Urban Gardening February 8, 2010

One of my FAVORITE things about February/March is starting to plan a garden.  I love love love everything about it.  The smells, the dirt, the sun, the rain. Now that I live in the city, I have way less space than my old farmhouse with a tilled field (thanks, landlord!).
So, with limited space, I am going to give “Square Foot Gardening” a shot.  Square Foot Gardening uses less energy and maximizes your space.  Say you have to space your carrots 4 inches apart (not sure if this is accurate).  In a square foot, you can plant 9 carrots.  So, you grid off and make nine little holes, put a seed in each hole, cover and water. Think about the regular way.  Make a row of carrot seeds.  Then, once they sprout, you thin them out.  How many carrots are you wasting by that? How much energy is it wasting?  It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if you’re thinning your carrots, you are probably going to have to thin your other veggies that you’ve planted in the same manner.

I really hope to have a good turnout this season.  I really want to be able to can a lot of produce so we can have our garden veggies through the winter.  At least, partially.  I’m still learning, so I might not be as successful as I hope, but I sure am going to try.

how "not" to do it

Green Moving January 20, 2010

Starting tomorrow and ending January 31, we will be moving. 6 houses away. The house is bigger by far, so I will have to fight the temptation to fill it up with more stuff. Truth be told, there are a few things that I “need” for the new house. Cleaning supplies, a new broom and mop, a desk, and shelving. Save the broom and mop, I will be making the cleaning products and thrifting for the desk and shelves. According to the compact, I can purchase things second hand, so that is what I’ll be doing.
We won’t be renting a truck, and only borrowing the neighbor’s pickup for the heavy things. The rest will be carted up the sidewalk with a wayward shopping cart we found in our basement.
Another thing we are doing is reducing the amount of stuff we are taking. Number one-clothing. I would like to par down to at least HALF the amount of clothing we own. Whatever we decided not to take will be donated to the children’s shelter for the girls’ clothes, and the Rape Crisis center for my clothes. I’m not sure what Tony will do with his (he doesn’t part with clothing very well).
Then, I will have exponentially less kitchen storage space so I have to figure something out there. I LOVE kitchen equipment, dishes, juicers, baking supplies, etc ad nauseum. I’m still cyphering on what I’m going to do with everything. Luckily, we have a huge full basement with 20 ft ceilings to store a bunch of extra junk in.

Tree Hugger Fail January 19, 2010

Ugh.  Do you see this?  I got not one, but TWO of these evil things today and I didn’t even think twice about it.  They are both sitting on my desk staring at me-taunting me to throw them away. BUT, I’m not going to do it.

I’ve been racking my brain as to what, in fact, should I do with them.  I really don’t want to wash them and keep drinking out of them.  Hello! I have real cups that I should (and usually) use. They can’t be recycled really.  What to do, what to do…I could save them and use them for paint cups, but I’m in the middle of moving so I’m thinking, no.  I don’t want to throw them away, but I don’t want them to be hanging around either.  This is a dilemma.  Seriously.

What I can’t believe is how badly this is tearing me up.  Ooh!  I know-I’ll tear them up (when I get home) and mix them in the potting soil of one of my plants.  Would that poison my houseplants?  Nope! Score!

Now, just remember to bring your fricking cup to work!!

One Small Change January 13, 2010

Over at Hip Mountain Mama,  a revolution is starting. Bloggers are trying to change the world one small step at a time. Each month for 4 months, we are posting and blogging about a small change we are making for that month.  It can be anything from not using paper napkins to walking/biking to work.  As long as it positively impacts the environment and those who live there.

It’s funny, but I posted my compact before seeing her mission!  So, that’s my goal for January and beyond-compacting.  I’ll let you all know how it goes!

Compacting: Start Date-01/12/2009 January 13, 2010

From The Compact:

The Compact has several aims (more or less prioritized below):

• To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of disposable consumer culture and to support local businesses, farms, etc. — a step that, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact.
• To reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er).
• To simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)

We’ve agreed to follow two principles (with exception):

#1 Don’t buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
#2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.

I have been researching compacting for a while. I first came across the concept on MDC. Then, I found the blog, Mamas on the Compact. I realized, that this was exactly what I was looking for. I decided to take the 12 month pledge-no use doing something half-assed! So, without further ado, here is my pledge: I pledge not to buy ANYTHING new. My exceptions are as follows:

• Materials for creating gifts (I will try my best to find these second hand)
• Shoes and clothes for the girls (see above) they grow so dog-gone fast!!
• Gas and other needed car issues (oil, etc).

This is something I have been trying for a while, without really knowing it. I have implemented a strict reduce, reuse, recycle program in our home. We don’t buy individually packaged food items (yogurts, drinks, etc), try to limit buying things with double packaging (bag in a box), try not to buy plastics, etc. I try to support my local farmers and businesses as much as possible. I have been decluttering my home slowly and making a lot of mine and my children’s clothing. The Compact has given me a small community for me to glean from. People who are going through similar lifestyle changes to help support me in my journey.

Anywho, here I am finally posting my pledge! Wish me luck!

Ahem. I posted this on my old blog over 2 years ago!  While Mamas on the Compact is not active anymore, I am renewing my pledge. Wish me luck!

The times, they are a’changing… January 11, 2010

Wow. So so much has happened since I blogged last. I moved-again. I started a new job. My daughters started a new school.  I started a new relationship. What else…everything else pretty much falls under one of those categories.

I moved about 5 blocks away-which (haha) I’m doing again, only I’m staying on the same street and moving 5 houses away!

I started working at the Spartanburg Art Museum for the Colors after-school art studio.  I love it.  Helping these kids who have no access to art classes other than (maybe) in school.

My daughters started going to the Spartanburg Charter School.  We love it! They are learning, having fun, and growing in ways I could not have imagined!

I started dating someone that I have kind of known for about 17 years.  We went to high school together but never hung out.  Though, we had tons of mutual friends.  After high school, he went in to the Navy and I went to college.  When I moved back home, I started hanging out at his brother’s house-partying with a bunch of old hs friends. Fast forward to last March.  We ran in to each other outside of a pizza place in Duncan (hometown). We talked for a few minutes then I went on my way.  Through out the spring/summer we chatted a  bit on Facebook-nothing earth shattering.  In the beginning of August, I needed help moving a refrigerator.  He offered to help. We spent the day together and just clicked. We had great conversations and really seemed to mesh well. The next Monday, I took the girls swimming at his dad’s house. The next day, he had dinner at my house and we haven’t been separated since.

We’ll have been together six months at the end of the month.  So, the lease is up at my little house and we’ve decided to move in to a bigger house down the road. Everything seems to be falling in to place and life couldn’t be better!

Zero Garbage Challenge July 22, 2009

For one month starting tomorrow, July 23rd, I will be participating in the Zero Garbage Challenge. I did this a year or so ago with average results.

The average American generates four pounds of solid trash per day, for a grand total of 1,460 pounds per year. Americans are the number one global trash offenders.

Here are my rules:

1. Throw nothing in the garbage bin.
2. Only use one recycling bin for the whole month.
3. Bring my own carry out containers if I go out to eat.
4. Don’t eat anywhere that serves on styrofoam.

I will reassess at the end of the month to see if I can make it longer.

Wish me luck!!

Put it in practice July 20, 2009

I am on serious overload at the moment. While I’m trying to simplify my house by getting rid of clutter, cooking from scratch, making clothing, etc. I’m stressing out my life. I have WAY too many projects going on at the same time:

• Work
• Birth Doula training
• Church-finance, religious education, hospitality
• Volunteering at the Charter School
• Trying to start a frigging grocery co-op(!)
• Driving back and forth to Greenville so Tim can see the girls
• Oh yeah, and trying to spend quality time with said girls

In the midst of all that, I would love to see friends, make time to excercise and practice yoga more AND clean my damn house!!  I guess I could sleep less-waking up at 5:30-6 just doesn’t seem early enough to get it all done!

Le sigh….

Way too early to think on a Saturday… July 18, 2009

A – Age: 31

B – Bed size: ugh, twin at the moment, but hopefully I’ll be buying a new(to me) bed this week.

C – Chore you hate: Doing dishes

D – Dog’s name: Banjo

E – Essential start your day item: Lots of coffee..I’m trying to change that.

F – Favorite color: Either a nice green or a deep purple

G – Gold or Silver or Platinum: silver.

H – Height: 5′10″

I – Instruments you play: haha.

J – Job title: VISTA, mommy, co-op founder (attempting!)

K – Kid(s): two!

L – Living arrangements: 2 bedroom house it an awesome ‘hood.

M – Mom’s name: Evi.

N – Nicknames: Ang.

O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: tonsils when I was a kid (it was overnight back then) and appendicitis 6 years ago.

P – Pet Peeve: when people are late and when I’m mistakenly called “Angela”

Q – Quote from a movie: “I’ll be your Huckleberry.”

R – Right handed or left handed: Right

S – Siblings: 6

T – Time you wake up: Between 5:30 and 6. The natives get hungry.

U- Underwear: Yes.

V – Vegetable you dislike: Green beans from a can.

W – Ways you run late: Only if there’s a catastrophe. I’m ALWAYS early.

X – X-rays you’ve had: teeth, oh-when I had an emergency c-section, they had to x-ray my tummy to make sure they didn’t leave anything bad inside of me-like a clamp or a sponge.

Y – Yummy food you make: Every thing I make is yummy.Yesterday I made blackberry pie *drool*

Z – Zoo favorite: San Diego.

Buy Nothing Challenge July 17, 2009

A blogger that I follow, Deanna is hosting the Buy Nothing Challenge for this year. It starts in August.  If you want to join, just go over to her blog, sign up, and put the widget in your blog!