Category Archives: Gardening

E073 – Rebecca Lerner: First Ways

April 17, 2012Communication, Downsizing, Gardening, Kitchen, Simpler Living, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Rebecca Lerner is an experienced forager who has taken on many experiments in eating wild local food. She shares with us how she got interested in foraging, some stories about her experiences and the nature of our relationship with food.

The Sprocket Podcast is now available on Stitcher smart radio! If you use the service, you can add us to your programming roster.

Headlines
NBC 11 News: Aspen CO remorseful drunk returns stolen bike
Denver Post: Hot on Velo Cult’s heels, Bicycle Cafe offers beer & space

Mailbag
Listener Ryan from Georgetown ON: “Buy something Canadian. Brandon’s highbrow tase will enjoy a Unibroue “Maudite” (look for the devil in a Canue). Brock you should try a Mousehead [sic?]. Keep up the excellent work.”

Logan in PDX: “I saw a new post by Jonathan Maus on Bike Portland and I looked at the figure depicting carbon emissions of Portland relative to the US average and I noticed something astounding. After listening to the latest podcast and learning the wonders of the year 2002 I was really impressed to see your observations also apparent in carbon emissions. The year 2002 marks the first year Portland deviated its carbon emissions away from the US average and started its current trend downwards! Wow! Pivotal year indeed.”

Donation from James in Maryland – thanks! (you can donate here if you wish)

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)

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E072 – Ayleen Crotty: Filmed By Bike 10

April 9, 2012Bicycling, Brewing, Communication, Gardening, Technology, Transitsprocketpodcast

Ayleen Crotty, unassailable overlord of the immensely popular Portland institution Filmed By Bike, joins us to celebrate the event’s 10th year, and to explain how it got started and how it works today. She also brought along a generous and tasty supply of Temperance Bourbon!

The Sprocket Podcast is now available on Stitcher smart radio! If you use the service, you can add us to your programming roster.

Headlines
Oregonian: A Bethlehem PA transit bus blocks the getaway of a hit-and-run against a bicyclist
Oregonian: cycling clothing Rapha more than just a clothing company
BikePortland: bike culture hub VeloCult moves to Portland from San Diego to much acclaim
BikePortland: community bike shops are changing the face of cycling in America

Mailbag
Louis Avden leaves us a gardening update from Kentucky!

JohnnyK, resident FOG says of peak oil: “You can’t suck on mothers milk forever kids…” Also he pointed us towards these folding pedals available from Universal Cycles to stave off future thread-stripping incidents.

Steve in MT refers us to the Theft Resistant Bike Light, the Defender, on Kickstarter (almost there!) and the physics of how bicycles stay upright.

Dan from the Leech Lake Reservation says: “Nice show, You guys motivate me every day to get out and keep riding my bike.” And he has a bike blog: http://ditibiwebishkiganbicycle.blogspot.com

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E069 – Matt Picio on Peak Oil

March 19, 2012Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Communication, Downsizing, Gardening, Housing, Kitchen, Technology, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Matt Picio rejoins the show to discuss the Peak Oil hypothesis/phenomenon with Brandon.

Youtube Video Series: Albert Bartlett on the Exponential Function
Recommended Reading: The Long Descent by John Michael Greer, The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler, Reinventing Collapse by Dmitry Orlov

Also: the man (not a woman, as we had thought) undertaking a bicycle tour while eating at a budget below the poverty line.

Also: Humanity on Wheels: An Evening of Mass Transit Tales! This Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30pm at The Jack London Bar, 529 SW 4th Ave in Portland OR

Headlines
Treehugger via Carl: the “Mamachari” from Japan offers mothers a compact kid-carrying solution

Mailbag
JohnnyK in FL: “Welcome back Brock it sounds like you had a wonderful time on the other side of the pond. What is it about trains that brings out the 5 year old in us. Anyway I am taking the good Dr.’s advise and I am slowing the F!@k down. I think this is why turtles live so long. I want to be a turtle.” Also he found an explanation of old school shaving similar to that of Amos Hunter.

Carl in CA: “I am pissed! While riding through the many parking lots of the Tustin Market Place, I was pulled over on my bike by a mall cop. Why you ask? I had no shirt on! I was heading to REI and as always would put my shirt on before I entered the store. But I was outside in a huge parking lot…” He also wonders when and where he entered a communist country.

Chris in Arcata: “Are you familiar with kinetic sculpture racing? These are hand built pedal powered machines with crazy engineering, and often crazy art. Often machines have multiple peddlers with costumes, bribes, poems, etc… We peddle on street, sand, mud, water. I’m a well known racer within the community, though I’m taking a break from being an actual racer this year. Last our team was first in speed, and I think we got a engineering award…. This race was born in Humboldt county, California. This race is memorial weekend starting in Arcata… Other locations that do this race [are] Baltimore, Australia, Port Townsend, Corvallis (Da Vinci days), Klamath Falls, and perhaps others… peaceful peddling from Arcata.”

Darren from Australia: “just a quick email to let you know about my cycle touring blog, www.cycletourer.blogspot.com. I’m spending the year travelling to various parts around the globe for one mega cycle adventure. I’ve just completed a little over 7 weeks on New Zealand’s south island cycling with some amazing people from around the globe… It’s amazing how many people have commented on the podcast stickers on my bike so I’m hoping to have converted many cycle tourists to the dark side… I was hoping to catch up with Russ and Laura of The Path Less Pedaled as Laura created a custom head badge for my Surly, but alas, we unfortunately did not cross paths.” His next stops are London, Cornwall, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, & Denmark for an estimated 10,000km on the cycle computer before the tour ends.

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E059 – Josh Zisson: Bike Safe Boston

January 9, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Communication, Gardening, The Lawsprocketpodcast

This week, in lieu of Dr. Jeff’s scheduled appearance, we present an interview Brock taped with bike lawyer Josh Zisson from Boston, MA during his December travels. Josh has been working on bicycle law awareness and connecting bicyclists with resources for legal problems and clear presentation of state bicycle laws across the country. He was also recently featured in an article from Fast Company. And don’t worry, Dr. Jeff will be back in February once Brandon is done celebrating his birthday!

We discuss: bike lawyers, bicycling improvements in Boston, bike czar Nicole Freedman, perceptions and visibility, TravellingTwo & the dutch perspective, LA’s bicycle harassment law, confrontations, taking the lane, Whale’s Tale Pale Ale from Nantucket, Josh’s Bicycle Accident Reportcards, the Idaho Stop Law, Josh writes about “Putting Your Foot Down,” hopes for the future of bicycling in Boston, the Hubway bike share program, low income neighborhoods and transportation options, Brock’s take on Boston and its liquor laws, Portland: a paradise for bicyclists?, the armored car incident, parking meters and bike politics, Boston Bikes, Fred Armisen’s fear of bicyclilng, rail crossings that might be more bike-friendly, thePrince Spaghetti Factory, the shocking state of state laws, a catalyst for advocacy, bike boxes, knowledge leads to possibilities, Tim Jaques and the mispronunciation of his name, reflective Bike Safe Boston T-Shirts to benefit advocate groups, and the possibility of a burgeoning bicycle law network to protect you from unconscionable (or “scumbag”) lawyers.

Headlines
via SoupCycle: Educate yourself about which foods to definitely buy organic and which aren’t as bad.
via Ethan from PedalPower: bicycle composting tumbler helps you aerate your food scraps for the garden
via Michael Andersen: experimenting with packless travel!
via Carl in CA: many youngsters are finding driving to be less appealling

Mailbag
JohnnyK says “I really love coffee. I probably drink more coffee than you guys drink alcohol.”

Chris in Arcata says: “I’m in Arcata, CA. Thank you for a podacst full of great fun, and info. Your podcast, and portland in general provide me constant inspiration to advocate bike issues in Arcata. I ride a sidewinder trike cycle which gets lots of attention in town. I also am a kinetic grand champion racer. Most well known as the “peace peddler”, and more recently the “sprocket brothers-private eyes” solving a case on the course. With a awesome portland based pit crew ! I have other bikes as well. My bicycle base is for fun, excersice, utilitarian uses. So a good variety of uses. Recently have seen two cargo bikes in town. Spoke to the woman on one yesterday, and she always has her child in the cargo box. It looks adorable, and practical. She said she got the cargo bike used in portland. I recently got the little package ear flap cap. So rest assured portland has it’s presence on the beautiful northern CA coast.” Thanks for the donation Chris!

Patrick in Davis CA says: “received the cool Sprocket Podcast stickers. I put one on my pepper peddler coffee box and one on work point of sale computer. Hope you get more UC Davis listeners in the coming new year. Really enjoyed the interview and learned new things about my coffee.” Also, thanks for the Donation!

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E056 – Jena Robinson

December 19, 2011Bicycling, Communication, Downsizing, Gardening, Kitchensprocketpodcast

This week we talk to old friend Jena Robinson, who currently lives in the Nashville, Tennessee region, about her work with food reclamation and helping to meet needs. We discuss: Nashville Greenlands, the Lents neighborhood of Tennessee, a work cooperative arrangement, dumpster diving, Nashville Food Project, garden management, meal delivery, working yourself out of business, primitivism leanings, accounting for non-financial costs, ethnic diversity in the community, etc.

While trying to connect with Jena, we weren’t sure if we’d connect with her and in a panic invited our wives to sit down with microphones and BS a bit. It REALLY is a little rambly, due to the hosts’ ill-preparedness, and not to be ascribed to our wives. Topics include bicycling accidents, coffee overnighters, new helmets, etc.

We also discuss regional Pacific Northwest accents, and also historical ones a la Daniel Day-Lewis. And Brock is looking to have coffee or beer with Boston area listeners in the last two weeks of December.

Mailbag
Street Books is hosting a book drive. By this week it’s already happened but you can check their wish list and make donations here.

Logan sends us an article on the Oregon Trail game from Dave Knows Portland!

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E047 – Jill Kuehler: Zenger Farm

October 17, 2011Gardening, Kitchen, Technologysprocketpodcast

Today we speak with Jill Kuehler from southeast Portland’s Zenger Farm and the Lents Farmers Market about food security, urban farming and sustainable agriculture, all while enjoying the Cascade Brewing Company’s 20” Brown Ale.

We discuss: Zenger Farm’s location and history, Jill’s connection to the farm, the Lents farmers’ market, their apprentice program, education and field trips, the shock of tasty vegetables and getting kids to enjoy Kale, sustainability at the farm in solar energy, water filtration systems, a 50 year lease on the property, City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, invertebrate studies, food stamp matching, USDA map of “food deserts,”adult education and kids transformed by experience, the Zenger CSA

Headlines
The Atlantic Cities: someone desperate for cash stole an entire bridge in western Pennsylvania
TUAW.com: the bicycle-mounted passive amplifier for iPhone 4 is here!
BikePortland: some concerns about Portland’s Springwater Corridor path make people nervous
RowdyKittens: the tiny house is roofed and getting moved into place!

Mailbag
Eric writes in: “…I like the longer sprocket format. And I was listening to your semi-epic fail in announcing this last episode [E45] and thought you may want to try sadtrombone.com as a great sound effect.”

Jarrod from Australia: likes the podcast, and recently got back from an Indian Himalayas cycling adventure that he desribes on his website,cyclinginthinair.com

Listener Dave writes in: “They make the time I spend walking our dog go very fast and when our dog wants to stop and smell or pee, I just don’t mind.” wants to know “how did we meet?” Also is curious about a list of podcasts we enjoy. (see our website!)

Blayne from BC is working on his food podcast, has trouble keeping kids out of the room though.

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E037 – No Show This Week

August 1, 2011Bicycling, Brewing, Gardening, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Well, that’s not entirely true… Brock & Brandon sit down to share about 10 minutes’ worth of conversation to say thanks to a few people and get used to being behind microphones again. Also, Brandon saw the Google Maps Car on our last cycle trip!

Listener Jameson, formerly of Ft. Collins and living in Korea, writes in. He also shared a nice Ft. Collins brewery bicycle tour he’s partial to! We recommend Catfish & Mandala by Andrew X. Pham because he mentions bicycle touring through Vietnam.

Listener Susan W. of Plano TX makes a generous donation. Thanks!

Logan & Tammy’s tiny house is under construction!

Brock met Alex Rauch who is blogging his way across America and made it all the way to Wall Drug by now.

Listener Kevin, an animation writer, bike commuter, and Prius owner also made a generous donation that paid for our year’s hosting bill – thanks! He also knows Russ & Laura from PathLessPedaled.com. Froinlaven!

We met up with listeners Gus, Joe, and Jonas while on the road. Brock also drinks his friend Mark’s homebrew, “Da Brown,” and finds it to be pleasant! See you all next week for another full show…

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E014 – Adam Caress: The Great Technology Question

February 22, 2011Communication, Gardening, Technologysprocketpodcast

Adam Caress of mulevariations.com joins us remotely to discuss the methods by which we discern our relationship with technology this week.

We discuss: mixed drink terminology, Boston’s Lower Depths alehouse, drinking with your in-laws, Louis Avden’s gardening update, Sven Birkert’s The Gutenburg Elegiesand the mulevariations.com interview, no cable or television, first text message, before the internet, asking the question, how do we relate to each other?, consequences & morality, generational gaps, “we put people on that shit,” inventiveness and its associated problems, interstate highways, pesticides on plants, the narrative of progress, the unruly virgin that is America, Ray Kurzwiel & singularity, “this shit has aneschatology,” people who upload their consciousness aren’t very happy, death & ending well, denying death is creepy, Aleksander Sozhenitsyn wasn’t afraid of death, inscrutable on iTunes, science fiction grandparents, grandparent telegraph email, pro/anti twitter?, booking bands is easy, myspace is the Detroit of social networks, reminiscing with grandparents, waiting for the Cubs world series win, the Plain Reader, Amish independence, Colt 45 isn’t all that great, wilting boquet, outro cabling issues

Drinks
Brandon drinks the Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale (6.9%), Brock endures a Colt 45 High Gravity Lager (8.5%), and Adam savors his single malt Islay Scotch Whiskey fromMcClelland’s.

Music
“Falling Stars” by Adam Caress of “T”, which is his band that finally consisted of mostly siblings, from the EP “Plan A”

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E010 – Louis Avden: Plants As Pets

January 23, 2011Bicycling, Gardeningsprocketpodcast

We are joined by our good friend Louis Avden who discusses his unique perspective on gardening. We record late at night and so we use our NPR news voices. We discuss: no more vagina talk, Ft. Collins people, we now have a donation button (thanks Steven), pig dog monster beer & Ashland mold water, Russ from pathlesspedaled.com bike packing video, photo galleries of human cyclists & tallbikesin Portland from bikeportland.org, the Mary Poppins effect, 1970s schoolchildren ride bikes to a field trip, London experiments with two way bicycle traffic on one way streets, we exchange compliments with Louis, starting small (one seed), 6 foot carrots, thinking like a plant, good tilth, “genocidification,” “yellowing thumb,” the richness of gardening, plants as pets, plants say “chill the f*** out,” difficulties with other inhabitants, stepping on beds, “you are the plant’s bitch,” Kate Moss slugs, creating community around your garden

Drinks
Brock enjoys Genessee Beer from NY, Brandon drinks the fearsome Flying Dog Double Dog Ale, and Louis purveys a mysterious drink made withAshland Lithia Water,Kombucha & Grappa.

Music
“Stand By My Side” by Brock Dittus, featuring Louis Avden on piano, from the 2009 EPHandbuilt. myspace.com/brockdittus

Stories from BikePortland.org featured with permission from editor Jonathan Maus.

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