be outrageously responsible this holiday

RENT-A-TREE

Every year that you rent a Christmas tree 

you will offset around 10% of your annual carbon footprint!!

Start a new tradition, RENT a LIVING Christmas tree this year! Google "Christmas tree hire"  or "rent a living Christmas tree" or visit Living Christmas Tree rental to find a rental provider near you!
I for one, am looking into this as a Christmas gift for those hard to buy for people in my life (ahem Dads and brothers - you guys are hard to buy for!)


THIS YEARS TREE...
Maybe you already bought your tree for the year, consider trying it out next year. It will be your gift to the planet!


REMEMBER...

BUY ROOTS

You don't have to rent, you can buy a tree with roots and plant the tree on your property. The benefits for you are too many to list!! 

BUY ORGANIC

Buy from a local farmer who practices responsible farming - no pesticides needed in your home! You are investing in your own health, don't skimp! You'll pay for it eventually. 

RECYLE

Remember to properly recycle your cut tree this year - don't leave it out for the trash. It takes up space in the landfull (yes, landFULL, that's what they are) and incineration pollutes the air.

Trees can be ground up and used in mulch in your garden, on trails or in animal stalls (if you live on a farm and not in NYC). The wood chips can be used as sand or erosion barriers on beaches, in streambeds and in lakes. 

DON'T BURN

Burning your tree causes air pollution and creosote buildup (creosote is a flammable substance, the soot in your fireplace, and it's NASTY to the max.)

Please let me know if you do this, I want to post pictures!!

hey fatty, get outta here

Back up 2 weeks. Let's sum it up by saying I haven't been home much... the past week I was out of town for work. Fast forward to today. 

I went to check on the plants as soon as I wheeled my suitcase in the door, kissed my man and gave mica a squeeze. In the garden I pulled 20+ caterpillars off my vegetables, but not before they DEVOURED my kale and collard greens. The aphid situation is still a disaster - I squished close to a million. I did see ladybird hanging around the aphid feast which made me happy!

So, my months of gardening have resulted in some fat caterpillars and some green stalks. At least someone enjoyed the green goodness!!

plant lice & farming ants

Aphid giving live birth

I am running into my fair share of gardening mishaps during my novice gardening experiment... my big battle right now is aphids. And neglect - I haven't been home much during the daytime hours to give the garden love, just some early morning or late night watering. But yesterday I noticed some ant action on some plants and some hardcore feasting, resulting in swiss cheese leaves.

Aphids are plant lice. Enough said. Gross.

Aphids are gnarly little creatures - disgusting and destructive, but really interesting. They are a small, plant eating insect. There are thousands of different species (over 4,000), but the ones that attract ants have symbiotic relationship with the ants. These ants are referred to as "dairying ants" because they come and "milk" the aphids - meaning they stroke the aphids with their antennae to collect the honeydew the aphids produce. Weeeeird. 

Some farming ants go as far as to store aphid eggs over the winter. Aphids are sometimes sexual and sometimes asexual - they also sometimes lay eggs and sometimes give birth. They are very confused about their identity, which is why they need so much creepy ant love.

Organic solution:

1) I remember when I was younger that my mom mail-ordered some aphid-eating lady bugs, also known as ladybirds, for her garden and 2) I have read about spraying a diluted dish soap (organic/bio-degradable, of course) solution to fend off aphids - so I am researching these two options. Hence, my intense aphid description. More later.

Photo credit: Wikapedia via Creative Commons

thinning the herd

Babies Pak, Mustard, Kale & Escargot

Baby Pak, which sounds like a rapper name, was my very first mini harvest! I have been holding off thinning my pak choy because it seemed like such a waste to just toss little seedlings in the compost pile. Tonight I went out to look at the garden after being gone camping all weekend and the baby pak's looked like actual vegetables! I snipped a few, lightly sautéd and drizzled a little toasted sesame oil on top. Delish! 

I also have some chinese mustard greens that appear to be bolting. I tore some leaves and added that to my bean, kale and brown rice macrobiotic meal for some mustardy spice. Not sure what's up with the bolting, better do some research.

Pictured above is my first harvest of baby pak choy; the harvest of babies kale, mustard and pak; freshly rained on leaves, complete with fresh escargot; beautiful, artsy rain-makers that my cousin/big sister Alycia gave me for my birthday - a great way to water your plants while you're gone for a few days or a week depending on the plant's watering needs

hibiscus bliss

Leslie is another veteran gardener and sustainable living guru that Rose is learning from in western Massachusetts. She is the mother of the two adorable kids from earlier posts. Here, we are sampling her Hibiscus Bliss iced tea with mint. It's AMAZING!! She is making packets of tea to sell at the farmers market.

Pictured above is Leslie tying up packets of Summer Garden tea, made from her garden; Rose sampling the iced tea; Rose and me on the barn couch at the plant sale

square rectangle

I finally had some time to plant seeds in my raised bed today! I am attempting to use a method of gardening recommended to me by our friend Joey, who is an urban gardener in Los Angeles. I admit I didn't get the book, but if you go online to Square Foot Gardening Foundation they have a comprehensive tutorial right on their website. Joey uses this method and swears by it... I guessed on the planting by reading the back of the seed packets and using the online tutorial. I also used less seeds. Now that I am a graduated novice, I realize using 3-4 seeds in every hole is unnecessary. The Square Foot method says to use 1 seed... I used 1-2 seeds but should have to thin less with this method. As you can see, I also do not have a square box, but I like to break the rules a little.

I used twine to mark off my square feet, hammering nails in to tie the twine to the side. I hammered the nails in halfway and then hammered them up to bend the nail in half. This way, the twine shouldn't slid off the nail. 

Pictured above: Making measurements; tying off the twine; diy Garden Marker for Summerlong Basil; Sowing seeds; Atomic Red carrot seeds - you can see little flecks of pink on the seed.

Happy Birthday Mica!!

Mica is four years old today!! I adopted her when she was 4 months old from a foster/shelter in New Hampshire September 2006. Mica was born in the south and was in 3 different shelters in 3 different states before I brought her home. If you are thinking about getting a pet, check out Pet Finder first!

Mica and I spent time in the garden today filling up the first raised garden box. It took 8 bags of dirt! I put the planter box up on cement blocks to keep it off the ground, preventing leaching from toxic dirt. It also provides a way to reuse the slabs of cement I have been pulling out of the garden this spring! So far, all the materials we have used with the exception of the purchased dirt, have been reused and recycled materials. We even reused old rusty screws!

I also placed my new handy-dandy planter markers in their rightful home. See how to make some for your garden here.