Preparing the Garden

Included in that Lowe's run that I told you about was some materials for our garden.  I've been doing some research to do a low-work, low-cost, more-organic method and found "lasagna gardening" which refers to the layering of organic materials...stuff that you have on hand.  I managed to get the girls to help with this for all to take part in our family garden.



This no-digging method starts with a layer of wet newspaper to attract those worms to break down the surface.  Then a layer of peat moss. 

I added layers of other stuff that we had around such as compost, ornamental grass, manure and leaves. 



Each layer was divided with a layer of peat moss. 
Then I covered the garden with some plastic sheet to let it "cook" for a bit to help break down before we start our veggies.  We'll update you soon with the next step.

Fall Clean-Up

Just our first batch of leaves into the compost pile.  We made the small clean-up into a family affair. 

 That includes Baby Floppy (who has earned a full name after being naughty the other day:  Flopalopagaus)

Our Tree

I really wanted a tree this year because the girls know that Santa comes to everyone's house and puts presents under the tree. I'm not sure they really grasp yet that presents mean toys for them...but that moment will be quite exciting. We've decided that we'll be getting a fake tree because we believe (without any research) that an artificial tree is "greener" as we aren't driving to get a tree year after year. Nor are we cutting another one down, just to toss it out a few weeks later. I have a feeling that this "greener' aspect is probably delusional, but still.

So here we are with our (maybe) last real tree measuring in at 3 feet tall. However, I just saw a recent quote that squashed any doubts I had to it's size: "Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all thirty feet tall." Larry Wilde

I was trying to get a picture for cards...no luck!

More Being Green on Old Photo Friday

I (think) that I've now succeeded in making my own baby wipes!! Do you know how many of those things that we go through?!? Again, it's cheaper and I know what's going into the mix.

No, the girls didn't help. Their precious little tushies are simply the benefactors of my efforts!

Being Green

We, as a family unit, are focused on trying to be GREEN. It's all over, but the truth is that by embracing a greener lifestyle, it helps improve health, spend less money and provide an overall higher quality of life for everyone, including future generations.

So we do what we can, when we can. Somethings are easier than others. In fact, our most recent change as been to make our own laundry detergent. It's so easy and it's so cheap. Ezra really had his doubts that my homemade detergent would stand up to Tide, but after our trial run, he's in! So are the girls, as they can help out since they're not dealing with chemicals.

First, mom grates the soap. She chooses FelsNaptha for it's super-duper stain-fighting power and because it's pure soap, no detergents.

Then it gets added to boiling water to melt it.

Then simply put 3 gallons hot water in a large container and add 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda.

Stir, let sit for 24 hrs and voila...very cheap, but effective, laundry detergent.

Stuff We Love

Milk from our nearby store. Because: you can get it in glass bottles. It's great to use less plastic since they can be refilled but it's also such a good feeling drinking milk out of glass. Plus, all milk from Byrne Dairy is hormone-free!!! We were super-psyched about that because we tried organic when the girls started and that was too much money! Both girls were drinking so much milk that we would go through a gallon in a matter of days. Now, we get to be content with our Byrne Dairy milk which is right down the street!