Big Flying Thingy

The other night I went to retire for the night. My dog, Maggy, was outside where she can chase evening bugs on the cool grass. (She LOVES to chase bugs and birds.) I proceed to open the sliding door to let her in and I heard something hitting the top of our patio cover, over and over. Dummy me turns on the porch light, which is about 15 inches from my head, to see what the commotion was. This hug flying creature comes barreling toward the light and me! I quickly turned off the light, closed the door and tried to watch it using the light from inside. I couldn't figure out if it was a really small bat or a big moth! It was the size of a humming bird. You see, here in California I am not accustom to large bugs. And this one freaked me out! Finally I came to the conclusion it was a big moth. Then I thought, we have tomato worms and I know they get big, about 4 inches. This has to be a moth from one of those worms. YUCK! Normally my husband picks off the tomato worms and kills them but our gargantuan tomato plant hides these creatures too well.

Reading a little more about these pests I realized they are not worms (I knew that from Biology class long ago) but caterpillars for the Five Spotted Hawk Moth. "Hawk Moth". Does that say something about this creature? Here is a great, organic reference to maintain the Tomato Hornworm.

Well, I went to bed and knew I would not see this "Hawk Moth" again, hopefully. But when I go out to pick my tomatoes I wonder if more on on their way...

Meet the Trellises

Last week in "Attack of the Monster Tomato Plant" I contemplated making my own trellises for our bean plants. Well, I did it. And actually, it was easy. I went to Home Depot and for less than $10 bought some bamboo sticks to make 2 trellises.

The first one resembles a teepee. I thought about the Native Americans that lived in teepees while making it, wondering if I was using the proper technique. How silly that my mind wonders that way especially about the past. (You should see it when we visit old west towns.)

The second one goes up against the fence to support my bean plants that are potted. I hope these grow as healthy and large as its brothers and sisters in the garden.

The bamboo should last almost forever. It was funny, after I bought the bamboo I couldn't help to notice that the tag said "made in China". I got a little annoyed. Can't anything be made anywhere else? Then I thought, doesn't bamboo grow in China? Then the made in China would make sense. I don't know. I haven't shopped in so long for anything but groceries I forgot to do my research. And I really didn't have time, the beans needed some support ASAP.

I hope it wasn't too late for trellises, only time will tell.

Attack of the Monster Tomato Plant

My garden would take over the yard if I let it. Everything there-tomato, zucchini, watermelon, and cantaloupe-all look like they could eat a small animal right now. (Watch out, Maggy!) This is literally my first garden. (Well, like I have stated before, this is hubby's garden, with a few exceptions, I just eat the fruit of his labor.) We grew a garden years ago before children and I had nothing to do with it because I saw the dog pee on it one time and that was it for this city dweller. We rented for years and didn't bother with a garden, except for a failed one I tried. Darn my brown thumb. Then we bought this house almost 5 years ago but just this year started a garden. Wait, I apologize, we grew tomatoes at times. But I really have never seen what zucchini, tomato, cantaloupe and watermelon could do if you gave them space.

My mouth is watering over the prospect of homegrown cantaloupe. It is my son's favorite. We have 6 right now in the plant and they are all about 4" in diameter. So cool! The watermelons I find are still babies. Last week I ate the first green bell pepper to come from my garden, I made it with chicken for fajitas, mmmm. You all know what's up with my zucchini, I have tons and can't keep up. My husband pulled 2 of the plants out earlier this week, but that still leaves us with 3, more than enough. My parsley, oregano and thyme are doing great, they must like the heat while in the shade. But I need to harvest my basil, it is flowering and I am worried that it will taste bitter. We have one struggling tomato plant in a pot, it has cherry tomatoes, and one huge tomato plant in the back of the garden with 3 green Roma tomatoes. Oh, and then we have a pepper plant yet we don't know which peppers are growing on it. It came with the bell pepper seeds but they don't look like bells. I don't know when to pick them and if they are hot.

I just realized this morning, and hubby realized last week, that my beans need a trellis. What? I don't know what I'm doing. I looked at pictures on the internet and got some ideas. Not so hard. I'll head to Home Depot later and buy some bamboo polls and make myself a trellis. The lazy, cheapo (sorry, frugal greenie) in me tried to find scraps in the garage first but they were too short. Darn! I'll post pictures of my trellis later, maybe.

On the down side, something is eating my bean plants. And I have no idea what is is? I put coffee grounds around it but whatever was eating it didn't care and helped itself to the leaves anyway. That makes me question if it is snails and I don't see tracks.

I loved growing a garden this year and I have learned a lot. I was sad in the beginning of the season because I thought this would be the last time we grew a garden. We went through a lot of work to design our back yard and had hopes of planting heat tolerant plants and flowers. But my husband told me just a couple of days ago he wants a garden again next year! Woo Hoo! We may scale it back a bit, maybe 2 zucchini plants and we may try to grow more in huge containers but we'll have all winter to plan that out.

I only posted a few a my garden pix, please see my sidebar slide show for more.

Ge Green.

Click here to reduce 1 pound of carbon. Care2.

Yah, Thursday

I made it! No Diet Pepsi yet. Yesterday I ended up making myself some Blackberry tea, added a little sugar and chilled it. It was yummy. And my spirits are better today because tomorrow is 4th of July. We will be celebrating it with friends and I can't wait to eat, drink and enjoy a great time.

I tried some new things this week that are helping me be greener. I baked my own bread, finally. I hung my clothes outside. I froze a lot of zucchini. Kept the A/C off. And I made zucchini muffins.

I baked the bread with King Arthur's Organic Whole Wheat flour (from Trader Joe's, of course) and used the recipe on the back of the flour bag (minus the nuts, my family would complain.) It was a dense bread but had a very good flavor. Isn't it pretty? This was my first yeast bread. I started it in the bread maker on the dough cycle, took it out, let it rise, then put it in the loaf pan and baked it. The house smelled really nice. I think I cut the slices too thick for sandwiches but we still ate it. Remember, if you bake fresh bread at home refrigerate it so it doesn't mold, there are no preservatives in it. (Beth, I went to the website for the bread recipe you directed me previously and it is gone.)

I started hanging my clothes outside. I hang everything except underwear, socks and jeans. I don't have a clothesline but I have 2 clothes racks like the one pictured to the left. It is warm, dry and breezy during the day here so they were dry lickety-split. They smell better than putting the clothes in the dryer. I saved my house from heating up. And I didn't use about 3 hours worth of dryer time. Not bad.

This is what happens when you leave unattended zucchini for just 2 days. They are worse than the kids! Notice the pen next to the largest zucchini. This is why you will be hearing me talk about which zucchini dish I made-AGAIN. I froze much of it. I shredded, chopped and sliced for a couple of hours. The shredded zucchini is flash frozen for a couple of hours then packed away using my new handy dandy Foodsaver. Any other types of cuts you need to blanch first, cool, flash freeze and let the Foodsaver do its work. Zucchini is juicy and that disrupts the sealing process of the Foodsaver so flash freezing it keeps the juices at bay. I am all ready to make soup, breads, cakes and casseroles this winter.

Thanks to Crunchy Chicken I am trying to cut back my A/C. I never officially joined her challenge but I am trying to follow her guidelines. I can say, so far it hasn't been hard. We are only in the mid to high eighties this week. It was hard to keep it off today because I made zucchini muffins. I used the same recipe from my mother-in-law but subsituted 1 cup of regular flour for 1 cup whole wheat. You can't tell the difference.

If you live in the states have a wonderful 4th of July and if you don't you can still have a wonderful 4th of July.

Be Green

My Green Friday

I woke this morning to the heat. It is suppose to be 97 degrees outside today. Ohhhhh. And I am trying desperately not to turn on the A/C. So far so good at noon. But the heat really comes around 3 pm. But at that time, I am so excited, I am going on a farm tour sponsored by Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (RCD).

The tour's main focus is to educate children on where our food comes from, what it takes to produce it and what is done with it once it is processed. I am so excited to have this resource available. The kids will learn about soil, organics, seasons, food, farm machinery and storage of food. We will be visiting 2 farms, Simmoni-Massoni and Farmer's Daughter, for you bay area dwellers to come and visit our little u-pick and farm heaven.

But back to this morning. I actually did some gardening! (Now everything will die by the touch of my brown thumb.) I am on a green bean quest! I need green beans. They are the only thing out there I can grow from seed (organic of course) and, damn it, I will grow more! So I moved the watermelon plants we thought were not going to make it but are, to the back of the yard. And replaced them with green bean seeds. Then I decided to give up on growing NATURAL CALIFORNIA WILDFLOWERS (ya, I can't even grow native stuff!) and replace those with, drum roll, green beans. If everything goes as planned I will have 11 green bean plants, hopefully enough for freezing. I don't know, this is my first time growing veggies. Technically it is my husband's garden, I just water it. And now fertilize it. I use Dr. Earth and so far so good. But if you have a dog beware, they like to eat it and dig for it in your garden.

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Our zucchini is coming along splendidly! The top picture (below) is from June 9th and below it from June 19th. They grow really fast. This city girl had no clue to this phenomenon. But I like it because the veggie grows fast also. (My husband's size 10's are hidden in the 2nd picture.) The 3rd picture is our little baby zucchini. (Can you tell this fascinates me?)

Baby Zucchini

And we finally gave up on 1 of our 3 tomato plants. It just looks ill. No water starting today. And I may replace him with.......a green bean seed!

Pathetic tomato plant

Have a green weekend.

P.S. Mama and daddy mocking bird are still keeping their chicks safe. Yesterday my neighbor found out that there are 2 chicks. Those birds are working hard.

Tomatoes

Right now I am happy to be growing my own tomatoes, even though I am only getting 1 or 2 a day. The Center for Disease Control has found Salmonella in some varieties of raw tomatoes in as many as 11 states. When last year's outbreak occurred I just didn't eat any leafy greens. But this time around I am so happy to have my own supply!

Above is a picture of my overgrown cherry tomatoes. I like to grow cherry tomatoes so I can just rinse and pop them in my mouth. When we bought this variety, the "Husky Cherry", I didn't realize they were a HUGE cherry tomato. I would say their diameter is about 1.5 inches. They are good to eat but a little messier because I have to bite them like fruit. And you know, I love the smell of the tomato leaves on my hands after I pick the fruit.

One Green Person

Yesterday my girl scouts and I planted terrarium gardens. I had the girls bring in clean jars and I supplied the rest. I wanted them to grow herbs and then after the summer break hopefully use the herbs to make a meal, maybe using veggies from local farmers will be used. I'll try. Here is my daughter's terrarium of chives. We planted the simpliest herbs-chives, basil, parsley and oregano. Now the girls are only in 2nd grade so I hope they remember to water their mini gardens. I am hopeful.

At the same meeting we finished using our cookie money. This last Sunday we celebrated our earnings at a place called Libby Lu's where the girls get all dressed up and have a fashion show, it was quite cute. Well, we still had some left over money so I suggested we adopt an animal from the Lindsey Wildlife Museum. They were very excited about it. We voted on the Great Horned Owl. We will have to visit our buddy next year.

I am not telling my Girl Scout story to pat myself on the back. I am telling my story because I want people to know that one person can make a difference. I hear a lot of people say that what could one person going green possibly help? Well, you can be an example, especially to the next generation. I don't force my green ways onto the girls or their parents. I teach a little about respect and conservation of nature and hopefully they can take this knowledge with them in life.

Hopefully growing basil from seed will want her to grow a garden. Or adopting and visiting an owl will make her think twice about littering where that animal lives.

Green Pot

I bought green pot! Get your mind out of your crazy teenage years. It was for my flowers. We recently bought a gazebo cover for our back patio and to liven up the patio with color I bought some pretty pink flowers (I couldn't find organic ones). So when searching for pots to put them in I wanted the most environmentally friendly. Earlier this spring we went with wood for our tomatoes and orange tree. But this time I was thinking more on the terms of recycled plastic or clay. I don't know much about clay except for the ones made in Mexico start to dissolve after a couple of years and leave rings on the surface beneath it. I have to admit I did not do my green research before I shopped so unfortunately I was ready to go home with whatever I found. But lucky for me I ran into this great sale! And better yet the pots were from Terracycle. But unfortunately the remaining pots were greatly discounted meaning Home Depot might stop carrying them. The pots are pretty and they look like the painted ceramic pots but when you pick them up they are a fraction of the weight. They are made from the plastic of computers and other business equipment. And hand painted by urban artists.

Mixed Greens

I had a good eco day today.

My Acme Workhorse 1500 bags came, don't you love the name? I love them already and haven't even used them. I should go grocery shopping to break them in! And my daughter got a Hello Kitty Sigg bottle, she thinks she is so cool now.

I finally listened to "More Hip than Hippie" with Val and Dori. I first heard of them on Green and Clean Mom's blog. I happily uploaded the last few days worth on my ipod, headed off to the gym and got a longer workout just so I could finish the segment. These gals are funny and informative. And they are out of Sacramento, I will have to meet these ladies some day.

I haven't killed my veggie garden. Actually my husband planted everything-tomatoes, beans, peppers, zuchini, cucumber, and watermelon-I just water them. But I can try to not kill an herb, Trader Joe's has these awesome basil plants for cheap right now, I may head over there to snag one. MMM...fresh pesto!

I picked, with very minimal help from my children, 5 pounds of boysenberries. MMM...they are going to taste great on top of French Vanilla Ice Cream!

I also ordered from Amazon three books. Silent Spring by Carson, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Pollan and Organic Body Care Recipes by Tourles. I did order them used, one is even coming from the San Francisco Good Will. I am so excited to read Silent Spring and Omnivore's Dilemma, they come highly recommended.

Green Family

I've been noticing lately that my family is supporting my green efforts.

We are growing a small garden in the backyard and my husband noticed that some snails were eating our precious leaves. Before he grabbed the toxic powder he asked me if I had a non toxic alternative. I went to the internet for help and all I found was the beer trick and some copper band. Well, we didn't have any on hand. I did read that coffee grounds made good compost. AND snails don't like to crawl across textured surfaces. So hence, I thought I would try coffee grounds. They worked! It has been over 3 weeks and no snails. I was so happy he stopped to ask me first.

Today my son was given a plastic bag at his school book fair for 1 book. (I was not present or I would have said no plastic bag. Actually I would have tried to get the book used somewhere but it is a very new book and he gets so excited about reading I couldn't say no. It is very hard to tell your child no when the object will help him.) We got in the car and he apologized for getting the plastic bag. I was so proud that he knew that plastic bags are bad for the environment and that my actions are getting through to him.

I was so worried about my decision to green our lives that I would get rebellion from my family, especially my husband, but they seem to be embracing it. I am so proud. Actually, my husband has gotten more homemade meals lately because I try to eliminate most processed foods from our diets and I think he likes that. I am home more because I don't shop to buy anything we don't need so I have more time for family.

Aaaah, Spring!

My orange tree is starting to bloom!

We have the typical small California backyard, but we like to garden a little. Some of our veggies and fruits need to be kept in containers like our orange tree we just bought over the winter. We planted it in a large half barrel that in its past life was a wine storage container. (Maybe our oranges will have a "oak taste with a touch of plum". Ha ha.) I have been watching the tree and it has had buds for at least a week so I have been waiting for it to bloom. This morning I walked past the tree and the aroma was heavenly!! The tree is in bloom and it is right underneath my kitchen window! I am so excited! If you can I highly suggest having an orange tree, the fruit is great and the aroma from the flowers is even better! It is my favorite.

This will be my first attempt at any vegetable gardening. I grew up in Los Angeles with a tiny backyard. My mom had a very small garden of roses and random plants. But nothing edible. My husband grew up in Michigan on 2 acres and anticipated spring for more reason than I can list but I know he looked forward to the planting of veggies. He loved to plant cucumber, tomatoes, zuchini and peppers. I never had the interest. But this year is different, I decided to go green. So now after all these years my husband will be happy I am joining in on his quest for fresh and pesticide free veggies and fruit.

I am thinking of trying the organic fertilizer and composting. But I know almost nothing of growing plants except to water them. Wish me luck. I will need it.