunk with no money, want to begin a vegetable garden. The ground you have to work with is either dead as hell or flat out toxic or has no dirt at all. You want to build a raised bed but you have no money and the kits are expensive. There's a lot of ways to go about this, here's what I did: I built a wicker basket.
Step one: assemble your branches.
You want whippy ones at least 4' long, no thicker than two fingers, no thinner than a chopstick. Longer and bendier is better, but also get a bunch of thick stiff ones. I got mine from the Greenway near my lil condo, and from my neighbor's yards.
Protips: Wear gloves, because thorns. Carry clippers discretely, because people get nervous when they see sharp shiny things in your pocket. The branches in the above pic are one load of three, because that's how much I could carry.
Step two: hammer your stakes
(no pic for this part, sorry)
Take the thickest and straightest of your branches, and cut a length you want to be the height of your box plus a couple inches extra. Hammer them into the ground every 18" or so, and at each corner. Every side of your box must have at least three stakes.
Protip: if the ground is really hard, drive a hole ahead of the stick by hammering in a screwdriver.
Step three: get weaving
First weave your biggest branches in and out between the stakes. You can remove any leaves for free compost at this point.
Protip: this is the hardest part, so don't get discouraged! Here is also where you will find out of the stakes are thick enough or hammered in deep enough. Try not to cry if they fall over. Or break.
Step four: keep weaving
Now you put in the smaller branches. I found that long vine types like ivy and wild rose can be woven in more than one direction, so if you need to fill in some gaps you can get creative.
Protip: tamp down the walls you've made every so often do they stay nice and dense. They need to be closely woven enough to hold dirt later.
Step five: smaller, different weaving
By now you have gotten down to the sticks that aren't quite long enough to go between the stakes. Make them into smaller stakes, ones that don't go into the ground but nonetheless weave vertically through your box walls. Hey, it's starting to look more like a box!
Protip: break off the ends of the stakes and your new vertical weave so they don't have out too much, and WEAR YOUR GLOVES, don't be an idiot like me and think you're safe because you don't have thorns to deal with.
Step six: fill it with dirt.
If you have any budget, use it all here. Get good, organic dirt, get your compost bin empty, and be extra careful taking dirt from elsewhere if you don't know exactly what has been leaking into it.
Protip: get more dirt than you think you need. Dirt is fluffy. The second you get water on it all the air goes away and you have a three inches deep garden box. In the unlikely event that you get more dirt than you need, use it for your houseplants or porch containers.
And that's it! Plant what you like! Use the seeds you've stolen from other gardens and the insides of your daily fruit! If you've bothered your nosy neighbor and they have alerted the HOA or your landlord, take this time to brush up on your various rights. If your neighbor dislikes you because they believe you to be a witch and a lesbian and idk, a long haired hippy or some other deeply outdated derogatory term, get those middle fingers up because you are going to help the bees and they aren't.
Green can be very punk.
02/14/2025
With all the talk about telling people to start planting and growing crops to feed themselves and their communities during this time of crisis, I’m surprised I haven’t seen much about HOW MUCH to plant to feed people. Here’s a good article to serve as a jumping-off point, to give people an idea of when to plant and how much to plant to keep people fed. Keep in mind that unless you live on a fairly sizeable plot of land that has ideal growing conditions, you probably won’t be able to completely feed a family of four, at least with traditional gardening methods. However, you can still heavily supplement your diet with homegrown food if you plot your garden carefully.
Some things you can do to save space include growing plants in stackable towers rather than flat rows. Not everything can grow this way, but growing herbs or even strawberries or some kinds of tomatoes in them can save a lot of space. Bonus points if you can get some vertical vining plants like beans or tomatoes to grow up the sides of them to maximize the space used.
Hanging planters can also be used for things like tomatoes, herbs, some berries, etc. The people who grew up watching TV in the 2000s may remember ads for the topsy-turvy tomato planter. I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of them, but it may be good inspiration for creative DIY hanging planters.
Many people don’t seem to know this (to be fair, it’s not very intuitive), but small melons and gourds can be grown vertically on a trellis. You will need pantyhose or something else that can act like a sling for when the fruit gets large enough, and you’ll also want to make sure the trellis is very sturdy. Here is an example of a watermelon growing on a trellis, with squash growing in the background:
Other good options that require a bit more DIY are hydroponics towers and walls. It’s basically just a series of pipes with holes for plants to grow out of. The only downside is they will require very regular fertilization and supplementation with other micronutrients that are essential for plant growth, because the plants are typically grown in either a non-nutritious medium like coconut coir or nothing at all.
Planter walls are the next step down, basically just building shelves with pots in them to fill with soil. Put these on a wall that gets good morning sun and some afternoon sunlight for best results. These and hydroponics both also have the advantage of being able to hook up to your gutters so that rainwater will go towards watering your plants rather than just being wasted.
If you want to get really fancy, aquaponics is the next step up. With aquaponics, you create a system that circulates water between plants and a tank full of fish. The fish waste provides fertilizer for the plants, and the plants help filter out the waste so the water stays cleaner. I’ve heard they’re a bit tricky to establish, but once you find the right balance, all you’ll need to do is feed the fish. This has the added bonus of providing a source of fish for people who can’t eat things like nuts and legumes but need protein. Here is a link to an article explaining what aquaponics is, how it works, and how it differs from hydroponics.
I also want to add that if you don’t have the space or ability to maintain a large garden, there are other options. Find or create a group with access to enough food to supplement or completely fulfill your diet, and offer another service. If you have space for a vermicompost bin or tower, that can still help contribute to the garden. Learning other skills like soap making, cooking, sewing/knitting/crocheting, electrical skills like wiring and soldering, welding, woodworking/carpentry, etc. means you will still have valuable skills to contribute towards the group, and this will set up the basis for a larger mutual aid network within your community.
The peryton is a mythological creature resembling a deer with the wings and overall plumage of a bird. Sometimes perytons can have bird-like hind legs, but are often depicted as being entirely deer aside from the wings. Last image created by the talented Skallan of Deviantart.
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The vegan to ecofascist pipeline
Why is Sherlock able to bring body parts back home and keep them in the fridge?
Why is no one remotely surprised to see him wandering about Barts Hospital using all the scientific research facilities?
We see so much of Sherlock working in Bart’s Hospital that we seldom stop to question how and why he is allowed such privileged access. Mike Stamford knew exactly where to find Sherlock, suggesting that he often comes to conduct experiments.
Many people have simply assumed that Molly gives Sherlock access to Barts but you cannot simply bring a friend into the morgue, or allow him to conduct experiments using state of the art equipment. Laboratories have strict security protocols and monitored CCTV because they often contain highly dangerous substances.
Sherlock clearly has his own connection with Bart’s Hospital and it is most likely that he has entirely legitimate access to its facilities.
I explore:
What Sherlock did before he went into crime solving
Why he is able to freely use Bart’s Hospital research facilities and morgue
How Sherlock manages to take body parts home
Keep reading
justaholmesboy did this magnificent Irish Elk fawnlock and I couldn’t resist drawing fanart for it. COOL AUs. HORNS. PRETTY MARKINGS. CENTAURS.
the last set for this year’s (not) dinovember! this marks 3 years in a row done now, geez. If I do it next year I definitely will be changing things up a bit.
Didelphodon > Hatzegopteryx > Diplocaulus > Elasmosaurus > Lystrosaurus > Darwinopterus > Tylosaurus > Anurognathus > Nothosaurus > Tiktaalik
French senator Claude Malhuret sums up the world made by the current American administration, 5 March 2025
a repository of information, tools, civil disobedience, gardening to feed your neighbors, as well as punk-aesthetics. the revolution is an unending task: joyous, broken, and sublime
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