A Bag Full of Earth Box and an Earthship

Sing to the melody for, "Brim Full of Asha and a Forty-Five!" Bag Full of Earth Box and an Earthship . . . kind of catchy. Here's the post full of Laurie, Earthships and The-V . . .

My friend Laurie is going green step by step. So is The-V. The Earthship people are waaaaay ahead of all of us.


Laurie has submitted a design for a reusable bag as part of Kroger Grocery Store's contest. Kroger, like so many other corporations, is trying to go green. Part of me is sad it has taken this long for being green to be so easy. Kermit didn't have it this way!


Anyway, her bag design is cute so go ahead and vote. If you vote for someone else's design, I won't be upset because you will be participating in a greening of the Garden! Just be sure to unplug your computer when you are finished voting!


Now, on to The-V. The-V is a dude at Home Depot in the town where I currently reside. He told me he was growing all his vegetables on his driveway this year. I thought he was joking . . . he was serious. He did have me going for a few minutes, but as it turns out, he is using an Earth Box.

Earth Box. The first thing that came to mind were Earthships, homes built into the earth or from very local or recycled materials. I'll get into that in a minute. The Earth Box is the novice or urbanite's answer to wanting fresh produce, grown themselves without the need for a tiller or even a backyard. They are pretty cool and come with an organic option (which I highly recommend as I am anti-poison . . . aren't you?). The entire starter kit is about $60.00, very reasonable. There are options for tomatoes, strawberries, lettuces and a slew of informational videos.



So, if chasing your trowel around (mine is usually puloined par un toddler) and digging all day aren't on your list of things to do . . . check out the Earth Box. But be careful . . . gardening is addictive! As soon as that first homegrown strawberry bursts in your mouth, you will be hooked! It is a managable addiction, just hang on for the Square Foot Gardening post! I will help you on your twelve step path away from conventional produce!

But back to Earthships . . . these things are coooooooooooool! So cool! National Geographic, the Travel Channel and others have all featured Earthships at one time or another! And, like gardening, hanging clothes on a line and organic cooking . . . I am becoming addicted to Earthships!


For a married couple with two children, a dog and a lot of working put into our home, we are not very settled. We haven't completely decided where we want to live for good, but Earthships are popping up or, pushing in, everywhere! I love the Earthship mother site (hee hee, made that up!) but seriously . . . there are multiple advantages to these style homes: lower energy requirements, efficient design, blend in with local landscapes and my favorite . . . you can plant flowers on your roof! Just be careful not to let them grow over your solar panels!


Well, I could jibber jabber about this all day, but the strawberries won't plant themselves (plus the wind blew my recycling bins into the fron tyard and St. Francis is facedown in the tulips . . . not a very saintly position). So, TTFN!

Coming Tomorrow: The Local Farmers' Market! Wooo hoooo!

Earth Day Party!

Earth Day . . . it can easily go by unnoticed. Maybe the evening news will have a story telling of the coming destruction of the planet followed by a feel good story about an elementary school that saved their milk money to plant some trees.

I wanted Earth Day to be something different at our house this year, so I decided to throw an Earth Day party. Now, we are a Christian household, so we are definitely NOT tree-worshipping hippies, we are Christ worshipping hippies (well, at least I am!). So, this party had an underlying theme . . . but it was very subtle. We'll get to that later on in the post.

First order of the day was checking the RSVP's. I used evites because 1. I didn't get my act together in time to use regular invitations and 2. they don't use any paper. Power yes, paper no. So I was expecting roughly 25 people. Yay!

Second, we needed to prepare the snacks. We were having dirt cups, grapes and juice. This was an after lunch pre-nap party, so the snacks were light and easy going.

Third, prepare the activities. This all required the help of a good friend, since as usual, I was running a wee bit behind schedule! She came over and helped prep snacks and activities, which included planting pole beans and making bagel bird feeders.

The bean pots were fun . . . each child brought an applesauce, yogurt or fruit cup they had previously used as their pot. We then used scraps of wrapping paper, old pompons, googly eyes and the like to decorate the pots. Add dirt and a pre-soaked bean (speeds germination for impatient planters), ta-dah! Earth Friendly Bean Plant!

The bagel bird feeders were neat, too. We tied strings around the bagels and spread shortening on wherever the kids wanted (on the bagel, that is. Some did taste test the shortening and my son checked out the bird seed; thumbs up to both I believe!). Then, the larded/shortened bagel was smooshed, rolled, sprinkled and patted with birdseed.

We hung ours in the maple tree and are waiting for some feathered friends to come for a snack! I am excited because I had a blue bird and his lady friend sharing bugs in my front yard this morning . . . maybe they will return!

We then read a book to the children who weren't busy playing in the grass. We read My Bag and Me, which is adorable! It is a board book and a reusable bag and both are 100% recyclable! The bag is so cute and I can't wait to go to the farmers' market this weekend and let my son carry his own little bag!

I also had books out for the adults to peruse (this is my subtle theme . . . ahem ahem). Serve God Save the Planet, by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD is what I am reading now. It is a book about Creation Care or Stewardship of the Earth and it is fantastic. I also had out Go Green Save Green, by Nancy Sleeth as well as It's Easy Being Green by Emma Sleeth (Matthew and Nancy's daughter). All of the books are aimed at Christian readers, but I will not go into too much detail, because that is another post!

So, we had a good Earth Day Party. Some friends car-pooled, some did not. Everyone brought their own reuseable bags to tote their crafts and we all noted the importance of carrying on the Earth Day feeling. We don't want this to be "funeral syndrome," where everyone stays in touch and holds their family close . . . for a week and then forgets. Earth Day should be every day. Every time we wake up on God's Earth we should be thankful and ask him what he needs us to do today . . . but not just for a week, forever!

Happy Earth Day!

YES!

I got up almost on time this morning . . . YES!

So, now I have the house started on it's way and I can get the kids in the bathtub BEFORE pre-school and I've had an entire cup of hot coffee without reheating it! Wooo Hooo . . . hey. it's the small victories, people!


Later on!

Will Crochet for World Personality

Ok, so it is on my list of things to do and I think I am getting the hang of it! Crocheting, that is . . . the gooey cinnamon swirl bread is still a bane, but the crocheting is AWESOME!

Nerd. Yup, that's me. Nerdy to a fault, but I am being honest. I love homecrafts: cooking, baking, sewing, crocheting (the latest) and I am really wanting to learn how to can and preserve fruits and veggies. My mom used to make baskets when we were growing up and I thought that was cool, too.

It's always interesting to see how things are really made. Unless you take the time to do the little bit of research, everything just appears on the shelf of the suburban superstore and you bring it home (usually in a plastic bag, ick). But when you take the time to investigate, you learn that hands make things, or at least they used to!

I want my hands to make things of use so I am learning to crochet. I plan on making supersoft bamboo socks for the fam for Christmas, so if you are a family member and you don't like that idea, tell me quickly! (It's going to take me this long to make all of them, I'm sure)

There is also a group of people where I live who are dedicated to helping teens learn about where their food comes from. The group is Mission Clarksville and they help local teens learn to love the land, learn to love the soil and really understand how food is produced and makes it onto their table. Again, for most people it is just there in the grocery store. They never think it could have been harvested weeks ago, frozen and transported and they never think about the hands that got it there. The teens involved in Mission Clarksville gain a respect for agrarian processes and lifestyles.

Work is Love Made Visible. -Khalil Gibran

Photo from www.MissionClarksville.org

I am really excited about Mission Clarksville and they will have a booth at Rivers & Spires this weekend. If more and more people were concerned about the hands producing their "stuff," the world would become more personal and a happier place to be! So, while this really didn't have anything to do with crocheting, I am going to practice my treble stitch so I can make a blanket for my husband. I think he will be impressed and when you know the hands that produced something for you out of love, the gift becomes that much more special!

Randomized Thoughts

So, I have been absent from blogging for roughly two weeks-ish. I would like to say we have been busy, but nothing out of the ordinary has been going on in the evening, which is when I write. Our days have been full and Holy week always seems busy, but in a good way.

I am tired of severe weather, and that is saying a lot for me. I love it, really. I hate hiding from tornados in my bathtub with my 20 month old, my 7 month old and the dog (it gets hot), but I love to watch the advancing storms. I love to see if I can catch the rotation on radar before the forecasters on TV see it or are alerted. I am a weather geek . . . this I know. My best friend aside from my husband is my NOAA Midland SAME weather radio . . . NERD, and I love it!

Anyway, I am done with this weather. Mostly because today it woke the children from their naps about an hour early, so you can imagine how fantastic our evening was. At least there is always the backyard and little boys love the backyard, especially the mud. We did manage to go pick up some of our seedlings/peat pot veggies and an herb. We were able to get our new tomato plant, a red pepper, a head each of romaine and bibb lettuces, yellow summer squash, and my personal coup d'etat, already bigger than a toothpick lavander! YAY! (I have a black thumb with lavendar, but I really want to grow it, badly!)

So, the garden forms are, well, formed. The peat is purchased. The compost is compiled (I adore aliteration . . . I shall stop, hee hee). All I have left to do is clear the grass in a couple of spots and the garden is a go! I am trying out square foot gardening. Easy to do organically and it leaves plenty of room for the kids to play, the dog to run and me to plant more trees! Seems like a win win situation since the CSA wasn't in the budget this year. Hopefully it will be next year, but I will try my hand at okra, swiss chard and a couple of herbs as well as the above mentioned veggies. (And the lavender, don't forget the lavender!)

Now, if only I didn't have to drive everywhere, we would be well on our way to greening up our daily lives. I live in suburbia . . . a less than pedestrian friendly environ to begin with. Now add in our city's place as the 10th worst city to walk in the country . . . nice title to hold (sarcasm, drip, drip). While we are busy widening every single dirt road into a two lane monstrosity, would it hurt to put in both bike lanes AND sidewalks? I can't push a jogging stroller on the wide shoulders so graciously provided . . . I actually want my children to enjoy walks, not be terrified from dodging cars driven by text-crazy-self-absorbed-wannabe-racecar drivers! Yikes! Let's not get into the lack of tree replacement . . . I want this to be a happy blog . . .

~Subject Change~

I ran out of diaper covers again today. So annoying, especially when the youngest tinkles through trashbags, I swear. So, I got to support another local crunchy mommy! I called her up and begged her for some diaper covers and then was able to go pick them up on our way to get the baby garden plants! Awesome! We also went out to Schlabach's Bakery in Guthrie, KY and purchased local honey, locally made sorghum, locally made blackberry preserves and indulged in locally made wheat/potato bread. I say indulge because I decided to take a week off from making bread. We also saw two horse and buggies while we were on our way home, emus, goats and cows. I love local businesses!

Well, I have added a list of things to learn to do, soon. One of the items is go to bed on time. If I don't stop blabbering, I won't make that one come true. TTFN! Not so random next time!

To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool . . .

So, I guess that is the quetion.
I haven't ever really been a fan of homeschooling due to the regular nay-sayer reasons:

- They won't be socialized.
- All the homeschoolers I knew growing up were nerdy, anti-social and weird (see above).
- I can't be with my children 24/7.

So, I still don't have an answer to the first one.

I guess the second excuse stems from the one homeschooling family I knew really well. It wasn't so much the children were nerdy, anti-social and weird. It was one of the parents who was rude and mildly anti-social. The other parent was pleasant and a joy to be around. The same held true for their children: one was a chore, the other was fun, but over shaddowed by the obnoxious sister. Something tells me this would have been the case regardless of where they were schooled.

Now to the third excuse/reason: I'm still not sure about this one. I love my children. They are really great and still really young. The only times I need a break are around dinner time and when they are whiny. Otherwise, they are a joy and I love my time with them. The oldest is in pre-school twice a week for this school year and he and his sister are enrolled in the same program next year.

I believe the socialization question to be valid. Then again, what exactly are they being socialized into by the schooling system? Popular culture? No thanks. How to bully 101? Again, no thanks. But there is the experience one can gain from learning how to handle these situations. I need to discern the merit in that, if there is any. I just don't have good memories of being bullied.

I did learn how to handle disappointment and not being the biggest fish in the sea through my extra curricular activities . . . though they had nothing to do with school: ballet, piano, girl scouts, rec. sports teams, etc. I guess the jury in my head is still out. (The implications of the last statement turn out to be farther reaching than I intended!)

On to the 24/7 contact with my children. As of right now we only have two children, but we are hoping to change that through adoption. At what point, I'm not sure, but it has been discussed. I do look forward to my pre-school days when I get a little bit of a break and can run errands unimpeded . . . hmmmmm, I may not be cut out for this. On the other hand, it isn't really all that difficult to run errands when the children are well behaved, rested and I am prepared. Plus, after some marathon-errand running, I know they will take good naps. Our lives will change after we accept a third child into our family . . . will my patience extend or wear out?

How do people come up with the answers to these questions? I am not worried about my qualifications intellectually or academically and my substitute teacher is equally well prepared (that would be my Dear Husband . . . he's a smarty pants). I am not worried about the financial implications; we live on a well maintained budget and are frugal in most areas. I'm definitely not afraid to be, "different." I cloth diaper, make all of my children's foods (see previous post). So what am I worried about? I'm not completely sure.

I do know I am worried about failure. Isn't that everyone's fear about everything they ever try? Isn't taking the leap of faith the hardest part? I'm just not sure where exactly to start within this topic. I don't want to make the wrong decision. My children are still years away from public school, unless Head Start becomes mandatory and then they aren't that far off. Hmmmm . . .

This is my plan, as of now: I will see if I can get a pre-school or pre-K curriculum and try to teach at home over the summer, when I don't have pre-school as a fall back. Hopefully it will be an accurate and effective litmus test of my abilities and dedication. I know some of you reading this are thinking: if she doesn't know, she doesn't want to homeschool. Fact of the matter is, I just don't know enough about it in general.

The idea of making all of their food was initially romantic, then revolutionary and now it is an act of love. The idea of setting up my own little schoolhouse is also romantic, but the implications of failure are far reaching . . . so, the experiment is on! Their mother's sophomoric attempt at pre-school for a season won't kill their chances of scholarship in general, I hope.

Oh well . . . here goes nothing!

Stay at Home Day

We had a "Stay at Home Day." The kids never made it out of their pj's and I was able to facillitate good naps and finish all the laundry! So, no blog today . . . it was a family day! TTFN!