Ginnie Springs

My neighbor and I went to Ginnie Springs (on the Santa Fe River) on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day. I alternated between swimming in one of the springs and lying in the sun (protected by sunscreen, of course). After I exited the water (72 degrees year-round), my skin would vibrate for twenty minutes. It might be one of the best feelings in the world. I think I'm going to try to go to one spring or another every weekend possible this summer.


Florida has more freshwater springs than anywhere else in the world -- geologists estimate more than 700. They're literally windows into the aquifer (the glowing blue spot in the center of the above photograph is the Dogwood Springs cave). Under pressure from the many layers of limestone that emerged from the sea a long time ago, they pump out water constantly -- sometimes as much as 60 million gallons per day. When we overpump water from the aquifer (where do you think bottled water like Coca-Cola's Aquafina comes from? Yep, they have at least one plant along the Santa Fe River) or let fertilizer and pesticides leave our landscapes, the state's water supply is endangered and we risk losing our amazing springs.

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Making a Radio Show

So I write this radio show called "Gardening in a Minute." A lot of work goes into the show, which airs every weekday on NPR stations in about half the counties in the state (we're working on syndicating it throughout the rest of Florida).

I've estimated that it takes about ninety minutes of my time (from writing to recording) to make each minute-long show, plus a lot of time on the part of our host, our producer, another writer, and all of our faculty reviewers.

We record shows about once every two weeks. It takes a whole morning, and today I thought it would be fun to document the process.


"You're acting like an annoying tourist," Tom said. I reminded him that he's the American going to Holland in a few days.

After I write between ten and twenty shows and we review them a few times, we record them.

We drive across campus to WUFT-FM in our ghetto state car. Note missing hubcap; the passenger-side front window doesn't roll down. Also, it makes a clunking noise on the highway. Oh, and the turning radius means you get to practice your six-point turns in any space, no matter how large!


Our producer, Ben, lets us into the fortress.


We go upstairs to the studio.


Tom and Ben talk about sports for a little bit and I give them their copies of the scripts.


Tom enters his chamber of seclusion, separated from us by a pane of glass.


Ben and I hang out in the control room.


It has a nifty control panel. I can push a button on it and talk to Tom.


This is what Ben and I see as we record the show.


If I get closer to the window, this is what Tom looks like.


I look at my script as he reads, to make sure he doesn't ad-lib anything (happens all the time, especially if he forgot to bring his glasses that day).


Between scripts I do a crossword or stare out the window.

Farmer's Market

Gainesville has a farmer's market every Wednesday in the downtown plaza from around 4 to 7. There's lots of fresh, organic, local produce; live music; jewelry; and hacky sack-playing. I often intend to go after work, but rarely make it for several reasons, most of which have to do with a word that starts with the letters "N-A-P."


Kim and I carpooled to work yesterday, and decided to stop by the market on our way home. I bought some delicious-smelling basil and beautiful kale for a dollar! The latter is in the bottom of this photo.


I'm going to make green lasagna with both the kale and the basil.

Find out where farmer's markets are in your area and where to buy other locally produced food here: http://www.localharvest.org/.

Another Bike

I actually have four bikes. This is my 1961 Schwinn American, which is like a carnival ride. I spent a lot of time restoring this one. I love my bikes.

Getting Away

Another beautiful and relaxing weekend in St. Pete.


I got sunburned.

Virtual Chef

My friend Julie lives in Istanbul, where she's created an interactive art space. They do all kinds of cool collaborative projects there, one of which is called Virtual Chef. Someone in another country gives Julie a recipe, and she wanders all over town trying to find the ingredients.

Then at an appointed time Julie talks on Skype (a free Internet phone service) with the person, who gives directions for making the dish to Julie and the thirty or forty guests she has over for dinner. The person whose recipe it is usually makes the dish at the same time (wherever they are).

In Julie's art space there are surveillance cameras set up so the cooking process can be streamed live and on TVs set up throughout the space -- so the guests can participate in the cooking, watch in person, or watch on a monitor.

Afterwards, Julie edits the footage from the art space together into a film that she posts online.

I told Julie I wanted to be a part of Virtual Chef, so she asked me to cook something for a "Happy Birthday!"-themed event on Friday. I took the day off work, and at the appointed time we contacted each other on Skype.

Because I couldn't cook and talk on the computer/phone and take photos all at once, I asked Rayne to come over. Here's a few photos from the event. (We made my broccoli and leek pie and a chocolate torte.)

Making dough for the crust.


Cutting vegetables to saute.




Mixing everything together (I added sauted cubes of tofu this time).


Oops, we made too much filling.


But the pie is still delicious.


And we're composting a lot of scraps.


The torte was delicious also.