Wonkybusker

Gotta Love Affiliate Programs

I got paid by Amazon this morning. :) Why? Because any time anyone clicks on the Amazon link on the left side of my blog and purchases something, I get 10%. Woot! I consider this blog to be a hobby and therefore do not have the expectation of making a profit off of it, but it's still really nice when my costs are defrayed a bit.

What else is going on? I'm looking forward to the end of summer. The gourmet club meets soon. We've been lucky enough to get together with old friends recently. We're slowly making the paving stones for what will be our patio. Oh, and I'm trying to train Loki to do some tricks, but it's proving difficult.

All Natural Convert

I read an interesting article in Slate today about shampoo and all the unnecessary chemicals we dump on our hair on a regular basis.

It wasn't exactly surprising, as everything these days seems to be full of things that turn out to be awful for us and awful for the environment. However, a girl's gotta wash her hair. And turning to dish soap, as the writer of the article does, for my hair care just isn't a step I'm currently willing to take. However, I think I've found an alternative. A friend recently introduced me to Lush, a store with all-natural cosmetics. They have a shampoo bar made from nettles which I love. It's a bit expensive, but it lasts for 80 washes, travels easily, and has no bottle or wrapper to throw out or recycle. And while the article argues that hair doesn't need to smell good to be clean, I do love the subtle scent of the shampoo bar. I'm such a convert that I'm thinking of getting the conditioner bar as well.

My Healthcare Reform Two Cents

I must admit, I'm growing tired of the healthcare reform debate.  I would welcome a discussion, which we desperately need, about what we as a people fundamentally want from health care, starting from the ground up.  If we were to take the insurance companies with their lobby money out of the equation, get rid of the lies that are flying around, and actually talk like decent human beings without burning other people in effigy, we might actually get somewhere.  It's a complicated issue that needs a well-thought-out response.  This isn't just about your health care, it's about doing what's best for everybody.

We currently have social Darwinism.  The fittest (i.e. those who have jobs, money, and health) survive and the rest, well, don't.  Or if they survive, it's not with a decent quality of life, whether they are unwell or bankrupt.  I hope we can cobble together a majority of people who agree that this is not fair. We all deserve a shot at a healthy, happy life.  Our healthcare system needs to change.  While we may disagree on what needs to happen to it, I hope we can agree on that.

So what should happen?  How do we use our limited healthcare resources?  How do we make sure that everyone gets needed care while cutting out unnecessary care and unreasonable expenses?  Personally, I do believe the Obama plan is a start.  It's a compromise, but some progress is better than no progress.

What do you think?

Garden Results

Our first year of gardening was an experiment.  We now have a good idea of what works and what doesn't.  Next year, the plan is to double the veggie garden, expand the herb garden, and hopefully get some fruit from the bushes and trees we planted last spring.

Our tomatoes are amazing.  We've harvested 15 tomatoes so far (to be fair, 6 of those have been cherry tomatoes) and there are lots more tomatoes on the vine that will be turning red soon.  I think we have 8 or 9 tomato plants and next year we will definitely plant more.  Although we'll need to figure out what to do with all those tomatoes.  We may have to take up canning.

The summer squashes were also successful.  We've had 5 yellow squashes and 5 zucchinis so far.  I can see more growing on the vines.  In addition, there are also 2 acorn squashes growing.  We have 2 eggplants that are getting pretty big and one more that is forming, but so far none have been big enough to harvest.

On the not so successful side, we got 3 cucumbers before all 4 plants wilted and died.  After some research, it seems that they got infected.  We'll have to make sure to try to keep the leaves dry next year.  The cucumbers we were able to harvest were fantastic.  The pole beans haven't done much, although they're finally flowering, so we may get something eventually.  We don't have any melons so far, but we do have flowers on those as well, so we'll see how that goes.

As far as herbs, we have lots of basil and will definitley be making pesto at the end of the season.  We also have healthy thyme, rosemary, and sage plants that I'm hoping will winter outside.  And the oregano is looking healthy, although it hasn't grown much.

I know you were just dying for an update on my garden. :)  I figure if I write it down here, it will jog my memory for next year's planting.  Next, I'm going to start planting some fall crops like spinach and cabbage.  Oh, and if anyone has ideas on recipes for summer squash and tomatoes, I'm all ears!  I think I may try a Greek zucchini pie soon.