A River Between

Shake it up!

Originally uploaded by holisticgeek

Yet another creation! A few nights ago I decided to try making my own shampoo. I modified a recipe found in the book, Earthly Bodies and Heavenly Hair, by Dina Falconi. It was a simple recipe that called for an herbal infusion, castile soap, olive oil, and essential oils.

I had many of the supplies needed, so I bought a large 32 oz bottle of Dr Bronner’s Hemp Castile Soap (the baby/unscented kind) for $13. This will probably make about 8 batches of shampoo, making each 20 oz batch cost about $1.63! Shampoo for a year for only $13.00! I love it.

I have a flickr photoset with instructions and pictures of how I made the shampoo. Enjoy!

Out of the oven

Originally uploaded by holisticgeek.

Michael and I have been trying our hand at making more things at home rather than buying pre-packaged food and personal products all of the time. Last week, Michael found this great recipe on VegWeb for making granola, and he tried it out.

I was the photographer, and Michael the crafter, and the granola…OH SO GOOD!!!

Michael also determined that buying all the ingredients in bulk and making his own granola was approximately ONE THIRD the price if he would have purchased pre-made granola, even when sold in bulk!

More photos and the entire process are in a set of photos on my flickr.

Try the recipe if you like, and enjoy! I think ours is almost gone.

Time to make more!

This weekend I am in Madison, WI, where I attended the 2nd annual Unschooling Conference, sponsored by H.O.M.E. All I can say is “What a conference!” Coming to meet so many wonderful people has been a great re-charge of my spirit. Unschooling has many forms, but can generally be characterized as the development of complete autodidactic, or self-directed learning. Unschoolers reject “schools” and imposed curriculum and structures, to allow students and people to learn from their own interests, goals, and passions.

The Village School of Northfield was an “unschool” where children were free to study what they wanted, when they wanted, and how they wanted. Here’s a link to a previous posting about The Village School.

At the Unschooling Conference I was able to meet some very wonderfully creative and passionate people - many of whom were parents who unschool their own children.

Here is a general summary of my experience:
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I took some time today to order all the books I needed for classes for which I’m registered. Being in a very non-traditional graduate program, I’m really enjoying the freedom I have to explore a range of topics, and then synthesize them into learning projects and experiences.

In all, I think I’m on an interesting and evolving path with my graduate program in Human Development at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. I’m beginning to see how I would like to integrate the “whole” of my studies. A large part of me wishes to teach, and to “plant seeds” within our current educational structures. So much of the Self-Discovery and finding of our unique purpose in this life is missing from education at all levels. I feel that we’re relegated to questions as “What kind of job can I get with this training?” , when the bigger questions of “How can I find my abundant and fulfilling purpose in this world?” are never considered.

Anyway, here’s a peek for you all at my “Reading List” for the next 8 months.

Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming, by Winona LaDuke

Permaculure: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, by David Holmgren

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894
by Daniel James Brown

Teaching Toward Freedom, by William Ayers

Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don’t Go to School Tell Their Stories, by Grace Llewellyn

The Teenage Liberation Handbook, by Grace Llewellyn

Teacher, by Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

The Spirit’s Terrain by Christopher Childs

The Legacy of Luna by Julia Butterfly Hill

Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day

Potato-Corn Chowder
Originally uploaded by holisticgeek

Michael made a great Potato-Corn Chowder yesterday from a recipe in the book Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice. Her book talks about “Food and the hunger for connection”. It’s a wonderful book that speaks to the values of “eating locally” and eating food according to the lunar cycles.

All of the ingredients of the corn chowder, except for the organic heavy cream, were organic and LOCALLY sourced through May Farm, our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm.

Here’s the recipe:

Potato-Corn Chowder

4 ears corn on the cob
1 quart filtered water
2-3 tablespoons of Earth Balance or olive oil
2 medium onions or leeks
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
2 pounds (3 cups) potatoes cut into chunks
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Cut the kernels off the corn cob and place in a bowl. Scrape the corn “milk” into the bowl as well and save for later.
2. Make a quick corn stock by simmering the cobs in about a quart of filtered water, covered, for about 20 minutes
3. In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the Earth Balance or heat the olive oil, and saute the onions or leeks until translucent.
4. Add the potatoes and zucchini and enough corn stock to cover. Bring to a boil until the potatoes are soft.
5. Add the corn kernels, salt, and pepper. Return to simmer.
6. Remove from heat, add the heavy cream, adjust salt and pepper to taste.

I have another blog to share with everyone.

After moving to Minneapolis, I decided to buy a bike. As part of my coursework with Saint Mary’s University, I’m going to be doing a summer independent study about bicycling and bicycle culture. I plan to explore Minneapolis extensively by bike, and visit the “bicycle friendly” cities of Madison, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon. I have a lot of learning and a lot of training to do. I’ve not been on a bike regularly since my teen years.

So, while this is happening, I may not be posting as much to this site. Here’s a link to the new blog:

Holisticgeek’s Peace Ride

Or, for those of you who use LiveJournal, I’ve set up a feed with the username peaceride.

So, I guess I’m departing on a new journey in my life here. I’ve always been an advocate for bicycling as transit, but now I really want to live it more. Plus, this is what I do in my Human Development Program. I learn by doing, so that the learning becomes deep and meaningful. Today’s going to be warm, so I may just get on the bike and go!

Peace,
Scott

I haven’t made much of an announcement about this yet with the readers of this blog. It’s been in process for a while, but now it’s a sure thing. I’ve placed my condo in Northfield, MN on the market, and Michael and I will be moving to Minneapolis on April 1st!

We decided on Franklin Co-op, in the Seward neighborhood. This apartment complex is a few blocks away from the Hiawatha Light Rail Line, two blocks from the Seward Co-op, and a bus or rail ride away from almost everything in the city of Minneapolis that we enjoy. One bus will take me to class, and a short walk will get Michael to the rail station to take him to work at MetroTransit! It’s perfect!

I’ve gotten a few questions from people recently about this move, so I thought I’d post a few things here as well.
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Standing in line. Hall passes. Study hall. Detention. Small desks. Running to your locker so you aren’t late for your next class.These are just some of the memories I have of school growing up. After graduating from high school nineteen years ago, it’s difficult to come up with a list of ways that school prepared me for the real world. Maybe the one Home Economics class I took my freshman year, or perhaps one of my Psychology courses were the ones that I took with me into the “real world”.

On Thursday, February 2, I joined many others for an open discussion about democracy in education and the mission of The Village School of Northfield. While I had been to the school before, this time showed more of the deep need for true democratic education in our school systems today. The Village School is about self-directed education. Students from grades K – 12 learn what they want, when they want, and how they want. Teachers act as partners and guides for students in their education. As the evening unfolded, I felt I had learned more in two hours than I had in years.
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I added a new photo set to my Flickr Photo Space today that contains a lot of my pictures that surround public transit or alternative transportation. From hybrid busses to light rail, to a solar powered car, to the great art I see at bus and light rail stops, these scenes seem to have caught my eye from time to time.

I take transit in some form almost every day now. If I go to the twin cities, I often park my car and use MetroTransit’s light rail and bus system. When I commute to work, I drive to a park and ride, then take a commuter bus to Rochester, MN. It’s amazing how many times it is just assumed that when a person travels to work or to any destination, that one must drive. I often get statements like “Oh you work in Rochester! How do you like that drive!?”, or people will give me driving directions to a destination, as a reflex, in the twin cities. When I tell them that I take a commuter bus, or I take transit if I’m going to a metropolitan area, they are somewhat intrigued. Being on the other side, it becomes so apparent that our society seems even psychologically attached to our cars without question.

Lately I’ve been pondering what life could be like if I sold my car and went completely car-free if I moved to the twin cities. Between car payments, car insurance, and paying for gas at the pump, I would say goodbye to about $400 of spending per month. With maintenance on a vehicle, probably more. There are some alternatives I’ve found as well for folks in the twin cities with regard to Car Sharing.

If you live in Minneapolis, near the University of Minnesota, ZipCar now has service, where you can pay hourly at $8/hour or daily at $60/day to reserve and use one of their cars. As well, HourCar is another option, offering the use of the new Prius for those who are equally concious of the emissions coming out of a vehicle. HourCar has car locations all around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, and provides many different levels of membership according to your need. For longer trips of 125 miles or less, ZipCar could be an option. Even renting a car once a month for a long trip would be less than my monthly cost for maintaining and owning a vehicle.

It’s something to think about..

Enjoy the photos!
Peace,

Scott

The holiday season can be both stressful and joyous for anyone - sometimes at the same time. One of the big stresses can be holiday shopping for everyone in your life. Every year I feel a small twinge of cynicism when I become attached to the rampant commercialism of the season when I shop for gifts. How were they made? Who benefits from my purchase of this item? Am I buying into the crazy cycle of consumerism when I do my holiday shopping?

This year I plan to buy at least half of my gifts from sources that are “fair trade” in their philosophy.

So what is meant by Fair Trade?

According to the International Fair Trade Association, Fair Trade means:

• Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged workers to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development.
• Accountability and transparency in the trading of goods.
• Gender Equity - Women are empowered and paid for their work.
• A fair price is charged to pass on a liveable profit to the workers, artisans, or producers of goods.
• Healthy Working Conditions that also respect human rights and do not exploit children in the manufacture of goods.
• Responsible environmental practices.

Have you ever stopped to think about those holiday purchases you make, and where your money goes when you buy a gift? One would hope that money could go to workers who make the goods we consume and that they are supported and provided a living wage and adequate working conditions. Unfortunately this just isn’t always so.

Here are a few good places to do your holiday shopping this season that I’ve collected.

Ten Thousand Villages - They have an all volunteer retail staff at a location in St. Paul, at Grand Ave and Victoria!

Global Exchange

Rawganique - Organic hemp cloting!

Real Goods - Environmentally Sustainable gifts here!

Conference of Catholic Bishops - Shopping links galore!

Happy shopping!!