“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday,
and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow:
Our life is the creation of our mind.”
Buddha
The Voyager boat returning from Whale Watching. Redondo Beach 2015
Shine On
“I believe someday great chefs will be known not only by the
recipes and methods they cook their food with, but by the
recipes and methods they grow their food with.”
Adam Navidi
Chef Adam Navidi, at his Future Foods Farm
Unless you live under a rock, you undoubtedly have heard about the drought situation in California. All of us in California are working to curb our water use. But, there’s one man in Southern California doing his part to save water.
Adam Navidi’s daily ritual involves harvesting fresh greens and other vegetables from his future farm. But it’s how he grows them that’s far from routine.
Adam has figured out a way to produce organic fruits and vegetables in the middle of a severe drought. He owns and operates Future Foods Farms in Brea, California. His farm is an aquaponic farm, which means the tomatoes, kale, microgreens and even edible flowers don’t grow in soil. Instead, the roots sit in water, and the plants are held up by a raft made of recycled Styrofoam shipping containers.
Inside each of the 10 greenhouses on the farm are small pools containing tilapia. The fish produce nutrients that feed the plants organically. The plants absorb those nutrients and also filter the water that goes back into the fish tanks.
There are huge benefits to aquaponic farming. Aquaponic plants grow two to three times faster as they do in soil and use a reduced amount of water. In fact, he produces one head of lettuce with one gallon of water versus conventional farming, or growing in the soil, which takes 10 to 15 gallons of water to produce a head of lettuce. Aquaponic farming also takes up less space and there is less evaporation. He has lettuce growing vertically in one greenhouse.
His water bill for the nursery that used to sit where his farm is now averaged about $1,200 to $1,600 a month. His current water bill ranges from $140 to $160 per month.
Mr. Navidi not only sells to local restaurants through local farmer’s markets, he also serves fresh greens daily at his own restaurant called Oceans and Earth in Yorba Linda.
Future Food Farms has opened the farm up to local colleges for research. He also hosts tours and tastings for people interested in learning how to start their own home aquaponic farm.
Shine On
“The good lord in his ultimate wisdom gave us three things
to make life bearable, hope, jokes and dogs,
but the greatest of these was dogs.
Robin Davidson
War Dogs by Rebecca Frankel
I just finished reading War Dogs, by Rebecca Frankel. It was a great read about dogs of war from the civil war to the current war in the Middle East.
I’m married to a Vietnam Veteran that worked with dogs during his time in Vietnam. A few of the stories Frankel tells about I was familiar with. However, there are several tear-jerking tales that I was not aware of.
The book tells how each handler and his dog have an unbreakable bond. So much so that they will often give their life for each other, dog for man and man for dog.
This book should be required reading for all our politicians that push this country towards war.
In my opinion, these dogs of war and their handlers should be honored yearly as a National Holiday.
Shine On
“Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty,
kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like.
More than anything else, it is about
how we treat other people.”
Dennis Prager
A small ray of light left before sunset on the Esplanade.
When I began this blog on January 1st of this year, my first post was about my resolution for the coming year.
Now, five months into 2015 I decided to revisit that post. How was I doing with my resolution, to have a positive attitude toward my fellow-man?
The last five months I have made a conscious effort to be more positive. Even my husband has noticed a big difference in my stress level and his, with my positive attitude. For example, on Thursday I had to make a phone call that I had been dreading to make because I didn’t want to deal with how difficult a particular company is to deal with. Before I made the phone call I told myself that I would be happy, patient and courteous to the customer service person helping me, no matter how rude they have been in the past.
My change in attitude worked. The customer service person was helpful, easy to talk with and had great compassion for me and what I needed help with. She even called me back ten minutes later as she had promised.
A little sunshine goes a long way. After all, sunshine has long symbolized light and happiness and was worshiped for thousands of years for its life-giving properties. It feels good to be a ray of light.
Shine On
“When you are a mother, you are
never really alone in your thoughts.
A mother always has to think twice,
once for herself and once for her child.”
Sophia Loren
Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia.
Anna’s efforts to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday began in 1905, the year her beloved mother died. She wanted to honor her mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mothers. Her mother was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War.
Whether you live in the United States or live across the ocean on another continent, have a Happy Mother’s Day.
Shine On
Chronicles of a Blogaholic 