What would you change?

This is a little different post than usual, but that's why it's my rant:) So I know we are all supposed love ourselves just the way we are, but admit it, most of us have something we probably wouldn't mind being a little different. While I was sad that I stopped growing at 5' 7" (whatever formula they use to estimate height calculated I would be 5' 11" and I was very excited about that), the real thing I'd love is different hair. I would love myself some gorgeous, Pantene Pro-V looking hair, the straight shiny look that would not need any styling. In reality my hair is a super frizzy nightmare during the summer, but at other times still thick, frizzy, and slightly wavy. Taming it takes about 20 minutes of ironing each time, which really adds up. So I do and always have lusted for time-saving hair. During my teen years I was sure if I just found the right magical hair care line that my troubles would be solved. I never found that magical line (though some things do help).

I have heard of a few things that interest me lately on the hair front. The no-poo concept sounds very interesting to me. Basically it suggests that we are stripping our hair by washing it with shampoo. This makes a lot of sense to me because my hair usually looks better (less frizzy/poofy) the day after it's been washed. It also makes sense because most animals don't go around shampooing themselves everyday.According to people that have done this, your scalp will adjust and stop compensating for the continuous loss of natural oils caused by washing, so that you do not end up with greasy hair once your scalp adjusts.However, it seems like the barrier for most people is waiting to adjust, which can take months and during which time you are supposed to use baking soda and vinegar to keep your hair from getting gross. I am still considering trying this though, basically because it's a lot cheaper than the natural brands for shampoo and conditioners (a lot of the non-natural brands have chemicals in them that are estrogen-mimics, yuck...).

The other tidbit of interest is the Brazilian Blowout, which is basically a permanent straightening, but it is supposed to be good for your hair because it uses keratin instead of other chemicals. Then it gets ironed like crazy and it stays. And most people are in love with the results. It sounds like the amazing, too good to be true solution. And it is. Because now most brands of this keratin-based product are found to have formaldehyde. Which makes me think that the keratin probably wasn't doing much in the first place, since it's formaldehyde that they use in wrinkle-free pants. Sigh. Still looking for my hair miracle.

Garden Update

Well for the past month or so are garden has been growing, some things better than others.

 

 See this? This is our larger raised bed. When we planted it, it was the only part of the backyard that got reliable sunlight. Now, the sun has become more angled through the fall and the front half of this bed never gets direct sunlight. Oops! Despite this, the carrots grow (at a snail's pace?). The broccoli and potatoes actually seem quite happy, I think their foliage got large enough that they still catch sunlight despite being in the front of the garden. Shallots and garlic also happy. Green beans and lettuce not so much. The peas are doing awesome and have grown past the top of the trellises. We started harvesting a few snow peas and the sugar snap have started flowering.

 The sugar snap peas also have the prettiest flowers! I would probably grow them even if they didn't produce food (ok not really because I haven't planted anything for just being pretty).

This is the smaller garden, which now gets the bulk of the sunlight. We harvested our first arugula salad a few weeks ago, realized that we do not like the taste of arugula and pulled it out. We replaced it with some swiss chard. The spinach, romaine, and mesclum are growing nicely. I just wish the worms didn't think the romaine (and broccoli) was so tasty! I sprayed a pepper solution on them hoping they will stop eating it. I have tried to plant more spinach but it doesn't seem to being sprouting. Maybe something is eating the seeds? Next I will try to start some indoors.

So far we've been lucky and have only had mild frosts so we've been able to spare our more vulnerable plants. I am hoping to give the potatoes as much time as possible to grow since I don't think they're going to reach their full potential size. Small potatoes. Oh well, we have decided this is an experiment anyway.