In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

my parents gave me 2 mangoes and some bananas for xmas

I hope you enjoyed them!

so you had a better haul than me lol.

Well, depends on how you look at it! I don't have parents so, you're ahead of the game there!

to keep things on topic ... I've been quite taken with the idea recently of using one's balcony (if you live in an apartment) to grow one's own greens. Apparently it is quite doable, and even a small space can produce high yields if you use the right 'raw' materials. One can even compost one's own kitchen waste and make some very high quality fertiliser.

of course, it does take an initial investment in time and dollars, and you have to be attentive to the clime and the season. But there is nothing comparable to taking back your own power than having direct control over how the food that enters your mouth was grown from seed to the dinner table.

inspirational :idea:

Oh yes! It can be done very cheaply! I just bought 25 small plastic pots for 15 cents each, at my local nursery. Then 1 40-lb. bag of cattle manure for $4, which I thought was a sweet deal, until I saw that Home Depot had 40 lbs of 'manure' (didn't specify what kind) for $1.40. So I picked up a couple more.

Then, I got packets of seeds at Wal-Mart for 20 cents each. They are hybrid seeds, but they'll do for 1 season!

All I need to do now is fill those pots 1/2 full of dirt from my back yard + 1/2 manure, mix the dirt a bit, and plant!

The pots are about 8 inches tall and 6 or so inches in diameter, just the perfect size for 1 lettuce or kale plant each.

So, I will sow several seeds in each one (soak in water first for a couple of hours to accelerate germination), and when the seedlings sprout, thin to the best one.

If it's cold where you are, keep the pots inside until the seedlings are about 4 inches high. Then move them outside. Greens do fine even in very cold weather, though the leaves might wilt if it's extremely cold. In that case, cover with a sheet if it's below, say, 25. You can harvest the outer leaves and they will just keep making more.

I currently have about 8 or 9 greens plants (lettuce, kale, spinach, beets, chard) and they are keeping us well supplied. And we even juice! which means we go thru a lot of greens!

We were having 80-degree weather until a few weeks ago, so my lettuces all bolted (meaning they went to seed, so I can no longer harvest from them) so that's why I'm planting more.

For under $5, one can get 10 plants going, more than enough to supply you with fresh greens all winter, and have lots of seeds left over. And they're ridiculously easy to grow! Just water them. It's a great deal since a single bunch of greens is several bucks at the store.

You could also grow 1 cauliflower or 1 broccoli in each of those small pots. But, those are harvested once and you're done, in contrast to the greens which keep producing for months. I still have chard plants that are producing, that I planted over a year ago!