I attended my first ever BarCamp event yesterday....

.... And I learnt sooooo much, I'm still bursting!!!

What is BarCamp? Wikipedia: ...an international network of user generated conferences (or unconferences) - open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants.

The one I attended yesterday, in London was BarCamp Africa UK, and so much was offered - in the way of presentations, talks and hospitality.... my mind was blown away!

Now, apart from technological talks, focusing on how technology can be utilised to offer solutions to many of Africa's shortcomings - which I very, very much enjoyed, especially as I've recently had a weird attraction to technology and how it can be used to better our lives in general (evolving from technophobe to technophile), the group discussions/presentations at the event.... so many good ones running concurrently that I was spoilt for choice, but thankfully, most, if not all, that can be found via twitcam and here; the one that resonated most with me was on 'Subsistence Crop Production Improvement: Eco Options' - by B S Kyambadde. This talk bawled me over.... the many ways in which soil can be naturally enriched; keeping it all ecologically sound; the fact that Africa and most other developing countries, inspite of the fact there are vast amounts of land to cultivate, cannot produce enough to feed themselves and as a result, are forced to import food from abroad; the fact that education in subsistency could change things around so dramatically, yet resources are lacking, and a host of others..... I was kept awake very early this morning just mulling over this discussion, and cannot wait to get the powerpoint presentation to read through once it's available.

Whenever Africa and growing is mentioned, my brain immediately transports me back to my family's bits of land. My 'little' 10 pole plot* of allotment land in London is like a child's playground compared to the amount of land an average Kenyan has in the front and back yards in the country (forget cities - too crowded!). I consider myself blessed, in that I'm pretty much self sufficient on crops such as onions, garlic, beans, leeks and potatoes (for the better part of the year anyway!). The land my grandma and my immediate family (uncles, aunties, cousins) lives on is easily 10-15 acres. Add to that the fact that there are more plots in other sites at walking distance, they could so easily clock another 5 acres, perhaps even more. I'd guess in total there's at least 20 acres in total... why then, does my grandma still have to buy MOST of her food all year round? She keeps livestock too - cattle, goats, sheep and chicken - yet 80% of animal consumable products have to be bought - milk, meat, eggs.... I know it's easy to assume that with all of that, one would be able to make the most of that land and produce MOST of their own food, but is it a wrong assumption? I strongly believe that with the right resources - education, a bit of cash investment and labour, things can be turned around for the better. Enough can be produced for consumption and for sale. Yes, mother nature has a role to play, and with the recent drought, it may well have been a bad year anyway, but wouldn't it be better to not solely depend on rainfall for a good crop? How about using a method of farming/gardening that utilises every bit of plant nature throws at us for enriching the land? How about getting all that animal waste onto the land for better fertilised and productive land? All that lovely animal manure, all those leaves that get swept and burnt, all the fruit and veg scraps that get thrown in rubbish heaps and latrines... My most recent visit to Kenya had me chuckling as there was a lone tomato plant, and a lone okra plant, both thriving on the rubbish heap - no suprises then, as the cultivated crops were struggling at the height of summer... And you know what? Grandma laughed at me when I picked and at a tomato from that plant! Lord help me so I can get a programme going for the education of my people. Anyone have ideas on how more can be done to help the developing countries look after their land? How to go about establishing a hands on learning programme? I have a feeling pondering this will give me many early wake up calls (and possibly sleepless nights). What's clear in my mind though... something has got to be done!


10 poles* - An old measurement of length from the back of a plough to the nose of an ox; or 25 metres by 10 metres - that's 250 square metres peeps! (Excerpted from an article on The Independent)

Editing to update/add useful links:

http://barcampafrica-uk.wikispaces.com/Publishing+technology
http://www.arti-india.org/content/view/12/28/
http://files.howtolivewiki.com/Ending_poverty_with_open_hardware_3_bar_camp_africa_london.MP4
http://africamp.com/

November Hello - Gardening

Well, hello lovely readers (thanks for visiting by the way, as I've been pretty inconsistent here, but I do love my blog, so not going anywhere yet!).

It's been a few weeks since I last blogged and I attribute that to nothing other than laziness. It's all good though, life goes on, ideas swim around the head, some get remembered, some not, but ultimately, there's no cause to complain - I've been blessed!

Garden:

Winter's drawing in well and good and the only time I find myself spending at the allotment is when I'm feeding the compost bins and/or gathering some veggies to feed us. Sadly, my potatoes are still in the ground as I've been harvesting on an 'as required' basis due to a lack of storage space. Lesson learnt - NOT a good idea as it gets wetter. I'm losing so much to the slugs and worms I could cry, but I'm consoled by the fact that the two rows still will feed us for a while. I refuse to regard the eaten tubers as waste - I prefer to think of them as feeding back to the soil, because afterall, the 'waste' from the worms and slugs after their feed remains in the soil and enriches it, so it's all okay. Not that I'll be repeating this next year though!! Storage will be sorted out in due time for next year's crop, which will all be harvested by October! A little show of my potatoes - Highland Reds and Mr Little's Yelthom Gypsy (what a mouthful!)... so tasty!

Brassicas are doing well! Last Friday (6/11/9), I got  wonderfully suprised by 2 healthy heads of cauliflower - so unexpected! Okay, so the slimies had a bit of a field day, but that didn't deflate me... I still enjoyed my veggies and I'm so proud of them and cannot wait for next year!! Here they are:

The brocolli however, got naughty and started flowering - I'd only not visited for one week! I mean, where are they bolting off to? I still got a small head though ;-), so I'm happy.

All else is as expected - plants shutting down for winter and such and plot being in a perpetual state of mess, lol! Not too bothered though, it's hibernation season and I refuse to pressurise myself over overwintering crops. I'll get them done when I'm ready and will not force it... though having said that, it's be a good idea to get some broad/fava beans started, so they are resistatn to aphids... Hmmm. time, time, time!!! No pressure though, I've still got time to plan and strategise!

PS - I must apologise for the poor qualities of the pictures taken in the allotment... It was dark, and raining and  I have a new phone and had not worked out how to turn flash on till I got home! Thank God for the torch!!! Will take better pics next time!!!

Free Google Wave Invites

I've recently discovered in myself that I'm not as technophobic as I thought I was. Suddenly, all things techy are attractive to me. The usual - forums, blogs, facebook, twitter are a fabulous way of keeping in touch with friends and family all over the world. So, when I caught wind of Google Wave, I wanted in. I draw the line at buying one though - they are known to sell for £££s on ebay! I've posted begging for invites on facebook and twitter a few times, but still no joy. Well, today, I caught wind, via twitter through Afrigator of a competition being run by the Web Design Bureau of Mauritius offering FREE 15 Google Wave Invites. The competition starts today and closes at midnight on Wednesday 4th of November 2009. I'm hoping for an invite and blogging about it so you too have a chance, if you fancy one. Just tweet or blog about it and leave a comment on the WDBM with a link to your blog or tweet then sit tight and hope. Or if you're like me, tweet AND blog about it and also BEG for an invite lest someone with one to spare reads your blog or tweet. Now, if you have one to spare, please please, please, gift it to me? My email address: jacsquests [at] googlemail dot com.

Many thanks and bright blessings!

Is Green Living the antidote to Climate Change?

This post is in response of Blog Action Day - a call for all bloggers to unite in blogging about climate change.

I do believe Green Living is an antidote to Climate change. I'm not perfect by any means. I'm just a regular person trying to live as clean a life as possible on this earth, not to 'save the world' as the world will still be here regardless, but to leave a better world for my descendants and the other living organisms that God/Mother Nature put on this earth. The deeper I get into the greener lifestyle, the more aparent it is that man is the enemy. Our unsustainable habits are not only killing us, they are killing nature as a whole, and all that depend on it. We take, take, take and forget to give back. Yet we have the higher intelligence.... A little action by all of us can make a big difference.

Anyway, how can Green Living help tackle climate change? Here's a reflection of what I try to do:

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: I try to keep waste to a minimum. Keep stuff that is still usable going for as long as possible. If I get bored, I give away what I have and get used stuff that's new to me. This way, there's less need for manufucturing new things, thus reducing the strain on the raw material. Freecycle and freegle are great for ridding yourself of things that may be useful to others and gaining new stuff. There are more alternatives to reusing, reducing and recycling... sure to be a preferred method for all out there. I love all as ultimately, it's all keeping waste to a minimum.

Growing my own and shopping smart, locally: I try to grow as much as time and organisation allows me to. I call myself a natural gardener, as I'm very wary of freely using pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers based on petrochemicals, though I couldn't swear to not using a bit of glyphosphate (roundup) and tomatorite. Having said that, these are products I acquired at the beginning of my gardening experience - inherited the glyphosphate with the plot when I took it on and bought the tomatorite in my first year only. I'd love to be able to use only organic compost and manure too, but the expense makes it out of my reach at the moment, though I do try!!! The plan is to get myself organised so I'm eating 50-70% of my own homegrown produce all year round... I believe it is doable! My local Farmers' Market and farms in the UK take care of most of my diet. And ofcourse, I have to mention my aspirations for a beehive, and some livestock.......

Unit Watching: Keeping an eye out on our electricity and gas use. We're on green energy but that's not enough. Using as little of that as possible is our my aim and this also helps with the bills, hence the heating is on for 6 hours a day MAXIMUM even in mid winter. On warmer days, 2 hours are enough for heating water - an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. To keep warm, we wear warm clothes and have a toasty duvet on the sofa for lounging underneath.

Using Earth Friendly products around the home, and on skin and hair: Soapnuts, natural soaps (I love African Black Soap, AKA Shea Soap) etc... I know these can be expensive, however, they are worth it. And they get you using stuff wonderfully frugally as waste is more painful, lol. I love Miessence for my skin and hair amongst others, but going into it all is a whole of another blog post.

More will sure follow these. Till later, Happy BAD09!

Blog Action Day 2009

'Good Hair' vs Good Hair

If you're like me, and into Healthy Hair Practices (HHPs), hearing all about the new documentary film produced by Chris Rock, probably awakened a part of you that wants people to know that not all black ladies conform to the 'Good Hair' practices exposed in the film (not watched it yet, just saw some trailers, read some reviews and listened to some interviews). If you're not that into hair, you're probably wondering what's all the fuss about 'Good Hair'. This post looks into the debate but only very briefly.....

No what is GOOD HAIR? There's 'good hair' and there's good hair. I refuse to call non-relaxed, kinky, coarse hair 'bad' because it is not bad hair, like some believe it to be.

'Good Hair':

Many videos here - I've also embedded a whole episode of Tyra Bank's show talking about 'good hair' and what it means to some people......














Good Hair:

This is what my hair journey is all about. I had my share of  'good hair' practices till I got tired and decided to nurture and care for what I have naturally so I can have good hair. See, good hair to me means nurtured, loved, well taken care of hair in it's natural form. I see natural afro haired ladies with good hair and I drool. I'm not opposed to relaxed hair, and well cared for relaxed heads sure look good too, but the kinky, nappy, natural hair is what awakens my passion. Take a quick look Sera's hair - one of my natural hair inspirations. Isn't her hair just beautiful? I can only hope my hair grows up to look that beautiful (not able to embed).

I also feel I ought to mention Locs. Like loose hair, the care given to locs determine whether they look good or not. Now, in keeping with the topic of 'Good Hair', however, would locs fall into the 'good hair' or 'bad hair' category? I vote for good, as I believe locs are beautiful if looked after well I wonder what Chris Rock's venture reveals of them. Well, I guess I'll have to go see the film once it's out over here. And I sure as heck will be sporting my beautiful, natural, kinky FABULOUS hair when I do!

My hair progress since I got started in my hair journey are journaled here if anyone fancies a sneak: Year 1, Year 2 . Be warned though - all is revealed - good, bad and ugly, so proceed with caution!

Oh, by the way, it's my birthday today, so Happy Birthday to me!!!

It's raining

Thank God!

I'll be back soon with allotment updates.

Till then, cheerio!

I think I want a Blackberry or an iPhone.

Do you ever have so many thoughts running through your head that you need to blog about at the most inappropriate times, then when you have time to blog they're all gone? Been suffering from this lately.... hence I need an iPhone or a Blackberry!

Hair Update

So, it's been a while since I put in a hair update. That's not to say it's been abandoned - i'm still questing for super healthy, luscious afro hair, and I'm pleased to say, I'm on my way! Okay, so my hair's taking it's time, and is only shoulder length at the moment (stretched, lol, meaning it's neck length shrinken), but it's healthy and strong. I've worn twists and braids interchangeably for a long time now and the discipline is paying off. I'm yet to use any heat on my hair yet - too scared of burning it to the point of no return to shrinkage, i.e heat damage, so the heat is still off! I went through a rough period in April, when I last did a henna treatment and wore it loose and shrunken (a major no no for my VERY kinky hair), and had some serious tangles and knots as a result and considered doing things to it to make it easier to handle, like the Brazilian Keratin Treatment, but I thank God I did not act on my thoughts. I even bought the treatment from the US, but thank God it's delivery got delayed and customs held on to it for a while, so by the time it got to me I'd come back to my senses, lol. Instead, I wore more twists and braids with extensions and deep conditioned regularly and fell in love again. And now, here I am, with twists again, which I've worn for 2 weeks now and as I'm detoxing from the inside, I feel it's fit to detox on the outside too. This I plan to do tomorrow with rhassoul clay. Tonight, I'll make bigger twists of the medium sized ones I'm wearing in preparation for a good cleanse with clay, oils and honey, followed by a deep conditioning session with yummy Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose conditioner. Can't wait! Must remember to take pictures and add to my fotki too. Till next time!

Autumn Detox - Day 2

Great! I'm still doing fine, sticking it out with raw. No major detox symptoms, though had a slight headache today. Drank 3 litres so far, will take another litre before bed time.

Consumed today:

• Green juice - apples, whole lemon, cucumber, kale, ginger. It was even greener today!
• Raw live granola (sprouted buckwheat, sunflower+pumpkin seeds, banana, apple, dates, cinnamon)
• Chlorella and spirulina
  
• Raw onion, basil and olive bread (onion, sunflower seeds, basil, buckwheat, pumpkin seeds, flax powder, olive oil and lemon juice)
• Kale and avocado salad planned for dinner

I know.... so much for going all liquid, giving my gut a rest... Still, I'm pleased as all I've consumed is for good - no empty calories here! Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Autumn Detox

I've today started a detox. No plan, just a Jacquie detox with raw, live foods. I don't know how long for, but I'm aiming for a minimum of 3 days. I'll log my experiences here everyday, just so I can come back one day and remind myself on how it was, lol.

So, today I've consumed:

• A litre of green juice, comprising of apples, kale, ginger and aloe vera
• Water, water and more water
• Raw flax seed crackers (so crunchy and moreish!)
• Banana
• Chlorella
• Spirulina
• Raw chocolate pie
• detox tea

Had a thing after work and managed to not eat/drink the crisps, pizzas, bread sticks and wine on offer. It wasn't a struggle either, thank God! Total fluid intake approximately 4-5 litres (gotta flush out those toxins being released!)

Tomorrow, I'd love to try an all liquid diet, give my gut a rest, so energies are spent on healing - green juice, water and detox tea. Wish me luck!