Sustenance Gardening

While I don't actually plan on growing vegetables and fruits to feed my family year around, I am going to grow a few and I am going to try out some canning and/or pickling.  I just love the way the jars look all neatly lined up on a shelf.

Tonight we have a great opportunity to learn how to do this.  Two neighbors, one a great full yard vegetable & fruit & flower gardener and preserver and the other a professional consultant on eco garden planning are going to share their expertise and ideas at a workshop on sustainable gardening.  It's free and it's open to anyone who is interested, so join me tonight at the St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ from 6 - 8PM.  Here are the details:

SAP Sustainable Food and Land Group
(part of the neighborhood Energy Resilience Group, a subcommittee of the District12 Community  Council)
is pleased to announce an evening of discussing all things regarding Sustenance Gardening!

The evening will be highlighted by having

Dina Koutoupes  owner/ framer from Harvest Moon Edible Landscapes and Mieteka Glowka, a well-seasoned SAPgardener leading our discussions!

Topics for the evening will include…

vplanning our gardens so their harvest can sustain us throughout the year,

vhow to integrate our vegetable / ornamental spaces for a pleasing and productive urban landscape,

vhow to harvest and preserve our produce,

vwhat to plant v what to buy,

vcooperative gardening,

and whatever else comes to mind!

 

When: Wednesday, May 14 6-8 p.m.

Where: St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ  •  2129 Commonwealth Avenue  •  St. Paul, MN  55108  •  (651) 646-7173     

 

Plant Sales That Save Bees

It's planting time!!!!
It's also plant sale time and this weekend there are three that I want to share with you.  Each is an opportunity to:

1. Get those plants you are looking for
2. Support a good cause
3. Be assured you will be buying products that have not been treated with chemicals that are harmful to bees.

Here they are:

University of Minnesota Horticultural Club plant sale
Thursday and Friday, May 8 & 9
9 - 5:  Larpenteur Ave. W and Gortner Ave - look for the white tent.

Here's a link to their web site:  HortClub Plant sale
You will find:
"Herbaceous perennials, small trees, shrubs, edible annuals, house plants, Mycology Club products (grow-your-own mushroom kits), and more!
-Limited availability of unique plants such as Gingko bushes, Daphnes, Magnolias, Hellebores, Trilliums, Acer (Maples), and more! "

They use two suppliers for their plants and tell me that they do not use neononics and are very involved in land stewardship.

 St. Anthony Park Elementary School plant sale
Thursday and  Friday May 8 & 9th : 9- 4
On the school grounds, Como Ave. between Scudder and Knapp.
Here's a map:  SAP Elementary

They will be selling hanging baskets, flowers, vegetables and herbs.  All plants are from Glacial Ridge Growers, a company committed to organic and sustainable practices.


Friends School Plant Sale
Friday, May 9th,  9AM - 8PM, Saturday, May 10th:  10 - 6, Sunday, May 11th 10 - 2
State Fair Grandstand

This sale is huge!  It is the biggest plant sale I have ever attended by far and if you've not been there, go just for the experience.  They fill the entire grandstand to overflowing with plants and outside there are venders for all sorts of green gardening products and art works, and educational sources.  There are even seminars.

At this sale the selection is huge and the plants are small and inexpensive.

If you go, plan ahead, the catalogue is 60 pages. If you arrive early in the day, plan on getting a wrist band to determine when you get to actually go in to the plant sale - you can shop at the vendor's booths while you wait.

Here's their website where you can learn about the sale, search for plants and make your own plant shopping list.  Friends School Plant Sale.

The Friends are also committed to providing plants that are free of neonicotinoids, the component in many pesticides that is harmful to our bees.  They will also be providing a workshop on encouraging bumblebees, among other topics.

I just love that a humble school fund raiser has grown to such immense proportions.

Bring your own wagon to carry all of those plants you will buy.

Warming Up a Rainy/ Snowy Day

Snowy Rain on Knapp Street

Yes, it's raining again today - it even snowed.  That makes almost a week of rainy, cold days.  I think I could stand one or the other but getting the rain and the cold at the same time is pretty miserable.  We can expect more of this with global warming, I understand.

But let's be positive!  The rainy/ snowy/ cool weather got me to finally do a project I've been saying all winter that I'm going to do - make Granola!  I'm not sure of the carbon impact of making granola at home.  It does, after all, entail heating up the oven.  I expect it's more efficient for great big companies to toast those oats than it is for everyone in the U.S. to toast their own.  On the other hand, look at all of that garbage that gets eliminated - a box and a plastic bag (and maybe another plastic carrying bag from the store) for every 14 oz. or so of granola- and maybe less gas expended in delivery.  That's what I'm thinking of when I decided to finally make my own today.

Here is today's batch:

Granola Right Out of the Oven
Oven temp:  300,  cooking time:  1/2 hour

And here are the benefits I see to home made granola:

• It's an easy project to do with a three year old.  Andres got to pour and stir all of the ingredients and we didn't worry about measuring.
• It filled the house with a wonderful aroma thanks to the vanilla and coconut we added.
• It tastes great.
• I think it has less sugar than the store bought stuff.  Tastes that way, anyway - just sweet enough, but not too sweet.
• You can put about anything you want into your granola.   We used what was in the fridge and on the shelf:  oats, some sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds - raisins - coconut, vanilla, wheat germ, honey and a little sesame oil to smooth out the honey. (I added the raisins after baking.)
• It warmed the house up to have that oven on - particularly since I opened the door every 10 minutes during the 1/2 hour cooking time to give the oats a stir.
• I'm reducing waste - no more cardboard boxes and plastic bags from the prepackaged kind.

One word of warning, if you want to try granola on your own, remember to stir it often!

I still remember my first batch of granola, back in my college/ hippie days (I was never technically a hippy because I didn't own a pair of jeans or one of those cute long flowery dresses, but close to the earth was popular back then too, and making your own granola was kind of expected.)  I shared a house with a few other students, and the granola was a joint effort, but I must have been in charge.  That first batch - full of wonderful nuts and dried fruits - was fondly dubbed Christy's Hard As Nails Granola.  I didn't stir it while it was cooking and the honey congealed the oats into hard, barely chewable, clumps.  Ah well, it tasted good anyway.

Turn off the lights ! - It's beautiful.

After a storm at Arches National Park

I have always loved the lighting that occurs when the sky is dark from a recent storm and the sun is out behind me shining dramatically on the foreground.  It's spectacular and beautiful.  In portrait photography too, working with contrasts of light and shadow can produce beautiful and striking images (if the camera can handle it).

Even though I know this, I hadn't thought much about how that quality of light might affect my use of household lights until I was at a meeting last week in our fellowship hall at church.  I'm not a big fan of meeting in that space.  It's a big room with florescent lighting above and bare walls - rather blah. I often have trouble understanding other people when they speak as their voices seem to disappear (that's my hearing issue at work).

We were a small group - maybe 10 or so - of people gathered to talk about our next steps in working to slow climate change and there we were in that big room with all of those lights on.  I got up and went to the row of switches, turning them off until only the lights above our table remained.  When I went back to the table and sat down, I was actually amazed about how much more pleasant it was!  With a dark room around us and lights above us, I had created that dramatic lighting you see in the photo above.  Our space became more cozy and the light that remained over us appeared more brilliant.   My table mates' faces were sharper and easier to see without a lot of excess light behind them and it was easier for me to hear, probably because I could read lips more easily.  So there you go.  I saved some electricity and created a nicer space at the same time.  I love examples that show changing our lifestyle to use less carbon can be a nice thing for us as well as for the environment.

Turning off lights at home is already a well used practice for us - enough so that I hardly think about it. I just turn off lights if I'm not in a room.  It shows on our energy usage too.  Electricity use is the one area where we actually perform better than our most efficient neighbors!  Yay!.  I wish I could say the same thing for our use of gas.  Not so good there.

For a background link, I looked for statistics on the carbon imprint of turning off the lights.  For all of the talk about switching to CFL's, there wasn't much about just not using the lights to begin with, which seems to me to make even more sense.  I did find this great link though, which is a teaching outline for junior high on personal carbon use.  It's a great outline and even comes with test questions and statistics to use in your computations.  Try it out - might be fun.  Oh, and the statistic for turning off your lights is:  Turning off unneeded lights could be a savings of 376 pounds of CO2 emissions per year (similar to air drying your clothes for six months).  Of course, everyone's electricity use differs. so here is the basic statistic to use in your own computation:  Electricity to run lights and appliances - 1.64 lbs of CO2 per kWh. (kilowatt hour)

Here's the link:  Reducing Personal CO2 Emmissions

Tomorrow is the Last Day To Comment against the Alberta Clipper Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion

Tomorrow, April 14th, is the last day to have your say on  Enbridge's proposal to expand its pipeline, which carries tar sands crude from Alberta. Per an info sheet from MN350, Tar sands oil is the dirtiest form of oil on this planet. Its exploitation results in up to 37% more CO2 emissions than with normal crude oil. "Climate scientists warn that full development of tar sands oil will be "game over" for the climate."  That sounds pretty severe.

Enbridge wants to increase today's flow through the Alberta Clipper (Line 67) pipeline by another 350,000 barrels per day.  That's an increase of over 5 billion gallons per year!

You can submit your comments by email to: RouteComments.OAH@state.mn.us.  Include both the PUC Docket Number (PL-0/CN-13-153) and the OAH Docket Number (8-2500-30952) in the e0mail subject line.  The PUC has invited public comments on these criteria:

* Is the proposed project needed and in the public interest?
* What are the costs and benefits of the proposed project?
* Are there other project-related issues or concerns?


The concern is that not only will the use of these tar sands cause a horrible increase in our carbon use, but also that we don't even need this crude oil at this time.  Our Minnesota refineries already have enough crude and are exporting many of their finished products to other states.  Our domestic use of crude oil refined products is decreasing (by 5%, 4% and 7% since 2008 in the U.S., the region and Minnesota respectively.). and the Enbridge pipelines are not fully utilized at present.  They are also replacing their damaged Line 3 in Minnesota and increasing its size so that it will have about 870,000 barrels per day in excess capacity.

Other points against the Alberta Clipper project are that domestic oil is booming and Enbridge has announced plans to increase its use of domestic rather than crude oil at two of its refineries.  Also, if the Keystone project is approved, all of the available Canadian tar sands oil will go on their line.  Something to do with Take or Pay contracts.

OK, so my preference is to just leave that crude oil in the ground until some time in the future when we are actually desperate for it because we've used up other oil sources.  Why send our climate over the tipping point just so that Enbridge can export oil we don't even need right now?

Here's a link to more information:  Say No To Alberta Clipper

Send a comment and tell the PUC it's a bad idea.

And then, if you want to make a big push to keep Keystone from being approved too, you can always hop on the bus and join the demonstration in Washington with the Cowboy Indian Aliance of farmers the end of this month.  Join the MN350 on a whirlwind bus trip action against Keystone pipeline to D.C. on April 25th.  Only $159 for the bus ride and ought to be a pretty interesting experience. (I'm not doing that one, but you might want to.)

Sometimes saving our planet is about day to day lifestyle changes.  Other times it's about taking public action to change the way the big guys use our resources.  Today's about that.  Take 10 minutes - or less - and send your comments on this issue.  Thanks.

Innovative Ways to Use Your Car

Our Van 

Here's a photo of the van we bought last year. It's a big one and if you've read this blog before, you probably know that I'm feeling guilty about having purchased such a gas guzzler when I'm supposed to be so concerned about global warming.  But then, I'm just not a perfect person.  Our reasoning behind the purchase was that we needed a vehicle that would pull that cute pop up camper for us and, more importantly, we wanted to be able to comfortably fit two grandsons and their enormous car seats, our daughter, and the two of us when we traveled - not only on a few camping trips - but anytime we wanted to go together somewhere - which is actually fairly frequently.

Still, the vehicle gets driven several times a week with only one or two persons - not an efficient use of gas.  To compensate, I try to encourage car pooling when going on outings with friends and we offer to drive.  That's been somewhat successful.  We've filled the vehicle at least twice for day long trips and I've had multiple passengers for many shorter ones.

While on vacation,  however, Cathy taught me a new way to use our car.  She was also headed out on vacation to Brainerd for a few days with her large family plus a friend and couldn't fit them all in her nicely economical Prius - so she asked if we could switch cars.  What a great idea!

I love the idea of borrowing but am slow to get into the habit. Just think of all of the resources out there we can use without buying new.  Ask your friends or send a note on the neighborhood list serve the next time you have a temporary use for an item.  You'll save some money and some carbon at the same time.

Saving Puget Sound

I'm vacationing in my home state of Washington.  Walking along the waterfront in Point Defiance Park, I was reminded again of our personal impact on the climate.

A major climate change impact here is the sustainability of the Puget Sound eco system.  The fish and other sea life are dying because of pollution and raising sea temperature is a concern.  At view points information signs talk about work to revive the system's ecology and they make the same point as in the sign below- it's not the factories that are causing the problem (they've cleaned up their act)- it's us.  There are just too many people impacting this eco system and to save it, each individual- whether they are on the water or near the water- needs to change his or her practices to keep the water clean and healthy.

How are people doing? I don't really know. I expect like everywhere the message just hasn't hit home yet. For example, I noticed walking in a beautiful neighborhood on a hill with a staggering view of the water, beautiful green, weed free lawns and a lawn service truck spraying its chemicals onto one of them. I'm sure the owners of those weed free lawns didn't think for a moment about the impact of those chemicals on the fragile waters below. I doubt it even occurred to them.  That is the issue we face- getting us all to think about it all of the time until it becomes a way of life.

Six Ways to Reduce Car Use

Last Sunday's Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast suggestion was to find the lowest carbon impact method of getting to church (walking, bus, bike, carpool) and to look at the week's short trips and find at least two ways to reduce driving.  Here are the stats behind that suggestion:

• Reducing driving is one of the most effective ways an individual can reduce carbon use.
• The average person makes 44 car trips a year that are under a mile.
• A four mile round trip walked rather than driven keeps 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.
• Walking and bicycling are healthier than driving (at least from an exercise standpoint).

I must admit, it is a lot easier to follow this advice when the snow and ice are gone and the temperatures are warmer, but I gave it a try.  I didn't do particularly well, but there were a few bright spots:

(1) The weather warmed enough today that I braved the wet and beginning to freeze sidewalks to walk to a meeting that I would have driven to when the weather was colder or the sidewalks icy.

(2) I alleviated a bit of my guilt about traveling all the way to Shoreview to go to the gym by arranging to run errands in that location rather than taking separate trips in town.

(3)I had also made the effort to carpool to a concert, but the arrangements fell through at the last minute and my attempt to take the bus also fell through when I realized the easy route going to the concert disappeared in the late afternoon and coming home would have been just too hard.

But the weather is warming and the snow will be gone eventually.  Then my options - and yours - will increase.  So think about this when planning a trip about town:

Carpool - Everyone that rides with you equates to one less car on the road. It's a nice way to visit with friends too.  If you drive to work, Metro Transit has a carpool matching feature.  I haven't tried it because I work at home, but sounds like a good idea.  Here's the link:  Metro Transit Carpool

Bike -  It's amazing how quickly you can travel on a bike.  I can get to church, for instance, in about the same time as it takes me to drive. Here's a link to Bicycle Maps and Resources

Walk -  It's the best way to smell the roses.  Here's a link to walking and biking maps in the Twin Cities: Bike Walk Twin Cities

Bus -  That takes some planning, but the more we use the bus, the better the routes will become.  Here's a great resource with interactive maps, bus schedules and trip planners (Minneapolis St. Paul):  Metro Transit

Light Rail -  The new green line from St. Paul to Minneapolis will open this summer. Here's link to a Minneapolis site that links to light rail schedules.  It also shows some free bus routes downtown.

Hour Car - saves insurance and upkeep on a second car and gas cost is less. Here's the link: Hourcar

15 Things You Will (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

So much of what we talk about reducing our carbon footprint our parents would have just called thrifty - or necessary.  At last night's Timely Topics presentation, Kit talked about growing up in a family that had a big garden because the produce was a necessity to supplement their small income.  Besides eating and growing vegetables, they also practiced frugality with their food - waste not, want not.

Kit shared tips for ways she uses up the parts of vegetables that we perhaps throw away.  I must admit that I throw away a lot of vegetable scraps, peelings and ends and feel bad about it, particularly in the winter when the compost bin is buried under several feet of frozen snow.  I've already forgotten most of Kit's quickly shared tips but luckily, when I got home I sat down to read one of Cathy's handouts - a past edition of "Mix" a Twin Cities Coop publication - and there was a great review of the book "An Everlasting Meal" by Tamar Adler.  The article was by Tricia Cornell (Minnesota author) and included a great sidebar titled "15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again.  Thanks Tamar and Tricia.  I'm now going to share a bit of your wisdom.

15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

1.  Leek Tops.  Cook with other vegetables or meat for broth.  Add to a pot of beans.

2.  Parsley stems.  Chop finely for tabouli.  Use to brighten stews.

3.  Chard stems.  Cover in vinegar and spices to make quick refrigerator pickles.

4.  Kale and collard stems.  Use in vegetable stock.  Boil and blitz with garlic and oil to make pesto.

5.  Onion skins.  Save and dry to color eggs.  Add to vegetable stock or to pots of beans.

6.  Carrot tops.  Blend with plenty of oil, garlic and salt for a universal green sauce.

7.  Radish, turnip and beet greens.  Saute.  Douse with vinegar.  Enjoy.

8.  Tomato seeds.  Push through a sieve to catch the flavorful juices.  Shake with Tobasco and salt.  Drink.

9.  Potato peels.  Scrub clean and deep fry for a crispy snack.

10.  Broccoli stems and leaves.  Roast or saute along with florets.

11.  Cauliflower cores.  Boil for soup or mash with oil and cheese.

12.  Bones.  Save raw and cooked bones separately in the freezer.  Simmer for stock when you have a big batch.

13.  Stale bread.  Grind or grate to thicken soups and stews.  Cube for croutons.

14.  Bean cooking water.  Season and drink on its own.  Use as a soup base.

15.  Brine from pickles and olives, oil from tuna and sardines.  Use to launch vinaigrette or dress cold roasted vegetables.

Here is something I have been doing this year with vegetable peelings:  put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer and when there is enough, make a vegetable stock. This isn't particularly recommended for cabbage and broccoli, but works well with onion skins, potato and carrot peels, herbs etc.  I don't tend to do this when I'm not using organic produce because I worry about pesticide residue - so there is one more reason to bite the bullet and buy organic produce.

So what are your tried and true tricks to use up everything?

And why is it important?  Again, the methane gas from our landfills is a huge, huge contributor to climate warming.  We just need to reduce, reduce,  reduce our waste.  I hear of people who have hardly any garbage.  It can be done.  I'm still working on it.

Food and Gardening Resources

Tonight was the last of the Prospect Park United Methodist Church's "Timely Topics" series on climate change.  The focus was Local Sustainable Food.  As one of the presenters, I shared the speakers list for my garden club this year because I am so excited about what a great percentage of the speakers will be talking about sustainability and care of the earth.  The meetings are open to the public, so come if you can.  Here's the list:

February 11 “Putting Down Roots: The Clean Water Potential of Rain Gardens”

Presented by Elizabeth Beckman, Education Outreach Coordinator for Capital Region Watershed District

March 4 “Dream of Wild Health: Native American Indigenous Seeds”

Presented by Dian Wilson, Master gardener and Executive Director of “To Dream of Wild Things” Hugo Farms

April 1 “Full Frontal Vegetable Gardening”

Presented by Eric Johnson, garden speaker, designer, photographer and frequent contributor to MSHS Northern Gardener magazine

May 6 “Trees in a Changing World”

Presented by Andy Holland, Falcon Heights arborist and owner of Birch and Bough

September 2  “Prairie Restoration - Large and Small”

Presented by Marcie O’Connor, Naturalist

October 7 “Update on Bees and What We Can Do To Help Them”

Presented by Dr. Marla Spivak, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and researcher at the U of M, Director of the Bee Colonies at Larpenteur and Cleveland Avenues.

November 4 “Northern Adapted Garden Lilies”

Presented by Dr. David Zlesak, Professor of Horticulture a the University of Wisconsin

December 2 “North Carolina Wild Flowers”

Presented by Sara Evans, retired historian and Chuck Dayton, photographer and retired environmental lawyer

The St. Anthony Park Garden Club meets at St. Matthew's Episcoopal Church fellowship hall, 2130 Carter Ave., St. Paul.  Business meeting is 6:30, social time and refreshments from 7 - 7:25 and the programs begin at 7:30PM.

I'd also like to share with you some links to resources that Cathy Eberhart recommends on the subject of local sustainable food.  Since the subject tonight was local food, these resources, for the most part (except the first one) are most helpful if you live in Minnesota:

Diet for a Hot Planet - Take a bite out of Climate Change (Anna Lappe)
http://www.takeabite.cc/

Land Stewardship Project:  http://landstewardshipproject.org/

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) directory:  http://landstewardshipproject.org/stewardshipfood/csa

Stewardship Farm Directory and other tools for eaters: http://landstewardshipproject.org/stewardshipfood/tools/foreaters

Star Tribune - Taste 50: Year of the Farm (Examples of our transforming food system)
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/210094971.html

Make Dirt Not Waste - Eureka Recycling
http://www.makedirtnotwaste.org/at-home/prevent-wasted-food

Gardening Matters/Community Food Forms/Local Food Hubs:  http://www.gardeningmatters.org/

If you've made it to the bottom of the post, here is a tip that Kit Canright shared tonight:

Throw the big green ends of your leeks (the part that the recipe tells you not to use) into a pot of soup.  They will add a wonderful flavor of leek to the soup. (You may want to throw the green part into the compost pile after it has cooked and lent its flavor to the soup if you find it too woody.)

Black Bean and Avocado Recipe

Black Bean Avocad Salad recipe from "Oh She Glows"

I've gotten a couple of requests for recipes from my almost vegan recipe plan that I shared last month. Here's the Black Bean and Avocado Recipe.  I've pulled it from a blog called Oh She Glows which has lots of fun vegan recipes.  I've found that Pinterest is a great application for saving recipes.  I can search for ideas on the web and when I find one I like, Pin it to one of my boards of Pinterest where the photo from the recipe will show up.  Then I can just scroll through a bunch of pretty photos of things I've decided I'd like to try and when I choose one, click on it and it links me back to the site with the recipe (I usually have to click twice.  The first link goes to the photo and the second link goes to the original site.)

I've tried this recipe a couple of times.  It is so simple and uses ingredients we often have at home and it is just delicious as a salad, or a filling for a taco, for instance.

As far as how I'm doing on that menu planner, the answer is not so well.  That is the norm for me.  I'll spend a lot of time putting a menu together but when it is actually time to make a dinner, I go more by what is in the fridge than what is on the menu.  Never the less, I am getting back into the practice of cooking meat free (we had a month there where we ate a lot of meat) and I have used some of my planned recipes - or at least versions of them.  You know, I do feel better when I'm eating those whole grains, beans and vegetables.

Sharing Seeds

Seed Order

I'm getting ready to put in an order for vegetable, flower and herb seeds for this year's garden.  This is the first year that I've ordered seeds and I don't really know if I'll get them all planted and successfully grown, but I'm going to try.

The advantage to starting vegetables and flowers from scratch is that I have a much larger variety of plants to choose from.  I can actually plant varieties that I wouldn't see at the market.  Even more importantly, I can choose to order from a grower that doesn't use pesticides on the plants so that I don't have to worry about harming the bees and other pollinators.

What I notice, though, is that each seed packet contains from 25 to 100 or more seeds and even though I only buy one packet per variety of plant, I'll end up with way more seeds than I will need this year.  I've sent out a notice on our neighborhood list serve that I would like to share this seed order with someone else.  I expect there is someone out there who would like some of the same seeds I'm buying.  Are you one?  Let me know.

Here is my seed order:

Mayflower pole bean
Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale
Apollo Arugula
Forellenschluss Romaine
Mantilla Bibb Lettuce
Charentais Melon
Bull's Blood Beet
Romaneso Brocolli
Five Color  Silverbeet Chard
Green Tomatillo
Waltham Butternut Squash
Basil Emily
Cilantro
Marigold Brocade Mix
Mexican Sunflower
Bright Lights Cosmos

Slowing Down and Looking Closely

That Tree by Mark Hirsch

If you watched PBS the other evening, you probably saw the documentary about Mark Hirsch's year of photographing an old bur oak down the road from his house.  He used an Iphone 5 and the photos are incredible.  Here is a link to a site A Year In the Life of a Tree that shows many of those photos.  Check it out and enjoy the compositions of the artist and the beauty of that one corn field.

 At the end of the documentary they showed a scene of Mark climbing the tree.  He talked about how after spending a few weeks with spectacular sunset shots, he started to slow down and look closer at all of the surprises the tree offered to him and as the year went by he found such joy in that slowing down and looking closely and in approaching the tree in the way a child would and an adults forgets - lying on the ground, climbing the tree, looking closely at the insects on the bark.   So enjoy a few moment of vicarious slowing down by looking at his photos and thinking of the beauty of our earth.  This is a good carbon reduction practice as it helps us cherish the earth we have so that we want to keep it beautiful.

We did a bit of our own slowing down and looking closely at the zoo today with the grandsons. In the tropical forest alone we saw - cage free - many beautiful birds, a blue frog, a tiny lizard and a nesting heron and the boys, in the fashion of children, collected fallen leaves and sat down on the mulched path to plant a garden.

Playing at Making a Garden at the Zoo

Lenten Carbon Fast

Lenten Carbon Fast 

Daily email messages throughout Lent with a carbon saving task for each day.

Pastor Chris gave a good sermon today - or as she would call it, a reflection.  It revolved around caring for the earth with some reminders of our call to be stewards of the earth dating back to the very beginning and the promise that taking even one small step towards righting a wrong will build our confidence and impact the way we see ourselves and the way others see us.  She also shared a rather fun initiative that is in its fourth year, one that I did not know about, the Lenten Carbon Fast.  This is an ecumenical initiative and, in part, as an individual you may sign up to receive daily emails during Lent.  Each email will suggest one step you might take that day to reduce carbon or care for the earth.  Some things are very simple, some may take a little more doing.  It's kind of what I've been thinking of for myself with this blog, except condensed into a more manageable time period.  I've signed up and I'll share with you how I'm doing.

I need this extra push.  As winter has drug on, I've begun to feel overwhelmed by the whole - how can one person make a difference - downer of fighting climate change.  Chris' sermon came at a good time to remind me that, yes, I am making a difference and by the very act of writing this blog, even though I certainly don't do it every day as I promised, I'm helping the world a little bit and myself even more.

If you want to try the Lenten Carbon Fast too, here is a link to the sign up page. Lenten Carbon Fast

Related to the sermon, the scripture story today was one of the creation stories -just the part about creating Adam from dust and creating the garden of Eden.   As she told the story, I thought to myself, perhaps this old story, which dates back to the fertile crescent, pre Christian, pre Judaism times, is not a story of the past, but a story of the future - a prophetic story - where the earth is our garden of Eden. Let's hope we don't get booted out this time.

Is Supporting My Local Book Store Good For the Environment?

Micawber's Books

I walked over to Micawbers Bookstore tonight to hear William Kent Krueger (Kent) talk about his latest books. If you are not familiar with William Kent Krueger, he is a Minnesota author who has had a very successful run of mystery books featuring the Minnesota Arrowhead Region (think The Boundary Waters Canoe Area) and an appealing Ojibwa/Irish protagonist named Cork O'Connor.   He is also the author of a few stand alone novels, including "Ordinary Grace", on the short list for the Edgar for best novel of the year and several other awards.

 Kent started his presentation by saying the reason he was at Micawbers this evening, is because he wants to support local bookstores and local bookstores need all of the support they can get.  They are dying out and even Barnes and Nobel is suffering.  Without our support, bookstores will evaporate and our only source to buy books will be the Amazon's of the world.

I thought about what he said as I listened to him talk about his writing, his books, his character development etc.  Micawbers is our very own local independent book store.  It has been in the neighborhood for much longer than we have and I've always been happy that it was here, though I don't exactly buy a lot of books there.  My primary book source is the library and, I must admit, I've bought more books from Amazon lately than from Micawbers.  I tend to shop at Micawbers only when buying books as gifts.

 I found myself thinking tonight, however, about how wonderful it was to sit in that cozy room with it's wooden trim and twinkly lights on the street side windows and it's low ceiling so that I could hear every word that Kent said - no echos from a high ceilinged warehouse like mall store. How nice it was to walk in and ask the lady at the desk about Minnesota authors and have her walk me around the store pointing out books and I thought about how nice it would be to bring the grandkids over to look at the children's section.  Sometimes I don't really appreciate something until I think about the possibility of losing it.  I bought a book and I'll be back more often.

Then, of course, there is the question - how does buying a book at the local bookstore help reduce my carbon footprint?  On the surface, it doesn't at all.  Trees were chopped, ink was used, presses were run and trucks delivered this book to me from New York where it was printed.  A quick download onto my Iphone would probably take a lot less energy.

Perhaps, however, in the long run this step helps out.   So much of reducing our carbon use revolves around changing our lifestyle to one that builds more resilient communities, communities that don't rely as heavily on carbon.  Supporting local businesses (and local authors) keeps our money in the local economy.  Also, a place like Micawbers on an evening like tonight creates a place for neighbors to gather, to get to know each other and to be entertained without having to drive somewhere else. So, once again, it's not that simple.  I'd be interested to know what your opinion on this subject is - support my local bookstore or keep to the library?

By the way, Kent is a very engaging speaker and I'm looking forward to reading Ordinary Grace, particularly now that I know how attached he is to the book and the characters in it, many of whom are formed from his own experiences as a child.  If you decide to buy one of his books - try your local bookstore.

Saving Our Bees and Other Pollinators

 

Busy Bee At Work

I'd like to talk about bees and how we can save them. We need bees to pollinate our crops, but they are in trouble due to many factors.  There are steps that we can take to help them out.  One of the easiest is to plant lots of flowers, so there is something blooming in your yards at all times.(see: Minnesota Plants for Bees) Natives are preferred, but any flower helps - as long as they haven't been treated with pesticides.  Unfortunately, most plants and seeds that we buy in nurseries have been treated with these chemicals that threaten, in particularly, our bees.  My neighbor, Margot Monson, sent out an informative letter recently that I would like to share with you.  She knows her bugs and explains the issue well.  She knows her gardening too.  I've been in her back yard.  The tomatoes in particular were amazing! I'll follow up in the next post with her list of nurseries and seed houses that sell untreated plants and seeds. Here is her letter:

For all the gardeners and lovers of healthy ecosystems, please be aware that most nurseries and garden centers, especially the larger ones, are selling seeds and plants pretreated with systemic pesticides.  They are listed by many different names and sold by many companies.  Systemics affect the entire plant, so include the nectar and pollen, and will remain in the roots and soil for years; after perennials die back in the fall, they become a part of the entire plant again the next year.  Contact sprays may be shorter lasting, but if in contact with the flowers,  will affect the pollinating insects.  Even for self pollinating plants, if treated with systemics like our agricultural crops, the insects will still forage on the pollen.

Research is revealing that honey bees are bringing many different synthetic chemicals back to their hives and together with a lack of enough diverse plant resources that provide them adequate nutrition, the pesticides further weaken them, making them more susceptible to diseases. Just like humans, insects need a balanced diet to be well nourished, and they struggle to find diverse resources in our cities and in our rural landscapes devoted to genetically modified monocultures.

As an entomologist and beekeeper, I do not use any synthetic preparations in our gardens, and with a diverse assemblage of plants, I have few pests - occasionally there are large populations of a particular pest species, like the Japanese beetles of 2 years ago which were definitely a problem, but the numbers of predatory wasps, lacewings, beetles, flies, ants & spiders that I regularly see in our gardens take care of anything that does show up.  Honey bees and Monarchs are attracting a lot of attention now because we can recognize & identify them as special and responsible for pollinating at least 1/3 of our food crops, and we can count them, so to speak, so know their numbers are declining rapidly.  However, whatever impacts these insects will affect all our pollinators, and there are thousands of different species of native insect pollinators at risk as well.

Please ask the managers and growers of the nurseries and garden centers where you purchase your seeds and plants, and ask the catalog companies if they are using seeds pretreated with systemic pesticides and if they pretreat their plants as well - our laws do not require pesticide labeling, so you will not know unless you ask.  If they do not know or will not disclose, then go elsewhere.  We need all our native insects for us to have healthy environments to grow our gardens and for all our wild creatures, including the insectivorous birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, and so us.

I have been researching the local nurseries and garden centers about their methods by calling and asking questions and am compiling a list to share of those I feel who are answering my questions candidly, and several have.  This is by no means exhaustive, and I welcome any additions that you are aware of.  Please contact me off line if you have additional information and/or are interested in a copy.  I also have papers with more detailed explanations of what scientists are finding and can give you the references.  One good one is in the MN Conservation Volunteer:  A Sticky Situation for Pollinators by BrianDeVore  July-Aug 2009;  Yes, this is not new information, so we need to be responding now before it is too late.  I have included it below.

Happy spring planting and may your gardens be buzzing this summer!

Margot Monson

An Easy Way To Start Seeds Without Windows or Grow Lights

Plastic Containers To Become Seed Starters

I've been allowing used milk jugs and produce containers to pile up in the basement.  Even though I'm trying to avoid buying things in plastic containers, the family continues to buy milk in plastic jugs and we had plastic produce containers from before my ban.  But no worry, they all have a very good use.  I'm going to start this year's vegetables and flowers in these containers and set them outside to await the warmer days of spring.

I've always avoided starting plants from seeds because the few times I've tried it's just been too putzy.  However, last year at a garden club meeting the speakers shared this great method for sowing seeds in milk jugs and other plastic containers in the winter or early spring, putting them outside and pretty much forgetting about them.  I tried it with a few seeds last year and thought it worked pretty well.  I'm going to try again this year with many more seeds, so I hope it works this time too.

Check out the website mentioned at the bottom of the instructions.  Wintersown.org.  It has photos and links to more information that looks very helpful.  Also, I see a tab marked Free Seeds!

Here are the directions:

WINTER & SPRING SOWING INSTRUCTIONS

Michelle Mero Riedel

For milk, distilled water, and similar containers, gallon sized, rinsed, toss cap.

1. Cut four 1/2 - 1” holes in the bottom of the milk jug with a utility knife. Twist knife to make a hole.

2. Cut a horizontal line with utility knife from one side of handle to the other, about 3-5” from bottom of

milk jug, leaving a 1” hinge.

3. Grab handle and pull back to open container. Again, don’t cut all the way so you have a hinge.

4. Add soil to 1” from cut line.

5. Water well so soil is muddy and you see water coming out bottom.

6. Take a break to make sure water will flow out the bottom.

7. Flatten soil so there isn’t any peaks or valleys.

8. Add seeds, as many as you wish.

9. Cover with enough soil, the diameter of the seed (example if seed is 1/8” in diameter, add 1/8 inch of

soil). Additional soil is not needed if seeds are very tiny.

10. Lightly add more water to moisten.

11. Add a plant label along inside container wall with name of plant, color, light requirements, and height.

This label will go into the garden.

12. Close cover and duct tape in place. Clear duct tape is best.

13. Label container lid with plant name and date.

14. Remember to toss the container cap.

15. Place outside on the east, south, or west side of your house. Allow snow to pile on top and collect rain.

Can put container on patio, in garden, on grass, on picnic table, on deck. Do not put under deck, awning,

or roofline.

For bakery, takeout, produce, or rotisserie chicken containers:

1. Follow same instructions as milk containers except add holes at top of the container.

2. Add as much soil as you can.

3. Place plant label inside on its side.

4. No need to tape unless the container won’t stay closed.

5. Label container top.

Hints

1. Plant perennials in February and March

2. Plant annuals, herbs, and vegetables April 1-20.

3. After late April, they can be direct sown in the ground

4. Most Aprils are wet, so you won’t have to water until early May.

5. Watch containers for drying and water if necessary with hose attachment on mist. Be gentle with

small seedlings.

6. If you wish, as weather warms up, open containers during the day, and close at night if temps are too

cool or below freezing.

7. Bring your tender plants (what you sowed in April) indoors or in your garage if temps are at or

below freezing. Perennials can remain outside. They can take the cold.

8. On hot spring days, you might want to move your containers to receive less sun (east side of home)

so they don’t completely dry out.

9. Can cut off lid when weather warms up, usually after May 15.

10. Wait for mature roots before dividing.

11. For additional information, go to wintersown.org.

Made in Minnesota

Used Wine Bottle Candle

Gordon and I took a Made in Minnesota tour through community education today.  I hadn't thought of it as a carbon use related issue when I signed up, it just sounded interesting.  But as I thought about it, carbon footprint is a big component.   As we think about global warming and the reduction of fossil fuels, shopping and manufacturing locally is very important both because of sustainability of the local economy and a reduction in the miles driven for your merchandize.  In fact, many say that the economy is currently at great risk and we should be doing all that we can to build local economies that can survive a shake up in the global economic system.

We visited four Minnesota manufacturing firms today and it is fun to think about the things that are made here, so I've Google it, and here is a list of other companies that create their products right here at home in Minnesota and here is the link: Made in Minnesota. According to this list from Manta, there are 1044 manufacturing firms in Minnesota.  It's not a very helpful list, but interesting.  Not all are small firms, of course.  Here's a list from the Star Tribune of the 100 top publicly held Minnesota firms, of which 3M is the largest manufacturer.

The companies we visited were small.  The first, the Acadian Candle Company, won the Made in Minnesota title on all fronts since not only are the candles made right there at their shop, but all of the ingredients are also from Minnesota.  When we first walked into the storehouse, we walked past a couple of boxes full of empty wine bottles and I thought -  Wow, someone had a big party here.  But as it turned out, their #1 best selling candle last year was a used wine bottle candle complete with the original label.  It actually did make a neat candle.  The wine bottles are cut at a little above the label area and then filled with a soy wax and light fragrance.  So there - using recycled goods too.  I thought it was fun to learn that they get their used bottles from friends who drop them off at the back porch as well as from a few restaurant sources.

Here's another earth friendly option - on their blog they mention that you can buy their used candle molds and supplies to do your own candle making at home.  Though I expect it is more energy efficient to buy a candle they've made since they are making so many at one time.

We also visited Abdallah Candies where I discovered it really takes a long time to make a chocolate covered cherry, J.W. Hulme Co., a manufacturer of hand made leather bags, where I learned that a company that makes $500 purses and $1000 duffel bags can actually be flourishing! and Podium Wear, where I learned that if you have 5 or more people who want to wear the same design you can have your own biking, skiing, or running gear designed and hand made for you in those fabulous colorful outfits you see on the athletes at the Olympics- for a reasonable price (though not what you'd get if it were made in China.)

Here's another way we almost reduced our carbon footprint today.  We took our tour on a big bus.  Buses are the most economical form of mass transportation because they  can pack so many people into one conveyance.  Unfortunately, we learned that the driver of this particular bus lives in Red Wing, drove to Zumbrota to pick up the bus, drove to St. Paul to tour us around all day and they had to return the bus to Zumbrota and then drive home to Red Wing.  I'm not sure that was entirely energy efficient.  So, once again, reducing our carbon footprint is just not that simple.

Thoughts From My Vacation

Traditional and Modern - View of Old Acapulco from Roqueta Island

I just got a link to this month's Women's Press and see that the article on my blog is featured and I haven't written a thing in 10 days.  I'll blame vacation for that.  We've been back from our trip to Acapulco for a few days but I'm only getting back into the swing of things now.

I have no idea how my carbon use impacted the world during our vacation, but I certainly thought about it a lot.  Like everything, there were ups and downs.  On a daily basis, I expect that our carbon use was lower.  We walked a lot, took cool showers, slept in an unair conditioned - unheated room and ate at restaurants (so the heating of the stoves was shared with several people). We didn't shop much and had little waste. On the other hand, we were located on a high hill and it was hot, so we took a taxi home from our walk almost every day - and the taxis are old and battered and stinky- so I assume they pollute a lot.  And, of course, we had that very long plane ride guzzling up gas for which I have previously bought a carbon offset to allay my guilt.

Nothing is simple.  Walking around Acapulco,  I thought about our impact on the earth.  We were staying in the old town and I am sure that in very many ways the carbon use of residents must be lower than here - warm weather, fewer car owners, poorer people, so there can't be as much consumption and waste.  But still, the impact by people on this area is clear.  Noisy buses and taxis and cars fill the bay side street and buildings cover the hills, with few parks in between. The bay has struggled with pollution, though it looked quite blue/green and clear when we were there so I hope that the city has been successful in its efforts to keep the water clean. Hillsides are still a dumping spot for garbage, though I've seen worse.

Acapulco is one of those cities where you can clearly see how the city has changed with time.  It is located on a long curved bay and if you stand in the old town at one end, you can see how the buildings become more modern as the they progress along the curve of the bay, from the 1950's to the 70's to the 80's and 90's and then the 2000's directly across the bay a few miles as the crow flies and 10 or more along the bay front. (The newest development is further away still - out of sight.)  On the modern end, there are fewer taxis and more personal cars.  The cars are newer with more pollution controls, I assume, the buildings taller and air conditioned.  The stores are fancier and full of gift shops and boutiques.  It would be interesting to make a comparison of the ecological impact of those two ends of the city - the modern, airconditioned, polution controlled newer end and the old, noisy, poorer end where taxis clatter, buses roar with boom boxes pulsing but people have less money to spend.

Riding The Black Pearl Bus - Buses are privately owned and carry their own unique decor and sound system.  Choose carefully before boarding!  The "music" was so loud on this one that we didn't last more than a few blocks before having to get off.

Unfortunately, I don't speak enough Spanish to have the slightest idea what is going on in Acapulco and Mexico generally for that matter, but I can GOOGLE it!  Here's an interesting link to Mexico's National Climate Policy.  Hmm, Mexico has set a goal of reducing carbon emmisions by 50% of the 2000 level.  They are also implementing pricing for electricity and water that reflects actual costs and ecological costs of their use.  Hmmm.

Acapulco - fishing

Gordon and I took our first walk in town yesterday. The city is busy and noisy with traffic, but along the malecon ( the sidewalk that edges the beach) , many trees -palms next to the road and small groves shading old beach side restaurants) softened the noise and provided welcome shade. Together with a constant light breeze, the walk was quite enjoyable.

At this edge of Acapulco's long beach front small fishing boats launch. Some fish right in the bay and display their fresh catch on small wooden tables in the sand near the sidewalk. 

As we walked along, we saw men pulling in the net from one of the fishing boats. This is no small task. A big crowd of men run to the shore to help. First 5 or 6 grab the line, niftily outfitted with slings for their shoulders so they can lean back and brace their feet into the sand for the great, long and difficult tug of war with the sea as they bring in what seems like a mile of net before they get to the treasure at the middle. Then all of the other men who have gathered run to the center of the net to pull it onto the shore and start the process of picking the fish and other stuff out of the net. There is so much net, I can hardly imagine how they keep it all organized.

At the center of the n

et there was quite a pile of flopping fish and there was also quite a pile of - PLASTIC!

Yes, here was another reminder of how our oceans have changed because of our throw away world. I've read there is more plastic than anything else in much of the sea. I wondered about eating the fish from the bay.

The good news is it could be worse.  After decades of explosive growth, Acapulco bay became very polluted. It's been cleaned up since then. Maybe we can clean up our oceans?

Mexico Musings - Air Conditioning

We arrived in Acapulco last night. It's hot here and my body, which has been used to our cold Minnesota winter, was in a bit of a shock. There is no air conditioning in the room. Our air conditioning came from the sea breeze wafting through the louvres on the window by my bed.

Actually, there isn't air conditioning anywhere in this hotel except in a few closed up rooms.  The hotel was built in the 50's and doesn't seem to have changed much since then. What it lacks in modern comforts and decor, however, it makes up in charm.

It stretches along a cliff above the sea. The rooms and restaurant are open to the fresh air. There is a palapa roof, palm trees, a large wooded garden and hammocks on the veranda. 

The hotel was originally built by movie stars- John Wayne and Johnny Weismuller and was quite a hang out for the rich and famous in the 50's. 

Many people today would consider our spartan, un-air conditioned room with its minuscule bathroom to be unacceptable, and I think how our expectations have changed over the years.

Perhaps now what we need to be doing is changing our expectations again- the other way- to a life that doesn't need as many creature comforts.

As I write this, I am

sitting in the open air lounge, about the only place I can get wifi.

I'm pretty warm, but there is a breeze. I can hear the sea (and traffic too, I expect) and I am relaxed in that way I am only after I have spent a full day breathing outdoor, rather than conditioned, air.

Menu Planning For A Meat Free (almost) Diet

Lime black bean salad with avocado

My move to meat free and more healthy eating is slow, at best.  My main approach has been to just not buy meat.  However, I am not the only shopper in the family and the others don't show much compunction in that matter.  We have eaten a number of meatless meals over the last few months and I've tried new recipes - some of which I liked and some of which I didn't.  Still, there is always meat in the fridge and the freezer which makes me think I'm not helping global warming much, if at all.

With that in mind, I spent yesterday pouring over the recipes that I've used and liked and that fit into our eating patterns pretty well.  I organized them and put together a menu for 11 dinners and then I put together a shopping list for those 11 dinners.  Now I figure I can grab that shopping list, check off what we are missing, and be in a position to usually have the right ingredients around for anything on that list.  Therefore - no excuses!  HAH!  I know myself better.  I do the pouring over recipes and making menus bit - frequently.  But I was more thorough this time and I now have that shopping list, so wish me luck.

This took me a long time to put together, organize and make the shopping list. To spread the benefit around, I'll share it with you.  If you would like any of these recipes and/or a copy of the shopping list, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Here is the menu briefly:

1. Falafel with Tahini , Tabouli, Green Salad and Pickles (This recipe was a hit with the whole family)

2.  Mushroom and millet bowl, mixed greens with apples and walnuts, pumpkin spice muffins (I've tried the mushroom and millet bowl and it was fine.  We'll see if it grows on us.)

3. Bean Burgers, caramelized onions with beer, sweet potato fries and other green vegetable (I love bean - bean/mushroom burgers and am trying to perfect the recipe.  Same with sweet potato fries.)

4.  Salmon, broccoli, wild & brown rice pilaf and applesauce cake (It's not like me to make cake or cookies for dessert, but we all like to eat them.  I figure if I add a "healthy" dessert, it will replace the candy and make for a cooking activity on the days when the boys are home.

5.  Lentil vegetable soup, corn bread, kale & fruit salad (all really great recipes, though I haven't tried all three together before.)

6.  Fajita style vegies, avocado, lettuce, beans, rice (yes, we have to get a Mexican style dinner on the menu.  We love it.)

7.  Vietnamese salad with potstickers (Another recipe I'm working on.  I love the Vietnamese salads I've tried in restaurants.  Haven't gotten it right at home yet. So this may morph into potstickers with vegies and rice.)

8. Mushroom or other nice ravioli or tortillini with tomato sauce, onions and peppers, lime black bean salad with avacado, green salad (A quick dinner that even the boys will love (except the salad).

9.  Tofu stir fried rice with vegies - or maybe stir fried vegies with tofu, rice on the side. (We actually like tofu, but don't have many recipes where we use it.)

10.  Honey Lime quinoa with sweet potatoes, pan seared brussel sprouts with cranberries and pecans. (Two recipes that are really yummy that didn't quite fit into other menus, so I'll just make them a meal of their own.)

11.  Buckwheat pancakes with sweet potatoes, banana, raisins and walnts with fresh fruit and yogurt or fried apples  and (optional) sausage - real or vegan.  (This is a sneaky way to get fruit and vegetables into the grandkids.  They scarf these up.)

Knowing me, this exact menu will never actually  happen since we are a use up what is in the refrigerator kind of people, but I'll give it a good try when we get back from vacation.