One Green Thing: Composting

As I sit here at the computer trying to think of what in the world I want to share today, my bananas are turning blacker by the minute.  Which reminds me that I need to compost them.  Which reminds me that it’s currently too dark outside to do such.  Which reminds me that it’s getting late.  Which reminds me that I promised myself I would post something today.  Which brings me back to my rotting bananas.

So let’s talk about composting, shall we?

Just over a year ago I told the Hubster that I wanted a compost bin for Christmas.  That’s it.  Nothing fancy-schmancy.  Just a big ol’ dirt barrel to put kitchen and yard waste in.

Seeing as how Santa brought me an iPad instead of a composter, and I am really more gadget-girl than pioneer-woman anyway, I didn’t complain.  But I also didn’t know how I was going to compost anything without a proper bin.  However, with the handy-dandy iPad I could sit on the backyard swing and do all my research.  Win-win, right?

I eyed my newest flower-bed and determined that its small, round shape might be just perfect for what I needed.  It spans about 4 feet in diameter, and essentially is about 15 inches deep.  I began to read all about composting, and most of my reading told me that I had a snowball’s chance of composting in anything less than a four-foot deep barrel or pile.

I got discouraged.

Then I got determined.

That’s how I roll.

I learned about white-hat bacteria composting and black-hat bacteria composting.  (Who knew, right?  It’s like the Yin and Yang of decay.)  Basically, if you close up the waste matter and allow it to rot with stagnant heat and no air circulation, you get all the bad bacteria which will eventually decay the waste matter into dirt (black-hat dudes).  On the other hand, if you allow your waste matter to stay humid yet open to air circulation, you get the beneficial bacteria (the white-hat dudes.)

FYI, I can’t find the original source of this life-altering information.  I hope I am remembering it correctly.

Now, although I was encouraged by the fact that my little open-air compost pile was going to promote the white-hat bacteria, I am far too impatient to sit around waiting for anything to decay.  So, as you know, I bought worms.  I wanted some hungry little fellas who were willing to eat through all the stuff I threw into the pile.  There have been a few times that I thought the worms abandoned me, but I find that with each new addition of goodies, they seem to multiply profusely.

It is also important to note here that I had to lay a wire covering over the top of my compost pile so that Mabel (or any other wandering yard guest) wouldn’t snoop around in it.  But Mabel is going to snoop around in any and everything, whether we want her to or not.  Case in point:

 

(Busted!  Sadly, this next pic is too small for you to see the dirt clinging to her bottom lip.)

I knew I didn’t have to worry about Mason digging in it.  Unless he were to smell pizza or a McDonald’s cheeseburger, he couldn’t care less what’s in the pile.  And that’s how he rolls, thankyouverymuch.

So what goes into the compost pile?  Almost anything.  All fruit and vegetable waste, provided it has not touched any oils or proteins.  I throw in some plant cuttings, pine straw, coffee grounds, basically anything growing that I pluck from its place goes into the composter.  And I have even been known to throw in some bunny droppings and their all-natural bedding waste.  (Animal droppings are okay as long as the animal is a vegetarian.  You want NO protein in the pile, or it will smell.)  All this being said, I am extremely careful not to put anything that is not expressly compostable or organic in the pile.  For instance, bleached coffee filters are a no-no as far as I am concerned, as are paper towels.  I now buy the If You Care brand natural coffee filters (catchy brand name, eh?) and I notice that they break down and disappear rather quickly.  It is important to keep in mind that whatever chemicals are in the scraps will also be in your compost.

This picture shows how my fruit and vegetable waste is put into a small hole dug into the compost.  Then it gets all covered up with dirt, sprayed with the hose, and left to decompose (or get eaten by the worms).  It usually takes about two weeks for a pile like this to completely turn to compost.

Is my compost bin going to provide me all the renewed compost material that I need to refresh my garden each spring?  Not even.  But, it’s a great source of potting soil for the few pots that I insist on keeping going, and if I can ever guarantee that Mabel won’t destroy new plantings, then the hostas and hibiscus that I have planned for that bed in the distant future are going to LOVE living there.

Going to the Dogs!

Back when Mason, our adorable first-born fluffy Yellow Lab, was about 5-6 years old he developed a food allergy.  His poor little nose would itch terribly and he would rub it on any furniture he could find – scratching it until he made it bleed.  The poor fella had sores on his nose for months on end.  We tried all kinds of dog foods…from Venison and Potato prescription canned dog food sold by our vet (which nearly broke the bank) to finally a wheat-, grain-, and by-product-free dry food sold by PetSmart, called Nature’s Recipe.  Mason really liked Nature’s Recipe, and it came in a Senior formula for when we aged (he’s 11 now, and symptom-free).

When I began to track positive healthy changes in our home I noticed Mabel, our much-younger, mischievous Black Lab, was a little, um, round.  Mabel had plumped up not only from the extra calories I was feeding her, but also from eating whatever she saw.  (I seriously considered linking some examples here, but as you likely are aware of her latest antics involving my tube of all-natural sunscreen, there are far too many examples of the stuff Mabel eats!!)  I cut back on Mabel’s calories, and later switched her to a more natural food.  Mabel doesn’t have the allergy issues Mason has, but her dog food is about the same price.  Combine this with the fact that we are still going to traffic-jammed Youree Drive (aptly called “Little Dallas” by some of my co-workers) for Mason’s food, and my desire to provide organic meals for my family, and suddenly I find myself looking up recipes for dog food on the Internet.

You heard me.

I am considering making meals for my dogs – actually cooking, storing and serving home-cooked meals for the pooches I love.

In my next life I want to come back as one of MY dogs!!!

I have to learn about nutritional needs of my particular furry children before I can settle on any recipes.  It is a matter I will  investigate thoroughly, and if I find any high-quality recipes that satisfy puppy palettes, I will certainly post them…you know, just in case any of you are neurotic pet owners too.

(p.s. I refuse to cook for the bunnies.  They are vegetarians, and they already get my organic carrots!! Plus, as payment for such pampered treatment I require serious fur-snuggle time, and our bunnies just aren’t snugglers.  Their loss.)

Food, Inc: Buy It, Rent It, Borrow It From Me…But You HAVE to See This!!

In 2008 a documentary was made about our food supply in America – how it’s created, how it’s perpetuated.

In 2010 I learned about food ingredients and started to get really peeved.  I began sharing everything I learned with you.

Earlier this year I started focusing on the meat and dairy products I purchase.  I grew concerned about the unsanitary and abhorrent conditions our “farm” animals live in.

This weekend I watched the documentary and was blown away by what I view as nothing more than absolute corruption of our values and our food supply.  Even as much as I already knew about the food industry, I was still blown completely away.  And I got even more peeved.

The documentary is called Food, Inc. and it explains all about the few main companies that provide us with all those “choices” at our local grocery stores.  It explains the ties that bind the hands of our nation’s farmers, leaving them with little choice if they want to stay in business, even when that business earns them less than $20,000/year.  It  touches on health concerns, food-borne illness, food safety regulation (or lack thereof), animal welfare, cloning, politics, our government, organic farming, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and immigration issues.  They are all so closely related, it’s actually scary.

The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you’re eating because if you knew, you might not want to eat it.”
Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation.”

I bought the DVD from Amazon for $11.  If you can do the same, I encourage you to.

Oh, but you know I’m going to tell you about it anyway, don’t you?

As mortified as I was to see confirmed what I had previously only suspected, I was also enlightened by the documentary.  It really is something EVERYONE should see.  I went to their website to determine the best way to be a sideline voice for the film and the responsibility we consumers have.  I want to show this DVD to all of you.  I want to invite you over, serve dinner and watch it with you.  THAT’S how awesome I think this is.  So I poked around on their site to see if they would be okay with me literally inviting groups of people over and showing the DVD.  I downloaded their press kit.   Yes, I did!  My mom will probably tell you I’m going overboard again.  But if you know me at all through this blog, you probably already know I don’t just stand behind something I believe in. I put my shoulder into it and PUSH! 😉

If you watch the DVD, you’ll learn the following in full-color detail and see farmers and experts and everyday people explaining how this has all happened.  Here’s what I learned that I did not already know:

Monsanto created Round-Up weed killer.  They also genetically modified a soybean seed to be resistant to Round-Up, which means the farmer can spray all the Round-Up  he/she wants on the soybean crop to kill weeds and not harm the crop.  We then consume a multitude of ingredients made from the soybeans that have been sprayed with Round-Up.

Monsanto does not allow its customer farmers to reuse seeds.  Whereas re-using seeds is traditionally environmentally sound, it is considered patent infringement on  Monsanto’s seeds. The farmer must buy new seeds from Monsanto every year, adding to his cost and Monsanto’s profits.   If a Monsanto grower’s farm is located near an organic farm and the wind blows pollen from the Monsanto crop into the organic crop, Monsanto can sue the organic farmer for patent infringement.  And there’s not a damn thing the organic farmer can do about it.  It’s up to him to PROVE he didn’t violate the patent via pollen.  Let’s see…multi-million dollar Monsanto versus one organic farmer. Who do you think can afford more attorneys? (And check out the little factoid in the list at the end to see who upheld Monsanto’s rights and why.)

When corn became our nation’s commodity crop, we could undersell South American corn farmers with our industrial muscle.  So eventually, most of South America’s corn farmers went out of business.  Then our companies began baiting those out-of-work farm-hands with promises of good jobs and big money in the States.  So they came, needing both.  You and I would do the same thing if our business had wilted underneath us and there seemed nowhere else to turn.  Smithfield imports these immigrant workers for low paying jobs in their slaughterhouses.  They have an arrangement with the government that fifteen of those workers per day can be arrested and sent back.  This makes the government look like it’s cracking down on immigration without affecting the labor force of Smithfield, or holding Smithfield accountable.

Just FIVE DAYS of eating grass will remove the vast majority of E. coli from a cow’s system.  Our factory-farm animals are fed corn. (Update: My mom gently pointed out that this fact makes no sense floating out here in the middle of my post with nothing else to support it.  I agree.  It’s just a little bit of information that, if addressed, could save lives.  Just sayin.’)

In addition to all this, I took the following facts from a list included in the press kit made available on their site.

Facts from Food, Inc.:

• In the 1970s, the top five beef packers controlled about 25% of the market. Today, the top four control more than 80% of the market.
• In the 1970s, there were thousands of slaughterhouses producing the majority of beef sold. Today, we have only 13.
• In 1998, the USDA implemented microbial testing for salmonella and E. coli 0157h7 so that if a plant repeatedly failed these tests, the USDA could shut down the plant. After being taken to court by the meat and poultry associations, the USDA no longer has that power.
• In 1972, the FDA conducted 50,000 food safety inspections. In 2006, the FDA conducted only 9,164.
• During the Bush administration, the head of the FDA was the former executive VP of the National Food Processors Association.
• During the Bush administration, the chief of staff at the USDA was the former chief lobbyist for the beef industry in Washington.
• Prior to renaming itself an agribusiness company, Monsanto was a chemical company that produced, among other things, DDT and Agent Orange.
• In 1996 when it introduced Round-Up Ready Soybeans, Monsanto controlled only 2% of the U.S. soybean market. Now, over 90% of soybeans in the U.S. contain Monsanto’s patented gene.
• Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas was an attorney at Monsanto from 1976 to 1979. After his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that helped Monsanto enforce its seed patents.
• The average chicken farmer invests over $500,000 and makes only $18,000 a year.
• 32,000 hogs a day are killed in Smithfield Hog Processing Plant in Tar Heel, N.C, which is the largest slaughterhouse in the world.
• The average American eats over 200 lbs. of meat a year.
• 30% of the land in the U.S. is used for planting corn.
• The modern supermarket now has, on average, 47,000 products, the majority of which is being produced by only a handful of food companies.
• 70% of processed foods have some genetically modified ingredient.
• SB63 Consumer Right to Know measure requiring all food derived from cloned animals to be labeled as such passed the California state legislature before being vetoed in 2007 by Governor Schwarzenegger, who said that he couldn’t sign a bill that pre-empted federal law.
• Corn products include: ketchup, cheese, Twinkies, batteries, peanut butter, cheez-Its, salad dressings, Coke, jelly, Sweet & Low, syrup, juice, Kool-Aid, charcoal, diapers,  Motrin, meat and fast food.
• Corn, which is the main ingredient in animal feed, is also used as a food additive. Those products commonly include: Cellulose, Xylitol, Maltodextrin, Ethylene, Gluten, Fibersol-2, Citrus Cloud Emulsion, Inosital, Fructose, Calcium Stearate, Saccharin, Sucrose, Sorbital, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Di-glycerides, Semolina, Sorbic Acid, Alpha Tocopherol, Ethyl Lactate, Polydextrose, Xantham Gum, White Vinegar, Ethel Acetate, Fumaric Acid,  Ascorbic Acid, Baking Powder, Zein, Vanilla Extract, Margarine, and Starch.
• 1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes; Among minorities, the rate will be 1 in 2.
• E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks have become more frequent in America, whether it be from spinach or jalapenos. In 2007, there were 73,000 people  sickened from the E. coli virus.
• Organics is the fastest growing food segment, increasing 20% annually.

Yay on that last one, right?  That’s us – speaking out!

Food is cheap because it is what we have been offered, and we have gladly bought it.  But it’s also cheap because it is made from inferior (if not altogether fake) ingredients at a very low cost with complete disregard for life – plant and animal.  What does it all come down to in the end?  Well, this is America, so of course the answer is money.  We pay less and the  Corporations make more.  But we are literally BUYING diabetes, infertility, heart disease and cancer.

Yes, we are.

Likely because I am so passionate (even if not overly outspoken) about the food we as Americans consume and because I’m a mom, I found myself swiping tears away more than once while I watched the documentary.  I heard myself gasp at some of the information, and at one part I grew a bit fearful of my penchant for speaking out on this little blog.  But I was reassured and reaffirmed in the end.  WE can affect change!  YOU and I can DO this! We have to change our buying habits.  We have to stay informed.  And we have to demand better of our stores.  Like the film points out, consumer insistence brought down the tobacco industry.  “We’ve done it before.  We can do it again.” It has to come from us.

I’m all in.  Who’s with me?

Today’s Farmers’ Market: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly

As planned, we woke up at 6:30 to make it to the Farmer’s Market by 7am this morning.  I was ready to buy another watermelon from pesticide-free PPP Farms for this Spinach Watermelon Salad recipe I found in a calorie counter app.  (Who knew?)  And, as promised, I planned to ask many more vendors if they were pesticide free.

I did not get off to such a great start.  As we strolled through the crowd I made my way to booth after booth asking, “Excuse me, but do you use pesticides in your farming?”  The answers varied.  But one answer in particular turned into a growling volley of attitude.

“NO! We don’t have no pesticides here!”  and she waved her hand in the air, half as a dismissal, half as a fly swat.

“Um…okay.  Thank you.”

I wasn’t sure if she was adamant because of her commitment to be pesticide free, or if she was annoyed by my question.  And then she rallied, eying my children standing behind me.  “WHY?!!!!!”

I pointed to said children.  “I am committed to buying only produce that is grown without the use of harmful pesticides.”

She pointed at her buckets of produce and rudely asked, “You gonna buy anything?!!!  We don’t HAVE no pesticides!”

“I’m actually asking everybody so that I can plan which vendors I will shop with for the weeks that the Market is here.  Thank you.”

At that she WAVED ME OFF, SCOWLED AND SHOOK HER HEAD!!!!!!!

As we walked away Dom whispered to me, “I didn’t think that was going to go well.  I wouldn’t have even asked her.”

“I know.  I had the same thought.  But I decided not to judge, and I asked anyway.  Her attitude is NOT the spirit of the Farmers’ Market.  Half the vendors here are all selling tomatoes.  It goes against the spirit of the place to get pissy because a customer is looking at your tomatoes and not buying them!  I wouldn’t buy from her if her farm WAS organic, which I highly suspect it’s NOT.” (See? I reserved judgement until the end.)

We moved on and made the rounds to several other vendors, all of whom graciously answered my questions with more than just a simple yes or no.  They all explained in some small way additional details that supported their answer.  I like that.  So for you locals, here’s a run-down of what I learned (in this much-smaller-than-opening-weekend Market).

Gator Dave Produce: Pesticide-free, but uses commercial fertilizer.  He will be switching to horse manure next year at his wife’s insistence.  His okra is not doing as well as he’d like, but he is focusing on how to keep the deer out of his area when the peas start producing.  I bought cucumbers from him, and he shared his grandma’s secret:  when you cut the end off of a cucumber, about the first ½ to ¾ inch, rub the pieces together until it sort of foams.  His grandma always said that would take most of the bitterness out of a cucumber before you slice it up.  Hey, worth a try, right?

McKissick Herbal Farm: Pesticide-free.  Tomatoes, watermelon, cucumber, blueberries, cantaloupe, and more.  I bought tomatoes and cantaloupe from them.

Anderson Produce and Plant Farm:  They occupied the largest space, and had A LINE of people that flowed past three other vendors FOR THEIR CORN!!  We were there at 7:10, people, and by 7:30 the corn was GONE from Anderson’s.  That must be some gooooooood corn!!  I did get a chance to speak with them, and learned that they are not pesticide-free, but that they are regulated each year by the state for certification that there is no residue on their produce.  Residue is not my issue, really, so that leaves more corn for the rest of the people.  But they were incredibly courteous, and like I said, extremely popular for their corn.  They sell plants too.

So there it is, folks.  My wrap-up of the Farmer’s Market.  Who wants some watermelon? 🙂

Day 362: What Went RIGHT at the Farmers’ Market

I know I said I would post “tomorrow” about all the cool stuff I found at the Farmers’ Market, but then life sort of got in the way and now it’s five days later and well…here I am again.  I still have not ironed out all the details of the berry re-seller, but I am prepared to ask a lot of questions next time I am there.  I am still aghast.

But how about some good news?  As we rummaged through the Farmers’ Market I managed to find an information booth where I asked if they had any “organic” farmers vending this year.  I was informed that in order to use the term “organic” the farmers must be certified (I knew that), and that’s just a helluva lot of paperwork and added cost, so our hometown farmers who choose to go the way of healthier produce prefer to be called plain-ol’ “pesticide-free.”  Fair enough.  So I began asking vendors if they were pesticide-free.

I only had to ask two, actually.  The first one was pleasantly truthful when he said, “Honestly, ma’am, we will use pesticides to control pests when we have to.  So far this year, we haven’t had to use any because it’s so early in the season.  But the minute we see a bug, we’re breaking out the pesticide.” I told him that I genuinely appreciated his honesty.  He replied by reassuring me that the pesticides he uses are “nothing you can’t wash off!!”  I smiled and thanked him again as I left his booth.

Yes, you can wash residue off of the produce, but it has already been chemically altered with harmful ingredients that will stay in your system and fry your sons’ sperm….you
know, worst-case-scenario-and-all.  But no, I didn’t say all of that to him.  I simply smiled, said “I understand,” and walked past the Driscoll’s re-seller to  the next produce booth.

It was at this next booth that I found my favorite vendor – PPP Farms.  I casually leaned in, smiled to the lady behind the table, and asked quite discreetly, as if it were some big secret, “Pardon me, but do you mind telling me if you use pesticides on your produce?”

“NOT ONE OUNCE. Never have.  Never will.  My husband here, [points at the man sitting beside her] he won’t even use weed killer in the grass!  Has the boys whack the weeds with the weed-eater.  No, ma’am, we just aren’t using any of that nasty stuff!”

How much do I love her?!! This wonderful lady just happened to be selling tomatoes, corn and watermelon – all of which I was happy to purchase.  I spent $8 on three  tomatoes, three ears of corn and a small-ish watermelon which we STILL have not consumed in its entirety.  The watermelon was the sweetest one I’ve ever bought.

Aside from the veggie success, I am also happy to report that I found the longhorn beef vendor – W. H. Longhorn Ranch from east Texas.  As the seller explained to me,  Longhorn beef is VERY lean, much like venison, and requires a different technique for cooking.  All the animals belong to her son, and she takes orders until she has an entire  animal spoken for before sending it to slaughter.  I ordered a roast and two pounds of ground beef.  I am really excited about trying the meat to see if it will be a good substitute for the regular meats at our grocery stores, since we can’t get much in the way of natural, no-hormone, no-antibiotic, grass-fed beef in the meat cases around here.

So there it is, folks: my victories at the Farmer’s Market.  I can’t wait to go back.  If you’re local to my area, you ought to check out these two vendors.  I know they’ll be glad to see you.

Day 354: Look, Y’all!! A Veggie!!!

I wasn’t planning on posting anything tonight, but I got home to water my garden and LOOK!  We have a squash!  Granted, it’s a harvest of ONE so far, but there are more on the vine.  This one just plumped up so fast, it surprised me.  It’s about 7″ long, so I decided to pluck it from the plant.

First harvest. Small, but significant nonetheless.

I don’t quite understand what the braille-looking bumps are on the neck, but I’ll research that to make sure it’s a healthy squash.  When I walked inside with it tonight, Aaron looked puzzled and asked, “Where’d you get that?”  I replied that it came from the garden, and he exclaimed, “You grew your very own organic squash!  Mommy, that’s great!!”

I’ll bet my paycheck he won’t even taste it.  That’s alright…more for me.  😉

Day 353: Cows and Chickens and Pigs, Oh My!!

Have I ever told you about #44?  Well, once upon a time in my wee little world I thought a cow was cute.  He lived across the street from my in-laws’ house on a rather large stretch of land, along with numerous other cows and horses that quietly grazed along the fence line at certain times of the day.  This particular bull was black and white with a green tag on his ear that was marked “44.”  And I thought he was cute because he would look up and twitch that floppy little ear as I drove by.  I could swear he made eye  contact with me on more than one occasion.

OK, I know what you’re thinking:  Too bad this chick is against maintenance meds, ‘cause she could sure use some right about now! Oh, but wait…there’s more!

See, the way #44 grazed and moseyed around the land was, in my mind, typical of all cattle.  What better way to spend an afternoon than grazing on some grass, sniffing a fence
line, and following some horses back to the barn?  Isn’t that what farm life is all about, at least from the animal’s perspective?

Sadly, most cows don’t get the free-grazing opportunities that #44 had.  And we all pay the price for it.  In what are termed “factory farms” the animals are piled in on each other, cramped together to conserve space and make room for more animals.  I imagine it being sort of a concentration camp for livestock.  And when you start mistreating life (ANY life, I believe) then you can expect a domino effect of problems.  For instance:

When animals are kept that close together, they get moody.  (Well, helloooo?? Wouldn’t you?) Moody animals bite each other (or peck, or claw – whatever they can do.)  Recall our rabbits who co-habitated for all of a month and a half.  Or worse, imagine having your extended family in your face for even two weeks – under one roof, sharing a  bathroom and a kitchen and the television.  It’s just a matter of time before someone bites.

I have learned that in most factory farms they sear off the beaks of baby chickens so that they don’t peck each other to death.  They also have to cut off little piglets’ tails so that the other pigs who are rammed up their hind-ends don’t bite on the tails.  This alone is disheartening.  But then…

Rather than create conditions in which the animals can cohabitate safely and naturally, our factory-farmers decide that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so they PRE-TREAT our factory-farm animal with antibiotics.  So now, instead of just waiting for an animal to get sick and watching the disease spread like wildfire through the whole farm (one source noted that disease can spread within hours in cramped conditions) we just pour all the medication into the animals ahead of time in hopes that we don’t have to change our money-making ways.  ‘Cause, you know…changing our way of doing business in the interest of health would be waaaaay too drastic, right? (Ugh!)

So with our factory-farm animals being the source of most of our grocery store meat, and nearly 70 percent of our antibiotic supply going into those animals alone (more than 29 million pounds of meds, people!), what does that do to those of us who eat that meat?  We in turn get the antibiotics too, and we build resistance to the antibiotics so that they are no longer effective on us (that means a higher co-pay for the new-fangled name-brands, in case any of you are watching the wallet.)  But worse than that, we are factory-farming tougher strains of bacteria that are resistant to our available antibiotics, which in turn means we won’t be able to fight the illnesses we get.  Moms for Antibiotic Awareness shares the following on their website:

The American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization and other medical groups warn that the routine use of antibiotics in healthy food animals presents a serious and growing threat to human health because it contributes to the spread of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

And all because most farm animals don’t get to live like #44 did.  It’s the price we are paying for fast, cheap, mass-produced meats.  It’s a price we cannot afford to keep paying.  How can you help?  How can you be a source of change for the sake of not only the farm animals, but also for yourself and your children?  Buy organic meat, which is ridiculously expensive when compared to the meat we see at WalMart, not to mention hard to come by in my neck of the woods.  But I plan to scope out the Farmers Market in my area this weekend to see what meats are offered by the farmers on hand.  I suggest you do the same in your area.  Be proactive.  Get the information on your meats.  And speak up to your grocery stores, even if you think they don’t care.  Just know that I’m speaking up too, so maybe our voices will be heard together.

Day 327: Makin’ Dirt

Victoria saw me digging in my compost pile the other day as I was burying some potato peels.  She peered over my shoulder and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh!! Is that turning into DIRT?”

“Yes, sweetie. That’s what compost is: plant and vegetable material that biodegrades and becomes nutritious soil for our growing plants.”

“Wowwwwwww!  That is waaaaaaaay cool!!!”  And then she skipped right back inside, leaving me to wonder how I had been composting for four months and she NOT know what was happening.  Maybe she thought I liked burying food and then playing with it later?  I can only imagine what she told her friends.

The compost pile is working beautifully!!  I actually have dirt in place of kitchen scraps.  And the termites I reported seeing earlier?  Finally gone.  Well, for the most part.  When I turned the pile yesterday I didn’t see any termites, so I guess they got bored and moved on…which is actually probably not a good thing.  Oh dear…

Ahh, but my worms are still enjoying the pile.  They are a huge reason my compost pile is working so well, I know.  I feared that they would abandon me, but I keep giving them plenty of incentives to stick around.  I’m amazed at how fast they work.  We added a whole container of kitchen scraps just last week, and already they are barely recognizable.  This reassures me that my “little” compost pile can survive and succeed.

I have a plastic container at the office now so that I can collect all the coffee grounds from the 7+ pots of coffee we make per day.  The coffee grounds are going all in my flower beds and in my compost pile too.  They add acid to the soil, and the herbs LOVE them.  Last year my basil grew by leaps and bounds on a diet of coffee grounds.  This year I’m sharing the grounds with ALL my plants. 

Lord, I just hope my new gardenias like coffee!

Day 316: Keeping It Simple

My most recent Facebook status update went something like this: “People are always for healthy lifestyle change until it affects their lifestyle.”  I was in a rather sullen mood this weekend, despite it being the most glorious weekend of the Church year.  It felt like everywhere I turned somebody was throwing one more excuse in my face as to why traditional Easter candy with all its preservatives and artificial colors is okay (duhhhhhh, Mom!), frozen pies from God-knows-where are perfectly acceptable, and crappy chemical ingredients are just fine as long as “it tastes good!”  

So I threw a tantrum.  Yep.  Lenten promise #3 out the window.  I actually let out a primal scream.  One dog came to see what was wrong and the other dog ran and hid.  My husband blinked at me in disbelief. I have to admit, I felt much better after that.

I can see a bit more clearly now, and I have profusely apologized to all the heartbeats in my home for the inappropriate disruption to our daily lives.  Many thanks to my sister-in-law, Kasie, who served as my light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel on Sunday, and brought me back to myself. 

So what do you do when it seems all hope for healthy change is spiraling down the toilet at breakneck speed?  I mean, aside from yelling at everyone you love and accidentally wounding yourself in your own Tasmanian-devil-style fit? 

You find something small, and you focus on that one thing until you can mentally (and emotionally) handle everything else.  I focused on my garden and flowerbeds.  They look lovely. 

This whole spiral-into-oblivion got me thinking about little ways in which we can make healthier choices – little bits of good that we can focus on until the rest is manageable.  Here’s my tentative list of little things to do that can eventually lead to big change:

• Change your makeup remover and/or moisturizer.  I’ve been using almond oil as moisturizer exclusively for two months now, and it works really well.  It’s relatively inexpensive, totally natural, and a little goes a long way.  Making this one change will save your face from at least nine chemicals a day.
• Switch to buying organic milk and/or eggs.  Just this one little change to your habits can make a big difference for you and your family.
• Buy small quantities.  Mega grocery stores and warehouses are great if you consume a trailer-load of food and disposables in a relatively short time period.  But I always found that buying food in bulk made me waste more.  It’s very hard to break the habit of thinking I need to “stock up” on something, especially if it’s on sale, but refocusing on what I will actually consume in a smaller period of time helps keep my grocery budget in check. 
• Buy one or two versions of organic fruit or vegetables. Think of the fruits or vegetables you’re going to want to eat or cook with this week, and buy the organic variety this time.
• Plant your favorite herb and use it fresh while you cook.  Fresh herbs make any dish better, and knowing where it came from and how it has been treated is an added benefit you can enjoy every time you cook.  Plus, plants are happy little fellas. 
• Drink 8 ounces of water right when you wake up in the morning.  I have not done this exclusively yet, but I did it for a while during the winter and I noticed that it helped me continue drinking water through the rest of the day.   Water makes your skin healthy.  Healthy skin doesn’t show age as fast.  Where’s my glass????
• Plan two meals a week, if you’re not on a meal planning schedule already.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, but put real effort into it.  Having a plan ahead of time makes the cooking more fun, and the meal more enjoyable.    And just think of the money you’ll save by not eating out!
• Drink a glass of green tea a day.  Add some orange or lemon and honey to it for some flavor. 

Well, that just about exhausts my wee little mind for the day.  😉  I’m off to move the sprinkler so my new flowers can drink up.

Day 312: Breaking News? Not Really…

Tags

news reports on child development, pesticides, studies

I literally JUST FINISHED watching an ABC World News report on the dangers of pesticides – known as organophosphates – and their relative impact on children’s IQ.  The main reference was a study done on pregnant women, and then the measured IQs of their children seven years later.

The results: common pesticides impart a significant decrease in child IQ.  The questions posed by the officials interviewed: why is it taking us so long to determine the dangers?

Why, indeed!?

Roger Dietert, an  immunotoxicology professor at Cornell University is quoted as saying, “It seems clear that our current methods and applications for identifying environmental risks posed to critical physiological systems of children are inadequate.”  It is my sincerest hope that his words will be heard.  Our current methods ARE inadequate – in every sense of the word. 

While I am really glad that items like this are making the news, I have to admit that I roused from a half-sleep to find myself pissed off at the “Wow…really?” attitude posed by everyone in the segment.  At the end, the reporter shows the viewers a tip – washing your vegetables with a brush before eating them.  And then he notes that they have listed on ABC’s website the fruits and vegetables you need to be most concerned about. 

I want to curse.  OUT LOUD. 

They could have done so much more with this story.  They could have tied in the benefits of organic produce.  They could have mentioned the Environmental Working Group as a resource for concerned parents.  They could have said, “Oh, by the way, THIS IS NOT REALLY NEW INFORMATION!!!”

But they didn’t do any of those things I would view as educational or beneficial. But geez louise, they ran the story anyway.  At least they did that.  I am frustrated, but I am still grateful.  Spread the word, would ya? If we start talking about this where other parents can hear us, maybe this won’t be considered “breaking news.”