G Freden

This time of year, trying to do it on my own:  probably not going to get far.  Enlisting some help (I can usually collar my teenage son, or sometimes husband):  better.  

I was at my kitchen sink and saw this out the window, having a munch on my grapevine:  an elephant hawk moth caterpillar.  Evidently they are common?  But this is the first time I've ever seen one and was seriously amazed at its size.

Judith Browning wrote: a scrubber thingy for my scalp...I have always liked to use a dog brush (I don't share) for my hair and head...hard headed I guess🙄

Is the scrubber an actual dog brush or is it something else?  Intrigued!

I did resort to using corn starch dry "shampoo" a couple times while transitioning.  Shake it on scalp, massage in, comb out well (don't let it get wet!).  It certainly mopped up the extra grease in my case.  

About once a year or so I still do a vinegar rinse, to counter the hard water we have here.  I know to use it when my dry hair doesn't look clean and bouncy after my water wash.  The first time this happened, post- no-poo, I actually tried to shampoo my hair and it got worse:  it was still limp/greasy looking but very frizzy and dry at the ends.  

I haven't used soap or shampoo in years.  I think I must be closing in on 20 years;  when I initially made the no poo switch it took about two months and I had long hair and it was gross.  I wore a bandana constantly.  So all I can say is, it might take a while!  

Does Permies have an AI policy?  

I have chickens and ducks who get free range access under my trees which has helped, though not eliminated it.  In my view, the maggots don't really render the fruit useless;  I cut them open and wash them out.  Obviously this won't work if I'm selling the plums (I'm not);  for personal use, I'm fine with it.

I've also noticed that my maggoty plums ripen first and the clear ones ripen a few weeks later.  This second ripening are the ones I usually give away.

This is my plot in Cornwall. I have only had it for a couple of months most of which has been spent cutting back weeds, very little of what I planted grew but the potatoes that volunteered seem happy.  

When my teenage son and I were forking over my newly harvested potato bed about a week ago, removing couch grass and runners, another allotmenter asked what were we harvesting?  Grass:  I grow the most lovely grass!  

Actually we had a good crop of Charlotte potatoes too  

I wanted to bring this thread back to life with another suggestion:  make chard into namul.  Cook the leaves to the desired texture, then immediately plunge into cold water to stop them cooking any more.  Once cool, drain them and then grab a handful and start squeezing all the water out--get it as dry as you can.  Once it's all compressed, chop the leaves and season with a touch of soy sauce and vinegar and then a more generous splash of sesame oil.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired, and serve chilled or at room temp.

I make this a lot in the spring and summer, with all sorts of leafy vegetables including chard and beet greens.  Also things like radish tops and broccoli leaves, though they required a lot longer cooking time than the chard.

My food processor and blender can't pulverise most dehydrated things into powder--I had really wanted to make tomato powder  one year, but no go.  Maybe my stone mortar and pestle would, but I'm a little low on elbow grease!  I like to dehydrate greens when I have too many;  blanched first if they are fibrous like cabbage, but for softer leaves like nasturtium and chard I just dry them as is in my electric dehydrator.  In fact, before I had the dehydrator, I would string soft leaves up using a needle and thread and dry them in a garland hanging from my kitchen ceiling.  It took longer and they didn't keep their colour as well, but I didn't mind.  It was free