Yesterday, B and I ran around town picking up plants for our garden. We hit the organic nursery first, and then two other nurseries. We picked up quite a few plants but not everything I wanted. We also picked up a couple ladybugs and beneficial nematodes as well as stakes and fencing to go around the garden (to protect it from Chui Dawg and Sophie Kritter, of course).

We bought several sweet pepper plants (green, yellow, orange, red, lilac, chocolate), several tomatoes (sweet 100's, Celebrities, homely homers, and possibly others I don't remember since B picked those out), two bush bean plants, two cucumber plants (burpless hybrids), two crook-necked squash (we always called them summer squash), two zucchini, two carving pumpkins, two watermelons (don't remember what kind), two melons (Did you know there are no cantaloupes grown in the US? They're not even allowed in the US!), two everbearing strawberry plants, and two other type (forget which) of strawberry plants. I wanted some peas, carrots, celery, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, onions, potatoes, and corn. Yeah, the garden needs to be double the size it currently is (which is 10' x 15'). Our backyard just isn't big enough for everything I want. I'd love to have asparagus and artichoke but I know absolutely nothing about how those grow, so I don't know if I can even grow them in my garden.

Tonight, after dinner, he went out and planted all of the vegetables and fruits while I washed up the Kritter and put her to bed (still takes us a while to get her down, but she's getting better). By the time I got back outside, B was already watering the garden. We released the ladybugs after that (we'll wait on the beneficial nematodes), and then he put the fencing around the garden and some netting over the top. My ladybugs are all over the place! I kept trying to put them back in the garden but they want to roam!

We both came back in and sat down to watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and someone mentioned it was Earth Day. All of a sudden, B pipes up and exclaims, "Hey, that's cool!" I had to ask him what he was talking about. He said, "It's Earth Day!" I was shocked he didn't know! We hadn't planned to plant the garden today. It simply happened that way. I told him earlier it was Earth Day since we wound up with a newspaper delivered to us (we get Sundays and holidays/special days) and he was trying to figure out why the paper had been delivered.

I'm pretty excited and just hope and pray they survive. Grow, little plants, grow! I told the ladybugs to go forth and multiply tonight. I really hope they do. Did you know they can eat up to 50 bugs in a day! 50!!! That's a lot of bugs!

Pictures will be forthcoming, although I'm sure no one believes me. ;)

• Two green links to share:
  
  
  • Low Impact Living
  • True Green Confessions


• I submitted an entry to the craft blog last night. I'm still waiting for it to post. It has pictures of the bibs, but I'm going to post the pictures here as well (click images for larger view).
  
  
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• I'm going to invest in a few books (probably mostly used) listed in this list of top 50 children's books (thanks kingdavey).


• The Great Wolf Lodge sounds like a seriously cool place to spend a weekend. One of my friends took his family this weekend. I can't wait to hear how it went since it really seems like it would be a blast.


• A friend of a friend is trying to raise money for an emergency situation. She takes beautiful photographs. Please check them out. holding_on, would you like to share some information about pricing and how to order here? I'll edit the entry if you do.


• For those of you mystery shoppers out there, I have another legitimate mystery shopping site for you to check out.


• For those of you still blogging for money, PayU2Blog is another site that seems to be legit (I have another friend who uses it). I haven't really checked it out, but I trust her.


• For those of you interested in the whole BzzAgent thing but still not sure, I just signed up for three more campaigns. One is for the Scrubbing Bubbles shower spray, one is for some sort of Oust spray, and one is for Chili's burgers. I'll be posting separately about these later, but thought I'd share a little now.


• B is playing in a Hafla tomorrow night. I'll most likely be taking Sophie unless she's a serious turkey tomorrow and doesn't nap at all.
  
  


• TMBG is less than two weeks away!

Hmm... I've really got a lot of nothing.

Link recommendation: MyBoneYard®.com

B and I are very careful with how we dispose of our waste. Because of this, we have a pile of electronics sitting here waiting to be recycled because we know at least some of the pieces can be reused, and what can't be reused could possibly be considered toxic waste, I would imagine. This site supposedly makes it easy to recycle, and to even be rewarded for it.

There are a few drawbacks to this site. They only recycle cell phones/PDAs/handhelds and computer equipment (towers, laptops, monitors, tablets, etc.). I'm disappointed they don't take televisions (even just small TVs), DVD/VCR players, individual hard drives, mice, and various other electronics. These components are just as important to recycle as what they have here. However, this is an EXCELLENT start! The more people who know about this, the fewer of these items hopefully will wind up in a landfill. Cell phones will get to shelters and computers will get to schools without them having to waste the energy on new equipment.

It seems as though the sign-up process is fairly simple. I couldn't complete it since I need to find all the pieces I have that need to be recycled. I'm not entirely certain how the reward process works since there wasn't enough detail about that prior to actually having an item recycled (not even in the FAQ section). I do like that they have free shipping, which encourages people to recycle even more. Hopefully this site is as easy to use as it appears.

This is for US citizens only, at least for now.

Last week, B sent me a link to an article from the New York Times Blog listing Five Easy Ways to Go Organic. I don't really think the title is appropriate, since it really isn't talking about ways to go organic, but which foods are the most important to buy organic.

Potatoes
Apples
Milk (which should always be in opaque containers, not translucent)
Peanut butter
Ketchup (yes, ketchup)

I think I would add strawberries and peaches to the list since they rank right up there, along with any other fruits or vegetables that are thin skinned. I'm not exactly sure why she picked the items she did, especially after looking at the information on the Environmental Working Group's site that she linked in her article.

I've been buying organic milk for Sophie, but after reading this, B has decided we're going to buy organic for us as well. Of course, this is fine by me since I think it has a better flavor. It's also not easy to find it in an opaque container, but he managed to do so last weekend. He's such a good guy.

I have found another eco-friendly blog: Eco Joe's. I've been poking through the entries and it's not necessarily new information to me, although there have been a few tips here and there that are.

The entry about saving water in the bathroom contains some tips we've tried and some we haven't. We always turn our water off when we brush our teeth, but we don't turn our water off while taking a shower. Our hot water gets cold very fast. I have a spray attachment I use from time to time that cuts off the water, but I don't like to use that often for the same reason. I have to be very quick if I use it or I wind up with a cold shower, and I can't stand cold showers. We haven't tried the bottle in the toilet tank yet, and I'm not sure we will. We have low-flow toilets already as it is.

Of course, like any good blogger, they have entries tagged for categorization. My personal favorite category is about saving money (Oh, come on, are you really that surprised?). Everyone I know loves to save money (minus that one friend who can't be bothered), and this is no different.

I can't wait to see a review on the Smart Car and various other vehicles. This is yet another blog I need to set up for RSS feed here on LiveJournal. A nice feature about this particular blog is it's not just a blog. It also has a green forum! I could get lost for days here....

I have a big bag of nothing today for Blog Action Day. I feel like a heel. I've been thinking about this all day long and I've pretty much come up completely blank.

Instead, I'm going to a link dump. Enjoy.

Journal Entries:

• Green ways to search?
• Eco, Eco all day
• Ooh, I can't wait!
• Greening in Texas
• Energy Audit
• I want to live in San Francisco
• The Greener Side of Life
• I love gDiapers!
• You can make a difference!

del.icio.us green links:

envirolinks

LiveJournal Feeds (incomplete list):

noimpactman
lazyenvironmen
sc_green_life
realclimate
grist_list
daily_grist
gristmill_feed
plastic_free
idealbitefeeder
envirowoman
sierraclubscoop

LiveJournal Communities (very incomplete list):

caringconsumer
green_future
green_power_gen
greenlifestyle
limeliving
living_lightly
naturalliving
save_the_earth
sustainability
sustainable_dev
tree_huggers
zero_impact

Carbon Neutral Search is an interesting little concept. I'm not sure how fast it will take off, but I like that more people are trying to be earth conscious. I don't really think carbon offsets do much of anything, but I suppose every little bit helps. I'm sure people laugh at me because I use CFLs, cloth diapers, and am careful with my water waste, thinking the things I do don't make much of a difference either. They make a difference to me, and that's what matters. As long as people who choose carbon offsets to help lighten their footprint don't ONLY rely on carbon offsets, I think they're worth something.

It appears this little search is powered by Google. It also seems as though the link for "add your site" isn't working at the moment. I do think the people at Carbon Neutral are on to something, though. They have a little blog for info, but they're still so new there isn't much in it at all. I hope to see good things from them.

We've been working on greening our house. It's a pretty long and slow process, but it's worth it. We've been using compact fluorescent light bulbs for years now (we have three rooms without CFLs because we don't like the dimmer CFLs yet). We have the composter and will be planting a garden next year. B is working on getting more trees for our yard and he always keeps the yard nice and tidy to encourage healthy growth. I wrote up a huge list of ideas months ago that included things we do and things we want to do to be more green.

One of the things I don't think I mentioned was having double pane glass windows. I have to double check ours, but I think we already have double pain windows. I know we have solar screens. Not only are these (and many of the other things we do) green, they also will save money since they reduce the need for energy expenditure. Who doesn't love saving money?

Last night, B finally ordered our Nature Mill. I can't wait to get started composting! We plan to have a garden next summer (probably should have done it this summer with all the rain) and I'm so excited that he's on board with composting. He even wants to compost inside the house!

We contemplated vermicomposting but couldn't really think of a place to keep it that would work best for the worms other than in the pantry. Even though there shouldn't be a smell with vermicomposting if it's done correctly, I just don't care to have worm poop in my pantry. I also don't cherish the idea of stirring worm poop.

The Nature Mill is supposed to not have any smell at all and I really hope that is the case. It will certainly make composting that much easier considering there is no bucket to take out back after all is said and done in the kitchen. We'll see how it goes after a few weeks.

Now we just have to wait for the composter so we can get started. Then we will need to rent a rototiller and build up a little garden area and get the ground ready. Probably the most difficult part of the project will be to plan what actually goes in the garden.

I am so excited I can barely stand myself. :)

B sent me a link to this article today. This is great news for Texas. I just wish it was happening in the DFW area.

Okay, I am not normally one to forward emails such as this (so I'm posting it instead), but the girl who sent it to me said that the person who sent it to her actually knows these people.

That being said, I still went to Snopes to check it out. The Snopes article lists the status as undetermined, most likely because it is still so new.

I do not claim to be a scientist in any sense, but this doesn't sound entirely impossible (of course, I could be wrong). This just adds to my growing list of reasons to choose organic whenever possible.

Edited to add: I'm still not 100% sold on this whole email, so if anyone knows anything to prove or disprove, please share. Whatever information we find I will forward on to Snopes. I'm inclined to not believe this, quite honestly. There are too many factors in here that make it smell of urban legend material.

Okay, based on this link, it is most likely untrue as I originally suspected.

Please read this and pass along to as many people....

Mitzi Lyons and her husband Kyle live here in Gainesville, TX . Their 11 year old daughter, Marissa, for three years (since she was 8) has incurred menstrual problems (bleeding several more days than a regular menstrual cycle each month) and within the last year she started producing milk. Her doctors have performed every test, many surgeries, put her on birth control and the last straw was a hysterectomy in January.

Mitzi's dad started research on the internet of his granddaughter's problem and found out about rBST in milk (injecting cows with steroidal hormones so they will produce more milk). The doctors were skeptical that this could be why this little girl was experiencing these problems as it was approved by the FDA. Wal-Mart Great Value milk is the kind that the Lyons family has always bought. Borden milk and many other brands do not contain rBST.

Her doctors in Houston are going to write a medical journal discovery on her, because FDA says that rBST is safe for humans. Her doctors have also discovered that there a handful more girls around her age out there, in other states, that are experiencing the same issues and have reason to believe it is also from the rBST injections in some cows. So far, there aren't any cases in boys. One girl in Michigan was at the point to go through a hysterectomy as well; but they decided to completely take her off Great Value milk (after discovering the rBST) for three months to see if there would be any changes; she quit bleeding and lactating.

Mitzi asked me to please share this with everyone I could think of to hopefully save someone the pain and suffering that Marissa has endured.

We're hoping soon this will be in the news around the nation and that Wal*Mart will take the rBST out of their milk.

I have pulled my family from Wal-Mart Great Value Milk and bought Borden and Borden has a label on their milk that says rBST not used on their cows. We're doing everything we can to alert people of what's been going on and to be sure to read milk labels before you buy it no matter what brand it is, as we are unsure at this time if Wal*Mart is the only company doing this or if there may be more.

Children in today's society already experience puberty at a younger age than we did as adolescents.

• Other drivers really annoy me, especially those who feel it is unnecessary to pay attention to traffic lights.
• Poor grammar on professional websites offends me and typically leads me away from said websites.
• .
• Alarmists need to relax more than I do.
• Sophie amuses me quite often. She loves to play with the keyboard, and prefers it to be the one I am using and not the extra one I set out for her.
• During nap/nursing time, I have found that she enjoys it when my leg pushes her leg up. She starts to laugh and can't nurse when she laughs.
• Nap times are starting to change and I'm not ready for that.
• Dora the Explorer is evil.
• We had radiant barrier and more insulation sprayed in this past week.

I'm sure there's more but Sophie's nap takes priority.

Today, Sophie and I met up with some friends at Gnismer Farms to pick strawberries. I honestly can not remember a time when I had a sweeter tasting strawberry. When we were getting out of the car I could smell the strawberries and their overwhemling sweetness! The produce is all grown organically, which ranks them even higher in my book. I think I picked between six and seven pounds of strawberries today and will be going back sometime in the next few weeks to pick again. I'm hoping when we return they'll have the melons and tomatoes available. It's not exactly close to us, but it's so worth the trip!

I made sure to cover Sophie thoroughly in sunscreen, but failed to do the same for myself. I got a little too much sun on my arms and face, but it could be worse.

Afterwards, we went back to our friends' house and Sophie was able to play with the two little girls. She ate their cereal like a little piggy, growled the little scary possessed growl she has, and managed to get a little bloody nose, but all is well. Thankfully, she is finally asleep after a small meltdown at dinner tonight.

I'm considering finding other Pick-Your-Own farms in the area. I think Sophie would get a kick out of picking pecans this fall. I know I would. I miss the pecan trees we had in our backyard when we lived in Watauga.

Now I just need to determine what I'm going to do with the strawberries I picked today (and quickly, so we don't eat them all!).

( Yummy strawberry goodness )

We had the kind people from TriCounty Electric out today for an energy audit. Actually, only one person was here, Mike Green (how fitting). I was somewhat underwhelmed by the whole experience. He mentioned compact fluorescent bulbs which we already have in all rooms but the bathrooms. He also suggested we tape around the ductwork in the attic, but we know that's not necessary right now (it may be in a few years, however). One thing we did discuss that rather surprised me a bit was that he doesn't seem to think radiant barrier is all it's cracked up to be. His implication was that we should go with just the insulation first and have enough insulation installed to raise the thickness to an R38 level (B wants R49).

I was a bit put off by the fact that he didn't check any of the windows or doors for drafts and that he didn't look at our appliances at all.

I wonder if Green Mountain Energy will do an audit for a non-customer.

First they ban plastic bags, and now they're banning styrofoam! Why can't everyone do this? They also have a wonderful recycling program, if I recall correctly.

Step it up, America!

In an article in the April 2007 issue of Real Simple, there was a URL to visit to share ideas on how to be more earth friendly. That little request made me think. We really do a lot to be green without even realizing it. I know there is so much more we can do, but we have a pretty good start here. A lot of the things we do were started to save money. There are some things we would like to do but simply can't afford at this moment, even though they'll wind up saving us money down the road. I'm sure there are things I've forgotten, and I'll try to update this list as I remember or as it changes. Of course, if anyone can think of anything we should add, please share!

What bothers me about trying to be good to the earth is that there are people who seem to think it's unnecessary. Maybe they think global warming is a load of bunk or they're too lazy to give up their conveniences or they simply can't be bothered to think about others or the future. Personally, I don't think it should matter if global warming is a farce or not. There is no reason to be wasteful and inconsiderate. This isn't the place for me to get on my soapbox about this, though. I'm not here to rant tonight, just to post some lists.

( Cut for length and to spare my front page... )

I am in no way affiliated with this company, but I've been using these diapers since Sophie's stump fell off and absolutely love them. When she was still wearing the smalls, we had 2 gDiapers that I would fill with a folded gauze diaper (I had 24 of these, so they lasted forever), along with 10 Kissaluvs, 5 AIO Kushies, and 8 home made diapers. Now that we're into mediums, I have several diapers (seems like thousands) but the only ones I'm using are the gDiapers because I love them so much. We are currently using 6 gDiapers and 36 DSQ prefolds. I can use a DSQ prefold for an insert (they're too big for the smalls but are perfect for the mediums), or 2 gauze diapers folded together for the insert (the thin gauze diapers were a hassle for the mediums so we no longer use those). We use the flushable inserts when we're out and about to save the hassle of dealing with wet or dirty diapers in the diaper bag. I have to do laundry roughly twice a week (about every three to four days). I have had no issues with blowouts and only a rare issue or two with leaks, when the vinyl liner edge isn't making contact with Sophie's leg.

The diapers are made with hook and loop closures that fasten in the back, away from curious hands. There are two fairly generic colors in a starter kit that costs under $25 (red and orange or blue and green) that also includes a swisher stick, 12 flushable inserts, and 2 extra vinyl liners. The flushable inserts can be rather costly, but since we use cloth here, that's not an issue for us. Prefolds and gauze are so much cheaper than other diapers that this just seems to make more sense than any other system. The nice thing about the flushables is that they're biodegradable, so even if they aren't flushed they will decompose rather than sit in a landfill for 20 years. They also are made of natural fibers and no harsh chemicals that can harm baby's bum. The wet diapers can even be composted and put in the garden to help maintain moisture content!

So far, no diaper rash has been spotted! I'm guessing Sophie loves these diapers as well. ;)

( pics behind cut )

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We've been using CFL for a while now. Not only does it help fight global warming, but it saves money in the process! Change just one bulb and see what you think. Yes, they take a few seconds to warm up, but it's really only a few seconds.