Lessons to Come......

Cuba will have much to teach us in the years to come, particularly when it comes to peak oil. Their experience is well worth watching, indeed a resilient people.


The Power of Community. How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (sub español) from El Tránsito Necesario on Vimeo.

Have a wonderful weekend:)

Because a Smile for the Day is Healthy....

Catch up........

Isn't this just delighful? Friday night & Saturday was our annual leaders retreat, sort of respite from the mad world of welfare work for us.

We spent it in a gorgeous isolated homestead with log cabins, nothing but natural bushland surrounding us and spas!

Meals were had on a large patio that overlooked all this native bush, birds landing at our feet to be fed and plenty of human food around too! Was a great group of ladies and a wonderful time for catch up.

As a result of the time away Sunday was leisurely at home, I pottered a little in the garden to check out how things were going.

The Kangaroo Paws are doing very well as you can see, this by the way is an Aussie emblem, hard to find naturally now, a shame, they were everywhere when I was a child.

This is my latest order from Daleys, the iconic Quandong.
The Quandong is a truly unique native Australian fruit. Found in the arid and semi-arid regions of all Australian mainland states , Quandong trees have been classified as belonging to the santalum genus of plants. Ideally adapted to arid environments, the Santalum Acuminatum species is known to be a semi-parasitic plant. Quandong trees can tolerate high soil salinity levels and often rely for their complete water requirements from the root systems of host plants. Across their native distribution range, Quandong trees typically grow 2 to 3 metres in height, with a dense leathery crown of leaves perhaps 2 metres wide


Amongst Australian aborigines Quandongs were much valued for their medicinal properties. Specialised uses of the Quandong included a form of tea which was drunk as a purgative. Quandong tree roots were also ground down and used as an infusion for the treatment of rheumatism. Typically Quandong leaves were crushed and mixed with saliva to produce a topical ointmnet for skin sores and boils.

Encased within each Quandong seed is an oil rich kernel which was also processed in a similar fashion to treat skin disorders. Quandong kernels could also be eaten and some tribal groups were known to employ crushed kernels as a form of "hair conditioning oil".

Fossilised Quandongs have been discovered in the coal seams of Southern Victoria. Apparently these fossils date from 40 million years ago - a time when Australia was still linked to the Antarctic continent.

Australian people often refer to Quandongs as the Wild Peach, Desert Peach or Native Peach.

Quandongs have a vitamin C content higher than oranges and and almost certainly saved many early Australian explorers from scurvy.

Quandong fruit can be dried and frozen for 8 years or more, without losing any flavour whatsoever.

The tree is a hemi-parasite requiring macro-nutrients from roots of hosts. The host should be surface rooted, evergreen, water storing, nutrient storing and with a high osmotic pressure. Olives, accacias and most Australian natives are good. Eucalytpus, conifers and citrus are not suitable hosts. The more trees and shrubs and groundcovers you have in your yard as host plants the happier the Santalum will be. Drought and salt tolerant.
Known as the sweet quandong the flavour is tart and reminiscent of peach, apricot or rhubarb.


QUANDONG PIE WITH MIXED BERRIES AND CUSTARD

Prep Time: 1 Hour
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 cups quandongs (dried preferably)
1 litre water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornflour
250gram short crust pastry
200 grams mixed berries
200 ml custard
Method
Simmer quandongs with water and sugar until thick and hydrated then stir in mixed berries. Make a smooth paste with the cornflour by adding a little water. While quandong and berries are simmering stir in the cornflour mixture bring to the boil until the first bubbles appear then take of the heat and cool.

Grease a 20cm pie tin and then line with pastry pressing the pastry into the sides and leaving an overlap of pastry. Fill the pie crust until 3/4 full with quandong and berry mix, pipe a swirl of custard over the quandong and berry mix. Brush egg wash around edge of pie crust and top with a pastry cover. Crimp pie edge to form a seal and brush top with egg wash. Run a folk over pastry to form a pattern then place five holes in pastry top and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 180C for 30-45 minutes or until pastry is cooked and nicely browned.
Notes:
May need to extend or reduce cooking time depending on your oven
Keeps for 5 days in the fridge sealed well or 4 months in the freezer
Serve with whipped cream


Quandong Jam
Makes 8cups

1kg fresh quandongs
1kg caster sugar
100ml water
Chop up the fruit and combine with sugar and water in a large saucepan and put it over medium heat, stirring constantly as it comes to the boil. Lower the heat so it simmers. Cook until it reaches setting point (usu 45mins ish). Test by dropping a teaspoonful onto a cold saucer. Let it cool, and when you push it with your finger, it should wrinkle.

Be careful not to overcook and caramilze the sugar as this will alter the colour and flavour of the jam.

Once its ready, pour into sterilized jars and seal. Should keep about a year unopened in the pantry, refrigerate once opened.


Quandong, port and chilli sauce

1/2 cup or 50 g of dried quandong fruit
2 cups or 500 ml apple juice
1 cup port
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cornflour, dissolved in a little cold water

Place the dried quandong fruit in a saucepan with the apple juice and bring to a simmer.
Cook at a simmer for 10 minutes,turn off the heat, allow them to cool, then stand for at least 2 hours to rehydrate fully.
Add the port, chilli powder and salt andsimmer for 5 minutes. Thicken the sauce slightly by briskly stirring in the dissolved cornflour and cooking for 3 minutes before removing from the heat.
This rich and flavoursome sauce suits most game meats such as kangaroo, duck, rabbit and lean pork.

The Madness Continues....

I received this in my email today:

MADGE has drafted an email asking your Minister/s to immediately review our food regulator’s (FSANZ) approval of a GM corn.


This GM corn is designed to be sprayed with 2,4-D, a weedkiller known to cause birth defects and illness.

Please forward this information to your friends, colleagues and family

Suggested email:



Dear Minister,
Please immediately review Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) approval to release 2,4-D corn line DAS-40278-9 into our food. The reasons are as follows:

• 2,4-D was an ingredient in Agent Orange, the herbicide used in the Vietnam War that is still causing birth defects, illness and trauma in affected people. This GM crop will also be sprayed with the herbicide quizalofop-P-ethyl.

• No animal feeding studies were conducted on this GM corn. Instead 10 mice were fed a GM protein twice within an hour. Two weeks later the mice were killed. One male mouse had signs of an ulcer in the stomach, and one female mouse had a dark area in the cerebrum of the brain.

• This GM corn will escape labelling when refined into ingredients in many processed foods.

• This GM crop has become necessary due to the failure of the existing GM crops sprayed with the herbicide Roundup. The 2,4-D chemical can be used to kill weeds that can no longer be killed by Roundup. It is sprayed directly on the crops.
• FSANZ have assessed and approved one new protein in the GM corn. They also consider it acceptable for us to eat a chemical cocktail of two herbicides 2, 4-D and quizalofop-P-ethyl. No animal or human has ever eaten this crop before and FSANZ have not considered if the chemicals are safe for human consumption.

A majority of Ministers in the Food Regulation Ministerial Council is required to begin an investigation into a food approval. Please join with your colleagues to halt the approval of this GM corn while suitable investigations can be made.



Regards

Your Name Here

Minister Contact Details:

ACT: Ms Katy Gallagher, Minister for Health gallagher@act.gov.au
NSW:
1) Ms Katrina Hodgkinson, Minister for Primary Industries office@hodgkinson.minister.nsw.gov.au
2) Mrs Jillian Skinner,
Minister for Health office@skinner.minister.nsw.gov.a


NT: The Hon Konstantine Vatskalis, Minister for Health minister.vatskalis@nt.gov.au

QLD:
1) The Hon Geoff Wilson,
Minister for Health health@ministerial.qld.gov.au
2) The Hon Tim Mulherin Minister for Agriculture, Food and Regional Economies mackay@parliament.qld.gov.au

SA:
1) The Hon John Hill, MP, Minister for Health
minister.health@dhs.sa.gov.au
2) The Hon Michael O'Brien, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries paul.tsoundarou@sa.gov.au
 (advisor to M. O’Brien)

TAS:
1) The Hon Michelle O'Byrne, Minister for Health Michelle.O'Byrne@parliament.tas.gov.au
2) The Hon Bryan Green, Minister for Primary Industries and Water bryan.green@parliament.tas.gov.au

VIC:
1) The Hon David Davis, MLC
david.davis@parliament.vic.gov.au
2) The Hon Peter Walsh, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security peter.walsh@parliament.vic.gov.au

WA:
1) The Hon Dr Kim Hames, Minister for Health
kim.hames@mp.wa.gov.au
2) The Hon Terry Redman, Minister for Agriculture and Food Minister.Redman@dpc.wa.gov.au

Federal Australian Government:
1) The Hon Nicola Roxon, Minister for Health and Ageing nicola.roxon.mp@aph.gov.au
2) The Hon Catherine King, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Catherine.King.MP@aph.gov.au
3) Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig, Minister for Agriculture, joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au

New Zealand:
The Hon Kate Wilkinson Minister for Food Safety k.wilkinson@ministers.govt.nz

More information on the GM corn and Ministerial Council:
Madge Press Release "Serious alert about our Food Regulator; mother calls in MADGE."
GE Free New Zealand "Minister Called to Intervene Against 2,4-D in Food."
The Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council (ANZFRMC)
2,4-D, an ingredient of Agent Orange, causes birth defects in laboratory animals, damages DNA, and is an endocrine disruptor. It is toxic to bees and fish. Ref: http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/24d.htm

Quizalofop-P-ethyl is a herbicide about which not much is known. Ref: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC38972

I've sent mine off, you going to send too? Remember, if you don't act now tomorrow you cannot complain that it should never have been allowed! Too often we whinge but don't step up to the plate!

Why do we never learn?

Remember Thalidomde? Years of pregnant mothers being told it was safe.........and then..........disaster. In my opinion COAL SEAM GAS mining.........AKA FRACKING is just another of these disasters waiting to happen! It is something many of us have been talking about for more than a few years.....why?..........Watch the video at the end of this post on the american experience, that will give you an understanding.

So concerned in fact that when I was notified of the Senate Enquiry I sent a letter off to the Senate Committee Enquiry, here's part of the response to date:

Dear Submittee
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your submission to the Inquiry into the management of the Murray Darling Basin

Your submission has been provided to the Committee for consideration at its next formal meeting. Once the Committee has formally accepted your submission, it will be published on the Committee's webpage. Please note that in some cases it can be a number of weeks before your submission is published.

Your submission is protected by parliamentary privilege. Parliamentary privilege refers to the special rights and immunities attached to the Parliament or its members and others necessary for the discharge of the parliamentary functions without obstruction and fear of prosecution. This means that you cannot be prosecuted or disadvantaged because of anything you have provided in evidence, or because you gave such evidence. If you believe that anyone has disadvantaged you in any way as a result of the submission you have made, please advise the Secretariat.

Please note also that a submission to a Committee becomes a committee document, and must not be disclosed to any other person until it has been released ('published') by the committee. The content of a submission may be published in another form or for another purpose before the submission is released by the committee, but that publication will not be protected by parliamentary privilege.
 
So I won't put the whole submission in here, what I will do is post the video I also included in the submission..........see for yourself.......

Question.................

Are you making or have you made

a difference in our world?

A Life of Contradictions...............

Do you ever find yourself feeling like you live in two worlds? I do!

I am a CEO, so there is a certain "image" I am expected to present in at least my clothing, which of course means no "op shop" clothes for work.

Basically I only have 2 sorts of wardobe, work and home clothes. The work gear is suits, vests etc, the home gear is tracky daks (sweat suits I think in yanky jargon) and whatever work shirts/blouses that have got too "tatty" for the image..... two worlds.

I have a morgage to pay, so work is essential. Getting divorced close to 40 meant starting all over again basically, retiring not an option for at least 10 years.......the dream of spending all day in the garden tending to everything home grown is a way off.

I have a fridge when I just want to live from zeer pots (see the zeer idea on the list to your right), but I don't have time to shop everyday for things like milk, meat etc.

I have a washing machine when I just want to hand wash, but I dont have time to spend plunging and hand wringing etc

I'd love to go electricity free for all but 2 months in summer, but I need the PC for working from the office at night and son is still home so I can hear the screams from here LOL

I'd like to spend more time working in our local community building greater resilience and greater homesteading skills but by the time I am finished work I am exhausted (thanks hypothyroidism), it's enough to get home, clean, cook, garden and organise before a little time in the office and bed.

How do I work through the duality?

I grow many of our vegies at home, have planted over 40 fruits and berries, keep chooks who fertise the garden, provide eggs and keep the pests at bay. A lot of time is spent rebuilding the soil and keeping it healthy.

I spend no time trying to uphold the CEO image at home. I don't live in a fancy house or have expensive decor or other items.

I repurpose everything I can or find a home for it.

I cook from scratch 99% of the time.

I use healthy alternatives at every opportunity for cleaning, washing etc, soapwort plant, soapnuts, vinegar etc.

My fridge is a basic one and when son leaves I will be changing down to a bar fridge with a zeer pot on the side for fruits, vegies etc

I only buy clothing as needed and recycle from office to garden gear when they get a little old.

I promote at every opportunity alternatives to the modern lifestyle, for example introducing classes at work for community members on how to make home grown beauty products, how to cook from scratch, how to grow your own food.....all slotted into our Money Matters seminars

It is slow progress, there are times I get absolutely bloody frustrated, but there is light at the end of the tunnel:)

How do you cope with that duality?