Planting Carrots

Today we are starting our fall garden. Maybe a little behind schedule but we just started our summer garden a few weeks ago so better late than never (we were out of the country until the middle of July).

We used egg cartons to plant 36 carrot seeds. Hopefully a lot of them take. Our summer garden is having its ups and downs. We planted it at the end of July with maturing plants from the local nursery. We have had some trouble with aphids and spider mites on our tomatoes but our latest pest is the biggest of all Leo! I found 4 green tomatoes that he pulled off today alone! ahhhh So if anyone has any ideas for easy organic toddler pest control let me know.

Currently we are container gardening (do to time constraints for our summer garden). However we plan on putting a raised bed in for our fall/winter garden.

Library Time

Today we took a trip the library to participate in Story Time and of course get more books. After a trip gone bad with two cranky kids to the bookstore a few months ago (think screaming child and baby eating books), I decided the library was the place for us. Where else can a kid go and pick out whatever they want to bring home with almost no limitations. Then if we bring home a few books that aren’t very good, its okay because we’re not stuck with them. I also like the lesson the kids are learning, that we can borrow books and we don’t have to buy everything and still get to enjoy it.

Don’t forget you can use the library websites just like ordering from a bookstore, except you have to go pick it up.

Now if only I had a bike seat for Leo we could ride there too!

Free Toys!

This one is pretty basic, when something comes in a box, I give the box to the kids for a while to play with (until they destroy it or we need it for something else).  We also have turned empty containers and bottles into “toy food” for the kids kitchen (think ketchup, mustard, yogurt and raisin containers).  Egg cartons and strawberry containers can be turned into lots of different kids crafts too. 

I like to do this because the kids get a new “toy” it is free and gives them a few minutes or hours of entertainment.  Then once it is destroyed or forgotten by them I use it for something else or recycle it. 

 

Dryer balls anyone????

These are my new favorite laundry thing. Ever since I started cloth diapering my daughter over 3 years ago I started using eco laundry detergent and rubber dryer balls. This was to help get the diapers clean and well rinsed so they wouldn’t stink. Well one thing I missed was fragrant smelling clothes. My clothes came out clean but with no scent.

In comes wool dryer balls. These things are awesome, come in any scent you want, reusable and plastic free! Only drawback so far is you have to get your kids to stop playing with them and put them back in the dryer!

I ordered my Dryer Balls on Etsy of course, from Bare Bebe:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BareBebe

She got back to me quickly with a custom order and my Dryer Balls shipped out quickly. Oh and did I mention I love how they make my clothes smell!

I did not receive anything for writing this post, I just love my wool dryer balls and think more people should try them!

 

A Carbon Footprint in the right direction…

I want to start this blog off by saying we are not a perfectly sustainable family. We are just trying to get there one step at a time. I love reading about people who live off the grid, grow most of their own food and create very little waste. However at this point that is not us. We are a typical family who is trying to adjust and change our ways to be more self sufficient, healthy, reduce costs and our carbon footprint.

For the next few weeks I will attempt to blog daily about one thing we did that day that was sustainable!

 

We are finally composting!

or we will be tomorrow!  We bought a 50 gallon composting ball at Costco today.  My husband was going to make one but considering we still have a lot of other projects that need to be done around the house and garden, purchasing the composter seemed like a good idea.  The best thing about it is Rorie’s total curiosity about what you can compost. 

She wanted to put stuff in it tonight after they finished putting it together but I had already cleaned up the kitchen prior to buying it so I didn’t have anything to put in it.  So I told her she could help shuck the corn tomorrow and we would put green parts in the composter. 

She was so excited she ran to her dad and said “ tomorrow we are going to shuck the corn and put the green stuff in the composter, then we can feed it to our plants, we are making dirt” 

It is a great mini science lesson for Rorie and so great to see her running around the house begging to put things in the composter before bed! 

Update 2 days later: Rorie wants to look in the composter every few hours to see if it has made dirt/soil yet!  She has also started to request snacking items (like bananas) based on the amount of stuff the item will add to her compost bin! 

Cloth Diapers!

While most people are deciding between Pampers and Huggies, I was learning the pros & cons to pre-folds, fitted, pockets, All In Ones and All In Twos. In the end I tried them all! With my daughter pocket diapers (Fuzzi Bunz & Bum Genius) worked best for us, they are easy to put on, kept her feeling dry and had few leaks. Oh and they are so cute, lots of fun colors and prints!

On to baby number 2 and many of my diapers needed some repairs that I couldn’t make (I can’t sew) so I sold them on craigslist (its amazing how much someone will pay for a used diaper!). Then I started over with a new system (that wasn’t available when Rorie was in diapers). I found the GroBaby hybrid to be my favorite system (GroBaby changed its name recently to GroVia).

GroBaby/GroVia: http://www.gro-via.com/

Pros:

Less Laundry!!!!!!!!!

Organic cotton soaker pads (next to baby's skin)

No Leaks!

Soft, water-proof breathable covers

Cute colors and prints

Environmentally friendly disposable inserts are also available!

I won some on Face Book and utilized sales to keep costs down!

Cons

My son takes them off if he’s not wearing shorts

Thanks to GroBaby/GroVia I have been able to continue to cloth diaper my son without the laundry making me insane!

I am writing this because I love GroBaby diapers, I have not received anything from the company for writing this post. I do hope, however that it makes other parents consider cloth diapers for their kids!