Shrinking your carbon footprint – it’s not all about sacrifice

I’ve spent the last few years striving to cut my use of fossil fuels in any way that I can. I’ve caulked, weatherstripped, insulated, cut back showers, consolidated my errands, changed which rooms I heat and how much I heat them, sweatered up in winter, quit baking…and had pretty much run out of low-cost modifications with immediate return on investment. As a result, I saved thousands of dollars last year in heating oil and propane, and without too drastic a crimp in my life. I’m still clean, well-fed and healthy, as are the various members of my fur and feathered family.

But the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf renewed my motivation, driving me to put my thinking cap back on, look for new ways to cut back, and revisit old trials that had not yet panned out.

A couple years ago I’d looked into solar cooking. The choices then seemed limited to high-end parabolic cookers that cost many hundreds of dollars, or cardboard and aluminum foil “do-it-yourself” projects doomed, at least in my clumsy hands, to failure. So as I watched helplessly as crude gushed into the gulf, killing all plants and animals unfortunate enough to be in its path, I decided to revisit Google where I discovered, to my delight, that solar cooking has enetered a new phase. Affordable. Practical. Efficient.

After researching a number of solar cookers currently available, I settled on the “Hotpot” from solarovens.net. Already, just 5 days after my Hotpot’s arrival, I am in love. On day one, I cooked experimental corn on the cob. I place 6 ears in the pot, set the pot on the reflectors, and headed to the lake with my dogs. An hour and a half later, a delectable aroma rose from 6 perfectly cooked ears. Day two brought me 6 perfect hard-cooked eggs. Days three and four brought me London broil simmering in onions, green peppers and garlic with a little Greek salad dressing for marinade. Today featured raspberry and cream cheese tarts.

Baking is back
As are simmering, stewing, boiling and braising. The advantages of solar cooking – aside from the obvious clean, renewable, freely available fuel -- are many:

* First, if you like to fuss over your cooking, lifting the lid, sniffing, stirring, adding a little more of this n’that as you go, you’ll have to change your habits some. Solar works best if you put everything in your pot and let it be. Aside from adjusting the position of your cooker, you simply need to leave it to the sun.

* The results are consistently fabulous. There is something distinct about the aroma and flavor of solar cooked food. A delicate purity – nothing to get “accustomed” too, it is simply scrumptious. It is nearly impossible to overcook, everything simply stews in its own juices.

* Although it takes longer to cook solar, it takes up far less of your time. You can adjust the position of the cooker every hour or so to speed the process, or you can set your cooker slightly ahead of the sun and just leave it alone longer. Cooking times vary with the amount and size of food chunks, not to mention the season, humidity and wind. So far everything I’ve tried as been finished within an hour and a half, but I know that when the sun is lower in the sky or when my pot is fuller, I can expect cooking times of 3 or 4 hours. But I won’t be tied to the pot for that time, so it is a matter of planning to return, not imposition or imprisonment.

Unexpected savings
At least with the Hotpot, no matter how inept you are, solar cooked food doesn’t burn to the pan. As a result, cleanup is easy. No soaking, no scrubbing, no scouring pads are needed. A gentle washing with a minimum of hot water and soap, and a quick rinse and your pot is good to go. The same with the outer glass bowl and the reflectors. Gentle wipe down and you're done.

Bottom line, I'm sold on solar
My conventional propane oven/stove is now officially semi, if not fully, retired and I expect my Hotpot to pay for itself within a couple of months. In addition to the Hotpot, I’m planning to get a second solar cooker of a different style that will enable me to cook multiple items – such as loaves of bread – at once and in different types of pans, from cast iron skillets to colored pyrex pans. Already I can imagine the soups, stews, breads and desserts I’ll be able to prepare and freeze throughout the summer and fall to feast on when the sun lies to low for cooking. Without sacrificing a thing, I'll be saving time, energy, money, and the earth.

My garden is a happy mess

Starting in mid-May and lasting right through June, between classes all morning Monday through Thursday, the corporate job that supports me every weekday afternoon and evening, and piles of homework on weekends, something had to give! Actually, a lot of things had to make way. My critters remained fed and cleaned up after, while on minimum maintenance. Ungroomed and living out, the horses and kitty turned half-wild, while inside the dogs moped and Cody Carrothead, the citron-crested cockatoo, called “I love you, I love you, I love you” as I raced out the door in the morning and dragged myself in at night. Somehow we two-foots and four-foots all managed to muddle on through 6 weeks of crazy.

The weeds and what passes as a lawn, on the other hand, thrived: two weeks ago I emerged from a tough semester surrounded by a waist-high sea of growth. And I comforted myself with the thought that my garden would go on and that it would grow what I need. And so it has…in spades! As I slowly work my way through an abundance of sweet grass and dandelions, mounds of not so humble plantain, and what turned out *not* to be feverfew, I’m finding myself surrounded by both loss and blessings. My chives and French tarragon, sadly, have passed. My beautiful wild calendula, which had re-seeded itself throughout the garden for the past 6 years, this year failed to return. On the other hand, the strawberry patch that my snow-plower carelessly dispatched two winters ago, and which had re-planted itself on the safer, far side of the garden, has taken on new life. It’s made best friends with the marshmallow, wound its way along the former path that separated the marshmallow from the lemon balm, and has even held the lemon balm at bay. My mountain mint and agastache golden jubilee, both also plowed up by the renegade plow, are no longer large bushes, but have found new life in a multitude of babies.

And then there are the giant plantings that I’d removed years ago because they were simply too oversized and overwhelming for the relatively small space between the house and garage that is home to my baby-plant nursery. As I mentioned above – I believed that my garden would provide me with what I needed most. So what has returned this year, after a long absence, in my time of high stress and, more recently, depression over the catastrophe in the gulf? Valerian…everywhere. And last evening, to my surprise, St. John’s Wort. Garden Magic, anyone?

All wound up? You could pop a valium…or simply stop and smell the Jasmine

Hundreds of species of jasmine, the lovely, flowering shrub and vine that grows throughout the tropics and subtropics of the east, have been used by traditional folk healers as a sedative, pain killer, to lower blood pressure, as an antidote for headaches and rheumatism, and more. Our “gift from God” is a member of the olive family and is the national flower of Indonesia, Pakistan and the Phillipines.

Jasmine tea, commonly imbibed in China, is recommended by natural healers to help us lose weight, to regulate circulation and arterial tension, and simply calm us down. The French use Jasmine to make syrup, and in the U.S. the syrup is sometimes used to make jasmine scones. In aromatherapy, the essential oil of Jasmine is used as a sedative. Extracted either chemically or via enfleurage, it requires millions of jasmine flowers to make a single kilo of essential jasmine oil. Apparently it is worth the effort. 

The scientists weigh in
A newly published study demonstrates that simply inhaling the essential oil of jasmine has the same biochemical impact as common prescription sedatives…but without the side effects. When Dr. Olga Sergeeva and Prof. Helmut Hass, working with a research team at Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum led by Prof. Hanns Hatt, exposed mice to hundreds of fragrances, it was the aroma of jasmine that left the mice peacefully hanging out in the corners of their cages. Brain scans of the exposed mice showed enhanced activity on nerve receptors, inhibiting the neurotransmitter GABA, similar to the effect of barbiturates and anesthetics. For comparison, a “control group” of mice with genetically modified receptors was also exposed to both the anesthetic propofol (branded Diprivan by AstraZeneca) and the fragrance. Whereas both propofol and jasmine affected the normal mice, neither affected the behavior nor the brain scans of the genetically-modified control mice, confirming their findings. (1)

Aromatherapy -- it’s all in your head
The German study follows on earlier studies in Japan, with both rats and humans, which demonstrated the sedative effects of linalool, a chemical compound found in numerous fragrances, including Jasmine, used in aromatherapy and natural perfumes. (2) (3)Apparently, after jasmine’s fragrance molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs, they are transported to the brain where they activate sleep-associated receptors. The German study showed five times the normal receptor activity, giving it the same impact as prescription anesthetics.According to Prof. Hatt, "The results can also be seen as evidence of a scientific basis for aromatherapy." (1)



(1) Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum (2010, July 9). Intoxicating fragrance: Jasmine as valium substitute. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/07/100708104320.htm
(2) American Chemical Society (2009, July 23). Stop And Smell The Flowers -- The Scent Really Can Soothe Stress. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/07/090722110901.htm
(3) Eur J Appl Physiol. 2005 Oct;95(2-3):107-14. Laboratory of Nutrition Chemistry, Division of Food Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Kyoto, Japan

With Elderberry, the proof is in the petri dish

(first published 12/2009)
European elderberry (sambucus nigra) has been used medicinally for thousands of years, for everything from colds and the flu to sprains and rheumatism. It turns out there is good reason for this: the chemicals that give elderberries their purple color contain a class of compounds called anthocyanins, which are more potent antioxidants than vitamin C and other common sources of antioxidants. And studies have demonstrated that elderberry’s anthocyanins have greater bioavailability than many other berry extracts, including blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. So you could say that elderberry antioxidants give you more bang for your antioxidant buck.

Enhanced immune system

But the elderberry story goes further. Elderberry extract has been shown to increase the production of several cytokines: interferons, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-ά). Cytokines are chemical messengers in our immune system that enhance cellular response to invaders.....

Antiviral vigor

In the 1970s, Algerian virologist Dr Madeleine Mumcuoglu became interested in the elderberry plant because of its long history. In the course of her research, she isolated a potent antiviral compound – Antivirin – that prevents viruses from entering and infecting host cells. The result of Dr. Mumcuoglu’s work is Sambucol®, a standardized extraction of elderberry using proprietary methods. Normal extractions do not appear to contain the Antivirin compound that gives Sambucol® its unique and powerful flu-fighting properties.....(more at link)

http://www.goodtern.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/goodtern_winter.pdf