Fair Trade, Kind-to-the-Earth Christmas Gifts, and a New Superfood I Invented

Guac with garlic, chick peas, sprouted grains, lime juice, cumin, pink salt, and olive oil, with blue corn chips

I think I invented a new superfood. Yesterday, which was Sunday, I was putting together snacks for the football game, when I found a ripe avocado in the fruit bowl. Guac again? Meh. Guac with garlic, chick peas, sprouted grains, lime juice, and olive oil, with blue corn chips? Yes! Hit it with a little roasted cumin powder and Himalayan pink salt, and we, including the dogs, hogged it.

I collected pollen from the cybister amaryllis before pollinating it to itself (cloning) with remaining pollen. A couple more amaryllis will bloom within two weeks. I’ll use the cybister pollen – which is in the freezer right now - to fertilize those.

Christmas shopping is a task I dread, but I had fun gathering gifts for work colleagues this weekend. I descended on Foodworks, my fav health supplies store, and hooked up everyone with fair trade, non-toxic, kind-to-the-animals-and-earth gifts: a soy candle for one, fair trade ornaments from Kenya for another, very cool Nepal-made mittens, engraved soapstone hearts from India, organic, GMO-free cat treats for friends’ cats, and a very groovy calendar on recycled paper.

I also bought wrapping material made from recycled saris in India. It has an interesting, thick texture and brilliant purple and gold colors. Proceeds go to the women who made it. Grabbed a roll of jute twine, and I’m all set to wrap. Everything is gorgeous, and costs less than if I shopped corporate. Big win.

We also mailed off the Christmas greetings. The blue Buddha post cards looked pretty with their peace stickers, plus we saved a bit of paper and postage, and we sent the message we want to convey.

Saturday, as I made my way to the compost bin on the other side of the property to deposit the week’s waste, I twisted my ankle pretty badly in a pile of leaves adjacent to the bin. The strap on my awesome, vegan wedge sandal snapped.

But my husband came up with the solution: he placed a giant, covered bucket with a handle outside, right by the kitchen door. It’s big enough to hold a couple of months’ worth of kitchen scraps, maybe more.

Now, I can just poke my head out the door, unlock the bucket lid, dump the scraps, and lock the lid. When the bucket is full, my husband or I will take it to the compost bin. This also solves the problem of trudging out to the bin in snow, a chore I always hated. Come summer, the bucket retires for the season: I love the walk to the bin in the woods in warm weather.

Speaking of warm weather, the urge for it is creeping up on me a little early. I know that it’s started when a brief thought of summer floods my senses with all the amazing sights, sounds, and smells of a summer day. My stomach flutters for a moment. I think about how we’re going to do the food gardens. I catch the scent of suntan lotion. Yes, it’s happening. It’s too early for this to be respectable. But come mid-January, I’ll be shamelessly drawing up plans for the 2017 gardens.

Peace on Earth.