Monthly Archives: May 2010

Grow Your Own Herbs – Green Step by Step

Growing your own herbs is a fun small step to take for being green. It can be done in a house or an apartment; all you need is a sunny place to grow the herbs.

The great part about growing your own herbs is that you’ll have cheap, fresh herbs all the time for cooking with. Just look at how much fresh herbs cost in the grocery store. Even dried ones can get pricey if you don’t buy them in bags or from bulk bins.

Basil is very easy to grow if you want to start with just one plant. It’s also useful in a lot of recipes. When my basil plant gets big enough, I love harvesting enough to make homemade pesto – an amazing treat and far superior to what you can buy at the store.

How to Make Toddler Stage Baby Food

I’ve been making my daughter’s  baby food from the time she started on solid foods. It’s a lot of fun but some work also. But I love the extra control homemade baby food gives me over what goes into her diet.

Now that she’s a toddler, she is getting seriously more independent about her eating. She doesn’t want food spooned into her mouth with a few exceptions such as yogurt, and even that she’s getting stubborn about.

This is because she is so good at self feeding and dealing with chunky food. She doesn’t need my help and has made it quite plan that it is mostly no longer welcome. I have a very independent toddler.

When you go to the grocery store, you see all kinds of toddler stage foods available. Most of them frankly look gross to me. Overcooked vegetables, those funky looking meat sticks, and toddler meals with waaaay too much salt.

I’d rather make my own toddler food. It’s not like it’s difficult. Mostly it’s chopping up what the rest of us are having, but smaller.

Not all meals easily chop into something a toddler can easily handle, however. And so I keep some foods in the freezer prepared to make an easy meal.

Foods to cook until soft and freeze in cubes:

Rice
Lightly blended green beans
Lightlly blended peas
Diced carrots
Lightly pureed ground beef
Lightly pureed chicken

I don’t keep a huge selection in the freezer anymore because most meals can be eaten with the rest of the family. You may need to cook vegetables just a touch softer and make sure meats are very tender and chopped into small pieces, but toddlers can mostly eat what you eat.

Your crock pot is your friend when it comes to meats. You’ll almost always get meats that are soft enough for your toddler to handle once you dice it up.

To use the frozen goods, I mix them up as I did when she was a baby, except I use the rice so that it’s all a bit chunky. It’s messy, but this means she can pick up the food and cram it in her mouth. You know what messy eaters toddlers can be.

Couscous is a good alternative to rice. My daughter loves it. You could also use small pasta shapes and anything else that is small enough for a toddler to handle. You can freeze any vegetables your toddler likes; I just listed some of my daughter’s favorites.

It helps to peel some kinds of vegetables. My daughter loves zucchini, but the skins still give her trouble. Rather than peel them, I cut off the skins of the pieces I give to her, as the rest of the family enjoys it as well.

Remember that toddlers will put pretty much anything in their mouths, but can’t chew every food they try. Raisins are more of a choking hazard than a treat for them. Same for nuts. You’re best off chopping foods small enough that your toddler is not too likely to choke on them and keep foods soft enough that the toddler can break them down with just a little chewing.

When Was the Last Time You Got Around to Volunteering?

A big part of improving our world is getting out and directly working on the problems we face. The troubles we’re facing only get worse when no one takes the time to work on them.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it’s hard to find time to volunteer. With three kids and a home business, my life is busy. But at the same time, that almost makes it more important to volunteer. What better way to be a great example?

Where to Volunteer?

There are many places you can volunteer in any community. Some are more environmentally focused while others are more about helping the less fortunate. Either sort is a very good idea.

You can volunteer in a food kitchen. You can volunteer to help clean up a natural area near you. You can volunteer to read to kids at your local library. You can volunteer to build homes with Habitat for Humanity when they’re in your area or someplace you can go to help. You can volunteer to help a local CSA. You can volunteer to help bring environmental programs to your local schools.

You won’t always be able to do your first choice. Sometimes programs have enough volunteers and need to turn people away. Don’t let that stop you from volunteering. Look at other options or try again another time.

Not all volunteer opportunities will be right up there dealing with the problems that need to be fixed. You may be able to volunteer to help with the less obvious positions, such as keeping in contact with volunteers, helping with fundraising and so forth. These may not be as much fun, but they’re vital to many organizations.

Don’t Forget the Simple Things

Not all volunteering has to be big projects. You can do little things to make your community or the world a better place. Donate old glasses to Give the Gift of Sight.  Do a little guerrilla gardening. Offer a microloan through sites such as Kiva. Give a donation to a good cause. Tell your friends and family about the causes you support. Some of them might choose to get involved too.

It’s not always going to be easy to find the time or money to help out the causes you’d like to support. But if you don’t try at all, it’s never going to happen. Take some time and think about where you could be making a difference right now. Get your kids involved as appropriate. We can all make a difference if we choose to.

How to Choose Eco Friendly Children’s Toys

Children in the United States as a general rule have a lot of toys. I mean a lot. Often more than they can realistically play with. By the time you add in all they toys that you as parents choose for them, that grandparents provide, toys from other relatives, plus from friends at birthday parties, you’re talking quite a number of toys. How on earth are you supposed to keep that even remotely eco friendly?

It’s not easy. But with a little discussion with family and friends, and some good choices on your own, you can do it.

Start When They’re Young

It’s never too soon to start thinking of how eco friendly your children’s toys are. It’s even more important in many ways that you pick eco friendly toys for your baby than it is for your older kids. Who’s more likely to regularly put toys in their mouth, after all?

Buy and encourage others to buy toys that are free of phthalates if they must buy plastic. Be open about your preference for wooden and organic toys. If you’re clear about what you’d like to have in your home, many people will listen. There’s only so much you can do about the ones who won’t listen.

When it comes to painted toys and jewelry, you’re going to have to think about what’s in that paint too. Standards have gotten stricter for lead content in paint, but cadmium is also an issue.

Encourage Toy Trades

If you have family or friends with kids just a bit older, younger or right around the ages of your children, talk about handing down or trading toys. It’s a great way to keep kids using toys while giving them a fresh assortment regularly.

This can be challenging as kids get very attached to certain toys. If you’re doing a trade, beware of kids getting too attached to a toy that you had planned on trading back or to another child. Expect that trading and handing down will work better with some toys than with others.

If you can get this started when the kids are young, they are likely to be more matter of fact about handing down toys that they’re bored with. If they’ve never had to do it but you’re suddenly insisting, of course you’ll face resistance.

Buy Used Toys

There are many resources to buy used toys. Craigslist, thrift stores, garage sales and eBay are wonderful for getting toys relatively cheaply, and you can’t forget Freecycle for freebies. I bought my kids an old Atari 2600 so that they could play video games, and they’re quite happy with it. No need for a modern system, and the cartridges are really cheap, especially in comparison to more modern gaming systems. Yet the games are highly engaging and loads of fun for the kids and for us.

All kinds of toys and games can be acquired used. You will want to be aware of any potential recalls or safety issues.

And when your kids are done with them, you can sell the toys off too if they’ve lasted.

The Plain Cardboard Box

When you’re thinking eco friendly toys, you cannot forget the plain cardboard box. You may get one when you buy a new appliance or you may have to go to Home Depot to ask them to save a box for you to pick up the next day for your kids. However you manage it, a cardboard box can be made into a great playhouse.

Don’t Forget Outdoor Toys

Some of the best toys you can get for your kids will be the ones that encourage them to play outside. Kids need to get outdoors more than many do these days. Skates, bicycles, scooters, balls and so forth at appropriate ages encourage a lot of activity. Don’t forget shovels for encouraging them to help you in the garden.

You can also take the time to teach your kids to play classic childhood games that don’t require any accessories. Think about tag and hide and go seek. Outdoor play doesn’t need to revolve around a toy at all.

Could You Switch Your Lawn to Native Plants?

I’m kind of sighing here. Due to the homeowner’s association kicking up a fuss over an imperfect lawn – one spot simply refuses to grow grass, despite reseeding and trying to fix the sprinklers, my landlord is resodding the front lawn. If it were my home, I’d be looking at what else could go in there. I have the back lawn for the kids; I’d frankly rather not have a front lawn at all. Put something else in there!

A well watered lawn is attractive in its way. All nice and green. But it’s not green in the sense of being environmentally friendly, as a general rule. Most lawns get treated with harsh chemicals that then wash into sewers with every rain or runoff from the sprinklers. They take huge amounts of clean water, which is horrible for places where water resources are already strained. Most people trim their lawns with lawn mowers that have highly inefficient engines.

In short, they just aren’t that eco friendly, no matter how green the color.

A lawn is not the only path to an attractive front yard, however. If you want an attractive and eco friendly front yard, read up on xeriscaping and find some native plants.

Advantages of Native Plants

Choosing native plants for your landscaping has many advantages. They need little to no water, as they evolved to grow in the area you’re trying to grow them. That’s a nice savings on your water bill.

They’re also better adapted to the soil. This means you won’t need to spend so much time fertilizing them. If you’re using compost from your own kitchen, fertilizing isn’t so bad a deal, but when people use chemical fertilizers, as is far more common with lawns, it’s bad for the environment and frankly unhealthy for the people and pets who have to live with the chemicals there.

You can also find many beautiful native plants. It make take some searching, but most places have native plants available that you will be happy to have growing in your yard. Also plenty you’d be unhappy with, but of course you won’t be growing those.

You also won’t have to worry so much about spraying for bugs. Native plants are used to the local bugs.

You may also attract more local wildlife. This can be both an advantage and disadvantage, depending on your perspective. It’s great to encourage the local wildlife, but let’s face it – a skunk won’t be as welcome as a songbird most places.

What About the Disadvantages?

Native plants aren’t going to be perfect for everyone or every use. There’s a reason why I only want to have a front yard landscaped with native plants.

Most areas don’t have native plants that are good as a lawn, and that means it’s not so good a place for the children to play. That’s important to me as a way to encourage my kids to get outside regularly.

It can be much harder to find local plants that really suit your idea of an attractive yard, as you will have far fewer plants to choose from. This may not be a major issue in some places, but if you have a definite look you’d like to go for, it may be a real challenge.

What About Plants from Other Areas that Are Adapted to the Climate?

Nonnative plants that grow well in your area may also be tempting. They may well be a better choice than trying to grow a lawn in some ways. But they can also be problematic.

Nonnative species can become invasive, pushing out native plants in areas beyond your yard. Seeds don’t just stay put, after all. They get eaten and excreted by animals and bugs. They may get blown around by the wind. They grow where, if you knew about it, you’d really rather they didn’t.

The decision to use nonnative plants should be made carefully. They can allow you to really cut your water use and still have the yard of your dreams, but they aren’t perfect.

Especially in the Western part of the United States, it’s important to cut back on how much lawn area we grow around our homes. It uses too much water and is bad for the environment. Start taking a look at what you’re growing outside your home and start thinking about the best decisions you could make.

Ending on a Lighter Note

I have to note that the resodding is taking a really long time. We visited family over the Mother’s Day weekend, and on the way back home my oldest daughter commented in a rather disgusted tone, “I hope the sodding guys have finished the lawn.”

All parents know how hard it is to not laugh sometimes.