Redefining weeds: The Dandelion

I am pretty sure everyone has seen these things, and most people define these plants as an invasive weed. This plant is something most people detest, and really, the dandelion has a pretty bad reputation, which is largely undeserved. The problem is that we somehow developed this preference for grassy manicured lawns, which really isn't great for the soil. Everything has a certain ecology, and the plants we've come to label as weeds really serve a particular function, and should be appreciated for all the hard work they do. I am somewhat of an advocate for weeds, I think they're great, and we need to recognize their many uses. I am going to get into the uses of the dandelion, not so much it's function in rebuilding the soil. I just want to foster looking at this plant in a different way.

I've started reading up on urban foraging because I think it's going to be handy information, as a lot of permaculture lecturers share their concerns of a food crisis that will be coming to a head soon. We have some pretty inefficient farming methods, and that's going to have a lot of repercussions soon. But that's a soap box for later.

The dandelion, those delightful little yellow flowers that most people try their hardest to rid their lawns of. Every single part of this plant is edible, although there are better times to eat the various parts, as dandelions can develop bitterness. So let's discuss the various parts of the plant starting from the bottom to the top!

The root: best to eat after the flower dies and the plant goes to seed, before it reflowers again. It's a root vegetable, so prepare it however you would prepare carrots. So use the roots in soups and stews, or saute them with some butter and garlic (this is the only way I'll eat cooked carrots, they need to still be crunchy). Dandelion root tea is also popular to aid with digestion and weight loss (it's a diuretic though, so be careful if you need to avoid those!). I've also read that the dried ground root can be a coffee substitute, but I really have no personal experience with that. Although I should probably try as I can no longer drink coffee.

The leaves: these are best to eat before the plant flowers, because they are the least bitter at this point. They are good sauteed, raw in salads, or steamed as you would spinach.

The flowers: these have multiple uses, you can eat them in salads, you can make wine from them (it's pretty tasty, although you need A TON of dandelion heads, I know, I helped a friend once), you can use them to flavor any fermented drink (I've tried a beer that had a nice flowery dandelion taste to it). I also remember reading somewhere that the flower heads can be battered and fried, I've never tried this, but if you have let me know!

The entire plant is rich in vitamins A, and C, and a good source of potassium and calcium. Every part of the plant is edible, and the worst will be a slightly bitter taste that needs to be cooked out, unless you're like me and you enjoy a good bitter green. So I hope I helped to change your view of this wonderful little plant, and maybe even tempted you to try them when they crop back up. Just be sure to forage for these tasty little things in an area where pesticides are not used, and regardless make sure you give them a good wash when you get them in the house.

Once again, I am not a doctor, I research everything before I put it on the blog, and I do my best to make sure I only relay helpful information. However, I cannot advise you on the medicinal properties of these plants, and encourage you to talk with a professional who is able to do so!

12 Principles of Permaculture

So as I said about a month ago I'm taking an online Permaculture certification course, and it's really fascinating. It's not like the rest of the web-courses I have taken, it has actual video lectures, and it's engaging because you are encouraged to interact with the other students. It's through OSU and I highly recommend that you check it out if that's something you're looking to get to know more about. It does cost a pretty penny ($850), but after completion of this course you're certified to call yourself a Permaculture designer!

This week we learned about the 12 Principles of Permaculture, and I am just really loving how much this already parallels how I feel life should be lived. So here they are!

1. Observe and Interact: I feel like I should sing you "Colors of the Wind" from Disney's Pocahontas, but I'll spare you. This however is the same basic idea, you don't own the Earth, you live on it, and you need to take care of it, and live in harmony with it. You're not going to be able to do that if you don't interact with nature, and observe the cycles and patterns that are in place around you.

2. Catch and Store Energy: How much rain just washes off of your roof and into the gutter? How much sun energy beats down upon your land and isn't doing anything other than drying out your grass? How much wind energy? Etc. Etc. I am not saying harness it all, but find a way to harness some, and if you're using that solar energy to grow a garden well, you're already doing this in a way, because you're turning that solar energy into energy stored in that food.

3. Obtain a Yield: You should be getting something from your land other than just yard work, you should be getting a return on your investment, and this applies to all areas of your life. Why put work into something only to get more work? I think this is why I have never understood having a huge green lawn, because you're not getting anything from it, you're just constantly needing to put work into maintaining it.

4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback: I think this is something us US citizens really need to start doing. Do you really need an SUV or a big truck with all wheel drive? Do you really need to drive to work, can you carpool, can you walk? What ways can you reduce the waste that your household produces? If you're not seeing these things yourself and you want to improve your carbon footprint ask!

5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services: This can apply to so many things, chickens can be a renewable resource. But we need to value these things, and we also need to start putting more pressure on the individuals who are supposedly our representative in Washington to start valuing these things as well.

6. Produce No Waste: I'm far from perfect on this one myself, I can't tell you the stack of reusable shopping bags I have that consistently get left at home. I however have been making great strides to donate items that can still be used, to buy used items whenever I can, and to fix things that can still be useful. We mustn't forget that there are 3 R's, so many people focus on recycling, but really we need to also remember there is Reduce and Reuse as well!

7. Design from Patterns to Details: Basically, start with the big picture and work your way down, this makes things much more likely to succeed.

8. Integrate Rather than Segregate: I think this one is kind of a no-brainer. Look at nature, you'll never see all the Pine trees growing in rows seperated from all the Oak trees, you'll never see all the squirrels living in one forest, and the birds living in another. It's this way because variety makes things more sustainable, you need all the little pieces for an ecosystem to function.

9. Use Small Slow Solutions: This will lessen your environmental impact, and also make it less likely that there will be a catastrophe if you solution fails for some reason.

10. Use and Value Diversity: This one is tied in with number 8, but expands upon it. Use that diversity, make it work to your advantage, and help you produce more!

11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal: Pay attention to what's happening at the edges of your garden, or any space really. This is where energy is exchanged for so many things. We lose heat energy through the walls of our home, so we need to pay attention to the ways we insulate. If we're talking in terms of a garden, the edges are where nutrients are absorbed from the surrounding land, or water, and it is also where weeds make their way in. The edges are also where the most interaction with wildlife will happen. So you can use the edges to either draw in or repel animals depending on your needs and preferences.

12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change: Sometimes things that you see as problems, can in fact be new tools. Your giant shade tree was knocked down in the last wind storm? Well, that opens up new space, and options for placement of sun-loving plants! Never view anything as a set back, just as a change that you need to consider and adapt to.

So there you go the 12 principles of Permaculture, I hope you've enjoyed this mini-lesson, and there are more to come!

Cell Phone Free

So, a little over a month ago, I let my phone expire, and I didn't bother to do anything about it. Partially motivated by the fact that I moved to a dead zone for the particular cell phone company I was using (though they tried to convince me that I had service), and partially motivated by the desire to eliminate a hefty monthly bill. At first, I admit I was a little nervous. After all my smart phone did everything, calendar, contacts, it even connected me to my email, facebook and the various blogs I follow.

A lot of you are probably wondering where the silver lining is. Well, I feel a lot more free, and I have been able to focus better. I get sucked into constant updates at my fingertips as easily as the next person, but overall, I had to be honest with myself and admit that responding to a friend's status could wait until the next time I was at the computer. So I took the plunge, I got rid of the cell phone and you know, within a week I rediscovered quiet. It's amazing how much easier it is to focus on a project when you don't have alerts and updates interrupting your train of thought every few minutes. I know, some of you are saying "why not just turn your phone off?" Well, it's not that simple when you have a 5 year old, a few times when my phone was off people needed to reach me and couldn't and that experience has made me terrified to repeat that. Luckily it was nothing major, but just the thought of "what if it was an emergency" haunts me.

So aside from missing my alarm function, and my calendar tracking my daily life for me, syncing up my google calendar to my phone, I am enjoying this newfound freedom. The other day I talked to a friend on the phone for 2 hours, not once did I think to myself "I wonder how many minutes I've used for this month." So while, it is taking some getting used to, I realized that I let something that started out as a luxury masquerade in my life as a neccessity. Now I am beginning to wonder what other things have hidden themselves in my day-to-day life pretending they need to be there.

Why, hello. Let me introduce myself...

My name is Shannon, and I am in recovery from Capitalism. I have suffered from Capitalism nearly my entire life, as it was there from the time I was born, surrounding me, brainwashing me, and I have just within the past few years recognized it for what it truly is. Capitalism is a disease, it's a cancer. This method of thinking is destroying our society, and causes people to be viewed only in terms of how productive they are in society. People are not valued, they are numbered, and our environment is seen only as a source of various resources. I am sick of the way our Capitalist culture treats the environment and people, and I have really begun to look at everything with a very critical eye. I want out, I don't need a brand new car, I don't need clothes that are in fashion every season, and I don't want to get caught up working in a job that I can't stand just for some illusion of financial security. If this economy has taught me anything is that nothing is permanent, and that even if you work hard your entire life, when it comes time to retire you could find your pension/retirement is completely gone. I don't want to endure the stress of a life dominated by a job I don't like, I need to make some change. I want to live more simply, I want to learn about the environment around me, I want to be more green, I want to live in tune with the Earth.

I really began this journey when I became pregnant, I began to not only look more critically at the way that food was grown and processed, but also at the way we impact the environment as a whole. This is often the case when you realize you're going to be a parent, you start to self-evaluate, because your values ultimately affect your child. What kind of child did I want to raise? What was important to me that I wanted my child to value? I have a son, he just turned 5, I have come to have a new appreciation for everything, and have worked hard to teach him to appreciate things, and value them. Though it's a hard lesson to teach a kid, less IS more, and you should value the things you have. Learn to want the things you have, and also learn to distinguish between needs and wants. This is a work in progress, however, these are the things I determined to be important to me. I am not just raising another consumer. I don't want my child to be concerned with material things, I want him to be compassionate and caring and spend his energy on more rewarding pursuits than the pursuit of more stuff.

There is more to you than the stuff you own. So many people are devastated when they have a house fire and they lose everything, but are you really the things in your house? I have tried to downsize, and living in a small one-bedroom apartment this past year has taught me to really evaluate what I truly need. Live simply. How much space do you really need, how much furniture, how much clothing? I have constantly asked myself these questions over and over, and ultimately it is leading me to the path of living in a smaller house, I am enamored of the tiny house movement. Do I really need cable, a smart phone, wireless internet, and air conditioning? I am slowly getting rid of all these things from my life. I don't need to use as many resources as I do, I can downsize, and I can start producing food for myself and my family. I can fix things rather than replacing them, I can re-purpose things that are beyond repair. Through this I also free up money, which will allow me to work less. In terms of work less is most definitely more. The more time I have to myself, the more time I have with my family, the more stable my way of life will ultimately be. I think one of the greatest problems with society is the amount that we work, that we spend commuting to and from work, and the amount of time we spend trying to just de-stress once we get home from these jobs that, let's face it, most of us cannot stand.

I want to simplify, I want to revive old crafts and skills, my dream is to have my own homestead. I have been slowly collecting information, finding better ways to do things, sketching plans. I can't tell you how many hours I have spent reading, and researching on the internet. Everyone should have this information available to them. Anyone who wants to stop merely consuming and start producing should have the information available to them and thankfully we have the internet for that. So, in conclusion, this blog is going to be my space to share sketches, photos, recipes, plans, information, tutorials, and anything else I come across as I start to intensively move toward my ultimate life goal. So I hope this can be not only an inspiration to some, but also a resource of a variety of things involved in a journey from being purely a consumer to being more self-sufficient.