A Beautiful Garden

I just got back from Minneapolis from the Their Lives, Our Voices conference put on by Compassionate Action for Animals a few days ago. It was so inspiring to spend the weekend with a large group of people who have been awakened to the reality of the lives of farmed animals. I made some wonderful new friends, and we ate great vegan food together, some of it at the conference, and some at area restaurants. Particularly good was The Hard Times Cafe, where I went for my usual morning soymilk cocoa as well as a few meals, one of which included a veganized Banh Mi sandwich. In between the excellent talks, I bought a book, "An Offering of Leaves," by Ruth Lauer-Manenti, a yoga teacher, that is continuing to inspire me, too. It's a collection of dharma talks in the form of stories from her life about her yogic commitment to ahimsa (non-violence), compassion, and service. One of the things mentioned in the book is the importance of sharing insights into the nature of reality with others. This is something that is often difficult for me, as I tend to be so very certain of things. Since I was trained to be a teacher, I'm talkative and like to share my insights, but I don't always listen well to others.

The conference was mostly about animals who are farmed for their flesh, milk and eggs, how they are treated and killed, about how to do vegan outreach, working with the media to get the message out, etc. It's a healing and exciting place to be, and it's easy to see myself taking action when I'm in a supportive place like that, but I always dread a little the going back out into the world to talk about it to other people. I got a chance to do that right away, though, before I even left town.

I was having breakfast at The Hard Times cafe with one of my new friends, when a taxi pulled up outside just as I was thinking it was time I called one. The driver was just stopping to get coffee, but was happy to have a fare. On the way to the bus station in the rain, he asked me what I'd been doing in Minneapolis. It wasn't easy to say that I'd been at an animal rights conference, because I knew the conversation from that point might be very difficult, but I said it, anyway, feeling a little like I was jumping into deep water. He asked me about what he'd seen recently on tv, some undercover slaughterhouse footage, and said he hoped it was unusual. "Don't they usually kill them humanely?" he asked, putting his finger, like a gun barrel, up to his temple.

We talked some more about the (impossible) idea of "humane slaughter," sitting in the cab outside the bus station, watching the rain fall around us. He had very long white hair and sad eyes in a soft, round face. I liked his gentle voice and the fact that he became so interested in what we were talking about that he had nearly had an accident. He said that he would stop anyone who tried to kill his dog for food, and agreed that if a hurt, bleeding calf appeared on the street at that moment, he would want to help however he could. He said he actually doesn't eat much meat because he can't afford it. "But I tried a veggie burger, and it tasted like, well...you know..." That was funny to both of us. He agreed to give Tofurky brats a try, adding that come to think of it, his favorite food is Chinese food "that's mostly vegetables, anyway."

Then he told me that when he was a child his family had a big garden, and his mother grew "just about everything: rhubarb, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, sweet corn. And we had an apple tree and a peach tree, too, next to the garage, and I used to sit up there on the garage roof, waiting for my dad to come home, just eating peach after peach. He'd get so mad, not because he minded me eating the peaches, you know, but because I kept throwing the pits down on the ground, and he didn't want all those peach trees growing up all over the place."

The image of him as a little boy in a beautiful vegetable garden, eating peaches and planting new peach trees, was such a contrast with what we had been talking about, the killing of animals for food, the awful vision of the slaughterhouse, of death and cruelty. Talking with others about what they can do to stop participating in violence against animals can be so difficult, but it can also be transformative. Deciding to step outside of the safe feeling I had carried with me from the conference so soon was hard; there was a conflict in me. It's not something I can do every time the opportunity arises, but I am very grateful that I had the chance to be honest, to listen to this man, and also that he took the chance to listen to me. It's good that I have my opinions, my knowledge. But that knowledge should lead me to communicate with others.

It's Mother's Day

PETA just launched a TV public service announcement about the filth and cruelty that they exposed in their undercover investigation of a farm that supplies Land O'Lakes. Apparently, some Philadelphia-area viewers were so sickened by the ad that they complained to the TV station that aired it. (If only they'd complained to the Land 0' Lakes perpetrators of the abuse, instead!) As a result, the station pulled the spot after it had aired just twice. Ironic...if it was a worker defiling their milk or butter, they'd watch,and then call Land O'Lakes to complain, and probably even demand a criminal investigation.



Yes, it's graphic, but this is the reality of the dairy industry: Cows are electro-shocked and jabbed with knives, they live in stalls covered in urine and feces, and sick cows collapse and die. There's nothing pretty about the way that animals who are used to produce milk are treated, but those who still eat products made animals' milk (aka dairy products) sometimes prefer to live in blissful ignorance.

You can make this ad go viral! Help by sharing the pulled ad through blogs, e-mails, and any other way you can think of. And if you are still eating the products made with animals' milk, make a commitment to stop. Think about the other mothers on this Mother's Day.

Reality Check

Here's Natasha surveying The Back Forty (Feet), sitting near the 360 degree swivel table Steve made to put the solar oven on...

Some things have not gone well on our little homestead recently. First, all of our poor bees died over the winter. We don't know if it was because they had mites, or if there wasn't enough sun behind that bee enclosure, or because there weren't enough consecutive warm days this winter for them to get outside to eliminate, or because the hive got too moist inside. Most likely, it was a combination of all of these things. It's not CCD, that's for sure. Lots of people here lost their bees over the hard winter, including our next door neighbor. And it wasn't that they didn't have enough honey. We had not touched their honey, as they wouldn't have had enough if we did. Now we have about a dozen huge jars of it; Steve spent a very sticky Monday in late March with a rented extractor, and then probably another four hours scraping off and cleaning the foundation sheets, (where they build up the comb for their brood), for the new bees, who are doing well. The new spot for the hive is sunnier, behind a beautiful woven willow gate and chicken wire fence that Steve made to keep the cats from getting too close. The willow branches are from our small willow tree that was so heavily damaged by the December blizzard that it had to be taken down; it had to go anyway, so we could put something that will fruit in, but we were still sad to lose it.










Then we discovered that the peach tree has curly blight. Its first year of blossoming, and so beautiful, but it's not well. The treatment, apparently, is to remove lots of blossoms (more than one would usually) so it doesn't use up all its energy fruiting, make sure to give it seaweed extract as fertilizer and water it if there isn't much rain, then treat it organically with copper next spring.

The back yard, frankly, is a mess---on any trip across the yard, you stumble on clods of bare dirt, scraps of wood, fabric, or metal lying about, or holes that the chickens have scratched up for dust-bathing, or half-rotted sheets of cardboard lain down to help curb the invasive ornamentals. It's easy to catch an ankle in a twist of baling twine or a length of cut raspberry cane or multiflora rose that hasn't yet made it to the compost or stick pile yet. I want it to all look nice and tidy, but am realizing that it's hard to do that and still take care of the earth properly. Practicing permaculture is a SLOW process, so we have to wait and make mistakes.

At least the chickens are all happy and healthy, and the bush cherry is blooming beautifully and looks good. We should have cherries this year. I forgot to get a photo of it, as it's in the front, unlike most of our projects. Steve innoculated more shiitake mushroom logs yesterday. The first set, which might not fruit again, were innoculated in the spring of 2007, and we never got around to posting to show how it was done. He bought spores through the mail, and then drilled holes in oak logs that he got from a big old oak that came down on our friend Glenn's land. (Oak is best because the shiitakes prefer it and it holds its bark longer, so it stays moist longer.) The spores get pushed into the holes with the innoculator tool, and then he seals the hole with melted paraffin. Turns out you can use beeswax, too, and we have lots of that, so he'll use it next time. You'll notice he set up shop in the shade; that's so the open holes don't dry out too much while he's working.

Be a Chicken Advocate: The Backyard Chicken Movement

So many people are excited when they hear that we have chickens, and say, "I want to get chickens, too!" After I tell them about what it's really like to have chickens, they aren't always as enthusiastic. The plain fact is chickens poop alot, and they can be a bit noisy. They also require alot of care---it's not like you can just go away and leave them for a weekend, and they need interesting things to do, especially in the wintertime. They need to get out of their coop and scratch around in real dirt, and that means they will eat most anything that they can get to that you've got growing in the ground. Most vets don't know much about chickens, also, so yours might not live very long. So it's not something I recommend to anyone who doesn't really care deeply about chickens. Of course, if someone wants to get them just for eggs or to kill them to eat them, I don't recommend it.

As interest in "urban farming" spreads across the U.S. many cities are considering letting residents keep backyard flocks of chickens. This can present opportunities for people to learn about chickens and other domestic fowl, but also presents challenges regarding the quality of their care and will likely lead to a huge increase in abandoned birds at local shelters. Many urban centers tolerates wanton breeding, swapping, and backyard slaughter, all of which are being actively promoted by many urban farming enthusiasts. Chicken Run Rescue (CRR) encourages animal advocates to take an active role in advocating for chickens and other domestic fowl as this trend continues. Here's what you can do:

* If you live in Minnesota, sign up as a foster or volunteer with CRR to help care for chickens, consider adopting birds who need homes, and apply for chicken permits. (If you're not a Minnesota resident, contact CRR for more information on groups in your state.)

* Become involved in local policy development and standards of care. Lobby for education requirements for permit applicants. Work to ensure that backyard slaughter is prohibited in your city.

* Advocate for roosters - 50% of hatched chicks are roosters and they are killed outright, abandoned, or sold to slaughter. Oppose limits and bans on roosters.

Every year, domestic fowl, mostly chickens, are impounded by urban Animal Control. These birds are victims of neglect, abuse and abandonment, sometimes used as a source of eggs or intended for slaughter, fighting or ritual sacrifice. Some are the discarded outcome of "nature lessons" for children or after a hobby that no longer holds interest. Don't breed or buy- Adopt! There are never enough homes for displaced animals.

I've always been a big fan of "This American Life" and its producer, Ira Glass, so it was great to find this video, where Ira Glass talks with TV host David Letterman about Chickens and why he (Ira) doesn't eat them anymore!
Ira Glass and David Letterman Talk About Chickens

Help a book about peace and justice surpass Karl Rove on Amazon! It’s here! The March 12 Compassion and Health Campaign

This is very exciting! I just got an email from Dr. Will Tuttle, the author of "The World Peace Diet." He says, "Today, March 12, we see "The World Peace Diet" climbing quickly on the Amazon best-seller list, up to #1 in Healthy Living, #2 in Ethics, and #26 overall at 8:30 am PST, and I think there's a good chance we can go all the way to the top! How terrific to go past Karl Rove (currently #3) and plant this message of peace and compassion for all life in the larger public consciousness. This is something we can all participate in and make happen!!"

So, if only because you don't want Karl Rove to win, please read on...

This book, "The World Peace Diet," written by Dr. Will Tuttle, helps you understand the power of food, and the cultural mentality reinforced by our practice of food, for many levels of healing-–physical, psychological, cultural, ecological, and spiritual. Many people have called it a revelation, and one of the most important books of the 21st century. Today, Friday, March 12, Dr. Tuttle is coordinating a special offer for this critically-acclaimed book called “The March 12 World Peace Diet Compassion and Health Campaign.” Many generous and caring sponsors have donated excellent bonus gifts and prizes to anyone who buys The World Peace Diet (TODAY ONLY), and anyone who buys the book on March 12 (only) is eligible to receive them. Here’s the link to this special campaign: http://worldpeacediet.org - everything is explained there.

You can help strengthen the forces of health, truth, transparency, sustainability, and peace by buying a copy of The World Peace Diet today (for yourself or to give to a library or friend). It’s a great way to help animals, the Earth, hungry people, and all of us, and spread the message we believe in. Also, "The World Peace Diet" is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and soy-based inks, so the eco-footprint of buying this book is tiny and the eco-benefits enormous. As Julia Butterfly Hill says: “Use 'The World Peace Diet' as a guide to empower yourselves and others in making dietary choices that are powerful beyond what you can possibly imagine.”

"My" Valentine's Day Monkey

Shopping our way out of the problem of the exploitation of animals (or any other social ill) isn't really as effective as ads would have you believe, but I really do love my new "necklace," a Primate Freedom Tag. It's the same idea as the POW/MIA bracelets from the Vietnam War (and it comes in keychain length, too). Each tag is unique, imprinted with the serial number, gender, date of birth, species, and location of a monkey or nonhuman ape being held for experimentation in one of the United States' Primate Research Laboratories. The tag I chose at random a couple of days ago turned out to be for a male Rhesus Macaque whose birthday is actually tomorrow, February 13. "R98006," who is being held at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, was born in 1998, so his 12th birthday will be tomorrow, the day before Valentine's Day.

I wonder---seriously, I really do wonder---if anyone who is "working" with him will notice this fact, and if they do, will they acknowledge it in a way that he can benefit from? Does R98006 get a birthday or Valentine's Day present of love in any form? Maybe a day of freedom from cages? A day off from being tortured? Perhaps (but not likely) someone will feed him one of the 92 types of plant foods (fresh fruits, leaves, seeds, tubers, and bark) that wild rhesus monkeys normally consume. If he's being kept in a cage alone, does he get to spend his birthday with other macaques? In the wild, living in areas that range from near desert to snowy mountain heights, macaque troops number around 200, on average. Of course, macaques used in research have difficulty socializing normally after living years in isolation---they develop neurotic problems like hair-plucking or self-mutilation---so R98006 might not be able to enjoy the company of another macaque any more.



So the next thing I need to do is contact the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, where R98006 is being held. He may not even be alive any longer, but if he is, maybe they will tell me how he spent his 12th birthday. I'll ask them to tell me how he's being used, if he's caged alone or with other macaques, what the lab's future plans are for him. I hate thinking about all of this, but doing nothing and feeling hopeless about the situation doesn't do me or R98006 any good. He could live another three to eight years, and the time he may or may not have left will likely be just as nasty and brutish as the first 12 years have been.

For me, wearing a Primate Freedom Tag and writing to ask about "my" monkey, is a reminder not only of the hard realities of life for captive primates in research labs, but also of the hope that experimenting on them could become illegal in our lifetime. To learn more, please visit the Primate Freedom Project website.





(Posted by Marina)

VegInspiration. Feeding the Shadow

Will Tuttle's website has a daily inspiration for going vegan. The words and photos are always beautiful and positive. Thought I'd share today's "VegInspiration":

VegInspiration. Feeding the Shadow

Posted using ShareThis

(Posted by Marina)

“VEGANIC” GROWERS TAKE THE ANIMAL PRODUCTS OUT OF ORGANICS

Written by Lee Hall, and reprinted from "Action Line," the Friends of Animals' magazine, 777 Post Road, Darien, Ct 06820.

Climate meltdown is the animal farm’s real nemesis. How do agribusiness CEOs react? Some promise to reduce emissions by using new kinds of animal feeds. Others boast of plans to convert methane into electricity. If it’s a small company, perhaps the owners are describing the animals the buy, breed and kill as part of a natural ecology.

Animal activists have joined in, trying to improve husbandry practices or promote supposedly sustainable animal farms. “Incremental steps!” they say. But likely in the wrong direction.

In 1944, when just over two billion people occupied the planet and before the era of mass-scale industrial farming, Donald Watson and a few like-minded “non-dairy vegetarians” developed the vegan platform: Truly idyllic and sustainable animal farms didn’t exist in the early 1900s, and never will. Watson was a vegan-organic gardener -- steering clear of animal manure, bone meal, feathers or blood, instead using compost for fertility. We haven’t all reached this level of dedication in our own lives, and yet this would seem the best example of a model to set forth, so people know what to strive for. And today, there is an international network of vegan-organic farms. So why aren’t more animal and environmental advocates following -- or at least lending their support to -- their refreshing example?

In the 1970s, Peter Singer’s "Animal Liberation" (followed by "Animal Factories," authored with Jim Mason in 1980, and most recently followed by Singer’s and Mason’s "The Way We Eat") described large animal processing plants as horrifying places; but Singer has steadfastly maintained that breeding and killing can co-exist with the idea of treating animals fairly. In other words, Singer appears to believe that the animal factory, not animal farming per se, constitutes the ethical problem.

For humane reasons and also due to the “environmental costs of intensive animal production” Singer says “we need to cut down drastically on the animal products we consume.”[1]

But does that mean a vegan world? That’s one solution, but not necessarily the only one. If it is the infliction of suffering that we are concerned about, rather than killing, then I can imagine a world in which people mostly eat plant foods, but occasionally treat themselves to the luxury of free-range eggs, or possibly even meat from animals who live good lives under conditions natural for their species, and then are humanely killed on the farm.[2]

Farmers, restaurants and grocery chains have seized the opportunity. Whole Foods Market claims “to assist and inspire ranchers and meat producers around the world to achieve a higher standard of animal welfare excellence while maintaining economic viability.” Singer, together with an alarming number of animal-protection groups, endorsed Whole Foods’ Animal Compassion Foundation, which turned out to be quite lucrative for this internationally expanding corporation.

Celebrity restaurateur Wolfgang Puck was bathed in accolades by two wealthy animal-protection societies for buying only “sustainable seafood,” for indicating “interest” in processing plants that use a gas slaughter method, and for only serving chicken and turkey flesh from farms that comply with “progressive animal welfare standards.”[3] Red flag! Advocacy should never be about making exploitation appear to work decently.

It gets weirder still. In early 2009, Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC think tank known for its reports connecting animal agribusiness with climate change, announced a partnership with the Stonyfield Dairy company. The group’s communications director[4] told me, “ Stonyfield buys dairy from conscientious farmers and is constantly pushing those farmers to improve.” The advertising draw? This dairy producer has animal welfare in mind. The reality? Stonyfield uses animals for profit. The planet gets used up in the process. Dairy cows, who live longer than beef cattle and are overfed to stay as productive as possible, are associated with high methane emissions and feed demand.

Greenwashing is an international phenomenon. A few months ago, a British television station the documentary Pig Business, made by Tracy Worcester, who has worked on behalf of Friends of the Earth. Brimming with disturbing images (some of which were excised for the television audience), the film decries pig crates, rough handling, and cheap meat. Worcester points out that foreign pigflesh -- from the US-based multinational Smithfield, for example -- would fail British expectations of handling and housing standards. The film’s promoters laud small farms and local butchers.

“ I think we all fundamentally like pigs, don't we?" Worcester asks. B ut Worcester will eat bacon, the Telegraph newspaper assures its readers -- as long as it’s from “really, really happy pigs.”[5]

Those pigs aren’t happy, dear readers; they’re dead. Meanwhile, the owners of the supposedly happy animals are pressing free-living beings out of former wildlands. Moreover, animal agribusiness is notorious for its heavy use of fuel to transport crops and animals.

To get around that, we’re told we can be “locavores” -- buying dairy, eggs, and animal flesh as well as vegetables from area farmers or hobby farms, or dining at restaurants with local sources. But even Forbes has run an opinion piece questioning these ideas, citing a study by Rich Pirog of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture that connects transport to just 11% of food's carbon footprint.[6] “No matter how you slice it,” the comment observes, “it takes more energy to bring meat, as opposed to plants, to the table. It takes 6 pounds of grain to make a pound of chicken and 10 to 16 pounds to make a pound of beef.”

The conclusion? “ If you want to make a statement, ride your bike to the farmer's market. If you want to reduce greenhouse gases, become a vegetarian.”

Vegan-organic (also known as “veganic”) growers believe we can live without animal farms -- even without the by-products of animal agribusiness. ( The fruits and vegetables we know as organic are usually grown on farms that raise animals or use animal manures and slaughter by-products to fertilize their soil.) Some think a world without animal agribusiness isn’t possible, and call veganic growers idealists. Who’s right?

To answer the question, we could start by asking if continued reliance on animal farms is really sustainable. Domesticated animals must eat, and feed crops are invasive -- planted where great prairies and dense rainforests once flourished. Animal husbandry also puts tremendous pressure on the world’s water. Veganic growers are genuine liberators, freeing the land from grazing and fodder production, taking no more water than necessary, avoiding pollution, and returning part of the harvest to other beings and to the land. They’re cultivating respect, shielding and celebrating the freedom that’s still possible for animals who live in local ecologies.

Of course, vegan-organic growers are idealists; they hope to show society how to live without relying on a system that treats animals as products. But they will in turn point out that organic growing can’t spread much further as it is now, because the manure it uses needs to come from somewhere, and grazing land is already pushing out the rainforests. Trying to change animal agribusiness in increments -- say, by switching to “cage-free” eggs or supporting free-range concepts -- means forgetting that Earth’s space is finite, and the spread of pasture-based farming uproots free-living beings.

Brian Graff of the North American Vegetarian Society says supporting veganics is “not about reaching some notion of perfection.” Graff explains: “Either buying or growing your own vegan organics is just another avenue open to us to minimize our exploitation of the earth and its creatures.”

So if you’re fortunate enough to have veganic farmers in your area, you’ll be doing something important by supporting them. If you already cultivate a garden, seriously consider avoiding the use of manure and other animal derived products. For more about both of these ideas, check out the work of the Veganic Agriculture Network at http://www.goveganic.net.

FOOTNOTES

1] Quoted in Rosamund Raha’s “Animal Liberation: An Interview with Professor Peter Singer” in "The Vegan" (quarterly magazine of the Vegan Society; Autumn 2006), at page 19.

2] Ibid.

3] Farm Sanctuary joined the Humane Society of the United States in urging advocates to thank Wolfgang Puck for issuing these claims.

4] E-mail from Darcey Rakestraw dated 6 Jan. 2009.

5] Louise Gray and Charlie Brooks, “Marchioness of Worcester: The Aristocrat Standing Up for Pigs” (27 Jun. 2009).

6] James E. McWilliams , in “ The Locavore Myth” in "Forbes" (issue dated 3 Aug. 2009), states: “A fourth of the energy required to produce food is expended in the consumer's kitchen. Still more energy is consumed per meal in a restaurant, since restaurants throw away most of their leftovers.”

To read this article online at the Friends of Animals website, go to http://www.friendsofanimals.org/actionline/winter-2009_10/movement-watch.php

Year of snow, year of plenty

We got quite a bit of snow here a couple of weeks ago, a true blizzard. Nearly all the snow you see here fell in one day and night. The chicken tractor is pretty much buried---not that they're using it right now, anyway. You can barely see the "bee corner," but there is a hive there! We make sure the snow is cleared away from the entrance of the hive so that the bees have ventilation and can take a "cleansing flight" if they want to. Like cats, they are very tidy and won't deposit waste inside their hive.

Sara, Rose and June were snug in Sophia House during the storm. They have two water sources, one down in the coop that freezes and needs to be changed often, and another up in their bedroom. That one doesn't freeze because of a little heater that also helps keep them warm at night. just before the weather turned, Steve moved the coop closer to the house and into the best spot to catch solar warmth; he also fully insulated and shingled it, too.

It seems this little willow tree in our backyard lost a few of its largest limbs, carrying the weight of all that snow that fell so quickly...

As the storm was winding down, we went snowshoeing by the creek...

and even did a little yoga along the way:

We saw this evidence of the beavers that live somewhere near by. Several years ago, on a midnight canoe on the creek, we heard one tailslap the water, and barely caught a glimpse.

This mourning dove was perching much closer to the ground than she normally would, with so much snow coating everything; she's only about 6 feet off the ground here.

Cold and icy though it is, it's a beautiful time of year, too, with the wheel of the year having just turned on the Solstice, and the light returning now. And when it seems there's too much snow, we remind each other of the saying, "A year of snow, a year of plenty," meaning that since there is less chance of the fruit trees blossoming too soon and facing a killing frost, fruit will be more plentiful. We'll be outside less, but we have some down time now to organize and order seeds. Marina is taking a permaculture webinar course online. And soon it will be time to start seedlings! Happy New Year!

Let's Not Go to the Police Dog Demonstrations Tonight

Government or Life?

A holiday letter to send Heifer International

Their programs might look good at first glance (to a non-vegan, anyway), but there's nothing animal friendly or even sustainable about Heifer International, or any of the other "animal gift" schemes popularly given as holiday presents. You might like to send this letter, too. Feel free to use this one, or edit it to suit your own writing style.

****

Heifer International
P.O. Box 8058
Little Rock, AK 72203-8058

Dear Heifer International,

I am writing to ask that you please remove my name from your mailing list, and that any gift donations given in my name be refused.

For over 50 years, vegetarian organizations and animal advocates have criticized farming animals as inefficient, expensive and environmentally destructive, and livestock donations as especially inhumane and ineffective in fighting poverty as well as being environmentally unsound. Animal gift schemes seek to persuade people of the poor world that their best nutritional interests are served by buying into modern farmed animal production processes, but with that comes an addiction to high capital input systems, additional stress on precious water supplies, environmental destruction, a loss of control over the means of production, bad health, cruelty to animals, and more human poverty and malnourishment.

The "donation" of animals to other countries amounts to nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to spread dairy and meat consumption to new parts of the world, with detrimental consequences for the health of those nations and disastrous consequences for the animals. Many recipients of gift animals are unable to feed them to maturity, let alone feed and raise any offspring, and all farmed animals require large quantities of water, shelter from extremes, and veterinary care, resources typically in short supply in impoverished areas.

I hope that Heifer International will consider restructuring itself to join in reforestation efforts instead of bringing a cruel, unhealthy, environmentally destructive diet to cultures that are primarily vegetarian and creating a nightmare animal welfare scenario.

Please remove my name from your mailing list, and do not process any gift donations given in my name. Thank you.

Sincerely,

That's Soooo Madison!

We had a lovely surprise yesterday: Steve's beautiful purple photo, "Walking the Rails," won an Honorable Mention in the "That's Soooo Madison!" photo contest, and publication in the "Isthmus" newspaper this week! It's online, too, of course. Click on the title to go to the link---it's the 10th photo in the slideshow. (That's me falling off the rails into the sunset in late winter of 2005) This is the second time Steve has had a photo published in Isthmus; the last time was in their 2008-09 "Annual Manual," a guide to Madison. (That photo was one he took of himself skiing in some very nice fluffy snow, by the Monona Terrace Convention Center at night in February, 2008.) If it's online, we don't know where it is...

To see another of Steve's prize-winning photos published on the Internet, (and find out how I got the nickname Goatgirl!), scroll down the sidebar here to the right, and click on Lance Armstrong at around 6:31pm. That photo was taken in 2001, and won second prize in humanclock.com's photo contest in 2002.(The first prize winner was of a little girl and a very attractive jellicle (aka black and white) cat, and we had to concede that it was more worthy of first prize.) The prize was a very nice postcard of the Adelaide Railway Station that Dave, the talented, funny and nice creator of humanclock.com, sent us from from Broome, in western Australia, as he was biking 4,000 miles crosscountry.

Happy Tofurky Day to everyone, especially the turkeys! If you're in Madison, come to the free vegan Thanksgiving dinner sponsored and prepared by Alliance for Animals.

Listening to The Voices

Yesterday morning, I was busy getting ready to leave the house for my annual mammogram. This week was the five year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, so I was a bit preoccupied. An apple crisp was baking in the oven, and I had to keep on eye on it as well as on the cats and the chickens, at the same time making sure I had all the lists and bags and such that I needed for the several errands I planned to run afterwards. Then I looked out the front window and saw Tina, one of our neighbors, kneeling on the bike path in the park across the street, holding her hand out to a slender, medium-sized black dog. I remembered Steve's telling me yesterday that he thought there might be a stray dog in the park. The dog had fled as soon as he came out on the porch, and he'd been afraid to pursue her; he didn’t want to frighten her towards the busy street to the north, half a block away.

Watching Tina coax the dog with little luck, I thought about what I should do, one eye on the clock. Here came another neighbor, Leila, with her beagle mix, Bonnie, safely on her leash, as always. The black dog wagged her tail, sniffing Bonnie, but raced far away as soon as either human made a move towards her. I thought to myself, "Well, she's in good hands, I don’t need to do anything. They’ll take care of it." But I kept coming back to the window. The black dog was soon alone in the park again. I called the police dispatch number, and was told someone would call me back. Nearly 45 minutes passed. I went outside with an open can of cat food, but the black dog wouldn't come within 100 feet of me. She skittered about the park, shy, aimless and disoriented, and ever closer to the busy street. I felt disoriented, too; I don't have much experience with dogs, and didn't really know what to do. She was just close enough for me to see her dark collar and tag, but it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of her. When bicyclists came down the path, she hid in the bushes. I left the cat food at the foot of a tree in the park, and went back home.

Washing up, brushing my teeth, gathering my knapsack, and so on, I kept thinking: I should call the 24-hour emergency clinic for animals. Why wasn’t exactly clear. They're a vet clinic, after all, not a clearinghouse for lost pets. I made a few more phone calls, hoping to find someone else, (read: a Dog Person), who could come over and catch her. No luck. But finally I listened to that little hovering, pesky cloud of a thought telling me to call the emergency animal clinic. "I don't really know why I'm calling you," I told Lori, the woman who answered. Her voice sounded puzzled and curious, and she said, "Where do you live?" I was already puzzled, and then I got curious, too---I told her where I was, and Lori said, "Is it a black dog?" A man who lived just a few blocks away from us had told them he'd lost his young black female dog. I called this man, Rick, and somehow, he was at home, hadn’t yet left for work. He exclaimed excitedly, “Try calling her! Her name is Baby Girl!" While we were still on the phone, I went out and called. “She stopped running,” I told him. Within a few minutes, Rick was pulling up in his black car, and running into the park towards the black dog, calling her name, and she was leaping into his arms and licking his face. I'm so glad I listened to that little voice!


Baby Girl looks pretty much like this dog, whose name is Rogue, who is one of the dogs up for adoption at the Dane County Humane Society.

(Posted by Marina)

Pollinator's Eye View of Our Back Forty (Feet)

Before it gets too cold and snowy for photos of the lush green garden to start feeling like a distant memory, here's a bird's or pollinator's eye view of our backyard, aka the Back Forty Feet, a photo taken in late July, in full summer bloom. You'll see the chicken tractor over on the left, along with a wheelbarrow full of various invasive plants. Our year-old peach tree (which has doubled in size and produced only teensy little inedible fruits this year but should bear good fruit next year) is blocking the view of the chicken coop, which was in a good "summer" location at that point---not in too much sun and so as to catch the breeze. Keeping chickens cool is important. It now has wheels and can be moved more easily around the yard. Mulch under the peach tree is hay from the chicken coop.

There aren't as many flowers in our yard as we'd like, but there just isn't that much sun; we hope to add more eventually, though. There are stands of day lilies that threaten to take over, underneath the clothesline, mostly; Steve's cousin Matt worked very hard to dig alot of them out this summer. Here you can see Joe Pye weed in flower towering over the red raspberry bushes, just to the left of the chicken coop; the black and purple raspberries are to its right, and also over by the fence on the left side of the yard, just west of the fern garden. Back in the far corner on the left is the compost heap, with the shiitake mushroom logs nearby. (This winter, we'll try to devote a whole posting to the great 2007 innoculation of the mushroom logs.) Wild grape and a trumpet vine cover the back fence; domestic grape vines have been planted on the fence near the clothes line, but won't be producing for a while yet. You can also see lots of wild grape vines twining around the phone line that comes from the house (bottom right corner), but the oyster mushroom logs next to the garage (bottom left corner) are out of sight. The invasive wild rose bush at the far end of the clothesline posts will be replaced next year with a native rosebush that doesn't spread wildly and has good quality rosehips that are a good source of Vitamin C. We made a nice rosehip syrup a few years ago, and it was delicious. Somewhere back by the chicken coop and over by the oyster mushroom logs are two hazelnuts, just leafy twigs right now, but within a year or two, they should be producing well. Steve keeps a little herb garden in the area by the back steps, which you can't see (bottom left corner). We wondered for quite a while what all the vines covering the silver maple snag were, and finally identified them: While there is the lovely red and green Virginia Creeper, there's also (ack!) poison nightshade and some other pretty but invasive vine in our bioregion, so we've been removing those. Tricky without pulling other things out... On the bottom right border along the fence there is a forsythia bush, also solomon's seal, bloodroot, may apples, wild ginger (which we have yet to try), bluebells, jack in the pulpit, and at the foot of the snag are crocus and trilliums.

And what's in the garden, which is the whole bottom right quarter of the photo? Zucchini, sweet potatoes, squash, Swiss chard, broccoli, and probably some other things. Our other gardens plot is a community plot a couple of blocks away, and that's where Steve grows potatoes, tomatoes, peas, sweet corn, peppers, onions, and other veggies. The garden deserves its own post...in the winter, when we've got more time...

In the other (far right) corner of the yard is the honeybee hive, our newest addition! When our friend Eric, who knows about these things, moved away at the end of June, he sold us one of his honeybee hives, and our neighbors have one of the others, just on the other side of the fence. Steve built this little fenced-in corner to protect curious felines, and the screened portion is so the bees' flightpath isn't blocked by the fence. They've made honey, but there's only enough for them for now; we hope that we can safely share some of it next year. From Eric, we've learned that honey bees aren't as important as pollinators as native bees, like mason and leafcutter bees. These wild bees help increase crop yields. If you look very carefully, you'll see just to the right of the silver maple snag, high up on the fencepost, a wooden block that is nearly hidden in the leaves. This is one of our two homes for leafcutter bees in our backyard. For more information about how you can help native bee populations and become active in pollinator conservation, go to The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation's webpage on pollinator conservation:
http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/
Yes, I am lame and lazy for not making this a link, but you can also click on the post title to go directly to that page.

Sara Chicken's Favorite Biryani with Seitan

The solar-oven-baked pizza from Friday was particularly delicious, but I was too hungry to wait and get a photo of it! So here's what we had for dinner last night, recipe upon request of our honored guest, Bryan, who is trying very hard to go vegetarian. It's Sara Chicken's favorite biryani, and ours, too. Lots of spicy flavor without any heat, pretty easy to prepare, and heats up well. I have no idea where Steve found this recipe, but we've made it for years. We haven't tried freezing it, but that might work okay... For dessert, we had delicious frozen desserts, quite a splurge: One was chocolate hemp milk and chocolate & hazelnut coconut milk. Both were incredibly good, but I'd have to say that the hemp milk dessert had a slight edge in richness. I'd hate to have to pick, though...

Sara Chicken's Favorite Biryani with Seitan

2 c. brown rice
1 large onion, diced
2 T. olive oil (divided use)
1 lb. drained seitan, "chicken style"
1 c. peas (frozen is okay, thaw if so, or use snow peas)
2/3 c. almonds, toasted
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 cup biryani curry paste
10 oz. chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh)
3 3/4 c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 375.

Cover brown rice with cold water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In small pan, saute half of the diced onion in 1 T. of the oil until soft/golden. Add the drained rice and saute 3-4 minutes. Set aside. (You could use the solar oven for this step, too.)

In a big frying pan or wok, saute the remaining onion in the remaining 1 T. of oil until soft/golden. Add the seitan and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, almonds, raisins, biryani paste and tomatoes.

Combine this mixture with the rice mixture in a Dutch oven. Add the boiling water, stir, cover, and bake for 60-75 minutes, depending on your oven/the sun. IMPORTANT: CHECK WATER AT 45 MINUTES. If you need to add more, use boiling water.

Serves 6-8.

A busy summer

It's been too long since I've posted anything, but then, that's the irony of it...once the weather warms up, it's more of a challenge to find the time to spend on the "living in tune with the seasons" blog because the outside is singing so many songs that we need to join in on! Sometimes easier said than done, for sure. Right now, I'm feeling sort of grumpy because the solar oven (a birthday present for Steve's last birthday) is taking so long to cook my pizza. Next time, I'll try to remember to set it up sooner, so the oven has more time to heat up. This is my first solo solar oven experience, and I'm still getting the hang of it. (I've only had to call Steve once, and only knocked the whole thing over once!) It's actually pretty easy once you accept that it's going to take a little longer, and you need to work with the sun and the clouds. And it's good for making candles as well as cooking! These pictures were taken back in May; Steve's melting down candle remnants(which we get off the curb, mostly, or cheap from yard sales), using a baking powder can as a mold (and an old pot for the melting of the candles). I love that creamy vanilla color. We solar-baked chocolate chip cookies for my stepfather Andy's visit in June.


He came and visited us on Father's Day, which was great, as he has his own kids and grandkids back in Omaha, so we felt very honored. He rode here for 8 hours on his motorcycle in 90 degree heat, and he will be 86 in November!


We've had an extraordinarily cool and dry summer (I'm wearing socks and jeans and it's July 31st??), but have gotten some monstrously big shiitakes, anyway:


Even Natasha was SHOCKED!! (Sergei, uncharacteristically, had nothing to say.)


And the chicken girls (l to r, Sara, June and Rose) were more than a little intrigued. (They love shiitakes.)



I have been doing alot of yoga (keeps me happy and healthy) and drove a tractor for the first time when we visited Steve's family down in Illinois for the annual birthday May/June birthday celebrations...
















...and Steve started working on the roof again this month. The cupola is not only beautiful, but contains a whole-house fan, which is the next best thing to air conditioning.



This photo is actually from last fall. The cupola is finished now, and The Roofing Crew is focusing on the north side of the roof. (We're getting lots of help from lots of friends.) This will be the hard side, with two chimneys and two skylights, as well as various solar implements (like a hot water heater), but we think the whole thing will be finished before the weather turns cold.

In late June, we took some time off to camp out for a night and see a great evening production of Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" at American Players Theatre (an outdoor theatre) with friends Joyce, Joan and Ellen, and hung out at an art fair after stuffing our faces at The General Store in Spring Green. No photos from breakfast, sorry, but here we all are on the front porch of TGS:


As fans of Claire's fabulous blog, "Here's What You're Missing" will know, we had a few of Steve's old workmates from North Farm Co-op (a natural foods distributor that went belly up in the early 21st century) for a potluck reunion. The challenge was to bring a dish made from food from North Farm, though lo these many years. We still had some NF dried seaweed, so Steve made a pasta salad with roasted red peppers, and the centerpiece on the table was a heart-shaped bottle of bath oil I got at the NF outlet store. Here, Gary, Alan and Mike try to remember just exactly how many pallets of outdated soy smoothies the employees were allowed to take home every night...


And now for a completely gratuitious food photo! It's a stir fry that we made this spring, with mung bean sprouts, carrots from last year's garden, whole grain rice noodles, but I can't recall now any of the other things that were in it...

Cats at MAPPAR: Midwest Animal and Pot-Bellied Pig Rescue

Today, I visited MAPPAR, Midwest Animal and Pot-Bellied Pig Rescue, which is about an hour north of Madison. It was the first time I've been there, and somehow, despite the name, I was surprised to learn that they have animals other than pot-bellied pigs! My friend Betsy and I were there to visit two older dogs, Cap and Winnie, who recently went to live at MAPPAR after their human, our friend Helene passed away. Of course, while Betsy hung out with the dogs, I had to go and see the cats. I didn't bring a camera today, but I wanted to share photos from the MAPPAR website of some of the cats there who are available for adoption:

This is Ms. Kitty. A fine and queenly little tortoiseshell who is front declawed, she waited until I peeled the other cats off my lap and came over to her.


Floyd is a beautiful boy, probably a Siamese mix. He was more than happy to pile on my lap with two other cats, and didn't even mind when he ended up on the bottom of the pile.


Silver Fox looks alot like Floyd, but is darker and a little bolder. He loved being petted, and gave kisses, too.

These are all older cats, who aren't as easy to find homes for. After having fostered a kitten for only three days and nights recently, I'm inclined to say that unless you've got as much energy as a kitten, an older cat is probably going to be a better companion!

MAPPAR is trying to raise more funds to build a bigger, better cat building than the one they have. Although that one is pretty good, full of treats, toys, cat trees, places to hide, etc., they would like to have one with an outdoor area for the cats, like this:

Please visit the MAPPAR website (click on the title of this post) to find out more about adopting an animal (if you live in southern Wisconsin), or to make a donation to help care for them and finish the new cat building (no matter where you live!). I hope to go to MAPPAR again this weekend with a camera and lots of cat treats, and I'll post more photos after that visit.

(Posted by Marina)

Permaculture Art: Arborsculpture

Okay, earthsip is supposed to be an ad-free blog, and this posting is KIND of an ad, but if the means are the ends... Being a reader of the Celtic Tree Oracle (aka Ogham), I (Marina) have a particular affinity for trees, and maybe that's why I find arborsculpture so appealing. Arborsculpture is also permaculture in action, an ancient art form now enjoying a resurgence. Arborsculptor Richard Reames shapes the trunks of young, flexible saplings so that they grow into chairs, fences, gazebos, garden borders, benches, tables, trellises, or earth art. Some of the trees are left in the ground, to continue as living artwork or furniture, like the kitty perch, above, and some are cut after being grown into the shape that's needed, like this chair:
While some of these creations are very elaborate, and take decades to grow, you can also do something simpler. I couldn't find a good enough photo, but I particularly like the living table and chairs grown of willow, and still rooted in the ground. (And no, they apparently don't grow too big to continue using them as furniture.) As Reames says, "Everyone with sun and a container of soil can grow trees into the shapes of their desires." Arborsculpture is sustainable, cheap, unique, and beautiful, as well as an example of several permaculture principles---the First Principle of Conservation, since the use of energy would be minimal and you would use only what you need. It also illustrates the Second Principle, Stacking Functions, getting many yields (outputs) from one element (thing) in your system, because as long as the tree is growing in the earth, it can provide shade, shelter wildlife, be the building material itself, be a wind break, fertilize the soil, prevent erosion, raise the water table, and sequester CO2. Depending on your available time and skills, it could also be an example of the Third Principle, Appropriate Scale, where what we design is on a human scale and can be done with the available time, skills, and money that you have. And practicing arborsculpture will certainly help anyone learn the patience necessary to figuring out what your particular spot on earth needs. As Reames says, "The entry price to practicing this art is to check your speed at the garden gate and enter the slow motion world of tree time."

To learn more about arborsculpture and Reames' techniques, or to sign up for one of his classes, or purchase his most recent book, "Arborsculpture- Solutions for a Small Planet," check out his website or his blog His website includes a fascinating, well-done video on the history of arborsculpture, as well as instructions on how to grow a living chair and a living fence.

(But please don't do this with your bicycle! :))