Category Archives: Organic Gardening
Busy day today… in an ecological way…
Off to the opening of Morgan’s Grove Market at 9:00 (open til noon if you are 
going), then off to Boonsboro where there is a sale on Recycling bins at their local event.
Looks like a nice day here in the Eastern Panhandle.
Get outside and have fun.
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- Ecology Thinking 101 – Re-Cycling (laf.ee)
Saturday Projects…
Given the first good, thunderstorm free Saturday in a long time, everyone was outdoors taking care of our long delayed projects. I started the day by cutting the grass in our front yard (which is very small… I use a rotary trimmer, don’t need a lawnmower) and took down the really overgrown grass.
Then Elly and I went over to work on the Community Garden fence installation. We were there before ten and original only had a couple of small neighbor boys (one who, incidentally, has reserved a garden plot for himself) to get the fifth post in.
By the end of the day, after Peter Corum and some of the other volunteers who came at 10 AM helped with the rest of the posts until all four corners…12 posts… were now in the ground.
The other project today, which our group participated in as well, was the building of a barn-like structure on the Morgan’s Grove Market Platform ( which used to be the foundation of a burned down restaurant.)
Al Thomas of Joint Efforts had cut and notched the pieces and had actually set up a lot of the structure himself before the team showed up.
But once everyone was there they made significant progress in getting the bracings up for the roof (it took four people on each side at the top of the rigging and a couple of people checking for accuracy below.
This is where it was when Elly and I left:
Market opens May 7th.
F.A.R.M. (Food Art Revolution Media)
Went to a very interesting lecture and panel discussion on the need to expand locally grown organic food and the battle against companies like Monsanto and Dow that are poisoning our food supply.
The speakers were Dan and Melinda Hemmelgarn out of Columbia, Missouri, and they combined the skills of photography and 
dietetics with a heavy dose of activism. They were co-presented by AHA and the Source. Although the audience was fairly small, the excitement of the discussion after the 7:00 PM presentation lasted until close to 10 PM.
Even after the panel there was still continued discussion over a variety of delicious goodies.
—
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- Monsanto says: The World Needs Us to Feed the Poor (themomu.wordpress.com)
- Monsanto Disappoints, Ag Shares Trade Lower (blogs.wsj.com)
- The Costs and Benefits of a Green Revolution (creditloan.com)
- Monsanto’s GMO Wheat ? (2012patriot.wordpress.com)
- Stay Alive, Don’t Mess with the Food Supply! (queensrepublic.wordpress.com)
Trucking for the Community Garden…
Not expecting to do much but watch the volunteers working on building the fence for the community garden, I ended up driving Peter Corum’s truck with the gravel over to the site because he was late getting back from Pennsylvania.
As we got started we discovered there were many things we needed that just weren’t there… like water to blend with the Quikcrete to hold the corner posts in place… so Elly and Joel (a great volunteer) and I went over to our house and put about twenty gallons of water in one of the new rain barrels I bought the other day , and we trucked it over to the garden.
We finally ended up getting 4 of the twelve corner posts in… we’ll get back to the rest on Saturday.
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Rain or Not, the Earth Day Festival goes on…
I just spent three hours at the Earth Day Festival in Shepherdstown’s Morgan’s Grove Park. Elly and the Sustainable Shepherdstown folks had a booth, as did most of the non-profits and craftsmen in town.
When I walked over to the park from my house (about a quarter mile away) there was a little bit of sun peeking through the clouds… but the weather said we’d have scattered showers and perhaps some thunder storms today, so I checked out the areas with decent coverage.
There was a fabric bandshell at the bottom of the hill from the Pavilion…the big protective area in case of rain… and they were warming up the mikes and checking the sound levels until it was time for the first act: a guy playing wooden wind pipes to 
recorded background music.
The next group to play was a country singer with an all-girl backup band – Lucas and the Lovelies – and they were pretty good.
Then it started to rain, which made the folks watching the music get under the pavilion so that they could see it without getting wet.
Meanwhile, Elly was selling cookies she baked this morning and Ruth Robertas’s 
Brownies under their tent top, raising money for Sustainable Shepherdstown and promoting the Community Garden. I watched the booth for a little while (sold some cookies/brownies) while she talked with some of their volunteers 
and with Peter Corum at the Morgan’s Grove Market Booth .
So I waited till the rain let up, then I walked home to feed the dogs. I think they’ll have a little more time without rain, but i do expect more before they close the booths in a couple of hours. It was fairly well attended, though.
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Went to Green Drinks in Harper’s Ferry…
Green Drinks is a group that gets together once a month so that people with interests in conservation, green energy and related subjects can interact with each other. Elly has been going to this since it relates to Sustainable Shepherdstown. Tonite I went along with her.
There was a speaker this evening, something I’m told doesn’t usually happen at these events. His name is
John Amos and his company is SkyTruth. This is an organization which uses satellite and aerial photography to evaluate the effects of oil drilling and shale fracking and other destructive things that people do to the earth. He has been especially involved with viewing BP’s oil leak history in the Gulf.
Amos gave a slide presentation with amazing pictures that got us all worked up and had us considering what we could do to help correct the situation… not an easy thing to do.
More on the solutions later.
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How to identify Genetically Modified foods at Whole Foods…
Whole Foods Market admits it sells genetically modified foods:
“The reality is that no grocery store in the United States, no matter what size or type of business, can claim they are GE-free. … we are not going to mislead our customers with an inaccurate claim…”
Whole Foods Market
Internal Company Memo 1/30/2011
Activists with the Organic Consumers Association‘s Millions Against Monsanto campaign went to Whole Foods Market in San Francisco to try to identify which foods are genetically engineered, but couldn’t get any help from store employees.
Check Out This Video courtesy of the Organic Consumer Association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvU2yH4IpBo
For more information, go to: http://www.millionsagainstmonsanto.org
(also posted at Panhandle Vegan)
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Wasn’t Yesterday Nice? A family get together.
Bud and Rachel
Yesterday, Elly and I drove down to Leesburg, VA, which was in the midst of an outdoor flower festival… packed with people… where we met our son, Bud, and his fiancee, Rachel, plus My daughter Penny, her three boys and Rachel’s son (and Penny’s mother) to have lunch at Lightfoot.
Penny and 4 boys!
Lightfoot is a favorite restaurant of both Bud and Penny… Elly and I ate there once before (with Bud, I think).
The weather was lovely… the rain is gone for awhile after soaking our Saturday down, and it was warm. On the Courthouse lawn there was music and kids playing Frisbee and other older people (like me) just sitting around.
N. King Street, which is one of the main drags of Leesburg, was filled with tents and merchants an shoppers and people just walking and having a good time.
However, today is Monday and the regular world starts up again.
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Upcoming in Shepherdstown Next Week…
Saturday the 23d is Earth Day and Shepherdstown is having a big affair at Morgan’s Grove Park (which, of course, is right next door to the Community Garden that Sustainable Shepherdstown is setting up and the location for the new Morgan’s Grove Market which opens in May.)
Here is the poster:
Looks like great music… walk there if you can (I’m a lucky neighbor) or bicycle… cars pay $10.00 to park (which helps the Men’s Club maintain Morgan’s Grove.)
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An afternoon of Mushroom Innoculation…
Elly and I attended a great afternoon affair at Laurie and Bob’s five acre farm on Engel-Moler Road. And what was the purpose of this get together that drew a couple of dozen conservationists, Sustainable Shepherdstowners, and your average local mushroom enthusiast? Why, to innoculate oak logs with mushroom spores so that they can be put in the dark to grow and develop edible shitake mushrooms for the Fall.
The process is fairly simple, but requires a lot of muscle effort and concentration. The logs that have been cut and stacked which will be used for the innoculation are put, 
one at a time, across a couple of sawhorses. Then holes are drilled all around each log at approximately four inch intervals.
Once the holes are drilled, small pegs with the preset mushroom fungus in them are pounded into each hole with a hammer or a rubber mallet.
After the pegs are malleted into the logs, each one is covered with a coat of melted wax which is brushed onto the top of the peg.
At the lower left corner of the close-up photo you can see the splotch of wax on top of the peg. In the upper right of the picture is an exposed peg that hasn’t been waxed.
Finally, the finished logs are stacked. They will be covered with a fabric sheet to keep the light out and the logs will be kept damp.
We followed up the afternoon activities with snacks and conversations and a mini-concert of bagpipes and drums. Lots of fun and learned a lot about growing mushrooms.
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Return to being a Vegan
I’ll admit it… about six months ago I gave up the Vegan diet I had been on for close to two years and went off on a meat and cheese (mostly cheese) binge. But now, since my weight stopped coming off and I just didn’t feel as good, last Monday I returned to my Vegan diet (but I will miss that occasional top sirloin!).
et’s see how long I can keep going (says bill as he digs out his Vegan Chili recipe.)
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Shepherdstown Community Garden Update…
Today was the Sunday that the Garden Committee (see Elly and I Host a Community Garden Meeting) met on the field Peter Corum provided in order to mark out the dimensions and divide plots. The land, of course, was turned and fertilized a week or so ago, and the next step is getting a fence to protect the gardens from deer (7 1/2 feet high because these guys can jump.)
Peter Corum measures 100' sides from the corners.
We had a lot of kids with us today and I think they got a kick out of helping out… bringing flags to the adults who were marking measurements, for instance.
Setting up plots...
The weather was excellent for the project and everyone was out working for a couple of hours.
Imagining what it will be like...
We spent an unusually long time just figuring out which direction was north with two compasses built into iPhones. But we figured it out (the North End is for tall plants like corn.)
Sizing plots on the North side...
Now let’s hope we solve the fence problem soon so we can get started on planting.
Elly and I Hosted A Community Garden Meeting Today
Elly and her Sustainable Shepherdstown group, along with local impressario Peter Corum, are organizing a Community Garden in cooperation with Peter’s Morgan Grove Market project just down the road from out house. Today, we hosted an informational meeting for interested parties… we had 12 in attendance (there were several who were interested and called to say they couldn’t make the meeting, but they want in.) Everyone seemed pretty excited.
Yesterday, Peter arranged to have the 100 square feet set aside for the set of 10′ x 10′ garden plots roto-tilled and fertilized. This was done with volunteers and by calling in some favors.
The weather held out well to get everything done.
Here’s the group who worked the land:
Anyone interested in getting involved in Sustainable Shepherdstown’s Community Garden (at a cost of $20.00 for a 10 x 10 for the whole season) should go to http://sustainableshepherdstown.org or send an email to esmithart30@yahoo.com.
Me? I’m assigned to watering our plot.
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March 26, 2011: Rally for the Right to Know!
I’m passing this on to you all out there because it is so important. I’ve written about chemical poisoning in our gardens and on our food for a couple of years now…and Elly and I discover as we go on and on that it is getting harder to be sure organic produce is actually organic. This thanks to Monsanto and the seeds that they distribute.
Anyway, if you can get to D.C. for this one, please do:
The national Millions Against Monsanto campaign staff is gearing up for a nationwide day of action on World Food Day, October 16, 2011, pledging to make it the biggest action on genetic engineering in US history.
In the meantime, to help raise awareness for the campaign, Millions Against Monsanto activist Trish Wright has sent out a call for a demonstration at the White House on March 26, 2011, and has urged other activists around the country to “Rally for the Right to Know” locally.
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Here’s a Green Power Generation Story You Probably Haven’t Considered…
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When was the last time you had an $85.00 Dinner? – Bill’s Restaurant Review of Potowmack Farm.
Elly and I, you must know, are not rich folks. Oh, we do all right, but I’m a retired graphic designer/web designer and she is one of the New Criminal Class – she’s a teacher. So when Elly pulled out the coupon she had planned to give me for Chanukah, but put it away and forgot about it, which was good for $25.00 off if we ordered two dinners at a restaurant in Northern Virginia called The Restaurant at Potowmack Farm, we decided to have a nice Friday Evening out. It’s about a 45 minute drive from our home in Shepherdstown.
We didn’t bother checking the menu on their web site, but only checked on the driving 
directions…it’s back country and up in the Catoctin Mountains, and, of course, we should have. The reviews of this place were excellent, and whenever reviews focus on the Chef (Christopher Edwards), we get curious. We’re hooked viewers of television shows like Top Chef and 
Chopped and all the restaurant makeover shows. We rarely get to eat at places with acclaimed chefs (there are very few, none actually, in our local area), and this seemed like an opportunity we couldn’t resist.
This is a lovely restaurant, located way up near the top of a mountain with a grand view of the Potomac Valley and the countryside below. We got there just before sundown and had a chance
to see the spectacular view… if you go there, the view alone is worth attending a daytime brunch. The main dining room looks like a greenhouse, however this is a matter of design, it was obviously built directly for this use and has never been used as a place to grow 
vegetables. I should add, however, that Potowmack Farm is an organic food grower, maintains a commercial bakery and focuses on regularly changing local foods (they also buy a lot of their non-grown-there foods at Common Market in Frederick, where Elly and I love to shop for organics.)
The place is the cleanest restaurant I have ever been in…this would never be one of Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. The staff is courteous… sometimes to an extreme… and provides exceptional service. Our waitress was Rachel, and she explained the menu as 
she poured water. The menus, by the way, are single sheet pieces, well laid out and typeset with our name at the top (actually, it said “Menu for the Smith Party” on top… Elly had reserved in her maiden- and professional name, Ellen Smith.)
One side had an ala carte list, the other had the Prix Fixe description. Rachel recommended, since we were new at the restaurant, that we try the Prix Fixe, as it had 
samples of everything they do.
And then we looked at its price: $85.00 per (an additional $55.00 for wine with courses… it;s a good thing we are not drinkers.) This was going to be an expensive night, even with the coupon, whose $25.00 would be eaten up in the tip!)
So we had a starter, an appetizer, another appetizer, a main course, a dessert series, and coffee. And, I have to admit, the things we were served had the beauty that you see on shows like Top Chef – everything was artfully laid out on fine, white plates…oversized compared to the food and acting like a frame… and sided with sterling silverware.
Now for the down side (it’s not that bad, so don’t look for something outrageous). 
Portions are extremely small. We expected small, based on our television experience and having eaten at very good chef-oriented restaurants like Volt in Frederick, but this was really teeny. Given all the courses, we didn’t expect to be hungry when we left. We were.
The other problem we had was the amount of salt used in some of the items… oddly enough in the sauce under a dish of raw vegetables which, I guess, was a salad (it was lovely to look at), and on the extremely tiny piece of smoked beef in the grand entree. The beef we also found somewhat tough and chewy (although the rare center was quite 
tender and not salty… I wish there had been more of that.)
The desserts were wonderful, though also small. My favorite was a dessert souffle that was larger than most of the items served.
I think Chef Christopher is an excellent visual chef and I wish he had a greater sensitivity to salt content on some things. Their bakery puts out lovely small cakes and muffins and grand breads. And just knowing that everything is organic and local is very
satisfying. We are certainly interested in going again, most likely for a Sunday Brunch where we think we can enjoy Potowmack Farm for about half the cost of the Prix Fixe. We give it our Thumbs Up.
Potowmack Farm is in Lovettsville, Virginia. For current menus, reservation info and and driving directions, go to http://www.patowmackfarm.com.
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Speak out on Monsanto… Tell the President…
Monsanto's Poison
Over the past 12 days, the Obama administration has recklessly and unnecessarily chosen to approve two biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa and Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) sugar beets. While the planting of both these crops had been temporarily halted due to court decisions, Obama’s recent approval of them will allow them to be planted as early as this spring, despite widespread acknowledgment that these crops are certain to contaminate both conventional and organic farmers‘ non-GMO crops. Their approval only benefits one company — Monsanto.
These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts.
Let them know that you care about organic integrity by following this link from Food Democracy Now!, then please pass this on. Please join me in telling President Obama that it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject these GMO crops today!
Every voice counts!
Thank you!
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At the Food CoOp…
I’m down in Frederick, MD, at the Common Market Food CoOp (where seniors get a 5% discount on Wednesdays), having lunch before I shop the grocery list Elly and I put together this morning. Traffic coming in was extremely heavy as soon as I got off the highway, so I guess I’m in the Christmas shopping rush… although Common Market is not as busy as the roads. I may do a little more stocking stuffer shopping while I’m down here, but this kind of crowd situation is something I usually avoid.
There are things here I just can’t get in Shepherdstown… like the locally grown beets that I really like, and a wide range of organic bulk 
foods, flours and nuts. The prices are usually pretty good, too, given the fact that organic foods at our supermarket level at home are always priced higher than the chemically contaminated stuff. This and the 5% discount makes it worthwhile to come down here on a Wednesday… usually something I do once a month on Social Security payout day (like today).
This is a very relaxed shopping environment, which makes it all the more enjoyable. It allows me time to look around and think about trying new things. This is where we first discovered the flavored stevia drops which, with straight seltzer, has replaced sugar/flavored sodas in our diet (also great for adding extra flavor to coffee or tea.)
While I was driving down I played a few Bob & Ray tapes that I haven’t listened to in a long time. Here we had two extremely funny 
guys who never had to use bad language or violent subject matter, but created amazing humor from ordinary situations. Al Franken has noted many times how Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding influenced his comedy writing and performing back in his SNL days… and I know they influenced a lot of other major performers (including their own decendants) as well.
One of the things it made me think of was looking into the possibility of buying rights to do a community theatre presentation of Bob & Ray skits… and do it like a radio show with a sound effects guy and microphones. I’d have to find two really talented guys who could do the kind of low-key stuff that B&R did.
OK, Lunch is over… time to go shopping and get back home.
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Bill 1 – Groundhog 0
OK… today I scored in the Groundhog Trapping game. Before I get all caught up with myself I have to admit that the creature was very, very small. I can’t believe that this is the beast who tunneled down next to our back foundation… nor did it seem big enough to have eaten all that cantaloupe that was outside the trap yesterday.
That must mean that this critter is a child and still has parents down in the hole. Elly recalls that when our tenant over in Hagerstown had a groundhog problem last year, he ended up trapping three of them (not, of course, at the same time.) So I’ve rebaited the trap and set it again and I’ll see if there’s a new animal caught tomorrow.
Before I did that, however, I had to deal with the little fella I caught. Putting the trap in the back of my new old Subaru, I drove about 5 miles from my house to the Opequon Creek Fishing and Wildlife Area, Federal land where wild beasts are welcome, and turned the groundhog loose. It ran off so fast that in a split second it had vanished. I hope it is happy there…I didn’t want to kill it and I didn’t want it to get near any other houses. When I catch the rest of his family they will go there, too.
So now the trap has fresh (albeit rotten) cantaloupe in it and the spring trigger is set. Now if I can just keep our smaller dog, Byron, away from the trap and the groundhog hole, I’ll feel much better.
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Waiting for the refrigerator man… Fighting Fruit Flies.
The repair guy from GE is coming this morning some time (they said between 8 and Noon and we’re well into that now) to look at our noisy freezer that’s dripping water into the refrigerator section below. I tried defrosting (which on a frost free machine is hard to do) and that didn’t solve the problem. I have a feeling that there is a fan part that needs to be replaced. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, it is raining out, so I’ll have to get wet walking the dogs. They don’t mind, of course, but I do. It’s cold as 
well (my back deck thermometer hasn’t hit 60° yet), so this is going to be an uncomfortable walk. Still, of course, without a car until tomorrow when we go down to Linda’s to pick it up. So I’m trapped in the house again today.
I have been battling with fruit flies for the last week or so… they pop up everywhere… drains, fruitbowl, cutting board area… and, since we don’t use any poison sprays, getting rid of them was a real problem. Until I did my research, of course, and discov
ered how to make “fruit fly traps” which have worked so well that you hardly see any of the little bastards around.
How does one make a fruit fly trap? Simple. Start with a good, widemouthed jar (we always have plenty of old Ball jars around which we use for canning) and put in about an inch or two of warm water with a squirt of 
dishwashing soap. Then add a shot of apple cider and a shot of red wine. Cover the top of the jar with a piece of Saran Wrap and use a rubber band to keep it tightly sealed at the neck of the jar. Now comes the tricky part… you have to punch a few very small holes through the plastic wrap… small enough for the fruit flies to get in but not so large that they can go right out again. I use a nut pick to punch the holes, but a fork could do it, too.
Then all you have to do is put the jar wherever the greatest number of the pests have been spotted. I made four jars and put them in various places in my kitchen. Now all you do is wait. In about an hour or so you will notice a distinct reduction in the bugs. The next day when you check the jars you will find they are full of little drowned fruit flies. Amazing!
I change the liquid and reseal the jars every few days and my fruit-flies are now nowhere to be found (on the first refill day there were much fewer of them caught in the traps, so we are succeeding quite well.)
I think I’ll post this bit about my fruit fly traps over at Panhandle Vegan… I know my friends over there could probably benefit from the strategy.
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Noodle Research… the new project.
My wife has been involved in Sustainable Shepherdstown, our local “what the town needs to do to survive if it becomes impossible to go anywhere else” organization. One of the ideas she has had for a business to set up that we can do locally, fulfill our Vegan eating requirements and be remotely interesting to do is a Pasta Making Company. So I’ve been researching all kinds of pasta shapes and noodle making machines and recipes.
So far I’ve found over 100 pasta and noodle shapes and product made from every kind of grain and non-grain
that you can think of. Of course, a good many of the recipes use eggs, which are a Vegan no-no, or dairy products (which all can be replaced by soy or nut-milk products)… so before I can experiment with some of these, I’ll have to know what’s available locally or near-locally.
Then there are the machines, both electric and hand-cranked, which would be important for mass production. They run from the really inexpensive to the very expensive manufacturing giants. Setting up an original budget list for this project is going to require an armful of business costs, so all of them have to be considered and compared with potential earnings to see if this is really a profitable proposal.
In reality, this is just the first of many project ideas I can see Sustainable Shepherdstown instigating. But for a retired guy, it’s something to do.
Related Articles
- KitchenAid Pasta Gadgets: Pasta Press or Pasta Roller? (hubpages.com)
- “Straighten Out the Frickin’ Noodle” and Other Smart Solutions from CGI (thedailygreen.com)
- Fresh pasta recipe (salon.com)
- Noodle promises no carbs or calories (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Noodle noodle noodle (wellingtonista.com)
- Real Taste Noodle Manufacture Recalls Egg Noodle Because of Possible Health Risk (fda.gov)
After a rainy night, a sunny day…
There was a heavy rain last night, which is great, since it has been so dry around here throughout the Summer and into the Fall. Our rainfall is a couple of inches below last year and it is not likely to catch up, so any big rain is welcome. And it keeps me from having to water the garden today, saving our water bill a tiny bit.
However, as I got out of bed this morning (at the urging of my dogs who were waiting to walk) and looked out the window, I saw the sunshine lighting up the puddles on our wet back deck and looked up to a blue sky with white, fluffy clouds. And while Yahoo’s weather report on my monitor says we will have partial rainfall this morning, it looks to me like it’s gone.The weather report goes on to say that rain is likely to return on Thursday, so I guess I’ll be ready when it comes. Maybe by the weekend we’ll have nice weather (hope it stays cool, too… the last couple of days have been great.)
Today I’m getting back to my car hunt, in case something happens with Linda’s Subaru and that doesn’t go through. I also want to find out about transferring license plates from my dead car and I also want to see if I can sell the Toyota Echo off for parts. Even a few bucks to go into the next vehicle would be appreciated. Anybody out there interested? It has a new radiator and everything but the engine is in good shape. drop me an email at btchakir@mac.com if this is something you might want.
Related Articles
- Weather: Welcome back, sun (seattlepi.com)
- Blogg post: 23/09/2010 Cool and rainy.. (j5uliana.wordpress.com)
- Defining Weather (brighthub.com)
Here’s a Film Notice from Sustainable Shepherdstown
Sustainable Shepherdstown to show “Age of Stupid”
“The Age of Stupid,” a British environmental film made in 2009, will be presented by local environmental group Sustainable Shepherdstown on Friday, September 10 at 7 p.m. at the Byrd Center Auditorium at Shepherd University. The film runs 89 minutes and is free of charge.
Oscar-winning actor Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects) stars as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055 who asks: Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Runaway climate change has ravaged the planet by 2055. Pete plays the founder of The Global Archive, a storage facility located in the (now melted) Arctic, preserving all of humanity’s achievements in the hope that the planet might one day be habitable again. He pulls together clips of “archive” news and documentary from 1950-2008 to build a message showing what went wrong and why. He focuses on six human stories: Alvin DuVernay, is a paleontogolist helping Shell find more oil off the coast of New Orleans. He also rescued more than 100 people after Hurricane Katrina, which, by 2055, is well known as one of the first “major climate change events”. Jeh Wadia in Mumbai aims to start-up a new low-cost airline and gets a million Indians flying. Layefa Malemi lives in absolute poverty in a small village in Nigeria from which Shell extracts tens of millions of dollars worth of oil every week. She dreams of becoming a doctor, but must fish in the oil-infested waters for four years to raise the funds. Jamila Bayyoud, aged 8, is an Iraqi refugee living on the streets of Jordan after her home was destroyed – and father killed – during the US-led invasion of 2003. Piers Guy is a windfarm developer from Cornwall fighting the NIMBYs of Middle England. 82-year-old French mountain guide Fernand Pareau has witnessed his beloved Alpine glaciers melt by 150 metres.
“This is a signally important film–a very clever and very powerful reminder of exactly where we stand on this fragile, lovely planet.”
Bill McKibben, Author, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
“Think An Inconvenient Truth but with a personality.”
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Being a Vegan is paying off…
(co-posted with Panhandle Vegan)
It is now the beginning of September and I am 10 months into being a Vegan… and I have lost 50 Pounds 0ff my 385 pound start (which means I’ve lost as much as Marie Osmond did on Nutri-System, but I am still not pretty!)
If I continue this way I should have at least 60 pounds off by the end of my first year (my ultimate goal, as folks who read my stuff know, is 150 pounds… at least another year away and probably two.)
Now it’s time to increase the exercise (I can actually move around more than I could when I started. Amazing!)
I saw a Praying Mantis in the garden yesterday as I watered…
…a change from the stinkbugs, bees and grasshoppers that I’ve been seeing. Is it mating time?
Perhaps Isabella Rosselini can give us some insight:
Love it!
Under The LobsterScope 