Gardening

Last year I decided to rip out my backyard and plant the whole thing with a garden. It will included a stone path and a figure eight stone patio.

Our Victorian home was built in 1900 in an urban setting. The houses are 5-10 feet apart. The backyard is 35 wide by about 65 feet long. The ground is pounded in and floods in the spring and fall. Two neighbors have cemented in their whole yard without proper drainage. There is wild red onions and garlic spread all over the yard. Some shade plants like Joseph's tears and Jack In The Pulpits too. And a mass of Tiger Lilies and Ivy.

This is a fabulous challenge. Many of the homes on my street participate in the City Garden Walk. I will be the first to have a fully dedicated "to be eaten" garden.

A memory just came to me. My mom while standing at the stove, asked us kids, "What would you like stuffed zucchini or fried (on a skillet) eggplant for dinner?" We said eggplant...her response was, "Well... go pick one from the yard."

Talk about fresh !

I want my family to have all the great things I did...like a huge garden and fresh veggies. They are luxuries you know.

Do you like gardening? Or have a few plants in a pot? Are you considering a vegetable garden? These are great ways to GREEN a home. Even if it is having a few pots of herbs on a window shelf.

Organic on a Budget?

Can it be done? Can you buy organic on a budget?

According to Kiwi Magazine, May/June 2007, it can be done. They had a volunteer, woman from New Jersey, who had to feed 2 kids and two adults on $90 a week. She needed to provide for three meals a day using organic whenever possible.

The volunteer in the article already had a few tricks such as making all the meals from scratch and making extra portions for lunch the next day. She also shops at a local farmer's market.

Kiwi brought in organic chef, Akasha Richmond owner of Akasha's Visionary Cuisine, an organic catering company in Los Angeles. She used the goal of "10% organic", a "goal set by Mission Organic 2010" as a guide.

The Chef was able to expand the families food variety including more soups and stir-fry, switch them over to organic dairy, added new recipes and increased the amount of expandable foods (like beans & rice). That is only part of the story. Instead of 10% organic they hit 29%.

The budget..? They went $6 over the $90. limit.

It can be done.

We are going to attempt setting a new budget. This coming week we will see how low we can get our household food budget. We do buy about 90% organic and insist on a very wide variety of food. We have a three season farmers market, who's produce is also sold at the grocery co-op near my home.

There is one less child in my house compared to the volunteer's family. On the other hand we do have a once a week grilling through out the summer and fall when friends visit. Somewhat of a trade off.

Happy Shopping!

Poisonous Plants

Cornell University lists the most common poisonous plants. Small children and animals may snack on plant leaves and get sick. Or if you are planning a new adventure like camping, hiking or a vacation where you will come in contact with the great outdoors take a peek at the
Cornell list.

Milk - Hormones, Cancer & The Rest

People have been consuming milk products for about 8,000 years. So it must be good for us, right? Well milk in general is good for a lot of people but not most.

70% of the adults in the whole world are Lactose Intolerant or lack the enzymes to digest milk. So reverse that, only 30% of people can digest milk....in other words a minority of people have adapted to consumption of milk; it is not the norm.

Short History: (ref - "Guns, Germs and Steel", Jared Diamond pg 167)
13,000 B.C. wild game is becoming less abundant and even disappear. Large mammals become extinct as human populations are increasing along with climate change causing wild resource shortages. (note the climate change was not as drastic as seen today.)
8500 B.C. - Farming starts by this time in the Mesopotamia region (SW Asia).
8000 B.C. Sheep are domesticated by this time in SW Asia.
8,000 B.C. Goats are domesticated by this time in SW Asia
6000 B.C. Cows are domesticated in SW Asia, India and possibly North Africa (not Europe though)

Prior to the consumption of milk products the majority of people could not digest it. As cattle rearing and extracting milk continued in the Neolithic era, many people began to adapt to the milk lifestyle. Some experts believe they started with cheese products and that drinking milk was not typical. Mature cheese is easier to digest then raw milk due to fermentation. (Yogurts would also be easier to digest.)

Reference:

Milk Allergy

Lactose Intolerance

Fast Forward, to the 1900s when farmers began focusing on how to increase the production of milk. A variety of techniques have been introduced over the years and have evolved from selective breading (a long practiced technique) to Hormones (rBST and rBGH).

The most common milk of today, non free range, is not the same as the milk 100 years ago. The cows of today are fed grain. 100 years ago the cows were fed grass. Cows today are in pens, 100 years ago they wondered around in fields of clover and grass. Cows today are injected with anabolic hormones, a 100 years ago they were au naturale. The list goes on.

There is something to be said for the old fashion way of farming where the cows were free range, "organic" and grass fed: Cancer

"Conjugated linoleic acid is a beneficial fatty acid that inhibits several types of cancer in mice, it has been shown to kill human skin cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer cells in vitro studies, and may help lower cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis; only available in milk from grass-fed cows." Reference: Milk

The European Commission recommends not consuming Monsanto Milk. Monsanto Milk is milk from cows injected with rBST and rBGH due to the possible connection to Breast and Colon Cancer. European Commission Article

Call me old fashion but I'll stick with the au naturale products.

Recycling Centers

Not Sure where to recycle your holiday tree? Check out this site which list recycling drop off centers by state Earth911.org.

You can also find out where to drop off a plethora of waste items such as batteries, paint, electronics, tires, motor oil, fluorescent bulbs...etc. There is even a listing for toys and books. Check it out Earth911.org.

Recalls

Finding out that a toy or child product has been recalled can be unnerving. Less then 10% of recalled products are returned to the manufacture when a notice is issued. That means thousands and most likely millions of products continue to be used while a potential hazard is lurking.

But how does one stay up to date on the latest recall?

I am signed up for the babycenter news which lists child product recalls.

Books- Animal Board Books

Books have been a big part of my baby's life and these "Baby Animals: Books in a Box" are fab for little hands. Check them out here.




I also came across this board book "Peekaboo Bugs" by David A. Carter offers five liftable flaps on each page to highlight an assortment of same-colored items ("Can you find the Blue Bug?"); a turning wheel keeps the foil-trimmed insects on the move.