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Going to a Farmer’s Market is just such fun! The colors, shapes and textures of all the produce and flowers are just popping out everywhere you look. To have the luxury to buy freshly grown organic fruits and vegetables makes me feel so fortunate. And the flowers are out of this world!
Protea, named for the Greek god Proteus
Orchids
Onions
Meyer Lemons
Hedgehog Mushrooms
Romaine Lettuce
Anemones
Sunflowers
Yesterday, I went to the very lively Natural Products Expo West and I came home with many samples of non-toxic home care products I’ll be trying out over the next week. The only one I am familiar with is the Mrs.Meyers liquid dish soap, which is lovely. Several of the other products aren’t available yet in stores, but will be in the next 6 months, I reckon. Here are the ones I photographed:
* Seventh Generation’s natural laundry detergent has new fabulous packaging and scent: geranium blossoms and vanilla.
*Handmade vegan and eco-friendly Soap by Wembe’ made in Paraguay.
*Alabu skin soap made with pasteurized goat milk, olive oil, cocoa butter and essential oils.
*Vaska herbatergent laundry detergent is allergen and scent free.
*Bravo’s paper towel is made with 40% post consumer recycled fiber.
*Thayers natural dry mouth lozenge is made with slippery elm.
*Mountain Rose Herbs maitake mushroom is cool looking (most likely use: tea)
*Hugo Naturals have a lip balm in pineapple coconut.
*Pre-fence, an alcohol free hand sanitizer.
*Fatwood 100% natural fire starters are chemical and additive free.
*Earth Science stick deodorant is aluminum free and made with liken plant.
Preliminary Test: The Bravo paper towel feels thick and soft and I will definitely buy some and the Pre-fence hand sanitizer, great for traveling, is a foam that is alcohol free and feels wonderful on my hands, leaving them soft after use.
Non-Toxic Products Pre-Testing
I love Juicing! It’s just the best and I can’t believe it took me so long to finally start doing it. Every morning, I make my veggie juice, and it makes me feel so good. I’m telling you, I have more energy than I have had in a long time, my skin looks amazing and my hair feels healthier and softer. By the way, the Juice tastes delicious! What I also really like is when I clean my juicer, all the veggie waste goes straight into my Valentina composter (http://www.priscillawoolworth.com/Valentina-Composter-p/vc251.htm), which then makes nutrient rich material, that I then dig into my vegetable garden beds, where I am growing the vegetables for my juice. Coming full circle is a great feeling on many levels: Reducing waste by not adding more to my weekly trash output, improving the nutrient deprived soil in my garden without using chemical fertilizers, growing my own vegetables which nourishes the soul and putting something in my body that is so naturally healthy.
New tip I just learned: When you are almost finished putting your vegetables in your juicer, add the Celery last, because it picks up any stray veggie bits because of it’s high water content. I recommended Juicing in the January issue of my Almanac, and here is a link to buy the same wonderful juicer that I use:
Before
After
” If change can be made in this country, beautiful things will happen around the world. If America does it other people will follow.”
-Jamie Oliver-
Jamie Oliver aka The Naked Chef, is the uber British food revolutionary extraordinaire. In his quote I posted above, he is referring to the food revolution that needs to happen in the USA.
He is currently in Los Angeles, filming his show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” and according to the news: “Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef turned food activist, was forced to halt the filming of his ABC show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution at West Adams Preparatory High School in South LA last week after he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t make the district look bad on TV.”
Food Revolutionary
I haven’t actually ever dyed anything but this way looks so wonderfully earthy and healthy, and I would love to learn how do this one day! Apparently, Wool is the preferred fiber to use because it takes on natural dyes so easily. Those natural dyes, which are either Herbs, Flowers, Leaves or Roots, could be Camomile, Stinging Nettle, Marigold, Onion and Tumeric, to name a few, and which give these gorgeous subtle color variations. I found out that each time you dye this natural way, you will never get the same colors twice because the weather, the season, the maturity of the plant, its position in the sun or shade, and the quality of the water used for the dyeing is different with each plant. No chemical dye can create the beautiful variations and soft colors of these natural dyes.
Natural Dyed-Wool
Last year, I was so thrilled to be invited to the opening ceremony of the newly redone Tree People public use area located in Los Anegles. What got the most attention was the large catch basin they built, for saving and then reusing rainwater, a vital infrastructure improvement for the parched Los Angeles area. The trees in the Tree People trails that so many of us enjoy walking by, are therefore kept happy and healthy from this saved water, which is trickled down to these trees as needed.
Recently, I was there hiking with my dog Leroy, and we came upon the remains of a party/event that had taken place there the night before. As all the tables and chairs were being folded and carried away, what had not been dismantled yet, were some clever “Repurposed installations”, using found objects or recycling others for a useful purpose. Shovels were lined up, to create a temporary fence and in another spot, pvc type pipes were cut and made into a chandelier, hung artfully overhead with LED fairy lights, which must have been a lovely at night.
Repurposed plastic piping as lamp
Repurposed shovels as fence
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