Uncategorized – Page 15 – Kristen Baumlier

Category: Uncategorized

Oranges and Figs in Ohio? – Plant Hardiness Zones Have Changed

Posted on February 15, 2012February 13, 2012 by Kbaumlier

A hardiness zone defines what kinds of plants can grow in a specific geographic area. The classification is defined by climatic conditions, especially the low temperatures that a plant can withstand. A plant might be labeled as “hardy to zone 10,” which means that the plant can withstand a minimum temperature of -1°C. Another type of plant labeled “hardy to zone 9” can handle a minimum temperature of -7°C.

The USDA recently released a new plant hardiness zone map. The updated map is based on the past twenty years of temperatures and conditions from 1976 to 2005. The temperatures in the U.S. are in general two-thirds of a degree higher than before.

The new updated map has rezoned many areas, generally one half-zone warmer than the last map in many areas of the United States. States such as Ohio, Texas, and Nebraska are now in a warmer zones.

Overall, the temperatures in Winter are not as cold as they used to be. The growing season is longer, and gardeners can grow and harvest plants for a longer period of time than 20 years ago.

Is this an indicator of climate change? Is the earth warming up and influencing our environment? There is no official report about this in relation to the updated map.

In Ohio, most of the state moved from zone 5 to zone 6 under the Department of Agriculture’s revised map.

I just looked at some gardening sites online, to see what can grow in Zone 6. Big news, there is one type of orange tree (Flying Dragon) and a few varieties of figs (Celeste, Chicago Hardy, LSU Gold, LSU Purple, and Magnolia) that can grow in Zone 6, which means that oranges and figs can now grow in Ohio.

Image Source:
Hidden Springs Nursury

Links:

2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Map

2012 Interactive Plant Zone Hardiness Map

Go Green Forever Stamps : Step by Step

Posted on February 14, 2012February 13, 2012 by Kbaumlier

I recently went to the Post Office for stamps, and purchased the USPS Go Green Forever stamps that were released last year for Earth Day. The stamps feature simple things that anyone can that can have a positive impact on the environment. Each of the fifteen stamps features a way to reduce our environmental footprint. Buy local produce, reuse bags, fix water leaks, share rides, recycle more ride a bike, plant trees, and other everyday actions are featured on the stamps. Since the stamps are forever stamps, each stamp has the word forever on it. “Reuse bags… forever,” “Buy local produce…forever,” is how the stamps read.

The stamps are made from materials that re biodegradable and recyclable and is part of the Post Office’s Go Green sustainability initiative. The stamps are intended to help promote the idea that doing daily things can make a difference. Examples are that recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to run a computer by three hours, or inflating your car tires properly will improve gas mileage by three percent.

The U.S. post office has been working to reduce its impact on the environment for some time. For over 100 years, the post office has owned electric vehicles. The USPS was the first federal agency to publicly report greenhouse gas emissions, and has eco-friendly mailing materials that meet the Cradle to Cradle Certification, which is earned by conserving natural resources.

I haven’t used any of my stamps yet. It’s hard to say what using the stamps will do to promote these ideas, but I can’t wait to use the “Ride a bike… forever” stamp on a letter.

Links:

Animation of GoGreen Stamps

USPS sustainability initiatives and the Go Green Forever stamps

Winner of the GOOD Bike Photo and Bike Story Contest

Posted on February 10, 2012February 8, 2012 by Kbaumlier

I haven’t been riding my bike here during the Winter in Cleveland, but I do think about when it is a little warmer and I pump up the tires and start to ride it again. Individuals who ride bikes usually have a strong bond to their bike, and lots of bike stories. Some of my memorable bike moments include almost being pulled off a bike by teenagers in Oakland, CA, riding a bike and picking apples along the way with my friend Ian, and biking across the San Francisco bridge when I was an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA.

The website GOOD did a contest for the best bike photo and story, where winners would win a year’s supply of CLIF bars and a nonprofit chosen by the winner would get a $5,000 grant. Second and Third place winners received a bike messenger bag full of CLIF Bars and they got to choose a nonprofits to receive a $2,500 grant.

Michael Riccobono was the grand prize winner, with his story called Turtle Patrol. He picked the nonprofit, Boston Cyclists Union, to receive the $5,000 grant. This group promotes biking as everyday transportation by advocating for safe and convenient cycling facilities throughout the Boston area.

Here is Riccobono’s winning story:
Turtle Patrol

Pedaling to work one morning, I noticed a rock dodging cars. I pulled on my brakes and jumped to the rescue of a bewildered snapping turtle.   We were just outside Boston, surrounded by concrete and tires – not exactly turtle paradise.

My lost friend was getting restless. Was he headed to the Shell Station down the block? If I was a turtle, I reasoned, I would want to be in the Cambridge Reservoir.   I had to act fast.

Attaching my helmet to the bike’s rack and putting the turtle inside seemed too risky. I decided to place him in the outer mesh netting of my backpack and pedal onward.   A quarter mile later, something scraped at the back of my neck. I turned my head and came face-to-face with a real-life ninja turtle. Terrified, I reached for the turtle and swerved off the road. My front tire hit a ditch hard.   In one swift and unrepeatable motion, I caught the turtle and barrel-rolled onto the grass.

He was hiding in his shell, but I could swear that I saw a grin on his face. I introduced him to some blueprints in my pack’s deepest pocket and zipped it closed. Who knew turtles could climb?   I finally made it the reservoir and opened my backpack. Out of a shell came a head, and out of a nylon sack came a turtle. With hare-beating speeds, he dashed into the water and swam away.

You can read the runners up stories From Austin to Alaska by Shiyam Galyon and Stolen Bike, Answers to Maddie by Ashley Donald on GOOD’s website.

Image Source:
Good Contest: Share a Bike Photo and Your Best Bike Story Contest

Links:

Good Contest: Share a Bike Photo and Your Best Bike Story Contest

Top 15 Stories – Good Contest – Share a Bike Photo and Your Best Bike Story

Concrete Jungle: Picking and Using Neglected Roadside Produce

Posted on January 25, 2012January 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

A few years ago, I saw my friend Ian outside of where I work, picking apples from a tree that I parked near every day. I had never noticed that this small tree was an apple tree. Later that week I went biking with Ian, and we went to several other locations where Ian gathered apples from trees around Cleveland. He used the apples to make apple butter. Urban unharvested and neglected fruit trees exist in lots of cities, and in larger amounts in cities in warm climates.

In 2009, Craig Durkin and Aubrey Daniels had noticed a large amount of apples growing on neglected trees all over Atlanta, GA. The group decided to create an annual gathering, nicknamed “Ciderfest,” to pick these apples and turn them into apple cider.

After several years of larger and larger apple harvests, Durkin and Daniels started Concrete Jungle, a non-profit, which after its third year has documented nearly 1,000 fruit-bearing trees across the city, and has donated over 6,000 lbs of produce to local homeless shelters and charitable organizations.

They organize group harvest events, and harvest hundreds of fruit and nut trees in the Atlanta area that are by the side of the road or by buildings. Before going out to harvest, the group documents the tree to make sure that it will yield healthy fruit. They also get verbal permission if the trees are on private land, and work with the land/business owners to get access to the trees.

Concrete Jungle sorts the fruit once picked, and checks for worms and bruised spots. They wash the fruit and donate to organizations that include churches, homeless shelters, and food banks.

The food map that they made on their site indicates over 573 locations in Atlanta which include apples, peaches, blackberries, blueberries, figs, and other fruits and nuts. If you live in the area, you can volunteer to help pick and the group uses Twitter and Facebook to list picking and community events.

Image Source:
Concrete Jungle

Links:

Concrete Jungle

Concrete Jungle – Food Map

The Art of Mali Wu: Can a city be turned back into a lake again?

Posted on January 23, 2012January 22, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Mali Wu is an artist from Taiwan who makes and also curates work that explores ecological issues and doing art projects that collaborate with communities.

Her work By the River, On the River, Of the River, made in 2006, she worked with communities that lived along northern Taiwan’s Danshui River. In Taipei, everyone has heard of the Danshui River, but not many people actually know what’s currently around or in the river. The Danshui River is formed by 4 smaller rivers, and for the project she did river tracing of each river by crossing through Taipei in different boats. The participants examined what the current water level and quality was.

The projec which had a symbolic significance was done in collaboration with the city of Taipei and the county’s community colleges. After the project, each college formed a river preservation alliance, and discussions about the river began to occur.

In 2008, Wu developed her project Taipei Tomorrow As Lake Again, which was part of the 2008 Taipei Biennale. The piece was meant to be a criticism of the high amounts of pesticides that are used at the large international gardening exposition, the Flora Expo, which Taipei hosted that same year and to bring attention to the affect climate change could have on Taipei.

300 years ago, the location of Taipei was swamp and grassland, and the Taipei Basin was a lake. In Wu’s garden installation Taipei Tomorrow as a Lake Again, she wanted to address global warming issues, and visualize what the city would be like if it was to become a lake again. Working with urbanist group, Organisation of Urban Re-s (OURs), Wu planted a mobile kitchen garden on the terrace of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Potatoes, peppermint, and other vegetables and herbs were bordered with up-side-down beverage crates that served as pathways between the garden beds. Exhibition visitors were invited to harvest the garden.

The project also was comprised of an installation and a series of workshops and actions which included Eco-building, Bike Paradise, Farm City and Flood Taipei. These were designed to stimulate discussion and to motivate people to take a new look at Taipei’s urban policy.

Taiwan is a country that imports most of its food, but environment questions are not commonly discussed. With her piece, Mali Wu is proposing that the City of Taipei work to allocate cropland in the city so that in the future the country can provide for itself.

When asked about the role of art in environmental issues Wu says,” I think art stimulates the mind, but I wouldn’t compare an artist to an environmentalist… Environmentalists are focused in making changes; artists, on the other hand, tell the same story with a different medium, they also give the mind an alternative suggestion – this, I think, is the only difference between the two.”(1)

Image Source:
Taipei Biennial

Links/Sources:

(1) Interview with Wu Mali

Wu Mali at the Taipei Biennial

Flora Expo