Grow Your Own

  This is the first of many posts that I will be doing about self reliance. They will be called "Grow Your Own". I am doing this because I realized that not every body knows how to garden in large or small spaces. AND they really don't know how to garden in what I call "no space". Most folks don't know how to collect water and purify it. Lots of people don't even know how to sew any more. In these uncertain   times we need to be way more self reliant, we need to know that if for some reason the stores in our towns all close or we get too poor to buy food and water we can at least produce some things ourselves. And even if nothing bad happens its really nice to not have to buy every thing. I have been an off and on gardener all of   my life and I can tell you that when I am growing at least some if not most of my food, I have been at my healthiest. I am by far no expert, but I know enough to pass on some vital skills that could save you some money, may be put you on the track to learn more, and may be even save your life.
   There are many books at your local library about organic gardening that you can check out for free. DO IT!! This will save you time and heart ache. Remember to check out some of the old books too, not just the newer fancy ones with all the photoshoped pictures in them. If you can, buy some organic gardening books to keep on hand. If you find some good ones NEVER LET THEM GO!!!!! Look up as many organic gardening web sites and blogs as you can stand. Also check out books about herbs and wild edibles. Keep these on hand if you can as well.

As you can see I am growing some wheat grass in an old cookie bin from Trader Joe's. I try to reuse any old container that is deep enough to plant stuff in. The container can be as shallow as 2 in. and as deep as a foot or more depending on what you want to grow. If you are just sprouting or growing a little wheat grass then use some thing that is 2 to 4 inches. If you want to grow something bigger use 4 inches and above. Right now we live in a 23 foot RV so we do not have much room, so we mostly grow wheat grass, various bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts. We hope to expand our little garden when we get a different R.V. I plan to grow some tomatoes,carrots, onions, spinach, lettuce, straw berries, herbs, and anything that I can fit into small containers and a small space. Plants are quite accommodating, if you give them good organic soil, water, and enough sun light, they will grow most any place.(have you ever seen plants growing in the cracks of a sidewalk or in an unkempt rain gutter?) Well if they can do that, then surly they can grow in a pot or even an old hub-cap with your loving care. Some places to learn about what plant types will grow good in the space and climate that you have are organic gardening books, organic gardening magazines and organic seed catalogs. Stuff like lettuce, spinach,  some herbs and straw berries can and like to grow in small spaces. They also have shallow roots so they can grow in as little as four inches of soil. A four foot by two foot area can grow a lot of salad greens. Just remember to use good soil, grow them in the cooler months and water them. Straw berries are perennials so if you take care of them and trans plant them every so often you'll have them for ever! As I said I will be expanding the garden when we get a new rig. And as I do so I will be posting what we are doing in hopes that it will inspire folks to take the time to grow some thing even if it's only just sprouts or a few veggies. Here's a link to the Sprout People's web site just in case you want to start out with sprouts.sproutpeople.org 

Hippie Dream Art

This is my logo that I designed for my art business. It's drawn on part of an old cereal box and filled in with color pencil and ink.
    I have been an artist all of my life and while I have sold lots of my work, I can never seem to find a way to sell enough to make a real living. May be my art is just for me and my freinds to injoy. Still I hope that some day I can find something good to do with my art and may be make a living too. 

This is a rock that I painted with glow in the dark paint. It's about the size of a quater. I got into painting rocks about five years ago when I lived in Wisconsen. I found no shortage of cool stones to decorate! I sold quite a few of these at the farmer's market before I had to move back to the west coast. I got hooked! I still paint them just not as many as I used to. I hav'nt been able to sell too many out here.

I call this one Bird Man. He glows in the dark too!

This horse rock is one of my favorites. I used glow paint on this one as well.

 OOhh! Look how tiny this litte guy is!

This is a canvas patch that can be stitched on to clothes or some thing. And yes it glows in the dark!

This is a really bad pic of a mural that I painted on my frind's candy store wall. It was only partly done at this point, but you can see that I can paint big stuff as well. Oh! and yes it glows in the dark!

I have many more paintings and works, many of them are way better. I will try to post more later I just need to take lots more photos.

I love being barefoot!

After many years of sore tired messed up feet and finding out that shoes just aren't getting any better, I decided to go barefoot. So last December I started going without shoes as much as possible. I figured the best way to get my feet tough was to just go for it even though it was winter time. It has been hard but my feet feel 200% better! My skin is as tough as nails and getting tougher all the time. My foot pads are getting thicker. My feet, legs, and abs are way more toned and strong. And believe it or not my feet look nicer then ever, (even with the dirt!) Oh! and best of all my feet don't hurt any more! *(unless I dance all night or some thing and unlike when I wear shoes a good nights sleep makes any minor discomfort go away)*
    Now I only wear shoes while at work or while in stores. And even then I cheat! I get away with wearing thin flip-flops or my homemade moccasins. I tried those " Five Finger" shoes and after trying three different styles of them I gave up and got my money back! I am still on the hunt for the perfect "minimalist" shoes for short extra wide feet who got bunions from shoes always fitting too tight. I'll spread the word when I find them. I've got a feeling that I will just have to make more moccasins when these ware out.
  So how did I do it? How did I start? Well I started with walking short distances. Like I would take a walk around the block or I would walk from the back of a parking lot to the front of a store at first. When I got good at that ( which only took a week or two) I started going longer distances. I always carry my flip-flops with me just in case there is a lot of glass on the ground or I want to pop into a store. In the beginning the flip-flops helped me take a brake when my skin got sore and I still had to walk. I try to walk on as many different kinds of surfaces as possible. Some things are still hard for me to walk on, like really rough gravel or old cracked asphalt. I have walked on broken glass many times of late (not on purpose) and only had one cut and one little piece stuck in my right fore foot. Now when I get cuts or holes in my feet they heal really fast, so I am usually back on track in no time.
  I have talked to some long time "bare footers" and they all say that it takes at least a year and a half to two years to be able to walk on nasty stuff  like sharp gravel or old rough cracked asphalt. They also say that some people never get used to it. We didn't have stuff like asphalt in the old days so it's not too surprising that it would be hard on bare feet. I hope that I am one of the lucky ones who will get used to walking on every thing. And since I live in California again I can walk with out shoes most of the time, save for a few weeks in late December and January. So there is lots of time for me to toughen my feet up.
  So here are some tips for starting out....

           1., as stated above start out slow, only walk short distances.
           2., some times skipping a day helps to build up your skin and foot pads- just like when you lift weights.
           3., step down, never drag your feet, you could get cuts on your feet.
           4., when you walk try to land on the middle of your foot not on your heel then "roll" on to your fore foot then push off with your toes.
           5., when you run, land on your fore foot and push off with your toes.
           6., always carry thin soled flip-flops with you just in case.
           7., make some soft moccasins or buy some minimalist shoes so you can keep working your muscles and building up your foot pads when you can't be totally barefoot.
           8., do your homework, read every thing that you can about bare footing.
           9., never give up keep doing it.
           10., have fun, try new surfaces all the time.
           11.,***WARNING! once you get good at it you might not ever want to wear shoes again!!***

                                                           ****HOMEWORK****
Here are some things that helped me out a lot (and still do) when I started out.
   The Society for Bare Foot Living's web site (they really know there stuff)! www.barefooters.org
   Living Bare Foot's web site, home of the Living Bare Foot Show. They also rate minimalist shoes which I found to be vary helpful livingbarefoot.info
   Birthday shoe's blog is a new one I found that rates alot  of minimalist shoes and has helpful tips and videos.www.birthdayshoes.com
   The Vibram shoes web site can be helpful if you want to check out their shoes.www.vibramfivefingers.com

My first post!

This is so cool! I hope that I can help people with my posts and keep it fun. .....Disclaimer.... I have poor spelling and writing skills so this might be hard to read at times. Still it's gonna be cool!! I am a self proclaimed "cave lady". I never comb my hair( I have dreadlocks) and I spend as much time as possable barefooted. I walk and do yoga. Also I am a huge health nut. I know lots about health and wellness. My friends are always picking my brain for info about herbs and organic foods. I am an artist who paints sculpts, sews, and draws. I also do many types of crafts. I have many more interests that I will write about later. I hope to keep you interested and informed when I post. Also I have many "factoids" that I write about please look up any thing that you think might be bunk. Who knows we might learn something togeather.  Untill next time......  Love, peace and light......Otter