More Hip Than Hippie #273 - Living the Dream

With a desire to return to her country roots, Becka Silva turned her backyard into Girasole Farm.

Girasole is the Italian word for sunflower; literally, it means "turning toward the sun". That's what Becka Silva is doing with her life. Her backyard has become "a place where vegetables grow, fruit trees blossom, and flowers bloom abundant." She also makes aprons and blogs about living the dream!

Beer: Hallelujah! Buckbean Brewing Co. has arrived in Chico. Val's passionate love for their deliciously delicate Orange Blossom Ale resulted in her targeted harassment campaign all the way up the supply chain, to the President himself. Yes we CAN!

Chocolate: From Chris's care package comes another Andrea Stainer Origins chocolate bar. The Peru 65% Cocoa is strong & fruity, but not a great pairing with this week's beer.

Finds:

• Birdbrain. Former BP CEO Tony Hayward receives the 2010 Rubber Dodo Award for his tireless work assisting endangered species in their goal of becoming extinct.
• Kiss off. Step away from that Hershey bar! When it comes to keeping child labor out of chocolate, Green America gives the PA-based company a great big 'F'.
• Snack attack. Sun Chips is dumping its compostable bags because they're too loud. Stephen Colbert weighs in. By the way, the Rally to Restore Sanity will be televised! Where will you be on October 30th?

• No more BP,eh! Canada's very wise government has declared bisphenol A to be a toxic substance. That almost makes up for Justin Bieber.
• Expect more, pollute less. OK Target, why were you routinely dumping hazardous waste into California landfills for 5 years?

Teenie Weenie Greenie™

Get your just rewards! October is Fair Trade Month, so make the commitment to purchase at least one piece of FT chocolate and one bag of coffee or box of tea.

Girasole is the Italian word for sunflower; literally, it means "turning toward the sun". That's what Becka Silva is doing with her life. Upon becoming a grandma, she decided to go back to her roots and turn her 3-acre property into Girasole Farm. Becka chats with the Hipsters about gardening, gourds and living your dream!

• One of Becka's goals is to supply produce for a local CSA. Find one near you at Local Harvest.
• For research, Becka prefers books over the internet. Among her faves are Sunset's Western Garden Book of Edibles and the American Horticultural Society's A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.
• You can still order one of her custom-made aprons in time for Christmas!
• The sunflower photo you see above is an award winner! Congrats to Becka for taking 2nd place in the 7th Annual Renee's Garden Photo Contest.

There are only a few more shows in 2010. What would you like us to talk about? Give us your input at hip@greenfeet.com. Check out our blog!

• Janis in Florida would like a good dark brown mascara that's eco-friendly, waterproof and sweatproof. OK, good luck with that! Try Ecco Bella for a fairly good alternative.
• Meredith in New Zealand found a quick and easy DIY compost bin made of pallets. Looking forward to the NZ chocolate!
• Kamille in CA combats hard water by adding borax or baking soda to her washing machine. Cheap and effective.
• Kevin in Dallas has a good solution for those days when he forgets his resuable bags. He also loves Carrotmob, and so do we.
• Tommi in Iowa celebrated her green wedding with sticks and stones! We're waiting for pics, please.