Boiling the fish heads

My husband I and just had a conversation while he was cleaning fish, which was of a subject that my thoughts run across all the time. His father always boiled the fish heads to feed to their cat, he never threw them away. Every time Shane cleans fish he feels very guilty about throwing away so much of the fish, and just eating part of it. He just caught some beautiful very big snapper, with their magical blue spots. We are going to boil the heads this time, and not waste the fish. His father hadn't "slipped down" to that level of wasteful behaviour, and if we don't as well, we are not slipping down -- the skills of his generation won't be lost by us.

I was talking to him about the native American people (First Nations, "Indians"). When our culture first had contact with them, there was a real contrast of our culture with theirs, the modern path we had taken, and the way we all used to live. The native women, I still have this impression burned into my mind from when I learned how the native women would use all the parts of the buffalo, they wouldn't waste anything. In contrast, we have become very wasteful. I just have a really beautiful image of that-- the women being so careful and resourceful.



Painting by Charles Shaw, found at this link: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/hunting/mass.html

[Shane slices away the strip in the fillet containing the bones and throws it into the pot, already very full.] "See? Now that would have been wasted." It just feels wrong to waste the life of that beautiful fish.



P.S. One thing I am proud of is that I have continued to keep my one good knife sharp. When Shane needs to clean a fish, I sharpen it. It's that one step forward and I hold onto it....

Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper (2004)

Screenshot of Eliza, a special woman of Tanzania.

Darwin's nightmare is a must-see for we who live in privileged countries, like NZ, Canada, USA, England.... My husband, Shane, inexplicably brought this video home one day-- I am usually the serious, heavy-going one, but he ran into this movie and for some reason was drawn to take it home.

Synopsis: In Tanzania (said Tan-za-neeya), North Africa, there is a huge lake called Lake Victoria. It used to be populated mostly with "cichlids", fish that evolved with the lake and kept the eco-system healthy by eating algae. In the 1960's someone introduced a species into the lake called the "Nile Perch". This fish is a strong predator and completely took over the eco-system, until all 270 other fish species were depleted from the lake. (The eco-system is going to collapse one day, as the waters get murkier and murkier, and Nile Perch cannibalize themselves.)

The people decided to export the Nile Perch fish to Europe, and the World Bank loaned them money to create Nile Perch factories. It is the main industry there now, and two planes leave Mwanza (a town on the shores of Lake Victoria) every day full of 500 tons of finely packaged Nile Perch fish eaten in Europe.

However, the local people of Mwanza can't afford the fish themselves, with the highly modern and expensive processing that takes place so it will be acceptable as an export to Europe. Most of the local people are VERY poor. They actually eat the fish carcasses after the meat has been stripped at the factories, with the little meat left on them, which is thrown out into a big nasty pile. There are local people-- and this was the most disgusting and horrible thing-- walking through rows of fish carcasses drying in the sun, through an ooze of mud and maggots. The ammoniac gas from the fish drying had burned one employee's eye, which she hid under a head wrapping-- it was sealed over. They were afraid of getting into trouble by complaining at all, they were pretending they were happy as they stepped in the maggot ooze, but the woman with the damaged eye had more to complain about I guess.

What many local people are forced to eat in Tanzania.

Also, because the people were so poor, many women turned to prostitution to the airplane pilots coming and going, to support their families. One such woman they interviewed, Eliza, was treated roughly by the pilot in the room with her, he grabbed her with no respect to get her to come. At first her face was upset, but she quickly covered it up with a mask-- she started to sing for Tanzania. It was haunting. It was as though she was showing how special her spirit was, and singing for the spirit of her country, as well. Before the documentary ended, she was actually murdered by an Australian client-- who stabbed her. They had interviewed her a few times, and she was such a special person. I can still hear her singing her song about Tanzania.

Last but not least, as part of the true nightmare were the deserted street children that existed around the lake. They were very poor and starved, and would melt down the plastic fish packaging, and sniff it to knock themselves out.

This documentary really touched me. It wasn't right, that Europe would send an envoy to make sure the fish they were receiving was at a high enough standard for them. I believe if the people there knew about this, they would never eat the Nile Perch fish again. It was ironic that if all the factories were not there, and the local people were able to just feed themselves with the fish, they would have good livelihoods. There were just a few fat greedy businesspeople profiting from the situation, but many people suffering.

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention-- the planes did not return to Tasmania empty each time. They usually carried ammunition, guns, that fueled the wars of Africa (like in Uganda). One good-hearted pilot admitted that one Christmas it made him sad that he had picked up grapes from France to go to the children of England, after having dropped off tanks for the children in another less fortunate country in Africa.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Why is this film great? It puts things in perspective. Here I was, finding making rainbow cats out of old sweaters important. We have to know how privileged we are in a country like NZ (or Canada, etc), and how lucky we are to have education. One of the huge issues we could see in the documentary was that darkness of not being educated. One bodyguard even wished for war, and that honourable past-time of overcoming others-- and apparently many wish for war and even the foreign aid it would bring. There was such darkness in his eyes... If the people had education, perhaps they would be able to take back their country from serving foreign interests...instead of fulfilling their own.

I definitely will never forget the people in this documentary. I don't want to forget about them.

===================================================================================

=> I just looked for Darwin's Nightmare on Youtube while looking for her name (Eliza), and found this translation for her song:

Tanzania, Tanzania
Nakupenda kwa moyo wote (I love you with my whole heart)
Nchi yangu Tanzania (My country, Tanzania)
Jina lako ni tamu sana (Your name is so sweet)
Nilalapo nakuota wewe (When I sleep I dream of you)
Niamkapo ni heri mama wee (I am blessed when I wake here)
Tanzania, Tanzania
Jina lako ni tamu sana (Your name is so sweet)

======================================================================

To hear her song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faPg24Q8h8Q

============================================================

A quote posted on Youtube:

khaarl He/she said that since he/she saw the film he/she cannot take this song out of his/her head. And that this song makes him/her feel sad whenever he/she sings it.
I understand it. I feel exactly the same. It was one of the hardest film I've seen in my life. Just like an injection of reality.

The day I turned into a negative thing, just like all the rest

Wow, alot has happened in the last many few weeks. I have so many thoughts that don't make it to my blog. Always circling is the environmental teaching, as I walk through a world that needs to change a bit more-- but sometimes there are vivid things I think are meant to be communicated.

The other day I got into a shouting match with a stranger. I have realized now that alot of people's weirdness and aggression comes from the stress of modern living, the burden of carrying the load so your family will survive-- I had had a really stressful day (these days are semi-new to me, I was protected from them as a mom for awhile), absolutely needing to meet a deadline, and not having met it, being forced to be late to pick up my kids. Talk about being in a grind-- between two forces, and panicked. After being with the kids, and entering their happy world, but very tired, we walked home from the bus with their friend Booms. We walk along a busy road, every day, and they are trained not to go into the road.

Still, Luke looked young and unpredictable as he paused on the footpath's corner, next to a roundabout. I barked an order at him not to move, which stopped him. But this seemed to bother a lady sitting in an SUV full of her friends and kids. I had caught up to Luke, and we were moving on, when she was called out of her car to me about being careful. Not in the mood for sidewalk judgment, at all, I called out, "So, you're going to judge me, are you?" in annoyance, and we moved along. She responded by revving around the corner and stopping. "So you're going to fight with me are you?" I said, the tired Mom. She jumped out of the car, and started to lambast me for my own benefit. Her son had had a close call last week. I excused myself by saying "I've got to get the kids out of the rain." This incensed the person, who started reacting, "Oh, get them out of the rain, when they could have gotten killed!" SUV driving mom probably never let her kids stand near a driveway, but some Moms actually walk with their children and take buses. Her kids gawked from the safety of their SUV. Then she really offended me by asking if they were all MY children (one of them is obviously Maori). Was I the Nanny? I had had enough. In my head, No. I am THE MOTHER. And I told her, LEAVE...ME...ALONE. She said threatenly, I'll could call the police on you!

Did she know me? Did she have any idea how careful of a mom I was? Did she know me at all? No, it was just a snap judgment from one moment on a kerb.

The whole point of this was, even a gentle, super-trying to be positive all the time, person, can be SQUISHED by the stress and pressure we are under today, and flip out. So it's just the urban grind that makes us all so negative.

I yelled at her, protecting what I had left of my personal deep self, on the edge as I was. I yelled at her and pointed at her as I walked away, and was far away. LEAVE--ME--ALONE!!!! At the top of my voice. Just like the Bronx.

The apes (of our ancestry) would have been proud.

Wellesley Street, Auckland, Then and Now

I am posting two images that I contrasted in my temp graphic design job, for a cover of a student magazine. The best is to save them though, in a folder, and go back and forth switching between them. This gives you chills.

The first image is from around a century ago (obviously), it's an old postcard I scanned from a lady's collection, I used to help her as a caregiver as she had M.S. This came from her mother's collection of old postcards (Lily Stokes). I didn't record the date. The second one is a photo I took in the exact same spot last week (2010).


But I forgot to write what I have been meaning to say for a long time. It is something getting stronger and stronger in me, the more experience I have:

We are not listening to nature (as a group). Many of us are not listening to our own natures, what we really need, and also what the world really needs. Until we start listening again, becoming sensitive, honest people, we will be destructive in the world.

Seven Arrows by Hyemeyohsts Storm

There is something inside me, either passion, or archivist-compulsivity-- or both, that needs to share everything that is valuable that fires up my spirit. But truthfully, I know it is more than that; it is something we are driven to do as part of the whole-- share valuable knowledge.

A man on the bus lent me a book. (Wayne.) He is a dignified man, who you can tell has survived some hardship in his past. It is a book of teachings of the plains Indian people, from the way they lived and experienced the world before we rolled in. It starts like this:

"You are about to begin an adventure of the People, the Plains Indian People. You probably have known of these People only by their whiteman names, as the Cheyenne, the Crow and the Sioux. Here you will learn to know of them as they were truly known among the People, as the Painted Arrow, the Little Black Eagle, and the Brother People."

I am going to upload the whole book, find it here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/26543909/Seven-Arrows-by-Hymeyohsts-Storm-Part-1

(Note from 2011 November: still haven't - but will very soon, promise.)

Louise deVarga's FAQ about Worm Farming

Louise deVarga, someone who first inspired me about worm farming and composting in general (the original "worm lady"), had this posted on her old Composting for Shore website. I am glad I saved this, and can re-publish it on the web through my blog.

(Although after you get the "feel", it far more simple! All you need to remember is to keep churning the contents of the layer you are adding food to around, round and round, to help the process, and also add lots of paper regularly. I just tear up my pizza boxes now, that's enough paper-- simple.)

One thing I loved from visiting Louise's garden (which has won awards in the past from "Create Your Own Eden") was her comment about how her garden, with worms in it, was compared to a neighbour's grass yard. Her garden was full of native trees and plants, with steps made from railway sleepers going through it. It was full of insects, worms churning up the soil, and birds and all kinds of life. Compare this garden to the sunbeaten grass yard, chemically fertilized-- with only one species, grass.

From Louise deVarga and Composting for Shore:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR WORM COMPOSTER

How should I start operation of my Worm Composter?
Add to the bottom of your worm composter old compost, vermicast, peat moss, palm peat/coconut block (available from Composting for Shore). Empty your worms from the packaging on top of this bedding. Place a small amount of worm feed on top (a light covering on the surface). Cover with an old piece of carpet or woollen underfelt. This allows the worms to feed at the surface while remaining protected from light and the carpet holds in the moisture.

The more worms you have, the more kitchen waste you can dispose of organically. We recommend that you purchase a minimum of 500g (2000)worms.

The more worms you start with the quicker your Worm Composter will reach its full working potential. If you choose to start with 250g worms it will take a fairly long time to reach full working potential. On the other hand 1kg worms from the start would see your Worm Composter fully up and running in a matter of weeks rather than months.

Do I need to dilute the liquid that comes out of my Worm Composter?Yes, dilute it 1-10 with water. It is a leachate and should be diluted. It is a wonderful plant food.

Will I get to the point where I have too many worms in my Worm Composter?No, you can never have too many worms. They will regulate their population to the confines of available space. Worm concentration should reach capacity after 2-5 years depending on space and feeding.

Worms will eat pretty much anything that was once living. This includes left over vegetable scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings, tea leaves/bags, coffee filters and grounds, vacuum cleaner dust, hair and nail clippings, scrunched up envelopes and broken up egg cartons, soaked shredded cardboard, crushed eggshells. The greater the variety of material you use, the better the vermicast.

What is not suitable to feed compost worms?
Onions, meat (attracts flies), dairy products, bread and citrus peel, fat.

Can I feed my worms garden refuge?
Yes, although your Worm Composter is designed to break down soft organic waste. Garden waste is best dealt with by conventional composting. You can add some compost to your Worm Composter for the worms to break down into vermicast.

I’ve had my Worm Composter for a month now, but the worms don’t seem to be eating?
The worms may be eating your bedding material if you used aged manure or compost. They will eat this before eating newly introduced feed.

How much will my worms eat?
Worms will feed at a faster rate once they have adapted to any new food source. Worms will also eat more if food is offered in a digestible form (i.e. moist and without large clumps is best).

The worms will eat their body weight every 1-2 days, but it will take 8-10 weeks until they have fully adjusted to their newenvironment and able to eat at maximum levels. As you become familiar with them, you will learn their rate of food consumption.

How can I help my worms eat more?
Although not a requirement of operating your Worm Composter, you may choose to make a regular addition of worm fattener. This will encourage stronger, fatter worms. Mix together proportionally – 50% chicken layers pellets, 10% wheat or corn flour, 10% powdered while milk/skim milk, 20% bran or wheat meal, 10% agricultural lime or Dolomite. You can sprinkle lightly over food wastes about once a week.

Can I overfeed my worms?Yes.
If you have overfed your worms and the feed has become smelly, the worms will stay lower in your Worm Composter and may die. The best test of whether you have overfed your worms is simply by the smell. The only smell associated with a well maintained worm farm is a pleasant earthy smell.

What do I do if my Worm Composter smells?
If your worm Composter has an offensive smell, it is an indication that anaerobic bacteria have built up in the system in uneaten food wastes. Either: remove the old food and start with a very small amount of new food, or stop feeding the worms and stir the wastes with a garden fork, adding garden lime as well. This aerates the organic material and allows worms to move through it more easily. Repeat this aeration procedure regularly to prevent recurrence. Start feeding again when all smells are gone.

What about temperature changes?
If you get much hotter than this, make sure your Worm Composter is in a shady place. By watering through the top, this will help to maintain the temperature when in a shady place. During winter months, particularly in Otago/Southland, it pays to place your worm farm under cover. The best temperature range for worms is between 18-23 degrees C, though Otago/Southland temps get lower. If temperatures are very low in winter it pays to keep your composter in a shed or good shelter.

Should I add water to my Worm Composter?The contents of your Worm Composter should always be moist. When adding your kitchen scraps, add some water to it before it goes into your unit, alternatively use your watering can to add some water if you feel it is too dry. Worms work better when their conditions are moist.

Can the contents of my Worm Composter be too moist?
If rain continues over a period of time, e.g. 1-2 days or longer, or is very heavy rain, if you Worm Composter is outdoors you should cover the top of it. Use plastic sheeting held down by a brick. The reason for this is the worms work better in moist rather than waterlogged conditions.

Will my Worm Composter attract ants or flies?
You may get ants in your Worm Composter if it becomes dry or acidic. Add water to increase moisture levels and a sprinkling of garden lime. Flies may indicate overfeeding. Offensive odours would also indicate overfeeding. To eradicate vinegar flies, slow your rate of feeding and ensure freshly added wastes are covered with a layer of old carpet. A sprinkling of lime will control vinegar flies entering your Worm Composter.

What about maggots?If you experience any influx of maggots, it will most likely be the soldier fly or vinegar fly larvae. Don’t be too alarmed if they appear, they are actually beneficial to the waste breakdown. If you want to remove them though, do so by liberally applying lime.

What are the little white worms?These look like baby worms but are completely white. They are enchytraeids although some growers incorrectly call them nematods. Don’t worry about them, they do not harm composting worms, if you want to reduce the numbers don’t feed bread or floury products. They are part of the recycling system.

Can I put compost worms in the garden?
Only if you have a thick surface layer of mulch in your garden. Compost worms require moist conditions all year round. This is because they do not tunnel deep like earthworms (flat tailed worms) to find moisture. If you cannot provide this environment in your garden, do not introduce compost worms into it.


What about a holiday?
Leaving an established Worm Composter for 1 week without constantly adding food is not a problem. Just feed the worms a good quantity of food waste before you leave. Make sure that you leave your Worm Composter in a cool place with a layer of old carpet on top of them, to protect them from dying out. If away for 1-2 weeks add dried grass clippings. Purchase a bedding block if away for 3 or more weeks.

How to make quick hummous (without all the plastic containers)

I can't believe how easy this is! Instead of making a large ordeal out of it, this is the recipe for making hummous as you need it.

You will need:

Blender or equivalent and...

1 can of chick peas(these are already cooked)
100g Tahini paste(the jar I buy is 300g, so 1/3 of the jar)
2 garlic cloves
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
Plus any spices you want to experiment with

Add together and blender (I cut up my garlic cloves first).

Usually I made a big production out of it, getting dried chick peas, soaking them overnight with baking soda to make them cook more quickly the next day, cooking a big pot of them for hours (too much too eat right away). As a result, I NEVER MADE HUMMOUS. OR you can go out and buy a few cans of cooked chick peas-- directions for hummous usually on the can. Quick Hummous without all the plastic containers.

P.S. May want to try: my gourmet-oriented husband also added a dash of balsamic vinegar dressing, which was really good. Or experiment with spices...


Later note - Oct 2012:  Read this!!!

Now that I am much more functional in the kitchen, how difficult is it to cook a few cups of dried chick peas for a few hours, really?  The problem was the baking soda, and not having any sense of how to cook dried beans.  Just get a few cups and cook them until you TEST them and they are soft.  Just like cooking pasta - but takes a bit longer.  (You don't have to stick around...)  

So whether if you are scared of cooking beans - use the cans instead of the plastic containers at least, although they do have a slightly metallic taste.  For best results though, get some dried chick peas from a wholesale food store, or section of a grocery store (to avoid packaging) and cook'em up.  Great too for food storage - ability to be self-reliant goals.