Linc purchased a better electric bike kit for Jeanne's town bike (shown above), along with the requisite fenders and lights, and put together our second e-bike. This one is MUCH better than the first. Slightly less power, extremely quiet, with a digital control pad that allows one to set the level of assist desired (can be overridden with thumb-throttle for a quick boost up short hills, passing cars on the freeway ;-)). Pedaling lightly, she is able to do 22 mph on the flats. Steep hills are around 10 mph, 14 if pedaling hard. Jeanne at first expressed only mild interest until one day she decided to take her first ride by commuting to work and back on it. By the end of the day, she too had EGG (Electric Goofy Grin) on her face when she pulled in the driveway, and her days of driving the car pretty much ended right there.
This month, we planted peas out in the garden, and started warmer weather veggies in soil blocks in our cabin greenhouse. We also planted 17 dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit and nut trees in the garden. Planting food-producing trees felt REALLY good. With time, ONE of these could produce as much food as an entire garden bed. Its roots will mine minerals from the soil and drop them as leaves in the fall, enriching the topsoil around it. The flowers will attract insects. Its roots will pull moisture from deep in the ground and transpire it from its leaves, cooling the air around it, and its leaves will provide some shade and windbreak, both of which we could use a lot more of on our south facing mountainside. Lastly, the trees will attract and form symbiotic relationships with fungi, eventually creating an information and nutrient-exchanging subsurface network in the garden. REALLY, ALL THAT? Wow, why wouldn't everyone drop whatever they were doing right this instant and go outside and start planting trees? Well, for one, I'm writing this on Dec 31st, and it's 16 F outside...
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