Day 17

Wow, how did it get to be 17 full days?? I'm over halfway there and still going strong. Yes, I do sometimes miss meat and dairy, but I know that this is supposed to be a challenge I need to do. Since the weather has been so nice this week, Lorelai and I have gone on a bike ride every day. It's been so nice to get good exercise and enjoy the sun. That kinda helps me feel better. Then today, I started working the soil for my spring/summer garden. There are 2 patches of dirt in my back yard and one is set aside for Fall/Winter Veggies and the other for Spring/Summer. The patches are not huge, but big enough to do 5 different kinds of veggies. The spring/summer side is in bad shape. I bought a bag of soil with worm castings in it. The worm castings work as a natural fertilizer. We already have a few worms in the dirt, but this adds more yummyness to the dirt. I should be ready to plant the seeds in 2 weeks. I like to start with seeds and see my work unfold instead of heading to the store and buying one partially grown. It kinda takes the fun out of it for me. But I do buy already started plants every now and then. I'm still debating what I want to grow this year. My tomatoes did really well last year, so I might do 2 different kinds, and maybe some strawberries. There is a Seed Bank in Petaluma that will be a field trip for Lorelai and I in a few weeks. I've heard it's amazing!

I am also reading a book called, The Face on Your Plate, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. This book is about a guy who was raised Vegetarian/Vegan/Macrobiotic his whole life and is now questioning the whole idea. He did a lot of research on everything from agriculture to animals. There is an excerpt I HAVE to share with you. I don't want to sound preachy, but it is about Veganism, so I feel it must be shared.
"Going Vegan saves on average 2,000 animals over a person's lifetime. This is hardly trivial. By the time a dozen or so friends are influenced by your change, you are saving a large number of lives..........Eating meat is like driving a huge SUV. A vegetarian diet is like driving a mid-sized car or a reasonable sedan; and eating a Vegan diet (no dairy, no eggs) is like riding a bicycle or walking. If we want to fight the warming trend (global warming), we need to walk away from SUVs and an SUV-style diet."
Funny, I drive an SUV, and am Vegan. I must equal myself out!

Thanks for listening. And thanks for supporting me! Have a wonderful night!