Saturday, February 28, 2009

My first hydroponic gardening attempt

I've been having a big problem with excessive algae in my fish pond for the last few years (global warming?). I've read numerous article, talked to people at garden shops, added plants (most died, the fish ate the others, 3 remain), added algae eaters (they froze and didn't eat enough of it), added salt, changed the water every 3 days for a month, and probably some other things I can't think of anymore. Everything except chemicals. Nothing I've done has made a bit of difference, so this time I want to try to reduce the oxygen in the water with plants and herbs I can actually eat.

Theoretically this should work. The fish are producing enough nitrogen that I shouldn't have to add any supplements, and the additional plants should draw the oxygen from the water thereby reducing the amount available for the algae to propagate.

I started with a variety of Basil, mixed Japanese greens, Catnip, and Lettuce. I have no idea how any of these will adapt to growing in water, but I think I should be able to find a good variety for a long term garden. I was planning to mark the progress by taking a picture each day, but sadly, not much happened overnight.

Today, however, on day 2 a couple of the Rapid Rooters already have sprouts in the Japanese mixed greens row.

How exciting! Sphere: Related Content

2-28-2009 Austin TX Petland protest











Lots of new people showed up at the protest today. We had 10-12 students from the UT SETA chapter. Also, four representatives from the PETA2 campus tour were in town, heard about our protest and came out on their day off! They'll be in Ft Worth next week, so if you're doing a protest, let them know on peta2.com. Maybe they'll join you, too. Go Veg!

There was a little excitement when 3 of the students decided to go onto the median between the access road and IH-35. A police SUV pulled up with lights flashing to tell them it was too dangerous to be there. One crossed easily, but two of them were very tentative and missed what I thought were at least 10 opportunities to cross back. The policeman finally had mercy on them and ran interference while they came back. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Some of the many reasons I hate my job


I work at a very old-fashioned flower shop. They have computers, but only use them with the proprietary FTD and Teleflora software. No internet. This is a big problem because a lot of orders come from their website.

Here's how it works: A customer goes to the website and looks through the photos of arrangements provided to every FTD or Teleflora member shop and orders an arrangement. The order comes to me as TFWEB-523 for Teleflora or B3-4169 for FTD. (I just made those numbers up, but there is an actual arrangement on the Teleflora website with that number.) Instead of pulling up the photo on one of the 5 computers in the shop, I search through a stack of workbooks to find out what the arrangement looks like. Sometimes I pull it up on my phone, but I always have to look it up. That's how it works.

The photo above is an arrangement I made today, not a copy of an FTD or Teleflora arrangement. It has lavender Stock (smells good), purple Tulips, lavender Daisy Poms, purple Monte Cassino, pink Waxflower (also smells good), and Springerii (the greenery). The order was for a lush European style arrangement.

Another way the shop is old-fashioned is that they do not carry a wide variety of flowers. It's strictly the basics, which is not very inspiring. The owners have a preference for Carnations, Daisies, Gerbera Daisies, Gladiola, Statice, Babies Breath (GAG!), Roses, and Lilies. They throw in a few bunches of Tulips, Alstromeria, Stock, Snapdragons, Waxflower, Misty Limonium, Bells of Ireland, Delphinium, Sunflowers, and Hydrangea and that's about it. It may sound like a lot of different flowers to someone who is not a florist, but trust me when I say it's not.

The selection of greenery is also limited. I'll spare the break down, but we have about 6 different varieties for a few days, then it's back to Leather Leaf fern and Wide Leaf Emerald (which they call "funeral greens"). For funeral sprays, their preference is an oval shape with mostly Carnations, a big bow in the center (really big) and a bow on each of the legs of the easel.

I made a beautiful spray when I first started (not the one in the picture), I think I had been there less than a week and the order was about $150. It was for a man, so I used all primary colors (red, blue, and yellow). It had a cluster of red Gladioli at the top, slightly to the left. The middle had sunflowers in a diagonal line across the center from the right, down to the left. The lower section had Belladonna Delphinium echoing the line of the Gladioli. I used Springerii to create a cascading effect just below the Sunflowers and also wove it through them to give the illusion of depth and texture. Just between the Gladioli and the Sunflowers I cut the Wide Leaf to make little loops and stacked them along the line above the Sunflowers. It sort of made me think of a river running through a landscape and balanced the Springerii cascade on the other side. (These loops are sometimes used to make faux Roses - if you can imagine a greenery sculpture that looks like a flower, that's what it is). Again, this technique created depth and texture. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't know the owner would freak out the way she did.

As I said, I had just started working there. I am a Master Florist and not only studied art in college, but have also taken advanced floral design classes from some of the best designers in the country. Working with leaves, plaiting, weaving, and sculpting are techniques I learned from Phil Ruilloda, not from his book or video, from him. In person. The techniques I used in this spray are the type of design you would see in a magazine.

I finished the spray, put the ticket in the delivery box and started on the next order. A few minutes later the driver had it loaded and was ready to leave. The owner of the shop came over and asked if I had put a bow on the spray. I said, "No, it doesn't need one".

She got visibly upset, grabbed a pre-made bow, rushed outside, pulled the spray out of the van, and tried to find a place to put the bow. I almost started crying. I had just created a sympathy tribute that I would be proud to exhibit at an event filled with professional floral designers and she wanted to put a smashed up, dusty bow on it. I was devastated. I tried to calm down and continued making the arrangements on my stack of tickets.

About 2 hours later the driver returned. I pulled her aside and said, "Please tell me you took that bow off before you took delivered it".

She laughed and said, "She didn't put it on. She couldn't find a place for it". I was relieved, but also saddened that high quality design and creativity were not going to be appreciated at this shop.

That was almost 3 months ago and I usually do the type of boring generic arrangements that take skill, but absolutely no talent to make. I am no longer the boss in my own shop, just an employee paid to make what these people want made. I get so frustrated, though, that every few days I make something I like. I call it "going rogue". The same driver referenced above calls it "getting fancy" because this is her first job in a flower shop and before I started, the boring stuff was all she had ever seen.

My hope is that the economy will start to turn around so I can find investors to help me open my next flower/chocolate shop so I can create the type of designs that are impressive, not just because you received flowers, but that are truly well put together. I'm sure there will be many posts on why I hate this job, but I also hope there is some humor in the absurdity of it all. I actually laugh now when I think of her running outside with the bow. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday is baking day

Some people may believe that people who don't eat meat or animal products are more interested in a healthy meal than something that tastes good. Let me dispel that notion right now. If you've grabbed a vegetarian meal from the frozen food aisle in your local grocery store, you may have gotten that idea. I'm thinking of one brand in particular. I won't name them, because some people may actually like bland, boring food with a weird texture. I don't happen to be one of them.

I usually bake something on Sunday. Sometimes it's only one thing, sometimes more than one. It's usually some kind of energy/snack bar that I can nibble on while I'm working before and after lunch. Today I made a tray of strawberry, apple, blueberry bars with chocolate on top. Have I mentioned I love chocolate?

The image on the right is the whole tray before it went into the oven. The image below is ready to eat.

vegan strawberry apple blueberry bars:
1 lb strawberries
6 oz blueberries
2 Granny Smith apples
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tbs baking soda
2 tbs baking powder
2 tbs vinegar
2 tbs vanilla
2 tbs cinnamon

chocolate topping:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/8 cup water
2 tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Mix sucanat, vanilla, cinnamon, olive oil, vinegar, and water together in a large bowl. Cut strawberries and apples to the size you like. (I make them pretty small so I can get a little of everything in each bite.) Add the chopped fruit and whole blueberries to the liquid mixture and mix well. Add the dry ingredients (flour, oatmeal, flax seed, wheat germ, baking powder and soda) until you have a consistency a little thicker than pancake batter. If you need to add more water, do it now. Spread it out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. The baking time will vary based on the liquidity of the batter. Remove from oven when the top is springy to the touch.

After the bars are ready, add cocoa powder, sucanat, olive oil, and water into a mixing bowl and mix into a frosting paste. Spread over top of bars after they have cooled for about 10 minutes. Move to freezer to set the frosting for about 30 minutes. You can cut them now, or move them to the refrigerator and slice off the size you are hungry for.

A word of caution: these are not low in calories and may lead to a preference for vegan baked goods. Sphere: Related Content

Farfalle with sun dried tomatoes and Basil

I was told the picture of my cat food is gross, so I took a picture of my dinner last night. It was so good I'm thinking of having it again today.

1 cup garden farfalle or your favorite pasta
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Basil (as much as you like - I like a lot)
ground peppercorn (again as much as you like)
ground chili pepper (as much as you like)

Cook pasta as per directions on package. While it's cooking mash the garlic with a fork or garlic press, then add pepper, chili pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Cut sun dried tomatoes into strips (or however you like them) and add to the marinade. Toss in pasta and stir until each is coated. The whole meal takes only as long to make as the pasta takes to boil. Quick, easy and really tasty.

After posting, I realized I should add a caveat: all of my measurements are approximate.

Being vegan I cook about 95% of the food I eat, but only measure about 10% of the time. This usually works for me and the only time I do try to be exact are with recipes for bread. I bake a lot, and bread is tricky. I have made several loaves that could easily be used as bricks, so I've learned that whatever molecular magic takes place in the oven should be treated as the chemistry it is. With everything else, I just use the amount I think will work. If you decide to make any of my recipes just keep in mind that it's your meal, you should make it taste the way you like it. If I like Basil and you like Oregano, use Oregano. Sphere: Related Content

2-21-2009 Austin Petland protest

austin tx protesters speak out against petland and puppy millsaustin tx protesters speak out against petland and puppy mills








We had a good turn out at the Petland protest yesterday. The regulars (me, Jeanne, Pat, and Jennifer) were joined by 3 of the UT SETA members, and Julia and Natalia showed up at the end. Very good, considering Jennifer was a little late (she got side-tracked by a pet supply sale) and Jeanne, Pat and I thought it would just be the three of us. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, February 20, 2009

Cat food making night

It always sneaks up on me and I hate to do it, but I set up the grinder and made some food for the cats tonight. It's really gross and every time I do it I wonder how anyone could possibly think this is something they should eat.

My cat food recipe:
8 lbs chicken thighs
2 lbs chicken hearts
2 lbs chicken livers

Put it all through a grinder, separate into 3 containers, and put them into the freezer. Actually I do put all 3 into the freezer, but since I usually wait until they are completely out of food, one only stays in about 3 hours. Cats shouldn't eat frozen food because it can upset their stomach. Believe me when I say this is the type of food you don't want to have to clean up if they throw it up.

Mm-mm, yummy, right? Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My neighbor Patricia

I came home from work early today, stopped at the grocery store, and arrived to find my next door neighbor's door wide open with a van loading her belongings. She committed suicide Sunday night. She was one of only two neighbors with whom I talked with any regularity beyond the perfunctory greeting. She was in her eighties, though I don't remember her exact age.

I was shocked, although when I left for work yesterday her newspapers were outside her door along with an envelope with her daughter's name on it. I grabbed the papers, tossed them into my apartment, briefly wondered why she didn't ask me to get them like she usually does when she is away, and went to work as usual. Today's paper was outside when I left this morning, but I still didn't put the pieces together even though the note with her daughter's name was gone. I thought maybe she had gone to the hospital and left a key or something in the envelope.

She and I both fed the feral apartment cats and she mentioned several times in the year and a half I knew her how she wasn't sure how long she would be around and didn't want them to be dependent on her. She said she was glad I and another neighbor also fed them.

I hadn't seen her in several weeks, which isn't unusual, but the last time I did I had just put some food out for the ferals and she was on her way somewhere. She stopped and we chatted while they ate. I noticed absolutely nothing out of the ordinary and she said nothing about wanting to die. Her daughter said she had talked of suicide for the last twenty years and even bought a book telling how to do it. She bought a helium tank that came with balloons, put a plastic bag over her head, a tube in her mouth, and turned it on.

I'm really going to miss her. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Changing my focus

I haven't blogged in a very long time, 2006 actually. I'm ready to start again, this time, however, it won't be primarily about politics. I am still a political junkie, but other aspects of my life are far more interesting (hopefully) than my political observations. So, the focus of this blog has changed, effective today, to commentary on my everyday life.

I'll start by re-introducing myself as an animal welfare activist, a vegetarian of 22 years, a vegan of 7 months (though I ate a little cheese yesterday and got sick - won't be doing that again!), a survivor of thyroid cancer, the oldest child in my family and first grandchild, an adult child of alcoholic parents, and an entrepreneur. I volunteer with a group called the Spay Austin Coalition advocating spay/neuter as the most effective long term solution to the animal overpopulation problem. Every year more than 13,000 dogs and cats are killed at the Town Lake Animal Center here in Austin, TX simply because they have no human to take them home. The killing of animals is basically a full time job paid for by the taxpayers. One of my goals is to make this job obsolete.

I became vegetarian shortly after I had my thyroid removed in 1986. I don't know if it had anything to do with the radiation treatments or if it was just a personal decision. I was always really picky about meat and would leave pieces of it on my plate called "thingies" that I refused to eat. It made my mother furious, but maybe it was an early sign that as an adult I would refuse to eat it altogether.

I've been living without a thyroid gland since the day before my 19th birthday, which will be the topic of lots of posts, I'm sure, because it is creating some health problems for me now, 22 years later. The most annoying is that I have a form of arthritis called gout which is usually found in people who eat a high fat, high protein meat based diet and those who are obese. I fall into neither of those groups, but I have it nonetheless. It used to be mainly in my fingers and toes, now it is severely affecting my right shoulder.

My goal with this blog is to share my experiences, get feedback from others, and maybe even help someone going through the same or similar trials and tribulations in their life. I'm hoping to use this outlet as a way to come to terms with some of the things that have affected me (over which I had no control as well as those if my own making), and find peace with the person I have become.

I'll leave it at this for today, but I will commit to posting at least 3 times a week, with the goal of a daily post. Who knows? Maybe I'll get really into it and make several short dailies. Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll re-visit soon. Sphere: Related Content