Ocean Solids, Paper Seed Pots and a Wet Weekend

With my impending redundency from work I have a renewed interest in "frugal Living" .. Something that cought my eye was an origami style newspaper seedling pots as written about by fellow blogger Hazel...

Anyway

So now 'they' are finding that the nutrient quality of our vegetables has declined over recent years ! The decline is said to be small however. But yeh Gods what are we doing to our food supply... The study of the mineral content in various produce compared between current data and data from the 1930s found that several types of mineral concentrations had declined in both the US and the UK.



Now the obvious questions arise, such as the data collection techniques and how much better they probably are now compared to the 30s ... But again what are we doing with these modern cultivars to make this happen ... ANd of course is this then accelerated with GE foods ??



Other studies are showing reduced protein in modern maize (drop from 13.3% to 12.2%) and in Soy bean protein over the past 60 years ...



So maybe we have another reason to grow the heritage vegetables .... In reading the wonderful gardening book from our local (Palmerston North) guru Wally Richards, he advocates a mineral rich product collected from the sea called "Ocean Solids". The blurb on this is here...







This is dried 'ocean minerals' that you spread or spray onto your plants and soil ... the plants then take these minerals up and you have an enriched and natural food source ... Interestingly enough the ideal plant for this is the 'wheat grass' as it will take up around 90 differing minerals . Much more than other edible plants .. .Details here



To Quote from the book...

"When a land mass rises from the sea it is mineral rich and once plant life establishes on the land it too is rich in minerals. But over time through rain, erosion and leaching a lot of the minerals gained by the land are lost back into the sea. It is interesting to note that in isolated pockets on the planet, where because of the terrain, that leaching does not take place. People living in these pockets more often than not live to over 100 years of age, in excellent health. The reason, Maynard says, is because of the mineral rich diet they have, which allows the cells of the body to replicate perfectly, slowing right down the aging process and maintaining very healthy organs."



So I have already picked up my bottle of Ocean Solids. It has to be a better option than bottles of pills most of which the body cannot utilise in refined forms .....



Meanwhile we are in for a wet & windy weekend ...Perfect for staying in doors, but sod all else really ..

Oooh The Names I've Called Them !!!!!!

I found out Monday morning that the IT review at my place of work has made my position, along with all the senior IT managers positions, 'disestablished' ..(My boss as well). I've been made redundent ...or will be on the 8th June ..







I cannot believe the stupidity of it ...The new proposed structure is a complete backward step. But that's what you get when you take the wrong political side in these things ... The internal fightings and squabling has gone on for some 3+ years ....







I wanted out anyway ... But of course would have rather done it on my terms .... Still with the redundency and a months paid notice, which I will tell them I want paying out and leave immediately, we're OK for a few months .... even til the end of the year ..







So Gardening leave for me :O) Ideally I would like a month or two off from work completely ...In 31 years of working, the most time I've taken is about 5 weeks .... So it's probably a good opportunity to take time out ... In the middle of damned winter.... sheesh!







Having said that I'll grab any job offered when it's offered ...In this economic environment I can't afford not to ....







And on that, I've been at a conference Tue/Wed and have started to tell people I know whats happening .. One senior manager from a vendor made a number of phone calls on my behalf within two hours of me telling him - with a couple of leads of possibilities over the next couple of months ........







Humbling really that people are so willing to help...







McD as well has come up with a couple of contacts that might be fruitful ...









So - who knows where this will lead ..:O)

Just one of those "Nothing to Say" Entries

My past week has been pretty much a boring trudge through the days .... Too dull and far too painful to bother writing down anything much about it .......



We didn't win the Big one in Lotto either ... Actually won absolutely stuff all on lotto for some time now ..... Good job the proceeds go to charities in NZ ....



Work is work - I have to get out and find something else ..and soon.... before I do lose the plot with them .... I took my team out for drinks Friday afternoon, which went down well .... Thought We should celebrate the end of the big Project-in-BAU we've laboured over this past year and a half ....A heap of things still to do of course but what the hey .. Not that I will get the money out of work for this ... I'll pay for the couple of over priced bottles of local pinot noir ... It was well worth it for the support they gave and give ....



I'm trying to write an End Of Year report on the vegetable garden ...Yep a year ago we had cleared the gorse forest, made many many rats homeless (until they found the attic and the basement) and built a number of raised beds for the square foot gardening .... An all round success though some of the vegetables were definately flops rather than crops ...



This coming week sees both McD and I getting back into the diet ...Despite thye fact that I've not put any of the weight lossed last year after 6 months , I've not lost anything either ..So back into it..



My back after 2 1/2 months of pain (Blind agony at times) has come right and the pain pretty much gone ... It's still stiff and very week but I'm mobile again until next time .... It was such a slow progress ...A few extra seconds sat up on day a few seconds more the next ...Then standing a little longer day by day and then walking a little further day by day .......



This week McD and I are to start Yoga sessions ..... I need to slowly start to get my spine in order and strenthen the supporting muscles ... The compressed discs may never recover ....