Garden updates

Here's the Potato plants and some Peppers.

The first strawberry crops...yes, tiny, but it's something

The first bowlfull of salad greens.

My how it's grown! The Asian Pear tree is right on track, there were some aphids sucking on the leaves but I squished them!

More on GMOs

If you are concerned for your own health and your children's future, you ought to watch this documentary.

"GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS: PANCEA OR POSION?"

http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=211

This issue is encroaching on the basics of life. Corporations are "owning" patents to seeds and genetically altered animals, what's next? Owning us... We need to choose organic and grow our own food to protect ourselves from Global Corporate Domination of food. Farmers who buy these patented seeds must sign a contract to never keep the seeds as farmers have done for generations for the next crop. They MUST purchase new stock of these seeds, which makes them economically bound. Basically the Corporations own the farmers now. What's WORSE is that Organic farmers' seeds are literally being wiped out by these GMO seeds because they are cross-pollinating with the organic seeds and therefore contaminated as well as becoming property to the Corporations because of their patented genes. This is a HORRIFIC rape of what God has intended in the natural world....

Here's more (added June 4th)
"Monsanto will own all seed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtJDZmwh5Bc

The part about all Iraqi seeds being destroyed is very frightening.

Janice

The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won't ever see.

Do we want to keep contributing to sponsoring this Company through our consumption of Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) and Hormones injected into livestock to make them produce more? What are the health implications? Studies are suppressed. Our choices in our daily food, will be a protest against these Corporations which seek only to gain monetary wealth at the expense of the public's current health and future generations.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-842180934463681887

or

http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=215

Please watch, it's free

109 min

mini orchard

Ordered 2 apple trees and a Peach tree with 3 types of peaches grafted on one trunk. Now, we've gotta prepare the soil for their arrival. The area we are planning to prepare will take a LOT of grunt work, ripping out old crusty succlent type plants, and the soil under it is hardened clay. We need a truckload of compost for this dirt to be usable.... sigh... someday this soil will be nice and soft and crumbly...

Right now, we have several mature fruit trees; Persimmon, Apple(unknown variety), Valencia Orange, Tangerine, Grapefruit and Avocado. The Grapefruit is never good, always really sour and bitter. So we are contemplating if we should just yank it out. The Persimmon, Tangerine and Orange are great producers. The Avocado(green skinned kind) seems to have acquired some kind of disease where the bark starts to fall off... not good. The apple has yet to produce a good crop.

Our baby asian pear tree is off to a great start. It's vigorously producing new leaves. Which makes me happy. :-)

I have been soaking some fuji apple seeds and they have sprouted... I understand that the seed will not be the same kind of apple as the parent tree because the apple needs cross-pollination to bear fruit, so these seeds are a hybrid with a mystery apple. I planted them outside this morning to see if they will grow. I'm not sure what I'll do with them once they start growing a lot. I might pot them and sell them at a yard sale...

I've been soaking a Haas Avocado seed as well. I think that Avocados need cross-pollinization as well, so I wonder what kind of fruit it will bear when it's mature.... oh well. I just like growing things... my Mom and I seem to have a similarity there.

Food Shortages in California

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/food-shortage-coming-no-rice-for-you/2778468174

It seems like something that would happen in a 3rd world country... I wonder how long it will last... I wonder if this is just the tip of the iceberg... if so, most of us are NOT ready. Are YOU?

I think I want to be "unsuccessful"

I've done the stuck in traffic for 2 hours both ways, to and from work and being at work for 9 hours away from family and home... if you consider that successful, I want no part of it!

I want to build a cob oven!

These are examples of what I'm hoping to build someday. OK, the frog shaped oven is really weird...I think I can do better...heheh. I have the materials to build with, our soil is heavy clay, and we have lots of unwanted old lava rock, gravel and discarded blocks to build the base with. Plus, every year we have to trim our fruit trees and I have kept a good amount of twigs and branches from those trims. Outdoor baking! The CO2 emissions from burning the wood isn't the best, but it is self-sufficiency at it's best!

The stew that I placed in the sun oven came out great! The broth was a bit needy in the flavor dept, stock would have had better taste. But now, my Mom took my sun oven! She says she can make better use of it during the day since I'm at the office for now. She's jacked my oven... arrggghhh... She said she baked yams this morning and it's the best tasting yams EVER. She said she's going to make soup now....sigh...it's MY oven...she told me to buy another one....

Beginnings of a mini farm

Here are green onions that have gotten huge ( I bought regular onions from the market, used the greens then put the white rooty part in a cup of water, changing the water everyday until new roots sprouted, them stuck them in the ground, and now they are monsterous! The finer greens in the back are Chinese Chives(very pungent, but yummy in potstickers)


The Baby Asian Pear with 3 different kinds of Pears Grafted on main limb. This should save some room in the garden, Instead of growing 3 different trees.


potatoes with lots of sprouts(sat in the pantry way too long...ewww) So instead of throwing them out we are planting them. (waste not want not!)


Here's some pics of the garden. Showing the new 8'x3' raised bed where we planted potatoes and peppers.

I got my Sun Oven!!!

This is the Global Sun Oven. I'll have my own Pics for you all later, but I'm very excited! I got my Sun Oven 2 days ago, and yesterday was a no go because our pool guy comes on Tuesdays. I grilled the stewing beef and chopped some veggies and put in some water in a pot and I set out my solar oven outside by the pool and aimed it at when the sun will be at noonish. If all goes well, we'll have beef stew still warm in the oven when we get home!!!

This past weekend, we planted pumpkin and zucchini seeds in the center bed. We still need to till the upper part of the center bed, then we will plant the cucumbers and cantaloupe there (curcubitae family) In the raised bed we planted potatoes, and bell peppers. Ther's a few tomato seedlings sprouting right by the bell pepper, so I'll transplant them about 2' away to give them more room (all of them the nightshade family)

Solar madness

Well, it turns out the Rental place is out of stock, ( I guess they can't keep up with the demand right now) Possibly a good company to buy it's stocks from?
Since they are cleaned out, I've been looking for other options and came across this site:
http://www.siliconsolar.com/build-your-own-solar-panel-kits-p-16188.php
The cost is much less because you build your own solar panels. (now if I can be smart enough to figure THAT out... lol)
I don't even know if I'm smart enough to figure out how many panels I'll need! hehe

I'll have to focus, not this inbetween saving work-files reading....

I'd have to brush up on soldering skills as well... my Dad used to do it all the time... it can't be that difficult...well, if you're trying to balance on the roof and solder at the same time, it might be...

Scott Free!

OK, I don't know who coined that term, but anywho, I am pleased to announce that we the Kubo Household is Free and Clear of any outstanding debt to any financial institution!!! We just payed off our Honda CRV that had a 5 year loan in less than 3 years! I think this is the first step to self-sufficiency... to not owe anyone anything but love! It feels really great! =D

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."

Romans 13:8

Tim and I have been talking about cutting down on things... we have 2 cars right now, my car is a Honda Civic. We've discussed donating the car to my Mom. If I stay home I really have no need for a second car, since Tim's work is 5 miles away, and I can drop him off/pick him up from work, if needede to run errands during the day. Sure, the CRV chugs more gas than the Civic, but as a family, that car is more beneficial to us than it would be for my Mom. It can haul larger things too.

Now that we have no debt, I hope that we can save up for the next car purchase, which might be a diesel.... and make our own biodiesel from used food oils! We're still researching on the best options for alternative energy cars.

Oh! And I stumbled upon a website that offers Solar Panels as rentals!
http://renu.citizenre.com/index.php
Tim's very excited about this as well since he's wanted Solar Panels for a while but the high cost has been prohibitive.
We're researching right now to see if this is the best option for now until we can save up to buy our own set.

Reasons

Why am I doing this? It's not to escape, but it's my way of saying I want to be a good steward of this Earth that God has created. It's also my way of spending more time with the family. I feel I've lost precious time while I'm working dawn til dusk, and drag grouchy self home to see my family for a mere 2 hours. I don't see the point in continuing in that. I have little time on this Earth, and I want to make the best of it, esp with my closest kin. I'm not dying of any terminal illness, no, I'm just saying our life is just a vapor. I've let Caleb grow up for the past 3 years without me being around much, and it's time for a change. I also want to feed my family natural organic foods, not the junk they sell in the supermarkets that have pesticides, and artificial fertilizers! It's no wonder this world is SICK! Most Americans feed themselves over-processed sugar and fat laden food that has barely any nutrients that God had intended in the natural food, then they get sick from it, be it Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Strokes, Heart Attacks, Depression, you name it! I started eating Organic when Caleb was diagnosed with Multiple Food Allergies when he was 6 months old. We have not looked back since (although it's impossible to convince Tim to eat as healthy as us) Organic food is so much more tastier and I feel more energetic. I've realized (I have a sweet tooth and am a chocoholic) that when I stay away from sugar, I am much more positive and even tempered. So, going back to my reasons, I want to say NO to consumerism and the American way of Keeping UP with the Jones'!!! Humans don't NEED all that CRAP... we just need the basics, nutritious food, shelter, love and God. Everything else is someone else trying to make you believe you WANT/NEED it! I know my current life is far from these Ideals but THOSE are what I am going to strive for.

Starting on the Path

We've decided to start moving towards self-sufficiency in this crazy world and gradually get off of the Rat Race Treadmill. I've been very inspired by the Dervaes website: www.pathtofreedom.com

It's not much of a start, but we made our first Raised Garden Box and trying to decide what will be planted there. We purchased a Solar Oven and waiting for it to arrive. In July, my contract will be over from Cartoon Network, so I'm going to take that as an opportunity to start on a new journey. This drawing above is our current state of affairs in a regular suburban neighborhood in Hacienda Heights. We want to start off by ripping out the Lawns to create more Veggie Beds. We just planted an Asian Pear which has 3 different types of pears grafted on. We're planning on starting most of the work in the backyard first, then eventually move towards the front. As you can see, we have a HUGE pool and the yard is mostly covered with concrete....sigh.... The Pool is one of the MOST UN-ecological, wasteful things in the world!!! First, we hardly use this thing (maybe 6 or 7 times out of the year) and second, it costs money to upkeep ($65/month) and Thirdly, it wastes precious water through evaporation EVERYDAY.... Fourthly, it uses toxic chemicals to keep it blue, and Fifthly, the filter is on for 6 hours each day to keep it clean!!! (HORRIBLE waste of electricity). Unfortunately, at this stage, we don't own this home so there's no arguing if we can rip this pool out to make a use of more land for Crops and Fruit Trees.