Gardens Will Save the World

Have you ever had a garden? If yes, awesome! If no, I'm with you, friends. But over the past year, I have become utterly convinced that gardens will save the world. So this spring, I'm planting one. I'm going to go through the process step by step, with beginner instructions on how to do everything as it comes along.

I have the privilege of being guided by a master gardener, my boyfriend. (Hey boyfriend!) Because you may not know anyone who is a gardening buff, I am here to relate my learning experience to you, in the simplest way. So stay tuned for posts that start with the word "garden" (and every other post). :)

WHY GARDENS WILL SAVE YOU & THE WORLD 

1. A garden will save your wallet. Less trips to the grocery store means less money spent on gas and less time in the car. Now if you must spend time in the car and you happen to abhor it, please see this post. Also, you can grow fresh, organic produce in your yard/balcony, and pay a fraction of what it would cost at the store. Anything you don't eat during the growing season, you can preserve and enjoy in colder months.
2. A garden will save your health in two ways :)
1. Food. I'm assuming that if you grow vegetables, you will at least try eating them, right? The overwhelming message from doctors is to eat more whole produce. Just Google it. Honestly, I don't think that your main source of food should be from a processing plant. Is it even food if it has so many unknown ingredients in it? You can also avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides typically found in/on commercial produce.
2. Exercise. Maintaining a garden involves moving around. You'll be required to go outside and *gasp* even get some vitamin D while you're at it. Getting exercise by gardening has an advantage over going to the gym--you're getting fresh air rather than stale air. And no one is watching you. Except for GoogleEarth.
3. A garden will save your taste buds. Raise your hand if you know what kabocha is. You are missing out, my friend. It's a delicious squash, and while you may not like squash, there are so many varieties of all kinds of vegetables, you are bound to be astonished that these things even exist. Stores only carry a few varieties at most. You can grow a tomato that is so scrumptious, you can bite into it as a snack. You probably don't believe me. Please try.
4. A garden will save your social life. Make your garden a social project too. Get a couple of friends or family members on board. You can learn and share knowledge together. You can also split up the labor. Even better, recruit some kids. Your children, younger cousins, neighbors, etc. are the next generation. If we spread the awesomeness of gardening to them too, we'll be in even better shape for the future.
5. A garden will save the earth. This is the big one. So big I have to split it up! :)
1. Less garbage. This works in multiple ways. First, you can compost produce you eat now to make (yes, literally make) dirt for your garden. Then you can compost things from your garden (like it's feeding itself :)). Also, buying less food from the store will reduce the amount of garbage in your kitchen. Less plastic bags, less cans, less bottles, you get the point.
2. Smaller carbon footprint. By planting a garden, you are reducing your carbon footprint. I don't care if you believe in this or not, it is common sense that the less traveling your food does, the yummier it is going to be. So if you aren't doing it for the earth, do it for yourself.
3. Less pollution. I know I haven't discussed meat in this post at all, but this is relevant. By eating a more vegetable-based diet (and I'm not saying you have to go vegetarian or vegan or anything), you will be reducing the demand for CAFO animals. These are basically factory farms that are not sustainable and are creating a lot of trouble (including hyper-resistant disease and a lot of concentrated animal waste). With your saved money from having a garden, try buying Amish-raised meat, or find a local, sustainable farmer to buy meat from. Then you can see how things should be run. 
4. More variety. Every biologist knows that gene variety is important for resistance to negative events (weather, disease, etc.). By planting a wider variety of plants, you allow for greater variation among open pollinated crops. This actually increases food security. Also, if you were the earth and someone planted the same things in you all the time, you'd get pretty bored wouldn't you?
5. Appreciation. I truly believe that the key to taking care of the earth is to first appreciate it. My accounting teacher (of all people!) said something a few months ago that made my heart go thump-thump. wait. what? thumpthumpthumpthump. That probably doesn't make sense, but here's what he said, "We do not depreciate land. Why? Because it will always be there for you." It will always be there for us. We choose whether we return the favor.

If you are skeptical about starting a garden, I highly recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. You can get it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and probably your public library. It is also available as an audiobook.

If you are unable to garden, for any reason, then this website is a wonderful resource to find farmer's markets. You can also become a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and receive boxes of yummy vegetables as they come into season. If the link isn't working, the URL is http://www.localharvest.org/

TL;DR: Will you start a garden with me this year?

How to Make Driving Fun

While I don't advocate driving just for the experience (unless you're learning, that's important), 75.7% of U.S. commuters drive alone to their job. Alone. Allll byyyy themselvesssss. And while I'm not trying to be depressing here, it is not only inefficient (you can carpool), it is a time that I hear commuters complain about regularly. Here are some ways you can make your commuting experience positive. Then when your coworkers are complaining about their commute, you can smile and send them to read this list.

1. Carpool. I know some people don't have this option. You may be the only _______ Co. employee in a three county radius. And you may have different positions, which might make having a set time to arrive and leave difficult. So that's fine. If you do happen to leave near someone though, suggest carpooling. It will give you someone to talk to, and at the same time you can split gas costs.
2. Grab an audiobook from the library. When I first started driving, I was unhappy because I couldn't read as a driver. Super lame that I have to keep my eyes on the road, right? But several months ago, I discovered the lovely benefits of borrowing an audiobook from the public library. I was wary of becoming drowsy while listening to it, but it actually kept me more alert. I do switch off between music, an audiobook, and silence, though. It keeps me more on my toes. :) See my "book resources" tab above for recommendations.



Note: I don't suggest wiggling your head so much.

3. Get some exercise. Move that booty! On long drives, when I don't want to stop to let the blood flow back to my bum, I play some music to squeeze my glutes to. (Against my better judgment, I am telling the world personal information because I don't want you to suffer "dead-butt." It's really uncomfortable when your butt falls asleep.) I also wiggle my arms around (always keeping one on the wheel) and do a small gecko groove.
4. Drive in silence. It may be weird at first, but I get to those points where I just need to be able to think in silence, and it's very enjoyable. If you have a crazy-busy world with a lot of noise, try this out, you might like it. It's also easier to think-out-loud if there's no audio playing. Which brings me to my next point.
5. Talk to yourself. Yeah, you might feel silly. You may also feel awesome! Sometimes I don't even realize that something is on my mind or bothering me, until I let it out. Warning: I don't recommend this if you are prone to crying (joy, sadness, it might still get you).
6. Notice something new on every commute. It's amazing what paying attention can do. I can't tell you how many times I've driven past something and not even processed it exists. Now, staring out the side window probably isn't the best idea, but try to remember one or two new restaurants or such every day. You'll also develop a better memory about the area, and perhaps even discover a new place to eat.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your time driving. It's time that can be fun, I promise.


TL;DR: Your commute is what you make of it. Make it fun!


Statistics taken from here.

The Idiot Who Cut Me Off

Sometimes I forget that people are people.

Does that make sense?

I was reminded this weekend to see a person in every person. A soul in every body. An individual in every human. And this is the most important rule that I hang on to.

There's something called the fundamental attribution error (FAE), which you probably have heard of if you've taken an introductory psychology course. (If you didn't hear about it in your class, you probably weren't paying attention, or your teacher was totally robbing you of important information.) Now, sorry to break it to you dear friends of mine, but humans make a lot of mistakes that we are not always aware of. The basic idea of the FAE is that we tend to overestimate how much someone else's personal attributes are influencing their actions, and we underestimate how much that someone's situation is influencing their actions. Por ejemplo...

Have you ever been cut off by that idiot during rush hour? He's a total a**hole, right? But here's another question, and be honest about this one. Have you ever cut someone off during rush hour? Chances are you have, and you probably don't consider yourself a bad person. If you have ever cut someone off, you may have had a perfectly good reason (the guy behind you was about to rear-end your car). Do you see what I'm getting at?

I've noticed that I become much less judgmental when I admit that I don't know the situations that people are in. The driver who I think is recklessly speeding may have a friend in the hospital. The teacher who I think is inconsiderate of her students may be going through a divorce. The person drinking the energy drink may have had to stay up all night with a sick child. It's really hard to give people excuses for their actions. But I'm not giving them excuses. I'm simply trying to put myself in their shoes, and acknowledging the fact that I will probably never know why the person in the suit is yelling over the phone. Perhaps they are really mean, but perhaps they are expressing their frustration at some unmentionable injustice. Perhaps it's a combination of the two.

It's the last day of 2013. Tonight, when you look around at the people at the party, or the restaurant, or even the TV, give them a chance to be a person.

Happy last day of 2013! :)


TL;DR: A person's a person, if only you notice.

The Best Food Advice You'll Ever Get

Read this article. It will take one minute, and it is the best advice I have ever read about food and dieting. Kudos to the author for being so concise and conscientious of various people's needs.

:)

Free Online Movie Till December 10th!

If you haven't watched Food Matters yet, and you don't have a Netflix account to watch it on, the movie is free on their website until December 10th :)

It really is an awesome movie, and a great way to spend a weekend evening. Here is the link to the movie.

Enjoy!

Fluke

I am looking for food.

I am finding leftover soup.

I am heating it up.

I am putting my dog on my bed.

I am fetching the soup.

I am sitting on my bed.

I am looking for something to watch on YouTube.

I am watching the screen.

My dog is watching me.

I am closing my computer.

I am scratching his ears.

I am talking to him.

I am listening to his sniffs.

I am having a meal with my best friend.

I needed him to remind me that I cannot substitute a moment with a friend for any electronic gadget in the world.

Happy Sunday :)

TL;DR: A friend a day keeps the sadness away.

It's not Christmas, it's the Day After Thanksgiving.

I detest Black Friday, and it's really hard to look on the positive side of things today.

What gets me riled up? People getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning to stand in line in below freezing weather so they can buy things they don't need. Nothing does the job better.

We live in America, friends. Where apparently more is better. And more is never enough. We should rebel against this mentality! Let's be rebels together!

Here are 50 things to do other than get mauled by shoppers today. I stumbled upon this website (not actually using StumbleUpon, and how weird is it that I feel I have to explain myself for using that phrase?) and it seems awesome. Their slogan? "Finding the Satisfaction of Enough." Love it :)


If you would like to use some of your day off reading about how our culture provokes things like Black Friday, instead of actually participating in such vile events (am I being too harsh?), here is an absolutely mind-blowing article that puts together the pieces.

Lalala.

After living in Italy for a few months, coming back to America was weird. Everything is so rushed and urgent. Eating with your family is not a priority here. Eating quality food is not a priority here. Dressing up every day in presentable, flattering
clothes is not a priority here. I am generalizing. I know there are people here who love all these things, but I definitely feel like the minority.

Anyway, I am spending my day-after-Thanksgiving organizing my room, doing homework, and thinking of what I will make or buy for my family and friends this year. I think that is much more productive than being fooled by retailers into spending lots of mulah.

Make a delicious cheesecake, or get trampled by shoppers? I'll take the former.

TL;DR: Fun fact: Black Friday only became the biggest shopping day of the year in 2005. Hmmm...