wannabeahippy: May 2010

wannabeahippy follower giveaway

To celebrate reaching 200 fans on the wannabeahippy facebook page, I'll be giving away some more soap. Any excuse for a celebration and to offload some more of this soap! I'm not trying to get rid of it because it's not good, I love it. But... being made from recycled oil, I have a constant supply which outstrips demand, and maybe, just maybe, some of you will try it, like it and want to make it yourselves.

It has lemon essential oil for a fresh fragrance and mild anti-bacterial action, lemongrass tea for fragrance and colour and chopped lemongrass and cane sugar for exfoliation.

If you think you would like to try some of this soap, just become a follower of or subscribe to this blog (buttons to the right) AND leave a comment on this post. In a few words, tell me what you would like to see on the wannabeahippy blog. Tutorials? Events updates? What's happening around my place? I'll pick a random comment using a random number generator and post the result here. Good luck guys!!

What to Plant: May

Lyn Bagnall, published writer of the book "Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting" has a fantastic post on plants to start growing in May, based on your local climate, seasons and phases of the moon. There are also some general gardening reminders for Autumn. Check out her "What to grow in May 2010" post.

Continue on with the fertilising, pruning, weeding, dividing from April, and start taking some cuttings for brand new free plants! Right now is always the perfect time to start your kitchen garden.

Rescue Hen Update!

The little rescue hens I got a couple of weeks ago (second group) from the Battery Hen Adoption Program were in very poor condition - a good reminder about the conditions we are actively supporting by buying cage eggs. They were pale, almost featherless, struggling to stand and walk, and generally sad little creatures. It breaks my heart to think of animals treated as egg producing machines like this. You can see the oppression in their eyes.

Well, they are still in poor condition a few weeks on, still resembling scrawny, half plucked roasting chickens, but they are much happier little girls. We've seen sunbaking, dustbathing, scratching and scrap eating in excess. A few were so confused about what to do first, they would lie down with their featherless wings up to catch the sun and have their heads in the scrap bowl, eating at the same time. Such extravagance! Grass is still a bit of a mystery, but the kitchen scraps are being gobbled up in no time. Dirt was a totally new and very interesting substance to have on their feet!

The first group are being less than hospitable and behaving like spoilt brats (and they are just that). Regardless, they are all beginning to blend together and become friendly. They have a lot of life left to live in chooky retirement on the mountain!