How to Save/Recycle/Conserve Water

1. Collect rain water with barrels, 5-gallon buckets, jars, and other containers. Even the smallest container will be able to water your starter plants. Also mulch around your plants in order to retain moisture (allows for less watering); and watering your plants in the morning or evening will reduce water evaporation.

2. Collecting water in larger containers (like rain barrels) will allow you to clean flower pots, trays or your dirty hands.   

3. Take 3 to 5 minute showers. Instead of showering everyday, wash your body and face with a wet wash cloth. You could even put a bucket or small container in the bath tub as you shower. This will collect some if not most of the water coming from the shower head.

4. Instead of drinking water from the tap, collect water with (clean/sterile) bottles or mugs as it is raining. Drink the water immediately, and do not let it sit outside for too long. Boil the rain water (if you're reluctant). You can also do this in place of showering. My cousin Lisa swears that rain water makes your hair softer and much more vibrant. 

5. If you eat raw vegan, you may notice a reduction in the amount of dish washing. Actually I use my blender to blend smoothies and drink out of, and I use a large bowl for my salads. I also have a ceramic skillet for cooking. Overall, I only use these utensils and do not wash dishes much. If you cook your food, you may find that you need to scrub longer or use more water to clean your skillets, pots, etc. 

6. Also when washing dishes, save up any contained water for Keyhole gardening, or reuse water when soaking dirty dishes.

7. When brushing your teeth or washing your face, do not let the water run. 

8. It is understandable to flush the toilet every time you defecate, but there's no need to flush every time you urinate. It's polite to flush outside of your home, but otherwise if you're drinking lots of water and eating high water content foods, you do not have harsh smelling urine! Actually, urinate outside or in a bucket to pour in compost (if possible).

9. Repair any leaks or make adjustments to kitchen/bathroom appliances. 

10. Do not wash clothes regularly. Most often your clothes are not dirty enough to need washing. Actually I have two pair of pants, one for gardening and outdoors and one for going to the groceries/hanging with friends. My garden pants are worn over and over, usually at the end of the week I will wash them. Same for my dress pants, I re-wear them until they need it. Because I have little clothing and I do not have a full time job, I wash one load of clothes every other week!!

I understand that this may seem extreme, or dirty and perpetuates the dirty hippie stereotype. But I find that teaching others these practices will allow us to look passed our dependency on modern conveniences. 

For other blog posts I have done on our consumption of water, please visit the links below:

April 30th 2014 Garden Update & How to Save Water

Extreme Environmentalism

April 15th 2014 Garden update/What's growing on & Gardening Tasks

The blueberry bushes, peach trees, pear trees, and plum tree and grape vines are blooming. The fig and cherry trees are not showing much sign of life, but I have some hope for them.

Peach tree blooming (20+ years old)

 Ground violets are covering my Mom's yard and many other neighboring yards...no need to mow a beautiful lawn...The hyacinths are growing lovely. Our rock wall is coming along slow, but it is the least of my worries.

hyacinths

Rock wall for smothering ivy/thorns/weeds

It has been raining every 2-3 days; so I have been collecting rain water in tubs and buckets for watering my starter plants.

My partner James and I have been busy in the last two weeks. In between rains we have aerated the soil for our potato garden by shoveling and tilling. So far we have hoed six wide rows and planted 75 lbs of potatoes (25 lb of Ukon Gold and 50 lb of Kennebec potatoes).
We have another 50 lb of Kennebec potatoes we must plant after the upcoming rain. It's supposed to rain Monday and snow on Tuesday, so I will be back to hoeing and tilling on Thursday, hopefully the garden will be dry by then.

Last week I had planted cantaloupe, watermelon, and tomatoes in starter containers; and sewed varieties of lettuce, kale, spinach, and peas in my garden.

Varieties of greens that went in the garden

Tomatoes sprouting in cantaloupe starters, haha

Starter containers of watermelon and cantaloupe

Last week I also mentioned (here) that I transplanted what I thought was squash and cucumber seedlings. Unfortunately as they sprouted their third and fourth leaves, I realized they were weeds! What a disappointment, but I ripped all of them up and planted cantaloupe and tomatoes in the tubs. 

Ripping up weeds for tomato starting containers

Tomato and cantaloupe starting containers with
glass lids for solarium effect

In larger pots I planted peas, spinach, and herbs (mint and parsley). The peas have already sprouted in just a couple of days, whereas my garden peas have not thought about sprouting (after a week)!

Pots of spinach, peas, and herbs

Overall I have been focusing much attention to the potato garden and our strawberry gardens. We have a total of three strawberry beds. The picture below is our third bed that we constructed with logs, dirt from around the yard, and compost on top. Several weeks ago I filled a second strawberry bed of most of the compost I had left too.

This is actually the third strawberry bed we made

This is the first strawberry bed we made out
of logs and compost/mulched with leaves and
 pine needles

Total of 18 strawberry plants!

We may find more logs in the woods to construct a fourth strawberry bed, but we'll see as I have many tasks ahead of me...

In the upcoming weeks I will be transplanting tomato and pepper starters in the ground.
At the beginning of May I will be planting Non-GMO varieties of beans.
My cousin Lisa and her son want us to shovel and till a garden at her house, so I will find the time to do that in the following weeks. I'm sure she only wants a couple of rows for beans and tomatoes. Very simple.

At the beginning of May, I will also be planting corn across the road from my Grandparent's house.
In one garden (at my grandparent's house), I will sewing cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, beans, and (perhaps) more lettuce or other types of greens directly in the ground.
Later towards June I will transplant my watermelon and cantaloupe starters in my garden (at my Mom's house).

Leaves for mulch

 As I have said, I have taken on little side projects when I am not planting potatoes or greens in the garden, or starting tomato and melons indoors. For example, I am working on the rock wall in front my of my Mom's house which is usually taken over by ivy and thorny bushes. I have been working on the strawberry beds, and collecting rain for watering pepper, tomato, and melon starters. Well I have also hauled lots of leaves with trash bags from the woods, in order to mulch the garden, but I have been using the leaves to mulch the fruit trees and bushes. It's a good thing I did too (and covered the strawberry bed) because Kentucky got a snow and ice last night. It was 83 degrees yesterday!
~
Actually I talk about seasonal tasks in the garden, what to plant at this time; and also what foods produce the best in the video below. If you're interested, feel free to watch. :)

I have another video I made today, I will have to upload to YT before posting to here.

How Single Mothers (Homeless, Needy, or Poor) Can Live for Free

As I have mentioned before, I studied social work while I attended college; and from that I learned to be critical of a society that subtly manipulates women (especially working mothers and single mothers.) Technically, I was not raised by a single mother, because it wasn't until I turned 15 that my Dad left; but I certainly was treated like a second Mother during the time my Mom and Dad were married. When my parents divorced, I became the "Dad" of the house. Being a Mother is undoubtedly one of the hardest jobs, considering it takes four people to equal one Mom of four kids. For example, my boyfriend and I are the "housewife" and "handy-man" while my Grandmother is the cook, and my Mom pays the bills. 

I'll also say that it is difficult for a Mom (making just over minimum wage) to have decent clothes, furniture, car, or house. Most single Mothers try to apply for food stamps, child support, or seek some other government aid because a minimum wage job cannot afford necessities and luxury. But what if I told you, just by changing your priorities, that you can live debt-free, mortgage-free, and rent-free without having a career or going to college. Throughout this blog, I have repeatedly stated people should aim to live self-sufficiently and independent. In other words, we should aim to live for free by using the materials around us that are recyclable, reusable, all natural, and biodegradable in order to live cheap, save the planet, and save each other. 

Is college the right path for you?

There's nothing wrong with getting an education (especially if you can go to college for free). College can develop your reading, writing, analytical, and personable skills, which are essential for survival. Furthermore, there have been many great minds which received degrees and became professors at universities.

However, college focuses on cluttering your time with miscellaneous classes, which costs you MORE money. Unlike technical colleges, universities depreciate the value of hands-on learning.

When you're considering secondary education, ask yourself: Am I creative or technical? Am I permanent or nomadic? Where and when do I feel happy? Where do I feel the most pressure? What skills do I have? Do I have scholarships or grants to pay for college?

Moreover, a great quote from a NYC teacher, John Taylor Gatto, said: "The truth is that
schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders". Additionally, our generation of young adults are completely ignorant and could not change a tire on a car, for example.
Consequently, the youth's mentality or attitude is that technology, or "someone else" will do the processing for me. We have lost survival skills, emergency training, and "street-smarts". It's as if the more schooling our generation obtains, we become more compliant to social rules; and complying to social standards will allow you to reap the immediate benefits: money for 'stuff'.
To add to this point, I have quoted Bruce E. Levine where he underlines the obedience mentality of our youth: "The nature of most classrooms, regardless of the subject matter, socializes students to be passive and directed by others, to follow orders, to take seriously the rewards and punishments of authorities, to pretend to care about things they don’t care about, and that they are impotent to affect their situation".
To paraphrase George Carlin: 'they want you smart enough to work the machines and do the paperwork, but dumb enough to passively accept horrible jobs with low wages'. 

Another aspect of University that irked me was the reputation or representation of the quality of the school through the performance of sports teams and cheerleading.

There are many other aspects of University I haven't fully discussed, for example the nature of college as a marketing device (aside from the sports teams and cheerleading reputation of the school).

Subsequently, I want to move forward from the problems with University and look towards the ways we can better our school systems, or perhaps your decision to attend University:

First, shift your perspective on the meaning of successful 'Hollywood status' to a simpler status like that of a gardener or local business owner that is able to feed and shelter her family with little materials, but feels peace and harmony. Likewise, you do not need to go to college to be successful, or happy for that matter. As little as 40 years ago, it was just as meaningful to work under someone to learn skills (apprenticeship), as it was to be able to afford college for a degree.

Lets face it, it's not JUST about college education: the problems in education begin with public schooling. Creativity and self-expression are repressed, while math and science is deemed less important or boring to the other subjects.

Secondly, books and education should ultimately be free, as we look towards technology to teach one another and share knowledge! When I was in college, I always ordered my textbooks through the library (to get them for free and use them all semester). If you plan to go to college, look into Inter Library Loan on the college's library website for more information.
At the University I attended, internet classes cost a student three times more than a regular on-campus class. For those who suffer from social anxiety disorders (Autism, Asperger's, etc) benefit in a calm environment like online.

Third, education should be localized like high school -- without the social stigma of high school.

I may come back to this thought to add more useful adjustments to University, but I'm feeling the affects of lack of sleep...

If you are unsure you're ready, prepared, or interested in college, you will find on this blog how to live for free without a degree and with VERY little money. Explore the rest of my posts that discuss growing your own food, living off the land, building your own house out of free materials, and using resources such as the library to further your education. Also, I have a blog post here "How to Tell your Parent(s) you dropped out of college" where you can find the tools to discussing quitting college or not attending college.

Considering I wanted to present a video of education that better-explained the greed inside colleges:

I wanted to end with a article, that reminds us that we do not have to go to college. In fact, there are many successful people that have dropped out of college or never attended university. I love the excerpt: "faulty thinking has led the public to believe everyone needs to go to college even if they can't afford it" paraphrased from Paul Thiel. I would like to add that we need to branch our understanding of all aspects (math, technology, chemistry, reading, writing, etc) The more we attempt to have a basic understanding of these things around us, the more self-reliant we can become. We can stop relying/paying for a "professional", when it is much easier and cheaper for us to do it ourselves. 

Like I said: I am not discouraging college, nor am I persuading anyone to drop-out on a whim. This post is only to shed light on this issue where our society thinks we need to pay absurd amounts of money for a sub-par education! Timothy Leary (from Flashbacks, 1983) wrote: "Drop out suggested an elective, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. 'Drop Out' meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change."

Here is the article that highlights this: Why College may Not be Worth It