Oliver Casson-Gary

Hello Kitchen Commander Oliver here, you might have seen some of my work posted around, keeping everyone fed up here on the Lab. With a month of wofati workshops coming up I am going to be doing a lot of large meals (15-25 heads) just wanted to get some fresh and frugal ideas in to add to my repertoire.

Some rough brainstorming has left me with:
-Red Beans and rice
-Chicken fried rice
-pasta salads
-Spag and sauce
-chicken and mazto soup
-leek and tater soup

Looking for paleo, gluten and dairy-free options but I am open to any and all ideas

Thanks,
Oliver

Cats and Dogs

I would like to make an addendum to my review, concerning the buckwheat hulls themselves. I am prone to slight hay-fever and seasonal allergies and as an asthmatic and a face-plant style sleeper after a few nights sleeping on the hulls triggered a reaction. While known as a hypoallergenic option they are known to trigger an allergic reaction in some. I must recommend if you do have a history of asthma or allergies in general, try one of the sample pods to test your reaction or visit your allergist and test for a buckwheat allergy. While I truly love the support and comfort of the buckwheat brings me, this was not the best way to discover I have a slight buckwheat sensitivity.

A hipster friend of mine lives across the street from this project in Brooklyn and is part of their CSA and is always raving about it so I figured I'd share. Plus I think time-lapse of plants growing is so awesome to watch.


Video

This 7-month time lapse documenting the first full growing season at the Brooklyn Grange's farm in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Not exactly permaculture plantings but it goes to show what we can do with all that space on our rooftops in urban areas.

http://brooklyngrangefarm.com/

Let me preface this with the fact: I love sleep. Often I wake up in the morning and can't wait to get some more! Upon arriving at Wheaton Laboratories and checking into the bunk room as the final arrival I was designated one of the top bunks. And after one night on a well worn spring mattress I knew it was time to find some kind of padding or cushion, something to reunite me with a good nights sleep. So I began my search for a mattress topper that meets Paul's standards for natural and organic.

A big thanks to the folks over at OpenYourEyesBedding.com they were kind enough to offer one of their Organic Muslin Mattress Toppers and a big sack of buckwheat hulls.



First impressions are the most important and there's something very fun about a giant bag of buckwheat hulls and plunging your hands into them!



The topper itself is broken down into four compartments with neatly stitched velcro seals to be filled with buckwheat to the density you prefer. Funnel not included, but an empty vinegar jug did the trick. I like a fairly firm mattress for support around my middle and lower back and a little more give around my shoulders and head and with the malleability of buckwheat hulls and individualized compartments I was able to fill each to provide the firmness zones I needed.



After the first few nights I am very pleased. The topper is quite comfortable and the hulls also provide unique sleeping surface akin to memory foam but with more support and firmness. Even if roll over or change positions a little wriggling can set the hulls to my new position. The natural materials provide and all around sleep experience, the smell of the buckwheat wafts through the sheets, which I really enjoy, as well as a light rustling of leaves which is very soothing.

Being a part of the generation of factory-made and potentially toxic products it was a revelation to me at the comfort that comes from a product made from all natural and renewable materials. So if you are looking for an all natural organic mattress, a topper or body pillow I highly recommend you check out OpenYourEyesBedding.com and look at some of their unique sleep solutions and try out one of their sample pods.

via Reddit from b3ta.com

An Ant Queen's life span is 7-20 years...worker ants average 5 weeks

I found this website a few days ago and I think it is one of the most beautiful collections of humanity. Humans of New York

If running an antivirus software does not help the next step I would take is to restore the computer to a backup long before the adware infected the system....if that doesnt work booting in safe mode and running the antivirus software from a usb...If the problem persists let me know, I have had to disinfect my own PC too many times to count and there are some more thorough and extensive ways to virus hunt. As far as security AVG Anti-Virus is what I have used to my past machines and I have always paid for a subscription to a full service. With AVG you get a whole slew of other services for personal security and virus protection for your machine and the resource usage is fairly low

Brian Jacques "Redwall" series is probably one of my all time favorites. All of the characters are personified animals, Warrior King Badgers, legendary mouse warriors, pirate rat, stoats and weasels. One of the key focuses is the community and how we can move forward together through anything. At times a bit hokey, and not the most challenging read, but high in medieval action and drama and many books in the series. I have read several more than once.