Potato Harvesting Day
Sep 17, 2007
This past weekend my little family and I went potato digging at our local CSA farm. It turned out to be a beautiful day! It was cool but sunny! The farm provided old work gloves that all of us, including Emma wore. When we first started, Emma wanted to dig too. After awhile though she got tired and was put in charge putting the harvested potatoes into the bucket. Here’s Emma & Aaron working together.
In all there were about 5 different varieties of potatoes harvested. They were anywhere from white to dark purple and ranged from large to very small. We were really surprised when the first type we harvested were about the size of my thumb! I guess that’s why they call them, ‘fingerling’ potatoes. I’m assuming you just leave them whole and don’t bother to peel them.
Emma held her first caterpillar! I was really surprised she let it crawl on her as I thought she’d be scared. It was such a cute moment!
Posted In: My Life • Comments (0)
Greening Your Housekeeping
Sep 17, 2007
In seeking to live a greener and healthier life one of the first changes I needed to make was with my cleaning products. I always hated cleaning the bathroom because my cleaners would smell so strong and make my eyes burn. I had to turn on the exhaust fan just to make it bearable. All the while I never realized how horrible it was to be breathing them in. It never even occurred to me that they might not be good for my health or that there would even be alternatives. I was pleased to find however that there are not only alternatives but they are often cheaper!
Vinegar and baking soda are now staple items in my home. They’re a natural homemaker’s best friends! Not only do I use them to clean, I use them in my hair (more about that another time)! Baking soda is a natural abrasive. I use it to scrub out the sink and then spray with vinegar to kill off any molds. It sure beats bleach! I avoid bleach at all costs!
Here are two books that I highly recommend if interested in creating a healthier cleaning environment for you and your family.
“Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity” by Ellen Sandbeck. This book is chock full of ways to green your household!
Here’s basically what it covers:
better ways to use your space (organization)
healthy habits in the kitchen
appliance efficiency
hazards in beauty products
laundry protocol
cleaning the whole house
air quality
household safety
gardening
taking care of pets
baby-proofing
It pretty much has everything you could ever want to know about keeping your household green! With all this information it does take awhile to read. I recommend reading it through once, making a list of several changes you’d like to make and then using the book for reference. Don’t try to change everything at once or you may get overwhelmed and give up on it all together. I’m glad for the changes we’ve been able to make in our house but I still have a lot to do to get things where I want them.
“Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning” by Deirdre Imus. This book is an excellent book to start out with. It’s a much shorter read and still a good resource for greening up your home. In “Green This” Deirdre explains why greener cleaners are needed and warns of the health hazards from conventional cleaners.
Hooray for healthy homes!
Posted In: Nutrition/Health | Green Living | Thrifty Chick | Book Reviews • Comments (1)
Shopping with Kids
Sep 17, 2007
For a good laugh you’ve got to check out this ebay auction. It’s not your typical listing! It’s downright hilarious!
Lot of Pokemon Cards That My Kids Tried to Sneak By Me
Many thanks to my sister-in-law Vickie for sending it to me!
Posted In: Parenting • Comments (0)
Interactive Birth Plan
Aug 29, 2007
When I became pregnant with our daughter Emma I knew exactly how I wanted things. I wanted to give birth naturally at home with a midwife. Due to various reasons such as stress and back labor I just couldn’t open up and ended up having a cesarean at the hospital. Despite this I am still an advocate of natural childbirth and plan to try for it with our next child. After the whole experience with the first birth though I realized I needed to be flexible. Sometimes things happen that we can’t control. A birthplan is a good way to help us aim toward the birth we’re wanting and to be aware of what our options are. We just have to keep it in perspective and not beat ourselves up about it if it doesn’t happen the way we think. The ultimate goal of birth is a healthy baby and healthy mom.
This Interactive birth plan by Childbirth.org offers a quick way to decide how you want things and gets your preferences written out for your healthcare provider. All you have to do is print!
Posted In: Pregnancy • Comments (0)
Drug-Free Lawn
Aug 29, 2007
I’ve been wanting to follow an organic program with our yard for awhile now but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. So I checked out our local library and found “The Organice Lawn Care Manual” by Paul Tukey. This book is exactly what I needed. It covers everything you could want to know about caring for your lawn the GREEN way. If you currently use a strict regimen of chemicals on your lawn it shows you how to get your lawn off drugs and ease it into a sustainable ecosystem.
Here are some of the areas it covers:
Soil components
Types of grasses
How to start a lawn from scratch
How to renovate an existing lawn
Maintenance list month by month
Lawn ammendments
Composting
Economical ways to add nutrients
Watering
Mowing
Weeds & insect pests
With readable charts and informative pictures this book keeps your interest and is easy enough for any homeowner to understand. I now have a plan in place for renovating our own yard and tending to it’s specific needs. It’s a joy to know we can have a lush green lawn without compromising the health of our families or the environment.
Posted In: Green Living | Gardening • Comments (0)
