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

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Sunday video



As usual comments and suggestions are always welcome..

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Saturday morning

WELL the Babylonian hallows eve party was fun. I snagged about 3 dozen leftover cupcakes, about 4 pounds of fresh jalapeno and habanero peppers and 2 medium large pumpkins that were not used. The ice cream and candy were all snagged before i could make a take home goodie bag. Anyhow the pumpkins were de-seeded and carved when i got home by the kids. The seeds are drying out and then they will be roasted. The peppers will be frozen for winter use and after Halloween the pumpkins will be cubed and blanched for cholent or blended/pureed for pumpkin pie and bread.. As Trash always says take advantage of all the opportunities to grab the excesses of others for your useage.

I went outside this morning to the outdoor office.I also put the tomato pots to bed by dumping the soil into the compost bin and any old fruit was removed from the stems and also added to the compost pile. Apparently the cold weather did a little damage to the greens but i think this warm up will bring them back, which is good cause I hate paying for lettuce. And besides mine tastes better.
As for last evening the kids wanted burgers so i went by bike over to the liquor store for beer, wine and smokes and then over to Wallie and got a 12 pack of coke before heading over to Carls Jr for burgers and fries. Mrs T and the son want the $6 bacon guacamole burgers and the girls wanted the Big Carls. I had the Philly steak burger and no fries with a beer. Good stuff.

Friday, October 29, 2010

spring weather returns

at least for the next week its supposed to be in the 70's.. Excellent for the weekend. I hope they are right as I have a lot of outdoor projects to dabble with.
I am also hoping to put together a halloween video but we shal see.
Hope all is well with y'all

Thursday, October 28, 2010

the wind storm we got


Thank the good lord CO was only getting the back end of this.. My prayers go out to those who got worse.
Is this a sign of things to come. Check out this article

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

midweek update

didnt get much sleep the last cuppla nights as the wind was going crazy here at the stead. But now it is over and the rest of the week is supposed to warm up and we are supposed to have nice weather. Babylon has been going nut as well aas I have been doing some supplementary work on machines to make a few extra bucks.
In order to provide extra funding for the winter projects and expenses.
Tonight we are experiencing xfinity.com and the kids are able to watch streaming tv and education shows on there machines whether they are on hard wire or wireless. good stuff and educational.They love this new feature. Time to ditch tvs.. haha yeah right, How else would i be able to watch my old vhs tapes.
How are y'all doing?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Sunday update



Relaxing day at the 'stead.
Tuna sandies for lunch today. On Wheat bread with mayo and lettuce and tomatoes fresh picked from the garden right before being washed and sliced.
Took a walk this afternoon and was able to forage about 5 pounds of beautiful red apples off the tree in the empty lot in the neighborhood. As I said this morning, keep your eyes opened to the bounty in front of you.

Sunday video



Sorry for missing last weekend but was real busy. Hope all is well. As always comments and opines are welcome

compost is your friend

As the fall leaves are falling and the summer garden should be cleaned up, its now time to start working on the new compost pile for next spring.. Here at the 'stead we have several large s pound plastic coffee cans inside and a couple of 5 gallon tomato planters close to the front deck and out along the side of the garage. If it gets too cold and snowy to go out to the big 50 gallon tumbler we can still move the ingredients from the filled coffee cans to the tomato planters until a time whereby we can walk out to the gig tumbler.Always keeping room in the cans for more ingredients.
At the beginning of fall I empited the summer compost into the beds and turned it in for the winter dampness to get the soil ready for next spring.
While it is still dry I also sprinkle coffee compost tea onto the lettuce plants and the root veggies so we keep them well fed and producing.
Be on the lookout now also for those leaves. They make great mulch material for your beds and a few bags of drying decaying leaves are also good for your compost pile. And dont forget to feed them an occasional shot of nitrogen piss when your beer is ready to be exhumed.. Your spring garden will be thankful

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

eat locally, hunger not

At this time of year the summer produce starts going up in rice because they have to ship it in. Why bother apples pears, and other fruits are just as tasty and in season. Same with lettuces, cabbages, greens and root veggies. Eat em up. Stock up on em.
One of the things we have learned over the years is eat in season. Beef, turkey and pawk are all cheap right now.
Stock up on the clearance aisles and just expired aisle for freezer delicacies. Even check the backdoor shoppin opportunities as they continue to grow. Prepare now so you arent hungry later.
We have also discovered the Dollar Store for great deals on assorted stuff for the pantry, the freezer and the sweet tooth.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sunday video

Back to the beginning

In the beginning--
Remember that . The beginning of the bible. God created the environment perfectly in balance.. And lastly G-d created man and woman to have dominion..To be like the shepard. To nurture the land and to benefit from its abundance..
The year is now 2010. Man and woman have taken Gods gardens and fucked em up. The environment is polluted and becoming unsustainable for man and animal to thrive. Yet there are a few of us who have back-slidden on modernity and are attempting to plant the seed for the future by reclaiming a little piece of gods garden and nurturing it back to life and prospering from its harvest. And our numbers are growing. Than God.
Living simply is not an easy path. Nothing of true value is easy. But its gets simpler the more you endure the hardships and nurture the environment.
Composting, wasting limited and natural fertilization will help turn your little piece of the garden return to its original state. One plot at a time.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Another week gone by.

Either I am getting really busy or I am forgetting to post on a daily basis. Propba combo of the 2. Another birthday this week. The youngest Trash turned 11 this past Wed and today Mrs T took him on a trip to the zoo.. funfun.
Meanwhile Babylon has benn crazy. Senility is setting in where noone rememb ers anything that has happened or their consequences.. ha ha. I have benn finishing up putting the summer garden to be. I pulled a few tomatos off of the vines this morning for mater sandies with collard green lettuce. This evening daughter made some homemade chicken chili for supper. Darn good.
Helped the neighbor woman replace some trim on her home that had rotted thru and added some flashing to cover it and keep it dry. After the work she offered homemade caramel apple pie and coffee (I had water). darn good.
BUt alas its Friday eve and its beautiful here at the stead and I am relaxing outside.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday video

Sunday morning calmness



the leaves are turning and they are falling. What a beautiful site. All thoses free compost ingredients.
It is even sprinkling this morning out here in the studio. Gotta love it. the greens are well and almost ready to start harvesting for salads..

Friday, October 8, 2010

How quick the week went by

Its Friday already and I havent posted since MOnday.. Oh well. Tha Assclowns down in Babylon dont seem to understand that money is tight.. They are spending it like water.. Much like the couple who indebt themselves right before they lose their jobs. And then say screw the bills.. hahah.
Anyhow the week was pretty uneventful.. Did some sideline work and relaxed a bit. October is like a winding down time here at the stead. The garde is prtty much harvested and the greens are growinf nicely. We finally had a cuppla light rains to drench the garden and get it prepped for winter sleep. Gotta grab some more mulch.
Going to take it easy this weekend as I strained something in my back this morning ion Babylon and I dont wanna stress it to much.
I will be doing a video for Sunday. Any suggestions on what we should discuss. Gimme a comment or 2 on what you would like to hear about..

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Saturday morning frolic



48 degrees this morning when i awoke and made coffee. Had to wait until almost 10 before I could water the ground and work in the garden. To pass thei time I processed a few zuchs and squash for the deep freeze and also gave the green onions, chives and the lemon thyme a little haircut for preservation. The smell of onions and lemon is wonderful. I am also at the short harvest time for lettuce that i planted from the seed pods in the video I shot a while back.. Its nice and tender due to the cooler weather. I think this weekend I will take some pics of the lettuce and greens that are still thriving in October. It has been a few weeks that I have had to buy lettuce since the kids ate it up the last harvest..
As I said its a learning device as to what the kids will enjoy that the Trash garden provides. I am also in the pro9cess of cleaning out the dehydrator for fall useage.

September harvest totals
15 pounds of foraged plums (more coming and still freezing)
20 pounds foraged apples (more coming)
5 pounds of tomatos
15 pounds of squash
10 pounds of cukes
how are you guys doing?