Yoga & Fitness Supply Swap this weekend!

I am putting on a Yoga & Fitness Supply Swap this weekend in the East Bay. Come Swap with me!

If you're like me, and you probably are, you have too much (or not the right) athletic clothing and gear.  Yoga pants that a tad too short. Bicycle pants from a very short stint as a spinner. Extra mats and balls and weights or could use them. 

That industry has enough of our money! Don't buy more!

Swap It Oakland is putting on a  Yoga and Fitness Supply Swap 

Saturday Oct 20th

1-3 pm. 

1540-A 62nd St. Emeryville, CA

$5-$10 sliding scale donation

(goes towards supporting community swap events and affordable yoga) 

RSVP here 

Bring your gently used yoga & fitness clothing & supplies and swap it for new to you goods. 

(We will only accept clean, undamaged, stain-free items)

We will be swapping yoga & active-wear clothes, yoga mats & props, running & hiking shoes, small portable exercise equiptment (small weights, stretch bands, etc.), water bottles, backpacks, & bags

Free product has been provided from The Tye: http://theytye.com

$5-10 sliding scale donation & a bag of clothes/supplies gets you in.

*This event is taking place in a yoga studio so be prepaired to take your shoes off when entering the swap. 

Check out Swap it Oakland HERE

Teaching at my first Workshop this weekend!

This weekend I will be teaching at a FREE Intensive Workshop on gleaning, starting your own community food based swap events, & lacto-fermentation (I will be teaching the last two)

-Lunch & childcare included!

Saturday Sept 22nd
10am-4pm

For more information and to RSVP by Sept 18 (sorry for the short notice)
Contact

 Aryeh Shell or Carla M. Perez

Movement Generation 510.649.1475 oraryeh@movementgeneration.org

http://www.movementgeneration.org/mg-fall-equinox-weekend-sept-22-23

Top 5 posts of 2011

I know I'm a little late. My internet connection here in the jungle isn't very good so I often can't get online or only get a few minuets. I finally got a chance to get together my end of 2011 post. 

These are the top 5 viewed post of 2011 on this lovely little blog. Apparently I was heavy on the diy/urban homestead/frugality this past year and didn't give as much love to bikes as I could have. Being here on the farm without my bike is making me really want to get out on another tour. Hopefully I'll have some great tour/bike posts in 2012 for you all. I feel big things coming in the year ahead.

These are the top 5 most viewed posts on Girl on Bike in 2011

#5 Using Egg Shells In the Garden

 My list of 5 uses for egg shells in your garden

#4 Repurposing Ugly Tote bags in to a Messenger Bag

How I turned my "bike to work day" tote bags in to something more usable

#3 Trades -How I've been feeding myself on a budget

A little bit of an insiders peek on how I have been increasing homemade/homegrown food trades in order to feel myself well on little money.

#2   Cinder Block Planter

A cheap & creative way to display your succulent collection in your yard.

1) No More Shampoo - my 5 week update

My most popular post of the year was about my experiment in cutting back on factory made hair care products. I have since switched up my routine a bit and will have to make another update post for 2012

Putting Up My Fall Harvest - Canning Tomato Sauce

I haven't had much experience with canning. My mother is a "Master Food Preserver" so I haven't had to learn how to do it myself. I just pick up a bag full of jams, pickles, & sauces every time I go for a visit. But she lives far and I decided it was time to stop being lazy and get a little bit deeper in to practicing what I preach. 

Those lovely jars of pasta sauce up there. That's all me! I got a bunch of tomatoes at the crop swap last weekend so I did a harvest of my own and joined them with the ones for the swap. I was SURE it would be enough for 4 or 5 jars of pasta sauce. Obviously I had never made pasta sauce for canning before. Those 2 jars are all my millions of tomatoes gave me, but I'm sure they are two amazingly delicious jars of sauce. Hopefully I'll get my hands on some more tomatoes soon and make another batch. 

Traditionally, you remove the seeds & skin when making pasta sauce. I think that is a huge waste of both time and nutrients. Instead, I just ran all my tomatoes through a blender, skin, seeds, & all. I then sauteed up some onions & garlic in olive oil, added rosemary, the tomato puree, basil, & parsley. A pinch or two of salt and let the whole thing simmer till it was the thickness I desired. 

I'm no expert, so I don't want to give any instructions for canning but there is a TON of information online. A quick search will turn up more info then you could ever look through. 

My Backyard Crop Swap Haul

Today was the second of our newly started Backyard Crop Swaps that happen at the Phat Beets N. Oakland Satruday Market. These swaps happen the FIRST Saturday of every month. Last month was our first one and I came home with an impressive spread of fruits & veggies. This time was even better with more people showing up and a wider range of items.
I brought a bunch of mullein (for teas), culinary sage, Vietnamese cilantro, tree collards, & baskets of garden huckleberries. 

I came home with all this:

From the top:
Large bag of dried stinging nettle
oyster mushrooms
summer squash
curly parsley
figs
tomatoes
large zucchinis
eggs
mint
Jerusalem artichokes
hot peppers
peppino melon
purple potatoes
and green beans.

And I didn't have to spend a dime!
Eating well and healthy is totally possible when you can get your community together to share their resources. With events like these swaps everyone who participates benefits. Like me, you can turn your bumper crop (even if it's just herbs you grow in pots on your porch) in to wide variety of produce.
I'm off to turn all those tomatoes in to some pasta sauce. More on that later :)

Healing Acne With Simplicity

As each year passes I move more and more down the path to simplicity. Each step seems to ease a small load off my back and clear just a little bit of my mind. I document some of my steps here but most I choose not to. This next one wasn't going to be one I shared, but the results have been great and I'd love to pass this on in case it could help anyone else out there.

I have acne. I'm 27 and it still plagues my face. The second puberty hit the little beasts arrived, and they haven't gone away since. Until recently there hasn't been much that has offered any relief either. I have religiously washed my face every morning, and every night for just about as long as I could remember. I've even had friends comment on their amazement of my ability to make it a priority even after a night of drinking and staying out late (something which is no longer part of my life). Instead of crashing right to bed and passing out, I always made sure to wash my face and drink as much water as I could stomach first.

It never occurred to me that all this washing could be part of the problem. Though the years I moved from nasty paraben filled toxic concoctions to more "healthy" brands of cleaners. My first breakthrough came when I thought "maybe my skin is just sensitive" so I started trying ultra calming soothing cleansers and moisturizers. I saw a slight improvement and thought I was on to something. Then I went to visit my sister. She lives states and an expensive plane flight away so I rarely get to see her. While visiting her she casually mentioned during one of my face washing fits that she never washed her face. It struck me as amazing! He face is a beautiful porcelain, seemingly perfect. I just assumed other factors were at play...she got the "good" genes, her body chemistry changed after giving birth, she had found the perfect combo of foods that works just right for her body.
I filed this knowledge away and continued washing my face. Slowly I started meeting more and more people who simply never wash their faces. "I just throw a little water on my face every now and then" or "I only wash when I shower...which is about once a week". Once a week??? I had been washing mine 14 times a week!

Finally my curiosity got to me and I decided to give it a shot. With very little confidence and bracing myself for it to "get worse before it gets better", I began simply wiping my face with a wet washcloth (cold water) every morning and night. If needed, I still added moisturizer. Even if I had put on makeup that day, all my face received was a cold washcloth wipe down. Once or twice a week, when I showered I would wash with an ultra gentle cleanser. You know what happened??? My face NEVER "got worse before it got better", it just got better!

This is an ongoing process of course, but at this point I'm no longer washing, even in the shower. No cleansers touch my face, just water. I've even moved from store bought moisturizers to an amazing homemade one using coconut oil infused with calendula (grown right here in my front yard).

This small act alone has made my skin smoother than I ever thought possible, dramatically improved  my acne problem, dropped two expensive items from my shopping list, stopped a trail of energy use and waste, saved me a little time everyday, and given me just a few less things to worry about. I really wish I would have tried this sooner!

I'm not going to show you before and after photos. It would be impossible to give an accurate representation of something that is constantly in flux. And I don't want to give the impression that my face is magically cured and will never have a pimple again. They still show up, but a lot less often and they seem to heal a lot quicker now too (I think that's due to the calendula).  I just wanted to share this and let people know there are other options. Other things you can try beyond just buying more products and hoping that the next one will work. As time passes I grow more and more convinced that letting everything in life go as naturally as possible seems to give the best results.

The Grey Areas Of Made At Home Food Laws.

A few weeks ago I attended a small meeting of local food activists put on by the Sustainable Economies Law Center. We discussed the state of food laws regarding the legality of sharing, trading, & selling homemade foods, as well as what laws we would like to see pass here in California. The SELC really has their stuff together. They have been doing research for months on laws that have passed in other states and have worked hard to come up with a plan of attack.


Legal Intern Kelly Densmore and Co-Director Janelle Orsi from the Sustainable Economies Law Center’s wrote this great article for Shareable.net that I wanted to share with you all. 


http://www.shareable.net/blog/the-shareable-food-movement-meets-the-law

"“The Underground Food Movement” has become a thing lately. It’s a foodie’s utopia in Oakland these days...But this movement goes deeper than its sheer yumminess. We thrive on food. When we share in efforts to grow, process, prepare, and serve food, we greatly enhance our abilities to eat well, provide for ourselves, and build livelihoods around food. Sharing food is particularly important during hard economic times and many small food projects develop out of unemployment.

The realm of shareable food is flourishing with community meal sharing, potlucks, gift-economy restaurants, community food growing projects, food swap events, pop-up stores, stone soup gatherings, food-buying cooperatives, goat-sharing, chicken cooperatives, events like The Big Lunch, and so on...

Now picture all of this food sharing activity on a spectrum. At the private and personal end, we eat a homemade meal with our family. At the public and commercial end, we get chicken nuggets from the drive-thru window at a chain restaurant. Somewhere in between is a point at which our society has decided to impose protections and regulations."

Read the full article here: http://www.shareable.net/blog/the-shareable-food-movement-meets-the-law

Trades! How I've been feeding myself with almost no money.

Lately I have been doing a lot of trades. Most specifically, food items for food items, though not strictly.

GF Corn Bread w/green chili

 I'm sure you all know about my swap events by now (if not check out the tabs above). These trades are a little different. They are one on one trades that I set up though various websites with other food lovers and frugals like myself.
My latest trade for example: I received gluten free cornbread for some kefir grains.

It can be tricky at first, I mean, what value does something handmade actually have? What is a fair trade? Their are lots of things to consider and you can really get in to creating a "price" for your items. But truthfully, it all comes down to comfort. What are you comfortable trading your items for? Is the other person comfortable as well? If so, then, Hey! You've got yourself a trade. Don't be afraid to counter offer as well. If you think you really should get one more jar of jam for that truckload of kale then say so.

As for venues for seeking out trades...I have a few tricks up my sleeve and use them all.

Peach Ginger Jam

*First, I use this Bay Area specific website dedicated to people who love growing, raising, foraging, and cooking their own food. http://www.foundfruit.com/ 
This site has various groups you can join (or create). One of these groups is a backyard fruit/veggie exchange group. I have gotten some great trades from this group including a large bottle of apricot wine in exchange for a small Nanking Cherry plant! It also has some great event listings (you can even add your own) for food, health, and sustainability related events in the Bay Area. It's a fun site to explore.

*Next, craigslist! Craigslist has a barter section. As with everything else you do on craigslist, for some reason it seems to produce a lot of flakes. Every now and then people come through though and you can get some great trades on craigslist.

*Facebook. A friend of mine (and one of my favorite people to swap with) started a trade group on facebook and added all her friends. In turn, everyone interested added all their friends who they thought might be interested in trades. The group has about 120 people currently and I've gotten some great trades from it. My major sweet tooth was sated with a trade of 2 pairs of my bike tube earrings for 5 dozen amazing organic, healthy, & tasty cookies. Another trade, I got two jars of pickled veggies, and a jar of peach ginger jam for some of my kombucha, chard, lambs quarters, and a kefir grain.

*Local Food Swap Network. I started a once a season food swap event which has been a huge hit. It has also hooked me up with hundreds of food minded people in the bay area. Every now and then I reach out to these people for trades outside of the once a season large events for smaller more personal trades.

The trick to all this is that you need to have something people want. Either an item, service, or skill people are actually looking for or would enjoy having. If you are not a gardener or baker think about your other talents. What do you do for a living? Is it something people would be interested in trading for? Do you make things? Know how to give massages? Build websites? Sew? Can you give guitar lessons? It can be almost anything.

Here is an example of my current "I have to swap" list:
*Peach Ginger Kombucha
*Kombucha scoby
*Milk Kefir Grains
*Lambs quarters (similar to spinach)
*Chard
*Fava Beans (shelled & frozen)
*Succulent Cuttings (various)
*veggie & herb starts (Yarrow, Butter lettuce, stupice, green zebra, & yellow pear tomato, Broage, Marigolds, Russian tarragon, Cilantro, Tree collards)
*Recycled Bike Tube Earrings (http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlonbike)
*Homemade deodorant (Tea Tree or Rose scented)
*Worms (for making vermicompost)


Start looking around your house & compile a list of things you have to trade. You might be surprised at what gets offered up to you. You might also be lucky enough to meet some really nice like minded folks. 

Tomato based Italian style pickles

Craft Supplies Swap this Saturday

I am throwing a Craft Supplies Swap this Saturday from 2-4 in N. Oakland and YOU are invited!

If you are interested in attending shoot me an email *kendra {dot} poma {at} gmail* and I'll send you the deets. Feel free to invite any crafty friends you have who would like to pass on some of their unused craft supplies and pick up some new crafting treasures.

All crafting supplies are welcome: beads, fabric, yarn, paints, crafting tools, jewelry findings, notions, etc.

If you feel so inclined, snacky items would be a wonderful addition to the swap but certainly not necessary to attend. I'll have a thing or two set out for everyone.

Instead of buying new supplies, and throwing out our unwanted supplies, lets see if we can glean some goods off of, and maybe even be inspired by, each other.

Swapping Plants - edibles, house plants, cuttings, succulents, herbs, seeds, etc.

I just started my newest swap project: The N. Oakland Plant Swap!

This will be a twice a year event for people to gather together and trade all their edible and inedible: unwanted plants, cuttings trimmings, seedlings, starts, foraged plants, and seeds.
This is also a great place to bring any extra pots, natural fertilizers, vermicompost/worms, garden tools, etc. you have and are no longer using. Pass them all on to a new home and come pick up some new-to-you plants for your garden and home.

I hope to see lots of edible plants, herbs, house plants, flowers & succulents. Bring it all!


Our first swap will be: Saturday May 7th 2-4pm
Click the logo below for more information.

If you don't already have something like this in your area, consider starting it. It takes little effort and can be done just once or twice a year having a great impact in your community. This can be an amazing way to get all the plants you need/want for your home and garden completely for free!

Seed Lending & Swapping. One way urban gardeners can benifit from living in a densely populated area.

I've been hearing news of seed swaps and seed lending library all across the country. This is such an amazing tool for the urban gardener I would love to see more people taking advantage of this resource. If you don't already have a program like this in your city then start one! It really doesn't have to be complicated.

Here, in Berkeley, we have BASIL (Bay Area Seed Interchange Library). Year round, BASIL is basically just a station set up in side the Ecology Center that anyone can go to and dig through pouches, and jars, and satchels of seeds. All the seeds here are ones locals have collected from their own plants in their back yard or wild foraged then given to the seed library for others to take freely. The idea is that you will come collect seeds "checking them out" then grow the plants at home and collect more seeds to bring back to the library "checking back in" for others to collect and grow.
Once a year BASIL has a Seed Swap, Potluck & Hoedown...one of my favorite events of the year (put a potluck in any event and I'm instantly in love). At this event I suspect is intended to get a large donation of seeds to stock for the spring growing season. Tons of people from Berkeley and the surrounding cities get together, bring all the seeds they have collected in the past year, cook up some AMAZING food to share, and there is usually live music and a little bit of dancing here and there. I look forward to it every year.

This years Seed Swap is TOMORROW, and I couldn't be more excited. If you are in the Bay Area and want to join in on the fun, stop by. Make sure to say HI if you see me stuffing my face around the potluck table :)

12th Annual Bay Area Seed Swap | Berkeley

Friday March 4th 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm | Cost: FREE*
Ecology Center | 2530 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA

Learn about seed saving classes and the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library, while enjoying a potluck supper, hoe down music, home-grown garden seeds, and the company of local gardeners. Free event if you bring food & seeds to share or a $10 donation is requested

The Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL) Project is part of a growing network of concerned farmers and community gardeners dedicated to conserving the remaining genetic diversity of our planet’s seed stock. They have created a library of healthy vegetable, herb, and flower seeds that are being made available free to the public.

The Lost Art of Mending

I've been thinking a bit lately about mending clothes and how this is something it seems people no longer even think about doing.
We live in such a throw away society. As soon as an article of clothing gets a hole, especially one not on a seam, we automatically think "Oh well, time to throw it out and get a new one". I'm guilty of this myself and I've been sewing since I was 15. Instead of tossing my clothes I'm making a real effort to mend them first and get as much life out of them as possible. This is especially helpful to remember when you are at a clothing swap or thrift store and see something you love but it has a hole here or there. Don't be afraid of mending, it doesn't have to be perfect and its perfectly fine if it's obvious that a mend has taken place.

Check out some of my most recent mends:

Holes galore!

I bought this shirt a few years back from Nordstrom's. I thought it would be nice and last a while but these holes appeared the first time I washed it. I never got around to returning it and have been wearing it for quite some time with these holes. Today I decided to fix that and give it a bit of a makeover.

Blue Shirt Mended

I chose to mend this shirt making it overly obvious that it had been fixed. I used contrasting colors and stitched wider than necessary. I like the way it turned out

Close up of stitching

I used zig zag stitch with colored thread on top and white on the bottom. I stitched in the direction of the ribs (opposite direction of the stretch) so that the shirt would still be able to stretch fine when worn.

 

Mended Tights.

I have mended these tights so many times. I love them and am not ready to give up on them. With this close up it is easy to spot the mending by seeing the alteration in the line pattern but most people never even look close enough to notice they have been fixed. Even if they did I would display my fixes with pride.

Seam fix

 Here is an example of fixing a split seam. This is a pair of yoga pants that had a few spots on the waist band that started to unravel. I got these at a clothing swap so who knows how many people had them before I did.
I fixed this seam by hand-stitching a whip stitch but this could easily be fixed with a sewing machine using either a straight or zig zag stitch.

Hole on butt of yoga pants

 This pair of yoga pants also had a hole on the left butt cheek. Not a great place to have a hole in your pants while taking a yoga class. I was slightly embarrassed when I found that baby. I hand stitched the seam using grey thread the closest to the color of the pants as possible (though it was still a little too light). It may be obvious there was a fix but its WAY better than having a hole there.
I pinched the hole together on the inside of the fabric then did a whip stitch.


Don't throw out your loved clothing because of a simple hole. There is life in it still. A simple stitch or two can bring it back in to your wardrobe rotation.

My Urban Homestead - how I small scale farm, reduce waste, and do it myself in the city.

My boyfriend Dan and I live in Oakland, CA directly across the bay from San Francisco. Our land is small and when we first moved in to this house most of the yard space was cemented over. Any yard space we did have of course had a nice lush lawn of grass. This was definitely NOT an urban homestead when we moved in. We've been working hard, and non stop, over the past year to turn our little plot of land in to more. It may not be as elaborate as some but I'm proud of our work so far.

Over the last year we have: 

Started a worm composting bin using materials from a reuse store for just dollars (we use the juice that comes out as a fertilizer for our garden)

Built a pulley clothes line and use it for drying our clothes the old fashioned way

Busted out cement in our yard and used the urbanite, and other free found materials to build raised beds

started a large compost bin using a second hand frame we got free from someone on freecycle

Got 3 hens and built them a nice home under our deck

Got our first egg TODAY!

Berry patch just starting to grow: raspberries, boysenberries, and strawberries.

We've learned about taking cuttings, seed collecting & starting, and other ways to make us less reliant on purchasing plastic tub starts every year for our garden.

Planted 3 fruit trees (with more waiting to be planted) which we got incredibly cheap root stocks and grafted on fruit variety's that grow well in our area. The grafts we got for free at a scion exchange.

Started planting vegetables in our front yard. Here are artichokes, kale, and salad greens.

Dan also built a top-bar beehive using recycled wood found on the side of the road. We hope to collect a swarm this spring. I'll get a picture of that up later when we find a place to put in in our yard.

There is so much more I could talk about but I'll save that for other posts. Stick around!

I encourage everyone to do a bit of urban homesteading in their city dwellings as well. Even if it just means a few potted tomato plants in the summer. A little something here and a little something there start to add up and make a difference. I'm proud to be a part of this Urban Homesteading movement!

I'm a (small scale) Urban Homesteader and you can't take that away from me!

The internet and Urban Homesteading community is in an uproar.
I'm a few days late posting this. I wasn't going to post at all but I think its something important that should be shared.

Most everyone in the Urban Homesteading community knows about the Dervaeses in Pasadena, CA. They live on a small urban plot and have turned it in to an almost completely off the grid urban homestead.  They teach classes, and tour the country speaking about Urban Homesteading. They have also however decided that they deserve the right to own the term "Urban Homesteading" exclusively. After years of trying they somehow convinced the government to give them the Registered Trademark for the term as well as a handful of others.
Upon doing so they sent out letters to organizations using the term informing them of their legal right to it. They also somehow convinced Facebook to delete pages using the term. Many non profits & tiny small businesses who posed no threat to the Dervases were suddenly with  no warning shut down loosing contact to all their followers.

You can find out more about this ridiculous situation below:
Articles:
http://www.baycitizen.org/food/story/oakland-homesteading-school-caught/
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/02/urban_homestead_drama.php
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_17417055?source=rss_viewed
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/can_you_trademark_urban_homesteading.php

Facebook: Take Back Urban Home-Steading

Doing it Old School - Laundry

No More Shampoo - Update - 5 weeks in

Yep, wearing the same sweater.

It's been a little over 5 weeks since the last time I shampooed my hair. I would be lying if I said there weren't moments of temptation to throw some shampoo in and call it a day. This, of course, has been a learning process for me, as it has to be for each person who tries it. Learning what it is specifically that your hair needs.

For me, and it seems many others, using baking soda every week is a bit too much. After a few weeks of using it once a week, it seemed to be drying out my hair and scalp. I read about other people doing a conditioner wash most of the time they "cleanse". I've decided to try alternating the conditioner washes and baking soda washes ever week. One week "wash" with conditioner, the next week "wash" with baking soda/vinegar. This seems to be working so far, we'll see how it goes.

Some additives I've found for the Vinegar conditioning rinse are:
* A few drops of  essential oil
* Honey
* Lemon juice

Clean hair after 5+ weeks shampoo free

Make sure you mix well before rinsing your hair with it. 

If you notice your scalp itches, try using these essential oils: tea tree, lavender, and/or rosemary.

If your hair seems dry on the ends, try a small amount of olive or coconut oil rubbed between your palms then smoothed on the ends of hair.

If any of you have tips, trick, or advise I'd love to hear it! Please do share.

East Bay Food Swaps - Come join me!

Ok, I've gone a bit crazy and decided to take on yet another project. Not only do I run this blog, but also my earring line, SF Bay Area Clothing Swaps, lead a group on couchsurfing for urban foragers, am in the middle of building a tiny house, grafting fruit trees, building raised beds/gardening, raising chickens, etc. All this? Not enough for me, I need MORE!

After stumbling upon this video I knew this was something I wanted to do. Food Swaps! This combines two of my favorite things: eating & swapping.



I have created a Food Swapping group for the East Bay CA (EBCA Food Swaps)  and I would love for you to join us.
In a nutshell this will be a seasonal event for people to get together and trade home-made/grown/prepared foods with others in our wonderful East Bay community.
The events will be run in a silent auction style (see video above to get a better idea) and only trading will be allowed. Let your food be your currency.  

Come join in on the fun:
EBCA Swappers on Facebook

EBCA Food Swaps Blog:
http://ebcaswaps.blogspot.com/

Chicken Coop Update - complete!

 

Entrance with chicken ramp and hanging water dispenser.

Back view showing hatch to collect eggs

3 nesting boxes and a roost

Their nesting boxes and roost are complete. It was built using 100% reclaimed/recycled wood. It's not at all fancy looking, but it works!
We have two beautiful new chickens (3 total) one Barred Rock Hen, and a beautiful white Wyandotte Hen both joining our Rhode Island Red Hen already calling the space under our deck home. The two new ones were at home and getting along with our Rhode Island just days after introduction. It was stressful for all the birds but they got through it and are all very happy together now.
I've been trying for days to get a good picture of them all but have yet to be successful, I'll keep trying for you guys.

NO MORE SHAMPOO! My experiment with a more natural and less wasteful form of hair care.

I haven't shampooed my hair in 3 weeks! 3 WEEKS! And you know what, I'm not sure if I ever will again.
A few years ago I heard about this radical new take on haircare dubbed "No Poo" (not to fond of the name myself) that harkens back a time before commercial hair care products were used by the average jane.
The idea is to allow your hair to adjust to not being washed all the time, therefore producing less oil and allowing you to go longer between "cleaning". This also allows your natural hair oil to moisturize your hair all the way down to the tips and not need the chemical conditioners that we normally use to replace it. As an added bonus, this method not only saves a TON of money on hair care products, but also saves all the energy that goes in to making, bottling, shipping, and disposing of the Shampoo and Conditioner we normally use.
From Wiki:
"Shampoo has only been used widely since the 1970s. Before then, either regular soap was used a few times a month or, just after the early 20th century, shampoo was used only a few times a year. It was in the 1970s that shampoo use became prevalent. Ads featuring Farrah Fawcett and Christie Brinkley asserted that it was unhealthy not to shampoo several times a week. This mindset is reinforced by the greasy feeling of the scalp after a day or two of not shampooing. Using shampoo every day removes sebum, the oil produced by the scalp. This causes the sebaceous glands to produce oil at a higher rate to compensate for what is lost during shampooing. According to some dermatologists, a gradual reduction in shampoo use will cause the sebaceous glands to produce at a slower rate, resulting in less oil on the scalp."


To prove to you that you can have clean and very manageable hair without shampoo & conditioner, here is a closeup of the top of my head/hair (click to enlarge) after 3 weeks of not a single drop of either.
The Method:
*The first two weeks
First let me warn you! Roughly the first 2 weeks are the adjustment period. You will need to last this period of time without washing, only rinsing with hot water every time you shower, and your hair WILL be funky. Don't let that scare you. Simply arm yourself with some great up do's and try to avoid using hair powder for as long as possible. You want your hair to get greasy and spread down the length of your hair. During this period I recommend brushing your hair nightly to work the oils down to the tips.
Finally when the 2 weeks are over you can do your first cleanse!

*Once a week (or so, you will need to see what works best with your hair)
Make sure you have a cup in your shower from now on.
While showering add One Tablespoon of baking soda to the cup and fill up with about 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Swirl to dissolve, then pour over the crown of your head. Massage in to your scalp making sure to massage the sides and back of your head as well, then rinse thoroughly. Next add roughly one tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to the cup and add 1/2 -3/4 cup of water to the cup. Swirl to mix then pour over all of your hair. Rinse thoroughly. Once your hair dries you won't be able to smell the vinegar I promise. Every other shower you take just rinse your hair with warm water.

Basically, the baking soda is the cleaner, it scrubs away excess oil but not EVERYTHING like shampoo does. The baking soda is great, but its really alkaline so you need an acid to balance the PH. This is where the vinegar comes in. It's pretty cool how soft it makes your hair feel too.

I'll continue to keep you updated from time to time if there is anything to report. Otherwise, I will keep on enjoying my shampoo & conditioner free lifestyle.

***I now use baking soda for washing my hair, brushing my teeth, and as deodorant. This stuff is amazing!

Top 5 posts of 2010

I had such a great year in 2010 with this blog. Some post really exploded gathering more attention than I could imagine (though you can't tell from the comments...really, you folks need to comment more), others just kind of petered out. These are the top 5 most popular posts I made in 2010 for Girl on Bike:

#5
Urban Foraging N. Oakland
Here I talked about finding a tasty fruit tree in my new N. Oakland neighborhood.


#4
Homemade Wall Hanging Bike Rack
The 5 bike wall mounted rack Dan and I built in our dinning room


#3
Super Cheap and Healthy Pesto
Eating well for less :) How to substitute some of the most expensive ingredients in pesto from some healthy less expensive ones and still get great tasting results.


#2
Toothpaste Alternatives - Homemade Toothpaste
Recipes for DIY teeth cleaners

#1 (this post far surpassed all others in views)
Homemade Deodorant
This post continually showed up on message boards and re-posted by other bloggers. It makes me very happy to know so many people out there are interested in healthier products and reducing the waste that comes from all the commercial products we buy.


Thanks for being such wonderful readers in 2010. I hope to share much more internet time with you in 2011!