January 25 2019

Buying Imported Flowers Will Send You Straight to Forking Hell!

Tags: Hilarious

Finally! Definitive proof that buying imported flowers is the worst thing in the world. LoCoFlo has known this for years (ICYMI, we only use locally grown flowers), but Michael has it all laid out.

In episode 10 of season 3 titled "The Book of Dougs" (mild spoilers ahead), Tahani, who is trying to get into the good place, laments: "There are so many unintended consequences of well-intentioned actions, it feels like a game you can't win."

(Some background if you haven't seen The Good Place: It is an awesome tv show about the afterlife. A point system of humans' actions throughout their lives determine if they are worthy of spending eternity in the good place.)

Michael realizes Tahani is on to something. He pulls out the Book of Dougs, containing the point tally for people named Doug throughout human history. He finds a Doug from several hundred years ago and, with a flick of his wrist, displays an image of the file in the air (Michael is not human):

“In 1534, Douglass Wynegarr of Hawkhurst, England, gave his grandmother roses for her birthday. He picked them himself, walked them over to her, she was happy — boom, 135 points,”

Michael then flips forward to a Doug just a few years ago in our own backyard:

“In 2009, Doug Ewing of Scaggsville, Maryland, also gave his grandmother a dozen roses, but he lost four points. Why? Because he ordered roses using a cell phone that was made in a sweatshop. The flowers were grown with toxic pesticides, picked by exploited migrant workers, delivered from thousands of miles away — which created a massive carbon footprint — and his money went to a billionaire racist CEO who sends his female employees pictures of his genitals."

What the fork? Doug Ewing could possibly avoid eternal damnation by simply choosing local flowers. Is it completely his fault? How could he know all of the repercussions? Micheal proves Tahani's premise. He realizes "everyday the world gets a little more complicated and being a good person gets a little harder."

Ugh! Just keep it simple - join us in the good place with local flowers.

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January 05 2019

Do You Ootheca?

Tags: Bugs

We have a pretty sweet terrarium in our kitchen at the LoCoFlo Studio. Our friend Irene picked it up on the side of the road a few years ago. It has showcased many wedding dioramas featuring calacas (Mexican skeletons) and has been home to several pupae (totally Kafkaesque - majorly).

This winter, some new tenants moved into the terrarium: The Oothecae (check out the pronunciation). Ootheca are egg cases where baby praying mantises gestate.

These nut-like cocoons frequently hitch a ride on evergreen branches that come into the shop - especially arborvitae. Anytime we see them, We clip them off and store them in our terrarium until Jess can remember to bring them to Bloomhouse. (Praying mantises are good for flower farms: They eat bugs that are harmful to flowers.)

Brittney was the first on the staff to identify the oothecae, and (because she's weird) had the word "ootheca" as part of her normal vocabulary. However, she mispronounced it saying "oo-oo" like a monkey. Or like ululate, which I did after learning more about the little time-bombs I thought were benignly hanging out in our kitchen..

When LoCoFlo MVP Kira told me the warmth of the shop might trick the baby mantises to hatch early, I had a mini freak-out. After some quick math (5 oothecae x 200 baby praying mantises per ootheca = LoCoFlo shop disaster) I threatened Jess with Trumpian revenge if she did not transport the oothecae to her farm before they exploded:

Gross!

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December 27 2018

2019 LoCoFlo BookClub

Tags: BookClub, Nerdy AF

The LoCoFlo Book Club is getting extra nerdy in 2019 with a Darwin add-on. As always, the book club is super casual - just drop in. Meetings take place on Monday nights (dates below) at 7pm at our studio You can see more info on our Book Club facebook page. We’re always looking for more folks to join in the fun!

• February 25 2019 Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver
• April 22 2019 American Eden, Victoria Johnson
• June 24 2019 The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben and Mike Grady
• August 19 2019 The Reason for Flowers, Stephen Buchmann and Jonathan Yen
• October 21 2019 A Beautiful Question, Frank Wilczek
• December 16 2019 Darwin Comes to Town Menno Schilthuizen and Chris Nayak

Since Darwin has been a frequent subject in many of the books we've read over the past six years, we are finally going to tackle On the Origin of Species. This is an optional add-on to the scheduled readings. At the end of every meeting we'll discuss a few chapters of Darwin with the goal of finishing in December of 2019.

Our homie Charlie

Darwin add-on schedule (seriously):

• February 25 2019 Intro and Chapters 1 and 2
• April 22 2019 Chapters 3 and 4
• June 24 2019 Chapters 5, 6 and 7
• August 19 2019 Chapters 8 and 9
• October 21 2019 Chapters 10, 11, 12
• December 16 2019 Chapters 13 and 14

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April 15 2018

Giant Leopard Moth

Tags: Bugs

What has two thumbs, starts out as a woolly bear, and turns into a leopard?

This guy (without the thumbs).

Compare with our friend regal moth.

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November 17 2017

2018 LoCoFlo BookClub

Tags: BookClub, Nerdy AF

2018 will mark the 5th year of the LoCoFlo Book Club! We are a drop in book club that reads books that loosely focus on the natural world. We have read fiction, non-fiction and poetry in past years. Our meetings take place on Monday nights (dates below) at 7pm at our studio in Charles Village (3100 Brentwood Ave Baltimore 21218). All meetings are drop-in so no need to RSVP. You can see more info on our Book Club facebook page. We’re always looking for more folks to join in the fun!

• February 5 2018 Sea of Poppies Amitav Ghosh
• April 9 2018 The Nature Fix Florence Williams
• June 18 2018 A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir Donald Worster
• August 20 2018 The Orchid Thief Susan Orlean
• October 29 2018 The Book that Changed America Randall Fuller
• December 10 2018 The Unsettlers Mark Sundeen

Mark your calendars and start reading!

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