Welcome to Bugs and Brooms!

As the wind blows and the few remaining leaves cling to the trees, I am looking forward to the holiday season.  This is probably our last day of nice weather - we have been so fortunate lately with unbelievable warm and beautiful days!  Although spring is my favorite time of year, I love the cool, crisp, clear blue sky days of autumn.  Hearing the leaves crunch under our feet and feeling the cool air does something to clear my head of the clutter and craziness of summer.  It is easy to lose sight of the important things in life when you are running from here to there making the most of long, hot days.  The fall and winter months force us all of slow down and appreciate the things that we have - and we are extremely blessed compared to many people in this world. 

So what are my plans for the coming holidays?  Well, before I completely skip over the Halloween adventures of the year, DD and I spent several days making fun Halloween crafts including a ghost from her footprint and a bat using her hand-prints (I love these simple and fun crafts that I put the date on and store to reflect on in future years).  We hung our creations from the light in our dining room and enjoyed them everyday though DD got into some trouble for constantly climbing into a chair in an effort to reach her artwork and swing it!  We also carved pumpkins and put up some old Halloween decorations (courtesy of my mom).  It was a wonderful experience!  And then on Halloween night, we went to a friends house for a cookout and trick-or-treating in her neighborhood.  DD REALLY likes her son - they are the same age.  We had a great time and then had to confiscate the bucket of goodies to prevent total sugar overload.  Left to her own will, DD would have eaten all of the candy in one sitting!  But we only gave her 1 or 2 pieces a day for a few days and then it was ‘all-gone’!  Of course, DH and I had a few treats as well!  We took some great pictures of our little Cat and then, after putting up an enormous fight in an effort to ‘play’ with her loot, she passed out from exhaustion!

For Thanksgiving, we will be doing more fun crafts and DD will get to watch Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving.  She likes Charlie Brown and Snoopy and this is a pretty educational movie - something lacking from most of the holiday movies that are available.  We have also ordered a turkey from Mandy at Schacht Farm and are planning on spending Thanksgiving at home.  We are planning to head to NC for Christmas if my doctor doesn’t give me any travel restrictions for the pregnancy - not sure how favorably she will feel about a 9 hour (one way) car ride so close to 8 months pregnant!  We will see.  We will have to order a Christmas tree from my family (we usually just go pick it out at Thanksgiving but since we won’t be there…) and have it mailed to us (to support my family in their business).  As these precious holidays draw closer, I will try to provide more details including our plans for presents without spending a lot of money (we will see), menu and recipes for the big meals, and extra activities that we will participate in with friends and community (Bloomington has live reindeer at the Holiday Market - that should be a hoot)!

One thing that I wish I had done more of - preserving local foods - but I was just so miserable with morning sickness during harvest time that my plans went in the toilet (seriously)!  Hopefully I will be able to do a better job next season!  It would be so nice to have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner from my own garden or from preserved local produce!  Something to look forward to next year!

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As most of you know, we live ‘out’.  I don’t really consider us very rural since we do have neighbors around (though none that we can see) and a great park just down the road for Lake Monroe.  But my critter stories have revealed that we are not living in a downtown or suburban location.

Several evenings over the past week or so have given us a touch of nature.  We have been spending time in the garden each afternoon weeding and watering (I know, lots of rain until recently and now we are having the drag the water hose to the garden to make sure our veggies survive the heat) and just checking on the progress of our plantings (good news to report later on).  When the mosquitoes overtake us, I bring DD indoors and start getting her ready for bed.  DH has interrupted our routine several nights!  He comes tiptoeing into the house, whispering urgently for us to follow him back outside.  These adventures have given us some great scenes of deer crossing our fields as they leave one area of dense woods for another.  We have had to put up some ‘protection’ for our garden in the form of garden stakes and caution tape, in an effort to keep our lovely deer from munching on our tender vegetables.  We have already had a couple of corn and bean plants meet an early demise thanks to our foragers. 

But the other night was something extra special.  I had just gotten DD out of the tub and was rocking her and telling her stories while she cuddled for warmth under the oversized towel.  DH came in the house in his usual navy seal approach.  I resisted his pleas to go outside again because DD was naked and the mosquitoes truly love her (I mean LOVE).  But he was practically pleading and I caved.  I wrapped DD tightly in the towel hoping that no skin was exposed.  When we got outside we were treated to an incredible display of youth!  Two fawn (twins) were chasing each other in circles while their ever watchful mother observed and snacked on the newly mowed hay!  The two deer were jumping high into the air and running at top speed while throwing their heels high into the air!  It was beautiful to watch these young, spotted animals play so happily!  And they, and their mother, didn’t seem to care that we were watching.  And this play lasted a good 10 minutes!  What a wonderful priviledge to see something so wild and free and right out our front door.

DH and I have seen plenty of wildlife in our travels (especially when we lived in Colorado - mule deer were everywhere and you didn’t have to drive very far to see Elk and Big Horn Sheep).  But DD is young and her nature observations have been limited to zoos and nature preserves.  At least until we moved here. 

I am so thankful that she can experience this environment and learn to appreciate it at such a young age.  What a wonderful way to teach her to appreciate her world and to care for it - she sees it thriving and she wants to jump in and enjoy the fun.  She would have just ran over and joined in the game of chase that these little fawn were playing.  I hope that she always has the opportunity to see nature at its best and purest.  I hope she has a lifetime of watching nature and the world around her in all of its beauty.  I hope that she will always want to jump from my arms and run to play with the deer….

Tags: 'Farm life', Family and Friends, Gardening, Parenting, Simple Living, nature by
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Sorry for the lack of communication.  We have been very busy this week taking DD to the Monroe County Fair - we have gone every day and sometimes twice a day!  DD loves the animals and there are a few kiddie rides that we have let her enjoy.  But the adults are exhausted!  How does a 3 year old manage to have more energy than her parents?

DD also had her 3 year check-up this week.  I still can’t believe she is 3.  It was a good appointment and she really liked her new pediatrician. 

I will give more details on all our activities this week when I get caught up on a few other things.  Lucky for us all, the Fair ends this weekend (not sure how much more DH and I could take anyway).

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I have been more than a little remiss about keeping up with my own No Trash Challenge.  It is not that I have totally blown the plan but I certainly had a couple of weeks that were not worth of discussing (or I was just too embarrassed to admit to the carnage)! 

The main problem that I faced was the preparation for our yard sale and the subsequent cleaning out that ensued.  I won’t bore you with all of the details but it wasn’t pretty!  And the sad thing is, when the yard sale only brought a grand total of 4 customers over 2 days, we gave up.  We packed the clothes back up and took them to Goodwill.  I had a gazillion books that I had accumulated over the years and we donated those to the Monroe County Public Library.  And there are still things in the garage that need to be taken to Goodwill or other charities or given away to friends and family.  But, we have made a significant impact on our clutter and just have a few more things to go through before we can claim victory!

So, I haven’t been able to get down to one container every 2 months but I am still managing one per month (with the exception of the yard sale, clutter clear out, garage organizing garbage).  But I am still determined to do better and we are working on other improvements in our waste generation such as our compost bin.  No longer does our food waste go in the trash - we now have a large container next to the kitchen sink that is used to collect all scraps (with the exception of meat - we try to keep it out of the compost to prevent rodents from moving in).  We are still working to reduce our packaging by buying in bulk, not using plastic bags for every single item, and by reusing as many containers as possible (laundry and dishwashing, etc.).  We have also converted to bar soap for shampoo and bath which will eliminate those plastic containers that we have routinely purchased for personal hygiene.  And DH got a new, double-edge, safety razor for Father’s Day (though back ordered so it didn’t arrive until last week) that will last the rest of his life and only requires the blade to be changed once in a blue moon.

Anyway, that is our update.  I will start doing monthly posts on this instead of weekly (which hasn’t happened in a while anyway)!  And I am still planning on some cool prize drawing for those that are participating so jump in if you want to give it a try!  There are several other posts on ways that we have cut back on our trash that you can read about - just see the links on the Challenge post!

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There have been tons of posts in the green blogging world about Eating Local!  I always looked at these posts and challenges with little thought since I didn’t see it as a possibility for my crew.  Honestly, how can a family eat locally and still obtain the proper nutrients that we need - especially a family with children?  Can we get all of the grains, fruits, vegetables, and protein our bodies need by skipping (or greatly reducing) the foods that we consume that are grown or manufactured more than 100 miles from our location?  I didn’t think so and I didn’t bother to investigate much; I mean my DD loves to eat bananas with sun-butter - neither of which are products of Bloomington, IN.  And rice is a staple of ours and I certainly haven’t seen any rice fields nearby!  And we like to eat out on occasion.  So eating local just didn’t seem to fit our lifestyle….

Then we got the e-mail.  Our local co-op is participating in the Eat Local America Challenge from July 15th through August 15th.  Uh oh!  Hum?  Should we participate?  Well, we can at least look at the details and then decide.  So, here is what we found out:

1. First, only 80% of the food we eat during the challenge has to come from local sources.  Whew!  That is a lot better!  We might be able to do 80%….
2. Eating local is HEALTHIER!  Now you really have my attention!  The eatlocalamerica.coop website puts it this way: “Fresher foods retain more nutrients, taste better and help promote a healthier environment than foods shipped from thousands of miles away. “  Ok.  I buy that.
3. It is better for the environment.  Yes.  This is definitely true.  I know that those bananas my little one loves have traveled a very long way to get to our house.  “The average American dinner travels 1,500 miles before reaching the plate. Shipping food long distances requires large amounts of natural resources, such as oil, and contributes to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and climate change.”
4. Eating local supports the community.  I absolutely agree with this one!  That is why I spend so much money at the Farmer’s Market each week instead of getting all of my produce from Walmart, Sams, or Kroger.  It is a great feeling to buy my vegetables from people who live in my community.  And I have grown quite fond of our ‘chicken lady’ Mandy from Schacht Farms.  I am hoping she can help me with my own laying hens when we make that plunge.  And I am very anxious to start getting some veggies from our own garden.  But I digress!

So that is that.  DH and I talked it over for about 30 seconds and decided to go for it!  We signed up at our co-op on Saturday and today is our first official Eat Local Day!  I have lots of local veggies as well as our local meat supplies and grains so we should be able to pull this off.  In the meantime, check out http://eatlocalamerica.coop/ for locations of participating co-ops or just do your own challenge!  You make up the rules!  This will help you think about your food, where it comes from, and what it takes to get it to your dining room!  We can all do a little better to improve our intake of nutrients and help the environment.  I will keep you posted on our progress. 

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If you live in the mid-west, you have probably had your share of rainfall for the year!  I am certainly tired of seeing nothing but dark skies and dreary days.  Honestly, it is having an affect on my personality.  I think I may even be suffering from SAD!  And, no doubt, thousands of others that have been rained on this year have probably had to seek professional help to get through these dreadful days!  But the numerous days that I have experienced serious cabin fever and felt like building the family ark are nothing, and I do mean absolutely nothing, compared to many folks that have truly suffered from this bizarre weather season.

I have nothing to complain about really (well, I did want to be gathering some veggies from my garden at this point as opposed to just getting the thing planted).  I haven’t lost any personal belongings and I have suffered no flood damage although the van almost fell victim to water damage when DH took it to work one day and his parking lot flooded!  Thank goodness DD risked sacrificed his shoes, socks, and pants up to his knees to save the thing.  I am certainly thankful for so much.  We have been spared from the damaging storms and rain while others around us have lost so much.  But I am sick of it!!  Will it ever be sunny for more than 20 minutes?  Ok.  I am exaggerating but not by a whole lot!  We went to the lake (Lake Monroe) yesterday while there was a break in the water falling from the sky, and it was still flooded.  The beach is closed and the water is now completely covering the parking lots.  The estimates, at this point, are that the waters will not recede enough to see the beach until late August - and that is with no more rain!

And here is the real troublesome point of all of this rain.  My family and friends in the southeast have not had a good rain in months!  The ground there is hard and cracked and crops have died due to extensive draught for several years running.  Last year, my sister had to buy hay to feed her horses and cattle from several states away!  And the cost was unbelievable.  The draught continues for these areas and many farms are suffering as are many of the farms here in Indiana.  All of this rain has delayed planting or required replanting due to wash-out or rot.  In a twisted way, it is a good thing that we have just planted our garden - maybe we waited long enough and will have some crops flourish - that is, if the amount of rain we get returns to ‘normal’.

And for my friends and family in the south - I wish there was some way that I could bottle this stuff up for you and bring it your way.  You would think that we could engineer some great process to redirect all of this water.   It is sad that most of the rainfall is going to runoff, picking up contaminants along the way, and then polluting the bodies of water downstream.  Can’t we come up with something to quickly remove the flood waters and reduce the impact on the environment caused by all of the run-off?  And once we ‘collect’ all of the excess, why can’t we get it where it is needed?  Didn’t we send people to the moon for goodness sakes? 

It doesn’t seem to matter where we live these days.  Everyone is being impacted by mother nature.  Floods, draught, earthquakes, wild-fires, melting ice-caps, tornados.  If you aren’t sure about global warming, just look around you.  It may not be evident by the actual temperatures in your neck of the woods, but I think the earth is trying to tell us something.  Are you listening?  It sure has my attention.

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I am thrilled to report that our garden has been planted!!  It was no easy task and DD made it almost impossible to complete, but we did it!  We have 10 beautiful rows of vegetables and herbs!  Putting all of those little seeds in the ground was so much fun!  That is where I have been the past few days - tilling and planting!

It was hard to keep DD from stepping on our newly buried treasure and she kept laying down and rolling in the dirt!  She is a little tomboy!  She loved playing with the dirt and holding the seeds!

Our garden is not very big but it should give the three of us plenty of food to put away for the winter!  But planting is just one of the many milestones or gardening.  Here are the challenges that we will be facing:

• Rain - I don’t think it will ever stop raining here.  I have plans ready to start building our ark!
• I don’t have a green thumb - actually, it is BLACK.  Hopefully DH has some growing skills in him!
• Rain!
• Critters - in addition to the ones I have already posted about, we also have a ton of deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, and other great creatures that we will have to keep out of the garden - somehow.
• Did I mention rain?
• Other pests that I am clueless about.  I am sure I will have more to post on that later.
• DD - She loves the garden but I am afraid she will want to ‘help’ a little too much!  She is really bad about ‘picking’ flowers.  I am hoping that we can make the garden a great little classroom for her as we have with most things we do inside and out.  She is a sponge at this age and it is fun to watch her explore and learn!  I just hope we will have something to harvest at the end of the season.
• Rain - it has started raining again!  I hope it doesn’t wash our little garden away - or the little seeds that we planted.  It is coming down really hard!  Good grief!  Where did I put those ark materials?

And those are just the few I can think of right now.  We definitely have our work cut out for us.  I think our summer will be spent tending the garden but the payoff will be worth it if we can just get something to grow.

Here is a list of all our veggies that we planted:

Herbs:

• Sweet Basil
• Parsley
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Thyme
• Marjoram
• Sage

Veggies:

• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Green and Red Peppers
• Kale
• Broccoli
• Jalapenos
• Peas
• Chard
• Cantaloupe
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Squash
• Beans
• Corn

We are also going to pick up some tomato plants at the Farmer’s Market to add to our seed tomatoes.  Just in case.  And I have some lavender and dill that I want to plant on the edge of the garden.

We weren’t really sure about the design that we used and this is certainly a learning process for us.  We did some research online and found some ideas but we will see if they will work for us. 

I can’t wait to reap the fruits (or veggies) of our labor!  Yummy!

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Last week I was contacted regarding a new Internet service that is running a beta version in the Boston area.  This service provides listings of businesses that are rated by customers and offers a new twist on the regular ‘how do you like it’ opinion that other websites offer.  This site not only asks the question of ‘Is it GOOD’ but also wants to know ‘Is it GREEN’.  Now, I want to make it VERY clear that I am not a proponent of buying and consuming.  In fact, I think that the overindulgence and abundant spending in this country are causing economic tragedy for many well-meaning individuals and families as well as enormous destruction to our planet.  BUT, I do like this site and here is why.

First, there are times that all of us must spend our money and consume products and services.  That is just the way it is right now and, unless we all go back to living in caves and being TOTALLY self-sufficient (I can dream can’t I), then consumerism will continue.  The nice thing is, we can make great choices that have a positive impact - we just have to buy smarter.  And, please don’t get me wrong!  Just BECAUSE something is GREEN doesn’t mean we should run out and buy it!  That is something that is really on my nerves! 

Companies have caught on to the shift in consumer knowledge and our desire to do the right thing.  So their solution to the potential reduction in spending - offer GREEN products in mass!  The problem is, we continue to be brainwashed and buy it up!  Literally!  But do we really need it?  Probably not.  Take hybrid vehicles for example.  There are some benefits to hybrids I will concede.  They do have better gas mileage, etc. (but not enough of an improvement in my opinion) but they also require the use of a battery made from natural resources.  All cars require the use of natural resources but the hybrids require the use of another one.  The battery alone is causing the destruction of natural forests and strip-mining in an effort to keep up with the hot demand for hybrids!  And, not to go off the deep end of my soap box, but these things are now the hot item for SUVs!  Are you kidding me?  Is this for real?  SUV hybrids?  I say that is an oxymoron!  And it isn’t just cars! 

I digress!  There will be another post on this nasty topic later.  Back to the main point of this post…

So, this new, beta website is something to check out.  It is currently only serving the Boston, MA area but may expand to other areas of the country - maybe even your neck of the woods.  We can all use a tool that will help us make better choices about our purchases.  And, the real reason I want you to go the site and register: IZZITGREEN.COM will serve a fresh, organic, locally grown meal to a person in need from The Food Project for every person that registers at the site!  So, you can help feed someone right here in the US that is hungry!  Now that is something I can support!!  GO IZZITGREAN!

Tags: 'Farm life', Community, Green Living, Simple Living by
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OK - I am a little late getting this post out this week but I don’t have A LOT to report (thank goodness).  We are still really low on trash and quickly approaching week 6 of the No Trash Challenge. 

One thing that I would like to point out this week is my recent conversion to the Diva Cup which has prevented the unnecessary accumulation of garbage in my bathroom this month and, therefore, my main container. 

I still have some things that come pre-packaged but I am working on alternates for those items as well.  After the second month of the challenge is complete, I am going to double (or should I say decrease by half) our efforts and shoot for only one container in 2 months!  Am I getting brave or what?!  Well, at least it will give me some motivation to really improve my on progress.

Anyone want to join me?  If not, how are you doing on the regular challenge?  Just report in so we all know the good and bad and can offer each other some support and ideas for improvement!

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 6

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Last month I posted the banner for Green Bean Dreams’ Be A Bookworm Challenge!  The challenge ran through the month of May but is back by popular demand!  Of course, I love to read so this is right up my ally!  In May, I read Affluenza (HIGHLY recommended) and Voluntary Simplicity (good but on the philosophical side of simple living).  With the challenge continuing through June, I have selected Against the Grain and Living Simply with Children as my choices. 

If it has been a while since you cracked the binder of a book, visit your library and check out something to read (preferably something from list Green Bean has put together but ANYTHING to get your mind thinking).  And I am not talking about those old magazines that you may have stacked up in a basket in the bathroom - you know, those that are there to provide a little entertainment when nature calls.  And for you guys, sports magazines and online articles do not count!  I mean, get a BOOK!

If this challenge is too difficult for you or reading just isn’t much fun and you can’t even open the first page without drifting off to sleep, then check out the audio version of the book you choose (not available for all selections) or, if that too is more than you can manage, how about getting a video version?  Definitely not in the same category as the REAL thing but you might learn something and be inspired to look a little more deeply into the subject.  This was the case for DH!  He isn’t much of a reader - he likes to tinker more than anything.  So, after I read Affluenza, I checked out the VHS version that PBS created and made him watch it.  The video was less than an hour and he made it through without complaining - I think it even got him more on board with my No Trash Challenge and other attempts to change our lifestyle to a greener, more simple approach.  But we have a LONG way to go and reading a few of the books Green Bean recommends is a step in the right direction.

Here are a few of the books recommended:

Tags: 'Farm life', Family and Friends, Gardening, Green Living, Homeschooling, Parenting, Simple Living, Simple and Green by
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