Oi there dears! Happy Friday! It’s the weekend again, and that means it’s time for comments, critiques, thoughts, support, and suggestions.

So what’s been on your brain? Which section of the site would you like to see expanded? (the food? the fashion? the farm?) What would you like to attempt as your next Monday Monthly Mission??

Every weekend the Feedback Forum remains at the top of the page, so you can check back in and have your say. If you’ve got an idea or a question or you just want to introduce yourself and say ‘Oi!’, come back here to do it!

And as always, have the most wonderful weekend!

On the first Monday of every month, we take on a ‘mission’ – a shift or habit or inspiration – to work on together. There’s strength (and support) in numbers! On the last Thursday of the month, we reconvene to see how far we’ve come.


This month’s mission was for the ladies, a challenge to switch from chemical-laden disposables to eco-friendly re-usables. I was overwhelmed by the positive response – further proof that my open-minded readers are ready to blaze the trail of this great green revolution. Many were way ahead of me, and those that weren’t there yet, were certainly willing to try. Seriously, you guys amaze me!

But for me, things didn’t go quite according to plans. Due to some wily ex-birth control, I no longer cycle regularly, and this month didn’t present the ‘opportunity’ for experiments. I’d been hoping to try a Diva Cup, but that’ll have to wait. Ah well.

I can provide a review of the lovely cloth pads I’d already purchased and tested. I used Lotus Pads because they’re local and carried by my co-op, but I feel I can use my experience to accurately assess cloth pads in general.




I love these! Firstly, it seems like common sense now in retrospect, but hello!?, soft cotton is SO much more comfy that scratchy bleached paper. These feel so lovely, like giving yourself a bit of extra pampering during an otherwise often-uncomfortable time of the month. So nice!

And secondly, it’s so much easier than I’d imagined. No messy wrestling with unmentionable issues, just a simple reverse fold technique (explained in the product instructions), a dunk in cold water to minimize stains, and you’re good to go until laundry day.

My one complaint is their palate and patterns. Definitely not my style, but I suppose it’s a minor quibble in the grand scheme of sustainable living. Not enough to turn me off, that’s for sure!

So what about you guys? What were your experiences, adventuring into this brand new territory?

No but really, these are the best. Like, ever.

I don’t even love almond that much, but I was out of vanilla extract at 11 o’clock at night, with sandwich cookies on the brain. Something had to be done.

And thus, I stumbled upon these babies in a fit of culinary creativity. Simple, exquisite, and still my favorite cookie almost a year after their inception.

My non-vegan neighbors just had a baby (yay!), and I whipped up a batch of these for the homecoming. A few days after dropping them off, I got this Facebook message from brand-new-Dad, “— has a baby asleep in her lap, otherwise she says about your cookies: nom nom nom, best cookies, nom nom nom . . . ”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Cookie Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup Earthbalance™ or margarine

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup alternative milk

handful vegan chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Earthbalance

2 teaspoon plain alternative milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, cream the Earthbalance™ and sugars. Combine with the almond and soy milk, mixing well.

Pour the wet into the dry and add the chocolate chips, stirring until it just comes together.  Spoon the dough onto a lined sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how big you’re making them. Pull them out still a bit soft – they’ll harden up as they cool off.

Cool the cookies on a mesh rack. When they are completely cooled (at least an hour), match them up in pairs by size and shape. For each pair, frost the bottom of one and then smoosh the other on top. SMOOSH!

Enjoy!

photo from NC Times

It was 108º in Portland today.

108º with no AC, third floor bedrooms, and a house under construction.

So you know what? Sometimes it’s okay to lay out stripped to your skivvies in your living room, splayed like snow angels to maximize surface area, slurping ice water and . . . definitely . . . not . . . working.

What can you do?

One of my sunnies, towering over the compost bin. (it’s over 5 ft now!)

It’s already been a month since my last garden update, and things are really hoppin’ now! I’ve written a bit about my early haul, but the real goods are just beginning to manifest. I can’t wait! Here’s what’s going on:

Remember my little corn from a month ago? They were less than 6 inches then, but now they’re as high as pygmy-elephant’s thigh (is this a reference that anyone will catch? Is anyone a geek like me?).

The wee corns, end of June.

Corn that’s as high as a hound doggies eye (if said doggie would stand up straight!)

You can see the tire towers there, and we’ve taken the stack up to five tires. From now till harvest it’s just a waiting game. Cross your fingers!

The final pile: 5 tires apiece, 3 varieties of taters.

At the far end of the yard lies my favorite raised bed. Five weeks ago my ‘matoes were off to an awesome start, and they’ve just continued the awesome. They’re flowering and fruiting like crazy these days – I’ve never had such success. (fingers crossed!) I’m growing some green zebras, some goldens, red cherries, 3 heirloom stems I rescued from the nursery’s free pile, and a whole ton of plain ol’ straight up red slicers. SO excited!

In late June, they hadn’t grown over the cage yet.

Now, exploding out all over the place!

I think that these are some cherries.

Alongside the tomatoes are the cucumbers, a whole bunch I planted with pickling intentions. They’re starting to form little fruits right now, and it’s maybe the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Seriously, so adorable.

The cucumber vines, flanked by dill (left) and heirloom tomatoes (right).

My first and biggest cuke, about the size and shape of a small lemon.

Most of them look like this. Less than an inch long. There are TONS!

And last but not least, those pumpkins I transplanted mid Jun. Not too many of them made it, but the few that did are just beginning to take off. I’m taking good care of them, and have high hopes for Jack-O-Lanterns and pumpkin pie come fall.

The little bugger right after the big move.

Branching out and starting to creep, like a good little pumpkin should!

So that’s about it, my dears. I’m still harvesting beets and berries, and drying out snow peas to save the seeds. My broccoli has all bolted in this unbearable heat (over 100º today, hello?!), but I’ll start another batch for fall. In fact, it’s time to start thinking of fall garden prep, but we’ll save that for another time.

So, what are you growing, and how is it going?