The Fruits of Our Labors

This summer was my first shot at organic vegetable gardening. Surprisingly, the best performer so far has been the peas. I say surprisingly because I planted them (well, Nature Grandma planted the peas) late in the season (May 1). This is one of those veggies that 1/2 of my family likes and 1/2 hates when frozen, but fresh--we all love them!

I have loved trying our hand at gardening. Nature Kidz get to see what their food looks like before it's wrapped in plastic at the grocery stores, and they get to play with their food. Opening the pea pods is fun and the "packaging" is edible too!

Next year plans are to expand our raised-bed planter to add at least 2-3 more planter boxes. Even as I am still enjoying our current harvest, I look forward to next year's planting season with lots of lessons learned this year!

Something to Read: In Defense of Food

I heard the author, Michael Pollan, on NPR's "This Splendid Table" today. After seeing "Food, Inc." Friday night, I was excited to hear Pollan's interview. Pollan was featured in Food, Inc. and had a very engaging persona. He was no less interesting in the interview (and you can listen to that interview at This Splendid Table's website). He had a great quote, and I paraphrase, but he basically said that up until the 1970's we had a "Ford" economy, meaning that the economy treated workers like Henry Ford approached his workers: "I'm going to pay my workers enough so they can ALL afford my cars." Makes sense, right? Well, Pollan says, nowadays we have a "Wal-Mart mentality"--that is, "I'm going to pay you so little that all you can afford is our food/products." Now, that is in a nutshell why I hate Wal-Mart. Well put, Mr. Pollan.

Most Pesticide-Ridden Foods

Check out this list I found this list via Trader Joe's (my favorite store these days). The list, from the environmental working group, details 47 commonly purchased produce items in order of pesticide load. I've also heard of "the dirty dozen" foods, which lists the 12 worst foods in terms of contamination by hormones, pesticides, and the like. It also offers explanations for each item's inclusion on the list, such as this rather disturbing detail about a staple in our house:

"4. Apples. With 36 different chemicals detected in FDA testing, half of which are neurotoxins (meaning they cause brain damage), apples are almost as contaminated as strawberries. Peeling non-organic apples reduces but does not eliminate the danger of ingesting these chemicals. Go organic, especially for children."

The dirty dozen list is topped by meats and dairy items. I already buy organic milk and we never buy any meat except chicken, but of course we consume a lot of cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products like kefir. I have to confess that I'm vigilant about purchasing "natural" foods (no chemicals), but I'm hit or miss about organic because they can be shockingly expensive. These two lists really help me choose which foods must absolutely be organic, and which can be conventional. Here's a summary:

The dirty dozen:
1. Meats
2. Dairy
3. Strawberries (good thing we went to an organic farm last week to pick!)
4. apples
5. tomatoes
6. potatoes (ack! who knew?)
7. spinach and other greens
8. coffee
9. peaches
10. grapes
11. celery
12. bell peppers

The Environmental Working Group lists only produce, but includes 47 items listed by chemical load so you can make your own choices and be aware. The worst offender? Peaches. The "best"? Onions and avocadoes. Check out the websites. It's eye-opening!

Keeping the Home Garden Going Strong

A home vegetable garden, especially organically grown, is a labor of love; the gardener has to keep vigilant with water and food and a careful watch for pests and disease.

I keep a compost pile beside the garden, adding my household wastes like coffee grounds, strawberry tops, eggshells, and fruit peels. I planted marigolds to repel bugs. But what I really need is earthworms and ladybugs.

I need earthworms for my compost pile and my vegetable garden, since it's a large raised-bed garden instead of in the ground where earthworms might naturally be. Also, ladybugs eat aphids and other garden pests.

I found a great online source for both: Gardening Zone. This is a great site with all kinds of helpful information as well as good prices for the things we need! I am a bit of a squeamish type (I close my eyes during all those gross surgery scenes on Grey's Anatomy), so getting worms in the mail grosses me out just a bit, but I figure the alternative is waiting for a good rain and them dashing out and plucking the buggers off the sidewalk.

On the other hand, that sounds like a wonderful--and free--way to entertain the Nature Kidz next time it rains.

How did you spend Mother's Day?

I spent Mother's Day at Vollmer's Farm in Bunn, NC. The farm is an off-the-beaten path location with all the trimmings for a fun family-friendly outing. Complete with "horse" swings made of old tires and an adorable "train" ride in mini cars designed to look like cows, the main attraction is the produce--right now, organic pick-your-own strawberries are in season. Yummy. This farm is the only one in the state of North Carolina with certified organic strawberries. Kidz can eat them right out in the strawberry patch as they pick. We picked 7 pounds in very short order, only nibbling one or two each in the process. For $12 per basket, we get fresh berries and the basket is ours to keep.

This is a lot of strawberries. How do we plan to use up these nutritious (1 cup has 49 calories, more than a full day's vitamin C, and lots of fiber) little gems? Well, Nature Kid the Younger gave me a chocolate melting pot for Mother's Day, so I served some up to be dipped in chocolate (you can use organic chocolate for this task). Some will grace cereal, and the rest will be frozen for smoothies and winter oatmeal in months to come. I might even bake a few loaves of strawberry bread for summer cookouts (it can be frozen and thawed later).

Now is the time to seek out local farms for produce-picking fun. You can find the places closest to where you live at Pick Your Own.org.
What fun.

Treadmill vs. Hike Outdoors

I knew I needed some exercise today (ok, every day). I thought about getting on the treadmill. I cleaned house a bit, argued with my steam vac for a while (and I lost the argument and ended up hand-cleaning the sofa), and thought some more. But here's the thing: the treadmill faces the wall/window (it folds up to save space and it's too heavy and pointless for me to turn it to face any other way) and my only entertainment is a magazine or two. That's usually enough, but I have read all my magazines for now.

So, Nature Kid 1 and I decided to take our 2 Nature Dogz to William B. Umstead State Park instead. There we had a good 2-mile hike over hilly, occasionally tough-going, dirt, with a canopy of leafy trees overhead and a babbling brook alongside us. The rocks in the water were large and made nice stepping stones, and the water was so enticing that one of our dogz, who's not really a water loving kind of guy, climbed right in and lay down in the cool water.

It may have been in the 90s today but the hiking trail stayed relatively cool, and we even found a shaded picnic table for the lunch Nature Kid 1 assembled (turkey sandwiches, Kashi cereal, and apple, grape juice, and potato chips for us; water for the doggies).

When we got home we bathed the dogs and decided our next outing would be to the Morrisville Aquatic and Fitness Center for an afternoon splash. I love summer!

"Green" up your Easter baskets and a book recommendation

First, the book recommendation. The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes is an amazing little book that's been around a long time. First published in 1939, it's about a mother bunny with 21 children who manages to become one of the chosen few Easter Bunnies. Check Amazon for reviews. I absolutely love this story and it's inspiring to me as a mom of a mere two bunnies--I mean Kidz. It speaks for the tremendous work and skill that is unique to mothers. My kidz' godparents gave them this book and we treasure it.

My second item for today is a suggestion or two for greening up the Easter basket. My first is for that ubiquitous plastic grass that the Easter bunny seems compelled to insert in the baskets and that we parents seem to still find wrapped around our vacuum cleaner's roller part six months later. Perhaps the Easter Bunny could borrow your shredder and shred paper scraps--if you're a scrapbooker you can leave out some of your paper scraps to be shredded--and later recycled or reused--and tucked into the basket. If not, perhaps you have some construction paper lying around, or even wrapping paper scraps. Shred them (we have a cross-cut shredder, which tends to make confetti instead of "grass" but it can still work) and leave them out for Ms. Bunny. No more clogged vacuum cleaners, or landfills for that matter!

Another suggestion that we made to our Easter bunny: shop for chocolates at a locally owned chocolate shop. We have one near us: Chocolate Smiles in Cary, NC. The down side is that many of their chocolates contain vanillin, which is a synthetic chemical usually made from petroleum. Ewwww. But I was able to find some beautiful selections of chocolate Easter bunnies that my Kidz would surely enjoy if our Easter bunny stops by there. In this economy, it's always good to shop local, and the treats at this shop are handcrafted right in the store. Sadly, the cookie shop in the same strip center has gone out of business.

Have a wonderful Easter, Nature Kidz and Parentz!

This is exciting news!

Western Wake Farmers Market to Open in May.

Great news for Cary, NC and surrounding areas: on May 2 in Carpenter Village (off Morrisville Carpenter Rd in northwest Cary), the new Western Wake Farmer's Market will open. The location is ideal for folks in Cary, Morrisville, Durham, and parts of Chatham county. I'm really excited to be able to take my Kidz there to look at locally grown, fresh produce.

The organization's website even has a seasonal calendar to keep shoppers aware of what's in season at any given time. This summer the Nature Kidz and I plan to plant an organic garden in our own back yard, but our space and food choices will be limited, so I'm thrilled to have this option available quite soon. We'll be able to purchase fresh foods directly from local farmers--now that's eco friendly, community friendly, and socially conscious!

Here's a Green and Cost-effective Idea

Kid-to-Kid Consignment store, Apex, NC

I have to admit, I hadn't thought much about consigning my Kidz clothes.  Usually my older daughter's things go to her cousin, and her cousin's things come back to my younger one.  It's a wonderful way to get maximum use out of quickly-outgrown clothes.  After all, Reuse is one of the 3 Rs--that is, the 3 green Rs--Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.  

Consignment stores are a great alternative to traditional mall shopping; area momz take their kidz outgrown clothes, shoes, and gear--including maternity wear--and the store puts them on their racks.  The store keeps a portion of the sales price and and the customer takes her portion in cash or store credit (at my local Kid-to-Kid store, store credit is 20% more than the cash portion I'd get).

Stores usually take clothes seasonally--for example, right now my nearest shop is taking spring and summer clothes.  So now would be a great time for a quick check to see whether last year's summer and spring togs will fit this year; if not, try taking them into a consignment shop! It beats having them in the attic, and in these tough times, second hand is not just greenwise, it's moneywise.

A Sign of the Times

It looks like green living is now so in vogue that the state government mandates it in North Carolina! I love seeing this sign not only for the fact that it means that recyclables get recycled even when I go out to eat, but also because it shows that recycling is as mainstream as it can be.  If a government, especially in a traditionally conservative state (though 08 proved to swing left), is willing to require something, you know it's probably years past due.  

Way to go, North Carolina!

A Truly Great Idea

(Photo from Papa Spuds website)
Papa Spuds Organics local produce delivery: Raleigh & Durham area.

This is a truly wonderful idea and is now available in my neck of the woods.  Papa Spuds is a food delivery service focusing on local produce.  It's a service you sign up for, and each week you use a set number of "credits" (20 or 40) for a set price ($22.99 or $40.99); there's a suggested selection of items, but you can customize your weekly delivery.  Items range from locally grown seasonal produce such as potatoes and turnips to bakery items, dried fruit and preserves, and even candy!  Many of the items are organic, and you have the option of selecting strictly locally grown items, or from those grown across the USA.

This concept appeals to me on so many levels: the first is my Lazy Mom impulse. It's far easier to click and choose and then sit around waiting for my items than it is to schlep to various groceries looking for fresh organic items.  The second is my eco-conscious tendency; I like that I can choose organic items and those which are local, thus saving resources on many different levels.  The third is a nutrition level: feeding my kidz what I know are the freshest, least pesticide-riddled items makes me feel like they are getting the best possible nutrition.  Also, I like that I can plan menus around what arrives each week: with today's technology, I can go onto sites like Allrecipes.com, plug in an ingredient, and get recipes right on my laptop!

Remember Home Made Play Dough?

The consumer in me had never really thought to make play dough, especially when there is Play-Doh at the stores and it's so cheap.  But we don't have any at home right now and I'm not sure the ingredients are all safe and natural, so I decided to make my own. It's incredibly easy, cheap, and fun. All it takes is a few ingredients and some cookie cutters and scissors (and even those are optional) and your kidz can have hours of fun!

I used my India Tree all natural food colors to color this batch, though you can use other natural colorants.  I don't like the flavor of these for food, but they are an excellent idea for decorating!  

Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of coloring and knead until distributed evenly.

Here it is: Mom'z Mealz (aka the Hippie Meal)

I wrote before about my plan for the faux happy meals.  Well, I finally got my ebay-purchased Happy Meal toys.  I found some 100% recycled paper bags at Target in two sizes: tote sized with handles and a smaller size to fit nuggets and fries.  I also created a little "logo" since we're obviously not creating real happy meals but, rather, Mom'z Mealz.

But here they are.  The ingredients:

Home made lemon-lime soda (see recipe on this blog)

Applegate farms all-natural chicken nuggets

Whole Foods' 365 Everyday brand Organic Shoestring potatoes, tossed in olive oil and baked

organic ketchup

steamed broccoli

small toy

The result?  Two very happy kidz, especially my 6 year old who really, really, really misses happy meals.  It's really all about the toy, anyway.  

My brother heard about this and gave the meals a new name: "Hippie Meals."  I love it.  I will incorporate it into the "logo" I made.

One Word: Yummy

Zevia natural sodas.  Available at Whole Foods, $5.99/6-pack

I confess. I am a diet cola-holic.  I'm so bad I'm not even loyal to Coke or Pepsi; either will do in a pinch.  This is not a particularly good thing for my attempts at leading a more natural life.

Enter Zevia natural cola.  This stuff is so good.  It's sweetened with stevia, an all-natural sweetener that's the latest thing in the zero-calorie sweetener market.  It's natural, though.  And wow.  I actually prefer Zevia cola to Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi.  I was at Whole Foods (gosh, that place really needs to channel me some advertising money) recently and they had put out samples of the stuff and had a stack of $2 off coupons.  They sure know how to rope in the cheapskates like me--free stuff AND coupons!  And it worked.  I tried a couple of the flavors and they were really good, but cola is really the only soda I drink.  If you're a root beer fan, or an orange soda fan, you just might like Zevia's versions.

Now, I bought a box of stevia once and tried it in my coffee and it was awful--just nasty.  I did a little research on it tonight and it seems that this can be the case when the stevia used is not the best--there can be an aftertaste.  Well, Zevia is super good and just plain sweet.  In fact, it seems to me that it tastes more like regular Pepsi than Diet Pepsi does.  I love it.  Plus, I've just learned that the cans they use for packaging are recycled.  It's good for the eco-conscience, too.

Of course, there is the matter of the price.  Ouch.  And we're not exactly living in carefree times.  But I think I might be able to cut back on total soda consumption in order to afford this stuff.  It's just that good.  Try it.  You'll like it.

To learn more about Stevia, try Dr. Mercola's site.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I have been doing research on low- and zero-VOC paints.  We're going to paint our kidz' room and we wanted to go with the healthiest paint products possible.  With a little internet research we discovered the Common Ground Green Building Center and from there, the AFM Brand of zero-VOC paints.  AFM's "Safecoat" brand of paints offers an amazing collection of gorgeous colors with their Ayurveda line, the colors grouped by personality type using Ayurvedic philosophy. An excerpt:

PITTA
Pitta individuals may develop occasional inflammatory conditions. They have a general tendency to a moderate, athletic frame with a muscular body mass, and a sharp, energetic personality. Cooling therapy may lower a tendency toward irritability. Balance may be derived by colors that cool, moderate, and soothe.

Under each type is a selection of colors with names like "Revive" and "Fire" and "Memory" (think I'll paint my room in that color). How cool.  How trendy.  How earth-friendly.

Resolving to Stay Green in 2009

If you're a mom like me, looking for simple but effective ways we can individually make the world a better place, we can start with our mailboxes.  Once again I was overwhelmed this holiday season with catalogs.  And while I don't necessarily mind catalogs now and then, it never ceases to amaze me how I end up on a dozen mailing lists after making a purchase from just one retailer. 

But as it is the new year and time for resolutions, I've resolved to have less filler for my recycle bin.  One way you can do this is by going to Catalog Choice online.  For even more ideas about reducing junk mail, from stopping delivery of unwanted phone books to how to hire a service to do the work for you, try Ecocycle.

12 Days of Conscientious Christmas, Day 12

Christmas Stocking Place Cards Craft

Budget-friendly fun activity for crazed pre-Christmas kidz of all ages.

Supplies needed: 

felt stockings (found @ Michael's, .79 each)

individual sheets of felt in white, red, and orange

mini pompoms 

black pipe cleaners

"googly eyes"

mini jingle bells

craft glue

scissors

glittery stick-on letters 

any ribbon you have around for the scarf

My 9 year old and I were trying to come up with either place mat or place card ideas for our family Christmas dinner, which will include 13 of us, 5 of them kidz.  Since school's out now and every day we get closer to Christmas seems to mean less sleep and more energy, I thought having lots of crafts planned would be a good idea.  While shopping at Michael's we found the mini-stockings pictured above.  We already had a box of glittery letters at home from another craft (making holiday hats for a "fancy dress, crazy hat" party), so we decided we'd purchase 13 of these and decorate them and add an initial for each person at Christmas dinner.  The cool/practical/earth friendly part is that these mini stockings can be reused many different ways: as Christmas ornaments or holiday decor for the future; sticky letter can be removed and stocking makes great "giftwrap" for small items like gift cards; or they can be reused each year as place cards.

Now, don't tell my family, but I am hoping, if I have time, to buy 13 scratch lottery tickets.  I'll place one in each stocking, and who knows?  Maybe someone will win $5!

Here are the directions:

Gather the items in the supply list, above.

1. Momz can make this process go easier by pre-cutting the shapes: Santa hat (red and white felt), snowman (white felt), carrot nose (orange felt), pipe-cleaner arms, ribbon pieces.  I used a number 8 cookie cutter for my snowman template, but you can do your own pattern. Older kidz might not need this help at all and can create their own ideas.
2. I set out all the small supplies in little bowls for small hands to easily pick up.  I poured glue onto plates and gave them wooden skewers (sharp end cut off) to dip in the glue.
3. Glue the pipe cleaner arms to the back of the snowman.  Then glue the snowman to the stocking.
4. Glue the white band to the santa cap.  Glue the santa cap to the top of the snowman's head.
5. Glue jingle bell to santa hat
6. Add features: googly eyes, carrot nose, pompom mouth and buttons.
7. tie small piece of ribbon in a knot and glue on for a scarf.
8. Add sticky letter to personalize.

What's really cool about this is that there are endless possbilities! You can put the initial on the snowman's body, or do penguins or reindeer or santa instead.  You can add decorative ric-rac or make the stockings yourself from extra fabric you have lying around.  Enjoy!

12 Days of Conscientious Christmas, Day 10

A two-fer: a socially conscious and eco-friendly way to recycle Christmas cards

My friend Michele McPherson sent me this information after reading my post about day 4 of the 12 days of conscientious Christmas.  Talk about your feel-good activity: send your old Christmas cards to St. Jude's Ranch for Children's Recycled Christmas Card program.  Cards can be accepted through the end of February 2009, and should be sent to:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children

Card Recycling Program

100 St. Jude's Street

Boulder City, NV 89005

From their webiste: 

"The children participate in making the new recycled cards by removing the front and attaching a new back made with recycled paper. The new card is a beautiful, 'green' card made by the children and volunteers. The benefits are two-fold: customers receive 'green' holiday cards for use and the children receive payment for their work and learn the benefits and importance of 'going green'".

And we, those who send our cards, get to feel good about being green and in helping a worthy cause.  St. Jude's Ranch rescues children from abusive situations.  Learn more about St. Jude's Ranch at their website.

12 Days of Conscientious Christmas, Day 8

Countertop Composter in Stainless Steel

Available:

Stainless for $45.99 or white Ceramic for $32.99 from Chef's Catalog

Stainless for $29.99 from Always Brilliant

Stainless for $39.99 from Chef Tools

I think this is a great Christmas gift, especially for the Mainstream Mom going Natural (like me!).  The items I listed above are attractive (there are plenty of ugly ones out there) to go with contemporary kitchen decor.  

I have to admit, composting has always overwhelmed me--for some reason it seems just too complex; can I pile stuff on existing compost?  How often do I turn it?  Should I add anything to it?  Online searches for information haven't helped much.  Plus, who wants to set aside compostables and have to haul them out to the pile 3 or more times a day? This seems like a great way to make that first step.  It's easy and convenient. Lately every time I pitch an eggshell in the garbage I think to myself: "gee, that really could be great compost material!"  This countertop composter might just work the lazies out enough for me to try composting.  After all, we plan to plant a veggie garden in the spring; we'll need it!

12 Days of Conscientious Christmas, Day 4

Green Christmas Cards

For day 4 I thought I'd write about how to green up a not very eco-conscious holiday tradition: Christmas cards.  I love them--getting and receiving--and have a tradition of my own where I always include the word "peace" in some form or fashion.  Before we moved from Florida, we also always featured photos of Nature Kidz at the beach.  But I never really thought much about earth friendly approaches to the tradition. So here are a few I've gathered:

1. Send online cards via email.  This is not my favorite because I adore getting something--anything--in the mail that isn't a) junk or b) bills.  But it certainly cuts down on tree killing--you can include photos, holiday clip art, and the Christmas letter if you do those.
2. Send postcards instead of folding cards in envelopes.  This is what we are doing this year.  Because we ran low on time and creativity, I used an online template from Vista Print.  They offer traditional Christmas cards but I went to their marketing materials section and found an oversized postcard with a holiday theme, added my own photo and sentiments, and ordered them.  You can even have them mail the cards for you! I ordered exactly as many as I need and will have no envelopes, so I am thinking I'm cutting back on tree killing.
3. Reuse last year's cards.  In an article by Jane Paige in the  Carolina Parent magazine, one green idea is to make new cards from old by crafting your own cards on your own recycled paper, then gluing the paper to the old cards--giving you a sturdy foundation for your new card.  You can also cut up elements you like from old cards to make ornaments, gift tags, and more!
4. Create a traditional card, but instead of printing out the annual Christmas letter, write the letter online and include a link to the site in your cards.  That way you save paper and printer ink, and can also upload photos and such onto your website.  There are lots of free blogging sites (like Blogger and Wordpress) that work great for this purpose.
5. Get the kidz involved--buy some plain notecards and envelopes made from recycled paper (try Paperworks online if you don't have a local source) and have the kidz make their own cards.  You can have some photos printed up; set up a large table with magazines, old christmas cards, tags, colored papers, crayons, markers and even glitter and paint.  Kidz can glue the photos down and decorate the cards how they want.  If you have a sticker maker, kidz can cut out holiday images from magazines and turn them into stickers to put on the cards.  What fun!

Whatever you decide to do, and I'm sure most people have already gotten their cards in the mail (guilty sigh), have fun!