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From
Jules Dervaes
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New
Year's Eve. Bah! Humbug! I am Scrooge when it comes to
frivolous partying. When I was a kid, I felt like I was
missing a thrill at the stroke of midnight. Now, I'd
rather be sound asleep than attend such a scripted, wasteful
'event'. Not that I don't want to celebrate, but I would
really
like to have something that is worth celebrating.
A
significant, difficult accomplishment. A meaningful
milestone in a relationship. A documented positive
change in one's life. All causes for a good celebration.
But, January's beginning of another orbit of the earth around the
sun? Wow! What did we do? Methinks the
people doth party too much.
It's not
as if
ringing in the New Year would make the world
a better place to live. In light of the
world's awful troubles, it would seem we could find a lot better
things to do with our time and money. Here we are, drowning in
tragedies, disasters, and evils galore; still, collectively,
the world bellied up to the bar to drown its subconscious
fears in
drink at this great, hyped-up blast. Maybe, we can forget
the other blasts.
Revelry
won't remedy
the ills that plague this planet. (If ale could cure
what ails us, then to you I'd toast: "Cheers!") And all the
fireworks, noisemakers, and shouting are a primitive attempt
to drive away the malevolent
spirits that have always frightened us from the beginning of
history. It hasn't worked. Not for six thousand years.
And, it won't ever work. Give it up already.
Am I missing something here?
Besides the warmth and fuzziness? Ruts! That's all
I see. Ruts, ruts everywhere and no way out. Does anyone see any sign that next year will be better?
Forget our rooms, our faces and other body parts. We
desperately need an extreme makeover of the non-cosmetic kind.
Is anyone game for that real life-changing operation?
We
should stop strutting around the Earth--and now, by proxy,
Mars--like we own these places. Let's turn down the
volume of noise to make life suitable for quiet reflection.
In solitude you can find the strength to take new steps on the
way to becoming the new person you were meant to be. I
wish all of you a Happy New Path!
(Oh, yes, let's party at trip's
end, shall we?)
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DIY Corner |
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No Dig Garden Bed |
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No-dig
gardening system has been proven valuable in all parts of the world,
building humus and productivity in an era of depletion, erosion and loss
(soil and human culture). Through simple tools such as hers people can
once again become an active part of their natural environment.
Read how
»
More
DIY PROJECTS »
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4 Season Garden |
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Winter Sowing |
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Winter
Sowing is an addictive and extremely easy outdoor seed starting method
that produces a vast amount of seedlings at a penny pinching cost. It is
an excellent
method for beginners as well as experts. Winter Sowing encompasses
recycling, energy conservation, frugality, faith in our natural world,
and in ourselves too.
more info
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In
this issue... |
Is The Plastic
You Use Safe? - Garlic Goodness - Stinky Greens - NOT! - Guild
It And They Will Come - Winter Sowing - Build A Spiral
Herb Bed-
No Dig Garden
Bed - Pesky CD's Into Artworks
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Interested
in doing things yourself instead of relying on outside
sources for basic necessities? We are personally not as
self-sufficient as we would like to be, but we believe
that many are on the same path, some further along than others.
We hope this newsletter will
be a source of inspiration and information to those who want to
break free from the modern, artificial environment and culture
that we are captive of.
See
you along the path...
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Words of
Wisdom
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Turn
down the noise. Reduce the speed. Be like the
somnolent bears, or those other animals that slow
down and almost die in the cold season. Let it be
the way it is. The magic is there in its power.
~ Henry Mitchell ~
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Is The
Plastic You Use Safe?
Plastic
is one of the most prevalent materials |
Use With Caution
What
is the Least Toxic Plastic?
Did
You Know?
There's 6
times more plastic than plankton in the middle of
the Pacific ... |
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in American life, but
mounting research suggests that everyday use of certain
types of plastic food and beverage containers may
threaten human health.
more
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Garlic Goodness
For
most of us, it is wintertime, and our gardening is
reduced to |
Nature's Pharmacy
Growing garlic is easy and rewarding. All you need to do
is prepare a light soil and stick one of those little
garlic cloves in the ground for every bulb you want to
dig up at the end of summer.
more » |
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careful winter watering and daydreams
inspired by seed catalogs and garden magazines. One plant I've vowed
to grow next year in my new garden is garlic.
more
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Overcooked, Stinky Greens...Not!
The
Italians and other truly seasonal eaters,
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Sweet Hot Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is one of the
tastiest of all hearty greens the earthy flavor of
Chinese plum and hoisin sauces complement the sour,
salty flavor of the chard. Italian balsamic vinegar adds
a hint of mellow sweetness.
recipe » |
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greens -- turnip greens,
mustard greens, collards, and kale -- .grow lush and
green and get sweeter and more tender as the mercury
dips ever closer to the freezing point. So now is the
time, as the days get shorter and cooler, to make a soup
or stew with hearty winter greens, especially kale
more » |
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Guild It And They Will
Come
Mother
Nature does not plant straight rows, and
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Curl Up in the Garden
Suggesting both the ordered
form of a conch shell and the disarray of an English
garden, an herb spiral is ideal for growing herbs in
small spaces.
more »
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she most definitely does
not plant whole acres of just one type of plant, spaced
exactly eight inches apart, with absolutely no other
plants allowed to grow anywhere nearby...
more
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Uses For Those Pesky AOL
CDs
I
have a ton... (okay, not exactly a
'ton' ) of
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CD Art
CD Clock (a must see!)
CD Garden Globe
Crochet CD Patterns
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those free AOL CDs that I could
not throw away because of feeling like a litterbug. So
why not try to make something useful out of them? |
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And Finally...
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Would the valleys were your
streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek
one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of
the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to
be.
~ Kahlil Gibran, 1923 ~
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 ramblings... |
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We
are certainly spoiled here in Southern California. |
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Our
winters are basically overcast, dreary days, nippy temps at
night and an occasional shower. So, basically, we have a
year-round growing season which has both a positive and
negative side. While the rest of the country nestles down in
front of the fireplace, sips hot cocoa and thumbs through seed
catalogs, SoCal gardeners are constantly planting various
veggies. Even though a respite would be welcomed, it's
still nice to go out and harvest snow peas, broccoli, lettuce
and salad greens - oh, and not to mention guavas, oranges, and
grapefruit! It's such a blessing to be able to harvest such
yummy treats.
Even
so, many plants in the garden have gone into a hibernation.
Fruit trees are bare; herbs, shrubs and roses...
everything's in winter mode, awaiting the first sign of
spring.
We
harvested our goal of 6,000 lbs! This is a shock-
honestly, we didn't really think we could harvest such
poundage on only 1/5 acre.
Impossible, we thought when the challenge was made... just to think that the fruit trees
are barely a few years old and not even in peak production.
Could it be possible that this property could produce 8,000
lbs of food in a couple more years? I wonder ...
Now
to other parts of the urban homestead-we accomplished a lot
this year with plenty of hard work and sometimes divine
intervention. Things worked out, even when it looked hopeless.
The solar panels are up and we anticipate their producing
enough power for all our household usage.
There's
so much more to look forward to in 04 and we hope to share
all of it with you.
Editor of PTF
«
Read
DEC diary entries»
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newsworthy |
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free
thinkers |
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Get Plastic Out Of Your Diet (Mindfully)
- When you eat or
drink things that are stored in plastic, taste it, smell it,
wear it, sit on it, and so on, plastic is incorporated into
you. In fact, the plastic gets into the food and food gets
into the plastic and you.
Anti-Miracle on 34th Street?
(CSM)
- Life in our culture has
become one big advertisement.
The Age Of Oil Is Over
(AlterNet)
- What would you do
differently if you knew you would run out of oil in your
lifetime?
Mad Cow USA: The Nightmare Begins (AlterNet)
- Those who did
read "Mad Cow USA" when it was published in November, 1997,
however, realized that the United States assurances of safety
were based on public relations and public deception, not
science or adequate regulatory safeguards.
Nature Produces No Waste
(Mindfully)
- The are no landfill
sites on the outskirts of forests where forests dump their wastes
to become a problem for future generations. |
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