Solar Cooking

I don't have one, but I want one! I remember reading a lifetime ago about a woman who used her solar oven to cook everything, including her Thanksgiving Turkey. Really? That's pretty cool, I remember thinking. And off I went, busy busy busy, working too much and living too little, to pay for life.

Life takes us a lot of places, and lately I've been trying to really go with the flow, and learn what I can along the way. I'm meeting interesting people, and the prevailing theme has been one of localization, sustainability, simplification, conservation, nourishment and love. Love for ourselves, love for each other, and love for the Pachamama. Gaia. Earth. Our very special Blue Planet.

They are compelling, the problems facing the environment and humanity. How do we lessen our impact? Of the many baby steps, many small changes, many meaningful actions that can be taken to make a difference, which ones speak to me? Which ones sound the easiest to implement? That's how I approach dietary changes with clients - what works best for you? What can you see as the easiest to integrate? We start from there, and the client makes more changes as he or she is willing and able. So, back to our environment - what can I do today that will make a difference? One of the experts who spoke in The 11th Hour said that "people are doing the best that they can within their awareness." So raising awareness is crucial. There are so many people raising awareness, and it is heartening.

I think it is important to acknowledge what we are already doing, and build from there. I recycle, compost and use compact fluorescents, I try not to buy very many packaged foods, and I think about the lifespan of a product as I'm making my consumer choices. I bring my own mug to the coffee shop. I'm learning about cover crops and carbon sequestering, and this is the year of the organic market garden for me, with the goal of growing most of my produce and selling my surplus. I will preserve what doesn't sell. I try to support local businesses, and I buy grassfed meats. I eat wild greens (weeds!) as my first choice when I'm harvesting for meals.

That said, I have a lot of room for improvement. I was only barely aware that compact fluorescents are recyclable. I would like to use less gas. I'm trying to walk and ride my bike more, and drive my old beater truck whenever I can, instead of my Blazer. That old beater gets pretty good gas mileage. I would love love love a scooter (84MPG!), but that's a years in the future acquisition.

I think a solar oven is a really fun way to consume less fossil fuel! It has the appeal of a crockpot, with a set it and forget it kind of thing. I like that. I'm busy, and have lots of gardening to do! And then there's the farmer's market, continuing ed, and building my practice! What a cool way to spend less time cooking! The Solar Oven Society is a not for profit working to distribute solar ovens to sun rich but fuel poor countries around the world, and purchasing your oven through them furthers that goal. For the frugal do-it-yourselfers, I found plans for making your own solar oven online. Choices! I am especially fond of the cob solar oven, as it matches my cob dream house. I will probably make one of the box style ovens, they seem to be cardboard lined with foil. If I can acquire enough scrap lumber and an old window, I might make a sturdier oven. It ought to look a lot like a cold frame. Another benefit of solar cooking is that my kitchen will stay much cooler this summer!

So, lots of room for improvement, but a solar oven and more self-powered transportation sound like a good start to me, along with the continuing garden projects.

What do you do already, and what are you going to do?

Dandelions and other Wild Foods

I should start off by saying that my yard is a haven for dandelions. In fact, I encourage them ;) I'm sure my neighbors are horrified by the wildness of my lawn, but it makes my heart happy every time I lay eyes on it. I've long seen the importance of having a safe, pesticide and herbicide free place to harvest wild foods. I met a woman last week at the market who was so fearful of harvesting dandelions! She kept saying how you had to be so careful of pesticides. Well, there is truth to that. What are your neighbors doing, and does it run off into your lawn, or does the wind carry the vapors to your neck of the woods? These are important considerations. I am fortunate that I have rentals on both sides of me, with an alley out back. I purposely rented a house with a neglected lawn, that had been a rental for about 10 years before I moved in. Renters tend to neglect lawns, and the presence of dandelions and bare spots in the grass confirmed this for me. We also had just come out of several years of water restrictions. So, I earnestly set about encouraging my dandelions. (ha, I wonder how they would feel about being "mine"?) I water the dandelions, and make wishes whenever I can. This spring, as I sat in the front yard harvesting blossoms, I was delighted to discover that I was actually sitting in the middle of a nursery! There were big grandmother plants, and tiny little baby dandelions all throughout the lawn.

There is such a different energetic in wild foods. My breakfast today consisted of buffalo stew meat cooked with fresh shiitakes, onions, olive oil, garlic, barbeque sauce and greens! I wandered around my yard looking for the greens, and feel such deep gratitude that wild, nourishing, free food is there for the asking. I harvested some dandelion greens, and supplemented with spinach, kale and chard from my garden. It felt like a feast!

I have been weeding my garden, preparing to put in summer vegetables. It bothers me to weed. It feels so wasteful, to pull out perfectly happy plants. There is so much to weeding. It is compassionate, making room for others, and nourishing if you can find another use for those misplaced beauties. So, while I ate my breakfast I pulled out my beloved copy of Steve Brill's Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants. I love this book! He gives very good and detailed information, along with common sense cautions. The illustrations are amazing. Also, there are recipes! They are structured to be a guide, and to help you be creative in coming up with recipes of your own. He even breaks it down into habitats and seasons. According to Steve, I can make a salad with those wild lettuce leaves that I have been pulling out of my garden. I think I will include them with my cooked greens for dinner instead, and see how that goes. Some of them, the ones who have volunteered to grow in convenient places, places where veggies don't need to grow, are welcome to stay and grow to their full glory. They get big, at least 5 feet tall, and they make very good medicine. That post will be later in the summer.

As for now, I have leftover buffalo with fresh wild greens to eat for dinner, an old favorite book to read over, salves to make and gardens to build!

Green Blessings!

Living Ritual and the Power of Intent

Last night was the first gathering for the advanced apprenticeship I am participating in this summer. It is a 12 week journey, entitled Living Ritual and the Power of Intent.

We are in a time of great transformation, as individuals, as communities, as a society, and as a planet. The veil is thinner now, and our abilities to create and co-create lasting change are very real. We contribute to and co-create change every day, and as a result, the future is uncertain. Rather than feeling helpless due to this reality, feel inspired! It means that we can make a difference! The Call has gone out, and there are many who have heard and are responding, and many more who would like to respond, who feel the pull, but don't know what to do about it.

Live consciously, give back to your community, and conserve resources. Eat local, support small business, compost! There are many many ways to make a difference, and everything adds up. Look around you, and see the people in your community who are trying to make a difference. Talk to them, see what you can do to help! Maybe you have a great idea, and need resources, or maybe you are the resource. Be a part of the solution, in whatever small (or large) way works for you, speaks to you, feels good to you.

My homework for the next two weeks, until we meet again, is to actively engage in my daily personal practice, which involves meditation, movement and personal practice. To devote time to myself and my process daily will be a challenge. I am not used to taking such good care of myself. I am looking forward to building the discipline necessary to stick to it, to learn to stay, as there is a piece of my soul, ever growing and straining to occupy more space, that craves this activity, this devotion. I look forward to working with my commitment to deepen my connection to the Earth and making the world a better place through sustainability, education and becoming more involved with and in my community. I am so thankful for the web of support we have created in our group, and love the holding of that space.

The last piece of our homework is to watch The 11th Hour, a movie produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio about the state of affairs here on our Blue Planet. We are to watch with a friend, to share the process, because awareness and change is for everyone! Have you seen this movie? I would love to hear your thoughts, feelings and ideas about it! Please share!

Green Blessings,
Heather