Pets with a Purpose

You want worms. Red ones. Lots of them. Trust me.

Nicole's latest Chronicle column answers the question that loomed large when she wrote two months ago about gardening in your apartment: where you gonna get all that rich dirt you need to grow tomatoes on your window sill?

The answer is worms. About 1,000 will do.

They don't take up much space, you don't have to clean up after them (that is kind of the point) and they subsist on a diet of vegan scraps that, in San Francisco, would otherwise become part of the three tons of used food collected every day and processed at a commercial compost facility outside Vacaville (love the sound of that town's name).

If you are in Bay area check out the the print version of Nicole's article, which is framable, we hear -- it takes up the whole back page of the House and Garden section, on page on F - 8.

Nicole, Redesigned

Well, her site is anyway. No reason to tamper with perfection.

After a long period of contemplation and the press of higher priorities nicolespiridakis.com has undergone a complete makeover (no way was I going to use that word in the headline.)

Gone is the iconic picture in the borrowed shirt, replaced with a graceful headshot (used here without permission, as usual).

Speaking of photos, the landing page is a nicely staged shot of one of Nicole's many SF Chron articles -- you know she has a monthly column there called "Common Walls?"

But our favorite page is "clips." There are lots and lots of them, and room for more. Get on it, girl!

Counter Culture -- I Wish I Had Thought Of That

Nicole is at it again: tormenting all those SF renters who'd rather just like to kick back with an Anchor Steam and watch The Bionic Man set a home run record with even more ways to productively fill their down time.

Now it's indoor gardening. This, from a girl who lives five blocks from a farmer's market and is already booked solid through her 30th birthday (the planning for which has begun, I am sure).

Take a breather and stop making the rest of us look like lazy bums. We like the produce section at Ralphs. We consider vegetables optional anyway. Give us more stuff like you don't have to clean the place all the time. And since you're up, get us a beer.

Cooking with Gas

Are you one of those apartment dwellers who loves to give dinner parties but labors with a lousy oven? You are not alone. But you probably can't tell the tale as well as our Nicole, who lives to cook and bake. You have seen her blog, no?

Let's hope the folks over at Viking or Wolf put her out of her misery. She has people to feed -- lots of them.

Just thought of this: why doesn't the SFGate allow comments on stories? I think peepsNet will ask ...

Spring is in the Air! Finally!

Nicole's second article for the San Francisco Chronicle is in today's Home & Garden section.

The story behind the story is pretty interesting: Nic wrote this last Autumn.

Like a fine wine, The Chron will serve no story before its time.