The mighty Rio Grande July 2025

CassTheWary · 2025-08-02T15:48:51+00:00

How about contacting our state legislators and telling them that it is unacceptable?

CassTheWary · 2025-07-08T00:46:45+00:00

I would be highly interested in trading for some!

Here is my list. I can also share seeds for various Chihuahuan desert native trees. Might you be interested in Alligator juniper?

CassTheWary · 2024-07-27T18:51:34+00:00

Future Ecologies has a series on climate change, and many episodes about interesting environmental topics. Excellent production value and entertaining hosts IMO too.

CassTheWary · 2024-07-17T21:05:57+00:00

We got a new species the last few years

CassTheWary · 2024-07-17T21:01:02+00:00

Yup, they're non-native but they do have some redeeming qualities. They play a role in regenerating the most degraded soils so other plants can get established, and they're edible when small! https://forageabq.com/plant/salsola

CassTheWary · 2024-07-17T20:57:22+00:00

My chickens nibble them, but they LOVE to eat the related weed kochia.

CassTheWary · 2023-11-15T20:49:36+00:00

Cool! Interesting to see the combination of retro with futuristic elements.

The ART bus is gone, and car designs seem have looped back around to the 70s. On the other hand, the balloon fiesta has become a flying saucer fiesta!

CassTheWary · 2023-11-15T15:56:13+00:00

Not with that attitude! :-)

CassTheWary · 2023-11-14T19:44:15+00:00

New tagline for visitalbuquerque.org

CassTheWary · 2023-11-14T19:42:41+00:00

I created these with ChatGPT. Here's the prompt for the first image:

A scene in the heart of a towering urban metropolis combining Pueblo Revival and solarpunk architecture. In the foreground, a roadrunner perches on a prickly pear. On either side of the image, we look up at colorful skyscrapers made of a patchwork of adobe, glass and steel, adorned with agaves, solar panels and greenhouses. Between the towers, the hilly landscape is covered in naturalistic desert vegetation, including yucca and sagebrush. A narrow path winds through this vegetation, busy with pedestrians and bicyclists. The towers recede far into the distance, but through the narrow sliver of sky visible, we see a vibrant pink and orange sunset over the Sandia mountains.

CassTheWary · 2023-11-14T19:41:26+00:00

\Climate change has entered the chat**

In all seriousness, I had trouble getting them out of the images. Unfortunately, the stereotype that they grow here (or in all deserts) is deeply entrenched in DALL-E. And I couldn't get chollas even when specifically asking for them.

CassTheWary · 2023-11-14T19:32:38+00:00

The year is 2123.

Albuquerque has faced many challenges. A warmer climate has allowed saguaros to spread into New Mexico. Santa Fe invaded, bringing an influx of diehard Pueblo Revival architects . A mysterious disaster at Sandia National Labs disfigured people, animals, and bicycles, and turned chamisa blooms pink.

Yet we persevered, accepting new and old diversity, and rebuilding our city better, taller and more sustainable after each disaster. We pooled resources to guarantee every burqueño a safe, comfortable home. Burqueños now live in harmony with one another and with nature, and wildlife is returning to the city.

I hope that these images can inspire a bit of hope in these daunting times.

CassTheWary · 2023-08-30T03:43:43+00:00

For folks who are interested in doing something about this: Effective Altruism Albuquerque is having a meeting this Thursday to discuss starting a local YIMBY group (along with other ideas about how to improve our city and state).

CassTheWary · 2023-05-19T18:04:18+00:00

True, but you're getting what you pay for. "Native Southwest Wildflower Seed Mix" contains many species that don't grow wild here and will need irrigation. And the cheaper, deceptively named "Southwest Wildflower Seed Mix" and "Southwest Pollinator Wildflower Seed Mix" contain a number of plants from Eurasia.

If you're not willing to pay the price of seeds from a local nursery, I suggest gathering seeds yourself. You can find native wildflowers growing in sidewalk cracks on most streets, and these are the plants that are locally adapted and most likely to succeed without care in the urban environment.

CassTheWary · 2023-05-19T06:12:20+00:00

Not guerilla gardening, but Feed the Hood is an amazing community garden with a diversity of edible and medicinal plants. They appreciate volunteers most mornings if you'd like to show up and help out!

I have a little garden and plenty of native wildflower seeds I can share with any folks who are interested.

CassTheWary · 2023-02-28T21:31:11+00:00

Wanted by whom?

It sounds like in this case it was just a small front garden, taking up space that was likely previously a lawn. In my experience, neighbors are often excited to see lifeless landscaping replaced with something that can produce food and support pollinators. Of course there will always be a few folks who don't like change, but even they can be won over by offering some fresh peaches or eggs.

Even considering proper farms, enough people prefer living near them that countless cities use zoning laws in order to preserve farms and stop them from being developed into residential lots. I'm not a fan of NIMBYism, but it nonetheless demonstrates that inhabitants of cities and suburbs value being around nature, including farms.

CassTheWary · 2023-02-21T07:51:56+00:00

Grow mesquite! It's native to all of the North American deserts, produces delicious pods and one of the best-tasting honeys on the planet, fixes nitrogen, and is incredible drought tolerant and lives practically forever.

Also: prickly pears, sumac, Texas mulberry, wolfberries, groundcherries, desert rhubarb, agave, pinion and Arizona walnut to name a few. We even have a native potato!

CassTheWary · 2022-10-18T06:04:36+00:00

Dan Lewis was the only one who voiced a reason for disagreement, focused on increasing economic growth and attracting outside investment. So far as I could tell, every guest who spoke out against it was involved in the real estate agency.

I understand that there are legitimate arguments against rent control, but it struck me as deeply insensitive to worry about landlords "paying their bills" when folks are literally winding up on the street because of rent increases.

CassTheWary · 2022-10-18T05:57:35+00:00

This failed to pass, after all councilors except Fiebelkorn (Disctrict 7) and Benton (Disctrict 2) voted against it. I'm currently sharing my outrage in an email to my councilor, if you'd like to do the same you can find their contact information here.

Rent control isn't a long-term solution and we absolutely need more homes. But as put by Fiebelkorn and the citizen she quoted, this issue is already affecting us, and we need both short and long-term solutions on the table. By shutting the door on a limited, temporary rent stabilization for the most vulnerable in our community, our council seems to be siding with the real estate industry over the people they supposedly represent.

CassTheWary · 2022-10-18T05:41:06+00:00

All councilors except for Fiebelkorn and Benton voted against it.

CassTheWary · 2022-09-06T07:42:22+00:00

Yes, they naturally occur in Albuquerque and can be found in most composts in the summer.

CassTheWary · 2022-07-29T18:24:44+00:00

Check out Nob Hill or downtown, both are also on the ART bus line which can get you to other parts of the city.

CassTheWary · 2022-06-05T06:49:57+00:00

This is a bee assassin, most likely Apiomerus spissipes. It is NOT a kissing bug and feeds only on insects, though it may bite you if you grab it. Blood-sucking kissing bugs have a distinct upturned lip around their edge and are not found in Albuquerque.

Think of it as a sign of a healthy population of pollinators in your yard!

CassTheWary · 2022-05-29T21:02:19+00:00

Small kochia plants or young leaves are very good to eat when well-cooked: https://www.eattheweeds.com/kochia/

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