What a grey day. Cant believe its Friday already though?
We have been up since the Sparrows got up this morning. Its pleasant enough out there, and its watering day!
I think we all went to bed and crashed with exhaustion. We had a very long, rocky aftershock just before bed time, so the little guy (big 11yr old guy) slept nearby. It was a rude shock for us both, and insulted us by being just a 4.3 or something *small* but it just kept going, and was quite noisy. A good sleep was had by all though, eventually!
Ive been sorting out my seeds, and what to keep, what not to. The thing is, what do you do with seeds you no longer require? There seems to be nowhere you can give them to... I have visions of sweeping along the riverside, seeds pouring from my hands, but Im picking they ll know soon enough,. most of my surplus are lettuce, capsicums and pumpkins. The area could do with lots of these things growing freely, there are plenty of people who need food. I have asked at food banks, but apparently people want canned foods and perishables, not good healthy seeds that could give them so much more...
I was plodding through an exercise yesterday with my 11 yr old son.
Heres what we worked out...
ONE average sized pumpkin plant can grow an average of 3 or 4 pumpkins ...
One pumpkin makes pumpkin soup for an average of 3-4 people, which may stretch to say, averagely (get it?) two meals, per person?
That ONE pumpkin, holds within its skin, an average of maybe 150-200 seeds.
You dont use the seeds for the soup.
Save the seeds.
You can hull them, and make pumpkin seeds that you can then roast to snack on - full of nutrition
ORYou can dry them, and plant them.
That 150-200 seeds can feed a lot of people!!!! Or, they can feed livestock! Or you can harvest and onsell, or give away, or use for Halloween...Or sell seed...
Arent pumpkins awesome?
The same applies to most vegetables.
Their inner goodness is more than what you eat, it is what you can do to help feed yourself and others with what lies inside!
This is why it is important we stop the Government and other large businesses in NZ from taking away our rights, our freedom as Market Gardeners, Small Garden Business Operators, and Home Gardeners who may sell what they grow, and save seeds to finance their own Vegetable and Fruit Gardens - and have done for years, it is a way of life!.
THIS FOOD BILL has the potential to Stop us being able to maintain and supplement our food supply, and help others.
We simply cannot allow this to happen
GET IN QUICK because this bill WILL be passed if we do not make a statement and register our disapproval and non compliance to this bill!
HERE - READ FOR YOURSELF - THE FOOD BILL
And the Government cant believe the public backlash? -
ARTICLE HERE
So - What can we do?
START HERE - Petition
Questions and Answers on the Food Safety Website -
READ HERE
OOOOBY says TIME FOR ACTION -
READ HERE, Join this Gardening Community!
“Liberty has never come from the government; it has always come from the subjects of it.
The history of liberty is a history of limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
–Woodrow Wilson
FAMILY INTEGRITY WEBSITE has something to say about it
HERE
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MY SOAP BOX or rather, My thoughts on this ----
In a world where the reality is that sometimes, we must live by our wits, our intelligence and our clever cunning because noone else will do things for us, noone else will pay our way, or give us solutions, in a world where Money is King, Big Business Rules, Possessions are Important and Brands and Labels seem to define Us - we simply cannot afford to lose the right to grow our own food.
For some of us - The Battlers, The Ones who Just Get Along, the Living Simply folk, who live close to, or within poverty, we need to be able to feed our families this way.
If you dont know how to garden, but you want to learn, please ask. Keep asking!
There are plenty of people who will show you the way.
As I have stated, I have seeds Im willing - nay, KEEN to give away, I have learnt how to Garden and Im prepared to show people how - ASK me :)
If you dont live in Christchurch, we can email and I can send seeds to you. ASK!
THERE ARE COMMUNITY GARDENS IN CHRISTCHURCH!For a small donation of your time, you can taste the benefits!
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HERES ONE -
New Brighton Community Gardens
136 Shaw Ave New Brighton Christchurch 8083 - WEBSITE NEEDS UPDATING but here it isand Im investigating news of another community garden in Linwood, behind the temporary Library building on Linwood Avenue...
NEW BRIGHTON NEWS - The Market has reopened!
Well, now the rain has set in. I do not have to water, and the plants will be loving it!
Sometimes my blog starts as one thing, and it finishes as another and today is a classic example.
Im no activist. I simply recognize that we need our voices to be heard, for shame if we lose a fundemental right that other countries have - growing food at home. No, I hear you - Im being extreme. But honestly - do YOU want to read 800-odd pages of legislation, understand it all completely, and do so in less than a month? ANYTHING that is 800 pages in length is not insignificant, therefore it needs a sturdy reaction.
Why was this kept quiet? ... There was an election to run. They seemingly didnt want it well-known that this bill was even being contemplated.
Actions are better than words.
Id march and show my opposition to this. It stands in the way of my lifestyle. My health, my welfare. I use my food to live...
Id march! Would you? Put yourself out there and show people you care.
Ok, signing off now.
Time to go and ground myself with some housework :)
Love, Light and Happy Gardening!E BUTTERFLY
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