Whew!

Just got through posting an entry about solar cooking on the new blog space.

More about hair washing with baking soda and vinegar

Haven't been washing my hair with shampoo and conditioner for about 2 weeks, now. DG says I go "back out" by using castile soap on it when I shower after a workout at the gym but I disagree. So far, using baking soda and vinegar has not been that difficult. The results are not optimal from the standpoint of someone who's used shampoos forever, but they're nothing to sneeze at, either. My hair feels fuller but I haven't gotten that magical "don't need to shampoo ever again" look--my hair still ends up looking kinda greasy after a couple of days. Good thing I pull it back in a severe pony tail (hm, can ponytails be "severe?").

Anyway, here's a Simple Living blog entry about weaning from shampoo. This is a cool blog because it focuses on reducing personal emissions by 90% -- yow! There's more great stuff on this site including other cool blogs so will have to investigate further.

Foodsheds are cool.

Here's a tip: don't go to the farmer's market late. Went there at close to noon and came home with a sad bunch of onions and a pretty but slightly worm-holed eggplant. Oh, there was lots of okra but I've learned my lesson from the last batch I got at the farmar's, and lots of tomatoes but I'm not much of a tomato eater -- maybe if I ate more local ones...

You know, it's funny -- you can find a universal site about almost any environmental or community-oriented issue except foodsheds. Different from a watershed (here's a link to my post about watersheds) but the same concept, e.g. what are the food sources in your area?

I've been thinking and working on getting more of my groceries from local sources and got hooked up with this cool Google spreadsheet made up by some nice people in my area. It has all of the local farms within 100 miles of our part of Florida, and it also has a list of all the restaurants that use local products in their menu items.

Anyway, I tried to find out more info about foodsheds and figured there would be some association or something. But no, there are individual sites devoted to a particular region, like this site about a foodshed in NJ called the Foodshed Alliance. I linked to their mission statement page because I think it says a lot about the philosophy of the foodshed. Here is another link to a Canadian site called the Foodshed Project that provides a pretty comprehensive definition of a foodshed and a breakdown of the issues involved in "food security."

The only site I could find that was near our region is a blogspot blog called Foodshed by a woman in Georgia who is totally all about the foodshed. It's cool because the blog's motto is "For those who want to know who grew their melons," and has these links to "Virtual Trips to Farms" videos -- how cool!

Before I sign off I wanted to also send this link to a dissenting view about foodsheds and the 100-Mile Diet phenom, by a gourmand writing on Suite 101. Just presenting both sides of the argument...

Sturgeons on the March

I don't need to say anything more...

Happy Independence Day!

I couldn't swipe the photo at Environmental Defense so I'm going to have to link here. It's a cute interactive thing about what the 2nd Continental Congress would have looked like if they were gas-burning jokers such as we are today. We'd have Benjamin Franklin riding a bicycle (he would probably have been in better shape by the time he signed the Declaration of Independence if he had been riding one), John Adams using a reusable grocery bag (I don't know if it would have had the Earth on it, though, maybe a dead Redcoat or something), and some joker from the southern delegation holding up a bus schedule. Har, har! Such fun.

AND, if you're feeling as patriotic as I am on this great day for our country and its peoples, you can sign ED's Declaration of New Patriotism (which I have already done, because I am a super-dooper patriot) to challenge the more recent Congress of the U.S. to start getting on the stick with this whole global warming thing. I don't think it will still be up on July 5th, so sign it quick!

Here's one more thing to keep in mind on this great day:

The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution
are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them
against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from
our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger
and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with
care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on
the present generation, enlightned as it is, if we should suffer them
to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated
out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the
latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of
it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to
maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of
the latter. - Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we
have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of
the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection,
deliberation, fortitude and perseverance. Let us remember, that "if
we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it,
and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration,
which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may
be the miserable sharers in the event.
--Samuel Adams, Speech, 1771