Pondering the Myriad Things

Waiting

2010-11-28T08:52:00.002-07:00

It's nearly Winter again and so we've been firing up the woodstove regularly. I really like lighting the fire, and doing so when there are still some embers from the night before has been a good exercise in the benefits of waiting. It can be tempting to throw a match in there or use the butane lighter, but more and more I like to just lay the wood on top of the embers, sit back and wait. I'm trying to do that more in life as well: set the proper conditions and then wait for the results in Nature's good time.

Mindful eating - revisited

2010-08-31T12:34:00.002-06:00

I have struggled for a long time with my eating habits.

I have gone from whining in my head (and sometimes outloud) about 'how come other people can eat whatever they want?' to blaming western society in general for unrealistic body expectations, to saying, 'what the heck' and eating whatever I want, whenever I want, and then getting angry and belittling myself for not having the will power to eat less and exercise more. I've also found it maddening that I've been able to cut back consumption in other areas of my life, but not in the food area. I've blogged about that frustration before.

I've tried to be more 'mindful' while eating, and to not do anything other than eat when I'm eating. That worked for about five minutes and then I go back to doing what I've always done, which is chowing down while watching TV or reading. In short, nothing has worked (notice the disconnection here - it leaves me out of the equation entirely)...until now. Well, until about nine weeks ago. That's when (through the magic of facebook,) I noticed my sister doing an awesome job of losing weight, with the help of a website called myfitnesspal.com .

Don't worry, I'm not going to use my nice, non-commercial blog to talk up some product or service. In fact there is no product or service to talk up, really - it turns out it's all about that whole connection/disconnection thing again. By that I mean that I was completely disconnected from the facts about how many calories I was burning compared to how many I was taking in. And I was delusional in a sense, because I seemed to have the idea that just because I felt guilty about what I ate, and really wanted to exercise but was too [insert excuse here] to get up and move, that the laws of biology and physics would change for me and I would lose weight merely because I wished I could so badly. It was the calorie counting tools at MFP that stripped me of those delusions and reconnected me with the truth of "doing the math." There was no way I could balance my input of calories with my output of energy until I knew how much of each I was consuming/expending. And so now, nine weeks later, the number on the scale is heading nicely downwards. :) It's another example of joyful moderation that I am glad to incorporate into my life.

So, at last, I am at eating and moving mindfully. Not in the sense that I am doing only that and nothing else at the time, but with an over-arching yet basic awareness of the connection between what I eat and what I do. And I really think that it is this kind of fundamental awareness between consumption and its consequences that we as a species have to get connected with, and soon. I'm glad that I can do this myself in an everyday way now, and witness the results!

P.S. - If anyone is using MFP, my username is themyriadthings, and I'd be happy to be your MFP friend :)

Good News!

2010-07-30T12:46:00.002-06:00

Earlier this week, the United Nations declared clean water and sanitation a human right! The declaration was ratified by 122 forward-thinking countries, with no countries voting against. But 41 members abstained, and you guessed it, Canada was among them.

Stephe n Harper, you are a short-sighted, greedy coward. So there.

~~~

Have a lovely long weekend everyone!

Deep Ocean Heart

2010-07-11T21:55:00.002-06:00

For the past week or so it seems like wherever I turn, something to do with water or water issues has come front and centre for me.

For example, earlier this week was the first talk in Tricycle's retreat with Sensei Bonnie Myotai Treace. In this talk, (which is free, by the way - check it out!), Myotai talks about a number of things water-related, in particular the koan, "give attention to water." (Note that this wording emphasizes something different than to "pay" attention.) Part of the practice at Hermitage Heart is the making and distributing of handmade ceramic bowls, in groups of 108, to form a 'water mala.' Recipients of the bowls give attention to water by keeping the bowl filled at all times, in the knowlege that the other 107 recipients are doing the same. I find this very compelling as I do my best to give more attention to water in my life.

Then, a few days ago, I saw on twitter that a new website and initiative was launched here in Alberta, by the name of ourwaterisnotforsale.com . This initiative is in response to the Alberta government's wrongheaded and greedy idea to change how water is allocated in this province, namely, "a market system that distributes water based on the ability to pay." Because of NAFTA and other free-trade agreements, we won't be able to reverse this decision if we want to later. It is a totally short-sighted and completely irresponsible position for our government to take, sadly like a lot of their other decisions. (I could rant further here, but I'm restraining myself.) If you live in Alberta, and you want the government to actually look at more responsible ways to allocate water, say by fairness, ecological sustainability and the fact that safe, clean water is a human right, you may want to sign the open letter to Alberta's 'Environment' Minister, Rob Renner. I have.

And then today, just as I was getting into the shower actually, David Suzuki's CBC Radio program, The Bottom Line, began playing on my handy shower radio. He was interviewing deep sea diver Sylvia Earle, and they began talking about all sort of profound things. Like how we have environmental reserves for 12% of the land surface of the Earth, but only less than .1% of the oceans under protection. How there are only 10% of blue fin tuna left, and how if aliens saw our planet from space, they would undoubtedly think it odd that it is called Earth rather than Water, given the relative proportion of dry land to ocean. And, what really struck me was their conversation about why we prefer to shoot ourselves into space rather than learn about and understand our oceans. They mused about it for a while, without postulating anything. But I will postulate a little:

I think it's because we as humans are (in)famous for looking outward instead of inward. For looking away rather than toward. For distracting ourselves from what is right in front of us. For going for the brass ring instead of appreciating the horse. And I think we're a little bit scared to look into the deep, mysterious place that is the ocean, even though our very lives depend on the water it contains. Just like we're usually afraid to look inside ourselves and see clearly what's really there. It takes more courage to look there than it does to look away.

I hope, as a species, we grow up pretty quick now and start doing the hard work of looking inward at the source of our universal vitality. Because we are water, in a very literal sense.

Picture of one of the water mala bowls courtesy 108Bowls

Happy Midsummer!

2010-06-21T12:44:00.006-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it is the Summer Solstice already - it seems I just planted the garden and now the days will start getting shorter again already. Lots going on around here, but I'm taking the time to get outside almost every day and enjoy some aspect of nature. Meditating outside has been a really nice practice to start, but the mosquitoes are starting to make that a bit more difficult these days. And putting on bug spray before going out to meditate seems a bit counter-intuitive, but maybe that's better than swatting at them the whole time!

The garden is coming along, but slowly. The weather has been better than last year so far, but there were some cool days that seemed to have put things back a week or two. And some cats have been using the garden as a place to dig, which has been annoying. They've taken out a couple rows of parsnip and fennel, for sure. But the carrots are up, the endive is thriving and the beans, peas, chard and kale have made brave appearances. I'm still waiting on the potatoes (planted two weeks later than everything else due to weather and poor planning on my part) and there is no sign of any fennel anywhere, which I had really wanted for the seeds. I'm keeping on top of the weeds at least, so far, and I'm trying to be less worried about the garden this year, given last year's ongoing frustrations.

Anyway, that's a bit of a ramble about how things are going here. How are things where you are?

(Gorgeous sun graphic courtesy Feeding Curiosity)

The price of greed

2010-06-02T12:33:00.001-06:00

This CBS 60 Minutes show on the Deepwater Horizon travesty, and the story of one of its survivors is amazing and horrifying. When will we ever, ever, ever learn? When? WHEN!!!!

Spring Snow

2010-05-30T14:30:00.006-06:00

We've been getting some precipitation lately, which has been good news given our drought situation here in Alberta. It hadn't begun raining yet on Friday as had been forecast, and when it was still dry Saturday morning I was a bit apprehensive that the rain wouldn't come. But mid-morning it did, and by mid-afternoon it was snowing!

It snowed well into the evening, to the point where I went out twice to shake some of our trees to get the snow off of them. I was worried most about our chokecherry and willow trees, which we planted shortly after we moved here to our acreage in 2003. These trees have done really well, probably tripling in height, and I really didn't want them to get damaged. It would have been no big deal if the snow came a few weeks ago before the trees all leafed out, but now they're full of leaves and blossoms, and so the heavy, wet snow builds up on them quickly.

It was a bit of a strange experience, going out at 9 pm (when it's still light out at this time of year), and shaking the leafy snow-laden tree branches, getting soaking wet, all the while smelling the gorgeous scent of the cherry blossoms - a weird combination of sensations! Gratifying though, to see the boughs spring back up into their more normal position once their burden was lifted.

And this morning the snow is mostly gone, melting away and soaking into the ground. Things sure do look green. And as a bonus, when I went to check out my garden this morning, the kale seems to have sprouted up overnight!

Fairness and Generosity

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm a "Libra." I've always liked being a Libra, because I've always considered myself a fair person (on average) and the scales of the Libra sign reflect this. I don't put a lot of weight into astrology, but in my case I thought that for what ever reason, my personality really did seem to match what the Libra scales represent: fairness, justice, equality, etc. Fairness is a quality I really value in others and in myself, and I have reasonably good 'self-esteem' in that area, I guess you could say.

That is until I was at work the other day and found myself getting all grumpy because no one had filled up the filtered water container for tea, again, and I had to do it, again, even though lots of us at work drink tea or some other hot beverage that we use the filtered water for. I was grudginly filling up the water container, all the while thinking, "Why doesn't anyone else ever do this? Why am I stuck with doing this all the time? It's just not fair that other people don't take their turn."

Then it hit me: all my concern about fairness was sure putting a crimp in my ability to be generous. It washed over me all of a sudden: putting such a high value on fairness was really just a cover for only doing my "fair" share and no more. And resenting others for not doing their "fair" share gives me an excuse to feel all superior and better-than-them-y. Silly Theresa. I broke out into a big grin and shook my head at myself. And proceeded to fill the water container with a much lighter heart and generous spirit.

In the days and weeks since, I've embraced my role as "water jug filler," doing my best to top up the container in the daytime and making sure it's filled in the evening so that there is water to put in the kettle first thing in the morning. And I enjoy my first cup of tea of the day much more now that it is flavored with generosity rather than resentment.

(Here is a nice little dharma talk by Clark Strand on generosity, in the context of the practice of 'green meditation')

Better late than never...

2010-05-24T20:21:00.004-06:00

Gord bought me this "starter" greenhouse last year, in the mid-summer I think. So I didn't set it up then, and of course it sat in its nondescript box over the winter and when Spring came around I completely forgot I had it! Then, a couple weeks ago I was at WeeStock, (where my talented sister had a table for her home-based notable business) and her friend was there, talking about all of the tomato plants she started from seed that were thriving in her mini-greenhouse. D'oh!

It took me another couple weeks, but I finally got it set up today and it fits perfectly on the porch, where it will catch the morning sun. It's probably too late to start tomatoes from seed, but I have put my two sturdy echinacea seedlings from last year in there. And I might just start a few other seeds in there and just see what happens...

Super Sprouts!

2010-05-24T10:37:00.001-06:00

I planted most of my veggie garden last weekend, and I think the record for fastest sprout ever has to go to......endive! I decided to plant these particular leafy greens this year because our guinea pigs just love them, and it is a type of green that we don't get from our CSA farm share. I popped out to the garden yesterday afternoon, not expecting to see anything, but there they were: three rows of adorable endive seedlings! Usually it is the beans that sprout first, but these little guys just couldn't wait!

We've been fortunate and had several days of rain last week, but it was also very cold (with even a frost warning last night) so I figured sprouting would be delayed for everything. The garden has new lessons to teach me all the time...

How are your gardens doing? How has your Spring weather been?

Sore back, Full heart

2010-05-08T18:19:00.008-06:00

Today was my first work day this year at Sparrow's Nest Organics, our CSA farm. This is the third year we're participating in the CSA and it really feels comfortable and cozy when I go there now, which is really nice. I always like chatting with our farmers, Graham and Allison, and with the sharers that come for their work days. We talk about things like food security and eating locally and growing our own gardens and things like that. Today several of the people there had just watched "Food, Inc." on PBS and so vegetarianism and veganism were also discussed, while we were doing our assigned tasks. Even Graham and Allison's adorable son Ben (pictured right) gets in on the action, toting pails and taking charge of the garden hose!

Today an abundance of potatoes were planted, and we got about five thousand of little onion seedlings out of their germination trays and tucked into the cultivator bins ready for tomorrow's crew to plant. We helped get the drip irrigation system set back up in the fields, and took down the ripped plastic sheeting and webbing off of the four big greenhouses.

Graham and Allison have constructed two cabins and are in the process of building a cookhouse/laundry/shower building for their international practicum students - they are studying at Olds College and have come from Mexico. They're also setting up a windmill, the power from which will be used to circulate the water in their irrigation dugout, to keep algae from getting out of hand. With the help of the practicum students, they will also be contructing platforms for raptor nesting, with a view to keeping the ground squirrels and rodents in check. The two cabins, cookhouse and harvest shed all have metal roofs, and Allison and Graham collect rainwater into a huge cistern, which is now full after our recent rain/snowfall - ready to water the raspberries and rhubarb!

So even though my back is a bit sore, my heart is full after a day of working with people who are committed to a healthy, safe, local and just food system for all!

Spill Baby Spill

2010-05-02T10:48:00.006-06:00

I'm sure I'm not the first one to make that twist on Sarah Palin's "Drill Baby Drill" mantra. In fact I saw Elizabeth May use it in one of her tweets earlier this week, referring of course to the horrible oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. This spill keeps getting worse and worse, and no one seems to know how or when to make it stop.

A metaphor for the stupidity of off-shore oil drilling keeps coming into my mind and I thought I'd flesh it out a little and share it:

Let's say you have a jug of nice clean drinking water. You're thirsty and it's important to keep the water clean, for the drink you're going to have now and the one you're going to need later. You keep the covered jug of water on the counter. In the cupboard under the counter is where you keep a small container of bleach. You think you need that too, because it is a quick and easy way to keep your white laundry really sparkling white. You are careful with the bleach and keep that container well-sealed because the bleach can really wreck stuff or burn your skin if used improperly. You sure don't want the bleach getting in the water unintentionally. A very very tiny amount of bleach in the water isn't a problem, but too much would contaminate it and maybe even be lethal to anyone who drinks the water, including you and your pet dog Rover, not to mention the ficus plant in the front room. You know that you definitely want to keep these two substances separate from each other.

So the one thing you definitely DON'T do is drill a hole through the bottom of the water jug and the countertop and stick a hose down through the water into the bleach bottle in order to have easy access to the bleach. What's more, you don't need to actually try this out first to see it's not a good idea; just imagining having bleach running up through your jug of drinking water is enough to know that this would be a really stupid thing to do. Even with the best quality hose, the best quality seals and someone watching for leaks all the time, it is a really really dumb idea.

Especially when you (and Rover, and the ficus plant) need the water to live, and you only 'need' the bleach to keep up appearances.

Eww! Weird tree growth

2010-04-17T18:25:00.006-06:00

Does anyone have any idea what this rather disgusting looking thing might be?

At first I thought some sort of extraordinarily agile cat, or perhaps an inordinately large crow, had pooped on our Schubert Chokecherry tree, but this stuff is definitely not poop. Could it be some kind of fungus? The portion of the branch on either side of this thing is enlarged about 30-50% for about two inches. There are three of these things on our tree, which until now has been really healthy. And I'm sure these things weren't there in the Fall, but what kind of...uh, growth, grows over the Winter? We picked at it a bit and there are no eggs in there, it is just solid brown material all the way through.

I'm trying to decide if I should cut off the branches where these things are located, or try to pick it off as best I can, or what? Suggestions welcome!

Update: One of my twitter people quickly identified the problem as Black Knot Disease, which seems to be getting quite bad here in the prairies. Looks like I've got some surgical pruning to do...

Compassion is hard

2010-04-05T15:47:00.009-06:00

When I sit on my meditation cushion and (try to) meditate, one of the types of meditation I seem drawn to the most is 'metta' meditation. During this type of meditation, you work at cultivating feelings of loving kindness and friendliness to all beings, including yourself. In your mind, you say something like, 'may all beings be safe, healthy, happy and at ease." You say this to yourself as well, and then work outwards to people you know and like, eventually including people that you find difficult and may not like very much at all.

When I'm sitting there, doing that, I seem to have no problem saying these kind words to people I dislike or find difficult. I can even say that I genuinely mean it when I'm saying it, because I know that if those people were feeling safe, happy, healthy and at ease (i.e., not suffering) they probably wouldn't be so difficult. I truly feel compassionate towards them, because I know they must be angry, hurting, defensive and confused, just like I am when I am difficult and unlikeable.

That's while I'm 'on the cushion.' It seems I have some work to do when it comes to real life. The good part is I've at least recognized that fact!

Here's what I mean. This past weekend a letter to the editor was printed in one of the local papers. In a nutshell, the couple writing the letter are opposed to a Habitat for Humanity project being considered for a neighborhood near theirs because they feel their hard-working family doesn't deserve to live near people of lower incomes who would bring crime and disorder into their upper-middle class community. Here is a quote from the letter , just to give you its flavor:

Like it or not, the children of St. Albert are high-standard children and have no place for low-income classmates. When we first moved to St. Albert our teen had a hard time fitting in because of money and it was hard on him. Now he is good, but it did not go away with just a loving hug — his status was accomplished once his friends saw our house and other possessions. It sounds cruel but that is how it is; ask your children, they will tell you.

The bigotry in the letter is quite astounding really, and it has generated a LOT of controversy, to the point that it was mentioned on the national news. If you read the comments that follow the letter, you'll see that most of them decry this couple's opinions, and some do so in very harsh terms. And I must say that my reaction was pretty much in line with theirs: my first instinct was a feeling of disgust and then many disparaging thoughts. I wanted to write a comment too, voicing these feelings and thoughts, and condemning the couple for their shallowness, snobishness and ignorance. Fortunately, in order to submit a comment I had to take the time to register on the newspaper's website first, and while deciding whether or not I wanted to do that, my urge to comment faded. Which was a good thing. I ended up donating to Habitat for Humanity instead, in the name of the couple in question. Nevertheless, I still took a lot of pleasure in other peoples' comments and their call for a boycott of the couple's business. Truth be told, I'm still taking pleasure in it, and I need to let that go.

Today I will do some metta meditation for this couple, to help me let go of it. Because it is true that if this couple could feel more safe, more healthy, more happy and more at ease, I'm sure they would soften at least a little towards the H4H development project. I will do some metta for myself as well, so I can extend to them more compassion and less judgement. And that will be good practice for the next time my old habit of judgment and derision jumps to the forefront.

Have any of you had a tough time being compassionate lately?

It's World Water Day!

2010-03-22T12:05:00.002-06:00

In celebration of World Water Day, take a look at this excellent video called, The Story of Bottled Water. It's made by the same folks who brought us the similarly excellent piece called The Story of Stuff.

Take a few moments today to be mindful of the water you drink and use, and be thankful for your glass of clean tapwater. Clean safe water is a human right, not a commodity to be sold only to those who can afford it!

Drought Thyme?

2010-03-15T08:13:00.002-06:00

It's been really warm around here lately, and the snow is melting really quickly. When I went outside this morning I noticed that a lot of my herb/flower garden was uncovered, even though I have been moving snow on top of it when I get the chance. When I scrunched down to take a closer look today, lo and behold the thyme was greening up already. Usually the chives are the first things to get growing, but not this year.

Seeing green this early in the year - it's not even technically Spring yet - is a relief to the eyes, which have seen just white, brown and gray for so many months. But I'm worried actually. Because we have had so little snow this Winter. So little precipitation of any kind for much of the past year. Last year's growing conditions were tough, and I worry that we're in for yet more drought.

Last week we got another batch of propaganda from the local MP, and in it was something useful for a change: a link to Agriculture Canada's website on drought monitoring. I checked it out and came across several disturbing maps, showing just how dry its been and for how long. Here's one that shows data for this past Winter. You can see that everywhere in the prairies has had lower than average rain fall, and in the Edmonton area (where it's brown on the map) we have had between 40 - 60% of the average. Areas further north are even worse off.

World Water Day is coming up on March 22nd. I'm going to see how little water I can use on that day. We do fairly well around our house for conserving water, but we could still do better. Canada's per capita water consumption is quite dismal. I think we have the false perception that we have an abundance of fresh water in this country. But maps like this one show that appearances can be deceiving.

How much water does your household use? Could you use less?

Week of Wellness: Day 5

2010-02-26T10:37:00.004-07:00

It's Friday, the last day of my retreat-style week. There is absolutely nothing on my agenda for this morning and this afternoon, and in fact the electricity is scheduled to go out for the entire afternoon, which will mesh nicely with my intention to start reading one of the four books I picked up from the library yesterday. I've got a bell on my computer set so that it chimes on the hour and quarter hours, and when it does I stop what I'm doing for a minute, breathe, and just appreciate that I am here at home, relaxing, while the sun pours in the windows.

Tomorrow the weekend proper begins, but it should be more laid back than usual this time because I'm caught up on some laundry and other chores. Then it's back to work on Monday, and I think I will be ready for it. It's been good to get some peace, to watch some of the silly habits of my mind, and just have some space and time to slow down. Hopefully I can carry some of that spaciousness back to work with me, at least for a little while.

Happy Friday everyone, and do enjoy your weekend!

Week of Wellness: Day 4

2010-02-25T10:01:00.003-07:00

Thanks everyone for all your encouraging words yesterday! It's funny how minds will get into ruts they didn't even know they had! Today I'm taking the time to enjoy each moment. After a little bit of yoga, some tai chi exercises and meditation this morning, I'm doing a little baking and then this evening I'm meeting up with a friend from my high school days. And I don't have to worry about how late the visit goes, because I don't have to get up at any particular time tomorrow -- bliss!

I hope you all enjoy your day as well!

Week of Wellness: Day 3

2010-02-24T09:44:00.003-07:00

My mind is playing tricks on me today. It's barely halfway through my week off, and already I'm worrying about how little time I have left. I'm stressing out about what I wanted to do that I haven't done, and I'm resenting having to drive into the city when I am comfy and cozy at home, even though my 'schedule' is far from busy. Silly, hey? I need to just decide what I'm doing and then do it. Ok. I guess I'll go do that.

Week of Wellness: Day 2

2010-02-23T08:50:00.008-07:00

It passed, it passed! Unanimously even!

Hundreds of people came to Edmonton City Hall last night to show support for the municipal development plan that now includes amendments that ensures food security issues will be considered in any developments that would impact farmland.

Here is a summary of about 3 1/2 hours of meeting time by comprehensive local blogger, Mack Male. This picture is from his website as well, and I'm even in the picture (find the lady with the red hat, and then go left one person and down one person - I'm the one with the black coat and white hoody sticking out). There are more pictures at his website, and in one of them you can see I'm scribbling furiously in my little notebook. :) Counsillor Don Iveson posted his thoughts about the municipal development plan and his closing speech in support of it here.

It was an amazing experience! There were so many people there, of all ages - from babies to people probably in their '70s or maybe even '80s. What was so heartening was the range of all ages that were there - lots of school-aged kids, and many people in their 20's. Lots of young families, and multiple generations of families.

The GEA organizers had asked people to come for 6 pm, but all the presentations for and against the municipal development plan (MDP) had spoken in the afternoon session. But the GEA speakers all took the time to say their speeches again to the gathered crowd, before city councillors returned to resume the council session. The speeches were terrific, and were made by people including a three-generation potato farmer, and the 12 year old daughter of a new berry farmer, all of whom have farms on Class 1 farmland that was, until today, at risk of being paved over for new 'development.' The new berry farmer got a huge cheer when she revealed that she had turned down the offer of an "energy company" to buy her 9 acres of land last year.

One of the best lines of the night came from Monique Nutter, GEA organizer: "local food requires local land." That says it all, doesn't it? It's so obvious, yet so profound! She went on to say that this MDP recognizes that we have a "fundemental dependence on nature's bounty" and that in passing this document, the city has given a "gift to future generations."

After the speeches, we were encouraged to talk to someone there who we didn't yet know about why we came to the meeting. I spoke with a mother and daughter next to me who came because they saw the city's subdivisions encroaching on the natural and farming areas surrounding it, and worried about where we were going to be getting our food 20 years from now. The daughter talked about how depressing it was to talk with people of "older generations" and their focus on "development only." I was inspired talking to her, because I worry that the younger generation doesn't think about anyting other than video games or what new phone to buy: she proved me wrong, and I'm glad.

At about 7:15 pm council reconvened, and the nitty gritty debate continued. I was impressed overall with how committed the councillors seemed to be to crafting a document that incorporates environmental considerations into it, and which guides development towards sustainability on a number of levels, including more firm targets for in-fill development rather than urban sprawl, protecting the river valley from "resource extraction" - i.e., gravel pits, promoting public transportation, preserving wetland areas, and now, incorporating a food and agriculture strategy into all future 'development' considerations.

At about 8:30 pm one of the organizers said that we could leave if we wished, since council knew we were here and the presentations had been made. I stayed for another half hour or so, finally packing it in as the debate on various wording changes wore me down. I turns out I should have stayed another 20 minutes, because it looks like things sped up considerably after that and the MDP passed second reading unanimously! I found that out by searching twitter's #yegcc (Edmonton City Council) hashtag this morning.

It was a great experience! Democracy in action. Beautiful.

And now today I have a day at home, which I will enjoy immensely. I picked up a new book at the library yesterday, I will meditate, do some tai chi, do a few chores, make a healthy supper, and mostly just putter around. And that's beautiful too.

Week of Wellness: Day 1

2010-02-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ahh....

Is there anything better than a week stretching out ahead, to be filled with good and relaxing things? I think not!

On today's 'agenda', so to speak, is to do some tai chi and meditation in the morning, look through my seed catalogue in the afternoon, and then head to Edmonton's City Hall for an evening city council meeting about food security and land use planning.

I'm actually skipping my tai chi class tonight in order to go to the meeting, but this is a one-time opportunity I don't want to miss. Organizers are hoping for as many as 750 people to come to this, the last of three city council meetings on the topic. At the last meeting in November, amendments were passed that set the stage for the protection of farmland in Edmonton. The next step is to have the entire municipal development plan passed, so that there is a "city wide food and agricultural strategy" to which future city development must adhere.

It seems silly, doesn't it, to have to debate this, rather than have it be self-evident. It should be a no-brainer to have arable land protected and spared from "development." The word "development" itself implies that the land is just empty and useless, sitting there doing nothing, lacking any buildings or roads or other such "improvments." Anyway, I will take some notes and blog about what happened at the meeting tomorrow! Hopefully I will have good news!

Picture courtesy Edmonton's City Farm

Something about February

2010-02-15T10:13:00.001-07:00

There's just something about February that says Spring is on its way! Just the word "February" itself sounds much warmer and friendlier than January, wouldn't you say? Even though it has been cloudy outside much of the time and snowing now and then, I just feel better knowing it is February!

My Week of Wellness is now just a week away, and thanks to Claire at I Love Alberta Beets, I have already made significant headway into my budgeting goal, freeing up even more time for tea and reading - yay!

I'm considering adding one more thing to my list of wellness-related activities for the week: attending a public meeting at City Hall on Edmonton's food and agriculture strategy. After all, ensuring that our valueable farmland doesn't all get paved over for suburban development is a matter of wellness for everyone!

Week of Wellness

2010-01-28T09:04:00.001-07:00

So I have decided to take a week off work next month for no particular reason other than that I need some time off. March and April are shaping up to be extremely busy at work, so I decided that the last week of February will be my time for a little space and rejuvenation.

I have dubbed it 'Theresa's Week of Wellness" because I'm going to do all sorts of nice and healthy things during this time off. Sort of like a retreat, but I am going to do it at home. And this blog post is part of how I'm setting my intention of what I'm going to do. (Thanks to EcoYogini who introduced me to this intention-setting concept!) So here are some of the basic things I will be including in my W.o.W:

Meditate each day for 20 minutes (this can be in two, 10 minute sessions)
At least twice during the 7 days, meditate for one sitting of at least 30 minutes.
Do 10 minutes of Tai Chi warm up exercises every day. This would be best to do right before meditating.
Practice doing a set of Tai Chi at home from start to finish at least twice.
Attend my two regularly scheduled Tai Chi classes
Drink 6-8 glasses of water each day.
Catch up on my sleep - this works better by going to bed earlier rather than sleeping in later, so I plan on being in bed by 10:30 p.m.
Notwithstanding the above, sleep in if I want to (although if I go to bed on time, even getting up at 8:30 a.m. will be sleeping in).
Stay at home for 4 of the 7 days - i.e., on these days I don't have to wear anything other than pajamas, and I don't have to put on any makeup or do my hair. If the doorbell rings (which is unlikely but possible,) I just won't answer it!
Have at least one warm bath during the week with candles on and nice music playing.
Read to my heart's content. I plan on putting my library card to full use, and I have also given in and ordered Noah Levine's "Against the Stream" book, which should have arrived by the time my W.o.W. starts.
Listen to some Noah Levine, Gil Fronsdal and/or similar podcasts.
Get a massage (this is already booked - hooray!)

In addition to these healthy and relaxing things, I also plan on doing some catching up on stuff that I have fallen behind or which I never seem to get a handle on, and which then stress me out in the background of my mind. Some of these things include:

Making a new, Mac-based budgeting spreadsheet that is simpler and less time consuming for data-entry.
Doing some cooking of soups, chili, etc., that I can freeze for later use. I have quite a lot of stored beans (dried and canned) and I want to use/eat some of them to keep my 'stores' in proper rotation.
Bake some bread again - I haven't been doing that lately and I miss it.
Submit some insurance claim stuff I've been putting off.
Place my vegetable seed order.

I may end up making up some kind of daily schedule for myself to ensure: (1) that I do what I intend, but still (2) leave enough time for tea throughout the day and week so that I don't have to rush through things. That would sort of defeat the purpose after all.

Anyone else out there planning on a week (or day) of wellness?

Photo courtesy wildmind.org

Things I've been doing when I'm not blogging...

2010-01-17T19:09:00.001-07:00

So even though my energy level is at somewhat of an ebb these (many) days, I have managed to do a couple things. Today for example I finally collected seed from the snack pea and radish plants I've had drying on a laundry rack in the basement since September. I have a new appreciation for seed savers and collectors, because what you see in the picture here is the sum total of seed I collected from three radish plants, and about six pea plants. Now I know why good seeds seem 'expensive' and why you sometimes get what seems like a tiny amount in each seed packet.

I had also collected bean seeds from my 3' by 5' patch of Golden Rocky Beans in September, and I shelled those about a month ago. After setting aside the best of these gorgeous indigo blue beans for seed, I had enough left over to make one pot of soup. Again, a good realization of how much time, effort, and resources (human and earth-given) go into the making of one seed. The soup was delicious by the way - it was almost an entirely local soup with dried kale from the CSA farm, dried thyme from my herb garden, and potatoes from my garden as well.

I've also been corresponding with my local MP's office via email about my unhappiness with PM Harper's decision to prorogue parliament AGAIN! My MP, Brian Storseth, doesn't want to converse with me via email however -- his office staff says this is because email correspondence could be "altered" and then forwarded, and because they can't be sure I actually reside in the riding if I don't give a mailing address. Never mind that if they checked their files they would see that they already have my address because I've corresponded with them in the past. I was hoping for a bit more of a spontaneous and personal exchange with my elected representative this time, but I guess I will have to settle for another delayed regurgitation of Stephen Harper's talking points, AGAIN.

I've been reading a number of books as well - Gord and I signed up for library cards last summer, and we've been enjoying the benefits ever since. I've been soaking up all sorts of Buddhist books, some of which include: "Waking Up: A week in a Zen monastery," "Joyful Wisdom: Embracing change and finding wisdom", "Sit Down and Shut Up," "Finding the Still Point: A beginner's guide to meditation," and I've just started reading "Zen Mind, Beginners' Mind."

I've been getting better at working in a 10 minute meditation period into almost every day - it doesn't sound like much, but from what I've read, meditating for a short period every day is better than longer periods one or two times a week. Both my butt and my brain are slowly getting used to this meditation thing, which is like a whole lotta nothing and absolutely everything at the same time. Who knew that sitting still and breathing could be so profound?

And I think I may have taken the first step out of my depressive funk today, after catching a few minutes of one of my all time favorite TV shows no less: Northern Exposure. In it, there was a scene where one character (Ed) is lying prone on a general store counter top lamenting the soon-to-be end of the world as we know it, and another character (Ruth Anne), the 'wise-woman' proprietor of the general store, tells Ed to just shoo, get out of her store and do something, anything: read a book, go for a walk, make a movie, anything. That advice makes sense: when you're mired in lamentation, just pick something and do it. And I know that of course. But the thing that struck me was how silly the character wailing and moping on the counter looked. That's been me. I've been moping and wailing. And it's time to stop.

So thanks Ruth Anne, I'll get off the counter now and get back to it.

Circles

2010-01-06T12:47:00.001-07:00

Here is it already January 6th, 2010. I've had this enso circle graphic ready to go for about a week now, thinking surely the New Year would inspire me to write something about the emptiness of the circle, and the potential it represents. How the middle part of the circle, when you reverse the field, looks like a ripe peach, full of juicy goodness.

So far, I still just feel a sense of the big fat zero. I know I should feel renewed, I should feel hopeful, I should feel energized with the clean slate of a new year, a new decade, etc., etc. But nope, I'm still stuck in the state of zero. Zero motivation, zero optimism, blech, bla, yuck. The same state that ground my ponderings to a nearly complete stop last Fall.

I guess I'll just keep watching and waiting, knowing that everything's impermanent, and that this cycle will work itself out somehow, some time, some where.

To anyone who still wanders by here now and then, I wish you peace and contentment.

Picture of enso circle courtesy www.themiddleway.net

As Greenpa would say...

2009-12-21T12:00:00.003-07:00

...pick and iceberg and start pushing. Turns out Derrick Jensen (author of Endgame) says much the same thing in this excellent article.

Also, Happy Solstice everyone! I know I am sure looking forward to more daylight instead of less. When we get to December 21 I know I can make it through the Winter. Today here in the Edmonton area it is snowing quite heavily, and we have a whopping ~7 1/2 hours of daylight.

With the bitter (but far from surprising) disappointment at Copenhagen, I'm not sure if I will have much more to say on this blog before the New Year rolls around next week. Despite that, I would still like to wish everyone a joyful holiday season and a time of rest as we gather ourselves for the challenges of the coming year. May our individual actions for peaceful change in 2010 overflow into a collective juggernaut of goodness the likes of which the world has never seen!

(I can dream, can't I?)

"World Class"

2009-12-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

There has been a lot of talk around Edmonton over the past few years, and particularly the last several weeks, about what it takes to be a "world class" city. Ways to distinguish ourselves in this regard have been proposed in the form of elaborate signposts upon entry to the city itself, to the building of a downtown sports arena, to the current apparent passport to world recognition: Expo 2017.

Not surprisingly, I disagree with these things as being any kind of indicator as to the "world-classness" of a city. I would (and do) argue that these kinds of undertakings and endeavors actually do the opposite of what a truly world-class city would do. They glorify the flashy over the solid and dependable. They venerate highly paid entertainers rather than help out citizens in need. They confuse a marketing strategy with making the city a better place to live, for everyone.

The elected representatives of a truly world-class city would focus instead on the things that help their citizens the most, without worrying about image or notoriety. When you do the right thing, you don't have to worry about image or notoriety. So how about trying some of these 'world-class' things instead:

expand public transit
re-install public water fountains and encourage people to drink our excellent tap water rather than bottled water
develop walkable and bike-able communities, saving the city's surrounding farmlands from being paved over
build affordable public housing for the 3000+ homeless people in Edmonton
protect the fertile farmland in/to the northeast of the city, and protect it for the generations to come
maintain and retrofit existing infrastructure before building new, fancy, Dubai-esque monuments
encourage businesses and citizens to investigate things like solar power, green roofs, geo-thermal for their businesses and residences
Start converting city-owned buildings with some of the above-mentioned technologies

A city or town that did these sorts of things would soon be recognized far and wide as a pro-active, cutting edge and visionary place which serves its citizens in the long run, rather than staging a few flash-in-the pan publicity stunts. And as a bonus, there are no multi-million dollar application fees.

I doubt that Edmonton City Council reads Lao Tzu, but perhaps they should. Everyone benefits when society, and individuals, choose substance over style:

Return to the state of plain wood
Plain wood splits, then becomes tools
The sages utilize them
And then become leaders

From Derek Lin's translation of the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 28.

My Climate Change "Action Plan"

2009-11-19T12:36:00.006-07:00

Since it is becoming increasingly obvious that there will be no binding agreement in Copenhagen next month about how to achieve necessary greenhouse gas emission reductions, I thought I would propose my own binding climate change mitigation strategy. Why not, eh? Members of the so-called "developed" world seem to need a little direction in the matter, a little gentle urging perhaps. So here goes. By the way, I haven't decided if I'm joking or not.

Benign Dictator Theresa's "My Way or the Fry-way" Climate Change Action Plan

All international and national sporting competitions will cease immediately. That includes the Olympics. All that travel is totally unnecessary and wasteful. Everyone bike/walk to your local sporting venue instead and support your local kids competing out of a sense of fun, rather than a sense of 'when-will-I-get-that-Nike-endorsement' greed.
Politicians, business people, you are heretofore directed to use conference calls and webcams. All your jet-fueled travel is canceled. Your 'leadership' isn't helping anyway.
Tropical and other 'must-have' vacations, same goes: canceled. There's lots do see and do within walking/biking distance of where you live. And if you need that much distraction in your life you have bigger problems anyway.
The Las Vegas strip is closed until further notice. Same goes for all other similar locations worldwide. Way too much electricity used for no good reason. Not to mention setting a really, really bad example on so many levels. (November 27 addendum: Thanks Dubai, for getting right on that.)
Sorry race fans, NASCAR, Formula 1, etc., canceled. Those fossil fuels are needed for other things. Get a pedal bike or a canoe and race that.
Everyone will be vegetarian and like it, so there.
Every household will be required to have and tend a food-bearing vegetable garden. If you have no yard, a community garden plot within walking/biking distance will be found and/or reclaimed for you (i.e., uncovering the soil under now-unneeded parking lots, etc). Seeds and gardening implements will be provided. Gardening/Cooking/Preserving classes will be taught to young and old, in your local community by cool people like Sharon Astyk and her many minions.
Work weeks will heretofore be limited to 4 days out of 7.
Two days a week will be mandatory car-free days. You need to work in your garden, or volunteer, or take a Preserving class, or take a nap, or have some local fun on those days anyway.
Cheap plastic crap will no longer be manufactured or sold. If we're expending resources to manufacture things, those things will be useful and built to last.
Get ready for it: Oil sands operations will be reduced by 50% immediately. We will use natural gas as a primary fuel, rather than using it as part of the tarsands extraction process. No new coal-fired electricity plants and 50% of existing ones will be shut down. All nuclear plants will be shut down, effective immediately. The precautionary principle will be the guiding principle from now on, period. All subsidies to fossil fuel industries will be entirely re-directed to renewables, effective immediately. All buildings will be retrofitted with these cool solar panel shingles.
Carbon/Greenhouse gas emissions will be capped on a per capita basis, to ensure that the 350 ppm goal is reached in the next 10 years, or maybe 5 years, I haven't decided. The cap will be the same for everybody, regardless of geographical location, income, celebrity status, or political office. If this means you have to reduce your consumption down to 10% of what it is now, get used to it. Fair is fair. Compliance will be enforced by whatever nefarious means I deem suitable.
Oh, and no one has any more kids until all the kids around the world in orphanages or on the streets have been adopted. "Something" has been "put in the water" already.

Really, compared to that, would it be so difficult to get something together at Copenhagen? I am being generally facetious and sarcastic with (some) of these points, but come on! It doesn't take that much planning and it is not a hardship to cut down electricity consumption by half, and in our household we've managed to cut back to 35% of the North American average. I realize that is just a drop in the bucket, but instead of working to increase the number of drops in the bucket, my Canadian government is just throwing out excuses and downplaying expectations before the Copenhagen meeting. It's sickening. What passes for leadership these days is absolutely sickening.

Ok, time to make some ginger tea to reduce my nausea.

Does anyone have any 'dream clauses' you would like to add to this 'action plan'?

November 20th: Friendly Amendments. The following amendments have been suggested by commenters, and are hereby incorporated into the Action Plan . I am a benign dictator after all....

Hadv's amendment: The status quo is not good enough anymore. The time for change has come. Get used to it.
Sensible Vermonter's amendment: Renewable power retrofits will be fully subsidized up front. Power generated by these renewable sources will be sold back to the "grid" up until the subsidy is paid back, after which it will become a source of income for the homeowner.
Amber's amendment: Household composting is mandatory. A suitably sized composter will be provided to each household free of charge. Compost can be used by the homeowner or sold back to local compost exchange stations. Barter among neighbors is encouraged. Courses on regular and humanure composting will be offered alongside the Gardening/Cooking/Preserving courses noted above.
Theresa's afterthought amendment: In the spirit of re-localizing sporting and business events, all national and international travel for concerts, book tours, etc., will also be cancelled. Wherever you are, there are lots of talented local artists, authors, musicians and crafters who deserve your patronage.

Additional amendments and clauses remain welcome!

Fried landscape picture courtesy EcoWanderer

Garden 2009: Summary of What Worked and What Didn't

2009-11-01T15:35:00.010-07:00

One of the purposes of this blog is for me to keep track of the things I'm doing and learning about sustainability and food security and the like, through my own gardening efforts. I didn't post much about my garden (or anything else for that matter) this summer, but I thought I should at least make note of how some of the things I tried turned out.

I'll start with what went well:

1) Potatoes: Potatoes are plain-packaged miracles in my opinion. I was astounded again this year at how many potatoes will grow from just a quarter-potato planted in the Spring. I planted a section of Yukon Gold potatoes this year - the section was about 5 feet square. I probably planted the potatoes too close together, and I didn't hill them up as much I had intended, yet I got over 40 lbs of potatoes out of that little patch. Some of them were hands down gorgeous! Smooth, creamy, perfectly formed spuds. I have since made a whole lotta potato-leek soup and mashed spuds, which are now in my freezer for Winter. Not to mention the bounty of new potatoes and butter we had over the Summer itself.

2) Carrots: These grew and grew whether I thinned them or not, and tolerated quite the variation in temperature and moisture - I was so enthralled with them I wrote a little post all about it a couple weeks ago...

3) Perennial Herbs: I was so happy that my lavender plant made it through last Winter, despite the many nights of bitter cold we had (and by bitter cold I mean -45C at times, and often many nights in a row of -30C). Not only did it survive, but it thrived and produced lovely flowers that were loved by a lot of bees and bugs. By virtue of a late September trip to a lavender farm just outside of Victoria, BC, I found out that my particular variety of lavender was edible! So I harvested my lavender flowers (probably past their peak, but oh well) and made some delicious lavender scones, like you see in the picture above. I also made some lavender and sage tea with honey, which is also quite tasty. Which brings me to the sage - another plant that just grew like crazy this Summer. I have harvested a huge jar-full, enough to last me over the Winter, for certain. My thyme and rosemary also did well, and I fully expect to see them survive over this Winter, providing there is enough snow to insulate everything nicely, like there was last year.

4) Perennial Salad Greens: I grew three varieties of greens from seed: Salad Burnet, Burnet Saxifraga and French Sorrel. All of these sprouted well and grew quite profusely. Both Gord and I and our guinea pigs enjoyed these greens over the summer and into the late Fall (i.e., now). I am keeping my fingers crossed that they live through the winter - the odds are fairly good since they are quite well established now.

There were several things that didn't go well, some of which I've complained about already, and some which I haven't mentioned yet:

1) Cucumbers: I have absolutely no luck with these. Last year they were killed by frost and this year the seedlings were fried by a hot spell after a cool, dry spell. I had been trying to conserve water becasue of the dryness early in the Spring, and apparently I was a bit too stingy with the H2O.

2) Beans: These things were fried more than once, and were very slow to get going in the adverse conditions of cool dryness followed by hot dryness. Later in the summer they had a burst of growth that happened so fast the beans were past the fresh eating stage before I even noticed there were beans at all. They were even past the pickling stage, they were that big. Fortunately they were a dual purpose bean, in that the seeds themselves could be dried and used for soups. So I have a whole cupboard full of bean pods drying.

3) Tomatoes: Dead. Killed in a late frost (in June). I didn't have the motivation to try again.

4) Pumpkins: Dead. Seedlings eaten by some sort of garden pest, perhaps of the deer or pocket gopher variety.

5) Chard and Kale: started out good, but the above noted pocket gopher decided to invade that corner of the garden after our 'mole repellent' thingies chased them out of the yard. All that underground burrowing killed a good half of the chard and kale after that.

6) Aspen tree "cloning:" Our property is full of trembling aspen trees, but there is one large gap in the treeline from what I assume was some over-zealous grading when the house was built. I want to fill in that gap with the same kind of trees, and when I saw this rooter pot device at Lee Valley tools, I thought it was the answer. I had visions of free trees in my head, and I enthusiastically made my way out into our woodlot to choose some prime cloning fodder. I followed the directions closely and soon had ten aspen saplings fitted out with attached rootpots. I don't know if it was a problem with the rooting hormone washing off of the exposed "wound" inside the rootpots, or my not keeping the soil evenly moist. (Watering these things was a tad more complex than the little instruction book led me to believe.) So instead of planting ten new trees, I killed ten trees instead. Not good.

Despite the disappointments I did learn a lot, and there were some things that did go well even in the tough conditions. I guess that's the most important lesson of all: when the going gets tough, I just need to channel my inner potato. And then maybe have some lavender scones with tea. :)

Dropping the Story

2009-10-22T12:48:00.003-06:00

I don't like making phone calls. I especially don't like making phone calls to people I don't know. My family can verify this - I get nervous about calling for take-out pizza. And back when I was in Grade 7, and I needed a mouth piece for my french horn, my little brother made the call to the music shop - I was too afraid. In tears even.

So, when I decided a few weeks ago to put my name down on a list of people willing to make calls to other union members about their opinions about our Local's candidate for president of the union, I don't know what I was thinking. Well, I do know actually: the candidate has really gone to the mat for us over the past two years, and I wanted to help out because I think he would be a good union president. So I put my name on the list.

I had put the whole thing out of my mind until a few weeks later when I got the delegate list in the mail. Once the reality of having to make those calls dawned on me, I began berating myself for being so dumb, and signing up for something I so dislike doing. I worked myself up all into a lather about how this was going to ruin my evenings, and I was busy and tired enough, dang it all, etc., etc.

But then, somehow, another thought managed to sneak into my brain. I remembered something I had read about suffering, and how we create it: by wanting things to be other than how they are, and by projecting stories into the future about how things are going to go, when they haven't even happened yet. I decided I could try Pema Chodron's advice to just "drop the story" I was telling myself about how this thing was going to go.

And so, after reviewing our candidate's platform and familiarizing myself with the purpose of the calls, I dialed the first name on my list. And I spoke to the nicest lady, who had heard about our candidate and who eagerly told me that she was going to vote for him, without me even asking! Then I dialed the next name, and the same thing happened! This wasn't how I had imagined it at all! And it wasn't taking very much time either. People were happy to express their view, but they had other things to do too, so our conversations were just a few minutes long. Over the span of four sessions of calling, the whole thing probably took less than an hour. And instead of being resentful, I ended up being grateful that I was able to connect with other people, people who are eager for change, like me.

Squash Quandary

2009-10-17T19:43:00.007-06:00

Last week was our last delivery of veggies from our organic CSA farm. One of the things we got was the adorable pumpkin on the right.

The week previously, we received the two squash further to the left. At first I thought the orange one was also a pumpkin, but it is kinda different from the thing we got last week, which I know for sure is a pumpkin. And the zeppelin squash has thrown me off completely! Does anyone know what these two could be? Are they edible or just decorative?

Carrot Bounty

2009-10-09T21:39:00.005-06:00

I just had to post about my bonanza of carrots. I left them in the ground while we were away on holidays in late September/early October. And then we got a really hard frost, and some snow even. And then more frost.

But the carrots survived, and look just beautiful. We will be eating them at our family Thanksgiving dinner this weekend.

I got four ice cream pails full of carrots from my small patch - about 15 lbs maybe? Enough to keep some share some.

Transition of sorts?

2009-10-05T12:29:00.005-06:00

Anyone who has stopped by here lately will know that I've been posting at a much lower rate than usual over the past many months. Partly, this is due to it having been a very busy year, with personal and family health matters impacting the amount of time and energy I've had to write down the things I've been thinking about. It has also been due to having had a very strange gardening season, with more disappointment than promise. But mostly, the dearth of posts has been because I am just sick and tired, and I don't want to be posting rants and complaints all the time. And the moments of inspiration I have are so fleeting that they're gone before I even have the motivation to post about them.

More and more I find that news of what the municipal, provincial and federal governments are doing just disgusts me. And I have to not think about it too much, or I just get mad, or nauseous or both, and can't do what needs doing around here. Back when I first started this blog ~ 2 1/2 years ago, I was able to gain inspiration by what others were doing, and my own first steps on the path to sustainability were so interesting and fun that I was certain it wouldn't be long before the whole world was on board.

But as time has gone by, I've become more disheartened and cynical. Things have gotten worse, not better, in terms of corporate control of almost everything, and complete denial of the climate-related challenges that face humanity. The only time being "green" seems to matter, is if money can be made off of it somehow. Greed taints everything, and I find myself clamming up more and more, because speaking out seems to just piss people off and harden their opinions anyway. More and more I feel like a fish out of water. Maybe I will feel differently again in a few months, I don't know.

So, I am not sure what form this blog will take from here on in. I've got to do some serious thinking about what constitutes right livelihood, and how best to work towards it in a way that I can do long-term. It could mean changing quite a few things. I'm not shutting down this blog, but posts will likely remain few and far between. Thanks to everyone who still pops in now and then - I do very much value your comments and support.

Frost!

2009-09-18T22:32:00.003-06:00

Darn! One day before I was to harvest everything, we had frost. The chard leaves were frozen solid this morning before I went to work, as were the bean leaves, the carrot tops, etc. I got home after dark tonight, so I didn't see the extent of the damage, but I have a feeling it will be a sad sight when I go out there tomorrow. Well, at least the root veggies are ok, and I think the kholrabi and kale should make it. This year's first frost was two weeks later than last year, and it still caught me off guard. Rats!

Lessons from a Neglected Garden

2009-09-16T22:33:00.002-06:00

Over the past month or so I have really neglected the garden. We've had a little rain, so I haven't had to water it every day, but I have had to turn on the sprinkler once a week anyway, to keep things from drying out. The weeds are enormous - truly huge! I have never let the weeding get away from me like I did this year, and when I once entertained the idea of doing something about it, the weeds were already so large it would have disturbed the root systems of everything else to yank them out. So there are 3 and 4 foot weeds in there, seriously.

One of the few bonuses of the weeds is that they have certainly shaded the soil well, and kept the rain that does fall from evaporating immediately. It has kept the soil surface cooler as well, which some of the plants have liked a lot (in particular the beans and carrots).

Because of the extent of my neglect, I may be able to collect more seed than I otherwise would have. Many of my radishes went to seed, and the flowers they put out were really quite lovely. And now there are a zillion seed pods ready for picking. My two varieties of bean plants produced much later than last year, so much so that I didn't think they were going to produce at all. But they did, seemingly all of a sudden, and now I have huge bean pods that are probably way past eating as green beans. Fortunately, one of the varieties I grew was dual purpose anyway (the Golden Rocky bean), and so I will just harvest them as dry beans for over the winter (and seed for next year). The other variety (Tanya's Pink Pod) was interesting to look at and very pretty, but I don't think I will grow many of them next year. I will still save some seed though.

I managed to thin the carrots out once in early Summer, but otherwise they are really growing way too close together. Despite this, they have grown quite big and fairly straight, and since I haven't been grazing on them all summer long, there are actually a lot of them left to harvest and store for the Winter.

My neglect also resulted in my harvesting very few new potatoes. The plants have all yellowed and wilted now, and have been that way for a couple weeks, which means the skins will have hardened and they will be better suited to long term storage. That works well for me, since we had new potatoes almost all summer from our CSA farm share (and probably will have many more weeks of these yet).

So, while I wish I was more on the ball this year with my garden, I have been pleasantly surprised at what will grow anyway, despite the weeds and the overall carelessness and inattention. I'm hoping next year will be a bit of a middle path between my gung-ho hypervigilance last year, and my distracted neglect this year.

Now, if the first frost will just hold off for a few more days, I will dig, pick, dry and otherwise harvest my little heart out this weekend!

Radish pod picture courtesy this foraging blog.

"Some people think I'm crazy, but I'm not."

2009-09-04T23:10:00.002-06:00

Warning: Rant Ahead.

I am so frustrated I don't even know where to start. Frustrated with myself and the world in general, suprise suprise. Well, how about starting here: two years ago I wrote a post about how I was afraid to look weird, carrying my Green Party reusable grocery bag into the grocery store. I've come a long way from that, and now my Green Party bag is a regular part of my trips to the grocery store, farmer's market and anywhere else a reusable bag is handy.

Fast forward to this year: I am trying to be responsible with my savings and RRSPs and such, while taking into account all the financial mayhem and general unethical crap that goes on in our 'free market' system. Sometimes I think the whole thing is one huge Ponzi scheme. For years since I graduated from grad school and got a 'real job' I've been contributing diligently to RRSPs on a monthly basis, taking advantage of 'dollar cost averaging' and all that stuff, putting it into what seemed like fairly safe 'investments.' But more and more I think the whole thing is a gamble, not an investment - a glorified poker table or slot machine, distinctly favoring 'the house.' So I've been doing things differently over the past year or so, much to the chagrin of the people at my banking/investing institutions. So far I've just shrugged it off, but this week I've been making some inquiries about changing things again - getting all radical with a GIC instead of equities - and the response I got made me really doubt myself. Then it made me mad. Then it made me doubt myself some more. And I thought, here I go again, afraid to look weird. Well forget that noise.

This is my money, that I've worked for and set aside, for years. This is not the bank's money, it's not the investment company's money. It is my money (Gord's and mine, but you get my point). It is up to ME what I do with it. And I resent being told that I am being 'unreasonable' to want to put it in a conservative fund like a GIC, and I really resent the implication that I am acting rashly and irresponsibly to give up my 'opportunity' to get big returns on my 'investments.' What's wrong with just wanting a decent return on my money, without all the anxiety of wondering if today is the day that the sucker rally ends?

And I resent the patronizing implication that all of this is just beyond me and I should leave it to the 'experts' to manage on my behalf. No, I don't have any training in finance, banking or investments, but I do read both mainstream and non-mainstream publications about it so I'm not just operating on auto-pilot when I go into the bank or the investment office. Sometimes I wonder if these things are made super-complicated on purpose, for obfuscation purposes. Really, how complicated should it be? And why should I just hand over my money without question anyway? Especially to someone who has a vested interest in me handing over my money without question.

So on the way home from work I had my car stereo cranked up loud, playing this Oysterband song, which made me cry, just like it did at this year's Folk Festival. Bring on the flood. Bring it. I am so tired of the way things are.

factories in the phillipines,

cutting holes in brand new jeans,
for cutting edge consumers,
rich kids in the west you see,
they have no sense of irony,
and i'm losing my sense of humour,
all across the moonlit sky,
vapour trails multiply, trade winds are getting stronger,
while he says she has to chill,
they bring us apples from brazil,
new diseases from the congo,

(chorus)
i havent prayed since god knows when,
my teeth are un-american,
socialism's orphan child,
unimpressed, unreconciled
some people think im crazy.... but i'm not
here comes the flood

a million tv dishes crown the skyline of shanty town,
everywhere our apsiration,
the word from CNN arives,
we watched the headlines of our lives,
each movement in isolation,
the cool blue line of isolation...

(chorus)

democracy for planet earth,
they roll it out like astroturf,
easy men they're all in a hurry,
so you can wear a stupid grin,
watch 'em roll the bankers in,
only the bad guys amongst us need to worry

(chorus)

here comes the flood x3

Solar Oven to the Rescue!?

2009-08-30T23:08:00.003-06:00

This morning, for the second time in about a week, the power went off. The last time it happened it was off for about 90 minutes. That day, I had been up already and had had my morning cup of tea, but Gord hadn't: he wanted tea and couldn't have it. So this morning when the power went off again, it was one of the first things he said: "We could boil water for tea in your Sun Oven." I agreed this was a great idea, and so I went downstairs to put water in the black enamel pot and set up the solar oven outside.

It was a clear and sunny day, so everything was looking good. The oven was already up to 150F before I had even put the pot inside of it. Once I had the reflectors up and the glass door latched shut, I puttered around for a bit in the yard, picking and eating the odd saskatoon berry while gathering some greens from the garden for the guinea pigs. When I went back inside the house, the power was already back on! Considering the power company had told me that a substation had gone down, this was a bit surprising, and almost disappointing! I left the water in the solar oven anyway, just in case the power went off again. And because I wanted to see if it would really boil water.

It ended up taking quite a while (i.e., 60+ minutes) for the water to boil, probably because I put way more water in the pot than I needed for two cups of tea, and because the early morning sun is not very intense, particularly this time of year. The water wasn't boiling anymore by the time I got it in the house, but I made some red raspberry leaf tea with the still-very-hot water, and it was just fine. (Gord made his with the electric kettle while I was still outside - cheater!)

A few hours later, it dawned on me that today would be a good day to make a pot of potato-leek soup in the Sun Oven, and if I hurried I could still get take advantage of some of the good solar cooking hours (10 am - 2 pm). I used the rest of the still-warm tea water to make (instant) soup stock, and within a half hour had a pot of soup ingredients ready to simmer in the solar oven. The oven got up to 300F this time (I have only used it once before, since it arrived in the mail about two weeks ago), which seemed like perfect soup-simmering temperature. Unfortunately I had missed most of the good cooking hours, but even so, by 6 pm we were eating some darn good soup!

Some things about the solar oven I really like are: that I don't have to stir the soup, and I don't have to worry about it burning. Later, washing up was really easy, because nothing was stuck to the sides or bottom of the pan. And the flavors of the soup seemed a lot richer, having been slow cooked - more like home made soup usually tastes the next day.

I do hope the oven reaches some hotter temperatures at some point - I will have to make sure I'm ready by 10 am next time, so I can give it a fair test. Even if it doesn't reach the 400F that the info on the box claims it will, I do think the Sun Oven will be a useful cooking option, regardless of whether there is a power outage or not. So far I have roasted veggies in it, boiled water and made soup: my next goal is to find a biscuit or cookie recipe that is suitable for moderate baking temperatures.

There's nothing like cooking with free energy! Thank you sun!

Thanks to The New Resilient

2009-08-25T21:19:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Ryan and the folks over at The New Resilient, who have kindly published a couple of my gardening-related articles this Summer. It is an honor to have some of my ponderings included with the very informative and practical (not to mention tasty!) materials there. If you haven't already checked out The New Resilient blog, please do! It is chock full of good information on what people can do and are doing to work towards "post-collapse prosperity." And it's from a Western Canadian perspective, which is pretty cool too!

What's For Dinner? Edible Weeds

2009-08-16T18:00:00.002-06:00

Recently while doing a little investigating into the types of weeds I was pulling from my veggie garden, I found that at least one of them was edible. Lambsquarters, pictured to the right, are apparently very much like mild chard or spinach in flavor, and can be cooked much as one would cook those greens. I plucked off a leaf or two and popped them in my mouth, and lo and behold, it did taste very much like spinach. The next step was to pick a whole bunch of these leaves and cook them up in my favorite way: sauteed with nutmeg.

I ended up picking a relatively small amount of the leaves, because I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. It didn't take long, since I have an abundance of these weeds in and around my garden.

After washing the leaves I put them in my cast iron skillet

on lowish heat, along with some margarine and nutmeg. I covered the pan with a lid, the way I normally do when I cook

chard, kale or spinach this way. After just a few minutes, the

leaves were tender and looked ready to eat. They cooked much

more quickly than kale, chard or spinach, maybe because the leaves do not have a very thick stem.

And then, time for the taste test. It was extremely good! Milder than kale, but with more flavor than spinach. Probably closest to chard or collard greens, or even beet tops. Once they were cooked up it was easy to forget that they were weeds in my garden just a few minutes ago. What a difference it makes when I look at these plants now and see a food source, rather than a pesky weed!

It turns out I have more than one edible weed in my yard. Fireweed leaves can be eaten raw when they are small and tender, and the buds can be used in stir fries. You can make jelly out of the flower petals, much like rose petal jelly I expect. Even the roots are edible. It seems like almost every part of this flowering weed can be consumed at some point in its growing cycle. Once the plants get big and the stem covering has toughened up, it's no longer edible but can be used instead to make twine. I always loved the look of the purple fireweed plants as Summer turns to Fall, but I never knew they were so useful! It's too late in the season for me to try eating the leaves and stems, but I might just try stripping off the fibrous part when Fall arrives, and see what I can fashion out of that....

Of course we have plenty of dandelion leaves in our yard, and those are edible too. I have tossed a few dandelion leaves into my salads on occasion, but mostly I pick dandelion greens for our two guinea pigs, Scooter and Sophie, who really love the more bitter taste.

Even more exciting was the discovery this Spring that plantain leaves are edible, and that they purportedly have some anti-cancer properties. I have nibbled on this leaf as well, but so far have been feeding it to Scooter for the most part, because he has a cancerous lump on his front leg. I am not sure if it is helping, but he loves to eat the plantain leaves, in any event. And it can't hurt. Chewing the leaf into a pulp makes a good plaster to apply to mosquito or bee/wasp stings too. In addition, the long seed stalks can be used like millet, to feed the birds.

Very tasty is the tiny chickweed plant. It is particularly good in salad, and has fresh and crunchy taste and texture. The small white flowers make it very pretty too, and this year I haven't even bothered separating it out from the lettuce I'm growing -- I just pick it all together and make salad. Of course the guinea pigs love the chickweed too, even though its taste is more mild than either the dandelion or the plantain.

Last year I discovered yarrow and bergemot growing in our yard. While I haven't eaten these plants outright, I have made delicious tea from them. A few leaves of each, along with some honey, and I have a wonderful, free, herbal tea! I didn't pick enough to last me over the Winter last year, but I plan to remedy that this year, for sure.

Once I started looking, it was quite astounding to see what there was to eat in my yard! What useful weeds do you have growing where you live?

The Upside of Weeds and Weeding

2009-07-27T20:00:00.001-06:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing something sort of different for me: listening to podcasts while doing yardwork. Normally I like to just hear the sounds of the outside when I am outside, but since I discovered this whole podcast thing, I've enjoyed doing some listening and weeding at the same time.

Last week I was listening to yet another one of Noah Levine's podcasts and while I can't remember the exact details, the gist of the podcast was that the things we think are obstacles really aren't - they are more like things that we need to work through for a reason, and that it's not necessary or even desirable to remove all obstacles all at once. As he was talking and I was weeding it occurred to me that maybe weeds aren't as, well, 'weedy' as we think either.

For one thing, weeds can act as shade for newly sprouting seeds - I know my little bean plants appreciated the shade from some lambsquarters weeds when we had hot spell in May. And a bit later in the season, when it comes time to yank the weeds out, they can be laid on the ground as mulch, helping the soil to retain its moisture. Maybe it sounds corny, but in the same way some of our bad habits and unskillful actions, immature as they are, can serve to protect us while we mature and gain some life experience. Eventually it comes time to get these things out of our lives, but it's still not a bad idea to lay them aside as some 'mental mulch' - reminders of where we've been and what we've learned.

If our gardens didn't have weeds, we probably wouldn't spend as much time in them either. Having to go in there and pull out the weeds from among the deliberately planted plants means that we become much more familiar with what's in the garden and how the plants are doing. We have the opportunity to notice what's growing well and what's doing poorly, where the soil retains moisture and where it tends to be dry, what's a bit buggy and what's vibrant and healthy. In the same way, it's good to spend some time observing the landscape of our thinking, taking note of what type of stuff is flourishing or languishing (or rotting! ;)) in our head. And if some of that stuff isn't useful, if it causes deep dissatisfaction for ourselves or others, it may be time to consider turning it into mulch rather than letting it keep on taking root in space that would be better used to nurture something else. Meditation is one way to do this kind of 'mental weeding.'

Sometimes weeds closely mimic the plants we are actually trying to grow. For example, last year I pulled out many a carrot sprout because they looked a lot like a certain ferny-looking weed (namely, scentless chamomile). And, I left in some weeds that I should have pulled for the same reason. Based on that direct experience, this year I was able to discern what is and is not a carrot, so this year's carrot patch is much more productive. Similarly, sometimes a person needs to get up-close-and-personal with the problems and obstacles in their lives, in order to sort out what's what. Sometimes we keep certain things/ideas/habits in our lives because they seem like the real thing. It's only later, after we see the genuine article and the imposter side by side in full bloom, that we can clearly discern the difference. Those can be difficult lessons, but they sure do stick with you.

Weeding is also a thing that is never really "done." There are always more weeds sprouting here and there, sometimes the same type of weed and sometimes a new variety. Experience with the familiar weeds helps us figure out what to do with the new ones. And over time we get better at preventing the garden from getting overrun with them. The same goes for our head and heart: with some regular and compassionate maintenance, we can prevent things from getting too tangled and overgrown in there, with some space to breathe.

All of this takes time, awareness, attention, intention and effort. Definitely good investments though, both in the garden and in ourselves!

So how's your 'weeding' going?

Local Attractions

2009-07-19T23:00:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Gord and I took in the "Country Soul Stroll," which is an annual event here in Sturgeon County. It showcases local rural attractions, like llama farms, horse riding schools, plant and tree nurseries, tea houses, artists, craftspeople, and more. There is a lot to see around here, more than we would have thought when we first moved here six years ago. Yesterday we took in two of the attractions, and one more today. We had planned to do more, but got off to a bit of a late start, which isn't unusual for us on a Saturday!

Yesterday we headed to Morinville's Vintage Petals Tea House, where we had some delicious tea (hot for me, iced for Gord), and tasty sandwiches. The proprietress gave us a little personalized talk on the different types of tea (white, green, oolong and black) which all come from the same plant (camellia sinensis). I sampled a delicious vanilla cream black tea, and Gord tasted the iced version of the mango blueberry herb tea. While we ate, another staff member gave us a short history of the ~1922 brick house and its various residents, some of whom still live in the area. I took a quick peek in the gift shop area upstairs, which was full of some vintage kitchenware, home made items and a few new items too. I resisted temptation there, but I did buy some of the delicious fair trade vanilla black tea.

Then it was on to our next destination, First Choice Tree Nursery. There we were treated to the sight of flowers grown into the shape of puffy skirts around wire manakins - picture Scarlett O'Hara's dresses, but made of flowers - just gorgeous! There was also a cabin-like gift shop, with window boxes full of rainbow chard, and Christmas-themed decorations inside. They keep their Christmas shop open year-round, apparently. It was also a full fledged tree nursery, and Gord and I found two trees we may plant in the Fall: a Burr Oak (the only oak hardy enough for Zone 3) and a "Rugged Charm" Maple. The oak tree will (eventually) produce acorns; it could be wishful thinking that the maple would yield syrup. We'll wait until the Fall to plant anything, and hope that we've had some more rain by then.

And today we returned to one of our favorite spots, Prairie Gardens and Greenhouses. It was a bit too chilly to partake in any ice cream or strawberry shortcake, but we enjoyed puttering around the perrenial greenhouses, considering what we can plant next year that will be both pretty and useful.

It was a really nice weekend, with these two leisurely outings, and some fairly long periods of rain overnight.

What are some of your favorite local attractions?

Pictures courtesy Country Soul Stroll Website, linked above.

Radish Leaf Pesto Rotini

2009-07-06T12:23:00.001-06:00

So I tried out the radish leaf pesto recipe for supper yesterday, and it wasn't half bad. I forgot to put the garlic in, unfortunately, but even without that it was quite tasty. I had some on a cracker as a dip/spread, and that was even tastier than my rotini dish. In hindsight, I don't think I put enough pesto on the pasta. I will be trying this recipe again though, since it is very very easy and quick, and there is very little mess that needs cleaning up later.

First, I gathered my ingredients: washed and de-stemmed radish leaves from my garden, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese (just the pre-grated stuff) and some pecan pieces.

Then, I chopped the radish leaves just a little bit, so they would more easily fit into my small food processor/chopper. (This can apparently be done with a mortar and pestle as well, but I don't have one of those yet...) Next, I buzzed the chopper for about 30 seconds or so, adding a few more leaves when there was room, along with a bit more cheese, oil and nuts.

The result was this 250 ml jar of pesto, which I immediately tested on some crispy crackers - delicious! This amount of pesto came from the leaves of about 8 radish plants, so even with my reduced number of radishes this year, there are still a lot more leaves where that came from. I realized when I made the pasta dish for supper that I had left out the garlic, but oh well - I will do that next time. I may also try using almonds instead of pecans, since both Gord and I like almonds better. The nice thing about pesto is that you can use pretty much any type of leaf, oil, nut and hard cheese you like, so there are lots of variations to try.

Every summer there are more and more things I can just pick from my yard to eat, and that is a really good feeling.

Rain and Radishes

2009-07-03T21:47:00.001-06:00

It seems fitting somehow that on the day it finally rains, I was able to harvest the first fully grown thing from my garden: radishes. I have been sneaking out some kale and chard leaves, but these are still by all means in the miniature stage. I'm happy to report that the radishes were not bug-eaten at all, and were nicely spicy and crisp. I planted just one small row of radishes this year, since last year I had a huge overabundance of them, and they had become buggy and woody by the time I got them all out of the ground. Last year I just chucked all the radish leaves into the compost too, but this year I am going to try making radish leaf pesto instead!

The rain has left the garden moist and fragrant. Rainwater is so much better for the plants than tap-water, judging by the growth spurt that occurs after the rain falls. There's just nothing more essential than water, yet it can be so easy to take it for granted -- at least until it stops raining.

One of my favorite verses from the Tao Te Ching is about water. I've posted it before, but after last night's welcome rain, it seems to be a good time to post it again. We could all stand to be a little more like water, I think:

Chapter 8

The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao

Dwelling with the right location
Feeling with great depth
Giving with great kindness
Speaking with great integrity
Governing with great administration
Handling with great capability
Moving with great timing

Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach

Translation by Derek Lin

A few garden pictures

2009-06-30T21:35:00.002-06:00

So tomorrow is July 1st, Canada Day. Comparing pictures of my garden this year from about the same time last year, you can see just how far behind the growing season is. I have managed to harvest a few small greens for our guinea pigs though - they love the tender lettuce, kale and chickweed.

We have been having some mole problems too. So we ordered some mole-repellers that use a chattering sound and vibrations to convince the mole to move away, because there's another mole in town. The man at the hardware store told us we could generate the same effect using pinwheels, so we are trying some of those as well. Nicely patriotic for Canada Day, even! We're not sure if these are working yet, but there don't seem to be any new mole hills/holes, so far.

My perennial herb garden is doing fairly well. All three of my salad greens are growing nicely, albeit slowly. This plantain plant to the right of the Salad Burnet is a volunteer - but once I found out about its extensive medicinal properties, I have just let it grow. The guinea pigs like to eat these two plants as well - plain lettuce from the grocery store just doesn't cut it anymore!
In my rock path to the garden I have transplanted some thyme, and put up this little barrier to keep people from walking on it while it gets established. Eventually I would like thyme and other ground cover all amonst the rocks - it's just a matter of 'thyme' I guess! Hee!
Here is an overall picture of the garden. You can see that the potatoes on the left are doing really well, and so are the peas on the right. The beans, carrots, kale, chard and radishes are just tiny still, and I have pretty much given up on the cucumbers and the pumpkin. I may dig up the cucumber plot (the last plot on the right) and plant kohl rabi instead. Apparently it is a good candidate for kim chi, so I would like to try it, if it's not too late.
So that's a quick update on the state of the 2009 Garden. I hope everyone else's gardens are coming along as well, and that you are getting more rain than we are. Already two nearby municipal counties have declared droughts, and ours could be next. But I hope not.

A dearth of posts....

2009-06-30T08:40:00.003-06:00

Ach, the end of June already and only one garden post....

Things are growing and I have been weeding and watering and taking pictures with the intent of posting about it. The trouble is, I've been so busy doing things I haven't had time to post about them. With Gord still on crutches, all of the outside work on our acreage is mine for the summer, and so my time is filled with many, many things. And my end-of-day computer time is usually spent reading other peoples' blogs instead of writing on mine! I have a feeling July and August will be much the same, but I will try to at least post a few pictures of how things are growing in the next week or so....

Mini Book Review: Dharma Punx

2009-06-23T12:26:00.002-06:00

Some weeks ago I had had seriously bad and potentially career-changing day at work, and decided to splurge and buy myself a new book. I had been eying Noah Levine's book, "Dharma Punx: A Memoir," over the previous several months, hoping to find it at my semi-regular visits to my favorite used book store. But, I never did, and so when ever I found myself in a retail bookstore I would sneak-read a few pages of Dharma Punx. But then came The Bad Day: I threw all of Green Bean's excellent advice and restraint out the window and made a bee-line for the first bookstore I could find. It was a big box store and I didn't even care, I just bought the book, brand new. And my eyes and brain devoured it, page by page.

I suppose it is fairly ironic to have used a book about buddhism as a way to avoid thinking about my Bad Day, but I am certainly glad I bought the book, even under those less-than-admirable motivations and circumstances. Noah Levine has a way of making Buddhist ideas come alive, and showing how piercingly relevant they are in our society today, regardless of any other spiritutal/religious beliefs you may or may not have. His Dharma Punx book is an exposition of how he went from being a seriously drug-addicted young person frequenting jail, to a clean and sober maturing person living a life of compassion and service to others. It is a stark, blunt, riveting and yet ultimately joyous book. He has since written a second book, called "Against the Stream" which outlines the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) , whom Levine affectionately refers to as "Sid." I really want to read that book too, but I am doing my best to wait for it second hand -- so far so good!

As a result of reading the first book, I stumbled on to Levine's two websites. On these websites are several of Noah Levine's dharma talks, in podcast form. I have been enjoying these down-to-earth talks immensely as I attempt to wait patiently for a chance to read Against the Stream. I see it is availabile through inter-library loan via my local public library branch. In the meantime, I will happily listen my way through Levine's podcasts on topics such as money, patience, meditation, impermance, relationships, forgiveness and women and Buddhism.

Now to check out those library hours....

'Cloning' Aspen Trees

2009-06-18T15:24:00.027-06:00

On our small acreage we have a spot where there used to be trees, but there isn't. When this house was being built (by the previous owners), a section of the aspen poplar trees was graded away, probably to make the septic field. Other than this ~25 ft long section, the rest of our acreage is ringed with these aspen trees. We refer to the place with no trees as 'the gap.'

We have attempted to fill 'the gap' with trees in a couple of ways already. First, we tried to dig up some little aspen trees from elsewhere on the acreage and re-plant them. This didn't work, because, as we found out when we dug them up, they don't have individual taproots. Instead the new little trees emerge from the buried roots of bigger trees. So these uprooted little trees died in short order, even when we managed to dig one out.

Our second try was to buy some pre-rooted seedlings from a tree seedling company last summer. These were bare-root saplings that were each about 1 1/2 - 2 feet high. We planted five of these aspen saplings in 'the gap' at the same time as we were planting about 20 other small trees (maple and spruce) from the same company all around our place. Well, it turned out to be pretty much impossible to keep up with the watering on all of these trees. (I don't recommend planting this many trees at once unless you have someone at home who can commit to watering them as often as they need it, which was pretty much every day.) We did keep them alive for a few months, but then the deer nibbled the tender tops off, and later the neighbor mowed over the property line and took one tree down to about three inches. Even that one lived for a little while, but this year it is quite dead. One of those five trees has leafed out a little bit this Spring, so there may be some hope for it.

I would love to just go out and buy some 10 ft tall aspen trees to fill in the gap, but that gets expensive. The nurseries also tend to stock more 'decorative' varieties than this one, so chances are trees from a nursery wouldn't really look right in the gap anyway. So, when I found this "rootpot cloning" system, I decided to give that a try instead.

First, we picked out 10 trees that looked healthy and were not too big and not too small. Then, I followed the instructions as best I could and used a paring knife to cut a small ringed section of bark out of the tree stem - this is called the 'wound,' apparently. Some rooting gel goes on this 'wound' to encourage roots to emerge from it. Next, I dunked the folding rootpot into some water, to fill the reservoir at the bottom of the pot. Then I put the folding rooting pot around the tree stem and clicked it shut. In went the moist, soil-less potting mixture, while taking care not to wipe off all the rooting gel from around the 'wound.' Then I put on the dark stickers, to keep the light from the newly growing roots. Finally, I topped the pot off with its dark colored lid. Once a week I add water to the reservoir with a syringe - this part has proved the most challenging so far since the place to put the syringe is so small, but I have managed it. (But I'm not looking forward to it when there are tons of ants and mosquitoes around!)

According to the rootpot people, in about 8 weeks there will be a rootball formed in the rootpot which, when severed from the rest of the tree will give me a free-standing sapling equivalent to one that is about four years old (3 - 4 feet high). I can then plant these ten sapling 'clones' in the gap, all for a total investment of about $30 dollars and a few hours of my time. The stems of the trees I lop off in 8 weeks should regrow other branches, maybe even with some kind of topiary effect. So I am not killing any trees in the process, which is good - I want more trees, not fewer.

I'm quite excited about this whole process, and I'm really looking forward to having 'the gap' filled in at last. There is something about an unfinished circle that makes me want to try and complete it, somehow.

Hope in the Garden

2009-06-14T15:35:00.002-06:00

This morning I went out early to water the garden before the onset of the heat of the day, and was greeted with the sight of many new sprouts. It is amazing what sufficient water will do! (Too bad it is from the hose and not from rain.)

There were some strawberry blossoms, so maybe I might have some strawberries in August or so. Some of the plants didn't survive the winter, but most have at least a few leaves.

There were also some radish sprouts, after nearly a

month. I'm assuming they just didn't get enough water to sprout, since last year they were up in just a week or so. There are some chard sprouts too - very tiny, but they are there.

My one cucumber

out has been toasted, I don't think it will live. And so far there have been no more cucumber sprouts coming up. Maybe now it is too wet for them?

Very good news is that the carrots have finally sprouted as

well. I had a chance to take a look at my sister-in-law's garden this weekend, and once I was reminded what carrot sprouts looked like, I could finally identify a few in my own garden. The potatoes are also doing quite well - they seem to be coming up earlier than last year, believe it or not.

More and more peas are emerging as well. Some more beans continue to fight upwards too, but I think the plants that were killed off earlier were the strongest ones, so I may still have quite a reduced bean crop. I may have a few bean seeds left: maybe I will replace some of the dead sprouts and see what happens. Perhaps we will be fortunate and have a warm Fall - I can hope for one, anyway.

The garden seems to be one of the best places to find hope, actually.

Gardening gets tough in Spring '09

2009-06-11T21:00:00.001-06:00

In almost every way, this Spring is turning out to be a completely different gardening experience than last year.

In Spring '08, it seemed like the seeds I planted all sprouted nicely, grew steadily, fended off pests and even the odd hailstorm. Rain fell from the sky in reasonably-timed doses, and by early July I had a lush garden from which I had already harvested most of my nearly perfect radishes.

I guess it was time for me to learn a few different things in Spring '09. So far, the marigolds I planted to help keep the deer away were frost killed the day after I planted them. On June 1st. Yes, frost in June. The cherry tomato plant I bought from the local nursery at the same time suffered the same fate. And that wasn't the last day of frost either - about two nights ago we had another frost.

My little bean plants, which valiantly weathered the multiple frosts, have since succumbed to a combination of no rain and full sun. I had been watering the garden regularly, but not regularly enough, apparently. Yesterday morning when I went out to water it again, all the bean plants were dead, and the one pumpkin sprout was completely gone. No doubt it had been nibbled by the critter whose footprints were in the (as yet sproutless) carrot patch.

Peering at the scalded and crispy bean plants I knew they were beyond re-hydration. The garden that looked so full of promise just a week earlier was bleakly barren, with only a couple tiny, struggling kale sprouts poking through the dirt. Not even the radishes had sprouted, and it's been almost three weeks since I seeded them. The weeds of course, are doing fine. For a while there I was despondent. Devastated even. Swearing. Tears. Not fun.

The only thing left to do was to pick up the watering can again, and keep the seeds still waiting to sprout moist enough. Not all the bean plants had sprouted, at least half were still to come. And there were still peas, carrots, potatoes and cucumbers waiting in the soil for their turn.

Later that evening, I went back to the garden to water again, and there was some hope still: several pea plants had come up, and one potato was sprouting. And sure enough, one or two more beans were pushing through the soil. No more pumpkin sprouts, but there's still time yet. I got out the sprinkler and set it up again, deciding that these new plants would not die of drought, at least not while I still have enough water in the cistern to water them.

So, ok, I lost a few beans and a pumpkin. Imagine what it must be like for a farmer who looks out onto his/her fields and sees an entire frost- or drought-killed crop. I know when I looked at those withered beans I was sure glad there was still the grocery store and a CSA share to depend on, at least for now. I'm thankful I have the luxury of time to make some mistakes and learn from them. I'm also thankful I am growing a garden myself, because this Spring '09 weather is surely affecting my CSA farmers and other Alberta farmers and gardeners. We no longer have the luxury of putting all of our agricultural eggs in one basket: it's time for everyone to start growing a garden, even if its just a small one.

So, what are you planting, and how is it doing?

Image of this very determined potato courtesy Warm Fuzzies

Ongoing internet problems

2009-06-11T08:32:00.002-06:00

One of the joys of living off the beaten path is that internet service can be very sporadic. I'm still pondering stuff like crazy but can't upload anything because my internet connection only lasts for about 15 seconds each time. I'm told the problem could be fixed as early as today, and I remain hopeful....

Sending well wishes to everyone along with a reminder (to myself as much as anyone) to stop and take time for tea, and enjoy the Spring.

In the Face of Bankruptcy and Bill 44, Gardening.

2009-06-02T12:47:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was strange.

The announcement that General Motors was indeed going bankrupt came early in the morning - it seems I am now a shareholder in that company, along with every other Canadian (and American), their kids, and their kids' kids. Not quite the kind of investing I'm accustomed to making. I would have liked a little more say in the matter. Frankly, I'm quite nauseated at the idea that a company can run itself into the ground, obtain billions of dollars of government bail out money, THEN go into bankruptcy, get rid of its debt and then come out of bankruptcy a few short months later all shiny and new, with squeaky clean books and no lessons learned. Um, shouldn't you have done that in the first place? I guess the saying 'live by the sword (of capitalism), die by the sword' only applies to ordinary people, not to multinational corporations who make large donations to certain political parties.

And then, to cap off the day, Bill 44 is passed. This is the most embarrassing, petty and vindictive legislation I have ever seen the Alberta government pass, and that's saying something. The Alberta government takes more than 10 years to add sexual orientation to their list of things that can't be discriminated against, and in the same bill back stab the people whose rights they are supposed to (finally) be protecting. And now teachers have to be afraid that every time the topic of sex, sexual orientation or religion comes up, they risk being hauled in front of a human rights commission. How can you teach people that human rights apply to everyone, when you can't talk about how those human rights apply to certain groups? This isn't governance, this is manipulative, gamesmanship, and Stelmach and Co. should be ashamed of themselves. What are they so afraid of, anyway?

So. In the face of so much soul-destroying crapola, what is an ordinary person to do? Well, it looks like more and more people are doing it*: veggie gardening. This year two of my close neighbors have planted medium and large size gardens and one of them is also keeping chickens! And another one of my family members is starting a garden this year as well! Do they feel the soul destroying crapola too? Or maybe they, like me, just want to witness something green, true and full of pontential again, instead of listening to the lies, spin and overall decaying putresence that oozes from our politicians' mouths on a near-daily basis.

It's funny, the only time I feel clean these days is when I have garden soil on my hands.

(*Uh oh. I said 'doing it.' I hope the Alberta government knows I didn't mean anything sexual by that. Well, except there is a lot of sex in gardening, all that pollination and pistils and stamens and, oh my, those crazy hermaphroditic earthworms. Wait, does this mean that parents can pull their kids out of classes on plant and invertabrate biology now? Hmmm...)

'Big Garden' 2009

2009-05-24T21:43:00.001-06:00

I think this year I may have managed to get the best of both worlds: raised beds without having to build any actual raised bed structures. For this idea I have to thank Steve Solomon and his book, Gardening When it Counts.

Last year when we first put in the 'big garden' I had yearned for nicely enclosed raised beds. That didn't happen (we had mistakenly bought treated lumber instead of untreated) and it turned out just fine. But I so loved the neat orderliness of the raised beds. Then, over the Winter, I started reading Solomon's book, and thought it sounded like a good idea when he suggested shovelling the dirt out of what I wanted to be pathways (for ease of weeding and watering) and onto the adjacent part of the garden patch. So I shoveled out a central path, and then three cross-paths and lo and behold, I had eight nicely raised beds. Plus I didn't 'waste' the dirt in the pathways by just tromping down on it - it was moved over to where it could do the most good - i.e., nourishing my veggies. What with this and my new rock pathway to the garden itself, I am one contented gardener!

A New Path

2009-05-23T09:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday our very helpful neighbor and friend, 'Farmer Joe', came by with his tractor-sized rototiller and enlarged my veggie garden plot. He also kindly tilled the pathway to the garden, so I could properly lay down the flat rocks that I was given last year, care of one of my parents' neighbors. I've had a picture in my head of how cute a rock pathway would be, with herbs growing on the side and maybe some hardy thyme or other ground cover plants in between the rocks. I actually had the energy to lay all these rocks out and dig them in, just the way I've been wanting to. They still need some adjustment, but I was able to get enough accomplished yesterday to be able to visualize my new path.

Which brings me to a story about another fairly new 'path' of mine: being a vegetarian. I've been vegetarian for about 3 years or so. While I have eaten meat about four or five times in that time frame (it was served to me and I hadn't made other arrangements in advance), my intention was and still is not to eat anything that can move about on its own. Making this choice necessitates paying attention to a few things, to ensure my nutrition is complete. Well, it turns out I've been a 'bad vegetarian' and haven't been paying attention to everything I needed to, specifically getting enough iron. This was made very clear to me when my doctor (also new) called earlier this week and said I needed an "urgent" blood transfusion, because my hemoglobin level was so low. I was mildly reprimanded by the doctor, and when at the hospital itself two days ago, I was told by the nurse I was "lucky" to be getting the transfusion. I certainly did feel somewhat guilty for taking two units of blood that should have been left available for car accident victims, or the like. It was a strange, strange day. I have since begun taking an iron supplement liquid, and I will be more diligent in taking my other vitamins as well.

I do feel better after having the transfusion - I can go up the stairs without running out of breath with a pounding heart, and yesterday I could do a morning's worth of dirt-shifting and rock-lifting without feeling drained. (It's amazing what having enough cells to carry oxygen to your heart can do!) In fact there are a lot of symptoms of iron deficiency I'm looking forward to not having any more. And there was no way I tied all these things together as being related to something like anemia - I just figured I was wimpy and had to suck it up. So, if there are any other new-ish vegetarians out there, you may want to have your iron levels checked at your next doctor's appointment!

New path, or not-so-new path, there is always, always something to learn.

Everything and Nothing

2009-05-12T20:54:00.001-06:00

That title makes it sound like I might have some kind of profound, yin/yang type of post coming up, but actually it is just a description of the state of my brain right now. It seems crammed full, yet completely blank at the same time, leaving me in a state of bla.

On the one hand, I am so happy to see the Spring birds back again - I spied a pretty house finch in our woodlot and a neat redhead duck on one of the local sloughs. Leaves are popping out and the grass is greening up nicely. I had a nice time working out at the CSA farm again this weekend. The wildfires are under control and Gord is on the mend from his hip surgery.

But on the other hand, I am so disgusted by our Alberta provincial government. Bill 44 - are you kidding me? What an embarrassment. Parents can remove their kids from class in a public school if they object to the teaching of any topic (but particularity evolution or homosexuality) on religious grounds? So if I had kids I could remove them from any class that teaches about Conservatives, right?

And today, Bill 48 - are you serious? You want criminals to pay for their own health care costs if they injure themselves during a crime, but you want to sue big tobacco if smokers get cancer or other diseases. So criminals are personally responsible for their own ill health but smokers are not? And these are subsections of the SAME BILL? Seriously Ed, look up the word "consistency" and try that concept out some time.

All this just pushes my brain into overload and it just shuts right down. It's pretty sad when you have to put your fingers in your ears and sing 'la la la' just to stomach living in your own province.

At least the birds are pretty.

Of Fire and Impermanence

2009-05-07T16:48:00.001-06:00

There are severa l wildfires burning in and around our area this very dry Spring. Two days ago, the fire was within a few miles of our place: the picture to the right is the view from the top of our driveway that evening. There were burnt pine needles and ash floating around and down - we could see them on our driveway and sidewalk. We've had fires around here before, but never one so close that we had ash floating down on us. That evening, we received news that both the mandatory and recommended evacuation areas were expanding, and that they would likely include us. So, we started packing.

Making things even more interesting was the fact that I had just picked Gord up from the hospital a few hours earlier, having been released that day following hip surgery earlier in the week. So we packed even more lightly than we otherwise would have, since any time we had after receiving evacuation notice would be better spent getting Gord and our two guinea pigs into the car rather than putting any material goods in there. It was a surreal experience to say the least.

We had our garden hoses hooked up to the taps outside, and fire extinguishers at both doors. I had the car turned around in the driveway, ready to head out if we got the word to leave. About halfway through the evening our telephone landline died, lending an even stranger tone to the evening. We have poor cell phone service but managed to call my parents to make arrangements to stay with them if necessary.

What do you pack when your house might burn down and as a set you can't move very quickly? As it turns out, not very much. Looking around the house while packing, there wasn't a lot that I decided was essential. I packed a change of clothes and some toiletries, an emergency radio, the mortgage papers, a handwritten book of recipes from my mom, our wedding photos and DVD, an album of childhood pictures, and that was about all. Gord hobbled around on crutches getting together his laptop, external hard drive and some business papers. We had our guinea pig carriers and some guinea pig food at the ready as well.

It was a strange evening, watching the news on TV, wishing the phone would start working again, checking Twitter and the internet for updates, listening for a knock on the door from the firefighters telling us we had to go. Thankfully, that knock never came, but needless to say we did not have a restful night.

Today, two days later, most of our gathered things remain packed and by the door. Phone service is restored. The fires have not gotten bigger, but are still burning close by. The ash has stopped falling from the sky, and the winds have died down. There was even a bit of rain overnight, and some more again today. We hope that in the next couple days the fires will be put out or at least become controlled.

The whole "wildfire coming this way" experience got me thinking. Most profoundly, about how much of the stuff I have that I didn't even consider packing - which is 99.99% of the stuff I have. And about how quickly things can, and do, change. One minute we're looking forward to just getting comfy and watching the hockey game, and the next minute we're getting ready to bug out in a hurry, maybe for a good long time.

Nothing's permanent, anything can change at any time. Getting a hands-on lesson about this was a good thing, and it sure does make me appreciate the here-and-now in a much more authentic way. The trick is to remember this even when the ash has stopped falling from the sky!

Last of the Saskatoons

2009-05-02T08:12:00.005-06:00

In today's oatmeal are the last of the saskatoons (aka service berries) I picked from our acreage last summer. I froze a bunch of them, and then a few weeks later in the summer I dried some too. The ones in the picture are the last of the frozen ones - I used up the dried ones long ago. This year I think I will dry most of them instead, because:

It is really easy to do (i.e., spread on cookie sheets and leave on the counter for a few days)
They take up less storage space that way (they shrink to half their size)
It uses no extra energy to store them, and
They are amazingly delicious that way!

They become like little raisins or currants, much sweeter than the original fruit. They are so good in oatmeal or any cereal, cold or hot, and also just a nice snack on their own. The fresh berries are a lot like blueberries, and are delicious in baking or on ice-cream, or just picked right off the bush. Mmm....sun-warmed berries...mmm.

Because I loved these so much, I splurged and bought a special berry picking thingy so I can harvest even more saskatoons this coming summer. Then maybe I will have enough to last me right until August, when the next crop is ready!

And the winners are....

2009-04-30T20:09:00.005-06:00

Thanks to everyone who entered my 2nd Blogiversary book draw! I used the random number generator at random.org to generate the winning numbers, and here are the results:

For Peace is Every Step, the winner is Kale for Sale! Congratulations! I know you will really, really enjoy this book. It is simple and profound at the same time, a real gem of a book.

For the 1992 edition of The Four Season Harvest, the winner is Apple Jack Creek! Congratulations! This is a really good book for people in more northern climes, and so I know you will certainly benefit from it.

Kale and AJC, please send me an email at {myriad dot things at yahoo dot ca} with your mailing information, and I will get these books out to you in the coming week.

To everyone who entered, and to all of you who come by to read and/or comment - I am humbled that you would spend even some of your valuable here. Many thanks :)

2nd 'Blogiversary,' and Book Giveaway

2009-04-25T00:00:00.003-06:00

Today is the day that this little blog turns two!

Last year on my first 'blogiversary' I held a book draw and all sorts of neat things came out of it. I found another blogger who is also interested in Taoism and tai chi, the author of the book I gave away came and commented over here, and he kindly sent me a replacement copy of his book, Simple Prosperity. And the reason I decided on the giveaway in the first place was because I had won the book itself in one of Crunchy's draws, the second thing I have won from her (the first being a DivaCup). These were all very cool and satisfying things, but the main reason I want to do it again this year is because of how it helps me to practice non-attachment.

It is good to practice letting go of things that you want to keep. I love books and I have the urge to buy and read them all the time. I love just having them, holding them, the feel of my eyes as they run over a page of words. I love how they look on a bookshelf. So it is hard for me to give them away, especially certain ones.

I have been thinking about which book to give away for several weeks now. At first it seemed easy - I would just give away the extra copy of The Four Season Harvest that Gord picked up for me at Value Village, not knowing that I had already bought the 2nd edition. But I knew that was not what the giveaway was supposed to be about. I had to give away something I wanted to keep or it wouldn't be much of a non-attachement lesson. So, I am giving away my copy of Thich Nhat Hanh's "Peace is Every Step." And also the 1992 edition of Eliot Coleman's "The Four Season Harvest," because there is no reason to keep two copies of virtually the same book.

So, if you would like to enter into the draw for one or both of these books, please me a comment. Just let me know if you want to enter for either book or just a specific one. Both books are only gently used. Just like last year, you can enter the draw until midnight on Wednesday, April 29th, and I'll announce the winner on Thursday, April 30th. I will cover postage to send the books anywhere, so don't hesitate to enter if you live far away from me, in Europe or Australia or Argentina or Iceland or anywhere at all on this terrific planet of ours!

Thanks so much to all of you who come and read my thoughts and ponderings and rants. Thanks also to those of you who take the time to engage in conversation with me through your comments. Just knowing that there are people out there who are wrestling with the same kinds of issues and ideas really helps a person get through the days, months and years. My heartfelt thanks to all of you. Namaste :)

Cute cupcake picture courtesy this website

First Birds, and a Gardening Update

2009-04-19T11:36:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we saw the first robin of the year! That is always a happy day, because it signals that Spring is most definitely here. There is nothing like the song of a robin to cheer one out of Winter's stupor - it seems to remind my ears that there are more than just monotones to hear.

We also saw a bit of a silly sight - a ruffed grouse way up in an aspen tree, nibbling on the fuzzy buds. Grouse seem to be silly creatures, and this one was walking around on the tree as though it was still on the ground. It seemed to be stepping without care to wherever the fuzziest (yummiest?) buds were, no matter how far out on a limb he had to go. It sure gave us a chuckle. Eventually he fluttered down to the ground again, blending in with the still-brown landscape. Later on, we heard him making his drumming sound, advertising for a mate.

I managed to get some weeding done yesterday, and also uncovered the strawberry plants which were heavily mulched with straw. They were all alive, and even green under there, so I replaced the damp straw with dry and they should get a good start now. Also, my chives have begun to sprout again, and the thyme and lavender made it through the winter unscathed as well. So far, so good.

Of the plants I seeded last weekend, the perennial salad green French Sorrel is the first to sprout. It will be planted in with the rest of my perennial herbs and plants, once it gets big enough. I hope to have enough seedlings to pass on to family and friends as well, since I seeded quite a few.

Today is another lovely day, and I will go out and plant some borage in my two half whiskey barrels - that should look nice with the pansies that have self-seeded in there the past two years. Then at 3 pm (or thereabouts), I'll stop for tea of course! Do join me, if you get the chance!

Tale of Five Seeds - The Planting

2009-04-17T20:53:00.003-06:00

Back in January, I wrote about the five seeds I was going to plant this year as part of my participation in the Seed and Plant Sanctuary of Canada.

Last weekend I started four of the five varieties of seeds: French Sorrel, Echinacea, Parsley Giante D'Italia and Chinese Rhubarb. The fifth seed, Golden Rocky Beans, won't be planted until I actually start direct seeding the veggie garden itself. That will be about a month or so from now, maybe three weeks if I can get ready in time. I'm trying to be a bit more organized about my planting this year, although so far I'm not sure if I'm having much success!

Earlier this week Gord and I went to two gardening seminars, instructed by The Urban Farmer, Ron Berezan. The seminars were on Xeriscaping and Edible Forest Gardens, and both Gord and I came away from that with visions of an Eden-like garden on our property, with us meandering down paths and plucking fruit and veggies from here and there at will. Well, it will be some years before that happens, but with the help of Mr. Berezan, we at least know where to start!

This weekend we have managed to arrange for two whole days at home, so we will hopefully get a lot of things done around the yard, and some prep work done to the garden. I was a bit dismayed to see weeds growing in there already - they were at least easy to pull out, since the soil was so moist. The Urban Farmer recommends mulching all exposed soil to retain water and reduce weeds, so I will have to look into that more seriously this year.

Spring is certainly well on its way now, and with it comes both the excitement of a new growing season, and feeling a little bit daunted about all there is to do. But there is comfort too, in knowing that the soil, seeds and sun have done this every year since the dawn of time, and so maybe I don't need to worry or fret quite so much about getting things 'just right.'

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, with some time for tea and relaxation!

Depression Cooking Lessons

2009-04-11T06:00:00.002-06:00

Yesterday in a very rambling post, I tacked on a link to the YouTube site of Depression Cooking with Clara. After watching the very first of her cooking lessons, I just had to try the easy and quick recipe she demonstrated, for pasta with peas. While she was showing her viewers how to prepare this filling and economical meal, I realized that it was the perfect thing to use up some leftovers I had: A lone potato out of its bag in the pantry, some onion chunks sitting in the fridge, and some very old frozen peas languishing in the freezer from when I had used them as a cold pack long ago. Clara added tomato sauce to her pasta dish, but I had visions of alfredo sauce on mine, and I have alfredo sauce powder as part of my food stores, so I was all set!

It turned out deliciously, and the pasta cooked with retained heat after I turned the burner off, just like she said it would. Clara commented that during the depression this was a common way to cook - turning off the gas flame, to conserve fuel and save money. During her cooking lessons, 91-year-old Clara talks about how things were for her and her family during the depression, and how they managed to stay healthy in tough times. Pasta and potatoes were a large part of their diet, and a home garden was essential. Very inspiring viewing, I must say.

Thanks Clara, lunch was very tasty!

April Showers, and other random thoughts.

2009-04-10T11:42:00.003-06:00

Ah, it's raining. Not snowing.

I think Spring may have actually arrived! I went outside this morning to take a few pictures of things like the patch of green grass I saw near the sidewalk, and the amazing site of my thyme and lavender that actually seem to have survived the Winter. Birds are chirping like crazy out there, the squirrels are chasing each other all about, and it's raining. A nice, soft drizzle that you can hear patting the ground as the drops land. It made me smile.

I think my brain must be infected by Spring this morning as well, because I'm thinking all sorts of different things, like is Twitter useful or just another way to broadcast random thoughts out into cyber space? Some of these things like Facebook and Twitter just seem so narcissistic and egotistical to me, but yet they appeal to me and my fondness for gadget-y and neat things of all sorts. And if Facebook and Twitter are egotistical, then so are blogs I suppose. Hmm. I have decided to try out the Twitter thing anyway after a few friends and family members joined, and when I saw that even Thich Nhat Hanh has an official Twitter feed. So I've linked my twitterings (tweets?) in the side bar there - so far I'm thinking it could serve as a mini-updater for this blog, one which would contain shorter ponderings.

And now, right now as I type this, there is a story on CBC's Q, about this very thing: the narcissistic tendencies of the current society and how social networking sites figure large in this this trend. The Ego Boom is the book that host Jian Ghomeshi is talking to the authors about, and how focusing on enhancing kids' self esteem over the last 20+ years has actually raised a generation of people who think they are close to perfect, have the right to choose among limitless options, and are entitled to be famous. Ack, perhaps I should reconsider this whole blog/facebook/twitter thing after all.

Another thing I am thinking about today is the amazingness of Vandana Shiva, (who as it happens, is linked via the CBC program, The Current, which also has a twitter feed.) Vandana Shiva started the Navdanya organization, which has been instrumental in fights against logging, water depletion and genetically modified seeds. When I was listening to The Current on the radio this morning, Dr. Shiva related the astounding statistic that 200 000 farmers in Pakistan and/or India have committed suicide over the past decade because they lost their farms to Agribusiness. Dr. Shiva and her organization have been working to help farmers return to organic farming practices, with amazing results. Good things happen when people live out their principles in the everyday practices of their lives.

These random and unpolished ponderings brought to you by the effects of Spring!

Oh, and one more random goody I just heard about: Depression Cooking with Clara. These are YouTube videos of a 91 year old lady cooking and giving tips about how to stay healthy in tough times. She is adorable, and one smart lady.

That connection with nature thing...

2009-04-04T10:00:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Gord and I spent some time outside in the treed part of our property -- we really needed to get out of the house and just be out there. Spring has been a long time coming, and while there is still a lot of snow around, the sky was blue and the sun was warm. So we went out to feed the birds, deterimined to take our time about it, and just enjoy being out there.

We have a lot of black-capped chickadees around here, and they have become less and less shy over the years. Often they will fly over and sit very close to us when we fill the bird feeders, and chirp loudly as if to say, "hurry up already, we want our black oil sunflower seeds!" At times there are dozens of them that come to the five or six feeders we have set up, for sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet.

This year has been a banner year for squirrels as well - there are four of them! It seems like they may be two mated pairs, but we really don't know for certain. They come to the feeders as well, and it is quite the show to see the squirrels and the birds vie for the prime feeders.

Gord has told me of how one of his uncles used to have birds eating out of his hand, and this Spring he really wanted to see if that could happen to him too. These chickadees were pretty friendly, so they seemed like they might just cooperate.

And last Sunday was the day - after standing still and sort of blending in with the feeder for about 15-20 minutes, the birds started sitting on the feeder while Gord's hand was there:You can see the squirrel there (whom Gord has named 'Chomper') in the background, keeping an eye on the situation.

A few minutes later, one of the birds landed on Gord's hand and took a sunflower seed out of it, before flying away. This happened quite a few times with a few different birds, and I managed to get one decent picture of this:
Not to be left out, Chomper came by in a little while for a closer look:

And then came closer yet for his share of the sunflower seeds:

I can tell you this was the highlight of our day! I've cropped the pictures so Gord's face isn't in there, but in some of these shots he is really smiling! There's something pretty amazing about having a little bird or squirrel think you're just another part of the landscape, safe enough to sit on.

Next time it will be my turn to try and stand still for 20 minutes at the feeder, and see what happens. I knew meditation was good practice for a lot of reasons, but I didn't foresee this particular application!

Wishing everyone a happy weekend, with time enough to stop and connect for a little while with Nature's goodness.

The "Branding" of Alberta? No Thanks.

2009-04-02T12:44:00.001-06:00

Last week the Alberta government unveiled their new "brand"for the province. The old slogan, "The Alberta Advantage" had become stale, apparently, and oh ya, it was getting harder to find the advantage part. When the 'boom' was in effect, housing prices and rent had skyrocketed, it was hard to find a family doctor, dentist, etc., and huge pickup trucks ruled the roads with impunity, even when gas was $1.30+ per litre ($5.08 per USD, when the CAD and USD were at par). And the fact that the province doesn't have a sales tax didn't really make much difference when other fees and costs were always going up.

Then came the economic downturn. Now houses aren't selling, rents are still high, foreclosures have doubled, companies are shutting down, people are having their work hours cut, or losing their jobs entirely. So it was obvious that what the province needed was....a new slogan. And not just any new slogan, but one that cost 4 million dollars to research, develop and market.

The Alberta government even created a new website designed to outline why the province needs a new 'brand' and how the new 'brand' will just show everyone how good a place Alberta is to live, work and invest. There are gorgeous pictures throughout, and a spiffy new font for the word 'Alberta.'

Here is how the brand itself is promoted on the website:

"Alberta's brand enables us to consistently present the authentic story of our province to a set of stakeholders as diverse as Alberta itself.

Whether promoting Albertan products, ideas, and innovations to a global marketplace or welcoming the world to our home, the branding initiative encompasses the wide variety of ways Alberta's story comes to life.

A truly global brand for a place unlike anywhere else."

This really grinds my crackers, as Crunchy would say.

I am a citizen, not a 'stakeholder.' Alberta is not a product, it is a place! It is not a commodity, it is my home! It is not a 'story' designed to attract 'investors.' It is not a thing that can be owned, and then arrogantly and presumptuously stamped with a 'brand.' This 'brand' doesn't present the 'authentic story' of Alberta at all! It is just a way for the Alberta government to show off some pretty pictures of parts of the province they haven't yet managed to despoil and 'monetize,' or to sanitize and glorify the parts of it they already have. I can not even begin to describe the vastness of the disconnection between this government and the actual land and place that is Alberta!

While I was getting all riled up about this, I was also in the process of reading a book by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, which I bought from my favorite used book store recently. The book is called, "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior." This was a great find, one which I just had to purchase when I read the summary of what the Shambhala tradition is all about:

"The Shambhala teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human wisdom that can help to solve the world's problems. This wisdom does not belong to any one culture or religion, nor does it come only from the West or the East. Rather, it is a tradition of human warriorship that has existed in many cultures and many times throughout history."

According to the book, Shambhala is a legendary kingdom that was a place of peace and prosperity, governed by wise and compassionate rulers. Trungpa points out that whether or not such a kingdom actually existed isn't important. "Instead, we should appreciate and emulate the ideal of an enlightened society that it represents" (p. 27). The concept of warriorship is not utilized in the sense of making war on others, but rather to describe the Tibetan Buddhist idea of being heroic and kind at the same time.

Imagine leaders like that! Ones who are heroic and kind at the same time! I could go on and on about all the inspiring things I found in this book, but the passage that stood out for me the most while I was all riled up about the Alberta 'brand' situation was this:

"When human beings lose their connection to nature, to heaven and earth, then they do not know how to nurture their environment or how to rule their world - which is saying the same thing. Human beings destroy their ecology at the same time as they destroy each other. From that perspective, healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world" (p. 132).

So there it is then. Disconnection leads to ruination. We humans are certainly good at that.

But yet I have a little hope still, because I think what Trungpa says is also true: That the healing of society will come through restoring our own personal connections with the natural environment and natural phenomena. When we do this, we rediscover that we already are a part of the "authentic story" of our place, wherever that may be. That we are already woven into the very place and time where we exist right now. And when we are united with our place, we don't want to wreck it, or let other people or interests wreck it. It seems so obvious, yet everything about our society, including slick provincial branding schemes, is designed to obscure this very point.

So, let's begin. Let's put ourselves back in Nature's classroom, and encourage others to come there with us. We may even realize we've been there all along, and that will be a very, very good day: for us, and for the planet that is our only home.

Adorable Alberta groundhog picture courtesy Hatcreek, AB.

Ponderings Pending....

2009-04-01T08:14:00.001-06:00

My home internet connection has been worse than erratic lately, so I haven't been able to upload any recent ponderings...I'm hoping to get that rectified later today or tomorrow..... :)

CSA-related survey....

2009-03-25T12:54:00.006-06:00

We have joined our CSA again this year, and I feel quite fortunate that it is fairly close to our place, given the distances that people normally travel in this country/province. It is about the same distance to the CSA as it is to the town we normally go grocery shopping in, that is, about a half-hour trip by car, one way.

I have a couple questions for people who are members of a CSA farm, or who would consider being members of one:

1) How long does it take you to get to your CSA (or drop off point) going by car, bike or on foot?

2) How far/long would you be willing to travel once a week to get to a CSA (or drop off point)?

Any and all feedback appreciated - thanks!

Canada's Environment Minister denies water is a human right.

2009-03-22T21:44:00.000-06:00

So, this morning I hear on the CBC Radio One news that Canada, courtesy of our so-called 'environment' minister Jim Prentice has thwarted efforts to have water declared a human right, not just a human need. Apparently Mr. Prentice is worried that if water is declared a human right, that Canada will be obligated to export water to countries that don't have enough of it. This is a total red herring. If that were the case, then we would be obligated to export everything that already is declared a human right, like food for example.

I find it absolutely astounding that, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights linked above, leisure time and property ownership are considered human rights, and yet access to safe drinking water isn't. How is this even possible?

Sadly, I know the answer to that question: it's possible because private water companies want it that way, so they can further commodify and commercialize water, selling it to those who can afford it. And that big Canadian project that Minister Prentice also talked about, the Global Environmental Monitoring System, will just help these multinationals get even better at finding where the good water is, so they can exploit it further.

This is why it is absolutely essential that we as citizens do not support private water supplies in any way, shape, or form. We need to make it a point not to buy any bottled water, including water that comes in the form of bottled juice or pop. Companies like Coke, Pepsi and Nestle are notorious for tapping into the aquifers in places like India, and even Florida, denying those citizens their right to clean water.

Today is World Water Day. But it's a sad day for water and a sad day for Canada.

Picture courtesy urbansprout

Free Book: "Tar Sands"

2009-03-19T12:58:00.002-06:00

Here is a link to a free book (in PDF format) about the tarsands - the offer is good through tomorrow. It's written by a well known Alberta activist, Andrew Nikiforuk.

Thanks to Experiments in Efficiency for the heads up about this offer.

Safe Water: Canada must endorse it as a human right!

2009-03-17T20:42:00.003-06:00

Today the CBC ran an article outlining that Canada's bid for a UN Security Council seat is being undermined by Canada's refusal to endorse the view that safe water is a human right. This is as it should be: there is nothing more essential to life than water. I wholeheartedly agree with Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians, who says that if the Harper government doesn't step up and take action about the world water crisis, then Canada doesn't deserve the Security Council seat.

And hooray for the Council of Canadians, for keeping this issue front and centre! March 22nd is World Water Day, and it is the day that the Council of Canadians launches its Blue Community Project. What can we do locally to promote water as a basic human right? We can start by talking to people about why privatization of water supplies is a bad thing. We can stop drinking bottled water and drink tap water instead. We can stop buying bottled pop and bottled juice, which are just fancier ways of bottling water. We can write to local, provincial and federal elected representatives to remind them that bottled water isn't a soloution to unsafe water supplies, but ensuring that our water supplies remain uncontaminated is. We can ask our local municipal councils, festival organizers, church groups, labor unions, or workplaces to stop selling and promoting bottled water.

One thing I've done lately to keep the importance of water foremost in my mind is to take one slow, mindful sip of water as the last thing I do before I go to bed. This serves to remind me how fortunate I am to have clean, clear, safe water coming out of my tap!

Winter, continued.

2009-03-15T18:51:00.005-06:00

About this time last year I was yearning for Spring, and this year is no different. We have had a season of vast fluctuations in temperature, and just when I thought we had finally come through Winter, today we get another six inches or so of snow.

I don't mind the snow really -- we do need the moisture in the Spring. But I am longing to see the actual ground again, and those first fe w shoots of green. I will have to be patient.

I learned a Winter lesson today: It is better to mark the location of the cistern lid and vent before the snow covers it up, then to have to dig all over the place later and hope you find it! I finally did find the necessary bits, and have now marked them with some flaggy items. At least now the water delivery guy will know where to go!

Well, back to shoveling....

"A strong back and an open heart"

2009-03-12T12:45:00.002-06:00

I am trying to get more serious about meditating regularly, as I find that when I do make time for it, it helps me to feel less frazzled. Whether it's concern for the state of the world, frustration over office politics, or wondering why my broccoli sprouts are taking so long to grow, even 10 - 15 minutes of meditation at the end of the day helps me regain a measure of mental equilibrium.

One day last week, I was feeling some grumpiness about something or other, and felt like spending my lunch hour searching the internet for all manner of things meditation-related. I even found an Alberta-based website with info on meditation, and came across this lovely description there:

We sit meditation upright and open. This develops the habit of being both steady and relaxed regardless of external circumstance. Sometimes it is difficult to find our true home of awakening in the midst of trying circumstances. Sometimes things around us might sway us into feelings of anger or misunderstanding. We need to have a strong back and an open heart to sit upright.
Our steadiness does not close us off from the reality of our interconnection with others. We only sit upright because we sit upright with others. We don’t hunch over or lean because we have nothing to protect. Our hearts are open and we welcome circumstances exactly as they appear.

Well, let me tell you, this idea really woke me up because I have been a bit of a slacker in terms of the posture I use when I meditate. More and more I've been sitting on a chair and putting a pillow behind my back to keep myself upright, rather than sitting on the floor with the pillow under my butt and holding myself in the proper posture. It's more comfy that way, and I could sit longer.

It was one of those neat 'aha' moments -- I realized that the actual physical aspect of the sitting was just as important as taking the time to sit in the first place. That sitting that way isn't just for show or to make my back uncomfortable on purpose, but that it is the form-al representation of what meditation is supposed to be all about: simply opening oneself to and accepting what is. I found the unity of this form and function very profound. This merging of form and function makes my brain all tingly when I think about it.

Silly Theresa: it's not about how long I sit or how comfy I am! It's about genuinely cultivating a strong back and an open heart, both literally and metaphorically. (Just now, I'm thinking that the exact same thing applies to Tai Chi.)

May we all develop the habit of being both steady and relaxed regardless of external circumstances.

Picture courtesy this flickr site.

Getting tough on crime? Whose?

2009-03-10T12:00:00.001-06:00

The Canadian government is in the midst of trying to pass new legislation that would 'get tough on crime.' This has been in the works for some time now, but an election and then proroguing of parliament slowed things down. The heat is back on to get this thing passed now, particularly after a recent spate of gang-related violence in Vancouver and Calgary. The Act calls for things like mandatory minimum sentences and overall longer sentences for a number of offenses.

I could go on and on (and on) about why such things typically don't have a deterrent effect in the two categories of people who make up the bulk of the prison population (i.e., antisocial, impulsive types who don't consider consequences before acting, and gang members who consider doing time the price of doing business as well as a good way to get more recruits), but I won't. (Even though I have done research in the area and have worked in the field for the past 13+ years.) Instead I'd like to focus on a much bigger picture: the hypocrisy of the whole proposition.

In my view, the crux of the matter is this: why would anyone come over to the 'good side' of society when the so-called 'good side' consists of governments that cover up the crimes of their own members, and who let people like Bernie Madoff get away with billions of dollars in fraud? When society at large endorses psychopathic tendencies, including the unfettered pursuit of individual goals regardless of the consequences. When doctors who try to bring attention to the effects of the tarsands on the population of a small town are harassed by the government's health department. When 11 million litres PER DAY of toxic leakage from tarsands tailings ponds is considered within acceptable parameters. When the person in charge of ensuring a nuclear reactor is safe is fired when she says the place isn't safe anymore. When big pharma can muzzle research that is contrary to their business interests. When the ocean contains massive zones of plastic detritus that kills birds and deforms turtles. When we keep on over-consuming and sending our garbage to China for peasants to pick through. When we tell other countries to deal with the consequences of decades of OUR actions, while we do NOTHING.

We have lost the moral ground on which to stand and point fingers at the B&E artists, the con-men/women, the robbers, the fraudsters, even the murderers and rapists. They are us. We are them. There is no fundamental difference.

Because of our insatiable desires for more, always more, Western society has become a place not of fulfillment, but of a harried and crushing emptiness. We need a re-making of society, from the ground up. Just like we demand of the criminals in jail, we the non-jailed must be accountable for all of our actions, take responsibility for all of their consequences, and start acting to repair the harm we have caused to everyone and everything.

This starts here. Now. We must walk the walk, not just talk the talk. We must lead by example, not just point fingers at "criminals" and say, "what you've done is worse than what what I would ever do." No. Enough.

If we want others to be kind, then we must be kind. If we want others to be truthful then we must be truthful. If we want others to value fairness, justice, and peace, we must live our lives like we value these things too.

We can not legislate our way to a better society. This must instead start with each and every one of us, right now, in what we think, say and do every minute of every day.

Let's get started.

A Sunday Haiku

2009-03-08T14:35:00.003-06:00

A spoon stirring tea.

I smile at the sound of it:
comfort manifest

Good news for water....

2009-03-07T21:41:00.003-07:00

Just thought I'd share this piece of news I heard today about more and more municipalities taking a stand against the use of bottled water on their properties. Hooray! Clean safe water is a human right, not a marketable commodity available just to those who can afford it. And all that wasted plastic, most of which doesn't even get recycled.

Thank you Federation of Canadian Municipalities, for taking this bold step!

Picture courtesy watersecretsblog

Cataclysm, anyone?

2009-03-06T16:49:00.003-07:00

In today's Edmonton Journal, there is an article in the business section that advises people to brace for more than just a mere recession or depression. Instead, in the headline itself, we were warned to take heed of a coming cataclysm. The article in the paper is longer than the one provided online, but the final paragraph is the same:

"In the end, Hamon said, we will return to the way we used to live a generation or two ago. That means grandparents living with their children. Workers taking lunch pails to work instead of eating at [iconic donut shop]. One-income families. People raising their own children and cutting their own grass. Camping instead of cruising. "There will be a reduction in living standards," Brennan said."

This article struck me as both a good and bad thing. On one hand, I think it's good that the seriousness of the economic situation is finally being talked about in the mainstream media. And words like "cataclysm" certainly draw attention, and might serve as a wake up call to those still slumbering in the soporific stew of consumer culture.

But on the other hand, I don't agree that living the way we did a generation or two ago can be considered a "reduction in living standards." I already take my 'lunch pail' to work and I already cut my own grass. In fact I'm cutting it less and less often, and there is less and less to cut, as I let grassy areas grow wild. I already prefer camping to cruising, but don't even need to go camping really, since I've got a nice garden to putter about in, whenever I want. And, we've been weaning ourselves down to one salary for a couple years now, and could go further. None of this has been a hardship, and it certainly hasn't been cataclysmic.

A dictionary definition of 'cataclysm' is: "A violent upheaval that causes great destruction or brings about a fundamental change." Some synonyms for the word 'cataclysmic' are: disastrous, devastating, catastrophic and calamitous.

In fact I'd take the radical approach that what we have wreaked upon the earth in the past 50 -100 years has been the cataclysm, not what's happening now. I'm looking forward to things getting back INTO balance again. And for that I will happily keep packing my lunch pail and skipping the obligatory cruise.

Chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching has something to say about this, about returning to basics and knowing when enough is enough:

The Tao never does anything,
yet through it all things are done.

If powerful men and women
could enter themselves in it,
the whole world would be transformed
by itself, in its natural rhythms.
People would be content
with their simple, everyday lives,
in harmony, and free of desire.

When there is no desire,
all things are at peace.

Tao Te Ching translation by S. Mitchell
Picture courtesy this website.

Of Sprouting Seeds and Beet Leaves....

2009-02-28T21:08:00.002-07:00

I've been having so much tasty fun growing alfalfa and buckwheat sprouts that I decided to take the plunge and order some certified organic sprouting seeds from a Canadian company, Mumm's. Buying seeds in bulk like this is a lot cheaper - these seeds should last me for a year or more, making buckets of sprouts!

I'm going to try the broccoli sprouts first, since they apparently have 20-50 times the cancer fighting effects than broccoli itself, which is already a good anti-cancer food. These little guys are also effective in decreasing some kinds of ulcers, and that is also a very good thing.

I'm going to have to invest in some cheesecloth or some other kind of mesh, since one sprouting jar just isn't enough these days! Maybe I could use some old nylons and an elastic band or two.....?

In other news, one of the three beets I had planted in a margarine container of moist sand last Fall has finally started growing beet leaves. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to take this long, so I'll have to check into what I should be doing differently....

Woodstove-baked buns

2009-02-22T16:58:00.007-07:00

It remains chilly, and we are still using the woodstove for supplementary heating these days. So today I decided to give my little camp stove oven another try. A few months ago I roasted vegetables in it, and that went fairy well, but today I wanted to see if it would bake bread. I still had one frozen portion of my no-knead bread left from a few weeks ago, and after thawing and double-rising it, I formed the little buns you see in the first picture.

I was able to get the woodstove oven up to about 375 F, but 325 was where the temperature would mostly hover once I had the buns in there. The normal oven temperature for baking these buns is 425 F, so I wasn't sure just how it would work out. But after a half hour, things seemed to be coming along reasonably well, and it smelled heavenly in the basement, where the woostove is.

I gave the buns another 15 minutes, which was probably 5-7 minutes too long. The tops were a lovely golden brown, but the bottoms were quite dark. Nonetheless, the inside of the buns was moist and delicious, and along with a sprout salad, made a delicious lunch!

(I figured out later that I could adjust the rack height in the little oven, and if I were to use non-dark bakeware, I could probably reduce the bottom browning problem significantly - that will be my next test!)

Theory into Practice

2009-02-17T21:06:00.002-07:00

In Tai Chi we do a bunch of warm-up exercises before we do the actual 108-move set itself. Some of these moves have names, and some do not. There are several purposes for these foundation exercises, one of which is to practice certain moves that are embedded in each one of the 108 forms. We do the foundation exercises repeatedly, and our instructor gives us corrections to ensure that we are getting the moves right so that we can do them properly during the set itself. The goal is to incorporate the teachings about the foundation exercises into the set to get the most health benefits out of the exercise. In short, to put theory into practice.

This turns out to be more difficult than one might think. It is one thing to do the same thing over and over again in the same place, and quite another to incorporate the motion into a dynamic set of 108 moves, while trying to maintain one's balance, remember what comes next and move at the same speed as everyone else.

I am finding the same thing happening as I learn and read more about Taoist and Buddhist ideas. I love to sit and read books by Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, or lose myself in the latest issue of Shambala Sun magazine. My most recent discovery is the work of Noah Levine, a buddhist who spent some time in jail as a youth. I sit, comfy with some tea, reading the works of these authors. I might nod and smile, agreeing with what's being said, thinking what a good and noble idea it is, and how the world would be a better place if we all put these ideas into action.

After that is where I fall a bit short. It is one thing to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, imagining a world of compassion and caring. It's another to actually behave in a compassionate way when, for example, something very annoying happens at work, or (hypothetically speaking of course!) a politician enacts a policy that you find completely wrong-headed, or a driver cuts you off in traffic. I want to rant and rave, and I often do -- sometimes here, sometimes in the moment itself. And I think unkind thoughts and say unkind words. I am getting a little better at refraining from that, and actually feeling compassion and acting kindly towards others in trying situations, but it is mostly hit-and-miss at this point, depending on what kind of day I'm having.

So it comes back to practice and more practice, decreasing the separation between what I think and say when I'm reading or meditating, and what I actually do when I'm out there, in the world, with its dynamic changes and challenges.

Picture courtesy Western Region Taoist Tai Chi Society

Growing Alfalfa Sprouts

2009-02-16T21:41:00.003-07:00

I had a request to describe how I go about growing alfalfa sprouts using my neat-o mesh lid and canning jar. It is extremely easy!

I bought this plastic mesh screw-top lid from my local health food store - it fits any wide mouth mason jar, although I have found that it fits some better than others. I am just using a small (250 ml) canning jar, since there are only two of us and we don't need a whole mess o' sprouts at any given time.

I bought the alfalfa seeds at the health food store as well, at the same time as I bought the lid. I have been itching to grow something while I wait for Spring to arrive, and these sprouts are just the ticket.

So, here are the steps:

1) Put about a teaspoon of seeds into the small canning jar
2) Screw on the mesh lid firmly.
3) Add water - enough to cover the seeds well. I put about an inch of water in, just for good measure.
4) Let the seeds soak in the water 8 -24 hours.
5) Pour off the soaking water through the mesh lid, and then swirl and rinse the seeds with some new water.
6) Rinse the seeds in this manner twice a day, morning and evening.
7) By Day 3 you will have tiny sprouts; by Day 6 the sprouts will be just the way I like them: with two little green leaves on each sprout. (The maturation rate will probably depend on how much sunlight they get.)
8) Not all the seeds will sprout - this seems to be normal.
9) Enjoy the sprouts on sandwiches, in pitas, stirfrys, or just by themselves.
10) Ah...Spring in a jar!

Note: check comments section for some links about sprouting and where one might order sprouting seeds in Canada.

Comment Moderation "On"

2009-02-16T20:15:00.004-07:00

Due to an marked increase in spam over the past few days, I've turned comment moderation on for the time being. It always surprises me that a blog with modest readership like this one gets spam, but I guess if everything made sense the world would be a different place already.....

Containers Big and Small

2009-02-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

It's nice to find just the right container for the job, especially if it's cheap or free!

This week I had the good luck to find out about some free food-safe plastic buckets. Apparently the institutional kitchen at my workplace just throws them away unless someone asks to have them.

I found out about this by chance, when I saw a co-worker walking down the hall with two 5 gallon buckets, with lids! I was so enthusiastic about the buckets that he kindly gave me one of them, and told me how to get more -- as many as I wanted really, because the kitchen apparently throws these out "by the hundreds." I hope to get my hands on 50 or so. I'll use several of them for storing larger quantities of sugar, flour, wheat berries, all sorts of stuff! And then I'll save some to give away or trade - the buckets are nicely stack-able and won't take up much space. I may even invest in some of those fancy gamma lids, if I can find them for a good price.

Another handy low-cost item has been my canning-jar-turned-sprout-starter. I bought a mesh lid that fits on any wide-mouth mason jar, and it works really well to grow little batches of alfalfa sprouts. I have to try sprouting some other kinds of seeds too, since we are really enjoying the nice fresh taste of sprouts as we cope with the last couple months of Winter.

The fresh green sprouts are a nice reminder that Spring is coming, eventually.

Jail: A crash course in nonattachment

2009-02-10T20:56:00.001-07:00

The ideas of attachment and non-attachment are things I ponder regularly. On a regular basis something comes along to show me that I am more attached to something than I should be. I'm getting a bit better at being less attached to having things or buying things, but I am only just becoming aware of how attached I am to having things turn out the way I want them to, and to having people act or think the way I want them to. I am also quite attached to having things progress along a certain time frame, in a certain order. I like some things to be 'just so' - that way, I feel comfortable and at ease.

And I like that.

Just ask Gord how out of sorts I get if something I've planned has to be changed, or if I take a wrong turn on a road somewhere and suddenly don't know where to go next. I can really come undone when stuff like that happens, particularly if I'm under more stress than usual, or I'm over-tired.

As I've mentioned before, I work in a jail. Jail is a place where people learn to get over their attachments, and fast. Personal belongings are confiscated and stored. Even things like wedding rings and personal pictures of family can be taken away and put in to storage. Putting on standard issue coveralls makes everyone look like everyone else, right down to your socks and underwear - your 'outside' identity is traded in for an 'inside' number. Your 'outside' timetable and priorities are unimportant - you are told what to do and when to do it. You are dependent on 'the system' and those who work in it for your food and water, clothes and lodging. You can be transferred from cell to cell, unit to unit, or jail to jail without notice. And you won't necessarily be able to let your family or your lawyer know before you leave.

Those who have the hardest time with all this are those who had the most 'normal' lives before coming to jail. Those who adapt the most quickly are those who, by societal standards, had nothing before they arrived: the homeless, the mentally ill. There are exceptions to this of course, but I am usually struck the most by the grace with which the latter adapt to these circumstances. They appreciate the sparse cot, the chance for a hot shower, and three meals a day. They take each thing as it comes.

I don't want to romanticize the idea of jail: it is a harsh and dangerous environment in many ways, and I would advise staying out of it! But I consider myself lucky to be able to learn from those 'inside' who have mastered the art of non-attachment.

Cozy Saturday Cooking

2009-02-07T21:32:00.001-07:00

I've been really looking forward to this weekend. I arranged things so I didn't have to leave the house at all, and these are often my most favorite times of the week. This weekend I planned to cook, clean and organize, things I've begun to appreciate doing more and more. Yes, even the cleaning!

Today was a day of cooking, baking and laundry. I made vegetable barley soup, baked bread/buns, and turned the last of the potatoes from our garden into a nice batch of whipped potatoes with nutmeg.

In the soup I used the last of the potatoes from the CSA farm, along with some dried chard from the CSA farm as well. Come to think of it, the onion I used was still from the CSA too. I added some celery, carrots and sauted it all in some olive oil before adding veggie broth, a couple handfuls of pearl barley, spices, and a generous splash of red wine, and mmmm....mmmm. Soup!

I also started another batch of alfalfa seeds to sprouting. I made a batch last week (Gord and I took turns rinsing the seeds/sprouts twice a day) and they were extremely tasty just out of the jar, or in sandwiches. It's nice to have something fresh in the middle of winter.

I'm also a fan of an easy, no-knead bread recipe from Mother Earth News (can't find a link!) - it is a very forgiving recipe and the dough can be stored in the fridge (for a more sourdough flavor over time) or frozen to be used later. The buns turned out really well - nice and crisp on the outside and really moist in the middle.

This evening we're hunkering down to watch a romantic comedy, after a nice day of pleasant Saturday chores. Tomorrow is cookie and cleaning day, and I expect I will enjoy that just as much.

Wishing everyone a pleasant and relaxing weekend!

What I Want vs. What Is

2009-02-02T16:48:00.006-07:00

I so want to write a nice, possibly inspirational post about the Chinese New Year dinner I went to over the weekend at our Tai Chi club. About how it dawned on me (at about the 5th course of 11) that they serve one course at a time so each course can be truly savored and appreciated. About how there are certain ways to serve the dishes and pour the tea, which engender respect and courtesy. And how a 3 1/2 hour dinner with interesting and pleasant companions makes the dinner even more enjoyable. Not to mention a very cool Lion Dance.

But for some reason I just feel all blogged out lately. I'll have an idea for a post and then it will fizzle. I'll see some new connnection I haven't seen before, and then it will disappear and I can't get it back. Or I just don't feel like doing the typing and editing. The days are getting longer and lighter, little by little, but I still feel mostly in the depths of Winter.

On the other hand, the last thing I want to do is write a post full of faux-enthusiasm, so maybe it's better just to let it be, and accept What Is.

Photo of Lion Dancers courtesy this website.

Budget 2009: Squandered Opportunity

2009-01-28T17:02:00.006-07:00

*Sigh*

Well, it's not like I was expecting great things from the Harper government's return to work. I'm of the opinion that 'stimulus packages' aren't going to do much to improve the economy anyway, so it was out of curiosity, not hope, that I paid any attention to the budget presented by Finance Minister Flaherty yesterday.

But even my lowered expectations were too high, apparently. The budget is more of the same old same old, but with a huge deficit thrown in to the mix. The ceiling on some tax brackets have been changed, with the result that people (who still have jobs) will pay about $100 - $150 less tax per year. If the government thinks I'm going to go on a spending spree with that, they are quite out of touch. That money is going straight to debt repayment.

Oh, I'll get another tax break if I build a deck or maybe an addition to my house (Like the PM seems to be doing in this convenient photo-op - who thinks up these lame poses anyway?). That is, if I spend up to $1350 on renos, I can reduce my taxes by 15% of that, a whopping $202.50. Wow. I think I'll pass. I'm not spending $ 1350 to get $200 back - do the math! (NOTE - see my correction of these numbers below.)

And infrastructure spending - there's billions of dollars promised, but they all hinge on whether municipalities and provincial governments kick in equivalent amounts. What good is that? A lot of provinces and municipalities can't afford to pay for even part of these projects, so that money will just sit there and not 'stimulate' anything. And, projects that do get the funding are subject to fewer environmental impact assessments than previously - this is all done in the name of expediency, but really it just allows the government an excuse to cut back on already poor environmental regulation.

This could have been an opportunity for the government to be bold, seize the moment, and do things like provide grants to insulate houses, or target money to the auto industry to re-tool for things like buses, and light rail cars. Harper could have used some stimulus money to foster development of solar or wind power, but instead he pretends to be 'green' by supporting things like carbon capture and storage. (If we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions through alternative energies and conservation, we wouldn't need to 'capture' and 'store' them!) But Harper's not a 'seize-the-moment' kind of guy. He's a 'how-can-I-craft-this-to-serve-my-purposes' kind of guy.

The new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Michael Ignatieff, has already decided to ask for amendments to the budget rather than voting against it and toppling the government. I was all for a coalition government taking over before this whole prorogue debacle started, but now I don't even care. Partly because I'm trying not to get so caught up in such things anymore, but partly because if this is the kind of thing Harper is going to propose as a solution to Canada's economic problems, then he can darn well live with the consequences.

NOTE: According to the CBC this morning (January 29, 2008), individuals can claim up to $9000 in reno costs and then receive 15% of this back, or $1350. The numbers are different, but the rate of return is the same. Plus, I don't know too many people who have nine grand floating around to sink into renovations - not without going into more debt anyway.

Fear and Consumption :Updated with Letter to City Council

2009-01-23T12:55:00.006-07:00

I have been wanting to write on this topic for a while now, but things haven't gelled in my head enough to do so. I've had a post on the back burner for almost a year that I rework now and then, but I'm never happy with. Today I'm going to write about the topic anyway, from scratch, because I heard something on the CBC's Edmonton AM this morning that really, really ticked me off.

The radio host was interviewing the owner of a company that proposes to put huge, double sided video screens on several major thoroughfares around Edmonton. These dozens of screens would post emergency information or other urgent information in the public interest, such as amber alerts (when a child may have been abducted), extreme weather warnings, etc. The idea is that putting this information out near the driving public would be the best way to get the information disseminated quickly. Apart from the fact that this info is already broadcast on radio and tv stations already, it sounds pretty good so far, right?

Well, when there isn't an emergent or urgent situation happening, the screens would be filled with commercial advertising. When the radio host asked the company owner what the expected proportion of advertising to emergency information was, the owner dodged the question, saying that the screens would be dedicated to emergency information only for up to 7 days when an emergency occurred. The host pressed for the information again, saying that surely the expected proportion would have to be known so the owner could guarantee advertisers a certain amount of 'screen time' for their money. This is where it gets good: the owner then said, with quite a lot of defensiveness in his voice, that surely 'saving the lives of one or two little girls' outweighs every other consideration and makes the proportion of advertising time irrelevant. The radio host then made the comment that he expected the owner would be making that point in particular when he goes to City Council to pitch his idea.

Deep breath. Ok.

How dare he. How dare that man play on fear to sell the idea of his advertising business!!! And how dare he mix fear and consumption in the first place!!! Can you imagine this: driving down the road and seeing, say, a tornado warning on the big screen, and then shortly afterward being shown an advertisement for emergency equipment? Or being shown that the road is slippery ahead and then being shown an advertisement for snow tires? Or how about being shown an amber alert, with the emotional sight of a missing child's face, and then after the amber alert is lifted, having the ads be heavily weighted for house and car security systems, or the government's latest pre-election "get tough on crime" spot?

Fear and advertising should never, NEVER, be mixed. They are mixed, all the time though. Maybe its not as blatant as these screens would have it mixed, but all the time we are bombarded with messages in the media that danger/discomfort/hardship exists everywhere and wouldn't this nice (insert your choice of consumer produce or service here) make everything better/nicer/easier for you. Don't worry your pretty little head about the tough stuff, just keep consuming yourself into a soporific state and we the multinational corporation/paternalistic government will take care of everything. Just get comfortably numb and let the 'invisible hand' of the market work its magic.

One of the worst parts of the whole radio interview was that the business owner seemed to think that there was no problem with this approach. And, the radio host's comments seemed to imply that the owner's argument could be expected to have good leverage with City Council. Nothing like 'business as usual,' eh?

You can bet that the owner of this business will be receiving a letter from me. I doubt it will have any effect, but I'm not afraid, and I'm certainly not comfortably numb.

(Repeated bailout schemes, varying terror alerts, new psychiatric 'disorders', 'catastrophic health emergency insurance,' they're all good for business aren't they? Has anyone else seen any blatant or subtle examples of the mixing of fear and the corporate push to consume?)

Image courtesy this website.

Update, January 26, 2009

The following is the letter I submitted via email to Edmonton City Council today. I received email confirmation that it has been distributed to the councilors for their review:

Hello Council Members:

A recent story on CBC Radio talked about a businessman who would be pitching his idea of having large video screen billboards on various high-traffic routes around the city. These would carry emergency information about 1% of the time and advertising the other 99%. I am writing to convey my dismay and disgust with such an idea.

First, such changeable advertisements would be extremely distracting to drivers, making city streets even more hazardous than they already are. Second, and this is where my disgust comes from, these screens would provide a venue for advertisers, and this businessman, to profit from fear. Imagine that an amber alert has just been lifted, and the screen goes back to advertising, say for home security systems, or self-defense classes, etc. The fact that an amber alert had just been in effect could well be used to scare or intimidate people into buying such products. This would be an insidious and sickening use of advertising.

I strongly urge city council to reject this businessman's proposal when he pitches it to you. Surely our city will not stand for such coercive and manipulative tactics.

Sincerely,

Theresa XXXXXXXXXXXXX

What might Obama mean for Canadians?

2009-01-20T20:49:00.001-07:00

President Obama's inauguration speech was on TV today while I was at work. Luckily for me, I happened to be out on the mental health housing unit at the jail where I work, and so I was able to catch the last half of the new President's speech on the inmates' small unit TV. About half of the inmates on the unit were watching too.

It was a neat moment, all of us from different walks of life watching this historic event. I got goosebumps from time to time; inmates clapped and cheered at certain rousing points of the speech. The inmates and I exchanged some smiles and comments during the speech, with one inmate saying at one point, "I wish I was an American." In reading some of the comments at the CBC website this evening, it seems quite a few Canadians are expressing the same kind of sentiment.

I wouldn't go quite that far myself. I've always been glad to be Canadian, and glad that there are some differences between our two countries. For instance, I'm happy we have Quebec in our country and I like that we have two official languages. I'm also glad that our country gained independence via negotiation, and I don't mind being characterized as being overly polite.

That being said, listening to Obama's speech today, it sure made me wish (again!) for some visionary leadership. I do think that Obama's presidency will have some positive effects on Canada, which is a fairly obvious statement to make I suppose. Some of the effects I hope to see 'rub off' on Canadian politics look something like this:

A move towards a more open and respectful political tone overall.
The re-valuing of meaningful discourse, rather than the same old 'one-up-manship.'
The re-valuing of science when making policy decisions rather than relying on the same old, tired ideological dogma.
A renewed focus on what we all have in common as Canadians rather than playing one region or party against the others.
Increased acceptance that the world has changed, and that it's time to pull together to work on the challenges that face the human race and the planet we all live on.
Honest appreciation for the day-to-day grind that ordinary people face just making ends meet.
Some better speech writing - c'mon people, surely there are some half decent Canadian speech writers out there who can help our politicians convey a sense of enthusiasm now and then!

Canadian parliament opens again next week, after a lengthy period of prorogue. I hope that Harper and Ignatieff took in Obama's speech today and decide to govern themselves accordingly. Yes they can!

A Tale of Five Seeds - The Beginning

2009-01-19T12:28:00.003-07:00

So I have taken the plunge and joined the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada. I've chosen my five seed types that I will plant and report back on, and confirmed all this with the organizer of the whole project. So here are 'the chosen five' along with a little blurb about why I chose it:

1) Echinacea: I've been wanting to grow this for a couple years now. I buy the echinacea pills all the time and do take them whenever I feel a sore throat or cold coming on, and while I have a cold. It does seem to help minimize the severity and the length of the colds I get, although the one I have now is a doozy and nothing seems to help. I have also thought that it would be a good thing to take as a tea regularly, and maybe something I could sell/trade if TEOTWAWKI circumstances arrive. Or even if they don't. Plus the flowers are pretty.

2) Chinese Rhubarb: I was planning on planting some kind of rhubarb this Spring because it is one of the first things that is harvestable in my cold climate, and I do love the tart taste of rhubarb made like applesauce. It freezes well, and its flavor reminds me of being a kid. And apparently the flavor of this variety is superior to most others. Then when I noticed that you can use the leaves as a bug repellent and the fibre for paper, I definitely wanted to try this variety out.

3) Golden Rocky Bean: I had great luck with my bush snap beans last year. I didn't measure the yield objectively, but I'm sure that the amount of food per square foot of beans planted was the most of anything I planted last year. So when I saw that this bean can be used as a fresh bean in summer and then dried to use as a black bean in winter, I just had to try it. I will still pickle some beans, because they were so delicious that way, but being able to dry the beans to use another way is very practical.

4) Burnet Saxifraga: Ever since hearing the Urban Gardener speak last Spring, I've been wanting to try growing some perennial salad greens. This one seems to fit the bill, and as a bonus our two guinea pigs are likely to enjoy these greens as well. I bought a few more potentially perennial green seeds as well, but this one sounded like the most cold hardy, and so the most likely to survive our cold winters.

5) Parsely Giante d'Italia: This is a cold hardy parsely, that apparently will seed itself quite easily. It is also a rare cultivar, so I thought I'd give something rare a try! And again, the guinea pigs eat parsely as a fairly regular treat, so I grow some kind of parsely every year. I've just never tried growing it from seed before, so this could be interesting!

I've cobbled together a spreadsheet with the categories I'm thinking of using for record-keeping purposes, but thanks to a comment from Apple Jack Creek I may switch over to a photo-based record system, which will probably convey a lot more information. Thanks for the suggestion AJC!

Picture courtesy New Botany

Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada

2009-01-16T17:30:00.001-07:00

While putting in my seed order to Salt Spring Seeds a few weeks ago, I clicked on a link to the Seed and Plant Sanctuary of Canada. This seed sanctuary is run by the Salt Spring Seed folks, and as part of their mandate they have been enlisting the help of hundreds of plant-loving seedy-type people across Canada to expand the sanctuary. Canadians can sign up for active membership with the sanctuary for a small fee, and receive up to 5 types of seeds to grow in their area of the country. If you report back to the sanctuary folks about the results of the growing 'trial', you qualify for a different batch of 5 types of seeds the next year. And so on, and so on. In the words of Salt Spring Seeds' Dan Jason:

"Along with the many gardeners and farmers on Salt Spring Island who are growing out seeds for the Sanctuary, we also have several hundred Active Members across Canada. Their work is essential to see how varieties do in other parts of the country and through a lot of growing years. It is also crucial to have living gene banks elsewhere in case of crop failures, fires, floods or genetic contamination here on Salt Spring."

Growing and saving seeds in various parts of the country makes sense, so we don't put all our "seeds in one basket" so to speak. Dan speaks out strongly for the necessity of growing out the seeds and collecting new seed year after year, in various parts of the country, so that the plants continually adapt to changing circumstances as the climate itself changes.

In the documentary "Gardens of Destiny," Dan points out that saving seed in large 'doomsday' repositories for years - decades- on end, may be less of a food security measure than we'd hoped, since by the time the seeds are needed, climate and other environmental factors may have changed so much that the seeds just can't grow in those conditions anymore. Seeds lose some of their viability over time anyway, and if the seed starts off less potent and then has to contend with changes in humidity levels, a thinner ozone layer, earlier or later first/last frost dates, less or more rain or ground water, then it stands to reason that the odds of the seed actually producing a good yield would be much lower.

I'm in the process of applying to become an active member in Canada's seed sanctuary. It turns out many of the seeds I already ordered from Salt Spring Seeds are ones that they are encouraging people across Canada to grow and report back on. I'm just waiting to hear back from the SSS folks as to how to best document my 'trial' in the way that would be most useful for their database. I haven't anything other than blog sporadically about my garden outcomes over the past two years, and it's time I changed that. I'm going to need to get more organized and consistent about how I record how well things grow here, so I can maximize my chances of dependable yields. I want to grow things and track things with the idea that one day what I grow might be all (or almost all) we have to eat. Last year I still had somewhat of a 'hobby' mentality about the garden - it was just a neat thing to try. But this year it's time to step things up to the next level.

On that note, does anyone have any favorite ways of documenting your garden successes and/or failures? What sorts of information do you take note of? Planting and harvesting dates? Specific location the seed was planted? Estimated yields? Diseases or anomalies? I really don't know what type of information will be the most useful to record. I want to record this stuff on the computer but also keep paper copies in a binder or something. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

Picture of one happy Dan Jason courtesy Salt Spring Seeds

Old Cold, New Seeds

2009-01-12T16:15:00.003-07:00

I am either fighting off the second round of my first cold (which started before Christmas!), or I'm the lucky recipient of a second cold. Either way, I've spent far too much time in the last few days coughing and/or blowing my nose. So, instead of a 'real' blog post, I will take the easy way out and post the list of the seeds I received from Salt Spring Seeds last week. Their website is a wealth of information on all of these plants and more. First the veggies, then the culinary and medicinal herbs:

Lettuce - a blend of 20 kinds
Bush Snap Bean - "Provider"
Bush Snap Bean - an unusual kind called "Tanya's pink pod."
Beans - "Golden Rocky" - golden when fresh, black bean when dried for winter use
Greens - 'Burnet Saxifraga' - a perennial green that attracts beneficial insects.
Greens - 'Bietina' - a rare type of Swiss chard that is cold hardy
Greens - Salad Burnet - another perennial salad green the leaves of which can also be dried for tea.
Peas - 'Cascadia'
Chinese Rhubarb - stems good raw or cooked, leaves are insect repellent and its fiber is good for home made paper.
Cucumbers - 'Senger Farm'
French Sorrell - another perennial salad green with a lemony flavor.

Plain Leaf Chervil - cold hardy
Parsley - 'giante d'Italia' - cold tolerant and can re-seed itself.
St. John's Wort - "antispasmodic, antidepressant, antiviral properties. Good bee and border plant."
Echinacea (the purple kind) - boosts immune system
Calamint - "aromatic tea herb...a cross between mint and marjoram"
Milk Thistle - beneficial for the liver
Evening Primrose - "Alleviates PMS. Roots can be eaten as a vegetable, shoots as a salad."
Wild Thyme - drought tolerant; I'm going to use this in the rock path leading to the garden.
Lemon Bergamot
Calendula Mix - used in skin lotions, petals are edible
Codonopsis - "Hardy, shade-loving vine. Roots have a similar effect to Ginseng."
Coltsfoot - "used for bronchitis, whooping cough, and asthma."
Chinese Motherwort - attracts bees, used to reduce high blood pressure.
Baikal Skullcap - "prized Chinese medicinal for fevers, colds, high blood pressure, headaches, hepatitis and shingles."

Getting the seeds in the mail was a high point in my week, and I've been dreaming of my herb garden ever since -- in between blowing my nose, that is! Maybe next year (or the year after) I'll have Echinacea tea of my own to drink so I can keep my colds down to one a year instead of two per month!

I just recently rounded out my vegetable seed supply with an order from Bowseed, after going through the seeds I already have to make sure I don't double up on things I don't need. I've been ordering in larger quantities as well, due to the potential seed shortages I've been hearing about. Plus, it is a lot less expensive to buy seed in larger packages. Here's what I ordered from Bowseed:

Beans - Tendergreen - (these are the ones that produced so well for me last year)
Carrots - Chantenay Red Core - (these have also worked well for me in my soil conditions.)
Endive - Green Curled Ruffec - (our guinea pigs love this stuff!)
Kale, Siberian - (also a favorite of the pigs, and of the people.)
Lettuce - Grand Rapids - (a leaf lettuce that is an early producer, according to the catalog)
Peas - Oregon Sugar - (a sweet and early pea with an edible pod)
Pumpkins - Small Sugar - (the kind you can use for pie)
Spinach - Hybrid #7 - (a hybrid that is apparently good for this area)
Squash - Table Queen or Acorn (I will be planting these only in moderation this year!)
Swiss Chard - Ruby Red - (beautiful and tasty!)

By the way, I have an extra copy of the 2009 Bowseed Catalogue if anyone would like it. Their seeds are field tested to be hardy to this area (Zone 2 - 3). Just leave me a message in the comments if you would like me to mail it to you.

I hope everyone is keeping well and warm this Winter, and staving off the worst of the cold/flu season.

2009: International Year of Astronomy

2009-01-10T21:27:00.002-07:00

Last night while checking out the weather forecast on the Weather Network, the announcer mentioned that this year was the International Year of Astronomy. The guest astronomer talked about what neat stuff that could be seen in the night sky in Winter in the northern hemisphere, and encouraged people to go outside and look up, in the spirit of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of the telescope.

Then this morning, while listening to the news, I heard about IYA2009 again, and this time the astronomer was encouraging to take a look at Jupiter, saying that Galileo was the first to discover it had moons, with nothing but a low powered telescope.

On the way home from grocery shopping this evening Gord and I saw what we thought must have been Jupiter in the southwest horizon. We talked about taking my telescope outside and checking it out. I have a neat telescope I bought with money I saved from my part time job in Grade 9 - it is a bulbous little thing but it gets the job done for the amateur astronomy I'm interested in. By the time we were ready to head outside Jupiter had sunk below the horizon, but even with my little birding binoculars I got to see the orangy tones of Betelgeuse and the bluish hue of Rigel in the constellation of Orion. And the moon is full as well - just gorgeous with the naked eye, and nicely detailed in the sights of my binoculars. I'll get the telescope up and ready a bit earlier tomorrow night, keeping my fingers crossed for clear skies, so I can catch Jupiter before it sets.

Looking up at the stars always makes me feel connected with the bigness of the universe, just like paying attention to my breathing can give me a feeling of connectedness with the smallness of the molecules I breathe in and out. I like that.

Have you looked up, way up, lately?

Picture of Orion courtesy NASA.

Breakfast lessons

2009-01-04T17:14:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Gord requested that we have a 'nice breakfast' today, Sunday morning. This request is short form for a breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and maybe some fake bacon, or possibly Dutch pancakes or French toast. We have an excess of eggs at the moment, as well as some fake bacon to use up, so I opted for the first choice. I'm not a terrific cook by any means, but I can whip up a pretty good breakfast.

The breakfast itself turned out well: my homemade hashbrown patties were nice and crisp, I managed to make Gord's eggs over medium like he likes them, and my egg soft basted the way I like it, all at the same time as having the toast ready. And the fake bacon is always just bacon-y enough to satisfy one of my few cravings for meaty flavor.

I sat down with my breakfast, along with my tea and orange juice and dug in. My thought process went something like this:

"Gotta eat my egg while it's hot. Wait, gotta taste that hashbrown patty first to see if it's crisp this time. Oo...I need a swig of tea while it's hot too. My toast is getting cold, ack! My bacon is cold already, dang! Hurry hurry, dunk toast in egg yolk! No time for orange juice, gotta have hot toast!"

About 30 seconds into this, I realized that maybe a breakfast consisting of six items, including two beverages, is too much to appreciate properly. I was just gobbling it all up. Maybe it would be better to just have egg and toast OR hasbrowns and bacon, so I can enjoy everything while it's hot and not have to rush or gobble. This seems obvious, but until I actually paid attention to my thoughts, I didn't even realize I was rushing and gobbling.

Funny how this is a lesson that keeps popping up for me - probably because I haven't actually learned it yet. It strikes me that this is a lesson that our society hasn't learned yet either. We're still rushing and gobbling at the world's un-refillable buffet table, leaving little for those who are further back in line. Another lesson for me personally is that of humility: I continue to make the mistake of mindless consumption at my literal breakfast table and need to remain compassionate towards those doing the same at the metaphorical world buffet table.

Further, I need to continue to work on becoming mindful of these things beforehand, rather than just catching myself in hindsight. Doing so, and changing my habits accordingly, could serve as an example that sets off a chain of insight in someone else, and so on. Not that what I do is particularly exemplary, just that seeing someone do something differently tends to have more of an impact that just talking about it. Which brings me back to my 'resolution' for 2009, which is, in a nutshell, more action and less talk.

Picture of veggie bacon courtesy this blog.

New Year's Ambiguity

2009-01-01T21:44:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are in 2009 already. I don't feel particularly hopeful or excited, but mostly just strange and ambiguous about what the year will bring.

Over the past nine days I've been out of town, visiting with family and friends on Vancouver Island. In speaking with people there, there seems to be little in the way of concern for how things might go in the future. I heard people talk about the economy rebounding later this year or early in 2010, and how they look forward to things getting back to "normal." Things are being spruced up for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics, so there are building projects here and there, with large industrial cranes dotting the skyline even in Victoria. Making mention of the possibility that things may not 'normalize' so quickly, if ever, is glossed over. I don't press the point much, since I'm a guest in people's homes and it seems guests shouldn't be unpleasant or difficult, especially over the holidays. And, I confess, it is easy to revert into that mindset, to think that things will continue to be as they have always been: easy, convenient, pleasant and benign. But yet I can't escape the knowledge that all things change; nothing is permanent.

So, I'll get back to doing the stuff that makes sense no matter what the future holds: paying off debt, storing some food, learning some new and practical skills, getting better at gardening, trying to make do with less, and continuing to work on becoming a more compassionate person.

Maybe that's my long way of saying that I'm resolving to make 2009 a year of more walk and less talk.

Tags and Memes and Such....

2008-12-22T08:00:00.002-07:00

Last week SoapBoxTech tagged me with a Bookworm Award, and yesterday Alexah at Learning to Step Lightly tagged me for a Green Meme. So in this my last post before I go on Christmas/New Years hiatus, I wanted to respond to each of these in turn. Remember, I have granted myself immunity from the rules of memes and tags and such, and so I will bend the rules to my liking.

First, SoapBox passed on a Bookworm Award to me. Thank you kindly SoapBox! The award comes with two rules:

RULE ONE, I have to grab one of the books closest to me, go to page 56, type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

Ok, of the three books sitting within arm's reach here in my 'office', I chose one called "The Simpler Life" by Deborah Deford. It was the first book on voluntary simplicity I read, and it was one of the first books to nudge me down the path of mindful living. Starting on the fifth line of page 56, the book reads as follows:

"Attempting to skimp on holiday, rest and exercise," says Fiore, "leads to suppression of the spirit and motivation as life begins to look like all spinach and no dessert."

How's that for a timely reminder of the importance of balance and stillness in life? It's neat when things coincide like that.

RULE TWO, I have to pick five people who love books and who could receive the Bookworm award with honor.

I am going to bend this rule and copy Chile's approach to memes: I encourage everyone to take a look at all the blogs in my sidebar, and stop by any you haven't already checked out. Maybe leave an encouraging comment, in the spirit of the season. In particular, check out the Blogging Bookworm, for tons of great references and reviews for 'green reads' of all kinds.

The second meme I received came from Alexah at Learning to Step Lightly. This meme comes with several rules:

Link to Green Meme Bloggers
Link to whoever tagged you - thanks Alexah!
Include meme number - MEME #1
Include these guidelines in your post - check!
Answer the questions - see below - check!
Tag 3 other green bloggers - I'm going to skip this, again instead asking people to check out the sidebar and stop by and comment at some of the blogs you may not have visited before.

Ok, on to the questions:

1) Name two motivations for being green:

a) My belief in the fundamental interconnection of all things

b) The "Theory of Anyway"

2) Name 2 eco-UNfriendly items you refuse to give up?

a) Right now, my car. There's no public transit to where I work and living this far away from the city meant that we could afford some land along with the house.

b) My clothes dryer. I do air/line dry some clothes, but I hate crunchy jeans and towels!

3) Are you at peace with or do you feel guilty about number 2?

a) Not too guilty, because the car is a diesel Jetta and gets 55+ mpg.

b) A bit guilty, because it is for laziness and comfort that I haven't yet given it up.

4) What are you willing to change but feel unable to/stuck with/unsure how to go about it?

A lot of the changes I'd like to try next will cost a fair amount of money (e.g., solar water heater, digging a well and plumbing it into the house, etc.) Right now it seems more important to pay down debt than to get these things done, everything except digging the well. That I would be willing to go into some short term debt for, if necessary.

5) Do you know your carbon footprint for your home? If so, is it larger/smaller than your national average? (http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx)

I used this calculator and our usage is slightly under the average. Being vegetarian (and nearly so in Gord's case) really helps, but all the miles I drive to work really hinders the average.

6) What's eco-frustrating and/or eco-fantastic about where you live?

a) eco-frustrating: in Alberta oil is king and talk of slowing down tarsands development is tantamount to heresy.

b) eco-fantastic: A CSA farm just 20 minutes up the road! (by car). I could bike there, but that would take some doing. Oh, and a bike.

7) Do you eat local/organic/vegetarian/forage/grow your own?

I'm a vegetarian and my husband Gord is what Steve Solomon would call a vegetabletarian - he eats mostly vegetables, most of the time. We grow some of our own food and are expanding our garden, and we joined a local organic CSA for the first time last year. We are able to forage for some of our own food on our own land too - like saskatoons, strawberries and wild herbs for tea.

8) What do you personally find the most challenging in being green?

Working full time 5 days a week and trying to find the time to fit in the planning, preparation and organization it takes to do things in a sustainable way. It's like having a foot in two worlds, and it gets tiring sometimes.

9) Do you have a green confession?

I am addicted to carrots to the degree that my skin is sort of orangy. I have stopped eating carrots 'cold turkey' for the past 2 1/2 weeks and my hands and feet are still kind of yellow. I'm hoping I'll be mostly back to normal in time for Christmas pictures, but it's seeming unlinkely at this point. Strange, hey? Oh, and I don't have a bike. Yet.

10) Do you have the support of family and/or friends?

Yes. Gord is totally supportive and even if he thinks something is far fetched he keeps an open mind. He is on board with most everything I want to do that is 'green.' He doesn't even bug me about my excess carrot-eating! My family is also supportive, and while they may not agree with everything I do or the reasons I do them, they are never judgmental.

Well, that was fun!

I hope everyone has a peaceful and restful holiday period and that we all begin 2009 with fresh hope, enthusiasm and determination. There is a lot that needs to be done to ensure that the planet and all its inhabitants are well, now and into the future, and we are just the people to do it!

Standing Still

2008-12-21T05:04:00.009-07:00

Today is the day the sun stands still, at the southernmost point in its journey across the horizon. In my area of Alberta, the sun will rise today at 8:48 a.m., with the precise time of the solstice being 5: 04 a.m. Today we will have just 7 hours and 27 minutes of daylight. I like the winter solstice. It means we've made it through the longest darkness and things will start to get lighter again.

But this year I think I will appreciate the stillness most of all. For a few days before and after the solstice, the sun appears to rise from the same spot on the horizon every day. Things slow down, and seemingly come to a halt for a little while, at least from the point of view of we humans standing on the earth and looking at the sun.

I think we could all use some of this stillness this year - I know I can. I need a respite from the onslaught of news, a hiatus from worry. A time to just appreciate that rest is good, that there is value in sitting still and in refraining from busy-ness. In a few days, the Sun will start rising northwards again, and there will be celebrations for the birth of a Son (coincidence? I don't think so.) But for now, for today, let's just be still and be thankful for a planet to live on and a distant star to keep us warm.

As for the challenges to come to move from darkness to light in this society, I'll think about that tomorrow.

Picture courtesy this website

To Harp or Not to Harp

2008-12-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I ready Sharon Astyk's predictions for 2009. If you've read her site at all you may recall that she was pretty bang on with her 2007 predictions, and today's post outlines that she was correct in most of her predictions for 2008 as well. She is the first to point out that she is not a soothsayer or psychic, and rightly so, but even when she's been off on a few details, the general gist of her predictions have been in the correct direction. All of this means that I pay reasonably close attention to what she's saying, evaluate it against what my experience is, and then decide if what she says seems reasonable and choose my actions accordingly. So far, I've been glad I've listened, because it's meant that I've curbed my spending in favor of debt reduction and the purchases I've made have been practical and with a view to their future utililty. Gord and I also weren't suprised by the speed or the degree of the downturn in the economy, since Sharon has been talking about this for a couple years now.

All this brings me to my current dilemma: how much do I harp to friends and family about this stuff? After all, part of why I started this blog was to have a place to put ideas "out there" without subjecting family and friends to these ideas ad infinitum. That being said, I do try to bring up the topic when it seems appropriate, but try not to go overboard and have every single conversation revolve around my apocalyptic angst and/or preparations for TEOTWAWKI. But more and more I feel I need to say: Plant a garden! Don't buy that! Store some food! Fix it or do without!

But also more and more I feel that I'm starting to sound crazed and desparate. The world situation seems to be worsening at an increasingly rapid pace, and so the things I mention can seem more extreme. I don't want to be written off by my family and friends as a nutcase who is taking things far too seriously, but yet I don't want to avoid saying something that might have been just the thing to kick-start their own preparations for a world that will be different. Not necessarily worse, but different. And these differences require some mental and physical preparations. A lot of preparations, actually.

So do I send family an email with a link to Sharon's predictions for 2009, or to Ilargi and Stonleigh's analysis of the financial situation? Or do I just keep planting, saving, storing, fixing and making do, and hoping it gets noticed and is enough? And from a Buddhist/Taoist point of view, how much of my ego is mixed in here? How much of my wanting to talk about these things is because I want to be seen as "right" or at least have people come over to my way of thinking? And why would something I say be "just the thing" anyway? I have no special communicative or pursuasive powers over and above anyone else.

So, to harp or not to harp: that is my question.

'Ode' to an Orange Peel

2008-12-11T17:00:00.001-07:00

After this post I'm sure some of you may think I've completely lost it. But what the heck, I will put this idea out there anyway.

Yesterday after my lunch hour at work I was putting away all my reusable bags and containers to take home. I had eaten a terribly non-local mandarin orange and its peel was also sitting on my desk. I was deciding whether to be lazy and throw the peel in the garbage or be responsible and bring it with me to be put in the composter when I had this really clear thought: "you are coming home with me." It was an particularly distinct thought, that brooked no equivocation or disagreement. (I will often bring peels and stems and such home with me but sometimes I do get lazy and just throw them away.)

I looked at the orange peel for a moment. The orange had come from at least as far away as Florida, maybe even Mexico. (Last year I avoided eating any mandarins at Christmas time because they came from so far away, but this year I've given in and bought a few). Darn it, after traveling all that way so I could eat it, I wasn't going to just toss its remnants in the garbage can. In fact, I was going to make sure that it was nicely returned to the earth, with my other compostables. It may have been a transient and unnoticed orange up until now, but its peel was going to have a home, right in my garden. Sentimental? Yes. Wacky? Perhaps. But all things are connected. That orange came to me courtesy the seeds, sun, rain, picker, trucker and grocery store seller, and it deserves some respect. Why are the molecules in this orange peel any less valueable now than when they were covering the orange segments? Really, why do we treat so-called 'waste' items with such indifference, or even disdain?

As if to emphasize yesterday's realization, today an inmate at the jail I work at gave me a Christmas tree ornament made out of a quartered orange peel. He had drawn a snowman on the inside of the peel, and it had been dried and pierced with a hole so it could be hung on a tree. That's some respectful repurposing, hey?

Politics and Attachment

2008-12-08T20:00:00.003-07:00

Over the past couple of years I have been working on getting better at remaining unattached to things, ideas and outcomes. Both Taoism and Buddhism make reference to striving for non-attachment. As I understand it, Buddhism sees attachment to the idea of a separate self as the root of all suffering.

"Everything changes. Everything is impermanent. It is our attempt to attach ourselves to impermanent things, and gain happiness thereby, that guarantees and perpetuates suffering. "

Taoism has a similar, but different take: in recognizing that all things are One, we don't need to distinguish between or make value judgments among things, and so we can remain unattached from the 'pull' of valuing one thing over another.

When you lose your attachment from “this and that”, you can then see that in reality all things are the same. By doing so you lose the attachment to “things” and awaken the attachment that has always existed between you and the source (Tao).

I've been getting a bit better at lessening my cravings for/attachments to certain things, like a new TV, or food to taste a certain way after I cook it, or having my plans go as planned. But where I have not made any progress at all is in the realm of my political expectations. This has been made quite clear to me in my reaction to the most recent political events in Canada, particularly last week's decision by the Governor General to prorogue Canada's parliament. I became mad, irrationally mad about it. I was in turns tearful, angry and nauseated. I wanted things to go a certain way (i.e., for the GG to tell Stephen Harper that he would have to face the non-confidence vote scheduled for today, December 8th, and deal with the consequences.) I was depending on this outcome for my happiness, and when it didn't happen, I suffered. I brought this suffering on myself, by expecting and hoping and wishing for a certain outcome. I had even built this up in my head to the point that I felt that everyone who wished for a different outcome than me was wrong. This lead to yet more suffering.

How to balance these things? How to be engaged and interested in political matters without becoming dependent on or attached to certain outcomes? How to be vocal and enthusiastic while not putting all one's emotional eggs in one basket?

I have no answer to this one. I have not yet found the balance point between engagement and entanglement, certainly not when it comes to the political leadership of this country I live in. Venerable Wuling wrote a few days ago about ancient Bodhisattvas and how they used 'window shopping' to hone their meditative abilities: while they looked at all the items on display in the bazaar, they were able to not be tempted by them. Perhaps the answer lies in there somewhere - in seeing political outcomes as similar to items put up for sale. I can pick them up and look them over, checking out their component parts and their price tags. And I can put them back down again, informed but not hooked.

If this is the case, then I will have to give up the one defense mechanism I had so far developed to cope with political disappointment - turning away from the fray. Instead, I will have to return to the 'bazaar' world of politics and practice looking things over until I am no longer tempted to latch on to one outome or another. That's not going to be easy.

Cartoon courtesy Dharma Cat

Big Pantry, Small Oven

2008-12-06T19:23:00.007-07:00

I'm in the midst of writing a post on my tendency to become over-invested in certain political outcomes. As an antidote to such things, I have once again tried to focus on the small and the basic: food and the storage and cooking thereof.

A few weeks ago I picked up what I thought would be a nifty way to use our woodstove to bake on - this little campstove oven. The salesperson at the camping store thought it might not get hot enough on top of a woodstove, but when I explained that it was our household woodstove, not a camping woodstove, he and I figured it would be worth a try.

Well, it works about as well as my home-made solar oven, getting up to a maximum of 250 F. I am still roasting some veggies in there right now -- they've been in for about 5 1/2 hours so far and the potatoes still aren't soft. So unfortunately, this neat little stove will have less utility than I though it would. The good part is that we did pick up a used Coleman campstove at a garage sale this summer, and that's what the oven is designed for. So it is not a total loss.

Also, this weekend we have finally gotten our basement pantry shelves assembled and securely fastened to the wall. We looked around a few places for some used shelving, and also tried to cobble something together out of some wood we already had, but in the end decided to go with two very reasonably priced wooden shelving units from Rona. Both Gord and I are very happy with them - they turned out well and are quite sturdy.

I've been ramping up my food storage over the past six months or so, and I put what I had stored so far on our wobbly ping-pong table onto these sturdy shelves. It's a good start, but I can see that I have a ways to go towards my goal of having 3 months worth of food stored.

These shelves, combined with our small freezer and the pantry upstairs should give us enough storage room for that goal though, and now I can easily see how much of each type of foodstuff we have. I think we're good for peanut butter for a while! And pasta and rice. But I could do with some more canned fruit and soup, and my two little cans of pickled beans look pretty lonely. But it feels good to see food on the shelves, and know that I can cook and bake without electricity, even if it is a little slow!