Out in the Garden

I am very excited to report that the gardens are doing well. The raised bed is a nice nesting place for the green beans, which are growing rapidly, as well as the zuccini and butternut squash, both of which are blowing up as well! :-)

The container gardens are producing nicely already. The three tomato plants all have many blooms and small fruits on them already. The pepper is doing the best, by far. It has FOUR beautiful looking bells on it already. They are no where near harvest, but it's more fun to water and weed when I can see the fruit hanging from the vine!

The green beans taste DELICIOUS! I had the first harvest of those late last week and finally cooked them up for lunch yesterday. They were aboslutely fantastic!

My advice to all---get out and garden!!! It's quite theraputic and very productive as well! :)

Newspapers

Since our recycling company won't take paper (not sure why!), I have been creative with my use of newspaper around the house. Of course you have the normal things like using it to cover the table when eating crab legs or using it during packing. I've also started using it to 1) Line the potting soil in my container gardens and 2)Clean windows and mirrors using newspapers instead of paper towels. All great!

BUT---Newspaper DOES NOT work for cleaning the front of a stainless steel appliance. I was careful, just trying to clean the glass on my oven and BAM---small black marks that won't come off whilst using straight vinegar. Just a little FYI.....

Giving In---and Growing!

No big deal, really, but I have given up on homemade toothpaste for a little while. I saw some on mega sale at Winn Dixie yesterday, so I scooped it up. We'll be saving the baking soda for various cleaning projects around the house instead.


As for growing, the gardens are doing very well! I have my tomatoes and two of my peppers in containers and they are all doing very, very well! My single squash plant has decided to blow up in the past few days as well, not to mention the zucchini that we transplanted into the garden on Sunday. It now has much new growth, including a large flower in the center!

The baby green beans are in the ground after a week of sprouting in a flat. All but one looks as if it will produce quite well in the coming months. I can't say how rewarding it is to grow and produce my own food (or at least some of it). This, as with many other projects around the R. household lately have been about sustainability and "GReeN-ability" (ie...save money the SMART way!).





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Toothpaste

My "MeaN GReeN" attitude has gotten the old wheels 'a turning and it seems like I'm on a mission now!

My latest project is...drum roll please.......HOMEMADE TOOTHPASTE!

I'll admit that my only real desire to try this is because we're almost out of toothpaste at the house. I'll also admit that as soon as I brushed with the recipe below (first batch) I immediately washed the rest of it down the drain!!! But, but, but I am going to try again later today. I am convinced that I can come up with some that will work if I can do it without salt. My recipe called for salt and all I wanted following the brushing was a margarita! I do have to say, though, that even after lots of onions for lunch, my breath is still fresh!



Recipe #1

1/3 c. baking soda
2 t. fine sea salt
1 t. peppermint extract

all mixed in a small container with just enough water to make it pastey.

Homemade = Smart

There are some who define the word "homemade" as "cheap or can't afford to buy it". I have recently given it different meaning. How about, HOMEMADE = SMART!

Take laundry detergent, for example. We all know that when it's time to buy a new detergent that it will require us to stand in the laundry aisle and smell all of the different soaps. From there, the prices and brand names help us to weigh the options as well. How expensive is that stuff, really? Why on earth would I want to pay $12 for laundry detergent that after trying, I don't like any better than the $6 brand. But yet all the while, knowing that I am still quite unhappy with all of the products, I had an epiphany-----why not make my own?!?!?

Buying a few simple supplies, such as WASHING SODA, BORAX, and IVORY SOAP gave me everything I needed to create my own. And that I did, very successfully I might add! There's nothing like saving some GReeN and being GReeN too! :-)

My Love Affair with Vinegar

There are certain things that one might assume you will learn from your grandmother but do not. Using vinegar as a household cleaner was not something that I picked up along the way. Neither was being GReeN, for that matter, but we all reach a point where we need to make a change!

Problem? I hated cleaning the house and having my son around all of the fumes put off my the chemical cleaners.

Solution? VINEGAR!!!! (and maybe a little baking soda, a few newspapers, a squirt bottle, and a scrub brush)


Now how's that for being GReeN?! Not only am I being green, I'm saving a ton of GReeN (cash) by using cheap, household ingredients! Go MamaBear! :-)

On Going Green

Becoming a mother changed a lot of things about my life. The most noticeable has been the desire to become more resourceful (at home) and respectful (to the planet). My personal definition of "green" is just that- resourceful and respectful.

This blog is dedicated to the things that I (and my family) learn along the way.

Be GReeN!!! Why NOT???!?!?