Greetings All, I am very pleased to see more women exploring natural options for various aspects of daily living. But I do have a curiosity about those who claim to be "environmentalist" but seem unsure about how to collect their menstrual fluid. Any female who is an environmentalist would have no doubt considered using a non-disposable product for handling her menstrual flow--I would hope. Since some posters have touched on it, but haven't gone into great detail about collection/reusable menstrual products I will provide more information. Menstrual Cups: Not limited just the Diva or the Keeper/Knock off MoonCup are a great option for both improving your foot print on the environment and allowing you to neatly collect your menstrual flow. Insteads fall into this category but because they are worn very high in the vagina, next to the cervix like a diaphragm I would not recommend it for those that want to stay neat or collect blood. I would imagine it difficult to remove the Instead without spilling the flow but you would have to check out a forum of actual Instead users to find out if I am right. I personally use a Mooncup UK. If you are looking to switch to a menstrual cup you should explore all your options and brands that are made world wide and get one that you think will be better suited to your body. If you look at the bottom of my article on The Culture of Menstruation http://theanthroblogogist.50webs.com/body/the_culture_of_menstruation.html you will see links to every known menstrual cup made. If you need more information you can indefinitely feel free to contact me through my website. I've also heard about people using the rinse water from their cloth pads. Thats great as long as all natural detergents are used to launder your pads. Try etsy or ebay to find very cute cloth pads, or find a pattern and make some yourself. With sea sponges I am not really sure how much of an environmentalist one could be, since these were actually living creatures at once. I can't assume but can only imagine how far down hill things might go in the harvesting/farming of sea sponges just to be used as your personal tampon. I wouldn't recommend it as they are not a readily renewable source & something like a menstrual cup has more positives on this option. I do not recommend using disposable products to harvest your menstrual fluid from as they are laden with chemicals which is why most truly heath and environmentally conscious people have looked for better options. I am sure that if these are just house plants and nothing edible it might be fine, but for your health benefit switching to one of the healthier options discussed would be an excellent choice for yourself and the environment. To all of those people here who are "grossed out" by this I can only lend a sad laugh that you think of your body that way. It is silly to think that far "grosser" things aren't being put into every product you could possibly buy in a store. I do think that there are valid points about pathogens and disease, etc. But I would expect a person to know their body, know if they are taking BC to be careful or avoid fertilizing edibles. And use common curtesy and not fertilize a public (especially edible) garden without the consent of those who share it. Other than that, there is little if anything gross or dangerous about using your own bio-goods to contribute to the natural life cycle of the earth. To answer someone's question about being married. Yes I am married & my husband knows about all of this. He was weirded out by me bringing up the watering of plants with the blood from my cup (I haven't done it yet) But he is pretty open minded and would never try to stop me from doing so. Also I am sure he would eat plants I have grown that way (We use natural methods of BC, so no extra hormones). Why do people think its accptable to eat plants grown from animal feces or even animal blood as fertilizer, but somehow our own is just disgusting suddenly? Goodluck & health to everyone, please visit my page if you would like more info, or to discuss any of these topics further. Sincerely, The Anthroblogogist http://TheAnthroblogogist.50webs.com Here is a link that might be useful: Visit The Anthroblogogist Website

I've been overwintering a naga jolokia for a friend for three years now. Last year it was better than ever. When I gave it back to him in the spring, it had probably 1000 pods just ready to turn red. I bet he's picked millions this summer. I really wish I'd taken a picture of it. He was thrilled. I'd say if you end up getting any root issues, then that would be the reason for your plant being less vigorous the next year. Also if you're not fertilizing. We were using 20-10-20 at 200 ppm once a week on his pepper during the winter months, then upping that to every watering as the greenhouse went into production in March and we were watering everything more often. Myself, I wouldn't put it into that small of a pot if the plant was 2-3 feet tall. I'd use like a 3 gallon or so and use just a real good draining mix like promix hp with biofungicide, which is what I usually use.

All that dust came from here. :-) We missed all these last storms - just got the wind. so we're at 70% of normal snow pack, the reservoirs are way low, rivers hitting 100 yr lows. The big Dolores Irrigation scheme will be at 40% of normal water allocation, and as a side effect, my favorite trout fishing will be just about destroyed this year, they're dropping the dam release down to 18 cubic feet per second (vs 60 last year). But, at least, this year the runoff hasn't started yet. Last year, it was already pretty much over by May. But hey, thats nothing to whats going on in SE Colorado, SW Kansas and down around where Jay lives. They're headed into what now, year 3 of an 'exceptional' drought, and they missed all the snow this year......

Here's some suggestions from today's Baltimore Sun, from Elizabeth Large, some more realistic than others. Top 10 Alternatives to a Traditional Thanksgiving Roast Turkey Obviously anything could be an alternative to a traditional roast turkey for Thanksgiving, from a ribeye steak to a deep fried turkey. But I wanted to pick foods you know would work (because of their association with native Americans, for instance) or that I've actually served or had served to me. By the way, I'm cooking this year and I'm having a traditional roast turkey dinner. I was just talking to my brother, who's coming from the West Coast, and he says he's bringing some interesting recipes he got from Sunset magazine. He's talking about adding Swiss chard to the stuffing. Sorry. No way. Here's my list: ... * Wild duck with sauerkraut (particularly appropriate because Baltimoreans eat sauerkraut with Thanksgiving dinner anyway, which I've never understood) * Goose with fruit stuffing. Unfortunately the one time I cooked a wild goose (a hunter friend had brought it to my in-laws), it also contained buckshot. * Native American foods like beans, squash and corn for vegetarians and vegans * Turducken (partially deboned turkey stuffed with deboned chicken stuffed with deboned duck) * Small roast chicken with cornbread-pecan stuffing for a couple or people eating alone * I make a very good stuffed ham (with a bread stuffing where the bone would be). I haven't tried it for Thanksgiving, but I think it would be an easy make-in-advance choice that would taste good with traditional sides. * An old college friend invited us to Thanksgiving once and served each of us a whole lobster. Lobster didn't go very well with the side dishes the rest of us had brought, but it was so wonderfully extravagant no one was complaining. * My sister-in-law, using recipes from Gourmet magazine, served curried turkey breast with cranberry chutney one Thanksgiving. Her family was outraged, but it sounded kind of good to me for a change. * In some places on the West Coast, Dungeness crab is a common alternative to turkey because the season starts in November. * Crown roast of pork with wild rice stuffing. Pork has a autumn feeling to it (I would never serve it for Christmas dinner even though I know it can be traditional), and the fact that it's a crown roast makes it seem grand enough for an important meal.