The bad news is that the Great Basin Community Food Co-op board meeting was canceled, so I am not able to participate in the fun decision making process of grass-roots food distribution tonight.
The good news is that I can instead take a little time to write something for all y’all out there spread across the Earth who occasionally foster enough curiosity to read about what’s up in El Reno.
I am becoming more absorbed in the lifestyle of kombucha brewing, fostered in large part by a continually growing demand of my product, Hito’s Homemade, at the Co-op. It’s a fine balance, maintaining shelf space alongside GT’s excellent product, but as I’ve been having success bottling a sweeter blend (with fruit juice and ginger), the demand for GT’s has apparently decreased and I am having to tilt harder to produce enough to keep the Co-op well stocked.
So it’s become apparent that increasing capacity, and more than a little bit, is a priority. Suitable containers are not that easy to come by: wide-necked glass vessels are rarely larger than 2.5 gallons, and I’m reluctant to start hacking the top off of carboys just to get another four or five gallons. Ceramic is another great material. but even more expensive. There’s some talk on the Kombucha Tea tribe of using wood, but that isn’t an imminently available material (though picking up an old wine cask for the purpose is going on my “To Do” list).
I’d been thinking about using an aquarium ever since I first saw a culture dominate a cask, producing a wrist-thick, 13″ diameter scoby. And in fact, fish tanks are surprisingly cheap, with the possibility of going to 40 gallons for $50. Lo and behold, as I discuss this with my family over dinner, my Dad offers me to re-appropriate his 29 year old 30 gallon tank which has been over it’s life a salt tank, a fresh tank, and most recently, a terrarium.
I have some concern with the silicone used to seal the tank affecting the ferment or leaching into the beverage, but I haven’t seen any reports of folks who have had experience with this, and I figure that silicone is relatively inert (it’s questionable use in breast implants and common use in areas where organisms are sharing the environment [i.e. fish] somewhat reinforce this assumption), so the only thing left to do is experiment.
So I started a 12 gallon batch in the tank today to see what happens! (see photo)
Tahoe Yoga and Wellness Center hasn’t opened the doors in Reno yet, so my new job hasn’t really ramped up yet. My enthusiasm is still strong, and our grand opening weekend is going to be a blast, I’m sure. I’m having a meeting with the owner this week to discuss the specifics of my multi-faceted job (front desk, tai chi, lifestyle consultations, and maybe some computer technical work as well), after which I’ll nail down some liability insurance and other details. I have to admit, that having a steady income for the first time in nearly two years will be very nice indeed.
Cheetah is back in Reno and living in the house with the Folks, Heather and I. Of course he has his two herding dogs, Quinoa and Zero, who are nicely crate-trained and so only “terrorize” the house a couple hours a day. It’s lovely to have Cheetah around, but it’s clear that he’s antsy for the next thing; Reno doesn’t offer him much, when he really wants to be out working his dogs and working the land.
Mom and Chee are leaving town for a full week tomorrow to visit some more pieces of land and also to explore a couple of WWOOFing options for Cheetah’s interim, considering that land may not materialize for a number of months yet. Nonetheless, the Family intends to be out of this house and onto new land by June.
It has become clear to everyone that Heather and I are serious about pursuing our healing arts career(s), and surprisingly, Reno is a superb venue for that. So it’s pretty likely that we’ll start renting at that point, and… well, who ever knows what the future holds, eh?
I continue to feel confident that all the pieces or elements will come together to create a cohesive texture of lifestyle in which we all are achieving what we want to, while working together to co-create a life in which we all prosper more greatly than if we were working separately to achieve our goals. I’m dreaming of a Tai Chi Kung Fu Temple on the family land, growing food and practicing Taoist healing and combat arts, teaching our children, and manifesting the global future.
I don’t buy many cosmetics, having systematically found replacements for most commercial products. This is mostly becuase I don’t trust the cosmetics companies and the ingredients that are used to give the consumers a pleasent experience even as they are taking toxins into their bodies. Even many of the “health food” companies are using questionable ingredients, and I strive not to use any products in or on my body that contain ingredients that I don’t know specifically what they are and how they work. Keep in mind that marketing is one of the primary aspects of “health food” products that sets them apart from their “conventional” counterparts – not necessarily a significantly higher quality or cleaner product – and that as we put more of our voting dollars towards organic-style products, more big money will seek to co-opt the nature of organic while striving to keep us consumers feeling that we are participating in a more mature evolution of economy (when we’re not).
