I want to use this week to discuss something mildly holiday themed. There are all sorts of things out there that can kill us... vast lagoons of pig shit (to quote Al Franken), E. Coli, mad cow, and on and on. I wouldn't mind doing an expose piece on Peeps, because those things look like they are just wrong if you ask me. But that's depressing. Save it for a week that doesn't include 2 holidays at once.
Keep reading on the flip... (and as always, please recommend this diary if you think it is worthy)
One common theme between Passover and Easter is eggs. Eggs on the seder plate, and chocolate eggs laid by little bunnies. (You know, we wonder why the Christofascist zombie brigade won't recognize evolution, but if that's their grasp of biology then maybe it all makes sense.)
There have been two diaries on eggs already. One was mine, which talked about CAFOs (concentrated animal-feeding operations) and how they are wrecking rural communities. The other, by peterfredson, was a delightful anthropological look at the origins of the holiday Easter and the tradition of Easter eggs (and why on earth they come from bunnies!).
I thought I could go into debeaking as one topic and how to raise your own chickens as another. But the more I thought about it, the first lacks significance (unless you are PETA) and the second is more interesting and useful but I can't call myself an expert on it.
My experience in chicken-raising comes from my mom's preschool class. Every year she hatches eggs and brings the little chicks home before sending them to a local farm. My brother likes to name them things like "Drumstick" and "McNugget" and then invite his friends over "to see his cock." There are definitely others who can do the topic far more justice than I.
All I really have to contribute there is that it's possible, even in a suburban neighborhood. A friend has four chickens which she keeps in a tool shed that she converted to chicken coop all year round (in cold Wisconsin). One other thought: keeping chickens might be a bad idea if you live next door to a hungry dog. My mom's friend lost two hens and a rooster that way. I am absolutely crushed that Rodney the Rooster met such a gruesome end.
But this week I had an exciting experience. And that gave me a topic that ties into both holidays, and spring in general: Rebirth
I moved to a new townhouse a few weeks ago. This week a woman from the Homeowners Association (a.k.a. The Enemy) came over to tell me that I was breaking the rules. (In the old days, didn't the neighbors come over with cookies?)
She wasn't even sure what to call it. "Your... what is it... camepost? bin. Someone noticed it on your back patio. That's not allowed. It's in the bylaws." Well, I knew it was coming, anyway. I haven't read the bylaws but I had a hunch that anything I wanted to do would conflict with them.
I started the compost bin last year. I had never tried it before. Sure, I learned about it in elementary school on Earth Day or something, but my parents thought it was weird and gross. So did I, actually. But last year, after finding the statistic below, I decided to give it a go.
Taken from the United Nations World Environment Day website:
Composition of Municipal Solid Waste in US (2001)
In 2001, Americans produced 229 million tons of waste that consisted of:
Paper 35.7%
Yard Trimmings 12.2%
Food Scraps 11.4%
Plastics 11.1%
Metals 7.9%
Rubber, Leather and Textiles 7.1%
Wood 5.7%
Glass 5.5%
Other 3.4%
If we can compost or mulch our food scraps and yard trimmings, we could really reduce the amount of trash going to our landfills!
I wanted to find for you the amount spent nationally taking care of our landfills and put it next to the amounts spent on education and on Medicare and Medicaid. I could not find much that was useful - but the concept is no less valid. If we could achieve even a 5% reduction in trash going to the landfills (because there will never be a time when all people have the opportunity to compost or mulch their organic waste, given their living situations), we could put that money to better uses or put it back in the pockets of taxpayers.
A terrific all-purpose reference on composting can be found at Journey to Forever. However, I chose to follow the instructions at YouGrowGirl.com:
URBAN COMPOSTING
by Kelly Gilliam
Make this budget conscious compost bin for your deck or small outdoor space.
One benefit to having your own yard and garden is plenty of room. However, some of us live in tight apartments and are forced to have container gardens. Because of space, the urban dweller may conclude that composting is impossible. However, this doesn't have to be the case.
In my ongoing quest to take more control of my garden right down to the soil I use, I went on a hunt for information on how to make my own small-time composting bin. My initial inspiration was "urban EDEN" by Adam & James Caplin. Since I live in a small area, I don't require huge amounts of compost. I decided to make my own bin from a Rubbermaid container; it was dark, portable, easy to find and - most importantly - affordable. The following is an account of how I made my bin.
Please note that this how-to is for an outdoor container. It is small enough to fit on a balcony or around the side of a house if you are in a house suite.
Materials:
- Rubbermaid container (1 1/2 feet by 1 1/4 feet.)
- "Browns": Dead leaves, brown grass clippings, wood, sticks, shredded newspaper, dead plants, rice, pine needles
- "Greens": Fresh grass and other plant clippings, fruit and vegetable parts, coffee grounds (with or without filter), tea bags, wool, human hair
- Extra newspaper
- A good knife
1. Clean the Rubbermaid container, removing all stickers and labels. Take your knife and cut holes along the edges of the bin's lid, about 1 centimeter wide. I placed these about 3 centimeters apart. Next, cut a few holes in the middle of the lid. These holes will allow air and moisture to circulate.
2. Turn your bin over and cut some drainage holes (the water has to go somewhere, right?). I placed two slits in each corner, about a half-centimeter wide and 3 centimeters long. They should be big enough for drainage, but not enough to allow your compost to spill out.
3. Rip up your extra newspaper and put it in the bottom of the bin. The shreds should be no more than 1 inch thick, and should fill up the container about 5 to 6 inches.
4. Gather all your "browns." Place them on top of the newspaper. Your bin should be about one-third to one-half full.
5. Gather your "greens." Place these on top of your browns. Your compost bin should be almost full. Make sure to leave a little room at the top though.
6. Place your bin outside (if it isn't already there). If you must place it directly on a deck, a second extra lid can be placed underneath as a drip tray.
7. Water. Make sure it's damp, but not so wet that everything is floating around. If you live in a rainy climate, you can let nature take its course and wet your compost for you.
8. Wait.
9. In about 3-4 weeks, go out and give your compost a good turn. This will allow the microbes that are decomposing everything to spread around. Repeat every 3-4 weeks.
10. Within 6-8 months, you should have a brown, earthy-smelling mixture. That's your compost!
A few extra details on the instructions: your compost should be "vegan" - no meat, no eggs, no dairy. Don't add animal poop either, or diseased plants. And don't bring it inside because it can attract bugs, etc. Trust me though - you won't want to bring this inside.
I followed these instructions a year ago and put my big dirty bin on my apartment patio. I am sure the owners of my complex just loved me for it. They didn't say anything though, so I just left the bin out there and kept throwing leftover food scraps in it.
Moving this thing from my apartment to my new place was a treat. It was wet and smelly with a bunch of bugs in it. I tried to fit it into a garbage bag, but I couldn't. So I lined my backseat with newspaper, then with garbage bags, and then I lifted the very heavy bin up onto the seat and drove it over to my new place.
Today when my lovely neighbor told me I had to move it, I figured it was time to turn the compost before dragging the whole thing into the garage, since I hadn't done so all winter long. When I opened the box and put my shovel in there, I had recent leftovers of celery, cabbage, brown rice, etc, on top - but as soon as I dug a bit deeper, I found moist, black compost! I think I even saw a worm or two in there.
This shouldn't be such a revelation. Make a compost bin, wait a year, have some compost. But it's just mind-blowing to me. Seeing was believing I guess. Last year's leftovers are going to grow this year's herbs.
I really enjoyed being outside today. I've been hibernating since about October. Today was warm and breezy. I've spent the past five months bundling up in 4 layers (a camisole, a T-shirt, a sweater, and a sweatshirt) every single day. My dKos "Is it 2008 yet?" sweatshirt came off for the first time in MONTHS (I better get a "Is it 2008 yet?" T-shirt because I don't hate Bush any less just because I'm happy about the warm weather.). I even enjoyed getting my hands dirty in the mud.
Passover uses the symbolism of an egg to represent springtime and rebirth. According to peterfredson:
The Easter egg emanates from the oldest civilizations, where the egg symbol was part of myths of the creation of the world. According to this, heaven and earth were formed from the two halves of a mysterious World-Egg.
The Easter egg is associated with this World-Egg, the original germ from which people believed all life proceeds, and whose shell is the firmament. So there is a link between the egg and the ideas or feelings of birth, new life, and creation.
Madison is enjoying rebirth right now. Kids are outdoors playing baseball. My chives are growing already (I love perennials!). I've been riding my bike to work. My CSA sent out a mailing this week with news about our first boxes. And the Madison Farmer's Market (my favorite summer activity) starts up in a little under a week.
My bin is the right size for me, but if you have a partner or a family, you may need a larger area for your compost. Here is a site you might find useful to get started.
Another option is vermicomposting (vermi=worms). I didn't go with this option, mainly because after reading up on it, I couldn't deal with the idea of worm poop. A few sites with info and instructions are the EPA website and Journey to Forever.
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Holiday Recipes
I'll be honest: I have no idea what people eat on Easter. Other than peeps and ham, both of which I won't touch. So here are a couple of nice Passover dishes that are delicious enough to eat any time (not just Passover) by anyone (not just Jews).
Apple Walnut Charoset
I had a Passover party last year (we skipped the seder but ate all the food - and definitely drank the 4 glasses of wine) and I made this for my friends. They liked it so much that now I serve it as an hors d'ouvre year-round.
This is my family's recipe, but if you surf the net, you can find exotic charoset recipes from all over the world.
Prep time: 30 min; Total time: 30 min
Ingredients
- 6 peeled apples, coarsely chopped
- 2/3 c. chopped walnuts
- 3 tbsp sugar, sucanat, or honey (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon - just enough to keep the apple from turning brown
- 4 tbsp sweet red wine
- 1/2 c. raisins
- Matzoh
Combine all, mixing thoroughly. Add wine as needed. Blend to a course, crunchy texture. Chill. Serve with matzoh.
Sweet Potato Tsimmes
I am extremely lazy when I cook sweet potatoes. I wrap them up in a dish towel and microwave them for about 5-8 minutes (until you can easily stick a fork into them). Much quicker than boiling them until they are soft. Just make sure you don't leave them in the microwave too long - learned that the hard way and it wasn't pretty.
Ingredients
- 8 c. sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, & cut into large chunks
- 2.5 carrots, peeled & cut into chunks
- 1 c. orange juice
- 1/2 c. locally produced honey (vegans use agave nectar)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Dots of butter, Earth Balance, or vegetable oil
Put veggies in a 13x9x2 inch pan. Mix honey or agave nectar, OJ, cinnamon, and salt and pour over veggies. Dot with butter or Earth Balance. Bake at 350 F covered in foil for 30 minutes. Remove and stir. Return to oven for 20 min.