Wednesday Link Waterfall

Click the picture for a closer look at tomato seedlings growing in 4″ soil blocks. In the last couple of weeks they have grown taller, but I am most happy with how robust their stems are. The tomatos are accompanied by a riper lemon and bunch more seedlings in soil blocks.

A cascade of goodness, starting with my own posts, published since the last link roundup.

How to Make Butter.

A lovely short film about honeybees, with lots of slow-motion. Look at the guard bees making themselves look big; see them come in for a landing on a flower. I happened to write a bit about swarms and native pollinators, and within days my friend Lyndsay called me, breathless. She was watching a swarm that very minute and didn’t know what to do. All’s well that ends well. I googled up a beekeeper in her neck of the woods and he came to collect them.

And a piece of the sustainability jigsaw—Joseph Tainter on Complexity.

And now, what I have read, am reading, or wish I was reading….

I am actually reading an advance copy of The Once and Future World, the new book from J.B. MacKinnon, of 100 Mile Diet fame (that is Plenty to you U.S. locovores).⊕Full disclosure. J.B. is my best friend. But if his books sucked, I would tell you so.

It is absolutely mesmerizing—beautiful and upsetting. Paradigms are being tossed like plates at a Greek wedding. Order an advance copy online or from your favourite local bookmonger.

Salmon Confidential is a sickening film about fish farms.

Salmon Confidential is a new film on the government cover up of what is killing BC’s wild salmon. When biologist Alexandra Morton discovers BC’s wild salmon are testing positive for dangerous European salmon viruses associated with salmon farming worldwide, a chain of events is set off by government to suppress the findings. Tracking viruses, Morton moves from courtrooms, into British Columbia’s most remote rivers, Vancouver grocery stores and sushi restaurants. The film documents Morton’s journey as she attempts to overcome government and industry roadblocks thrown in her path and works to bring critical information to the public in time to save BC’s wild salmon.

The film provides surprising insight into the inner workings of government agencies, as well as rare footage of the bureaucrats tasked with managing our fish and the safety of our food supply.

Shocking for a different reason, read this Guardian article about people who do the abacus in their heads. Be sure to watch the video of two young girls adding numbers—while playing a word game—then weep for our basic education. This takes me back to a little martial arts supply shop in Japan which calculated my bill on a combination calculator-abacus. They would do the addition on the calculator, and then check the calculator’s sums with the abacus. Fantastic.

A free guide on de-paving.⊕And after you have torn up your streets, here is an old article of mine on how awesome streets could be if they didn’t suck so bad.

I have long been a passionate fan of Low Tech Magazine, where Kris De Decker presents very informative articles about all sorts of interesting things, from Chinese wheelbarrows to tidal mills. But, I did not realize there was a No Tech Magazine, which is the amuse-bouche version—short and delicious. There are so many awesome things there, they are just going to have to wait until next time.

Finally, an actual infographic from Copenhagenize.