Moving right along

The lettuce is looking great! New growth in the center of each plant all ready...whoo hoo! No, seriously they have experienced very little shock with only their outer leaves yellowing. I actually picked a few of them off before deciding to let nature take it's course and allow them to wither and fall off.


I also divided my daylilies and replanted them behind the lettuce. Eventually I hope that entire bed will be daylilies. I'm going to buy a couple of yellow ones this year to plant in front of the these (after the lettuce is harvested). The back row is all orange, so I think the yellow will be a nice complement. But, I also like pink, so I may change my mind...who knows!


I'm getting the other bed ready for straw. We have decided to definitely plant a pumpkin vine and a squash plant. I also bought the decorative gourds to try again this year and I'm going to plant them in last years bean bed.

It's coming along, slowly but surely. Monty has gone to get the straw bales for all the rest of the beds. We plan to let them age naturally over the next month before planting in May. No prep with fertilizer will be needed if we go this route and we'll save a little money and be more environmentally friendly at the same time.

Today's going to a nice sun shiny day to just putz around in the yard! Hope you can get out there too!

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Electricity

We decided to lower our thermostat this winter to see what effect it would have on our Progress Energy bill. Cutting it down to 64 degrees at the beginning of December proved to be quite chilly and we used our gas logs to help out. It was soon apparent after having to order another propane tank 3 weeks into the season, that using our logs daily to help out wasn't going to save us any money. It would take hours of running the gas logs to raise the temperature from 64 to 68 degrees, especially since our home's living room, dining room and kithen are open to each other. No partition walls between rooms means you have a greater area for the heat to dissipate and lose warmth(or at least it sure feels that way).

So, we upped the thermostat to 66. If we needed to turn on the logs to take the chill off, it of course didn't take as long to raise the temp up to 68. We started layering our clothes and have found 66 degrees to be quite tolerable by doing so. I put an electric radiator heater in the bathroom and turned it down to the lowest setting. Surprisingly it has done the trick to take the morning chill off when we shower.

Did we save any money? Well, yes we did. To the tune of $40 less this month compared to the same time last year and we did it during one of the coldest winters our area has had. The proofs in the pudding, lowering the temperature down a couple degrees has definitely saved us a few bucks this winter season.

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Well, I'll be!

Waste management systems for dog poo. I'm not sure how long these have been around but I just heard of them yesterday. Monty said Lowe's Home Improvement has started to carry them and for ~ $25 you can buy one.

The idea is very simple and here is a little information taken from a website that sells them:

The Four Paws Waste Manager is the easy and “green” way to dispose of dog waste. The Waste Manager was designed to perform like a mini septic tank. The Waste Manager works “naturally” with rain/sprinkler water and enzymes as a catalyst to speed the breakdown of pet waste. Four free Natural Enzyme Tablets included. Additional Tablets are available for sale separately.



Since we have a pretty large lot, Monty long ago quit scooping every time Nina does her business. Instead it just lays out there on our lawn until it decomposes or gets stepped in, which usually elicits a loud #@#@. When that occurs he usually takes the initiative to search for and clean up the piles. Maybe having this system ready to go will make it easier to just get rid of it to begin with. No more hurling it down the hill, burying it or worse yet just letting it lay out there.

Sounds like something I should definitely check out.

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Composting

We have attempted in the past to compost, even going so far as to buy a composter. As a matter of fact, we have 2. They are placed down the hill in our backyard out of sight. Only problem is they are truly " out of sight, out of mind". Needless to say, we were good about it to begin with but in the last year have become quite slack in using it. Maybe I should clarify that statement. It was the ole DH's job to empty the kitchen container in the compost bin and "he" has become quite slack in keeping up with it. So, I have now taken over the job and started it up again, only this time I am emptying the food scraps into the raised flower bed in the front. Walking down the hill, fighting briars isn't exactly my cup of tea. I figure it can't hurt to use the flower bed right now while it is empty. Once the flowers are in I'll have to find another spot or move the composter up in the back yard where it is more accessible.

I'd even like to start a worm composting operation, the worm castings are great fertilizer and of course totally organic.

Really the hardest thing, is just getting into the routine of doing it. My grandmother kept an old milk carton beside her sink that all her vegetable waste went into. She emptied it out daily in her garden. It was her routine to do so, but then again, she was recycling way before it was the "thing to do". She never forgot the hard times during the depression, never took for granted electricity, wasted nothing, repurposed and reused everything she could.

Taking her lead, instead of using a milk carton, I am using the bottom half of a soda bottle. Not to big, doesn't hold more than a day's worth of scraps and it forces me to go out and empty it. It is quite amazing how fast it fills up with lettuce scraps, coffee grounds(with filter), orange peels, etc.

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365 Days of Trash

I am always on the look out for new blogs and here's the most recent one I've discovered...quite interesting.

http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com/

Ok, we finally got on the "green" wagon and bought one of those grocery cloth-like reusable bags. I had already gotten another one from our benefit's fair last fall, but had never used it. The DH(and myself)have never been big fans of the plastic ones. The paper ones are ok, but are subject to ripping if packed with heavy items. After light discussion, we've decided to stop using both. Since we are proud owners of 2 "green" ones, the ole DH tried them out last week. He has reported them to be very satisfactory and definitely something we(he) can get used to. Notice I said he had tried them out, as you know I am not one to love grocery store shopping. I have to give Kudos to the DD who has been using them for quite some time. She too, is moving toward using more reusable "green" items and less disposables.

I don't know why buying that darn bag has made me so happy, maybe because we are reducing what goes into the landfill?

Yes, that's it exactly!

And, now to provide you with a little inspiration...

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Out with the old

Today was so nice that I decided to start cleaning out the raised beds holding last year's straw bales. It really is recycling at it's best -- the old decomposed bales are perfect to put in the flower beds out in the bird garden. My new annuals will love the rich decomposing goodness and I will get to enjoy flowers all summer.

I was quite productive and was able to get the old pepper bed and 1 side of the tomato beds done today. I'm even thinking of having the ole DH make 2 more raised flower beds out front. They sure are easier to weed, maintain and are so much better on my lower back! Not to mention, I may try to plant more cukes out there this year(remember last years did terrible only producing 3-4 cukes off of 2 vines).

So, all in all, I got a head start on one of my spring chores and it feels pretty good!

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Living Simple

I think this couple has the right idea....it's about 27 mins long, but take the time to really listen about their journey and renewed outlook.

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Carpooling, week 3

Well, as most of you know or maybe you don't, I am now into week 3 of my carpooling experiment.

What, you ask...carpooling? If you can believe it, yes. It all started after reading the book, Ishmael over the Christmas holiday. This story was written to make you think, be aware of how we came to be and how we have become insensitive to what is happening on our earth; how we only have one earth, and so forth. It was very inspiring and I decided I should do what I could to lessen my impact on "mother earth" so to speak.

We began to think about how many miles Monty drives to work(16 miles one way)and how many I drive(11 miles one way)to get to work. We figured it really wasn't that much out of his way to drop me off first and since we work the same hours, it was a no brainer to at least give it a shot. Funny thing is, total mileage one way is 17 miles. So, in essence we are saving 20 miles a day, therefore reducing at least one car's toxic emissions into our air, not to mention the gas saved.

We're settling into a routine of sorts, and even on the days I'm not working he still drives the car since it gets the best gas mileage. The only problem is I have to wait on him in the evening. I rationalize this wasted time as being no different, as if I were waiting to catch a bus to take me home.

With several successful weeks behind us, we are now looking at how we can combine shopping trips to save even more miles driven. But, to stay organized I am going to need to purchase a weekly planner so I can keep up with our route. After several months I hope to be able to see if it also will positively affect our budget, which will be a nice little kickback.

Sometimes being "green" just takes a little effort on our part and yes, we are feeling pretty good here at the ranch.

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High Tech and Free of course!

Well, here you go!

My industrious water collection system from our A/C condensate lines. You can see the 5 gallon sheet rock/paint buckets I recycled into collection containers. The upstairs line empties into the 5 gallon. The downstairs line empties into the black 2.5 gallon bucket. When each one fills up, I exchange it with an empty one. This way I pretty much have one waiting on me to use for watering my herbs as well as the potted plants on the porch. I also get enough to do the front flower beds. I just rotate the watering on a daily basis to each group of plants. Works great and I don't have to pull the hose anywhere! I do though, carry the water in 2 plastic wide mouth containers that used to hold bird seed. I can quickly fill them up and away I go. I'm amazed at how much I collect and best of all it's FREE!(Even though I am on well water, I just like the idea I am recycling something that would ordinarily be wasted.)

Give it a try!

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