Women's Rights

Lubna-Hussein Pants Trial (Huffington Post)

I read this article today - it is about a group of women who defied the law by wearing trousers in public and were arrested (some were flogged and fined $125). Lubna is taking her case to court. It made me stop and be thankful to be a US citizen. It made me sad that a woman would be flogged for wearing pants in public as if her body were not her own to do with as she sees fit. This woman (and her friends) is a hero in my eyes - because it is not just for the sake of her pants that she is fighting. It reminded me that all women, no matter where they live, need to stay vigilant on women's issues.

Articles like the one about Lubna allow us to become aware of the world around us. The way we treat women and girls throughout the world is not sustainable. Here is a quote that puts it all into perspective for me and is why I feel so emotional about this subject:

"Significant numbers of the world's population are routinely subject to torture, starvation, terrorism, humiliation, mutilation and even murder simply because they are female. Crimes such as these against any other group would be recognized as a civil and political emergency." (The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. Quote by Charlotte Bunch and Roxanna Carrillo, p. 26)

Thank you Lubna - I hope you are victorious in your fight for Justice.

Garden Update - July 2009

It is hard to believe that this garden used to be lawn. Now it is providing produce for our family and some for our neighbors. The garden offers us a little oasis in our own yard that is not only beautiful to look at but oh so tasty and nutritious.

Dustin and I both love to come out and water, eat, or photograph our garden. It changes every day and there is always a surprise for us or the kids to discover.

Right now we are harvesting lots of blueberries, and red raspberries, nasturtiums, carrots, lettuce, peas, broccoli, beets, a few onions, and chard. Our tomatoes are starting to mature and are very abundant. We have one Early Girl, one Roma, one Pear, and dozens of volunteers from last year's Sun Gold Tomatoes.

I've noticed that without a tomato cage the branches of the Roma want to grow out and down to prop itself up under its own weight. The branches act like a dozen different braces, and then shoot back up to bear 5-6 flowers ripening sweet fruit. The plant does an ok job of supporting its own weight.

In addition to our food crops we are also growing chamomile for tea and cilantro for coriander for seed. We are also looking forward to pickling our beets and cucumbers so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labor well into Winter.

Happy Gardening!