My Gardening Challenge

This past week, I have been really serious about my garden. I'm expanding my bed of aloe vera, and I planted some sunflowers. It has given me so much joy over the last week, watching the sunflower sprouts growing steadily under my watchful eye, and seeing the potential I have for producing my own aloe for use in my bath and body products.

In our ever busy lives, we push aside small things like tending even the smallest flower, not realising what difference it could make. The joy I felt from seeing my plants come to life, to me, is worth a million dollars. I took some aloe leaves from the garden, extracted the gel, and used it in an all-natural facial mask with yoghurt and oatmeal. What a rewarding experience! I'm sold. Call me a tree hugger or whatever. I feel so fresh and so green, and I feel more alive than I've ever been. Growing your own organic produce is an extremely rewarding experience, plus it's better for your health and well being. Everyone needs to try it sometime, and it's great stress therapy too!

What do you need to start?
1. An area in your home with black soil
2. Gardening gloves (to protect your hands)
3. Garden tools (fork, spoon, rake, hose)
4. Access to water
5. Seeds or roots from other plants/trees

And you're ready to do some gardening! Fill your home with plants, trees, and flowers, and you will notice the air around you will feel cleaner and very fresh as the plants and trees produce Oxygen and absorb Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere. The more plants and flowers you have, the more different birds and butterflies you can attract into your garden. You might get the worms and the snails too but don't banish them completely because they contribute to the fertility of the soil and the nutrients in the plants they fertilize. I'm off to turn on the sprinkler. Happy gardening!

Maker Faire (Ghana) 2009

I attended the Maker Faire held here in Ghana at the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in IT (AIT), Accra. This fair gave makers and inventors the opportunity to come together, interact, and to showcase their ideas and inventions.





I was there to demonstrate how to make cold-process soap, and also had some of my soaps on display. The soap I made here is from pure unrefined Shea Butter, Virgin Coconut Oil, and Olive Oil.





There were some really interesting ideas on waste recycling, and processing of natural resources like with the Shea Butter Press, and Cassava Processer to aid women in rural areas in the making of 'gari'.

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I especially loved the solar-powered radio station made with a local antenna,
and solar powered lamps made with used plastic containers.



Then there was Tei, the clothing designer who designed avant garde clothing out of recucled plastic. I absolutely loved it!!



The Electric Cream is a compound that heats up when mixed with water, and can warm your food, heat up the room, or be used to iron your clothes, no electricity needed! I thought that was pretty cool. Especially when the gentleman who invented this told me his wife does all the ironing at home without electicity!





This fair inspired me and reminded me that there are others out there who share the same vision for a better world, a cleaner world, a safer world.

LOVE THE EARTH! ..and please let me introduce myself :)

After much travelling, and studying abroad, I have finally settled down in my native Ghana, West-Africa. Things here are quite different from the Western world. The pace seems a tad slower, and technology is not so overpowering. I enjoy being back home, yet I worry about a variety of things, including how much people know about our earth and the peril she faces. Do you know how your lifestyle contributes to her demise?

It's time we take a closer look at ourselves and make that crucial change. You can contribute in your own small way to the dream of a greener earth!

When was the last time you planted something? a plant? a tree?

How do you dispose of your waste?

Ever tried recycling?

How much energy do you waste in your home or at work?

People from the Western World probably hear questions like this all the time, but in this part of the world, not enough noise is being made about global warming and the fact that we need to be kinder to the earth. As a singer/songwriter and recording artist, I use my opportunities to reach people, and to tell them about some of these things. As a hand-crafter of bath and body products, I use nature's wonders to make soaps, body butters, scrubs and more to enable myself and others get the best body care from nature. Everything we need to look good, feel good, and smell good, is available by the grace of nature. Some of the BEST ingredients for your hair, skin, and well-being are produced by the Earth. You can have your own NATURAL facials , soaks. e.t.c with ingredients right out of your kitchen!

So you can call me Yazay the Earth-Child, Music Messenger, Creative Hand-crafter, (sometimes Primadonna.. have to tell the whole truth right?), and a Business Owner who would love to share some knowledge and thoughts with the world. Let's enjoy our time here while we can, so GET NATURAL, and BE PAMPERED!

xx.