the Trash vitae

Trash is the editor-in-chief of an independent Colorado micro-publisher/ design studio. I dabble in digital photography, the lost art of film image making, and guerilla digital video. DrMAC Studios specializes in books and videos on self-reliance, gardening, dumpster diving, urban foraging and living off the excesses of others.
This blog documents my daily experiences with the rest of the world

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tuesday evening



The week has been long already. Daughters birthday was last evening. Homemade green chili burritos, tostadas and from scratch cupcake tiered. Just as she wanted. Its been real warm out here almost 80-90 during the day and down into the 40 in the night.. FAll is coming.. Hopefully soon.
Anyhow this weekend we will be taking about gardening, dumpstering in the fall /winter, the Discovery channel survivor shows, and of course the assclowns in guvt who still seem to think we can spend out way out of this Depression.. Stay tuned..

Monday, September 20, 2010

1st video from the indoor studio

the indoor studio in rough form

With fall and winter coming I needed t ose tup a place indoors where I can work on the blogs, videos etc.What better space than the garage. So I making headway into setting up a portable lab out there and decorating it in early geek..
Enjoy. I will take more pics when i make room for the woodstove and a couch or better easy chair.

Sunday memories

While I did not do a video yesterday I was busy working on the garden and working on the enclosure of the carport/garage and beginning the work of weather proofing it so I can use it as a winter mancave/studio. Using recycled and found lumber and hardware makes the project a labor of love and hones the scavenging skills necessary to survive and thrive on the excesses of others. I will do a video from the new studio/mancave as time permits. However I need to getit ready this fall. The fireplace needs to be installed and a flue found for warmth during the cold winter months.
I pitted and sliced all but a few pounds of the plums and placed them in the deep freeze. I also found a recipe yesterday for grilled apples, which I experimented with last night as we grilled some hot dogs and polish sausage with some some summer squash on the charcoal grill last evening.
It was so warm we sat outside at the picnic table and ate then moved the conversation to the porch where we relaxed until after midnight. Needless to say I did not wake in time for work this morning so I took a day off to get some more work done..
Tis a beautiful MOnday morning at the homestead..

Sunday, September 19, 2010

living outside the box


an interesting video on the endless possibilities

fruit foraging

For weeks now I have been foraging in a cuppla vacant lots in the neighborhood and providing plums and apples for the kids and for snacks in Babylon. This morning I figured I would share them with the readership.. Enjoy.

Sunday morning dumpie finds

I love the beginning of fall. So much good garden stuff finds to be had .. for free.


Saturday, September 18, 2010

flowers and lettuce

Well we finally got some moisture last night and into early this morning. A nice wisp of rain to moisten the plants. I cam out early this morning to enjoy the weather and brought the camera out with me so I grabbed a few shots. Enjoy.



Friday, September 17, 2010

Friday evening meanderings

Well it has been a long week and now it is a well-deserved weekend around the 'stead. I picked up the hinges this evening to hang the second door on the garage to creat a closed environment for strangers but not for the birds that nest in their during the winter. I will also be harvesting some more plums and apples and am in the process of cleaning the dehydrator for its new place on the workbench to begin drying apples.. yumyum. I also plan on cutting the plums in half and pitting them beofre we bag them in the freezer. I am hoping that the grape vines might spare a few more pints for the freezer. We shall see.
The lettuce seedlings are almost ready to replant into the raised beds for fall so that they can be covered with windows warmers if the weather turns cold. NOt likely yet but in a few weeks we should get our first frost.. Time to start hankering down as winter will soon be here..

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Trash transportation


These are the preferred methods of transport around the 'stead. I have a converted bike trailer for hauling..It makes life so much easier.... and its better for you healthwise.

tomatos in September



watching lettuce grow

These are all from the seeds I harvested out of the pods that I showed you in a previous video just a few weeks ago already starting to come alive.. The seedlings will be transplanted in a few weeks into there new home in the raised bed.



Monday, September 6, 2010

labor day video



I am out working projects around the 'stead.. Enjoy the video and as always leave comments and responses

Sunday, September 5, 2010

cute video



I found this video while roaming thru the blogs i read frequesntly and added the link to the left to the compost bin. A cute blog from England.. enjoy and give her some traffic also

Saturday, September 4, 2010

a weekend video post


As always comments are always appreciated

seed collecting pics

This was collected from one sunflower head
This was collected from one dried lima bean
and this from from dried green bean.
This is to show the potentiality for the next planting. Keep them dry and in a warm spot thru the winter and next year you can create another garden with the fruits of this year. This is how you can begin dependence on yourself and God for your garden.

Saturday morning harvest


Even with the cooler temps at night I am still being able to harvest a few pounds of tomatos.. The cucumbers are producing nicely. MAny more fruits have formed. As have the squash beds. This is 3 nights in a row now where the overnight temps are gettin in to the high 40s and daytime temps going to the high 70s and low 80s. NOt exactly great weather for warm temp plants.
Last night Mrs T was asking about why we havent had any plums lately. NOt being greedy or over indulgent I took a walk this morning and brought Mrs T about 10 pounds of freshly harvested foraged plums from the mother ship. Apparently this orchard is on a vacant lot in the neighborhood so foraging is easy here. In a brief looksi there appears to be several hundred pounds of prime plums awaiting harvest.. yumyum. I am hoping the neighbors are also partaking as it is a shame to see good produce go to waste..

Friday, September 3, 2010

43 degrees last night.

Garden took a bit of a hit.. Hoping for a recovery. We will see. Anyhow its almost 70 now and expected to warm up..We shall see what transpires.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

one of my mentors



Its a bit easier to do this while in Pasadena CA but we can do some of the same tings here in the Mile High City. I will be happy to get about 200-300 pounds of food a year in our short growing season.

Thursday morning in the garden

thursday morning harvest
new lettuce planting
another new lettuce planting

cooler temps/ garden changes

With the advent of nights in the 50's the warmer weather crops arestarting to show the effects. The tomatos are starting to die off (I lost one this morning) and the cooler weather crops are coming on strong. A second and third planting of lettuces and the other greens are renewing. Sweet pea seedlings are going in for a second run. So far I have about 1/2 a baby food jar full of lettuce seed for next spring. ALso about 20-25 seeds from the green beans. I started a cuppla collard green plants in the front yard, heavily mulched to hold in moisture and keep the soil cool. We shall see. COllard greens this summer are our new friend as a lettuce replacement.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

collecting seed video

more lettuces and greens a planting

With the advent of the cooler temps in the evening I am doubling and tripling up the greens planting for the fall. The kids love the taste of the homegrown greens and they are better for them. SO I am starting more and more from the collected seeds from the spiked plants i have shown on my you tube channel.
I am home from the lab on a bit of a staycation thru Labor Day to get some much needed work done on the 'stead. So posting will be heavier this week as I do some of the projects