simplesongwires

[simplesongwires]

Today is a freezer organization day in the Song home. So @newpogodi got to sorting while I started breaking down greens for dog food (to go into the newly organized freezer). I got 4 bags out of the Pak Choi we picked up yesterday and 3.5 bags of our garden greens and 1.5 bags of green cabbage that was at the end of its shelf life. (A total of 8 bags with 500g of green mush!)

We still have 4 broccoli florets to break down - frozen too solid to safely cut up. And the freezer is navigable again!!

I also put a bit of leftover dog treat 'mush' into the dehydrator!

Ianto was keen on helping me empty out yesterday's fibre bomb treats lol!

[simplesongwires]

Today is a freezer organization day in the Song home. So @newpogodi got to sorting while I started breaking down greens for dog food (to go into the newly organized freezer). I got 4 bags out of the Pak Choi we picked up yesterday and 3.5 bags of our garden greens and 1.5 bags of green cabbage that was at the end of its shelf life. (A total of 8 bags with 500g of green mush!)

We still have 4 broccoli florets to break down - frozen too solid to safely cut up. And the freezer is navigable again!!

I also put a bit of leftover dog treat 'mush' into the dehydrator!

Ianto was keen on helping me empty out yesterday's fibre bomb treats lol!

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Ianto dog sitting between my legs at the mall. I'm sitting on a bench. Ianto is looking back at me. End]

My brain hurts so much but we need to walk the boys and pick up some things from the mall (vegetable market and dollar store).

We got 3 big bags of Pak Choi for 1.50 each. They'll be used in future dog food.

My partner, Edge, and Klaus are in the dollar store now.

Someone just said Ianto is a nice looking puppy and I Dont even have the energy to look up at her.

Photo dump of produce from our garden

We have at least another batch of dog snacks!! I pulled out some beef liver and banana to make some with!

@newpogodi made some amazing chicken heart treats we are almost out of... Gotta keep the boys in their treats!

[simplesongwires]

Photo dump of produce from our garden

We have at least another batch of dog snacks!! I pulled out some beef liver and banana to make some with!

@newpogodi made some amazing chicken heart treats we are almost out of... Gotta keep the boys in their treats!

[simplesongwires]

Heading home from Pride today and I am so tired. 11 hours basically all on my feet - or at least all in front of people. Able to do a lot of good stuff. Too tired to talk about it now...

But good.

[simplesongwires]

The European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA) benchmarked 78 regenerating farms in 14 countries, including the UK, covering over 7,000 hectares against neighbouring and average conventional farms. Their performance was assessed by agricultural and ecological productivity presented in a “new, simple and comprehensive multidimensional index” – Regenerating Full Productivity (RFP).  The results are impressive – especially in terms of yields. Regenerating farms achieved, on average, only a 2% lower yield (in kilocalories and protein), while using 61% less synthetic fertiliser and 76% fewer pesticides per hectare.  Europe’s farmers tend to import more than 30% of livestock feed from outside the EU, however the assessed farmers achieved their yields using “no feed from outside their bioregion”.  The report reads: “[…] regenerating systems, whether rooted in agroecology, conservation agriculture, organic farming, syntropic agroforestry or other disciplines, are not only viable but already superior in most contexts.” 

[...]

The European Commission has just projected €60bn (£51bn) in agricultural losses by 2025, rising to over €90bn by 2050, driven by climate change, input dependency and a failing food system. According to EARA, conventional approaches to agriculture with high chemical inputs actually put Europe at risk due to “ever more fragile yields, rising input quantities and costs”. The farms involved in the study also demonstrated the agroecological advantage of regenerative approaches: in the five years from 2019 they boasted 23% more soil cover and 17% higher plant diversity than their conventional neighbours. Photosynthesis was also 24% higher.  Together the results mean “more biodiversity and better soil health”, EARA said. If regenerating forms of agriculture were adopted on half of Europe’s farmland it could “more than offset current EU agricultural emissions”. Full adoption would mitigate three times current agricultural emissions in the block.  

5 June 2025

[simplesongwires]

Picked another load of vegetables from the garden for dog food today! A small mixing bowl full of various salad greens and nasturtium leaves, and a BiG mixing bowl full of kale and kohlrabi greens. If @newpogodi wanted, he could use the small bowl for human food, but he says both are going to the dogs - I love harvesting greens for them!

My partner is going to use chicken hearts and some pumpkin and (maybe) some oats with the greens to make treats!!

I can't wait until the day we can use home grown meats as well.

[ID: Ianto dog wading chest deep in a man made pond in a forest park. End]

[simplesongwires]

[ID: A large mixing bowl filled to the brim with pealed overripe bananas. In the background is a small pile of banana peals and four or five bananas waiting. End]

We got about 20 lb of banana for about $15-18.

[ID: Close up of a freezer bag filled with sliced strawberries. The bag is labeled "strawbebes 1 August 2025]

We got about 8lb of strawberries for about $8.

Today is my birthday and yesterday @newpogodi and I got SO MANY bananas. We ended up with about 15 bags of roughly. 1lb of banana mush along with 3 freezer bags of peals. We are going to use the peals for plant food.

I also ate 5 bananas in the last 2 days and we had banana pancakes for breakfast! (Photo below)

We also bagged up our second full bag of greens for dog food/treats from the garden AND used about 3 cups to make chimichurri for dinner tonight.

I am turning 33, I am freshly unemployed, and I am happy.

[ID: A plate with 4 banana chocolate chip pancakes with blueberry jam and simple strawberries in sugar dusted with icing sugar.]

[simplesongwires]

It’s crazy that countries on the edge of the Sahara desert are reversing desertification by just digging half circles

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Shadow silhouette of me (short person with short hair, shorts, and a shoulder bag). End]

Ianto has a sore paw - looks like an infection - so he is staying home today. All alone on my trip to work. I'll manage through a combo of music and tumblr scrolling lol.

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped... But who ever does? Got some job applications in, got some continuing education in, got some cleaning in.

Even got a bit of work for the Pride Society in... Though not the ones I have as goal. We had a surprise meeting to discuss funders.

And reviewed my budget for 2025 and 2026 - it's not great lol.

[simplesongwires]

Garden watered, well before the heat of the day. My partner is making "Hawaiian breakfast" (left over rice with egg, cheese, and ham or sausage or spam) my favourite.

And I have started looking for jobs! The day is starting strong.

[ID: Klaus Chihuahua chewing on the neck of a flamingo dog toy. He is on my bed between my legs. End]

Today is my day off. So instead of being on the bus with Ianto I get to cuddle with the both of them in bed with my coffee.

Today my goal is to get some files sorted for the Pride Society and apply for jobs - 3 hours is my work goal.

I also have to water the garden. Ianto has a sore foot... I'm worried about it but I can't do anything until Tuesday when he goes to the vet.

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Klaus Chihuahua chewing on the neck of a flamingo dog toy. He is on my bed between my legs. End]

Today is my day off. So instead of being on the bus with Ianto I get to cuddle with the both of them in bed with my coffee.

Today my goal is to get some files sorted for the Pride Society and apply for jobs - 3 hours is my work goal.

I also have to water the garden. Ianto has a sore foot... I'm worried about it but I can't do anything until Tuesday when he goes to the vet.

[simplesongwires]

A paper in Forest Ecology and Management documents the first new generation of overstory aspen trees in Yellowstone’s northern range in 80 years, three decades after wolves were reintroduced to the nation’s oldest national park. Without predation pressure from wolves, which had been extirpated from the park by 1930, elk populations grew to the point that their browsing was thwarting the growth of young aspen. The ecosystem effects were widespread as aspen stands support a range of species including beavers and cavity-nesting birds. With wolves back in the mix along with bears and cougars, a nearly extirpated predator whose numbers increased along with wolf reintroduction, elk numbers have been reduced and aspen are once again working toward becoming full-grown trees.  “The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades,” said the study’s lead author, Luke Painter, who teaches ecology and conservation in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences. “About a third of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all.” Another third of the surveyed stands had patches of tall saplings growing into new overstory trees, he added, and the rest remained suppressed by herbivory.

22 July 2025

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Ianto dog in his yellow vest laying down a bit away from me on the train. End]

It was a slow start today - I'm going to be a few minutes late to work today. But I got a job application in this morning and a few yesterday too.

I still need to break out the household budget to see what I can do to get to my blog goals, but I have things started.

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Ianto dog in his yellow working vest laying down between my legs on the bus. End]

Day one of the rest of our lives I guess. Ianto and Klaus are both still worn out from their camping trip, they didn't even want to run around today lol. Then we left for work. He's doing so well on public transit these days.

When we get home from work this afternoon we are going to be applying to jobs - as many as I can. I saved a bunch when we were at the wedding last week.

[simplesongwires]

Only one question to the deactivated blue guy up above: why did you bring /fried/ chicken into this? I assumed wings myself which are normally baked. But the real point:

Fried Chicken is a racialized food in the USA (Where our story is set) being seen as the favoured food of (poor) black families.

Why did you see this sign that only talks about /cooking/ chicken and assume that it's poor black Americans that are making shitty food choices and this kitchen is enabling them?

Why did you pass on that assumption to everyone who reads this by claiming without evidence that this is a fried chicken restaurant?

Why is that important to your world view?

Would you have thought differently if it was pork? Ham? Beef? Chicken salad? Etc

Food for thought perhaps?

Solidarity

[simplesongwires]

[ID: Ianto dog in his yellow vest laying down between my legs as I sit on the bus.End]

[ID: Klaus the chihuahua's head pops out of his shoulder bag looking very sleepy. His cheek is rested on a bright yellow bandana that says 'nervous' attached to the bat strap. End]

Klaus doesn't really need the bandana, but it makes things easier for him.

@newpogodi and I picked up the boys a few minutes ago from their camp counsellor. She's great.

Now it's 2 hours on transit to get home but much better than the $90 Uber lol. I have been getting too lax with taking Ubers in the last 16 or so months. Time to remember that I hate the company and fucking suck up the extra hour and 10 minutes this trip is taking each way. Uber and other rideshare apps are unsustainable and I hate them.

Time also to start budgeting a downpayment for a house or something.