Jamie Peck and Sam Beard are joined by Zhandarka Kurti and Jarrod Shanahan to discuss their new book “Skyscraper Jails: The Abolitionist Fight Against Jail Expansion in New York City” from Haymarket Books. What happens when politically underdeveloped abolitionists team up with ladder-climbing non-profit directors and big money philanthropy? Nothing good, that’s what!

Join us as we discuss the heartbreaking, cautionary tale about how a fight to shut down Rikers Island prison was taken over, watered-down, and channeled into a movement to built four of the tallest prisons in the world.

Why does the prison industry develop in response to the failures of capitalism? How was the movement to shut down one prison turned into a movement to open a network of skyscraper jail facilities? Will Rikers Island ever close? Was “Defund the Police” actually just a betrayal of the George Floyd Rebellion? How can our movements win?

Extra credit reading from Jarrod & Zhana :) https://urbanomnibus.net/2017/12/jail-end-jails/
https://brooklynrail.org/2020/07/field-notes/Prelude-to-a-Hot-American-Summer/

Currently resisting the spring cleaning urge! The grass in the front yard is starting to grow, so it won't be too much longer.

The first on my list is thinning out the orange coneflower to make beds in the backyard. The second is grouping up the late boneset that sprouted in random places.

Is the Easter Bunny pagan? Probably not. It seems to have been invented by German-speaking Protestants sometime in the 1600s.

Bibliography:

Stephen Winick, "Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, but Not As Modern As Some Skeptics Think," Library of Congress Blogs, April 28, 2016.

Stephen Winick, On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny, Library of Congress Blogs, March 22, 2016

Nonagenarian cook and great grandmother, Clara, recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era. Learn how to make simple yet delicious dishes while listening to stories from the Great Depression.

Guidance for safe foraging

Abstract

Many people in many cultures have a spiritual connection with nature. Research is beginning to reveal the implications of this “ecospiritual” orientation for two great challenges of our times: preserving the well-being of the natural environment and of ourselves. This article provides an overview of the current research on ecospirituality, with a focus on its role in supporting, and sometimes inadvertently hindering, environmental preservation and human well-being.

If you have ever walked among the soaring spires of an old-growth forest or gazed upward at the countless stars on a cloudless night, you may have felt like you were in the presence of something sacred. You would not have been the first. Many people worldwide experience a spiritual relationship with nature. It manifests in Hindu beliefs about shared divine origins of all living things (Selin, 2003), in Barasana origin myths about Amazonian ancestors traveling the Vaupés River at the beginning of time (Davis, 2009), and in the mystic ambitions of Californian soul surfers seeking spiritual enlightenment at sea (Taylor, 2009). The common thread that connects these culturally distinct and richly structured beliefs is the perception of nature as a spiritual resource—that is, ecospirituality (Billet et al., 2023; Suganthi, 2019).

Ecospirituality is pervasive and has important implications not only for human interactions with the natural environment but also for well-being. Some of those implications are straightforward, but some are not. This article provides an overview of recent research on ecospirituality, with a focus on its unique implications for environmental preservation and human well-being.

Chrissa Carlson, the former Garden and Nutrition Educator at Baltimore's Hampstead Hill Academy, shows us the steps needed to start a school garden and explains the different components of her school garden that not only makes it an effective space for growing plants, but also an engaging classroom.

If you don't have a lawn of your own to convert, this could be a great project for your neighborhood! Retirement communities or houses of worship are some other possible options.

More about the Baltimore Curriculum Project's Food For Life Program can be found here.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/25689949

Peels were from ripe bananas. I cleaned them, cut off the ends, removed the peel, and ate the fruit for a quick snack lol. I used a spoon to scrape the inside of the peels to remove the stringy bits. Using a fork, I shredded them into strips then cut the strips into thirds.

I cooked up some onions and garlic in oil. Once they were ready, I threw in the shredded peels, covered with a mix of water and soy sauce, added some spices, and let simmer for 20 minutes. The serving in the picture is from one banana.

They remind me of green beans, not the flavor but the texture. Surprisingly, the flavor is pretty neutral. I wouldn't know it was banana peels if I didn't cook them myself.

I can't believe I got this close to 40 not knowing they were edible 🤯

This seems like a tasty, [email protected] way to use an ingredient thought of as trash around these parts.

The recipe doesn't state this, but the bananas should be washed prior to cutting and should not be overripe (no to minimal brown spots).

I haven't tried making this yet, but I also found other recipes using banana peels in curries or in whole banana bread.

Y'all - I was set on taking pictures of the finished product to share with this community! But by the time the food was done, my stomach took over and my brain forgot 😅

Anyway, here's a side view of the remaining tofu:

Made a double batch of this recipe. Fit nicely in an 8x8 baking dish, but I definitely need more practice evening out the surface lol.

It's not like soy tofu, more like polenta? I tried the red lentil version yesterday, but I liked this one better.

I cubed it and fried in oil to use as a crouton of sorts for a red lentil and tomato soup.

Imagine enjoying a starry and fragrant night in the garden of shadow and moonlight. As daylight pollinators are settling down to rest, night pollinators appear for a feeding fest. Night pollinators are drawn by the eerie charm of pale flowers blooming at night. Many people only think of gardens as something to enjoy during the daylight, but moon gardens can be enjoyed during the night and attract night pollinators such as nectar feeding bats and moths. Night pollinators are attracted to the lighter colored and heavily fragrant flowers of night blooming plants like evening primrose and cacti, such as the saguaro. Moon gardens can also attract insects that will invite insect feeding bats.

archive.org

A science class for middle school students at Panorama Middle School commonly involves a trek out to the prairie behind the school, a sketch of native seeds under the microscope or a homework assignment to track the progress of a backyard bluebird from its birdhouse.

Teacher Mark Dorhout created an outdoor education program at the middle school in Panora to “connect (students) to the natural world,” foster environmental stewardship, and give students a real-world application to the science they learn in the classroom.