100!!!!

This is my 100th post! My first post was back at the end of May. Thank you to everyone who's been reading my blog. I know at times it's been a little ...odd...but I really appreciate all the feedback I've gotten from family and friends. I feel like this blog has helped keep me focused on living green, especially as I've gone back to work and my life has gotten so much busier. It's nice to be able to blog about something, then have the accountability of actually having SAID I was going to do something to keep me going on the right path. So this is a THANK you for listening to me ramble..hopefully for ANOTHER 100 posts!

Slow Thanksgiving Recipes

I got an email from, that's right, Slow Foods. It was all about having a Slow Thanksgiving and I thought the recipe section looked interesting...and I was AMAZED at how many recipes they had on there! Lots of different kinds of food, but all Thanksgiving-ey. Check it out!

Pomegranate Seeds

Yesterday at preschool was fruit day. Each child brings in a fruit to share and we make fruit salad for snack. Yesterday one child brought in pomegranate seeds. I was SUPER excited to try them since I've heard that they're good for you and this was the best way to do it, since I didn't have to actually have to buy the pomegranate to taste it. (Plus my daughter was with me so SHE could try them too!) Verdict--we love them! So yesterday I bought 2/$6 at Giant Eagle...not the cheapest snack. I wasn't sure if you eat just the seeds or the entire fruit, and for $3 a pomegranate, I didn't want to be wasteful. So, I Googled "how to eat a pomegranate". I found this cheesy YouTube video, but after looking at a few other methods, I think this will be the easiest and cleanest. Hopefully the rest of my family likes them as well!

Dryer Balls

My California friend emailed me about this product she found at the Container Store. They're dryer balls that you use instead of dryer sheets. I actually have a different brand, but the same thing. I've had them for a few years and I really like them. When I first started with my natural stuff, I cut out fabric softner and started just using white vinegar instead (it really works and you clothes DO NOT smell like french fries, ROBBIE!) When I found these dryer balls I quit using vinegar and just used them. I thought they worked pretty well. I thought they did a good job with static too. I started with 4, now I'm down to 2-3. Whatever lives in the dryer that eats socks must have found a taste for dryer balls too. I like that they're reusable and I have one less thing to buy at the grocery store. In full disclosure, I'm currently using dryer sheets right now, but not really for my clothes. When the weather gets colder and the indoors get dryer, my hair gets SUPER staticy! Used dryer sheets are AMAZING for killing the static. I keep one in my purse and one with my dryer to used in the morning. So although they're not super green (I do buy the fragrance free ones to reduce SOME of the chemicals I'm using) I feel that one every few washes for one season a year is a good compromise, especially since they're being reused.

Gobble Gobble!

I came across an interesting article while reading a SlowFood newsletter. It's from this site and it's titled, "Eco-Tips for Buying a Thanksgiving Turkey." This year I'm actually going to buy a Tofurky and see how it is (if it's anything like their hot dogs, I'll be giving most of it to the dogs and rats), but for those of you who eat meat, I thought this might give you something to think about when you're shopping for your holiday bird. I've cut and pasted excerpts from the article here but if you'd like to read the whole thing, the link above will take you there. I doubt the links from the articles are still active...sorry about that! I went to the link at the end of the article and found a farms that will ship heritage and organic turkeys for the holiday. http://www.localharvest.org/store/turkey.jsp

"Suffice it to say, the Thanksgiving turkey you are likely to track down today in the supermarket is nothing like the wild turkey my friends hunt, and in fact it's quite different from what your grandparents ate 50 years ago. Ninety-nine percent of all turkeys raised in the United States at the present time are the Broadbreasted White variety (sometimes called the Large White). Raised in confinement in extremely crowded conditions on factory farms (PDF), they are fed a steady diet of grain and supplements like antibiotics, rather than the grubs, bugs and grasses they should eat and could eat if they were allowed outdoors.

As their name implies, Broadbreasted White turkeys are valued for their large, meaty breasts, which breeding has enhanced though the process has rendered them virtually infertile. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, without artificial insemination performed by humans, this variety of bird would become extinct in just one generation.

When shopping for turkey, what should you buy?

There is much to consider when looking for the right type of turkey, or any type of poultry. To make the best choice, follow these three simple steps:

Always know where your bird came from.

If the person selling you the turkey is not the farmer, s/he should at least be able to tell you where it came from and how it was raised. To know what to ask and what answers you should be listening for, whether talking with a farmer, butcher or store manager, download Sustainable Table's terrific question and answer sheets. To learn what different claims really mean and whether you can trust them, check out Labels to Look For When Picking Poultry.

Choose a heritage, organic or sustainable turkey.

1. What's a heritage turkey? There is a movement to bring back older varieties of turkeys, many of which originated in the United States. Groups like Slow Food USA and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy are working to reintroduce genetically diversified varieties of animals, including turkeys, that were common decades ago. These animals, often referred to as heritage breeds, are naturally bred and contain no hormones or antibiotics. By promoting genetically diverse turkeys, these groups are working to ensure the survival of the species. Heritage turkeys are raised outdoors, roam freely on pasture and eat the varied diet nature intended them to eat, unlike most turkeys today. While conventional wisdom would suggest that the heritage turkey might be stringy and the Broadbreasted White juicier, in a blind taste test quite the opposite turned out to be true: Heritage birds--the Midget White and Bourbon Red in particular--proved superior in flavor to factory-farm birds. Heritage turkeys are more expensive because there is such a small number of them, and in many cases you must order in advance. Many farmers raise only enough turkeys to cover demand, so most consumers order their birds months in advance.
2. What about organic? If you aren't able to get a heritage turkey, another option is to buy an organic and/or sustainable bird. To be certified organic by the USDA, turkeys must be raised with no antibiotics, no growth enhancers and only organic feed, and they must be given access to the outdoors. The animals can be a heritage breed or the more common Broadbreasted White.
3. Beyond organic, are there other labels to consider? Organic farming generally falls within the accepted definition of sustainable agriculture. However, it is important to distinguish between the two, since organic products can be unsustainably produced on large industrial farms, and farms that are not certified organic can produce food using methods that will sustain the farm's productivity for generations. Some organic dairy farms, for example, raise cows in large confinement facilities but are able to meet the bare minimum requirements for organic certification, while a small farm that is not organic-certified might be using organic guidelines and be self-sufficient by recycling all the farm's waste. Farmers who raise sustainable turkeys are not overseen by any group or agency and have no legal guidelines to follow, though many actually exceed USDA organic standards. "Sustainable" refers more to a philosophy about agriculture than "organic," which is bound by its legal definition. "Sustainable" has thus come to describe the practices of farmers who preserve the land, treat their animals and workers humanely and help support the local community. Sustainable turkeys can be a heritage breed or the Broadbreasted White. Though there is no single set of standards for sustainable agriculture, there are several labels for which high standards have been set, and farms have been third-party-certified for having met them. These include:
   

Animal Welfare Approved: Sets high standards for health, shelter and handling, including a requirement that animals spend most of their life in pasture. Prohibits growth hormones; allows antibiotics only for sick animals.

Certified Humane: Sets high standards for health, shelter and handling; prohibits growth hormones; allows antibiotics only for sick animals.

Food Alliance Certified: Requires low- or no-pesticide policy; advocates worker welfare, habitat protection, well-managed agriculture and humane care of livestock.

American Grassfed: Requires that animals eat grass only, and if they receive antibiotics due to illness they must be removed from the program. Growth hormones are prohibited.

To learn more about these and other poultry labels, see Smarter Living Label Lookup: Poultry and Eggs.

Buy a local bird.

Thanksgiving is a celebration of the local harvest, so whether you are buying a heritage, organic or sustainable turkey, make sure it's from a local farm. Great directories to local food sources include Local Harvest and the Eat Well Guides."

Save The Planet....Shop Consignment!

I saw this sign...wait for it...in front of a consignment shop of all places!! This is one area of "greening" my life where I am REALLY lacking. I never buy second-hand things. In my defense, I don't do a whole lot of shopping, but when I do, I don't even think to go to a resale shop. With three kids, clothes are basically disposable. My kids (I should say my boys) rarely have anything that can be salvaged at the end of a season. They wear their clothes OUT! I save the ones that are in decent shape and either pass them along or donate them to GoodWill, so I'm pretty good about reusing clothes THAT way, but actually going to a resale shop and buying something for my kids...I don't think I've ever done it. And I should. When you think about the resources that are saved by buying resale items, it's pretty amazing. Considering I get most of the clothes that I DO by for my kids at Target, they've probably traveled around the world to get to my store. It really IS MUCH greener to buy used items. SO, I'm going to make a conscious effort to go to a resale shop and make my next clothing purchase!

Winterizing my Garden

I woke up this morning and there was frost on the ground. As I looked out my window I realized that my garden is starting to look a little pathetic. Everything is dying and wilting and I know I need to get it ready for winter...but I don't know exactly what to do since this is my first year. So I did what all seasoned gardeners do...I Googled, "preparing a garden for winter."
First, I need to tear out all the dead stuff so it doesn't harbor bug eggs all winter...I can handle this!
Second, I need to spread a thick layer of mulch to keep the soil temp even all winter, so when it freezes it stays frozen. I can either use the mulch I used in my flower beds in the spring or I can use leaves. I'm thinking I'm going to try the leaves since I can probably get the kids to help with that. The only problem is that our big oak in the backyard was uprooted a few years ago by hurricane Ike so all the leaves are now in the front yard. Looks like it's time to put that Jeep Powerwheel to work! And it looks like that's pretty much it! I can do this! I'm not sure why I thought this garden was going to be so much more work than it was. This all seems to be manageable stuff. Now I just need to start thinking about what to plant next year!