Culture: Page 218

Urban Homesteads

Back to the land … in the city

Culture

Warm summer days picking apples for homemade applesauce and canning with Grandma in a hot kitchen are memories Annika Parrott cherishes — ones she hopes to pass on to her daughters. Parrott is one of the many people living in Eugene who has turned back the clocks 100 years and started urban homesteading.  An urban homestead is a household that produces a significant part of the foods, including produce and livestock, that are consumed by its family, with a focus on the family’s desire to live in a more environmentally conscientious manner. Continue reading →

Jack’s Mason Bees

Gardening

Most gardeners are aware by now that honeybees are in trouble. This knowledge is driving a surge in amateur beekeeping. Other pollinators, including native bees, are in trouble too, from the same disastrous cocktail of causes — habitat loss, pesticides, disease and parasites. Keeping a hive of honeybees is quite a commitment, and for gardeners and small orchardists, encouraging native bees is a pretty good option. You can do it by growing native plants; leaving some areas, shall we say, unmaintained; and by providing nesting opportunities. Continue reading →

Exploring Henline Falls

Cascades of water near an old mine

Outdoors
A hiker at the base of Henline Falls. Photo by John Williams

Gold was first found in the Opal Creek Watershed in 1859. The legacy of the ensuing gold rush left many hillsides up and down the narrow valleys dotted with mine shafts. Silver King — the group of mines near Henline Falls in the Willamette National Forest — today exhibits little of what was once a bustling mining operation. The exception is a 1,700-foot-long shaft right next to the falls. Over the years silver, lead, zinc and gold were pulled out of the mines near Henline Falls. Thankfully nearly all signs of mining have been washed away.  Continue reading →

Sour Secret Weapons

Preserved lemons are cost effective, zesty and useful

Chow

How many times have you used some zest from a fresh lemon only to have the remainder of the fruit shrivel up on the counter or in the fridge?  Is it possible to keep the fresh flavor of this bright yellow globe on hand for the times you might want to add some rays of sunshine to whatever you’re cooking?   The answer: Yes, with preserved lemons. Every foodie needs to have these lemons in his repertoire of spices and flavoring additions.  Continue reading →

Your Grammar Needs a Wingman

Online dating is a mecca for bad spellers

Culture

Dating is hard for me. But I actually feel like my bar isn’t set that high: Writer/professor type ISO decent-looking man who doesn’t mind that my pitbull sleeps on the bed and that I come home most nights smelling like a horse. Must be able to construct complete sentences and spell.  I feel like this last part is where I go awry, and my criteria even seems to offend people. Not the pitbull part — the spelling test. Potential suitors see that caveat and take it as a writer’s form of cock block. Writer’s cock block.  Continue reading →

Sex Ed

Get sexy and smart with As You Like It’s workshops

Culture
Gail Karuna-Vetter, Kim Marks and Oblio Stroyman

This Valentine’s season, say goodbye to chocolates and flowers and consider treating yourself — with or without a partner — to a safe, sex-savvy workshop.  Kim Marks, owner of the new gender-inclusive eco-conscious sex shop As You Like It, wants you to have a good sex life. And in addition to providing the toys and treats to do so, the shop will present workshops with professional sex educators covering everything from sex toys to the G-spot.   Continue reading →

It’s About Time – February 2015

About Time

Looking up at a rare starry sky in January, even rarer because of a warm night, I was drawn to do a little star gazing. Orion is heading out west long before midnight. I’m going to miss him because there is no summer character in the sky that I know well enough to track the spring-summer-fall passage. Maybe a little gazing this July will find the constellation that attracts my focus. Continue reading →