Photo by Joel Holland on Unsplash

We made it through a dark and cold winter full of challenges and hardships. I must congratulate you on seeing it through. Many of us had to sacrifice a lot but I am happy to say that things are getting better. Slowly but surely.

With Spring comes warmer weather, new growth buds on trees, colourful flowers and new opportunities. I encourage you to focus on the positive things we can do for ourselves and for those around us.

The first thing that comes to mind is South Africa’s annual arbor day on the 7th of September. There is something really rewarding about planting a tree in a public space or in your own home. I cannot truly explain the ‘feel good factor’. There is a special bond that I enjoy when planting and caring for a tree.

Not all of us have green fingers and some trees are more trickier than others to grow. If you’re not sure, pick an easy one especially a tree that does not require much water or care.
I have a soft spot for nitrogen fixers because they grow so quickly thus providing shade in a shorter space of time and they supply much needed nitrogen in the soil through the bacteria that grows in the root nodules.

Indigenous trees are always a win and should be the first type of tree to consider planting. Food producing trees give back in more than just providing shade, supporting wildlife, creating humus and absorbing carbon….they feed us! Be mindful that these trees do usually require a level of care to keep them healthy and strong.

Remember to visit or pass by your tree often to water it and give it some compost or plant food. It’s an amazing feeling to watch it grow and this is a joy you can experience for many years to come.

A Quick Update

Now that Unicorn Cafe has down scaled to focus only on products that sell quickly, our turnaround time of processing orders has increased and I am feeling much better about our customer service and delivery times.

Photo by Jacqueline Munguía on Unsplash

I am pleased to say that I always have stock of Vital Wheat Gluten Flour and Unicorn Cafe will always supply this product. In case you don’t know what this is…. it is the protein of normal wheat flour that it used to make seitan and give artisan breads elasticity.

Another amazing product that Unicorn Cafe supplies is vermicast. This is probably the most incredible fertilizer and growth medium that you can use for seeds and your garden.

Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash

In my experience, I have had a much better success rate when growing seeds in vermicast as opposed to other mediums. I had a lot of fun transforming the garden of the office using vermicast. It’s great to see flowers growing when I arrive everyday. It’s such a wonderful start to the day and so uplifting when I walk outside to take a short break.

Sometimes I post pictures on Instagram. You are welcome to follow to keep updated with the little joys I experience. The Instagram handle is @unicorncafeza.

Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash

Unicorn Cafe is selling it’s clothing at unbelievably low prices. These prices are so low, that I am practically giving away T-Shirts and warm comfy fleece jackets. Take a visit to our website www.unicorncafe.co.za and have a look. All stock must go.

If you supply a wonderful product that has an indefinite shelf life at room temperature and you can supply it reliably to our premises in Westlake, then get in touch. I will be more than happy to add it to the Unicorn Cafe website. Please note that it’s vitally important to be able to deliver the product to us reliably and that it contains no animal products.

Always carry a container. You want one that does not contain any endocrine disrupting chemicals and you probably want to stay away from most plastics. Sealable silicone pouches have hit the market and you can also get glass conatiners with sealable lids made with safe plastic. These are convenient if your food needs to stay chilled or reheated. I know a rhyme that helps me avoid toxic plastic packaging. Twelve forty-five, stay alive. Three six seven, straight to heaven. This reminds me to stick with plastic types, one, two, four and five. One and two seem to be the safest overall.

You will be surprised how this simple change can avoid so much trash! When you are eating at a restaurant and you need a doggy bag, you will be glad to have your own container and avoid the nasty chemicals in the styrofoam containers issued. The same applies when you want to get take aways. Ask the person at the till to use your container for packing the food.

When you visit the deli or your local store, you can also ask the assistant to use your container. Saving time by not having to ecobrick pannets, cling wrap and other plastic packaging is bliss. The more you persevere, the easier it gets.

Plus, when you attend a dinner party or buffet and your host pleads with the guests to take home leftovers because there are so much….Ta Dah! You have your handy container on the ready! Man! I love leftovers the next day especially when they come from a party that can sometimes leave you feeling exhausted.

You can make a little zero waste pack and keep it in your car or backpack. Inside you can keep your reusable bags, a reusable straw and knife, fork and spoon, a cotton napkin, a coffee mug with a silicone sealable lid, a glass water bottle, and a small ecobrick with a mini stick.

Make a little check list and stick it somewhere where you will see it everyday. As you plan your day, you will get into the habit of anticipating what you will need and pack accordingly.

You can do it! Your actions will save miles of landfill space and less chance of posioning of wildlife but you also inspire and motivate others. You may not get praise and some may give you a funny look but they are watching and they are noticing and they will get it.

Part 1 – Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

Part 2 – Loss of Biosphere Integrity

Part 3 – Climate Change

Part 4 – Ocean Acidification

The biogeochemical flows, this planetary boundary is referring to, is the phosphorus cycle and the nitrogen cycle. These cycles happen naturally in nature over time, and without our intervention, remain in balance.

Let’s start with nitrogen

Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breath and so, it is all around us. This gas is made of two atoms with triple bonds. These bonds are very difficult to break. Plants and animals, including us, need nitrogen to survive. We cannot use the nitrogen in the air and neither can plants. So how do we access this nitrogen?
Tiny microscopic bacteria that live in the soil take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil. These bacteria produce enzymes that break these triple bonds and put nitrogen into a form that is accessible to plants. We can then access our nitrogen requirements by eating the plants. Nitrogen is returned back into the system when plants and animals die or when animals urinate or produce manure. Plants take this nitrogen up from the soil to grow. There are also special bacteria that convert this accessible nitrogen into atmospheric nitrogen or nitrogen gas. Another name for this  gas is dinitrogen.

Commercial agriculture uses synthetically made nitrogen to fertilize crops but this chemical leaches into rivers and lakes when it rains and causes algae blooms. When the algae dies, bacteria break them down but consume all the oxygen in the water by doing so. These oxygen consuming bacteria turn the river or lake into a dead zone. It’s called a dead zone because no other aquatic life can survive in water without oxygen. America’s dead zone off the eastern coast is visible from space. 

You can see from looking at the planetary boundaries picture, that we have crossed this boundary into the red high risk areas. This means we have too many dead zones around the world because of nitrogen pollution in seas and lakes. Commercial agriculture takes a lot unhealthy shortcuts to produce food but affects the natural balance of nature and thus negatively impacts our ecology. Permaculture methods do not use chemical fertilizers but lets nature do the work for us. 

The Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus is found in rock especially sediment layers and with constant weathering, is released into the ground. Plants take up phosphorus from the ground and we take up our needed phosphorus from plants. When animals and plants die, this phosphorus is returned back to the soil or runs into the sea, becomes a sedimentary layer and in a few million years, pops up as a mountain exposed to weather again. It’s a really slow process.

Commercial agriculture has messed up the phosphorus cycle so badly, that it is becoming deplete in the soil. Phosphorus is mined and used in chemical fertilisers that commercial farmers use. Permaculture does not use synthetic fertlizers to grow crops and harmonises with nature’s processes. Permaculture is the sustainable and regenerative method of farming because it treats the land as a permanent source of nutrition by building top soil and not depeleting it.

If you are part of the green revolution and have a yard or allotment, then you are probably harvesting corn round about now.
We have such a rich history with corn and grain as humans domesticated teosintes to maize  some 6000 years ago. A tradition has evolved with harvesting corn and grain, where we celebrate the good things in our lives.

I know I am not alone in revering the earth as sacred. It is important to remember how we physically depend upon the land for food. The soil sustains our existence and so to treat ourselves with respect, we must start with the living earth beneath our feet.

With this celebration of our good yields, a theme of fairness runs through this time of harvest and distribution. Sharing our harvest with others by having a communal meal is one way to celebrate the corn harvest. Traditionally, a loaf baked in the shape of a ringed braid or a sheaf of corn is shared and includes a thanksgiving element. Sharing and thanksgiving can also be celebrated by volunteering time or money to charitable work.

We can acknowledge and bring awareness to the environmental damage from pollution and irresponsible farming methods that compromise nature’s balance and future harvests. This festival provides an opportunity to metaphorically separate the wheat from the chaff and symbolically rid ourselves from things that are no longer needed. Let’s consider what we might do to ensure that future harvests are uncontaminated and equally distributed.

Unicorn Cafe wishes you a fruitfuil harvest and is thankful for your continued support. 

You will need gloves and protective eye wear for this. Break the seal and using pliers, take out the tube and empty out the contents. Click here for more detail. Find a metal washer that is big enough for a 12 cm cotton string to go through but also hold it in place. Glue the washer to the the part that you use to screw in the bulb. Find a round base to place the bulb on. This could be a washer, a large nut, a plastic bottle top or even a piece of wood with a circular hole carved into it. Glue the glass part of the bulb to the base so it is secure. Fill the bulb with lamp oil and thread the string through the washer at the top. Congratulations! You have now converted an old light bulb into an oil lamp. For video tutorials, click here or here.