Just 1/8Billion

@vhemt4all

Trying not to make the world worse. I’m a vegan animal living in Maine who loves reading, libraries, audiobooks, science, plants, permaculture, fostering, growing mushrooms and water kefir, worm farming and all things compassionate.

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Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 10

Have pancreas / digestion problems? EPI? Age-related reduction in digestive enzymes? You should meet koji (all mycelium, actually). Did you know that mycelium exudes digestive enzymes that you can use?? Experiment #1: growing koji on black beans. Black beans burgers are the best burgers. ❤️

Holding a black bean burger-shaped object. It’s just black beans that are covered in living, fuzzy mycelium. It’s actively growing in and around the beans— partially digesting them, making them bonkers delicious AND digestible for people like me who lack most of our own digestive enzymes for whatever reason.

Intrigued or confused? Google more about how allowing mycelium to partially digest food before you eat it makes in more nutritious and also more delicious! Seriously!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 10

“Originalism”: every non-white, non-male Republican voter is supporting this whether they admit it or not, whether they understand it or not. The trouble is that the rest of us are subject to their jackassery. You definitely want to read more 👉 open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Reacting to that nomination, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality:
"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, Blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids,
schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only— protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy....

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 8

Oh my, today’s ‘Letters From An American’ is a must-read (and subscribe): open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

With the end of open access to global resources, markets, and strategic bases and without reliable friends or allies, the U.S. will need more military spending than ever.

“Americans are neither materially nor psychologically ready for this future,” Kagan warned. They are accustomed to the “basically peaceful, prosperous, and open world” and have come to think it is “the normal state of international affairs, likely to continue indefinitely. They can’t imagine it unraveling, much less what that unraveling will mean for them.”

Everything will be up for grabs, Kagan wrote, with myriad “flash points for potential conflict.” “If Americans thought defending the liberal world order was too expensive,” Kagan wrote, “wait until they start paying for what comes next.”

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 7

Choose your own adventure day! Adventure A: broken bones as you’re thrown into a putrid, bloody heap of ppl just like you or Adventure B: dropped onto chopping knives larger than your entire body or Adventure C: lovely, healthy, tasty veganism? Choose wisely! Your soul depends on it. #religion

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 7

Have you ever really looked at the incredibly underrated, easily overlooked, wonderfully self-reseeding, likely self-cloning, surprisingly gorgeous and edible common milkweed? Lottttttts of #wildlife would love for you to let these take over your currently probably useless grassy mowed areas.

Close-up of the floppy flower head (called an umbel) of the common milkweed. It’s a globe of dozens of sturdy yet soft pale to dark pink flowers.

One milkweed flower with two bright pink, beautiful and floppy globe shaped flower heads.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 4

So that’s what ‘peak stupid’ looks like? July 4th stands out for its **exceptional** number of human-caused fires. From 92-2020, ~15,000 fires were started on this holiday alone. Why are all things branded “American” just so dumb? 🤦‍♂️

Graph showing US wildfires caused by humans spiking around July 4. Wow.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 4

Be careful when collecting seeds. You never know who else will be hanging around, hopefully just living their best life. #wildlife

Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) seeds in my palm. The plants are so prolific that I take many of the seeds and spread them far away from the parent plant. All you have to do is turn the dried pod over into your palm, they fall out by the dozens or hundreds.

Free and easy perennials FTW!

I didn’t see them at first but many of the pods had one of these geranium plume moth (Amblyptilia pica) just lounging. They are so cool!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 4

You don’t need anything special to garden. I use old salad containers for so much: seed starting, rooting cuttings and for temporary holding during suboptimal planting conditions. I planted 5 sunchokes in the container, then waited a couple weeks until they breached the surface. Today I planted. 👏

Gently removed a sprouted sunchoke from the container before popping into the ground, watering and mulching thoroughly.

Salad container filled with sprouting sunchokes ready to plant!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 3

When we visit the big city (Portland, Maine!) we love to see what Whole Foods has in its local, rotating produce section. This time I found sunchokes which are probably a hybrid of H. tuberosus and H. annuus (bred for its prolific tubers). Hooray! Read more here: grownative.org/project/crun...

Picture of a freshly harvested huge bunch of sun choke tubers! Harvest most for eating but plant some back for next year.

Perennials are AWESOME.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jul 1

How about: From Asshole Nobody That Nobody Gave AF About To Asshole First Lady That Nobody Gives AF About There is NOTHING WRONG with being a sex worker. Please, world, stop using sexist language that exists to demean women. She's a POS; what she does with her body is 100% irrelevant. Pass it on.

A redone cover for Melania's "Book" retitled:

From
Prostite
To
First Lady

The Untold Story of
Melania Trump

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 29

This is why you end up pulling over all the time while taking backroads in spectacular, wonderful, beautiful #Maine. You often find something incredible — and this was only 15min from home!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 28

Everyday you’ll pick another bowl of berries! They ripen at different rates and are so good at hiding their delicious fruits under their leaves. Nom nom. This is just the first round of easy fruits for us. Brambles are all making baby berries rn. Come on juneberries! #growmorefood #permaculture

Homemade sourdough waffles covered in wild strawberries and some (imo boring) bananas. My partner loves bananas for no reason I can find so we both share our fruits. Variety is key to health after all.

We have waffle weekend every weekend!

The best waffle recipe ever: save sourdough discard. Mix in whatever you like — cornmeal, buckwheat flour, teff flour, whole teff, oats, too many options to list here! Let them sour for several days in the discard. Mix. Keep moist. The night before waffles add a bit of oil or fatty coconut milk, a dash of sugar and salt, yeast (because your sourdough bacteria are dead by now) and any flavorings you like! Try oregano with cinnamon. I also love rosemary in waffles. Have fun with it. And ONLY use whole organic maple syrup. Of course!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 27

“One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s will alone.” (This T-shirt is on sale rn!) It’s also just one of the many obvious reasons The Satanic Temple trumps - every - single - arbitrary religious org humans made-up and willingly follow. For some reason. 🤷‍♂️ thesatanictemple.com/blogs/news/

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 26

Don’t let anybody tell you wild strawberries (Frugaria virginiana) aren’t worth growing. They’re incredibly delicious, no-maintenance and are a perfect ground cover. A huge portion of our yard is absolutely covered. Grass suuuuuuuucks, y’all! #nativePlants

Strawberries are so great at camouflage. One meander around the yard is never enough. You miss so many!

Pic: using my black shirt as a harvesting basket again. It’s filled with the ripe berries that I don’t eat while walking.

I also have a cultivar growing. It’s tasty too. Actually, I started with one end-of-season clearance berry two years ago. In the fall I move the runners all around to the moist, semi-sunny areas. They are sooooo easy to grow. Really.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 26

What fucking terrible advice. Aren’t there enough unhappy, unwanted, neglected (or worse) children in our ridiculously overpopulated world already? None means none. 👏 www.npr.org/2026/06/25/n...

Your partner wants three kids, you want none. Could you consider having one child? It's "an excellent solution for many couples and also single people who want the pleasure of a child but don't want to be overwhelmed," says Bombardieri.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 24

Just a reminder that all #religionIsPoison.

Quote by Sarah Silverman "We only make fun of scientology because it's new. But it's no more batshit crazy than every other religion."

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 21

Had a meander through the yard and realized it’s a good thing I wear mostly all black! I am definitely going to make myself a foraging basket soon though. Bring on the berries (of all kinds!) #permaculture

Me holding the bottom of my black dress as a basket because I found a lot of ripe, delicious berries this morning and had nowhere else to put them. The dress made a nice, if temporary, basket.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 20

Been trying to make injera for quite some time— I definitely didn’t do it right! Sometimes you have to go to professionals to see how it’s done. Damn! Get some injera in you! Perhaps I’ll do better when my fermentation chamber is ready. 🤞 Do try an Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurant asap.

Rolled injera before I scarfed it all down.

Perfectly holed, soft, fermented injera.

Many dishes served atop injera. Eat your plate.

Sambusa or samosa, filled with incredible lentils.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 18

Do you ever wonder if birds are also pluviophiles or if they’re just getting on with their day? #wildlife

Close-up of Buteo platypterus (broad-winged hawk) I’m pretty sure, just outside my window in the heavy-for-Maine lovely rain.

View from my living room this morning. I just saw large wings out the window as it landed on my temporary grape support. (Think it’ll keep coming back after I build my larger arbor soon?) I hope so! I often notice large birds of prey come through; they don’t always pose like this.

I have many tall, open perches available for any and all hunters who want to stop by! You should too. They look for perches from which to hunt. Sticks, trellises, hybrid willow-like plants, it doesn’t matter— use what you’ve got!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 10

Your colonoscopy appt is basically just a day where you'll relax, take the best nap of your life while a boatload of highly educated, dedicated people make sure you're exceedingly comfortable and cared for. I don't understand what the fuss is all about. It's freaking awesome. Just do it.

A dabbling duck has its butt sticking out of the water while its head (probably adorably) grabs around for food. It says: "No ifs, ands or buts, colonoscopies save lives."

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 10

Do you know when you squeak with delight and then you laugh because you were surprised that you did that? Worms do that to you! I can’t believe they are migrating to the top so fast. 👏👏 Top tip for worm bins: have the bins nest. My last iteration stacked; I don’t recommend. #worms #permaculture

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 10

Does the Yulin dog meat festival make you cry? Ask yourself why that bothers you more than the millions (billions?) of other animals who are similarly tortured and killed every year. If your compassion ends where your appetite begins — you aren’t compassionate. We are all #animals.

Quote from attached article:

Someone will eventually bring up lions, deserted islands, or a hypothetical emergency in which the only available food is a cheeseburger. These arguments are rarely about survival. They are usually attempts to defend an ordinary purchase made in a supermarket filled with alternatives.
The strange thing is that veganism is not asking people to stop enjoying food. It is asking them to enjoy food without requiring an animal to be confined, exploited, and killed. That seems less like extremism and more like progress.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 10

Hilarious! These million morons (let’s be real, republicans) got what they deserved. Next up: the Trump family. #vote open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 7

All I got from this article is that people blame democrats for every single thing — and that, too, is the democrats’ fault. ’...he had followed my campaign and liked what he had heard about me. "But," he said, "I could never vote for a Democrat." ‘ #vote or don’t. Whatever.

The repair shop nearby was big, so much so that they called your name over an intercom when your vehicle was ready.
After my name was called, the mechanic who had worked on my car told me that he had followed my campaign and liked what he had heard about me.
"But," he said, "I could never vote for a Democrat." Words I'd heard dozens of times during my campaign.
Democrats just couldn't be trusted, even when the betrayal of rural America - and working people more broadly - was bipartisan. So why has the GOP fared so much better with these voters?

…were now jobless with no pension or retirement package to cushion the blow.
They were surprised and grateful that I met with them to see how we might secure the severance pay they were entitled to, even as the incumbent congressman told them there was nothing he could do. (In addition to lifting up their plight through my campaign, we connected them to a local attorney, a Democrat, who took their case.
Two years later, they won their class action lawsuit for compensation.)

And while local action is key, policies matter too. The Rural New Deal, which we wrote with Progressive Democrats of America, provides a comprehensive, bottom up platform to build rural prosperity. It includes rebuilding small town centers, investing in rural healthcare, funding rural schools, dismantling monopolies, relocalize small town banks, and more.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 5

Worms! Here’s the latest iteration of my worm bin. It uses nesting 27 gal + 14 gal HDX totes from Home Depot. It’s really quite easy. 🤞 this will help improve my sandy, sandy, sandy young #permaculture food forest. ❤️

I removed the bottom of the 14 gallon tote tote and cut 1/4” mesh to cover the entire bottom.

This bin will coax the worms out of the lower bin (where they live) into the upper, smaller bin because it’ll be full of decomposing deliciousness. I layer with old cat scratchers, torn papers and the like. The add some soil and food. I bokashi my scraps so hopefully they’ll be partially decomposed before I even add them to the bin, speeding it up.

Once filled, spritz with moisture and cover.

The bins share the same lid and nest perfectly. Now.. just wait!

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 3

“It does feel like we are alone in an ocean,” he said. You’ve got to read this. 👇

A snippet from this incredible article that you should absolutely read.

“A desire to reassure immigrant families was the reason Chavarria decided to raise the Somali flag on school grounds on 5 December, three days after Donald Trump referred to Somalis as “garbage” in a cabinet meeting. When a video of the flag went viral on rightwing social media, staff had to temporarily take down the district’s website and social media accounts and unplug school phones because of death threats.

Despite the onslaught, the staff kept the Somali flag up, beside the US and Vermont flags, through the following week to show support for Somali students, who make up about 9% of the school system’s student population.

Chavarria – who, with his husband, stayed at a hotel for a few days following the episode after receiving death threats – said he believed if more school leaders publicly and vocally pushed back on Trump administration policies, Winooski wouldn’t be as big a target for hate.

“It does feel like we are alone in an ocean,” he said.”

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· Jun 1

The GOP hasn't always been the hateful cesspool it is now. See link in alt text of this 1950 quote. Unfortunately, her words were completely ignored— by conservative politicians AND voters alike. Remember, it’s not just GOP voters who fell for the scam: both sides are not the same. #fucktheGOP

“ I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

“I doubt if the Republican party could do so,” she added, “simply because I do not believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans are not that desperate for victory.”

“I do not want to see the Republican party win that way,” she said. “While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.”

“As an American, I condemn a Republican….”

Read the entire post here: https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/may-31-2026?r=18whyv&utm_medium=ios

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· May 26

Lingonberry blooms! Lingonberry blooms! Lingonberry blooms!

Close-up of my lingonberry plants. The plants are barely a few inches tall and the blooms are half of its length! They look like a Seussian pink and yellow floof on a short, prim plant.

A photo taken farther away to show the spread of the tiny, beautiful plant. I’m still holding the branch with the many pink and yellow blooms, weighing it down a bit.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· May 26

I have NEVER had such large, healthy tomato seedlings before! Wow. These are just some extra seeds from some yummy store-bought tomatoes we like. I scraped them right off the cutting board. ❤️ Seed snail + worm castings FTW!

Unrolled my tomato seed snail to plant them this weekend (on an overcast, misty day). Wow! The seedlings were ridiculously strong and had longer roots than I’ve ever managed before.

Note: I also planted the stems underground halfway. Don’t forget! For plants like tomatoes whose stems can also become roots it’s a great way to grow stronger plants.

Just 1/8Billion@vhemt4all· May 23

Compare this 1964 vision of America to today’s actual America. Then ask yourself why the generation who heard this speech — decided instead to go in the opposite direction. Read the rest: open.substack.com/pub/heatherc... #vote #vhemt