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.

Going Campaignin'

Just one more for today, I am in a funny mood. This video is from JibJab.

Going Campaignin'

Saddle Me Up and Give Me a Feedbag

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

I saw this over at Greenpa's blog. Funny.

Ingenious Home Remedies

My friend sent these to me and, quite frankly, they make sense to me.

• Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables for you while you chop.
• Avoid arguments with females about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
• A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
• If you have a bad cough, take a large doze of laxatives. You'll be afraid to cough.
• If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.
• Final thought: Some people are like slinkies-not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

Update on My Green Life

Today in my neck of the woods it should only reach 90 degrees. At that temperature I don't need to turn on the A/C. I am glad for that. My husband makes fun of me because I like the heat and have acclimated to it over the years so in the Spring and Fall when we get 75-80 degrees outside I put my sweater on. (He's from Michigan and I am from Southern California, HUGE difference in weather.) He makes fun of me that I can't handle the "cold" weather. But I still wear my sweaters. So today I will wear my tank top and shorts and maybe get my butt up for a bike ride.

I may not be there yet...but I'm closer than I was yesterday.

As for the rest of my life, I am truckin' along, not achieving the green state I wanted to be in at this time but still working on it. As things run out I replace them with more earth friendly counterparts. Like my dish soap, dish sponge, or fabric sheets (many people use vinegar, I like baking soda in the rinse). I use Trader Joe's dish soap (pictured above), my dish sponges are natural vegetable fiber and no more fabric sheets. As for other household cleaning I use vinegar and baking soda as I run out of Comet, Windex and Fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if these products have had a negative effect on my health through the years. What's done is done and now I can make better choices for my family.

My dryer is lonely. I haven't used it for weeks. In my last post about hang drying I mentioned I don't hang socks, underwear or heavy jeans. Well, that stopped. Everything gets hung now. The socks are not crunchy but underwear are (that didn't sound good, "crunchy underwear", I'm washing them). The clothes almost dry as fast as a dryer would do it when it is 100 degrees outside.

My baby cantaloupe.

In other news, I had to tell my children no apples yesterday at Trader Joes, even organic. Those little gems were coming all the way from New Zealand and Chile! Talk about a huge carbon footprint on something I can substitute with our own fresh cantaloupe (from the backyard, woo hoo!) or make a smoothie from the fresh fruit I picked earlier in the season. I have, for the most part, cut out bananas too, they all come from way down south like Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against those countries, as a matter of fact I envy Costa Rica, they can eat bananas carbon free!

This last week I went to get my haircut with my hairdresser I have used for years. She has always made comments that I need to deep condition my hair. This time she made comments about how soft my hair was. She asked me what was I doing. I told her I wash it every 2-4 days depending on my activity level and rinsed with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water. And combined that with better eating habits. She was impressed. We always discuss more natural ways of managing your hair. She is a hairdresser at a nice salon so she has to sell the products there but she has learned over the years I don't buy them.

And last, but not least. Call it a small victory, but my husband agreed to no more buying individual water bottles. He drives more than I do and would easily grab one on his way out but he agreed to use a Sigg bottle or anything we have in the cupboard with a top.

Be Green.

Test

I've Gone International

This morning I woke a bit early. I don't know why, maybe because I have had enough AOS (ass on sofa) that my body and mind thinks it is well rested. So what did I do? I went straight to my blog, of course. Did my last post go to my reader? Did anyone leave a comment? Yes and no, respectively. Did Robin posts? She hasn't in a while. How about Beth? Will she write about her garden or her VW today? And Fake Plastic Fish, how much plastic will she report? How is Crunchy's "lawn"? What new product will Green and Clean Mom write about today?

Those are the blogs I check everyday and so many more my blog roll would burst! I have become to rely on each of these women for guidance through the green maze. Anticipating new green information. Each one with their own style, some poetic, some factual, most are funny. This is my blogosphere and it is only 5 months old and I would miss any of them if they left.

I was amazed this morning to find that I too have faithful readers. I rarely check my detailed analytical reports, I mostly check to see if my readership still exists, is my blog feed working and move on. To my surprise I have gone international! That is so awesome! Hello Canadians! Hello UK! Hello China, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore and Argentina! How are you green? Do you have blogs I can read? Do you have tips for me on how to be green? I am so glad to see people all over the world here. And, yes, most of my readers are from the US, mostly CA. Hello to you too. Maybe some day we can meet for lunch.

Thank you all for visiting! It means a lot to me that you find my blog interesting enough to stop by. Say hello one day. I would love to here your take on the environment and green products and gardening.

Be Green.

Greener Water

We recently spent some time in the local Sierra Nevada mountains along the American River. I love this river. It is so beautiful. The clear water rushing along meeting up with boulders to form rapids of white water. The plastic bottle floating near the lost sandal.

During my visit I noticed quite a bit plastic and aluminum garbage floating along, minding its own business, probably hoping to meet up with its compadres in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Oh, the environmentalist in me cried and then picked up as much of it as I could. (Picture a mom with her friends and their kids carrying beer cans up from the river. Not a good sight. But we did it.) When I got back I started to wonder where that river flows and is anyone helping to clean it up.

The river originates further up stream near Lake Tahoe from ice melt and eventually, after a few reservoirs, dams, a delta and a bay, the water ends up in the ocean. That is a long journey, let's estimate 250 miles. There are a lot of stops along the way but it is very possible that pollution from up river could end up in the ocean. While sitting on the bank of the American River you don't think of the Pacific Ocean and its wildlife. You are thinking whitewater rafting, fishing for trout and swimming. I thought of both locations. How do the locals keep their our watershed clean? And thus help the clean the ocean environment.

A watershed is a drainage basin where water from rain or snow flows down in the form of streams, rivers or creeks toward a larger body of water, i.e. the ocean or bay. What happens upstream effects downstream. Many people don't realize that. I didn't until about 5 years ago when I heard about the Marsh Creek Cleanup.

Every year on the 3rd Saturday of September our city holds the Marsh Creek Clean Up. It is a collaboration of the local city, sponsors like Home Depot, the Resource Conservation District, Friends of Marsh Creek and citizens to clean our Marsh Creek. Every year it grows in volunteers and you wouldn't believe what we pull out of the creek. One year our Cub Scout Pack pulled out a shopping cart. How sad is that? Chairs, sofas, car parts, batteries, fishing line and everyday garbage gets taken out of the creek. I always wonder how it gets there.

I don't need to tell any of you how to keep the waterways clean, I know you guys are green, but unfortunately we need to clean up after others. Please help clean the rivers, lakes and ocean and spread the word.

The Marsh Creek Clean Up corresponds with California Coastal Clean Up Day. Now I made it very easy for anyone living in California to help clean our waterways. Visit the site above and sign up. They will send you info on who your local organizer is.

You can also check with the Ocean Conservancy for clean up locations near you. There is a link for international volunteers there also. Or simply google " 'your body of water here' clean up". For example "Mississippi Clean Up" gave me Mississippi Coastal Clean Up, which is on September 20th this year. Also search for your local Department of Water Resources, they have a lot of information.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the American River has quite a few friends friends to help clean it up. The American River Parkway Foundation organizes a clean up. And here is a large list of Sierra Nevada and national environmental links also.

One bad note about the clean up. Ask what happens to the trash. Do plastic bottles get recycled? Where do aluminum cans go? If the organizers say to the dump, that is not good enough. Try to convince them that much of the trash floating in the ocean is from landfill garbage that got airborne. And we know you NEED to recycle those items. A couple of the articles I noted in this post address that issue. But don't give up, we all know every little bit helps.

Resources and Reads:

Green Peace: The Trash Vortex

Algalita.org - Marine research Foundation

Floating Fecal Funship - Not all garbage comes from the land.

Plenty Mag: Environmentally Sound Beaches

Regroup

I am going to take a little break, just until Monday. I am a little overwhelmed with stuff. Nothing bad has happened in my life, thank God. I have been in front of this computer too much lately and have abandoned my family. Even the dog begs for attention. I was so glad to get back to my Google Reader on Monday and then didn't leave my chair. I feel the week has been a blur.

I have been so attached to this computer that I haven't been green. My Diet Pepsi challenge was thrown out the window, now I need to start over again. We have ordered pizza because I didn't make dinner. And definitely haven't been making local dinners. I haven't been watering my veggies and now my basil is dead. (Hell, it is hotter than hell outside. This whole week it was over 100 degrees outside. I'll blame he heat.)

I am angry with Blogger too. Or is it Feedburner? I don't know. My feed is not posting and when it does it takes its time and I don't know how to fix it. I have looked everywhere and have found no solution.

So I am taking a break. Tonight I will actually go to bed with my husband instead of 1 am. (You know what he'll what. :-) ) I should get my butt up and ride my bike. Yah, that's what I'll do.

Have a nice weekend. And I'll be back Monday.

CFL's Love Home Depot

A Little Greener Everday posted today that Home Depot is taking CFL's to recycle them. Spred the word.

My New Day Cream

(I had written up a post about how great my new Burt's Bees Day Creme is. And how much better it is than the lotion I previously used. Then I remembered, after I bought Burt's Bees, to do my research at the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep website. And I found out they scored the same! They both received a 4 out of 10 on a hazardous scale. 0 being not hazardous, 10 being highly hazardous to your body. Well, I tweeked my post a little but here it is.)

My Oil of Olay day lotion finally ran out. So I went out and bought Burt's Bees Carrot Nutritive Day Creme. I trust Burt's Bees brand so I didn't do any research for a new day cream for my face. I just went to Long's and bought it. After I bought it I found out the EWG gave it a 4 out of 10 hazard rating. That's not horrible but I think I can find better. But I will use it all up before buying a new cream.

When you open the jar you immediately smell the the ingredients. It is not a bad smell, somewhat neutral, just natural. I am used to the artificial smells of lotions that manufactures think we want to smell like. The texture of the cream is thick and smooth. When I went to put it on my face I was a bit worried that the cream would not dry enough and make my make-up float. It did not, I am very pleased and relieved to say. What was surprising to me is the color, it has an orange tint. I mean it is a natural carrot cream, so it has beta carotene as an ingredient. You know, the stuff that makes your skin orange. But you need to eat quite a bit to have that happen. But what if you use it everyday? Will my skin turn a tint of orange? I doubt it, but it sure did cross my mind when applying it this morning.

Overall, so far, I am very pleased with the creme. I have pretty normal skin, slightly oily on my forehead and nose. This cream blended nicely with my skin. It doesn't make it feel greasy or dry. I think it works all day.

The only draw back is that I wanted a day lotion/creme with a sunscreen it it but if you want all natural then you can't have sunscreen. Something about nano-particles in the sunscreen being absorbed into your skin. Here is an article from the Green Guide about it.

As for the score of 4 at the EWG's website, I was a little shocked and concerned. A 4! So what is wrong with Burt's Bees Carrot Day Creme? Well, reading the report it looks like the big concern is the frangrance used in the product, it was scored an 8! That is really high. The report states that the fragrance can cause allergies and it is a neuro and immune system toxin. Well, that doesn't sound good. (I knew my mama nose was right when I became sickened by fragrances after having babies.) The next concern was the tocopheryl acetate. My take is that it is toxic to your skin and organs. But it scored a 4, which is pretty low. All the other ingredients scored fairly low.

And what about the Oil of Olay scoring a 4? Well, it scored high, 8-9, in fragrance and DMDM Hydantoin. The DMDM Hydantoin has toxins and comes with quite a few warnings and violations. I think the this lotion received a lower rating because the EWG regards UV sunscreen as good because it helps to deter skin cancer.

There are other factors to consider. Burt's Bee's does not test on animals and the signed the EWG's Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Oil of Olay may test on animals and has not signed the Compact. Also, Burt's Bees came in a handy dandy reusable glass jar. Olay, #5 plastic.

So in conclusion, I'll stick with my Burt's Bee's Creme for now. And look for something without a frgrance for next time. I did look in the EWG's Face Lotion Datbase and my head is spinning. There are 1000's. So if anyone has a good face cream let me know.

Argh Part 2

So the pictures are back up. Good.

My last post was listed on my blog at 11:46 AM, I did a resync with Feedburner around Noon and my Google Reader rec'd the post at 1:10 PM. Maybe it is working now.

Sorry to bore you but I am quasi obsessive with some issues.

We'll see how fast Google Reader gets this post.

In the meantime enjoy some useless facts and random images.

*Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

(Click on this one to see it larger.)

*No word in the the English dictionary rhymes with "MONTH".

*By partially filling saucers with vinegar and distributing the saucers around a room, you can eliminate odors. (Us Greenies knew that one already.)

*The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C. (I guess if we really need to go green??? Ha Ha)

*Can you name all the Seven Dwarfs? Don't you cheat!

*Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards.

*Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.

And Lastly:

See you on the other side.....

ARGH! Blog issues!

I am having blog problems and until I fix them I don't think I should post. First off, my RSS feed through Feedburner is taking a day or more to post it in readers. I use Google reader and yesterday's post is still not on my reader. This is a huge problem for me. I think I know the problem, it has something to do with the XML or HTML, but I don't know how to fix it. Secondly, my pictures on my blog are not showing.

What is up? Does anyone have the same problem?

ARGHHH!

A Greener Vacation

My family spent our 4th of July weekend in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in a town called Murphys. We had a great time but being green on vacation can be a challenge. For starters, if you are a die-hard greenie vacations are mostly out of the question unless you ride your bike to the destination, sleep under the stars and catch/hunt/pick your own food. We did none of that and most people don't. So how do you manage to be greener when you are gone?

1. While in the planning stages try to go local. Explore the mountains or beaches near you. In most parts of the world there are beautiful and exciting places right in your back yard. Check. We went 2 hours away.


2. Look for lodging that follows green ways. Search for "ecotravel or green vacation + your state/country". I found Green Orbitz and the Gaia Hotel. For more adventure try Manaca, Ecotravel, and Ecosummer.


3. Before you even leave turn off and unplug appliances that you will not need on while gone. Turn off the heater/air conditioner, turn down the water heater all the way, turn off the computer and its peripheral appliances, unplug clocks and smaller appliances, you get the picture. Turn down the frig a bit-you won't be opening it so the stuff will stay cold. Check-except the frig, I forgot.


4. Take the train or bus. If you don't, load up as many people as you can in the most fuel efficient vehicle you have. Check.


5. Pack your own homemade food. It is healthier, cheaper and better for the environment. Check-I made zucchini muffins (surprise, surprise, more zucchini)


6. While there follow the same green rules you have at home-recycle, short showers, A/C at a minimum, walk or ride your bike, shop local. Partial check-I didn't think this one out. I didn't recycle nor take shorter showers. But we walked when we could and the A/C was off when it was not needed.


7. Bring your own eating and drinking implements and use them as much as possible. Partial check-I brought bowls and utensils for breakfast cereal in the motel room but didn't take them with me to restaurants (that was a hard decision, I didn't want to be the "organic, green freak".) And we brought Sigg bottles but opted for plastic bottles instead. I feel bad about that, next time I will know to bring a huge 3 gallon jug of water and refill my bottles.


8. Use your own bags. Check.


9. Ask the maid to not come. Hang your towels and make your own bed or not, your on vacation. Check. Except my friend spilled her soda on my bedspread one day so we had to call the maid to change it.


10. If you eat out, eat everything on your plate. Can't do that, share or order smaller quantities. And try to find locally grown and/or organic. Check. I ate it all and gained weight, ha ha.


11. Refrain from needless spending. Don't buy single serving snack foods. Before you buy a souvenir, do you really need it? Is it made from and of a renewable resource? Partial check. I am cheap so most souvenirs are out of the question. I do buy magnets for my frig. We take pictures for souvenirs. As for snacks, I am guilty of being non-green so I won't go into details.


12. If in doubt follow the rule of the nature. "Take only pictures, leave only footprints."

So you can be green while gone from home, it just takes some planning and forethought. But what about fireworks? Yes, they are bad for the environment on many levels. Without even turning on your green thinking cap you know that anything that goes up must come down, right? I doubt anyone picks up the firework debris. And anything that burns is usually bad for the environment, right? Fireworks, as anyone knows, are highly combustible and let off all kinds of pollutants. Chile Chews wrote a short post on 4th of July and you can find pollution details about fireworks here. By no means am I saying get rid of fireworks, I would honestly hate for that to happen. But if there are safer, more enviro-friendly ways to celebrate then lets do it.

My resources:
http://www.joytotheplanet.com/11/default.html

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Falls/9200/toxic_fireworks.html

Did I miss anything? Feel free to add more tips on how to be green while on vacation.

Great Weekend

(I didn't want to announce that we were leaving this last weekend on my blog. So I apologize for not posting and commenting. )

We had the best weekend! We spent 4 days in a small town named Murphys. What a charming little town it is. Murphys, like many towns in the Sierra foothills started as a gold rush stop for miners. Now it is known for its beautiful historic downtown and wineries.

The weather was perfect. We were invited to a friend's cabin for dinner and had great bar-b-q, spent time with wonderful friends, we swam, we shopped, we fished (well, my husband and kids did), we ate great meals. We met a burro named Clarisse. And that was all in the first 2 days.

On Saturday we went to a Ironstone Vineyards for music and fireworks. The wine was great, the music was rockin' and the fireworks were spectacular.

The fun didn't end there. Sunday we decided to visit Columbia State Park. Just down the way from Murphys, it too is steeped in gold rush history. We panned for gold but only came up with small pieces of turquoise and garnets. My daughter loves her little gems though. We bellied up to the salon there and drank sarsaparillas.

And on the way home we all (3 families) went zip lining at Moaning Caverns. Oh my! I am so scared of heights but I was not going to let the day go by without trying this! (And my 9 year old son did it first, who was I to chicken out when he can do it.) I went tandem with my son and it was an experience I will never forget.

I had a great time this weekend. But going overnight in an unfamiliar place is hard on your green conscience. Does the motel recycle? How do I refill my Sigg bottle? Is that organic? Can we walk there? Where can I keep left-overs? Is there a Starbucks? (oops, that's not green, but I still want to know.)

In my next post I will let you know my ups and downs of trying to stay green in Murphys. And I don't mean "Irish" green either. Although, as you can tell with the name, Murphys is very Irish.

OLS Week #5

I rarely eat eggs for breakfast, I am a cereal and coffee gal. But I was craving some over-easy eggs (or as my brother would say when he was a boy, "eggs lookin at ya") and toast. I was lucky enough to have some eggs left over from Shelly's Garden. And the bread I made the night before. The ingredients for the bread are not local but making it is. And a parsley sprig from our garden for photo effect. (I did eat it after.) Simply Good.

That was my local meal for the week. Next week I will probably be eating zucchini from our garden. Does anyone have a good zucchini recipe?

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

Oh, Wednesday...

(Warning: Woman talk ahead.)

I know I already did an "Oh, Monday" but today I can't help it. I really do try not to be a whiner but I want my Diet Pepsi back!!! I am only on day 2 and I can't handle it. Am I addicted? Well, there are other circumstances surrounding my "ohhhhh". I decided to give up my precious Diet Pepsi at "that time of the month". The day I quit my bubbly, cool drink was the same day my monthly visitor came and with a vengeance. I was working out at the gym almost everyday then my kids got out of school and I got lazy. I haven't gone in 2 weeks. When I was working out "she" was not so bad but now I have bloating, crankiness, sleeplessness, back discomfort and I feel drained. It's also hot here and I refuse to turn on the A/C until I am sweating.

I am just being a sissy? There are people that give up smoking or alcohol and get through it. I can give up soda. I can try tea again. I have tried it in the past several times and I just didn't like it.

Tomorrow I should be back to my normal self.

Change Is On Its Way

I have been reading and researching and lurking a lot, I mean a lot (I stayed up until 3 am last night), on other blogs of every subject and shape, and I have come to the conclusion mine needs a little tweek. I want to change the template. And I am adding some content.

I started the search for a new template. I really like Beth's new one. The colors are nice and it is easy to read. I stumbled upon one last night that I like, Maggie's Mind. It has pleasant colors and good placement of content. I am very picky so you may not see a new version of my blog for a while but I wanted to give you guys a heads up. I need a template I would want to stick with a long time.

I am going to start having more consistant content. Every week I want to have a specific day I update you on my challenges or any other content I usually write about. For instance, during my One Local Summer challenge months I will update on Fridays. Maybe Wednesdays I will have a specific topic every week. Robin is great at doing this. Tuesday's on A Little Greener Everyday is "10 Easy Ways to be Sustainable....". I will always update you one my garden, my non-plastic ways, my new green ways and anything else that tickles my fancy.

Be Green.

Oh, Monday

I really don't feel like posting today but, damn it, I have things I want to share! I love writing here, it is so therapeutic and helps me make decisions. So here it goes.

First off, Robin at A Little Greener Everyday is having a July Challenge. Unlike other blog challengers she is giving you a choice, she is so nice. I think she is challenging herself and doesn't want to be alone, ha ha. So she has 5 challenges to choose from. Here is the ultra-short list: beverages, A/C, lights, showers and journal. You'll have to visit to get details and to challenge yourself. I chose showers. I'll keep you posted.

We went away for the weekend on a non-green mini trip. We went to California's Great America on Sunday. We did everything non-green: ate horrid theme park food, wasted so much energy riding rides, wasted water on water slides, drove there at 70 miles an hour, wore regular sunscreen and bought non-organic towels because I forgot our towels at home. And then when we got home I realized the A/C was not turned off! Green Yikes!!! We did do some things green. We reused any cups and bottles by refilling them, I refused to by souvenirs (the towels were necessities), we only bought what we could completely finish eating. I can't say it was my eco-shining moment but with 2 kids and no real vacation plans this summer how can I resist the theme park experience? I feel I need to punish myself by doing some extreme green penance. Does anyone have any ideas?

I did have my new hemp flip-flops on all day Sunday and they we horrid! First off, why didn't anyone tell me hemp shrinks and hardens after it gets wet? The top part of the thong gave me blisters after getting off the first water ride at 11 AM. I have to keep the brown pair I wore all day but the black pair is going back. Back to the drawing board. Does anyone know where I can get organic, recycled material flip-flops?

I am trying to make my first loaf of bread today. And hopefully using my Foodsaver for the first time. Wish me luck.

Be Green.

Meet Chef John

I don't like to cook. But I must if I want to be green. All my cookbooks have pictures. It is a must. I have to know what the end product should look like. When I found Chef John I was speechless. I watch the food network all the time to watch how the real chefs do it. But to have Chef John available whenever I want and how often I want is a blessing.

Chef John hosts Food Wishes Video Recipes. OMG! He is making cheese, right there. And I can watch it over and over! I read about making cheese in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and on other blogs and sites but I have never seen it done. It really doesn't look hard. Everyone that has made it says it was easy and I didn't believe them, now I do. This doesn't mean I will run out and make cheese. I still haven't conquered making homemade bread and I have a breadmaker, for gosh sakes! But some day I will and Chef John will help.


How to Make Your Own Cheese - Fromage Blanc from Foodwishes on Vimeo.

I love the way Chef John teaches you how to cook. He has a nice voice and a great sense of humor. He seems to enjoy what he does and that makes a great teacher.

EcoSearch It

Move over Google, EcoSearch has come to town. EcoSearch, with the help of Google, is saving the environment one search at a time. When you search with EcoSearch you get the same exact results as you would with Google. And Google gives to environmentally friendly organizations for it by sharing its advertising revenue. Everybody wins!! Check out more at Big Green Purse.

And if you have Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger you need to sign up for the IM Initiative. Microsoft will give part of its advertising revenue to a great charity you choose from their list. See my post here to get more details.

Be Green.

Zucchini....Again

I have a feeling I will be writing about zucchini a lot this summer. Growing it, eating it, cooking it, baking it, grilling it, freezing it, daydreaming about it. But today I will talk about baking it.

Last night I baked Zucchini Bread and it was good. The recipe made 2 loafs but as you can see from this mornings photo 75% is gone. I used my mother-in-law's recipe. It was funny when my husband asked if she ever gave it to me (she passed a few years ago) and I told him I don't know but if she didn't I could just use the one from Betty Crocker and triple the cinnamon. (The joke here is that her "swedish family recipes" were really Betty Crocker's recipes. She would just add A LOT more cinnamon.) But this time she fooled me and had her own recipe.

3 eggs beaten until fluffy

2 cups of sugar

1 cup veggie oil

2 cups shredded zucchini

3 teaspoons vanilla

Those go in a large bowl and combined.

In a seperate bowl combine:

3 cups flour

3 tablespoons cinnamon (yes tablespoons, trust me it's good)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Add to egg mixture. Pour into loaf pans. Bake in greased loaf pans for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Makes 2 loaves.

Slightly Greener

Well, pat my back and call me a slightly darker shade of green. I am excited to share my green finds, buys and actions with you.

-My A/C was fixed on Monday by a very nice and local HVAC company. I am so happy to give a local guy my business. He is not only local but his kids go to school with mine. And he came recommended by 3 of my friends. I love to keep it local. (Ok, that wasn't green but he was local.)

-We have managed to keep the A/C off until about 30 minutes ago. We hovered around 92 degrees today and at the end of the day the house absorbed all the heat. My husband got home from work and wanted cool air after refusing to turn the A/C on in his truck to try and save gas.

-My garden, specifically the zucchini, is growing. I now have 8 bean plants now and every time I take a zucchini off the plant another one is there to replace it the next day. Wow! Zucchini bread for everyone!

-Because of the plethora of zucchini I am prompted to purchase a Foodsaver. I cleaned out my large freezer today and found some of my meats are starting to look rather unsavory. This year I want to start freezing more of my local finds to eat them over the non-growing season and hopefully the Foodsaver will keep my pretties well until I devour them.

-My new toothbrush is green, well actually pink but green. I found it at Trader Joe's. It is called the Preserve toothbrush. The handle is made from yogurt cups. And get this, when you are finished with the toothbrush you can send it back to the company in their pre-paid envelope to be made into park benches. Check it our at Recycline.com

-Meet my laundery team: Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent, Borax and Baking Soda. TJ's Laundry Detergent says it has no harsh or petro chemicals and is pH balanced. I did a little research on Borax and Baking Soda and they are better for the environment than the harsh alternatives. The detergent and Borax keep my clothes clean and the baking soda makes them soft. I do plan on trying to make my own detergent to keep my plastic use down but for now TJ's will do. And I only use 2 tablespoons per load because I have a High Efficient machine. Here are some other things Borax does. And baking soda.

-I finally hung my towels outside to dry. I usually only hang my delicates but the heat was calling to the towels. They were a little crunchy so I cheated a little and put them in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften them, that is better than the hour they would have been in before.

-As you have guessed I love Trader Joe's. They have great organic cottage cheese, the best, I mean best hummus and they always have samples. Anyway, I found some great dish sponges there. They are made from vegetable cellulose. No chemicals or synthetic stuff there. The only drawback is they are made in France. Boy is that a LONG way to travel but until I find a good alternative I will use these. They are firm and hold soap well for washing dishes and there is no smell.

-I have been trying to be more organic and fair labor in my clothing choices but that is a very hard place to go. Organic is expensive. I did manage to buy flip-flops for $25 a pair. I got them from Simple Shoes. They boast recycled this, vegan that. Just check em out for yourself. If you like flip-flops like I do and wear them even in the rain (on warmer days, of course) then you will like these. They are cushy.

-I found an awesome book at the library called Stocking Up by Carol Hupping. She writes about everything from freezing to canning to making fruit leathers. It is a great book and has helped me, the complete novice, learn so much about what to do with your fresh zucchini. I was also shown another book on Beth's site called Putting Food By. The only reason I don't have that book in my possession is the library didn't carry it! Can you believe it? So I will buy it from Amazon used.

I can smell the zucchini bread, gotta go.....

I apologize if the page loaded slower because of the pictures. I love pictures. I am not an eloquent writer and the pictures help to tell my story.

I would love some feedback from you guys. Please be honest, just not brutal. Does anyone have a Foodsaver? Do you like it? Any simple zucchini recipes? Do you have a green store you like?

BE GREEN!

One Local Summer Week #4

Last week I didn't post my OLS meal because I didn't have one that was pure local. I have been feasting on local fruits and veggies but I didn't create one meal that was all local.

This week we had Mount Diablo Chicken Thighs w/ Grilled Veggies and Grilled Apricots drizzled with local honey for dessert.

The chicken thighs are from locally owned Brentwood Fine Meats and they get their chicken from the Fulton Valley, about 95 miles from here. The chicken is free range and hormone free. The marinade on the chicken consists of garlic, soy sauce, bell pepper and brown sugar. It was scrumptious on the grill!

The veggies are all local and they were flavored by my garden fresh thyme and oregano.

The apricots were freshly picked by me about 2 hours before grilling for about 12 minutes and drizzled with honey.

Mmm, good eats.

Signs from Mother Nature?

OK. Mother Nature is sending me signs that she wants me to be green. I can't ignore these signs

• Mom Nature was happy with me. Friday night we went on a local farm tour and it was great! It was hot but great. My kids and I joined a group of mostly girl scouts and homeschoolers to learn a lot about two of our local farmers and their farms. We learned how corn grows, how it is processed, picked apricots for $.50/lb, made homemade ice cream, ate the freshest corn (it was like candy!), learned that farmers today only earn $.07 on the $1 (unlike 100 years ago that number was $.40 on the $1, support your local farmer), saw farm equipment and so much more. I loved it and we ate all the fresh veggies and fruits along the way.



• Mother Nature wants me to be hot. Saturday our air conditioning went out. You are thinking that is a good thing. It can be good but not with temps in the high 90's. I am very frugal with the A/C and rarely run it unless it is miserably hot. Well, last night it was. Mother Nature wants my A/C off and not back. I know she is sabotaging my summer. She was the one that took out my A/C.


• Mother Nature likes my garden. She is giving me a glorious garden. All our veggies seem to be growing great and we should see some edible zucchini next week! Woo Hoo!
  



• Mom Nature doesn't want me to travel. All around me are fires. They aren't threatening my home or anything like that. They are all around me. They are in South SF, Napa and Santa Clara Valley. West, North and South of me. I won't be traveling anywhere. Not to mention the air smells of smoke, like a huge campfire, so I won't be outside today. Oh, I forgot I have to leave my windows open because my A/C is out.


• Mother Nature hates my boat. (Yes, we have a boat. Please don't ostracize me out of the green club. We have had the boat for 3 years now, before my greener days. And now we don't want to get rid of it. It is a small 18 foot boat and falls under more strict guidelines for CA emissions than others. We use it wisely and it brings our family together. So please keep my in your green clubs and just call me "light green" if you must. If you have been reading my blog you know everything else I do I find a greener way.) Yesterday we decide to take our boat out to the Sacramento Delta and it broke down. So not only did my A/C go out, my boat is broken. I guess it is appropriate, those are the two non-green evils in my life. (I did manage to snap a few photos. Below is Mount Diablo from a southern point in the delta.)

In reviewing all the clues Mother Nature has sent me I think I need to be greener. Whether she is sabotaging my summer or just helping me out, I think I should heed the signs. And listen to my mother.

Anyone Want $10,000,000?

(I am just hearing this story so I apologize if this is old news. I never said I was a news geek or up to date on things. Just read the post!)

Can you build a car that gets 100 mpg? If you can you can, enter the Automotive X Prize sponsored by The X Prize Foundation and Progressive Auto Insurance to win $10 million (in prizes).

I have been trying to catch up on my More Hip Than Hippie Podcasts, which I might say I have been doing horrible because I listen in my car and I am never in my car anymore (damn green ways). So I am all the way back to the March 26, 2008 where the gals talk about a contest where teams from all over the world can win $10 million (in prizes) if they "design, build and sell super-efficient cars that people want to buy." The key there is "that people want to buy". This can't be a concept car or an experimental model and it must follow all the laws that govern cars on the road such as having seatbelts, brakes, bumpers, etc. In 2009-2010 the teams will race their cars and a winner will be declared. All the details are here. So some time in 2011 or so some of us will be driving the best fuel economy car out there. I will definitely keep posted on the progress of this car.

I love contests like this. Why wait for big industry and governments to help change the world. Like I always say, vote with your dollar and it will come. Shop local, eat local, buy organic, buy enviro-friendly and they will come more and more.