Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World!
If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far.
This post contains great information and I encourage you to read through it at your leisure ... however, if you are short on time, you might find the following quick links helpful:
Last week we got busy and preserved local food for the winter. I canned tomatoes and peaches which we got from the farmer's market. We also dehydrated herbs from our garden. Some of the herbs, like basil and cilantro, were turned into flavorful "ice cubes" which I can toss into dishes when the fresh is no longer available. Soon we'll be making sauerkraut and pickles ... and in another month we'll dehydrate apples (they make delicious and healthy snacks). Our only problem is waiting ... everything looks so good that we want to open up those jars now!
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.
Mrs. Green wrote a wonderful article for a previous challenge which was too good to miss ... but ... it did get missed. Apologies, Mrs. Green! In 4 ways with puy lentils, to reduce carbon emissions! #ctww, she gets creative and finds some delicious uses for a stockpile of lentils. Mmm ... Shepard's pie? She also shares her plan for the next month. Want a hint? Think ONLY fresh foods!
I knew that this challenge would be an easy one for EcoGrrl who grows and preserves food every year. She shares, "Ha, I am looking at this post late at night after having just made a batch of my homemade ketchup (inspired by the awesome "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" cookbook) from the paste tomatoes and yellow onions in my garden...soooo tasty! Have already made & canned sweet relish from my cukes, salsa from my tomatoes/peppers/onions/garlic, peaches from Sauvie Island, and pickled cherries from Hood River. Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand for the first time at pickled red onions, and by next week I should have enough hot peppers to make my favorite serrano jelly. Yummers!"
Welcome to Teri, a brand new Honor Society member. We're so happy you're here, Teri! She says, " What perfect timing! Last Saturday I took a canning class (did pickles and jelly/jams) and in the next couple of days I'll be putting up a huge amount of basil pesto from my garden (it's gone wild this year!). I'm a new follower of this blog and I'm really enjoying it. Perfect for starting my green baby steps!"
If you had to guess, would you say that Argentum Vulgaris preserves food? Remember, he lives alone ... he's frugal ... he grows some veg, like peppers ... he's a chef ... he believes in "real" food. So what do you think? Find out in Change the World Wednesday – 14th Aug.
Mary from Green Global Travel joined us this week. She says, "I love reading your articles every week! They offer new ideas and reminders as to how individuals can 'save the world' through small actions and simple choices. Thank you for the ongoing inspiration!" By the way, if you've never visited Green Global Travel, check it out ... a recent article talks about an underwater museum in Cancun, Mexico ... there are some stunning photos included.
Speaking of travel, check out this edition of The Flora Foster Daily. In addition to a CTWW mention, there's a good article on exploring San Antonio, Texas!
If you've visited Lois, you know that she's a super-greenie. Seriously, she's turned recycling into an art form, lives without a stove or refrigerator, grows food, and doesn't have a car. Awhile back she said (tongue 'n cheek) that she hoped our challenges would be a bit more difficult ... oh yes she did! I took it on as my own, personal challenge ... and what a task. It has been seriously difficult! Until this week! Lois says, "This weeks challenge is a little difficult for me ..." Curious? Read Change the World Wednesday, Preserving food.
CTWW got a nice mention in this edition of the #homeschool Daily/Parent @ the Helm. Other articles include one about dyslexia awareness and another entitled What's the Difference Between a Food Allergy and a Food Intolerance?
Welcome to Think Green ... another new Honor Society member. So nice to "see" you! Think Green says, "Hi there, Thanks for visiting my blog and for your friendly comments. I hope you get to try a vegan version of my veggie dumplings recipe-I'd love to hear how they turn out. I'm so glad I found your blog! Love the weekly challenges- so encouraging and just what I've been looking for. Preserving local food for winter is a great idea- one of my resolutions this fall is to make a bigger effort to eat locally."
Clare stopped in and shared this: "(Another) great challenge! It's winter here so there's not as much as usual to harvest / buy up. But my bananas ripen year round and we can buy local berries in winter too, I assume because it's a little cooler. So I'm busy freezing (and trying to re-organize my freezer to fit everything!). Here's an article about a family who really know how to preserve food - this is something to aim for http://www.ecofriendlylink.com/blog/foodinseasonpreserving. Thanks, I'm enjoying this challenge!"
Please welcome Sue to our fold! Nice to "see" you, Sue! She shares this: " Hi and what wonderful work you do. I don't do canning or freezing, but we grow some garden vegetables like tomatoes and I try to buy at local fruit stands."
Alicia accepted the challenge and says, "We didn't plant a really large garden this year like we normally do because of our work schedule this Summer. I have been buying extra at the Farmers Markets to freeze and can. My herbs have done wonderfully this season and I have already dried Rosemary, Tarragon. Chives, Basil, Thyme, Mint and Marjoram. I will be drying Lemon Balm and Spicy Basil this week. I will also be making herb vinegars and oils. We are going to try to get to the orchard this week and get lots of peaches to put up. We have a neighbor who has a pear tree that they don't really use any of the pears so we can get as many as we want so we will be caning and freezing them along with lots of apples this Fall. When the Fall crop of cabbage gets here we are going to make our own raw kraut. Love harvest time and love pulling out all of these goodies during the Winter months to enjoy!!"
Our Twitter friends joined the conversation and shared the following:
From @givetreegifts
- If you add beet & horseradish relish to a basic veggie soup, you have a yummy Borscht :)
- Beet & Horseradish Relish Recipe ow.ly/nVS3K Another way to preserve beets & utilize free horseradish that we gathered
- Pickled beets recipe ow.ly/nVRjw Another staple in our household & a great way to preserve an abundance of beets
- Canned Coleslaw?! ow.ly/nVQTh My Mom used a recipe like this to preserve a bountiful crop of cabbage. Awesome winter salad!
- I pick wild berries such as chokecherries for pancake syrup, saskatoon berries for eating fresh, jam, muffins, pies, pancakes...,
- Check your local free ads for people who are giving away free produce that you simply pick yourself. Berries, crab apples, rhubarb...
- I grew up in a time & a household where nothing went to waste & whatever we didn't eat "fresh" had to be preserved. We were gatherers
From @dusdifissette
- Still can't find sprouting seed mix to grow fresh sprouts for my salad sandwich? I did find Chia seeds, so any suggestions?
From @pinkladyapril
- I'll be making some strawberry jam (hopefully this week!)
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who tweet our challenges using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I recommend following them ... they share great things. Let's meet them:
My Final Thoughts:
Preserving food has many benefits ... we enjoy fresh, local and healthy produce in the winter ... we know what's in our food ... we avoid the transportation of items grown in centralized locations ... and, in most cases, we save money. For those who don't forage or grow their own vegetables, farmer's markets offer consumers beautiful produce. The Internet is full of recipes and "how to" articles on everything from canning to using a freezer to dehydrating. There really is no excuse not to experience local produce in the winter months.
Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share features located below this post.
This Week's Challenge:
Let's switch gears this week! Argentum Vulgaris sent me a great list of possible CTWW activities. Shall we take one on? Sure! Here you go ...
Cancel magazine subscriptions. Instead, read magazines online or at the library. Have any old publications sitting around your home? Donate them to libraries, medical/dental offices or recycle them.
OR ...
If you don't subscribe to any publications, get your name off catalog and junk-mail lists. Check out Catalog Choice, National Do Not Mail List or contact companies and ask that they remove your name from their mailing list or ADD your name to their "do not mail" list (whichever they use).
If you don't subscribe to any publications, get your name off catalog and junk-mail lists. Check out Catalog Choice, National Do Not Mail List or contact companies and ask that they remove your name from their mailing list or ADD your name to their "do not mail" list (whichever they use).
Are you up for this challenge? I know that you are!
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!