Tomatoes

I was so excited last night! I was really late putting out my tomatoes this year and while everyone else was already reaping their harvest, I just had plants with tons of green tomatoes on them. I got my first ripe tomato last night and I gently carried it to the house, washed it off and grabbed the salt shaker.

My tomatoes are always better than anyone else's for some reason. They are very acidic and will make you get blisters in your mouth if you eat too many. Our neighbor has been giving us some tomatoes over the last few weeks and they are slightly sweet and do not have good tomato flavor. I think that he waters them too much.

My neighbor kept asking me if I had tomatoes yet and smirked about how many he was getting from his plants. I told him that was fine but I would still have ripe tomatoes for Christmas.

I really do have ripe tomatoes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just cover my plants for the first few light frosts and then pick all of the green tomatoes off of my plants before the first hard freeze. Then I put the green tomatoes in a cardboard box and cover them with newspapers.

My neighbor will have already cut down his non-producing plants while we have plants loaded with tomatoes. This happens every year because he gets his plants out just as early as possible and I am lazy and procrastinate.

I Must Be An Alien

After reading the two following articles, I have decided that I am really an alien who somehow got stranded on this strange planet within the last few years.

This whole cow burping thing has me shaking my head and the thought that U.S. Citizens are taking this serious leaves me totally dumbfounded.

Greener diet reduces dairy cows' methane burps - Yahoo! News
(Don't tell anyone but goats and deer burp too)

The following is a quote from the second article about the Wild Horse Bill:

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that enacting the bill would cost up to $700 million.

Barrasso says the government shouldn't spend $700 million on wild horses while the nation is in debt.

Barrasso, Lummis oppose House's wild horse bill - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY

I like wild horses and burros but $700 million dollars, when people are losing their jobs and homes? Anyone who would support something like this has not been affected by this present economy, has more money than they need and should be sharing their wealth with the needy.

Make Your Own Deodorant

Along with my recently acquired weird green thinking comes the worry that my antiperspirant may increase my risk of Alzheimers or Breast Cancer. If you read on the label of your antiperspirant you will see that the active ingredient is aluminum (insert really long word here). Which blocks your pores from doing their normal job of allowing you to perspire.

Now, I do not know why the good Lord gave us armpits but he did, so they must serve some vital function. I would think that stopping them from doing their job might not be a great idea anyway, but stopping them with Aluminum just does not sound good at all.

The common consensus is that Aluminum can be a cause of Alzheimers. Since they think that eating out of Aluminum cookware may be one of the causes of this disease, what about rubbing it under your armpits everyday? With my family history of Alzheimers, seeing it up close and personal, I do not want to get this disease.

So how do I eliminate antiperspirant from my life now that I have eliminated shampoo (see previous post)?

I could just use deodorant instead of antiperspirant. Deodorants just mask or kill the bacteria that cause odors while allowing you to sweat. But then I read where something in deodorants can cause breast cancer.

I am not being paranoid here, but this line of thinking makes me wonder if I could just make my own and save some money as well as my life. So it is off to Google I go. I found some recipes, tried one and found that it didn't last until evening. So I tried another recipe and it seems to be working for me.

Here is the recipe:
Equal parts of Baking Soda and Cornstarch.

A few drops of an essential oil of your choice.
(Tea Tree Oil is best but do not use Tea Tree Oil or Lavender Oil if you are a man or a man will be using it.)

If you don't have essential oils lying around the house, you can also add a little bath powder for scent or you don't need any scent at all.

Mix in as much Coconut Oil as it takes for the powders to dissolve but for the mixture to be firm and spreadable. Coconut Oil for those who do not use it, is a dietary supplement that can be found at Wal-Mart and is a sweet smelling lard like substance.

You can pack this mixture into an empty stick deodorant container but leave the lid off, so that it will continue to harden. You will have to apply gently and carefully because it will not be as firm as regular deodorants. I haven't tried this yet, I have just been applying it out of a bowl with my fingers tips. You do have to be careful to apply only a thin layer because it will cake up and fall off it you apply it too heavily.

I have not tested this deodorant in a hot summer hayfield yet, but will let you know how it holds up under these extreme farm conditions as soon as hay season begins.

No Poo

If you are not up to date on what is going on in the world today, you will not understand my title but if you are keeping yourself current on current events you will know that it is just cool to be green.

Being green makes everyone feel better about themselves as they try to leave little impact on the earth, so that the earth will still be here and going strong long after they are buried and forgotten.

I am normally not a very green person, I figure that the earth was here when I was born and it will still be here after I die. I don't suppose that I make too much of a carbon footprint or have too much of an effect on the ozone or global warming. I try not to emit greenhouse gases like cows do.

I have recently started doing some things that I find interesting and maybe even saving a few pennies now and then. I have taken the No Poo Challenge. This was mentioned to me by my cloth diapering Daughter-in-law. If you would like to learn more about it all you have to do is a Google search for "No Poo".

It is basically getting rid of the shampoo in your life. There are two different methods that I have tried. One is using Baking Soda to wash your hair, then rinsing in Vinegar. I didn't like this method and it made my scalp itch. The method that I am using is simply washing your hair with a good quality hair conditioner.

I don't know why exactly that shampoo is bad for the environment but I was intrigued by the fact that it gets rid of greasy hair. I started my adventure going poo-less around the first of February and I love the results. My hair looks cleaner longer between washings, it is softer, I have no more dandruff and it is easier to style.

I use the conditioner just like I would shampoo. I have to use a lot because of my long hair and I spend quite a bit of time massaging it into my scalp. Then I rinse my hair thoroughly. Combing my hair out after washing it is so much easier with very few tangles and I have hardly any hair in my comb or brush when finished.

Now here is the trick, you won't see these results until you have used this method for around a month or so. Shampoo dries the scalp and therefore causes oil production. Your scalp has to have time to adjust to the change. So for awhile you will still have oily hair.

My DH decided to try it and after doing it for a few weeks, he reported that his hair was not falling out as bad. He normally left a lot of hair in the tub after his showers.

In addition to this I have also purchased some cloths to use as wet-ones and have been experimenting with different recipes for the wet part. I am also going to stop using paper towels and am looking into alternatives. You can actually get cloth towels that fit right on your paper towel holder and snap apart. I may end up liking this green stuff, who knows. After all, money is green and I do like that.