11 Mindful Tips: How to do Summer fully even if you’re Busy. | elephant journal: 11 Tips: How to do Summer Right.
Remember when we were children? Summer was endless, fun, full of possibility? Is it now just hot, busy, full of work with occasional parties or trips, and it all goes by too fast? Then this is for you.
When I was a boy, summer was all about…sun. The pool. Friends. Parties. Bicycling. Comic books. Counting change to buy a pack of baseball cards or play video games. No, I didn’t grow up in the 1950s. I grew up as a child, unrushed into adulthood.
Now, my summer starts in June and ends, seemingly, a week later. It’s
busy, hot, fast, indoors is freezing with AC, there’s some fun parties
and a few swims, and then suddenly the chill of Autumn hits and the
college kids are back and it’s over and I have to wait another year for
another summer and the chance that I’ll do it right.
So, this summer, I’ll take 40 years of tips and share those with you, if
only to remind myself to Carpe Diem the hell out of this summer.
1. Don’t drive.
If you have to drive, drive less. Get on a bus, bike to work (you can
put your bike on a bus, usually), walk if you can—try to move yourself
when you move. Take the stairs, instead of the elevator. Park a block or
two away from wherever you’re going. Do anything you can to get
yourself outside, with nothing over your head (no car roof) but the sky
and trees and sunshine.
Hydroponics: 90% Less Water Than Conventional Farming
As more people continue to see the
prices they pay for daily necessities rise faster than their paychecks,
a growing number have become interested in the act of homesteading.
It’s never a bad idea to think of different ways to cut back on the cost
of living, and become more self-sufficient at the same time.
Hydroponics is a system of plant growth requiring little space, and
ironically little water.
Every little change that you make to try and save money adds up over
time; bringing a water bottle from home instead of purchasing one,
reusing gift wrapping paper, choosing cloth children’s diapers instead
of costly disposable ones. Growing your own food not only makes
you more self-sufficient, it saves you money, and the food is arguably
healthier-granted it’s not smothered in pesticides, fungicides, and a
myriad of other poisons.
For those who don’t have much space, time, or energy to start growing on their own. A variety of new systems have been popularized which are targeted toward the urban homesteader. Vegetables
don’t necessarily require soil to be grown, they can be grown using
just water, provided it contains the proper nutrients and fertilizers.
An increasingly popular method of growing vegetables is by using a
hydroponic system.
Hydroponic
gardening is a technique used for growing fruit, vegetables, and other
foods in a soil-less environment. It’s an ideal technique for those with
a limited space. The various systems are cost efficient as they recycle
water and nutrients, and plants are freed from diseases and pesticides
that are commonly associated with soil, among other benefits.
There are a number of hydroponic systems available to choose from,
for those who would like to utilize this method to start growing some of
their own fresh fruit and vegetables right at home. TO choose from:
Wick Hydroponics, Water Culture, Deep Water Culture, Ebb and Flow, Drip
Hydroponics, and Nutrient Film Technique.