Winter Gardening
Dec 06, 2007
Winter gardening, ever heard of it? I’ve heard of ‘winter sowing’ (I’ll write more about that in January) but not winter gardening. Strangely enough I found myself doing just that earlier this week. For some reason we had an unusually long fall this year so several of the fall plants continued to look nice even through November. This just isn’t normal for Michigan! Last year we had snow fall in October!
In addition to the unusually long fall, I must confess I’m a bit of a procrastinator. Needless to say I looked absolutely silly trimming perennials and digging up annuals underneath a layer of frozen snow and leaves! I had to just sit back and laugh at myself! I sure learned my lesson though! Next year I might just trim down the plants in October!
Posted In: Gardening • Comments (1)
Support Organic Farming
Nov 29, 2007
Now that the growing season is over I find I’m missing all the fresh produce from the local organic farm. Forced to scrounge the supermarket for something ‘fresh,’ I’m temped to give in and buy foods laced with heavy pesticides and grown in depleted soil just because they look appealing. It’s times like this that I need to remind myself of the reasons why I support organic farming.
When I first switched to buying organic I did so basically to keep my family from eating pesticides. So many pesticides have been linked with cancer and various other health problems that I wanted our family to be as far from them as possible! Since then my understanding of the organic process has grown and I’m even more committed! Buying organic supports a sustainable system that works in harmony with nature. The soil, air, microorganisms, insects, animals and humans all work together for the benefit of each other. While the organic system isn’t without flaws, I think it’s worth supporting. The most effective way we have of bringing about change in our food system is with our buying power.
While local, organic food is the best choice, buying local non-organic food is a close second. Buying from small, local farmers and farmer’s markets subvert the corrupt food empire. Let’s support our struggling small farmers whenever we can.
I highly recommend you check out these two video clips! They are very well done!
Supermarket Secrets 1
Supermarket Secrets 2
Posted In: Nutrition/Health • Comments (0)
Child Soldiers
Nov 29, 2007
It seems hard to believe that anyone would be so cruel as to force a child to kill. Yet the reality is this happens around the world on a regular basis. Nine different countries have been implicated. Out of those nine countries, eight of them receive U.S. military aid. Please support the Child Soldier Prevention Act.!
Check out this short video: Children in the Ranks
Posted In: Activism • Comments (0)
To turn off or not to turn off - That is the question
Oct 22, 2007
I’d always heard that with fluorescent bulbs it’s actually more efficient to leave them on rather than turn them off. This didn’t really make sense to me but I went along with it. I changed my ways after watching Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel (Air Date: December 13, 2006). The MythBusters crew tested a variety of common household bulbs to see if this is true. They measured both the start-up and steady state energy consumption. They found it’s worth it to leave the fluorescent bulb on for 23.3 seconds if leaving the room but the other bulbs were negligible. So no matter what the bulb, it basically uses less energy to turn the bulb off then to leave it on when not in the room. In addition to bulb energy use they also tested longevity and found that turning the bulbs off and on more frequently does not decrease their life span.
Episode 69: 22,000 foot fall, Lights On or Off
Posted In: Green Living • Comments (0)
Getting Lost
Oct 18, 2007
Within the past month my daughter lost track of me in the store and nearly flipped out. Since then I’ve been trying to re-affirm that she obey mommy and stay where I tell her to so that she doesn’t get lost. Around the same time I happened upon two new children’s books in the library that helped to support this idea.
“Grady the Goose” by Denise Brennan-Nelson; Illustrated by Michael Glenn Monroe
In this story a young gosling keeps wandering off from the family and eventually loses them altogether when the family flies south for the winter. Everything works out in the end and she learns to stay close. I’m especially fond of this book as it is published by Sleeping Bear Press. They feature local Michigan writers and artists and offer many other fabulous books that I hope to talk more about in the future.
“Little Otter’s Big Journey” by David Bedford; Illustrated by Susan Winter
I love the little animals in this story. The baby otter just tugs at your heart! Like the other book, this story shows children why wandering off can lead to trouble. The final phrase in the book is something I want my daughter to remember throughout life, “No matter where you are, my baby, I’ll always find you.”
Posted In: Parenting | Book Reviews • Comments (0)
