There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick links helpful:
Did you like last week's challenge? I sure did! There's just something wonderful about getting one's hands in the soil and planting vegetables. It just so happens that, according to the Farmer's Almanac, this last week was a perfect time to plant so I planted all kinds of veggies ... all in containers on my patio. Now ... I'm just waiting for them to grow.
The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing an article about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments. Here's what they had to say:
Jennifer was way ahead of us and planted basil seeds in a pot indoors a couple of weeks ago. She's already got little plants with their second set of leaves. WhooHoo! I like her observation: "It's fascinating that the first set of leaves plants put out don't look anything like their mature leaves. The second set is starting to look pointy and basil-y!" Her recommendation for gardeners is to use "Integrated Pest Management, a system that addresses physical and cultural pest controls (e.g. complementary plants that attract helpful insects or repel pests, planting things that will thrive in your climate, removing slugs by hand) and uses chemicals as a last resort."
In What are you growing this year? Mrs. Green offers us some excellent gardening tips. One of them discusses taking on only what one can manage which, in my opinion, is important for success. She goes on to talk about container gardening, natural fertilizers and pest control. It's a wonderful post!
In Bridge for the birds Ann shares a different take on a garden ... one which helps birds. I love this idea!
Linda shared a wonderful tip with us. In her words "One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from an old timer gardener was to cover your garden in hay or straw, you can use this in place of mulch, cover it fully so you cant see the ground at all. It keeps down the weeds and keeps plants moist. I planted my herbs on Sunday but some of the early veggies were hit by the freeze but they may come back. I had not covered them with hay, it would have saved them. :-) need to take my own advice."
Argentum Vulgaris accepted the challenge and planted parsley seeds in an egg crate. He also planted a pepper plant from the seeds of a moldy pepper. Click HERE for pictures of his efforts. Have you ever heard of Window Sill Soup? Have you ever cooked with radishes? Well, AV talks about both in this POST and includes a recipe. Mmm!
I loved what Alicia had to say ... in her words "Oh I love this challenge! There is just nothing like growing your own veggies and herbs. My husbands parents and grandparents have all bee such wonderful gardeners ad my husband is also. I am always so blessed each season with our harvest. Not only do you save money but being able to pick your own veggies and knowing that they haven't been sprayed with harmful chemicals is awesome!! A good tip we learned a few years ago is if you plant Basil by your tomatoes they will be sweeter. We also plant marigolds around in the garden to help ward off pests. I hope everyone is up for this challenge because I think it is one that will be most rewarding."
John Aguilar joined us this week ... so nice to see you, John! He grows tomatoes and chilies in containers and shares that he gets quite a few from one plant each which he's happy to enjoy. Regarding our litter challenge, he says "It is very true. What you throw will find its way back---Nature has its way. So please let us stop littering everywhere." I couldn't agree more, John!
Rewinn has a spot in his yard which doesn't get a lot of sunlight. On a recommendation by his local nursery, he decided to plant some veggies in that area ... last fall. Yep ... he planted in the fall for harvesting in the winter. So ... what did he grow and how did it turn out? You'll find out HERE. Now he's waiting to find out if he'll have to replant or if the vegetables will continue to produce. Can't wait to hear how this turns out!!
Last year, Kris started a few pots of tomatoes on her deck. She very wisely started out small to see how she'd like gardening and if she'd have success with her vegetables. She did ... and both she and her husband enjoyed home-grown tomatoes. This year she is expanding her garden. In Change the World Wednesday - vegetable garden you'll find out where she's planting and what she'll be enjoying this year. I was particularly impressed with how she's creating a privacy "screen". She includes pictures so ... check it out!
Would you like to grow potatoes but feel that you don't have the room? Well, check out this POST by EcoWarriorMe. You'll be amazed! I was!! In addition to potatoes, she's growing herbs, veggies and even strawberries. Reading her post made my mouth water!
For those who have followed EcoGrrl for awhile, you know that she plants a garden every year. This year she has blueberries, tomatoes, peas, potatoes and carrots going (to name a few). She uses her own compost to fertilize and gives her blueberries a boost with used coffee grounds. As for pest control, she says"Never use spray ever and soak tomato leaves in summer to make a great aphid killer. Beer for the slugs and growing garlic & nasturtiums around tomato & pepper beds to keep bad bugs away :)" If you'd like to follow her gardening progress, click HERE. She also shares updates in the tab "weekend in pictures".
Gwen (aka @gwened02) accepted our challenge. Check out this photo of her Hanging Herb Garden. I asked Gwen what was growing in her basket ... she replied: Thyme, mint and some tansy's to act as natural pesticides and give a bit of colour el. I don't know about you but I think her herb garden is beautiful!
Pest Control Portland Oregon stopped by and their comment made me giggle. I actually had to look up the word "proliferate" to see if spreading the green word and encouraging others to join the movement applied. And it does! WhooHoo!
Twitter was buzzing with great conversations about our challenge this week as well as previous activities. Here's what our Twitter friends had to say:
From @givetreegifts
- Green garden recipes ...deter slugs and snails without killing them: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/resources/2010/green-garden-recipes/
- Create a bee-friendly garden: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/create-a-bee-friendly-garden/
- 10 eco-friendly gardening tips: http://www.freshjuice.ca/live-well/green-living-tips/10-eco-friendly-gardening-tips/s/639
- Go Green with These Eco-Friendly Gardening Tips: http://voices.yahoo.com/go-green-these-eco-friendly-gardening-tips-517624.html
- Eco-friendly gardening on a brand new lot: Tend your yard in an environmentally sensitive way: http://www.canadiangardening.com/how-to/gardening-basics/eco-friendly-gardening-on-a-brand-new-lot/a/31138
- Organic Gardening Tips: http://www.organicgardentips.com/
- Quick Organic Gardening Tips: http://www.wholeliving.com/136595/quick-organic-gardening-tips/@center/136755/green-home-guide
- We compost to help enrich the soil in our garden & in our planters. It's like black gold. Easy Cheap Effective
- How to make seed starter pots using toilet paper rolls: http://www.gardeningclan.com/seed-starter-pots-toilet-paper-rolls.html
From @nonmom
- My #CTWW for today: this am I put out a huge bag of clothes to donate to the Canadian Diabetes clothesline program. :)
From @laalicia
- What are you creating today?
From @EcoWarriorMe
- Perfect timing,I have potatoes to plant this weekend.
From @gwened02
- I got special mention on the success of car free day for getting the train at 7 mths pregnant
From @earthyurban
- I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
- For those who have asked what is #CTWW it Means Change The World Wednesdays dedicated to those who are making a positive impact on humanity
- Tree tops at night peacefully resting among friends #CTWW earthyurban.com instagr.am/p/J2u5SgSUgr/
From @rozdb
- thanks 2 staff #Penticton picking up runaway trash enroute 2 the landfill
From @laalicia
- RT @RecyclebankUK: Once you read this article, you'll never throw away your coffee grounds again!http://www.recyclebank.com/live-green/coffee-grounds-the-most-useful-waste-food?___store=uk&___from_store=us
From @ecopassport
- I've had a bunch of seedlings going since March. Tomato, hot peppers, herbs, tomatillo, cucumber, green onions. etc etc
From @valueled
- Tomorrow I'll be planting mint for this week's #ctww Green fingered or a garden greenhorn, why not join in?
From @lillygrillzit
- I'm planting potatoes this weekend too!
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who share our challenges on twitter using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I highly recommend following them ... they have a lot of great things to say. Let's meet them:
My Final Thoughts:
The other day I read about a salmonella outbreak in my community. On any given day one can find articles about toxic chemicals in our food. The fact is that we can no longer assume that the food we get in restaurants ... or even from the market ... is safe to eat. One way to ensure that our food is safe is to grow it ourselves. But the benefits don't end there ... growing our own fruits and vegetables means we're eating local ... and harvesting produce right before it's eaten means we get all the nutritional value which is lost when items are shipped across country. Then there's the therapeutic value to gardening ... who can deny the joy of planting seeds, watching them grow and then enjoying the delicious taste. As we've seen, it doesn't take a lot of effort, time or space to grow food ... it simply takes the willingness.
Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I have Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share feature at the bottom of this post.
This Week's Challenge:
This week's challenge is inspired by Argentum Vulgaris who suggests that this activity is something which isn't often thought about or which seems inconsequential. In fact, he says it's something which many will say doesn't make a difference. Ahhh, but we know that small things do make a difference. Here's the challenge:
This week, consider Eco-friendly Grilling/BBQing. Please share all your ideas for cooking outside. Here's a hint ... Charcoal Briquettes are not necessarily Eco-friendly. Need another hint to get going? Check out this POST.
Or ...
If you don't use a grill, please talk about other Eco-friendly ways to enjoy food outdoors. For example, consider picnics, parties, cooking over a campfire, etc.
If you don't use a grill, please talk about other Eco-friendly ways to enjoy food outdoors. For example, consider picnics, parties, cooking over a campfire, etc.
Thanks, AV ... this is going to be fun!
If you have a challenge idea, please send it to me HERE. I keep all ideas and will get to each and every one.
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
Great challenge, as ever. I've posted up - my post features more on reducing waste - being my biggest passion and all that ;) http://littlegreenblog.com/green-home/reduce-reuse-recycle-green-home/eco-friendly-barbecue/
ReplyDeleteOh we love to grill so this challenge is right up our alley! When we lived in California the weather was mild enough that we could grill almost anytime of the year but moving back to Tennessee we can grill to at least October or a little later.It gets really hot and humid here in the Summer so we try to grill at least three to four times a week. This makes such a difference in the temperature in the house and makes the air conditioner not have to work as hard.We don't eat a lot of meat but we will grill fish and sometimes a small organic chicken but oh do we grill the veggies! One our favorites is to take whole sweet onions drizzle them with olive oil and herbs grill them until they start to turn soft. Oh they are so delicious. Eggplant, squash and thick cut tomatoes are also great to grill. It is fun to experiment with all kinds of food on the grill. Several years ago we read how bad grilling with charcoal was so we only grill using our gas grill now. I think everyone who takes this challenge will find that it not only is Eco-Friendly but fun and delicious as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm wearing a sweatshirt and its raining so no outdoor grilling for me this week! Inand summer, I use a George Foreman electric bbq and don't feel too bad because I purchase the maximum green energy from my power company and that bill is $35/mo. Love love LOVE cutting a peach in half and brushing it with oil & vanilla before grilling - yay summer!
ReplyDeleteCTWW is up and running, albeit late, on:
ReplyDeletehttp://ecocrap.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/change-the-world-wednesday-2nd-may/
I go off on my tangent again in this post...
AV
Hi! We're new to the blog, but we love this concept and would definitely love to participate in the future.
ReplyDeleteWe love spending time at a lake near our house and will frequently grill out while we're there. We never use charcoal or lighter fluid, instead starting our fires the old-fashioned way, with paper and small kindling.
We also make a habit, when we visit the lake, of taking a garbage bag with us and picking up any trash we see in the area where we're hanging out, so that we leave the lake at least a little bit better each time.