A Green Fire

I read a post last week about recycling plastic water bottles, 2 liter bottles, and milk jugs into planters.  This seemed like such an easy project, I just had to try it.

I cut the top third of a plastic water bottle off, then put a little bit of cloth in the mouth of it to act as a wick, and a holder for the dirt.  I put my dirt on top of that, stuck my plant in and I was done with that part.

I put water in the bottom half, sat the top half into it, and I was finished.  It was that easy.  The great thing about a water bottle repurposed this way, it fits on my extremely narrow window sill.

I’ll take pics of the next ones I make.  I think this will be a great way to reuse these bottles, start herbs, and put pretty growing flowers all over the house.  Another great thing about this is, I will KNOW when the plant needs water, I will be able to see the water level at all times.

Sunday was another laundry day. Today temps were in the high 70’s and windy. It was a perfect line drying kind of day. I washed three loads, and hung them all out to dry. The wind blew so hard, I could hear the sheets flapping in the wind from in the house.

It got to be long enough that the sheets should be dry, so I went out to check. One of my sheets had flown off the line. That’s unusual but as windy as it was today, not completely unexpected. I did use six pins. I figured the pins snapped off the sheet just before it went flying and I looked in the yard to pick them up. Hmm, no pins.

I picked the sheet up and ALL the pins were still attached! I could not believe it. Crazy.

After I rehung the sheet, I came in to plan supper. Sunday is a great time to cook a BIG something so I can eat it tonight, and lunch all week. Hmm.

I decided on gumbo, from scratch. Now, I have made gumbo many, many times from a box. You know those gumbo boxes at the store and you just add the meat and maybe some okra and tomatoes?

Today I made the roux first and then added all the other stuff that goes in. I peeled and deveined the shrimp. This gumbo also has sausage in it. I debated about chicken, but that seemed a bit much. I mean, this is just for me. Maybe, if it turns out ok and I later make it for a crowd, I’ll put more in next time. One thing about making gumbo from scratch—it is TIME CONSUMING. The roux took over 20 minutes of low low heat and stirring. There are other steps before too. After the combo of other stuff and the roux, it has to cook for 2 HOURS. I’m not even counting the time it took me to devein the shrimp. This is such a weekend meal. No way would I want to do all this one night after work.

I’m excited about learning to cook from scratch though. I hope to learn to make more dishes this way, and less from a box.

I have teensy tiny little shoots coming up!  Ever since I planted the seeds in the hanging basket on my porch, I have been peeking in there to see if anything was happening.  Last night when I got home from work, there they were!  Tiny little stems with tiny little leaves.  I am so excited. It is crazy how much joy growing my own food is bringing me.  If I had known raising veggies would be this much fun, I would have done this years ago.

My dill and rosemary seeds have not sprouted yet.  No stress, the packages say 7 to 10 days and 12-15 days respectively.  So, they still have plenty of time to sprout.

All my plants in the bed are doing ok.  Most have put on a tiny bit of new growth.  We are expecting a good bit of rain today, so they will get a good watering.  I hope we do not get any hail, b/c then they may get a good beating too.

One of the blogs I keep up with recommends a salad mix called Salad Leaves: Niche Oriental Mixed, but it is not lettuce, instead, it contains two kinds of mustard, two something I don’t know what, and arugula.  She swears it is some of the best stuff she had ever eaten.  I am intrigued.  However, I want to get some success with what I have planted so far before I start ordering seeds and planting stuff all willy-nilly.

I have grand plans for what I have planted thus far.  I found a great recipe for stuffed bell peppers.  I have a yellow bell pepper plant in the ground.  So, I’m thinking, use ground turkey or chicken for the meat, use a yellow bell instead of the more common green, and stay with the rest of the recipe.  It will be a few months before I get to try it, but I will let you know how it works out.

Today for lunch, I went to a grocery store to get a hot lunch.  I like that option b/c usually there are several vegetable choices and there is a small line, and I like to take my food to the park afterwards.

This was my first time at this particular grocery store and after she put my food in a Styrofoam container, she then wrapped it in plastic!?! I had never seen that done before and I was quite surprised.  My tea was in a Styrofoam cup and came with a plastic straw. Sheesh.  I felt like a walking garbage pail kid, spreading filth where ever I stepped.

Well, I get to the park and open it up and inside the plastic sleeve with my plastic fork and knife are my tiny salt and pepper packets.  I checked just because I was curious.  The pepper packet said ingredients, ground pepper.  The salt however contained, Sodium chloride, sodium silicoalum? (last letter or letters torn off because I opened it before I read the back) , dextrose, potassium iodide, and sodium bicarbonate.  Whoa.

Just what is all that?  Well the first ingredient is, well, salt.  The second is a mystery, the third is a form of sugar, the fourth is added to table salt in small quantities to make it “iodized”.  Lastly we have sodium bicarbonate, more commonly known as baking soda.

That’s a lot of stuff for a tiny packet that is boldly labeled SALT and instead is much more.  I did not sprinkle it on my black eyed peas.  I went with the ground pepper instead.  I’m not sure why this salt packet has so many ingredients.  My salt at home is labeled, salt.

I am unhappy with how much plastic and Styrofoam I encountered with this lunch as well.  This has inspired me to reinforce my goal of bringing my lunch as much as possible.

Crunchy Chicken is having an Extreme Eco-Challenge for the month of may.  This are several choices, and basically she is asking you to do without some damaging item for the month.

I read through the options and knew most of them were items I could not commit too.  However, number six in her list, no excessive water usage, is one I do already.  It didn’t seem like a challenge if I’m doing this every day anyway.

I drink tap water, not bottled.  At work, I have an plastic bottle but I wash it at home and I refill it from the water fountain at work, or my tap at home.  I know a Klean Kanteen is a better choice, but that’s a new purchase, that would have to be shipped to me and I already have the bottles.

At home, I was all my clothes in cold water, and only full loads.  I hand wash my dishes and rinse them in cold water.  I have a low flush toilet already.  I turn off the water when I brush my teeth.   I take short showers.  I don’t water my yard.  Either it gets rain, or it dies.  Frankly, if the grass dies, that’s less to mow.

I wash my car rarely.

Now that I have a little bitty garden, I will think about how to water it.  Probably, I will use my gray water from rinsing my dishes.  I usually have a little coffee left over that I can pour on the plants too.

So overall, I try to pay attention to my water usage and make sure I’m not being wasteful.

I finally got around to planting something in my raised bed.

Sunday I got dirt and plants from my local big box store.  I got two kinds of tomato, two cucumber plants (same variety), a flat leaf parsley, and a yellow bell pepper.   I also got dill and rosemary seeds, and lettuce seeds.  The lettuce I planted in a hanging basket.  I hope when it comes up, I will eventually be able to just go out on my porch, snip enough for a nightly salad and enjoy.

My mom looked at my raised bed and my plants and immediately recommended a covering of chicken wire to keep the rabbits out.  So, that may be my next project.  She also said I need to look at some poison to kill cutworms or I will lose my tomatoes.  Sigh.  I’m going to research a more natural method of pest control first.  This is my first attempt at gardening for myself, and I really hope to have it be as natural as possible all along the way.

I found a resource that showed how to use cardboard toilet paper tubes as a vessel for seed starting instead of peat pots.  I did that for my dill and rosemary seeds.  I have seeds left, and luckily I know I will have more tubes available.  I’m so happy I am recycling one more thing and not just tossing it into the landfill.

This garden is illegal has a great post about the lovely magnolia. Magnolias in Full Bloom

Go check it out.

April is almost over so it’s time for a new challenge.  Green Bean Dreams is having a great challenge.

She is challenging everyone to read one ecofocused book in May. You get to pick the book. I have not decided what book I am going to read yet for this challenge, but after I go to the local library and see what they have, I’ll decide. A book challenge is so perfect for me.

In the interest of balance, here is an interesting commentary that aired on NPR today. Please check it out.

Right to Tumble Dry addresses why we should tumble dry our clothes and shun the clothesline.

Growing up, we had a clothesline. All my cousins and friends had one. In fact, I really liked the one my cousins had, because it was in fact three lines close together. When all the clothes and linens were hung, you could walk between the sheets. They were damp and cool and it was a great way to briefly cool off while we were playing outside.

When I moved into my home, I always intended to put up a line, but somehow, I never got around to it. I knew using a clothesline to dry my clothes would cut down on my electric bill, but I never worked out the numbers. I have made the transition to line drying for a while though. I have been using my drying rack for several years, and I use my porch rail for my heavy clothes that won’t blow away. I think finally the time has come to put up a clothesline.

So today, I finally put up a line. It is so wonderful. I got the poles from my parents and I borrowed post hole diggers from my Dad. I dug both the holes myself, but I had to have a friend come over to help me set the last pole. It was so heavy. Here it is:

Here’s a closeup of the poles:

So now, as soon as it quits raining, I’ll hang out my first load of clothes. Next project, what to do with my obsolete dryer?