Swing Dancing To a Plant-Based Beat

Save the date, October 12-14, 2012! That's the best time of the year to visit Richmond in all of its' beauty and splendid glory. The Richmond Folk Festival and its' eclectic mix of people, music, food and exotic wares set against the backdrop of Richmond's skyline is an event that should be experienced by everyone in our region of the US and beyond. If you are traveling through, it gives you the sense that you are entering the tip of the south but haven't quite made it yet. This year was no different! Having been to every one of these events since it started as the National Folk Festival in Richmond, I have yet to come away disappointed or unfulfilled. All of the work that is done, from the stage setups, organizing of volunteers, selection of food vendors and management of the facilities is second to none. Every year that you go back you see the things that are being done in order to try and make it even better. I think that's the sign of progress and hope tha

Every now and then, of all the music events and shows you head out to, you run into a gem! That is the way it was when my wife and I headed out to Virginia Beach and Blues At the Beach on Sept. 10. Initially, we went to take in a free  Blues Dance lesson and to see and hear Michael Burks . At the end of the day, we were not let down by either and experienced so much more. We arrived at  Virginia Beach and parked in one of the municipal lots which cost $10 in the off-season, a bit expensive with most other beaches being about half that, and headed over to the 17th Street stage. When we walked up the Mike Lucci Band was finishing up their set so we only took a quick glance at them and headed to the beach some 50 yards away. With our umbrella, chair, and cooler in tow, we staked a claim to our little piece of paradise in the sand. It was perfect with a temperature that hovered just around 80 degrees, a soft breeze, and, get this, blues dancers everywhere. They were dancing in the water

I had, what I call, a software epiphany on Sunday morning and it goes like this. As a part of my suburban homesteading project, I want to add a few chickens. Therefore I have been Googling chicken tractors, chicken coops, chicken houses, and practically chicken anything in order to come up with some plans to build a somewhat mobile chicken coop. My searches were not too successful as most people are trying to monetize every idea possible. They seem to be less willing to share info on these types of things or maybe some are just not capable of creating the drawings or plans necessary to present a project such as this in any meaningful way. So, I awoke on Sunday morning with this idea in my head and no way to get it out and it was driving me crazy. Once again sitting in front of the monitor I was reminded of Google SketchUp . Having a bit of experience in 2D AutoCAD and Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer , I decided to install it for a second time, after having installed it months a

We have constructed 5 raised beds made of cedar. I documented the construction at Instructables.com  where there are step by step instructions. I used the cedar because of its' durability and have been satisfied. The beds have different fills in each of them, with anything from a soil/compost mixture from a local greenhouse to a mixture of our own dirt and commercial garden soil. We are now supplementing all of the beds from our own compost bin and feeding it with compost tea, from my vermicomposting experiment that I will talk about in another post, that we are mixing up. From this small patch we have harvested peas, yellow squash, zucchini squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, collards, kale, eggplant, onions, 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, green peppers, green beans, lima beans, basil and parsley. Besides a few squash, to supplement what we lost due to squash vine borers, we have not purchased any of the other items all summer long.

This blog is going to be about music, with an emphasis on The Blues, cooking and food-related interests, and backyard gardening. Music as in upcoming shows, reviews of shows I attend, and stuff that I listen to or am made aware of. Recipes, helpful hints, and products that I have found helpful to have around and those that I have thrown away. My backyard garden and the joys of growing and eating your own food, we haven't bought Kale, Peppers, Tomatoes, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Eggplant, or Collards all this summer. Every once in a while you may see something soccer-related as I have been a volunteer coach for some 20 years and did so for the local Colonial Heights Soccer Association and Virginia State University's Soccer Club . Looking forward to sharing some stuff with you and would appreciate the same! Have a great day!