Happy New Year! I decided to make a collage of picture highlights from 2007. I tried to choose a picture per month.
We joined a new CSA for the Winter and had our first pickup last weekend. We were stunned by the amount of awesome quality vegetables that we received. The Romanesco broccoli or broccoflower pictured below was by far the strangest thing in the bin. We had some last night with dinner and it tasted a lot like cauliflower.
Originally uploaded by jjzach
Originally uploaded by jjzach
I’ve been using the crock-pot from my childhood to make some meals on the weekends. After a failed Bean Soup I made a good batch of Baked Beans and most recently some Ultimate Chili. The crock-pot is covered with drawings of herbs and still works like a charm.
On a side note, the allrecipes.com ingredient search feature allows you to plug your desired ingredients in and it gives you a recipe to match your list.
Originally uploaded by jjzach
I was all set to make a commitment and paint a portion of the kitchen wall with magnetic chalkboard paint, but wimped out and opted to get 2 chalkboard tiles from the Pottery Barn.
Here is some useful info from Green Tips via the Union of Concerned Scientists:
The Green Dry Cleaning? article confirms one of my suspicions that dry cleaning isn’t always necessary. Wet cleaning, Silicone Cleaning and Carbon Dioxide Cleaning all fall into the green category.
Clean Laundry points out that environmentally friendly detergents should contain no phosphates, petroleum or chlorine. On a side note I’m currently testing some green detergents. More on that later.
Green Paint Choices for the Home.
Can Solar Energy fit your Budget? I would love to have solar power!
and the list goes on. Check it out.
Originally uploaded by jjzach
We don’t use Salt and Pepper Shakers and I forget that the rest of the world does. After our last set of house guests seemed surprised that we didn’t even have any I decided to DIY a set. The plain set is from IKEA and I used some glass paint to add the S and P. In order to get a fine point I used my Venetian Glass pen. On a side note, I had no idea which shaker was supposed to have more holes in the spout and Wikipedia reports that the pepper shaker does.
Movie Night
Originally uploaded by jjzach
We had a movie night outside with the neighbors recently complete with a large tv, kettle corn, lawn chairs, bug spray and Austin Powers.
Here are some sites devoted to the art of throwing an outdoor movie night party:
I don’t actually remember to bring my reusable bags into the store all the time and my curbside recycling doesn’t accept plastic bags. Many sources have told me that your local supermarket will accept and recycle bags made of type 2 and type 4 plastic. Today I finally remembered to take a bunch of plastic bags to my local Stop and Shop and found a handy bin in the area where you recycle bottles. The website eHow had a bunch of tips for recycling plastic bags. Also, PlasticBagRecycling.org has a list of drop-off centers and Earth 911 lets you search by zip code (which also allows you to search for other recycle items). There are also trash cans at the Container Store and OXO that allow you to reuse plastic bags, but the downside is that the plastic bag does not get recycled.
2 Pink Geraniums
2 White Geraniums
2 Dusty Millers
1 Purple Verbena
= a pretty combo that doesn’t need to be watered 5 times a day. I’m especially happy with the Carpet Blue Verbena in the center. It has grown quite long and has some pretty purple flowers.
We finally set up the worm bin that I mentioned in a previous post last week. We got our red wigglers online from a place called Planet Natural. You Grow Girl suggests that you make sure you ask for the worms by their scientific name (Eisenia foetida) to be sure you have the right kind of worm since these worms go by many different names. I made my first Rock You slideshow to show the process:
| View Show | Create Your Own
Other notes: We put our bin inside a laundry basket this catches any liquid that might come out of the holes in the bottom and allows us to move it easily if necessary.
Helpful resources:
Composting with Worms Article, Martha Stewart Living, March 2007
The Worm Book, by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor
You Grow Girl, by Gayla Trail
