Wonder Woman

As I snuggled up under a warm quilt on the sofa a few nights ago, I saw a commercial that advertised the new animated Wonder Woman movie. She has always been my favorite superhero-maybe because I have been called an Amazon before and Lynda Carter made it cool to be almost six feet tall and wear contacts, a new thing in those days. In the movie promo, Wonder Woman was in her costume, if you can call it that. Seeing all of that exposed skin made me shiver (I was already cold, but it felt like empathy), and I wondered-pun intended, doesn't Wonder Woman ever get cold? Thinking back, I don't recall any episodes where she had to go to the Arctic like Superman did, but with as little as she wears, she would be hypothermic anywhere, I would think.

I'm pretty sure that most comic book superheroes are created and drawn by men, so that is the obvious explanation for why Wonder Woman AKA Diana Prince wears so little after she removes her glasses. Every male superhero I can think of wears tights or some kind of leggings: Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Space Ghost, the Green Lantern and even Aquaman, a swimmer, are all covered up. There are no bare chests or hairy legs, why, even Underdog and Mighty Mouse are fully-clothed. Men, dogs, and mice in tights, and women in almost nothing by comparison. Men in tights...that must be why they are wearing masks.
It is an insane world.

Recycling News About Eggs

This is an old story from Mother Earth News, but it is a must read for health conscious homesteader types who raise their own chickens and eggs.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Pastured-Eggs-Vitamin-D-Content.aspx

Eggciting News!!!
10/15/2008 3:37:53 PM

By Tabitha Alterman
Tags: free-range eggs, egg tests, pastured poultry, grazing livestock, egg nutrition, vitamin D

The results from Mother Earth News' latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests are beginning to come in. So far, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry's butt - woo hoo, go free range! We've invested a lot of time and energy over the last few years in researching the differences between the meat and eggs coming out of the commercial industry and those produced by conscientious farmers who let their animals graze on fresh pastures. In the past, we've found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:

1/3 less cholesterol
1/4 less saturated fat
2/3 more vitamin A
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene

Now we're looking at vitamin D, which many of us do not get enough of because we don't spend any time outdoors, and even when we do we use sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production. Eggs are one of the few food sources of naturally occurring vitamin D, and we wondered if true free-range eggs might be higher in this important vitamin, too. Our latest tests show that pastured eggs have anywhere between 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs.

Garden fun

Today I transplanted the mustard plants into a raised bed. I also transplanted my Chinese Cabbage and Pak Choi as well as the Packman Broccoli into the garden beds. I will finish transplanting the Decicco broccoli and the cauliflower tomorrow. Also on the agenda for tomorrow is to sow my squash, gourds, cukes, spinach, and lettuces. I have a few tomatoes ready for their first transplant(the cherry toms are ready) as well. I pretty excited to finally see some tomato seedlings. I've got Caspian Pink, Abraham Lincoln, Cherokee Purple, Roma, and Sausage seedlings. For the pepper side, the only seedlings so far are the Anaheims, but it looks like the Alma paprikas are about to break out. I've got a nice flat of Red burgundy onions that probably should be transplanted. I've never grown onion from seed before so I am not sure when they can go to the ground. Right now, the 'leaves' are about 3 inches long.
I'm hoping, with this warmer weather arriving, that my English peas, Snow peas, and radishes will germinate(actually a few peas have broken ground already) and the seedling lettuces will really start growing. The yellow onion sets and the garlic I planted last fall are starting to stand up, grow, and look like green onions now.
Some things appear to be slower than usual. My potato vines have not escaped the first tire yet, and the strawberries are still so small they are lost in the mulch. Some of the cauliflower I originally set out did not make it through this last cold snap. Cauliflower is a bit less hardy than broccoli, I think. I'm not too concerned if I don't get good results from my brassicas as I will always have the Fall garden to make up for lost plants. I have a second shot at it.

Today I also cleaned out the nasty, wet ashes from our trash burner. I have a separate compost pile just for such stuff. We burn our box trash and junk mail, but no plastic. It composts fine.

I had a bit of a scare this afternoon, too. I had just come in when I got a phone call from my folks who were in town. They said they could see smoke out near my house(it is about 15 air miles away). I looked out, but couldn't see anything. The sky was brilliant blue. A few minutes later, I could see what looked like a thick white cloud coming over the mountain to the west of me. I immediately called the Forest Service to make sure they were aware and luckily it was a controlled 'wildlife' burn in the National Forest just on the other side of the ridge from me. Whew! A sigh of relief came over me. When you live in the woods, wildfires are always a concern.