Catchin' up

I’ve had a hard time finding time to sit down and write lately, so this is just a little catch-up on some things.

I’ve started getting my gardens ready. I’m increasing the size of last years garden by about 3-4 times, I hope to have plenty of fresh, organic veggies this summer! And maybe some to can/pickle etc too. But this has taken a lot of time. I’ve had to establish the new locations, which has involved a lot of horse manure and incoming dirt, as well as planning what goes where. I want to use the rotation method to help fight pests year after year, which means planting like items together and following them next year with other specific groups of veggies. I’m tracking everything on a spreadsheet too, just so I know year after year what does or doesn’t work. I’ve never spent so much paper time on a garden! I’m hoping for a great payoff…

Rain barrels are sitting on the back patio, husband says he’ll get the reservoir area ready for me so I’ve not worked on that, I figure he easily has until at least the end of April before I even want to start using them, so I won’t rush him yet.

I’ve been trying to be aware of where my food comes from and who picks it. I’m following United Farm Workers issues regularly, among others, and it was recently brought to my attention the overall state of a county might affect my food-buying decisions. What do I mean by this? I was completing a survey for a college student about being a vegetarian and one of the questions, along with how I feel about animals, was “Do you buy food from countries that violate human rights?” I had honestly never thought about it in those terms before! I mean, I now know to avoid grapes and anything from Giumarra / Natures Partner because of their terrible treatment of their pickers, (curious? See http://www.ufw.org//_board.php?mode=view&b_code=org_key&b_no=14&page=&field=&key=&n=) but it never occurred to me to boycott a nation as a whole. Well except China. So, while I’m already very busy, I’m going to raise my awareness of the countries I’m buying from. For produce I already try to buy local only, but of course getting into canned and paper products etc are another story. Oh, and don’t get me started on the whole paper business. Who knew there were tree-free papers? I have a lot to learn J Thank goodness for input from everyone, I figure if everyone can educate someone just a little bit we all can eventually get all the good information passed around. Then the earth will be a happy place .. ah, happy thoughts!

And the chiropractor? Feedback says to switch, and I likely will, I just have a hard time breaking up with her since the rest of the family sees her. I will eventually do it though, and I have a great referral already to make an appointment with.

I’m also launching a vegetarian/vegan consulting business aimed primarily at the food service/restaurant industry -another thing to keep me busy, but it’s so necessary for people like me! Me- a mostly vegan vegetarian. While I understand the reasoning behind vegan choices I’m simply about the ethical treatment of said animals. I’ve decided being 100% vegan is not for me – that horse manure in my garden? Not vegan. My chicken eggs? So not vegan.

I hope to have more useful information next post, and sooner too! I do appreciate all feedback and ideas, so keep them coming!