Update.

It has been such a long time since I've written a post!  Things are getting pretty busy with the upcoming wedding and most of what I have been doing in my free time has been baking, so I haven't had much to post about.  I'm still doing all the same things that I was doing before, but unfortunately I can't write too many posts about how fun it is to make butter.  Or can I...?  It would get old very fast!  Anyhow, I thought it would be nice to give an omnibus update about some of the blog posts that I've done and how things are developing. 

1. Composting: our composter is on our patio and I must admit, it leaks "compost tea".  It also smells a bit sometimes (that's when we have to add more "brown" to the mixture), and has started to attract small bugs.  Tim says they're mosquitoes, but I think they're mostly just fruit flies.  I don't go out onto the patio that much, so it really doesn't bother me at all, even when I do go out to throw compost into the composter, I couldn't care less.  The compost tea leaking on the balcony is a little annoying, but there are very few ways to avoid that.  The actual compost itself is developing nicely, according to Tim.  I tend not to spend much time messing around with it or looking at it.  I'm sure we won't be able to make use of any of it this season, but that's okay, we just wanted to avoid throwing our food waste in the garbage, so it is definitely helping with that.
2. No 'poo:  I am still not using shampoo and it has now been forty days.  It has been about thirty-five days since I have used anything other than water.  I'm thinking that this weekend I might use some baking soda and see what happens, as I have been experimenting with my hair and trying to figure out what I will do for the wedding and my hair is no longer holding any sort of style.  I would like to curl it because that's how Tim likes it, so maybe stripping out just a bit of the natural oils might help.
3. Soapstone cookware: We are LOVING the soapstone cookware.  It really does not allow foods to stick to it, it's very easy to clean (we have to clean it by hand, it can't go in the dishwasher), it has worked well for all foods we've made in the past week (homemade pizza, frittata, Indian food, sauteing veggies, etc.).  I carmelized some onions one day on one of the pans which has resulted in some discolouration, but every time we use that pan, it fades a little more.  We've used them in the oven, from the range then straight into the oven, and in the fridge, and they've been great in all situations.
4. Patio garden: Our little patio garden is going well!  From the seedlings that we started with, we ended up losing most of our lettuce, so it was a good thing that I got the salad pot from Superstore afterwards.  Some of our herbs from last year are coming back (most notably our sage), which was a welcome surprise.  Our shallot are growing nicely, as are the bok choy.  I think we've lots some of the eggplant, tomato plants, and pepper plants, but we really were only hoping for one of each of those, so hopefully they'll work out. I bought a strawberry plant and Tim is getting ready to transplant it into a bigger pot.  We harvested the lettuce in the salad pot about three weeks ago and it is just about ready for another harvest!
5. Baking: I am still baking up a storm.  I've been making my own paneer and butter regularly, as well as granola, tomato sauce, ice cream and lemonade.  There are also lots of baked goods that I make (cookies, egg tarts, muffins, cupcakes, custards, etc.).  Recently, I've decided to start making a whole grain kernel salad every week for Tim and I to eat, so we've been experimenting with that.  We've made quinoa, barley and spelt salads so far. Also, we've decided to start making a healthy soup every week, mostly so that I can bring it to eat for lunch at work.  I made a delicious vegetarian chili lemon soy broth with tofu, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, orange peppers, cilantro and other goodies in it. This weekend I'm going to make a barley vegetable soup.

So that is a bit of an update.  We are really focusing on trying to eliminate plastics and chemicals as much as possible from our home and our lives and it is going well!  My goal is just to live more simply and sustainably and I must say, I love it!

Shampoo - Day 27.

Well, I can imagine that many of you are starting to think that my hair must be really gross by now.  I guess that would depend on how well you know me, because I think those of you that know me know that I probably wouldn't do this if my hair looked gross.  For those of you that don't know me, I imagine that you think that I'm one of those "dirty hippies" that don't wash their hair and smell a little "off".  I am not saying that in a negative way about anyone, that just seems to be the thinking of some people when it comes to people that don't use shampoo.  Well, I'm happy to say that as far as I can tell, my hair smells fine.  And yes, I still have Tim smell it to make sure everything is okay.  I don't like to take chances!  Maybe in another month I'll stop asking him to do that...

My hair is great and I'm just using water every day.  It has been three weeks today since the last time I used baking soda.  I don't use any apple cider vinegar rinses, corn starch, or anything else, for that matter.  I just wash it in hot water, massaging my scalp, then at the end of the shower, blast it with pretty cold water.  I blow it dry most days, but I always did that.  It feels soft, it has more body, and it looks really healthy.  Sometimes I sort of wish I could use some gel or hairspray, but since I can't, I just deal with it.  When I curl it using hot rollers it usually has lots of body and looks great at first, but then the curls settle into softer waves by the end of the day.  Those are the days I wish I could use gel, because I figure it may extend the awesome part at the beginning where my curls are tight and bouncy.

I'm getting married at the end of the month and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to style my hair, because I would like it to at least look like I thought I was getting married that day and actually put some effort into my hair.  I contacted a couple places near where our wedding is going to be, and it just didn't seem worth it to pay all that extra money for them to do my hair.  They were surprisingly un-surprised when I told them I don't use shampoo, conditioner, gel or hairspray, and it seemed like that was a lot more normal where they are (around Sechelt, British Columbia).  There's very little chance I can achieve anything approximating full "wedding hair" without gel or hairspray, and that kind of hairdo is really a bit much for our wedding.  I think I might just straighten it with a round brush and hope for the best.  We'll see.  I may have to make a game day decision...

Shampoo - Day 19.

I thought it might be nice to provide you with an update on the hair situation, since it has been a few days, if not a week, since the last time I mentioned how it was doing.  As you may remember, I stopped using shampoo (this is called "no 'poo") almost three weeks ago.  It was a little dicey at first while I learned how to adjust, mostly mentally, to the lack of shampoo.  I had heard that this "adjustment period" can take anywhere from two to six weeks, and most people are simply referring to your scalp's period of adjustment while it gets used to you not stripping off the oils as frequently and therefore it stops producing as much oil.  I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or what, but that adjustment period has already passed, and I believe my hair is now normal.

There are a couple things that I would note about what qualifies as "normal" when you go no 'poo.  First of all, your hair never feels "normal" in the way that it did when you were using shampoo.  You have to remember that your hair will now not be stripped of oil, then conditioned, then had product added to it, so inevitably it does feel different.  This does not mean that it feels greasy, it just feels different.  My hair, which is super straight and fine, actually feels a little thicker and healthier.  I can also style it and not use any products in it (which of course I would not be able to use now anyhow, as I wouldn't be able to get them out if I did use them).  I really enjoy how my hair looks.  In my opinion, it has never looked better.  I'm not the hugest fan of the way that it feels to touch it, but I think I will likely get used to it with time.

Next, I think that the "adjustment period" no 'pooers go through should also refer to a mental adjustment period as well as the physical adjustment period.  I spent A LOT of time thinking about my hair, particularly in the first week.  Every day I debated whether I should use baking soda to take some of the oil out (speaking of which, I haven't used baking soda since two weeks ago, either, so it has just been water since then).  Every day was a struggle and every day was a debate.  I kept thinking I would wake up, or finish with my shower, and my hair would just look like a big grease trap, and I would have to get back in the shower and wash it with shampoo.  That never happened.  Part of the mental adjustment is just learning to take things slowly.  Even when I was at the retreat this past week and was using well water, my hair felt disgusting, but looked normal, so I just left it and told myself that after the retreat (which was five days), if it still felt the same way, I would use some baking soda.  It turned out that it was fine after I had a couple showers back at home with normal water.  I'm glad I didn't rush into washing it with anything.  The more you are able to resist that urge, the quicker and more permanent your scalp's adjustment will be, at least in my experience.

The no 'poo experiment has really been great for me.  Today I used a large round brush when I was blow drying my hair, which gave it a little extra body and that super-sleek look.  It looks like I just came from a salon.  The brush rolled through my hair much more smoothly than it ever did when I was using shampoo, conditioner and products (but not in a greasy way).  I have a few flyaways due to the fact that I can't use hairspray, but I am happy to trade those for all the products.  If I ever get hard-up, I guess I could acquire a natural, sugar-based hairspray, but to be honest, I'm not really interested because even through the one I am thinking of is completely natural and chemical-free, it is still in a plastic bottle, so still not really what I am looking for.  I am very happy with my decision to go no 'poo.  If you are considering it yourself, feel free to ask me any questions you may have.  I assume that what has worked for me would not necessarily work for you, but you never know, you will really just need to experiment a little until you find what works for you!