Sun Worship - of the Culinary Kind

Patience... must have patience. It is April 16 and it's cloudy again after only 1 day of sun (yesterday) in what seems like forever! It snowed on Easter and several times since, when it wasn't raining instead. I appreciate the good this is doing for the water table, but I WANT SUN!

I shouldn't complain too much. Despite a full work day, we took full advantage of the sunny day we were given, and I hear there is hope for the near future.
I had been hoarding large laundry items such as towels and the dog blanket for the car, and we were able to get these washed and dried outside on the line. In wet weather we have a retractable clothesline and a wooden drying rack upstairs that works great for most stuff.

We also got the solar oven set up and managed to get the two most common (for us) solar dishes cooked before the sky became covered with the high clouds of today's dreariness. First was rice.
By far the easiest way to get perfect brown rice is to bake it, and the solar oven is perfect. We try to use covered glass casseroles for most of our solar cooking, and this is no exception. In a 2 1/2 Qt. casserole place 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water. Cover and place in preheated solar oven and cook until all the water has disappeared. Voila` Perfect rice! See the wonderful Spanish Rice recipe from Morning Hill Cookbook on an earlier blog post (in the comments section).

Once the rice was done, we immediately replaced it with Banana Cake. Our family has never been big fans of banana bread (which would also bake fabulously in the solar oven), we prefer a cake to use up those bananas that have gotten softer than we like to eat fresh. We bake it in an 8" square pan and serve it without frosting, although you could fancy it up that way if you like.

Simmonsville Solar Banana Cake:
Mix together and set aside:
2 1/2 cups flour (we use whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In mixing bowl,
cream 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
Add 1-1/2 cups brown sugar (you can use 3/4 cup honey instead) and beat until light.
Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time
Stir in 1/2 tsp cinnamon
(Optional - add 1/4 tsp cardamom)

In a 2 cup measure mash 1 cup bananas (3 bananas is perfect)
Add 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 cup yogurt or buttermilk

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in about 3 parts, alternating with the banana mixture, blending until smooth after each addition.
Stir in:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans) and/or dried cranberries, dried blueberries or whatever inspires you!
Bake in greasecd 8x8 inch or 9x13 inch pan (thinner, but just as good) in preheated solar oven until done . It will be brown on top and, when tested with a toothpick or broomstraw - should come out dry.
In conventional oven, bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour.

Enjoy!
P.S. I am happy to finally get to post this on a SUNNY day 9 days later...

Just say no...

I recently was at the doctor with an injured heel. During the "first-time-visit paperwork/interview" they asked what drugs I was taking.I answered "Ibuprophen, occasionally". They asked "what else?", and I said "nothing" and they were visibly surprised.

OK, I'm no spring chicken, but does that mean I'm supposed to be a walking pharmacy? I do take calcium daily and a baby aspirin. In winter I might take vitamins C & D, in summer more vitamin E. I drink echinacea tea when I think it's necessary and drink a glass of water with 1 teaspoon each raw apple cider vinegar and maple syrup twice a day (yum!), but otherwise don't take or eat anything specifically for my health. I believe if you eat good food (for definition of "Food", see anything Michael Pollan writes!) and don't eat too much of it, you will be getting the nutrients you need.

I am in fairly good health and somewhat amazed to think that, at my age (or any age), taking a lot of drugs is the norm. NORM - as in normal thing to do!

What is really different about our life here is all the stuff we don't do. I do not wear make-up. Did once, for my junior high school prom, and that was a bad experience. I reacted allergically and my eyes swelled up and that was that. In part due to my sensitivities I do not drink soda, do not dye my hair, do not eat at fast food places. We do not buy prepared foods, use air freshener or scented candles. We do not take sleeping pills, cold medicine except the rare antihistamine when too clogged to sleep.
It really is a case of "less is more". Could it be we just overload our systems and the result is they get out of balance?

If something is an imitation of something else I stay away from it, including imitation sweeteners, vegetarian phony meat, butter "flavored" anything. Give me real butter, steak, cheese and sugar (or honey). This also goes for artificially colored or scented foods, shampoos, soaps... you name it. Laundry detergent or dryer sheets that make your clothes smell "fresh" - I just dry the clothes outdoors and they DO smell fresh.

People have become crucibles for chemical mixtures that no one has tested in combination, let alone testing them within the living chemical stew that is a human being. I am happy not to be a guinea pig in the race for "new and improved" and, as far as I can tell, healthier for it.
You have probably seen the posters showing how quickly a Meth addict ages - looking ancient when only in their 30's, or how a smoker ages quickly as well - not to mention the other health issues. I'm not convinced that the many chemicals we are exposed to daily don't have a similar effect at one level or another.

This is one reason we started making soaps and body care products back in 1979 for our own personal use, so we weren't forced to use the artificially colored and scented commercial soaps that were available to us. And, since 1982, we've made them available to you, too, at Simmons Natural Bodycare.

Earth Day 40!

This April marks the 40th Earth Day. It's hard to believe it's been that long since Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) founded Earth Day as an environmental teach-in. First celebrated on April 22, 1970, Earth Day marked the very beginning of the modern environmental movement.

While recognizing these things are important in our life today, knowing the history is inspirational as well. It shows the power we have to make change.

In a time when pollution was so bad rivers were literally burning, lakes were dying, air in cities was becoming toxic with no regulation, and bird species were declining rapidly as a result of widespread use of DDT, this particular day was set aside to make people aware of, and appreciate, the limitations of our planetary habitat.
It brought together many groups, each fighting for a single environmental issue, to realize they were all involved in one larger, common cause.

To quote founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, 

"It was on that day that Americans made it clear that they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources. That day left a permanent impact on the politics of America. It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too."

Sometimes in our individual efforts working to allay the effects of climate change, to protect and preserve the habitat which sustains us, it may seem we do not have much of a chance to accomplish what needs to be done. Yet since that first Earth Day much has changed.

In just the first 10 years the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments, the Resource Recovery Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) were enacted. Also in 1970, the EPA was founded to protect human health and the environment on which it depends – all as a result of the concern of the American people.
Just think: We did not HAVE an Environmental Protection Agency before 1970. Not because we didn't need one, but because it hadn't occurred to us that we needed to monitor and protect what was happening to our environment in a nationally cohesive way!

Much is yet to be done and it IS in our power to do it. We must do it, for our future.

We know these concerns are global concerns and we must think of that bigger picture as we act on personal, local, national, and world levels. From governments to businesses to individuals we all have a role to play, even if it is only being conscious of the waste and ways of our daily life and modifying them to have less impact on our habitat. The power and the responsibility is in all of our hands.

During April we give extra recognition to the need for living with awareness of the effects of our actions on the environment around us. Use this time to create new habits, teach others, and remind your government representatives that we can have a sustainable, healthy environment for the future. And then continue this year-round, because in reality there is no "Earth Day", it is "Earth Everyday".

Olive Love

So what's the big deal? Why do we persist in using organic olive oil for our soap when it is the most expensive of our base ingredients and soap can be made without it? In a word - Quality.
Historically the finest soaps were olive oil, or 'castille' soaps, mild and nourishing to the skin. In our own 28 years of soapmaking experience we have made soap from a variety of recipes, and those including olive oil were consistently the best quality, more gentle and less drying.

Olives: a gift from the Gods

The ancient Greeks made a wager with their Gods, pledging to name their capital city after the deity who gave them the most valuable tribute. Poseidon, God of the Sea, caused a fountain to spring from the earth flowing water to the city. Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, presented an olive tree. This tree's fruit could feed the masses, light up the night, bring good health, and anoint the heroes. The capital was declared 'Athens' (besides, a salt water spring is almost a nuisance!).
The value of the olive has not been forgotten over time. As a fruit, people usually love it or hate it, but only about 1% to 2% or the world's crop is eaten as fruit. It's the oil that is the delight of the gourmet, the choice of the health-conscious, and the anointment of the discerning.
The olive tree, an evergreen native to Asia Minor, spread to the rest of the Mediterranean Basin and has been cultivated there for over 6000 years. This ancient fruit is still one of the main oil crops in cultivation there and is now widely grown in warm climates around the world.
Olives are one of the few oil crops where the source of the oil is in the pulp, rather than the seed. In the latter case, the purpose of the oil is to provide condensed energy for the emerging seedling. In the case of the olive, any animal which eats the fruit receives the benefits.

Olive Oil for a Healthy Diet

Oils are an important dietary component. They provide essential fatty acids needed for hormone production and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, & K. They also add an appetizing flavor, aroma, and texture to food.
Fats & oils actually activate the pleasure sensors in our brain, an addicting connection that stems from the needs of early humans and can cause health problems today. However, as we now know, using unsaturated vegetable oils helps avoid these problems. Olive oil has even been shown to help reverse them.

Olive Oil for Healthy Skin

For healthy body care, olive oil is rich in proteins, minerals, and vitamins. It is used as a base in high-quality soaps and cosmetics due to its excellence as a moisturizer and high availability. A natural humectant, olive oil attracts and holds moisture close to the skin and forms a breathable film that helps prevent the loss of internal moisture. Unlike many substances used for this purpose, olive oil does not block the natural functions of the skin and it absorbs readily, carrying the benefits of its nourishing components. Jojoba oil, shea butter, kukui nut oil and a few others are also good, but are far less plentiful than olive.
All in all, the olive fruit nourishes the body within and without, benefiting humankind for thousands of years - - truly a gift from the Gods.

• Simmons special Soaps •

Quality without Compromise since 1982
Get fine castille soaps made with organic olive oil from Simmons Natural Bodycare

SOURCES:
Naturally Healthy Skin, S. Tourles,1999
The Natural Soap Book, S. Miller Cavitch, 1995
Food That Harm, Foods That Heal, Reader's Digest, 1997
Economic Botany: Plants in our World. 2nd Ed. S. Weiss (Ed.)
Creating your own Cosmetics, Naturally, N.J. Smeh, M.S.,1995
Natural Body Care Products, Glossary of Terms & Ingredients 1995

Gophers - not for the faint of heart...

Gophers (@$%#!@#)!
The bane of the vegetable garden. Not to be confused with moles (see below) who eat earthworms, leave mounds of dirt in the lawn, but do not harm your plants, gophers kill vegetables and fruit trees, rose bushes and other landscaping by eating their roots. 
I have played tug of war in the garden with these voracious rodents and they are high on the list of foes to any dedicated vegetable gardener. Nothing is more aggravating than to go out and find a previously vigorous plant suddenly short and wilted, slumped into the hole where its roots used to be.

Gopher damage and prevention depends on the numbers you are dealing with. These little critters propagate like the prey animal that they are, are not deterred by noisemakers or most repellents, and send in new troops to replace the fallen. Thus our most effective method here is trapping and good cats. A friend also had success with a good dog (rat terrier) but the holes he left were larger than the gophers made. If you poison them and a cat or dog gets them afterwards, they can be affected by the poison as well, so we don't recommend that.

If you are not keen on actually killing them off, there are some moderately effective repellents, such as Castor bean/oil – but the truth is barricading them from the plants or reducing their numbers is the only real method if you have a lot of them. In a really wet winter some of them seem to drown (ditto yellowjackets). Simple cages around the roots of plants rarely work. Even raised beds are ineffective unless they are both tall enough gophers cannot climb over the top and have a gopher proof barrier underneath. We know folks who put a 2 inch deep layer of broken glass under a bed and the gophers came through, and they easily scaled the 10 inch sides of our strawberry bed.



We are about to add some new raised beds to our garden. More than 16 inches tall and lined with 1/2 inch hardware cloth they will be a safe haven for gopher delectables such as potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic, cole crops and parsley. Sometimes peppers. And peas. Sigh.
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Gopher story: I had heard several times that gophers would eat Juicyfruit gum and it would clog up their insides & kill them. Many years back I saw this mentioned yet another time in Herb Caen’s column in the SF Chronicle (long time back ) and that pushed me to try it. In certain times of the year they leave their tunnels open to the surface. During that time I placed an unwrapped stick of gum in the holes. Several hours later I would check and Lo! The gum was gone.

I repeated the procedure... A case of Juicyfruit later they were happily consuming all the gum I could give them with no end in sight. I had no idea if constipated gophers were piling up underground or if it just wasn’t working. So we decided to put the gum in the tunnel behind a standard Macabee Gopher Trap. A nasty piece of work that pierces the rodent to death, these traps can be very effective if you find their main tunnel, up to 15 inches deep, and place 2 of these traps, one going each direction. Cover the hole with sod or a board and some dirt to keep the light out, etc.. But for the gum experiment that wasn’t an option, there is really no way to “bait” these traps. So we set them in the feeder surface tunnels near where we placed the gum, but the gophers generally just set off the traps by pushing dirt into them, took the gum and left.

So I had the idea of getting a couple of rat traps (gophers are considerably larger than mice), as they can be effectively baited. Bait in place, I set the traps on the surface of the ground outside the open tunnel. This is 100% opposite everything you have ever heard about dealing with gophers, but I couldn’t figure a way to get the broad traps into the tunnel without the whole thing collapsing as I dug it out to make it fit.

It worked! Against all odds the gophers were coming out of the ground in broad daylight and throwing themselves into the rat traps to get at the gum!!! In 2 weeks we caught 13 gophers. One day we caught 2 gophers in the same trap in about 1 hour. I saw there was a gopher in one of the rat traps and asked my husband to remove it. He went to the store and when he came back I had noticed there was still a gopher in the trap and asked him why he had left it there, but he had already removed one and this was a new gopher!


We must have made a dent in the population, as we saw only a few new tunnels after that. The technique was also limited by the short time in spring during which the tunnels are open. Since then our cats have been able to keep them from getting quite as out of hand as they were that year.
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Resources:
We have friends who swear by "Black Hole" and "Black Box" gopher traps as well. Here is information on a variety of Gopher traps and how to choose. 
For beautiful, durable and easy to assemble raised bed kits,(illustrated above) see: naturalyards.com
For natural outdoor yard and garden pests: Bird&Home.com
Natural Home and garden pest solutions: www.NaturalPestProductsStore.com
Source for traps for Gophers, moles and voles is www.traplineproducts.com. They also have instructional videos.