Serendipitious Vegetables March 27, 2008

OK this is crazy. About six weeks ago, I buried a bunch of vegetable scraps in the garden. I didn’t have a compost bin set up yet, so I was just burying my scraps directly into my beds.

Look what happened!

I accidentally grew beets and what looks like some kind of onion.

I always joke about how easy it is to grow things in Southern California. I always say, “Just throw it in the ground and it will grow.” Interesting how your belief becomes your reality, eh?

Still, it’s amazing to me!

Pallet Composting March 4, 2008

I was so thrilled to set up my pallet compost bin today.

Yensi (our nanny) and Luis (our gardener) helped.

Here are the photos:

I have to say — I think it is stunningly beautiful. I think Yensi thought I was a bit of a lunatic. I kept saying, “Isn’t it beautiful?”

I’m just so excited to have a place to throw my garbage. It’s been sitting around in bowls for months.

In the process of putting in the compost bin, we needed to move a lemon tree:

I think it’s much happier in it’s new spot. A lot more sun!

And we get to enjoy it here — I positioned the chairs around it so we can sit in the sun and honor the shrine of lemons.

Spontaneous Jasmine March 3, 2008

My father-in-law told me right after Kate was born that he would always come and prune all the plants — including the “weeds” growing up from behind the back wall.

Turns out one of those weeds was star jasmine! Why/how it got planted there I don’t know.

No offense, Ed, but I’m so glad it didn’t get pruned this year! Just goes to show you that one can be too efficient. Sometimes you have to let life do it’s thing and then when you’re least expecting it, miracles appear around you.

Amazing, isn’t it? Everything grows like weeds here in Southern California. We have calla lilies popping up all over the yard. They spread like crazy! I’ll take some more photos soon.

In fact, I’m going to go wander around the yard with Kate right now and look at the light patterns and dream about where I’m going to put all my new plants. It’s starting to feel a little bit like springtime. Makes me very happy!

Tomorrow Luis the gardener is coming and I’m going to have him help me move some rose bushes and the canna. They are not getting enough sun and hardly bloom as a result.

I’m also going to ask him to help me move a lemon tree to the other side of the yard. It needs more sun, too, and I’m going to put my new pallet composter in it’s place in the corner of the yard. Woo hoo! So excited about my compost!

Expanding My Gardens February 29, 2008

I’m excited! I just scored 15 pallets. And they were free! I found them on Craig’s List yesterday.

I have to drive to North Hollywood to pick them up but I’m not working today and Alla will be here to take care of Kate so I’m going to use the day to do errands and get my taxes filed.

The pallets are going to be used to make compost bins. I’m going to secure them together with rope or maybe screws — maybe even bungee cords. We’ll see. Now I’ll be able to compost ALL our yard clippings in addition to our kitchen scraps. I’m going to start with two compost bins, and if I want to expand it, I can.

Last weekend my father-in-law, Ed, and I went and got everything I need to start my seeds. We got steel shelving from the restaurant supply store, and at the hardware store we bought fluorescent lighting incandescent lamps and a timer and S hooks and extension cords. Yensi and I set up the shelves yesterday afternoon in the garage. I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

I still have to buy vermiculite and perlite and more seeds. I’m amazed at all the things we can grow here in Southern California. Did you know you can start palm trees from seeds? And banana plants? And Ed and Nancy brought me back some seeds from Costa Rica — including a jacaranda tree and ylang ylang.

OK I gotta go get dressed so I can head over to pick up my pallets!

What We Can Learn From Saving Trash February 15, 2008

I can’t stop thinking about the guy who saved his trash for a year.

I read about him a while back but it didn’t really gel with me until now. I guess because all of this stuff is cumulative. You do one thing and it leads to another and another. It’s actually become a hobby for me now. Okay, not just a hobby. An obsession. (But it’s a good obsession!)

I want to respond to his post on what he learned from saving his trash for a year:

1. The vast vast vast majority of trash comes from food packaging. Packaged food is less nutritious, on the whole, than fresh food. Packaged food, ounce for ounce, is often more expensive than fresh food. I’ve learned that making less trash, by consuming less packaged food actually makes me healthier and wealthier. I’m in the best shape of my life right now and I can see first hand that it is related to changes in my diet that have come from this project.

I have noticed that we have a lot less trash since I have been cooking traditional foods. We stopped eating most packaged foods thanks to Sally Fallon and the WAPF — for health reasons. Avoiding packaged foods also helps the environment.

Some examples:

I used to buy yogurt. Now I make filmjolk and kefir. Just add milk and leave it on the counter. No more plastic yogurt containers.

I used to buy iced tea and soda. Now I make kombucha and beet kvass. No more cans and bottles. I’m also starting to make kefir soda pop (more on that in a future post).

I used to buy most of our vegetables from the grocery store. Now I buy most of it at the farmer’s market. They fill a plastic bin, which I carry home with me and then bring it back the following week. There are no plastic bags on any of the produce.

I’ve been making pickles, sauerkraut, and mayonnaise from scratch, reusing glass jars. I am going to learn how to make ketchup, salsa, naturally fermented soy sauce, and mustard. (By the way, ALL of these recipes are in Sally Fallon’s cookbook, “Nourishing Traditions”.)

Seth still likes fancy Italian mineral water. I’m looking into buying one of those seltzer makers. However, he is drinking a lot less since we started drinking kombucha.

We are also still buying distiled water. Soon we will buy a water filtration system and eliminate the need for this.

I still have to buy milk in plastic jugs. That is the way they come from Organic Pastures. It would be nice if they could someday go to a delivery service with reusable glass containers. Maybe I will write a letter to them to ask about the feasibility of this.

We are using less paper towels. A cloth rag works fine.

2. When I ask people to put prepared food in my own containers it disrupts their flow and makes them think. Some people like this. They enjoy the momentary distraction from monotony and the novelty of the experience. Others get pissed off. It makes they have to pay attention, it takes more energy. I don’t know what to do with this information yet I just know I’ve learned this.

I have noticed this, too, when I bring my cloth bags to stores like Target. I usually get a whiff of frustration. I’ve noticed it even when I don’t have a cloth bag and just tell them I don’t need a bag. They usually look at me like I’m crazy and try to foist a bag on me anyway.

I had to actually INSIST that I did not want a bag recently at Office Max. The guy REALLY wanted me to have that bag — even though I kept telling him I didn’t want one. “I’m trying to save the planet!” I said.

I have also had to stop people at Whole Foods from putting paper bags on my wine bottles so they don’t break in the cloth bags. “It’s fine!” I say, giving them back their bags. “I’ll be careful. I’m not going very far.”

3. Saving trash leads to increased consciousness of what I consume. I cannot purchase a single thing without wondering about all of the energy that went into manufacturing it, the resources use to ship, how far its component parts traveled until it was assembled, how far it then traveled to get to the store where I purchased it, the thousands of miles it may travel before finding its ultimate home in a pile of other unwanted manufactured souls.

I am thinking about this, too. If I have to buy foods and other products that come in packages, I would rather buy things that come in packages that can be composted.

Example: Buying detergent that comes in cardboard boxes (they can be composted) instead of plastic containers. This is an easy switch!

Another example: When I buy meat from Whole Foods it often (not always) comes wrapped in compostable paper. Unlike at Trader Joe’s where it is wrapped in plastic.

Another example: I am using my egg crates to start seeds. I can reuse them for this more than once — or compost them.

4. Recycling sucks. There, I said it. Of course recycling is a powerful first step in becoming more aware of what one consumes and it’s better to recreate something out of something than it is to gather up more raw materials to make something new. That said, recycling still sucks. It takes enormous amounts of energy and clean water to produce plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars and cans of all kinds. It take enormous amounts of energy to collect these items at curbsides and ship them to recycling facilities. It take enormous energy to recycle items and ship them somewhere to be remanufactured. Almost all recyclable materials come from food or health and beauty products – both unnecessary items we have grown addicted to in our modern world. Less recycling also means fresher food. Health and beauty products is another conversation and I’m not sure we’re all ready for it yet :o)

I’m ready for it!

I stopped wearing deodorant. Corn starch (which comes in a cellulose bag) works GREAT!

Many of you know of my “no poo” experiment. I have been using Terressentials hair wash but after one of my readers (thanks, Rachel) suggested trying a little baking soda mixed with bentonite clay (I got some from Mountain Rose Herbs), I find that it works great on my hair. I’ve been using a little vinegar in my rinse.

I’ve stopped using moisturizer on my face; I use coconut oil now.

I’ve stopped using makeup (never really used much anyway — I put a little powder on on occasion). I just can’t be bothered.

I’ve stopped using tampons and now use the Diva cup and a natural sea sponge. Cloth pads and the Japanese toilet seat are next. (Shhh don’t tell Seth about the Japanese toilet seat.)

I’ve stopped using disposable diapers and now use cloth. Cloth wipes are next.

As for the recycling issue, I agree! If we can avoid buying these packaged foods and other products in the first place, that is the ideal scenario.

5. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference. If I can do this, someone else can do this. If two people reduce their consumption radically, 4 people can do it to, so can 8 people, 16 people, 32 people, and so on. Change is much easier and much more readily available than most of us are taught to think and lead to believe.

This is so true! It’s all the little things that add up. And if we all try to do little things, it will add up to making a big difference!

6. Trash sucks. 100 years ago most of the trash we produce now did not even exist. It did not even exist. Now it is at the center of a worldwide economic system that is lopsidedly built upon mass consumption to create huge profits for the few at the physical and environmental expense of the many many many. This makes me sad.

It makes me sad, too. Let’s change it!!!! If we stop buying it, they will have to stop selling it. The power really is in our hands.

7. Changing is fun, much more fun than it is stressful.

I agree!

People keep telling me that they are impressed that I am doing all of this stuff.

The truth: I can’t help it! It’s so much fun. It’s actually addictive.

8. Cleaning out food packaging takes time and is necessary to get rid of odors and to ensure bugs and rodents are not attracted to it.

I’d rather reuse glass jars and stick in the dishwasher. Or compost paper. I hate buying anything in plastic.

I also want to say this:

Blogging and the internet has really spurred me on in this endeavor. I have learned so much from people online — all the wonderful people on the Discussing NT Yahoo list and from blogs like Save Your Trash and These Days in French Life (just to name a couple).

Thanks, everyone. Let’s keep encouraging each other!

The Guy Who Saved His Trash For a Year February 15, 2008

This guy saved his trash for a whole year. He even brought back 16 days’ worth of trash from a trip to Hawaii.

He is an inspiration to me.

I know, it seems wacky. But global warming is happening, folks. If you haven’t seen An Inconvenient Truth, please watch it. It will change your life.

And if you did see it and haven’t yet changed your life, maybe there are some simple things you can start doing to make a difference.

Recycling some of your trash is good — but it’s not enough.

You don’t have to save your trash for a year. But maybe you can start by composting.

Or start using cloth grocery bags. And don’t just use them at the grocery store — use them at Target and the drug store and the mall.

Switch to cloth diapers. And cloth wipes! (I’m making some now.)

Use cloth rags in the kitchen instead of paper towels.

Get some reusable take-out containers.

Stop using toxic chemicals on your lawn. Go organic!

Or a reusable coffee cup for that Starbucks latte you get every day.

Make kombucha at home instead of drinking soft drinks.

Boycott food from factory farms and eat only pasture-raised, grass-fed beef and dairy. (Animal feedlots and factory farms are one of the biggest causes of methane gas which causes global warming.)

Buy a paper shredder and compost your junk mail.

Buy a Japanese toilet seat or bidet so you can use less toilet paper.

Get a Diva cup or a natural sea sponge and/or some Glad Rags or other reusable menstrual pads.

Stop taking the newspaper (read it online).

Use a pooper scooper to pick up animal waste — instead of plastic bags.

Stop buying chemical household cleaners and make your own or use an environmentally friendly brand.

Limit the number of packaged foods you buy.

Maybe just one little thing.

Remember, it’s not for you. It’s for your children. For your grandchildren. And for their children and grandchildren.

Because if we don’t change our ways drastically, there won’t be a world for them to enjoy.

I just read the other day that polar bears are about to be extinct.

You can save them. We can do it together.

Maybe you could just do one little thing. Maybe you could start today.

How to Make a Free Compost Bin February 13, 2008

I just found this great tutorial on how to make a compost bin out of pallets. (http://farminginsuburbia.blogspot.com/)

More info here: http://www.digitalseed.com/composter/bins/palletbin.html

Not sure where to get the pallets. She found hers on Freecycle.

I noticed some free pallets on Craig’s List — but they are in the valley and I don’t want to drive all the way up there. Maybe I’ll post on Freecycle and Craig’s List and see if anyone has any lying around.

I’m going to do this — it’s an easy, free way to compost.

Insta-composting! January 25, 2008

There’s no need for a compost heap when you can just compost directly in your garden bed!

Here’s my easy composting method:

Just bury your kitchen scraps directly in the garden.

You don’t have to dig very deep. Just barely enough to cover the scraps with dirt.

Do not use any meat scraps or anything from animals — otherwise you will have pests in your yard.

If you have worms, they’ll go at this right away and it should break down completely within a matter of a few weeks. If you do not have worms in your soil, add some. You can buy them at any garden store.

I’m just adding new mini-compost holes in between in the plants in a line along the garden in my side yard. To keep track of your holes, just leave the shovel standing where you left off — then you will know where to make your next hole.

When your good rich compost is created, you can dig up a little and pat it around the roots of your plants.

A good book to read (one of my all-time favorites for organic gardening): Lasagna Gardening by Pat Lanza.

Her lasagna method is even easier because there is no digging. Just lay down some wet newspaper and do layers of scraps, peat moss, hay, what-have-you. You can plant directly into it. I’m going to do this in my vegetable bed.

PS: I’m till going to do a real compost heap because I have a lot of yard and grass clippings that I need to put somewhere other than the city yard scrap recycling bin.

How to Reduce Global Warming: Compost! January 20, 2008

Here is the number one thing you can start doing today for the environment:

Start composting!

I was just listening to one of my favorite shows on the Lime channel on Sirius Radio. It’s called The Organic Gardeners.

They had a guy on the show this morning named Joe Lamp’l of JoeGardener.com.

Wow — he is amazing. One of the things they talked about was this:

Over 60% of the trash that goes into landfills is compostable.

and

Landfills are the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

Isn’t that staggering? I had no idea! That means if we all started composting, we would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%. Holy moley!

Are you composting? If not, why not?

I wasn’t doing it because I thought it was too much trouble. I didn’t have a compost bin set up. And it was easier just to throw things in the trash. And a lot of stuff went down the garbage disposal. Which just clogged it up. It’s funny because whenever the plumber comes to snake the drain, the always tell you not to put stuff down there.

Composting is a simple thing we can all do to help the environment.

How to get started with composting:

1. Find a bucket or a big bowl.
2. Start putting scraps in there. Vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells and the like. (What not to compost)
3. When it fills up, throw it onto a compost heap, bin or worm trays.
4. If you don’t have any of those things, just go dig a hole in your yard and bury it. You don’t have to bury it very deep. I just barely cover mine with dirt. You can pour scraps all over your garden beds this way.
5. Also be sure to add leaves and grass clippings to your piles.

Add some worms to your soil if you don’t have any. You can get worms at most gardening supply stores. If you feed the worms with scraps, they will multiply. You will know if you have worms by just digging into your dirt with a shovel — you should see them wiggling around in there.

I have worms in my dirt and I will tell you they eat fast! I buried a large bucketful of scraps in mid-December. A few weeks later, I went to check it and guess what? All the scraps were gone!

If you don’t have a yard, you can compost in an an apartment using worm trays or a Bokashi bucket. Then you can use your compost for your houseplants.

What? You don’t have any houseplants? Get some! Houseplants are so good for you — they increase oxygen indoors and actually reduce toxins.

Joe Gardener says you can use a paper shredder to make compostable material out of your junk mail. How cool is that? And what better use for all that paper? Give it to the worms!

Lasagna Composting and Seed Starting January 17, 2008

So I’ve been thinking a lot about my garden. One of the New Year’s resolutions I have for this year is to vastly increase my vegetable and herb gardens. I also want to grow a lot more flowers.

I was pondering buying some fancy composting equipment but now I’m thinking maybe I don’t need it after all.

In mid-December, I buried a bucketfull of kitchen scraps in my vegetable garden and last week I went out to see how it was decomposing and IT WAS GONE. There was no evidence of scraps whatsoever. So it only took about 3 weeks.

Those worms eat fast!

So I guess I don’t need any fancy equipment. I still want some… because I like toys. But I’ll use the money to buy a water filtration system and grain mill instead.

But for now, considering the amount of worms in my garden beds, I am going to start layering my kitchen scraps “lasagna” style as recommended in the book “Lasagna Gardening” by Patricia Lanza (one of the best gardening books EVER).

She recommends laying wet newspaper or cardboard directly on the bed. You can even lay it directly on sod or hard ground — if you want to start a new bed. No digging required. Then on top of that you lay kitchen scraps, and various other components both brown and green, add some peat moss and manure if you can — and on top of that soil. Then cover with tarps or plastic trash bags so it can bake (like lasagna!).

This will get my beds ready for spring planting and no need for any equipment.

And it’s a great way to use up all these Wall St. Journals we have lying around.

I suppose if you didn’t have as many worms as I do, you could simply add worms to your beds and you’d do fine. You can tell if you have worms by using the shovel to dig up a bit of soil. You should see them immediately.

By the way, I did this in the last garden I had and it was staggering how big my plants got. They were absolutely mammoth. Tomato plants taller than me (I’m 5′5), a lemon grass bush as big as a 5-year-old. And I used no fertilizer and no pesticides. Just the lasagna gardening method.

Next on my list is to figure out what I’m going to plant, where to plant it, and then to buy the seeds and set up a place to start them. I’m going to do various vegetables and herbs. Now that I have my dehydrator, I can even dry my herbs for herb tea. Or make fresh mint tea straight from the garden — there is nothing better than that!

I want to buy only non-Monsanto, non-GMO (genetically modified) seeds. Just about every seed purveyor out there sells Monsanto seeds, however I have found three mail-order sources for real heirloom seeds that have not been tampered with:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Fedco Seeds

Seed Savers

There’s really no place in our house to put seed trays. However, I just read that I can set up some basic metal shelving in the garage and start my seeds out there. You just have to add some lighting. I can probably get everything I need at the hardware store.

Gotta get back to work now. I’ll post more about this when I decide what to plant!

Composting November 28, 2007

Quick post… baby's about to wake up from her morning nap.

I'm excited about getting back to composting. I've been reading about compost bins — just trying to decide which kind to get. We have a ton of leaves and garden cuttings. I will need to work with our gardener to make sure he puts everything in the compost.

In the meantime, I am going to order a small kitchen compost pail so I can stop throwing away all this good stuff! It's so ridiculous to throw away good decomposing matter and then go out and BUY fertilizer. What a waste.

I'm also looking into harvesting rainwater. I know we don't get a lot of rain in LA — but we do get a lot in the winter months. You can actually set up a rainwater harvesting system that purifies the water and makes it good enough to drink. I may not be able to do it in this house — it may have to wait until we move to our next house. Along with my cow and chicken coop and my solar panels.