Improvised Toothpaste

Toothpaste is one of those things that hasn't actually improved since it was invented. That's why marketers try to convince you that, don't worry guys, THIS toothpaste is the real deal. That last one was shit, full of asbestos. But this new one, god damn, it's got these computer generated blue spheres that like, clip through your molar and attach to that green foliage that's sticking out of it like shrapnel. Then they both phase out of existence. We're 25 year old models wearing lab coats, so I think we know what we're talking about.

Half of keeping your mouth clean (yes, yours specifically) is just the act of brushing, but you don't need to buy $7 tubes of bubblegum-icecream-vomit coloured paste to make up the last half. You just need:

6 parts Baking Soda

2 parts Water

1 part Hydrogen Peroxide (3-5%)

Dash of Flavor

Add more or less water to get the consistency of paste you like.

I made my first batch with cinnamon. It doesn't taste sweet and minty like commercial brands, but the mixture dilutes when you rinse with water so you're just left with a clean feeling on your teeth and no aftertaste.

The hydrogen peroxide kills most any bacteria or fungus in your mouth. It's the most active ingredient in a lot of mouth washes, and you can get it at any drug store. The baking soda works as an abrasive to help remove cavity creeps, and is also alkaline, which helps reduce the acid that can hurt your tooth fortress.

I've seen some recipes that call for glycerine as a sweetener, but that stuff leaves film on your teeth and I think it does more harm than good. But I'm no toothpaste scientist.

The Drought Has Affected Our Post Crop

We're now deep into the last half of our time at the farm, time that has given us authority on the bigger picture. 

So, just what the hell are we doing here?

On paper, we're working on a small scale (unofficially) organic farm, 5.5 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, for 6 months solid. In exchange we get room and board, a stipend of $200 a month, and a ground-up education in the farming business.

However, it's taken a bit longer to figure out what we are actually trying to do here.

We're here to learn how to do things ourselves. We're here to purge accumulated guilts through hard physical work. To watch that hard physical work turn into a quantifiable product that you hold in your hand and bite into. To feel what it's like to fuck up when you can't talk your way out of it. To see if we can find a way of living that isn't hostile to someone else's.

So I can learn enough handiman-ship to at least build a goddamn spice rack. I once hammered a wood screw into someone's wall (using my "Tools for Dummies" hammer no less), so this is a big deal.

If I look closer I can see some hippie pamphlet slogans too: "getting in touch with food", and "reconnecting with life and death".

I don't know about Em, but I think I've succeeded on some points, failed only two, and simply thickened the plot of most. Bubbles have been burst, perspectives shifted, and The Good is found where I did not expect it to be.

And it's not over.

I'll be updating at least once a week from here on, now that the weeds are clear.

I promise it won't boil down to "my job is so interesting because ______". The food is excellent, the recipes even better, but 75% of the time we just hack at the earth with clubs and knives, so the act of farming is especially uninteresting to hear or read about. 

It's the bigger picture stuff that counts. The context.

It's actually about taking pictures of animals though.