patrickheizer.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Took the girls down to Baltimore for a day at the National Aquarium and Inner Harbor. We're all going to sleep well tonight.

submitted 12 hours ago • 0 comments

Just over three years ago, I planted our first pawpaws. They were basically twigs. Today I noticed that one of them is taller than me.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

My opinion on the NYC mayoral primary: I don't have one because I don't live there! Just happy it'll be over soon so I can stop hearing about it.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

At least here in Maryland, pawpaw seedlings will do just fine in full, 80%+ sun. However, my impression is that they do grow better in the first two years with mostly shade. Compare these four seedlings, two in a tomato cage, two in shade cloth, just a few feet apart.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Only 11 hours? I just woke up from an 11 year coma and I didn't miss much at all: the GOP is still trying to pass tax cuts for the rich, hamstring our government, all while bombing the Middle East and saddling future generations with trillions in debt!

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Lily season:

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

On the bright side, maybe some of my mutuals and I will be deployed to the same Iranian mountainside. Can't wait to meet y'all in person!

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Scenes from one of the chestnut orchards, freshly mowed:

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

If you've ever wondered why the strongest available liquor is 95% ethanol, this essay will answer that.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

I return to my "Our Fundamental Problem" series w/ a follow-up meant to further define the techno-moral landscape of civilization & a potential problem that is developing: that humanity won’t end w/ a bang, but a whimper. Let's discuss moonshine & cats. thecounterpoint.substack.com/p/our-fundam...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

The EPA is "reconsidering" the ban on asbestos, a known and proven carcinogen. Russia is one of the main producers of asbestos.

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

This week we started doing a chore chart with our two year old. She'll get a prize when the entire sheet is filled. I think it's going pretty well.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Surreal to me that I convinced my alma mater to reimburse me for planting chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and a dozen other trees and shrubs. Humbled and proud to have been part of the Catalyzing Agroforestry Grant Program!

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

I love how the sale of public land seems to be the great rallying point for unity. I've seen everything from "protect the wildlife" to "we need big game hunting," from "this is a sellout to corporate oligarchs" to "we don't need affordable housing, we need mass deportations."

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

During the Algerian War of Independence, Albert Camus once remarked, "People are now planting bombs in the tramways of Algiers. My mother might be on one of those trams. If that is justice, then I prefer my mother."

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Becoming a father is the best thing I've ever done. I wish I had done it sooner. Here's to savoring every moment.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

An illustration of how much biomass our pasture near the creek can put on; those are 5ft tree tubes. Can't wait to start turning these inedible plant fibers into high-quality animal proteins.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

It has been a somewhat surreal experience reading a book about Otto von Bismarck, one of the most talented and deft statesmen in history, while the current slate of world leaders is... Well, lacking.

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

A few of the chestnuts are developing catkins. Happy to be surprised, but I'd expect another year or two until our very first nuts.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

By ending corn biofuels in the United States, we could convert tens of millions of acres into agroecological silvopasture systems based on native prairie & savannah ecosystems, producing dense nutrition for people, rather than empty calories, while also cleaning our water & air.

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

Cleaned up ~half the pawpaw orchard. Here are before and after photos for two 1-year-old seedlings:

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

Onions need a little weeding.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

What tech bros continue to fail to understand is that much of human flourishing has nothing to do with the physical world.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Some just aren't built enough for the Thunderdome that is Twitter.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

For all the ink spilled about potential AI job loss, it feels like we haven't reckoned with the certainty of self-driving job loss. And not just Uber and truck drivers. Collision centers, insurance claims processors, infrastructure repair, tire, brake, and other car part manufacturers, etc.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

My identity was stolen and used to take out two student loans. How's everyone else's morning going?

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

Remind yourself that the vast majority of Americans don't support any of these.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

When we purchased the farm in late 2021, this 5.5 acre field had been neglected & was in early succession. Three seasons of clearing, overseeding, mowing, & management, and it's now: 3.5 acres of pasture 0.5 acres of pawpaw orchard 1.5 acres of rewilded riparian + 4 beehives

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

New thread: beer cans littered in front of the farm.

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

I was honored to talk about my essay, "Steelmanning Degrowth: The Catalytic Society" on the Tusk & Quill podcast. I remember it being a fun conversation. Hopefully I made some sense considering my newborn wasn't even a month old! youtu.be/vaYRBRyjJUw?...

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

June fruits and flowers:

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments