photo credit: >>>WonderMike<<<

Or hold house was in the perfect location. Three blocks from the park and library, a couple more blocks to the shops downtown, and if I felt snackish a little further to a Subway. Only if the weather was bad, or we were going to the grocery store, did we need the car.

Here, we are not as lucky. Though the park is semi-close, it is still too far for the kids to make it. There is a Walmart almost walking distance, but A) again, the kids can’t make it, and B) it’s Walmart. All around us are fields and cows and wide open spaces. Cut through by a couple well-traveled mini-highways. Great for scenery, not so great when we need to go somewhere.

Since our move I’ve been thinking about getting a bike. I found a gorgeous retro bike, mint green with cream details, for a reasonable price. But that still leaves the kids. There is only 2 roads from my house to town, and both are heavily traveled sub-highways with no sidewalks. The 6 year-old is questionable, the 4 year-old is absolutely not mature enough to stay out of the middle of the road when cars are zooming past. And then there’s the baby, who thinks seats she has to be belted into are evil.

As it is now, Craig’s List has been a deadman’s land for bike trailers, and there isn’t a Freecycle here (I really need to apply to start one). I want to drive less, but most of the advice I find is geared towards family’s with 1 child and living in a suburban area. Riding through a deep ditch growing with cacti to avoid heavy traffic with three kids is not the peaceful car-free experience I keep reading about.

Whenever public transit and bicycles are proposed as solutions, a small but vocal group of naysayers argue that they cannot bicycle to the grocery store and carry groceries, or schlep their children to day care on buses. Some of these concerns are valid for some people, but most people are physically able and resourceful enough to manage. -The Moral Imperative of the BP Oil Spill: Drive 20 Percent Less

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. So I’m going to look for alternative ideas for getting out of the house. Maybe try solo-grocery shopping in the evenings, or attempt to carefully cut through a field.

My poor plants!

The peppers and strawberries seem to be fading fast in the heat, and I think the peas are already goners. Despite keeping them in the shade during the hottest parts of the day, and making sure they are watered deeply, the heat is shriveling them up. And we haven’t even hit the hottest part of the summer yet.

Mulch is supposed to be good to keep moisture in, so I plan to try a little around the tops of my containers. I may also buy some of the water bulbs to help make sure the water is getting deep into the soil before it evaporates. I may even see if I can create some sort of sunshade out of an old sheet I don’t need anymore.

But other than that, I’m stumped.

There is not enough room in this tiny house to bring them in. Well, there is, but it would mean getting rid of the kids and the cat. Hmmm, the plants are a lot quieter ….

Yesterday was the local food coop pick-up day, and along with some yummy foods I also walked away with a collection of plants. Four small strawberry plants, and one large thornless blackberry plant. Tomorrow they get to be moved onto the back patio with the rest of my container garden, where they will hopefully make good friends.

I know it is a little (or a lot) late in the season, but when I saw that a local farm was selling them I could not pass up the opportunity. I loved picking fresh berries at my grandmother’s house when I was a little girl. How could I not want to pass on a tradition like that?

The blackberry plant is already two years old, which I was told was the perfect age. It is just getting ready to produce, but will not go into shock at being moved and transplanted. The strawberries are younger, so they will probably not give me much berries now, but they should take to being handled well. I have always had bad luck with strawberries in the past, so I have my fingers crossed that at least one of these will survive.

I only have one hanging basket though. I doubt all four plants could go into one, so I am still trying to decide what to do with the other three. I considered my soda bottle planters, but everything I put in them have died so far. Maybe an empty milk jug would be better?

Whatever I use, I’m just excited to add some berries to the garden space. Grow baby, grow!

One of my favorite new blogs, Love and Trash, had a post up a couple weeks ago about cutting down to only 15 things of clothing. It’s a huge thing for some people, cutting down on the things that most of society assumes you need more of.

I assumed that this would be a no-brainer for me. After all, I had already cut out much of my clothing when we moved. And I’m still in that annoying mid-body shape where I can’t wear maternity cloths anymore, but none of my old stuff fits either. So really, cutting it down should be a piece of cake.

Heh, it was actually a bit tricky.

I was brutal at first, filling a shopping bag with shirts and jeans that I’m not going to hope on ever wearing again. Clothes were flying in a mad effort to purge, purge, purge. Once the initial thrill was over, I started counting.

• 5 pair of jeans
• 1 pair capris
• 1 pair dress slacks
• 1 long wool skirt
• 1 long recycled pillowcase skirt
• 10 warm weather tops
• 6 cold weather tops
• 3 pair of shoes

That’s a grand total of 28 things. OK, so maybe paring down to just 15 is harder than I thought.

Could you ever cut down your wardrobe to the bare minimum? If you only had room for 15 things in your closet, what would they be?

As the cost of food continues to rise, many people find themselves needing to choose more carefully what they will buy. Buying organic foods is often the choice that we want to make, yet the higher costs make it seem impossible. However, with a willingness to make a few simple changes anyone on a tight budget can enjoy organic foods in their kitchen.

If you want to find organic foods at lower costs, the first step is to stop shopping at your local grocery stores. Many of the foods found grocery stores, even in the organic sections, have been imported from around the world. This is how they can offer fruits and vegetables out of season all year long. The cost of shipping and transporting adds to the cost that customers must pay. Instead, look for local producers who will more likely have a lower price.

Local farmers often sell fruits and vegetables at neighborhood farmer’s markets or in local food coops. You may even be able to buy fresh foods at the farms themselves, including meats and dairy products. Shopping this way means you will have access to organic foods at a much lower cost, while also supporting your local farmers to continue growing organically.

Buying organic foods in bulk is another great way to stay within your budget. Food is often cheaper when purchased in large quantities rather than individually amounts. Many fruits and vegetables can then be frozen to extend their use time. For those who are willing to learn, home-canning will also preserve foods for extended use. A jar of homemade salsa made from local organic vegetables will cost much less than buying a jar of commercial organic salsa in the store.

Those who have a very tight food budget may have to limit what organic foods they buy. Some foods have higher amounts of pesticides on them than others, making them the top priority when choosing organic. If you can only afford to buy some things organic, choose these fruits and vegetables first:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Apples
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Squash
• Green Beans

If you are choosing organic foods to avoid chemicals, these are the top offenders you will find. For other produce, you can invest in a good vegetable brush and food-safe soap to wash fruits and vegetables before you eat them. This will remove much of the pesticides on the outside of your food.

Growing your own food will also help you stay in your budget while enjoying fresh, organic items daily. Even those with limited space can grow a few simple plants in containers or small beds. You can purchase seeds for only a few dollars, often in amounts far more than a hobby garden could grow in one season. You can also collect seeds from organic produce yo have already purchased to be certain that what you are growing had the best start. Place the plants in a sunny spot, give them water and care, and you can harvest a small bounty for practically free.

Though food costs continue to climb, even the tightest budget can afford to include a few organic staples in the kitchen. By avoiding the grocery store, buying in bulk, and growing your own, you can eat organic fruits and vegetables without spending a fortune.

photo credit: fairfaxcounty

Sometimes you just know something can be reused, even if you don’t just how yet.

We like green onions around here. They go in soups, in rice, in casseroles, and pretty much anything I think to toss a handful in. But silly me, I’ve always tossed the bulbs into the compost and bought a new bunch. Then yesterday, I stood holding the bulbs in my hand and had a thought. What is cutting them up isn’t killing them?

I know, some of you may be rolling your eyes at me now. How can something keep staring you in the face every day and not sink in? A quick Google search later confirmed it, I can replant those bulbs and get at least 3-4 more batches from them before they can’t take anymore.

So my sweet little bulbs went into a pot and joined the rest of my containers on the back patio. They’re in good company, as the peas are really coming up and the tomatoes and peppers are starting to peek through. Unfortunately, my herbs have yet to materialize. I’m afraid that all the rain we got may have drowned them.

So, how many of you have suddenly been hit by the realization that something could be reused in some way? Have you suddenly looked at something and saw it in a new light? Share what your green realizations have been in the comments!

Yesterday I read a piece at Dr. Mercola’s site about genetically modified (GM) foods and the risk of sterility. It seems that a group of researchers fed a bunch of hamsters GM soy and watched what would happen. According to Mercola, their death rates went up in the second generation and by the third generation only one female was able to reproduce. The rest had become sterile.

That’s a scary thought.

The US grows a lot of GM crops. Corn, soy, wheat, canola, alfalfa, the list goes on. And the company behind most of these crops, Monsanto, has its hands everywhere it seems. Look at Michael Taylor, the current Deputy Commissioner for Foods, at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He’s also an old lawyer for Monsanto, where he “established and led the food and drug law practice at King & Spalding and was Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Company“. (King and Spalding represents Monsanto).

According to the Huffington Post, this is really just another study showing the risks of GM foods.

Surov’s hamsters are just the latest animals to suffer from reproductive disorders after consuming GMOs. In 2005, Irina Ermakova, also with the Russian National Academy of Sciences, reported that more than half the babies from mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks. This was also five times higher than the 10% death rate of the non-GMO soy group. The babies in the GM group were also smaller (see photo) and could not reproduce.

In a telling coincidence, after Ermakova’s feeding trials, her laboratory started feeding all the rats in the facility a commercial rat chow using GM soy. Within two months, the infant mortality facility-wide reached 55%.

When Ermakova fed male rats GM soy, their testicles changed from the normal pink to dark blue! Italian scientists similarly found changes in mice testes (PDF), including damaged young sperm cells. Furthermore, the DNA of embryos from parent mice fed GM soy functioned differently.

An Austrian government study published in November 2008 showed that the more GM corn was fed to mice, the fewer the babies they had (PDF), and the smaller the babies were.

Central Iowa Farmer Jerry Rosman also had trouble with pigs and cows becoming sterile. Some of his pigs even had false pregnancies or gave birth to bags of water. After months of investigations and testing, he finally traced the problem to GM corn feed. Every time a newspaper, magazine, or TV show reported Jerry’s problems, he would receive calls from more farmers complaining of livestock sterility on their farm, linked to GM corn.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine accidentally discovered that rats raised on corncob bedding “neither breed nor exhibit reproductive behavior.” Tests on the corn material revealed two compounds that stopped the sexual cycle in females “at concentrations approximately two-hundredfold lower than classical phytoestrogens.” One compound also curtailed male sexual behavior and both substances contributed to the growth of breast and prostate cancer cell cultures. Researchers found that the amount of the substances varied with GM corn varieties. The crushed corncob used at Baylor was likely shipped from central Iowa, near the farm of Jerry Rosman and others complaining of sterile livestock.

In Haryana, India, a team of investigating veterinarians report that buffalo consuming GM cottonseed suffer from infertility, as well as frequent abortions, premature deliveries, and prolapsed uteruses. Many adult and young buffalo have also died mysteriously.

Scary, huh?

So, what are we feeding our kids every day?

photo credit: dailylifeofmojo

Wow, has it been a long, strange several months! Things happened, like moving again. This time across the state, and into a much smaller townhouse. My big backyard has been replaced by a tiny patch of dirt that doesn’t seem fit to grow anything.

So as I waved my garden goodbye, I made plans to grow a new one. A greener, smaller one. OK, so I won’t be feeding my entire family on everything I’m growing (sorry Backyard Homestead), but I can at least make a mean salsa from the tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

Since my actual plant pots are limited, and I’m trying not to buy any more, I went with what I had. Soda bottles. Yes, I know how bad soda is in so many ways. But at least I’m only polluting my body, since I can reuse the bottles for my herb garden.

This is just the beginning of it. As more bottles become available I’ll plant more. For these I cut them in half, poked holes in the bottom for drainage, and glued small screens to the top opening to keep the dirt in and allow drainage. I nailed them to my fence, and viola! Of course, you can make a cool rack for the bottles instead.

My next plan is to figure out carrots and onions. I can’t plant them in the ground, and I don’t want to stunt them with short containers. I could do one onion and maybe two carrots per bottle, but I’ll need a lot more bottles!

photo credit: tiffanywashko

Cloth diapers have been the only choice mothers have had for centuries. With the arrival of the disposable diaper in 1940, parenting was turned on its head. Parents were freed from the constant need to wash and dry diapers ever day, instead they could simply toss out a used diaper and put on a fresh cleaning one. However, many parents are now returning to cloth diapers for environmental and health issues. Are cloth diapers really better than the disposable ones?

The average child will go through almost 6,000 diapers in their lifetime. That is a lot of dirty diapers, all of which will eventually find their way into a landfill. These diapers can take up to 500 years to fully decompose, slowly leaking chemicals into the ground as they do so. Cloth diapers, however, are washed and reused several times before being retired. Less trash and fewer chemicals making their way into the world is always a good thing.

Many people who are against cloth diapers point out that the amount of water used to wash diapers could be harmful to the environment. This would be true, if it were not for the fact that disposable diapers also require large amounts of water in the manufacturing process. This water is also filled with bleach and excess chemicals that are used in turning wood pulp into a white, paper diaper. Many of the detergents used to wash cloth diapers are considered safe for the environment when they are washed out, the same cannot be said of the disposable manufacturing process.

Cloth diapers not only have a positive effect on the environment, they can also have a positive effect on children’s health. Each of those 6,000 diapers that a child wears contains significant amounts of harsh chemicals. These chemicals are against your child’s sensitive skin each day, and have been linked to cancers in some studies.

Dioxin, a chemical byproduct of the wood pulp bleaching process, can be found in disposable diapers and is considered a cancer causing agent by the Environmental Protection Agency. The chemicals used to increase absorbency have been known to cause skin irritation, rashes, and pinpricks of blood in the genital area. Cloth diapers contain none of these dangers.

Parents who choose cloth diapers are not facing the same concerns that older generations had. New diapers are available in a vast assortment of styles and options. Some have thin plastic layers to prevent leaks, others allow space for removable inserts that add absorbency and protection. Cloth diapers can be purchased with snaps, Velcro, and simple plastic fasteners. Modern cloth diapering parents have a world of options to choose from.

photo credit: kafka4prez

I have a small, ceramic, kitchen scrap bin that I use for collecting compost material. Normally I dump it out every evening and wash it out. This system has worked great, up until now. Suddenly there are gnats flying all over the kitchen.

Since the Mr. isn’t the compost and gardening type, he’s suggesting that i ditch the whole thing. He was willing to put up with it until now, but bugs in the house crosses a line for him. For me too, but I’m certain there is a way to keep kitchen compost scraps without gnats or other bugs. There has to be a way, because no one else is talking about the little flying things in their houses.

My plan right now is to dump and wash more often. I’m hoping this won’t be the long term solution. I hate thinking about washing the bucket after only a couple banana peels, it seems like such a waste of water. I’m also not too keen on heading out to the bin several times a day. I have to keep it far off to the back to keep the landlady happy, and I’d rather keep that trip down to 1.

Everything I’ve read so far talks about cleaning the entire house with bleach to get rid of the buggers, but I’d rather avoid the harsh chemicals. Of course getting rid of my kitchen scrap bin would work also. I wish I had a good lid for my pot, but when I bought it at the thrift shop there was no lid. I’ve been just draping a hand towel over the top instead. Clearly, that’s not working.

So, does anyone have any tips for clearing out gnats that doesn’t involve chemical cleaners? Or getting rid of my compost bucket?