Carnivorous Plants – Nepenthes
on Jul 12, 2009 in Gardening carnivorous plants exotic native native plants nepenthes tropical I remember an Ecology class field trip in college to a local nature park in which I saw my first non-Venus fly trap carnivorous plant. I had been floored – didn’t carnivorous plants only grow in exotic locations? Drosera tokaiensis – th...

Plant Spotlight – Zinnias
on Jul 10, 2009 in Gardening butterflies zinnias One of my favorite annuals is the zinnia. In my central Texas garden the zinnia seems to be a super butterfly magnet. Zinnias have humble beginnings as a native plant in the southern US and Mexico. The story goes that the Spanish explorers in Mexico...

Rainwater Harvesting
on Jul 8, 2009 in Gardening Green Living Rainwater Rainwater Harvesting We have gone 43 days without measurable rain in College Station. As the temperature continues to increase past historical highs in the Brazos Valley, I begin to think more of water saving techniques and ways to stretch my water budget. Over the years...

Raw Thai Inspired Salad
on Jun 23, 2009 in Cooking Health Raw Vegan Vegetarian I’m trying to get more raw vegetables in my diet in the tastiest way possible. Spicy foods, such as Thai food are some of my favorites. Here is my take on a raw Thai salad, inspired by several internet recipes. Salad Ingredients: Corn, raw, 1 la...

Lasagna in the Vegetable Garden
on Jun 23, 2009 in Gardening After neglecting my vegetable garden for a year I revitalized the area using lasagna gardening methods. It is a bit late in the season for summer vegetables (going to be 104 F this week in my area), but I’m going to try a few things before fall veg...

Raw Thai Inspired Salad
on Jun 23, 2009 in Cooking Health Raw Vegan Vegetarian Salad Thai I’m trying to get more raw vegetables in my diet in the tastiest way possible. Spicy foods, such as Thai food are some of my favorites. Here is my take on a raw Thai salad, inspired by several internet recipes. Salad Ingredients: Corn, raw, 1 la...

Lasagna in the Vegetable Garden
on Jun 23, 2009 in Gardening vegetable After neglecting my vegetable garden for a year I revitalized the area using lasagna gardening methods. It is a bit late in the season for summer vegetables (going to be 104 F this week in my area), but I’m going to try a few things before fall veg...

Lasagna in the Butterfly Garden
on Jun 16, 2009 in Gardening butterflies vegetable It seems gardening in the summer is my second full time job. I have so many things I would like to accomplish with our yarden (yard/garden), but as the primary manual laborer there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I am constantly looking for wa...

Lasagna in the Butterfly Garden
on Jun 16, 2009 in Gardening butterflies vegetable It seems gardening in the summer is my second full time job. I have so many things I would like to accomplish with our yarden (yard/garden), but as the primary manual laborer there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I am constantly looking for wa...

Waking Up Early
on Jun 11, 2009 in Health Morning Productivity Sleep “Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” – Benjamin Franklin I’m not a morning person. I love sleep just too much. Despite this, for years I’ve tried to wake up early on a regular basis, one failed attempt...