Revolution Disguised as Gardening

On Moderate Athleticism

2010-01-10T23:01:00.001-08:00

I am fortunate to count among my friends and family some folks that are or have been; an Olympic silver medalist, an ice/mountain climber, a kayak guide and instructor, three or more yoga teachers, a professional volleyball player, a back country canoe trip leader, a telemark skier who also happens to have cycled across Canada, a competitive soccer player, a professional road and mountain bike cyclist, a gymnast, a competitive Tango dancer, an internationally recognized Flamenco dancer, a professional sailor, as well as many live-aboard sailors, a few acrobats (my partner is one of them), and an international Masters track and field multiple medalist. One of the aforementioned people trained hard enough that he vomited. Then he kept going. And vomited a couple more times and still kept going. This was not during a competition, this was in training. I truly wonder at the quality I know he has, as do many of the others, to really athletically push one's self to the limits and past them towards excellence. I very greatly admire this quality, but methinks that it is one I do not possess.

I never joined a team sport in school, unless you count cheerleading. I tried many of them, but they were not for me, somehow. Why? I love being outside, I love moving my body, I value fitness and excellence and sportsmanship, and I love feeling fit. I just didn't enjoy them, what explains that? I stop myself when I start to think that its because I am not competitive, that is certainly poppycock; just ask anyone who has ever played a board game with me. You could also get into multiple intelligences, or kinetic intelligence more specifically; and the confidence (or lack there of) I have in my body's ability to perform according to standards other than my own. That would be getting warmer, for sure. I am certain there is more to it than that though, because I am an athlete, just not the same sort as many of my dear friends and family.

I am now at 28 becoming a runner. Not a marathon runner or a speed runner. Just a runner. I put my running clothes on, I open the door and I go. For a little over a half hour, one or more times per week, I run. Or walk a bit, or jog. I breathe, my heart beats and gets stronger. I enjoy the rain, the sun, the wind, and the fresh air. I have to keep my ears and hands warm. I recognize that when I eat or drink anything half an hour or less before I go, I get a side stitch and have to walk. I know which of my pants fall off me more with each step, and which stay put. I crave my run. If it has been a few days, I observe my patience growing thinner until I can make it out again to recharge.

I started really small. I thought to myself, "I could run to that stop sign ahead" and I did it. Then I walked until I found my breath a bit and chose a new thing to run to. When I was consistently succeeding at those little steps, I began to push harder. "I am tired, I am out of breath, but I am getting stronger and I know I can make it to the red car up ahead if I really try." I got myself to the point after a couple months of three or four runs a week to go for a half hour with three or four short walking rests, and then after another month or so I was able to run continuously with no stops or rests beyond waiting for the one traffic light on my route. Then I started sprinting at the end where the route is slightly downhill. Just now and then, not every time.

The continuous run with a sprint at the end is not where the real learning or sense of accomplishment came for me, satisfying though it was. That came later. When my circumstances limited me to one run or less per week. All the hard work wore off. I began to feel tired again when I went out, and stopped running continuously. I still managed to keep going now and then, and started to look for more creative ways to get more runs in. I have gradually made arrangements to that effect, and continue to look for more opportunities to get another run in here or there. Now I am at two runs per week, with one or more walking rest breaking the continuity. I have now been running regularly for just more than a year.

Where the real learning came in for me was when I allowed myself to have a bad run and still feel good about it, and still want to do it again. If I got a side stitch or was too hungry or tired and I walked or jogged, it really wasn't much of a run. I still felt good about at least getting out and giving it a try. Sometimes I forgot my headband and my ears were so cold I would have to hold my hands over them the whole time, but at least I was out there. I think most of my success comes from accepting that my motivation was and is not to be a fast runner or a high endurance runner, it is primarily fitness. In university I completed a first year nutrition and fitness class that has oddly stayed with me. I remember cardiovascular fitness being regarded as raising your heart rate and sustaining it for twenty to forty minutes three to five times a week. I am going to further define my experience and other simply achievable, sustained efforts at pure fitness; distinct from sports excellence; as Moderate Athleticism.

As a Moderate Athlete, I keep active, I try to get at least the minimum for fitness where and when I can in my busy life. I don't worry about losing ground when I need to take a bit of a break. I use other ways of getting exercise when I cannot fit in my primary activity (i.e. swimming or hiking or rock climbing instead of running). As a Moderate Athlete, I don't do any training for anything, just regular steady sessions with incremental progress, if any. As a Moderate Athlete I start really small and build on success. As a Moderate Athlete I am pragmatic about my available time for exercise, but I don't forget to do it. As a Moderate Athlete I follow my own standards, benchmarks, etc. and no one else's. I am experience oriented instead of goal oriented, though I may have goals. As a Moderate Athlete I choose an activity that I really enjoy and look forward to, and I constantly refer back to my own experience to determine when to take it slow and when to push a bit. I allow myself to succeed in my own terms.

When I run I breathe and my heart thumps and I meditate on my life, I come up with blog ideas, I have to step around ducks and then I find myself wishing for a momentary breathtaking view of the Olympic Mountains when the weather permits it. I know that is the furthest I will get towards earning anything Olympic myself. I am not only alright with that, I cherish it. I earn that view for a moment as I round the bend and then it is gone. Then I take another chance at it in a few days. It is a small accomplishment, it is one of those small things that, to me, make the world go around.

27 Reasons To Compost

2008-08-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Composting is just fantastic. Sure you have the conscience-easing benefit of removing biodegradable waste bound for the landfill, not to mention getting free goodies for your soil out of the deal; you can even get food for yourself out of it!

Here is how: be lazy. Be lazy enough to let some potatoes get wrinkly, moldy and send up half a dozen shoots. Aw shucks, so much for mashed potatoes for dinner. Toss it in the compost instead. Waste a few bucks, why not? Now ignore your compost. Don't remember to cover it when its raining for months. Don't remember to water it when its hot and dry, and definitely don't bother turning it. By spring you may just find that your favorite disgusting spud is thriving and well. Out of guilt for letting it rot in your cupboard in the first place, you stick it in an unused corner of the veggie garden to give it a pitiful chance at life.

I know we weren't even planning on growing potatoes. Just look what happens when we buy them! It got watered by the sprinkler on a timer along with the rest of the garden; our exalted lettuces, high-demand herbs and medicinal calendulas. It got ignored. We have made it to August now and enough is enough. No more goodwill; the tomatoes need light and air and that potato is using up space, out with it! Wait a minute....1....2....3..4.5.6789...10...no. more?! 27 potatoes were in there. From one plant. A major portion of four to six meals for our family. I have got to be lazy more often!

Well I hope you weren't expecting a how-to list or a motivator with altruistic reasoning to 'be part of the solution.' Don't get me wrong, I am a big supporter of all that. Life just gets busy and full and composting properly isn't one of my highest priorities. Let's just say I have my own reasons for composting, even if I am a bit cheeky for 27 of them being potatoes.

Impromptu Gourmet

2008-07-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

You know it is a good thing when you have a farm market a 5 minute walk from your house. It becomes an even better thing when you have a disappointingly wet spring which just happens to be good for mushrooms. It becomes an excellent thing when that market spontaneously carries fresh morel mushrooms, you buy some and just cannot wait to get home and devour them. One of the best things about food that is in season is the greediness that accompanies it. You know you will have to wait a whole year before you get to eat it again, so you just have to get your fill while you can. So it was with me and my morels. When the greediness combines with needing to get dinner on the table 5 minutes ago, there is an opportunity for creativity.

Spaghetti With Creamy Morel Sauce Accompanied by a Flower Salad

We put the pasta (I think it was spaghetti) on and then sauteed the morels for a few minutes until they reduced significantly and gave off their musky juice. Meanwhile, I started a roux with some salt and pepper, some fresh thyme from the garden, olive oil, butter, and white flour. When it was just ready for some liquid I gradually poured in the morel juices (reserving the mushrooms for later) and stirred until it thickened. When it was ready for more liquid I added some cream or whole milk until we had sufficient quantity of sauce. We then poured the sauce over the pasta after it was dished up and arranged a handful of the morels on top.

To go with this main we had a flowery garden-combing salad. We picked miscellaneous fresh lettuces (mild), rose petals (only organic roses are for eating.....ever!) from our roses, calendula petals, sage flowers, arugula and giant red mustard flowers.

Voila! A beautiful feast.

Eat Your Weeds, Dear

2008-05-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

As a Permaculture Designer, I find it quite ironic that upon becoming a much awaited homeowner with an attractive, though MASSIVELY overgrown property, I promptly make war on dandelions. My environmental leanings outright prohibit any herbicide stronger than boiling water; yet with small children running around and actually USING our lawn and with a very new veggie garden in the vicinity it seemed inappropriate (not to mention not very neighborly) to continue to allow these plants to take over. I once heard market gardener and farmer Eliot Coleman recite the wisdom to "never let a weed go to seed." So for the last month or so I have been doing just that: pulling up, prying out, plucking and harvesting every dandelion that I possibly can in our yard.

Now along comes a bit of a personal paradox. My environmental leanings also prohibit rampant waste. Well yes, I compost, but every sensible gardener will tell you that dumping a load of dandelion flowers or seeds in your compost bin is a dumb idea if you ever plan on using it. So, instead, I have been taking the seedy portion of my efforts to our municipal yard for them to compost (along with the invasive, thorny, poisonous plant part of our overgrown property), and composting the leafy portion myself. I am always looking for a way to take things one step further, and I have been kind of preoccupied with local food and food security lately as well. So I thought; along with my current efforts transforming our suburban yard into an organic food-bearing permaculture paradise, why not eat what is already there, why not eat what I am already harvesting? Ralph Waldo Emerson said it perfectly, "A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
So to make a long story shorter, my personal paradox combined with seeing dandelion greens for sale at the local health food store and with a need for experimental dinner recipes for our weekly php Tuesdays thing. Voila! Dandelion Panir Curry (or Saag Panir) was born. I do have to say that it wasn't a particularly successful experiment due to the bitterness of the plant (a factor which I may just be able to work out with boiling), but hey - we all ate it!

Four handy tips on dandelion consumption:

Pick the big leafy ones in the shade for eating, especially for salads. The small shriveled up ones growing in the compacted soil between you driveway and sidewalk had better be dealt with some other way.
Cut the midrib of the leaf off, at least near the bottom where it is thick. Its even more bitter than the rest of the leaf.
Mind where you get it from; animals frequently mark clumps of weeds and grass, and by the road or driveway can be quite polluted. Wherever you get them from, wash them well.
Visit Wikipedia for other dandelion uses and information and read this article (especially the part about managing away the bitterness) on "Making Dandelions More Palatable" by Dr. John Kallas.

Are We All Guinea Pigs or What?

2007-12-11T23:27:00.001-08:00

I, for one, am going to start taking all this toy toxicity stuff seriously. I have checked out a bunch of the toys we have or are considering, and most seem fine. We have always been pretty selective, going for wood and other natural fibers where possible. Sometime soon I will post a list of my preferred 'conscious consumer' companies to buy from. I don't even take it as far as others I know or have heard of. One friend will not buy new toys. She finds great used ones, but can't justify the costs (financial, environmental, social). I know others that won't buy new unless they know direct information regarding factory conditions and the company's social responsibility. As for us, we only buy new.....but in limited quantity, developmental appropriateness, high quality, natural materials where possible and always non-toxic. The last one though, I am officially as of now more stringent on. Our local organic food delivery company posted the following on their website this week.

New Study Exposes Toxins in Toys The numerous recalls involving toys have many parents concerned, especially now during the holidays. The Ecology Center, a Michigan-based non-profit organization, recently tested 1,200 children's products and more than 3,000 components of those products. The results weren’t good. Approximately 35% of the products tested contained lead, 2.9% contained high levels of cadmium and 47% contained polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Toys were also tested for mercury, bromine, chromium, tin and antimony -- chemicals that have all been linked to health problems. To view the complete report and to nominate other products to be tested visit: www.healthtoys.org
Get Involved
In Canada, toy companies have no obligation to inform the government if their products are unsafe and Health Canada has no power to remove hazardous toys from store shelves. While the Federal Government is expected to overhaul the Hazardous Products Act, designed to prohibit unsafe products, so far any real progressive change has been minimal.
What you can do:
1. Learn more, visit www.healthytoys.org
2. Write to Health Canada and toy manufacturers and ask them to eliminate dangerous chemicals in toys.
3. Buy, support or make handmade toys if you can, or toys containing natural and organic materials.

The Story of Stuff

2007-12-11T22:03:00.000-08:00

For a matching set, you can view this video, "The Story of Stuff", in accompaniment to my previous post. This was sent to me via the homeschooling network that we are a part of, intended for the environmental awakening of children (to prevent "can I PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE have another one?") but probably just as much for their parents. It is a really concise way of describing the whole picture at a level that children can understand, but also to get them and their parents motivated. I am finding that many of the most functional environmentalists today don't just resort to scare tactics or dish out insurmountable tasks, but put the viewer/listener in the driver's seat and give them simple and clear ways to change the paradigm in 10 easy steps. Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and climate change project is another good example.

Enjoy!

5 Non-Commercial Ways to Celebrate the Season

2007-12-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

I have discovered this movement afoot to go for a "buy nothing Christmas", a movement which is (in my opinion) a fabulous thing for the over-consuming western world. Basically; you don't buy junk for me and I won't buy junk for you....or anyone else, and by the way every one's off the hook - don't buy me anything. After reading more about the idea I found myself highly motivated to participate. Having two young daughters has altered the level of my participation and somewhat limited it. I shall elect to make as many gifts as I can to satisfy my own need for giving to those around me . But also, Christmas is the perfect opportunity for us to provide those developmentally appropriate books, toys and needed clothes for the girls, so I think it won't be so much "buy nothing," but more "give well."
My partner's family (and to some degree my own family of origin) are very proficient at celebrating the spirit of Christmas, and generally focus on the non- commercial aspects. There is giving of gifts, but not so much focus on the getting of gifts. There are always handmade and well thought out gifts, eco-gifts etc., and the level of craftsmanship among the members gets higher every year. More significant than gifting, however, are other means for celebrating the season, most of which are also more significant to the children, even young ones. As such, I offer my ideas for celebration (and those I have observed) without the need for manic buying......

1. Sing, sing, and sing some more!
Christmas carols can get really tedious when you are feeling bah-humbugish at the mall, but seem to change in quality completely when a family or group of friends (or both!) gets together around a piano (or not) and just belts it out together. There have been recent studies that indicate that singing in choirs or groups can positively effect your health. Sing while you cook, sing while you drive, sing while you walk, sing to your children at bedtime. Sing all together after dinner. Try caroling just up and down your street, or to homes of friends or family members. Young children especially can really latch on to singing as a tradition, they often want to sing the same songs again and again - so select carefully. We have gone through piles and piles of songs in books and online to pick out ones we know and/or like so that we can learn all the verses and have all the words handy. We have also selected based on our values (neither of us would be classified as a religious Christian), and by what we feel is appropriate for our young ones, and finally - we picked the ones that are the most fun to sing!

2. Make things.
There are zillions of things that are simple or easy to make at holiday time. Many things young children can also make, or at least participate in the making of. Most things to make fall into the categories of decorations or gifts (food comes later on in the list). Decorations we have made include but aren't limited to: popcorn strings, paper chains, felt and embroidery thread ornaments, play dough ornaments, clothes peg angels, wool fleece angels, pipe cleaner abstractions, origami cranes, stars etc., paper snowflakes, wreaths, and sprigs of greenery. Gifts we have made include, but aren't limited to: marmalade and other jams, beeswax drip, mold (kitchen silicon works amazingly well), and sheet candles, calendula and other salves and balms, simple beaded necklaces and bracelets (think of a four year old with a darning needle and large wood beads on elastic string), clay candle holders, knitted items (hats, mitts etc. - scarves take too long for me), sewn items, simple wood toys and equipment (child's balance beam), paintings, drawings, sculptures and other artworks, wool felt toy animals, and glitter-glued-on-everything ornaments (pine cones and popsicle sticks particularly). Another thing to consider is that carefully mending something for someone close to you can also be a wonderful gift - that irreplaceable doll needing a new body or the favorite sweater needing new elbows.
If you have the time available, organizing or even just attending a knitting circle, crafting circle or gift making circle can be a great way to enjoy each other's company, learn something new, and get something done all at the same time. I won't try to give you a link for every project, but anything you have an interest in, please do ask me about. I will, however, direct you to The Christmas Craft Book by Tomas Berger which offers instructions for many of these projects and might be available at your library. All of them you can search for online.

3. Bring light in (or out).
One of the traditions we have begun is to celebrate the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year and also the coming of the light. What we do is this; we each put together a makeshift boat (origami boat, driftwood, tree bark, a sturdy leaf, leftover lumber, cardboard and tinfoil) that carries a tea light candle (and sometimes protects it from going out) without sinking - test in your sink. We then make our way to a local waterway (a pond, lake, river, stream, etc.- beaches are often too breezy) after it is dark, and float them for a little while. We haven't done it yet, but it might be nice to sing as well. One environmental note: be sure to design things in such a way that no waste or garbage is left at the site. Now, it has just occurred to me that many people don't enjoy the same mild weather that we do on the west coast, so I am not sure what you might do if you were only able to encounter frozen waterways.....perhaps make a little sled for the light instead of a boat and walk through a park or even on a thoroughly frozen lake with it trailing behind.
Another (warmer) way to celebrate the coming of the light is by bringing light indoors. Make sure you use all appropriate caution with flames, and that children always have an adult supervising. One thing to do inside could be having a fire and hot chocolate or tea - if you have access to a fireplace or wood stove. And again, another great time to sing together. Yet another way to celbrate the coming of the light is by lighting a tea light candle (in a candle holder, and well away from anything flammable such as Christmas trees or curtains) in each window of your home that has a sill. Make sure you put them all out again before you leave the house or go to bed. There is also the regular putting up of Christmas lights inside and outside, although check out the new LED ones; they use far less energy and your local electrical provider may even rebate some or all of the cost difference. Make snow or ice lanterns for candles if you have such weather cooperating with you. You can also make lanterns for inside, but again - remember to be safe with fire!

4. Eat, drink and be merry!
Food and drink are important parts of most holidays and celebrations; Christmas is no different. Every year, I like to get together with other mothers and our children and all make gingerbread cookies together. We mix, decorate and eat the cookies, all with the ample help of the children, and there are usually enough adults to get to the cleaning up and the children's sugar-highs as well. This is another great opportunity to sing! You can spend the afternoon (something I just did today!) baking and icing and eating and singing and running the children around outside. Another thing you could do is make gingerbread houses - probably better with considerably fewer people - and decorate those. There are many kits for sale, but they are not impossible to make from scratch too, quite like gingerbread people, or you can just use graham crackers.
There are many alcoholic ways to enjoy the holidays, but I won't go into those much, as I am quite unfamiliar with most of them. One thing that can be fun though is to try making mulled mead or wine. Another version without the alcohol is to make Christmas cheer, a beverage made with apple and lemon juices, sometimes other juices and your spices of choice: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, star anise, etc.. It is a great thing to make for friends and family; especially those with young children, or if you are going visiting and want to bring something along.
Food can also make terrific gifts (think homemade jam, jelly, and cheese or chocolate truffles or other sweets - not so much the proverbial fruitcake), but the most significant it can be as a gift is to someone who needs it. Make a big pot of soup or even Christmas cheer and bring it to a community association such as a food bank or shelter (call ahead first to make sure its alright) and pass it out. Or even just make a bit of extra soup (or something else that's freezable) when you have it for dinner so you have some to freeze and bring to a neighbor, a friend who has an injury or a new baby, or perhaps an elderly friend, neighbor or family member. Even just participating however you can in your local food bank's food drive makes a difference to someone.
Having dinners, brunches and lunches with family and friends during the holidays is already popular, but is also quite significant. There is something very special about sharing a meal with someone, even more so with someone you love and/or see infrequently. It can be a time for really spending time talking and laughing and catching up together, and children particularly notice when a meal has that leisurely and celebratory feel that is easier to muster up in the holidays. If everyone shares the preparation and the clean up it can give you more time to enjoy each other's company and also lightens the load on the hosts.

5. The tree....
Three years ago we went to our local nursery and bought a living pine tree and kept growing it in a very large pot. This is technically 'buying', but I reckon buying well - that has been our Christmas tree every year for three years. Each year it has gotten bigger and has required some care (regular watering in the summer, adequate light, re-potting, etc.), but each year we have enjoyed it as our tree as well: inside for ten days during the holidays and outside the rest of the year. Now, that tree cost us as much as a very nice large cut tree....but only once! This is our fourth year with it, and I think it will outgrow our living room next year, so it will probably be our last. Early next spring we will find a spot in our yard (or friend or neighbor's) or at the park down the street and plant it, where we can visit it or at least see it growing. Then when its holiday time next year we will select another tree to keep us company for a few years and it will enjoy the same fate. There is a Christmas Tree Care sheet you can download for more information on the care of a potted conifer (just scroll down the page a bit). I find that doing it this way removes us from the 'plastic or live cut tree' environmental debate. Our tree doesn't hurt the environment, it enhances it.
Another way that some of us here on the Northwest coast can have a 'tree' is to use the blown down branches of the endemic conifers when there is a storm. We get some impressive wind storms here, and there are usually many branches (or even whole trees) to choose from.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays to all!

Repeat Repeat Repeat

2007-06-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

In my college prep english classes the formula for an essay was hammered into me again and again and again. Say what you are going to say. Then say it. Then say what you just said. It's not something I have thought much about since then, as I have done little writing (outisde of university), but I do find myself living it while parenting. It seems that much of how children learn, and especially my eldest daughter, is basically parentally nerve splitting repetition. I sometimes really enjoy the 'read it again!' part of repetition, but I find my self learning patience all over again with every 'stop chasing the cat!' that comes out of me. I think that is why we hear our own parents' voices coming out of our lips when we have children of our own. People are creatures of habit...possibly due to all that repetition. When I as a child heard the same things again and again and again, something in me must have filed them away for future use on my own kids. The thing is, how do you decide to say something else to your kids? How do you change your habits and allow them to learn from their own experiments and repetitive actions? Changing patterning is probably my single most diffucult war. There are daily battles. Sometimes I prevail and sometimes my patterning does. In that spirit, I have said my piece on this, and that's it for now! I am not going to say what I said or any of that, and I am thrilled for this post to be flawed for it. yee-haw!