Great Green Kitchen Ideas

Here is a great idea for the kitchen. My Dad made this bag drier from a block of wood, some decorative dowels he found at the craft store, and a couple of shells glued on for decoration. You could make a simpler one with just a block of wood and dowels, but I think the wooden tulips actually help hold the bag open to dry faster. I reuse zip-loc bags as many times as possible, washing them out and hanging them to dry. I also save the reusable plastic bags that frozen fruit comes in, the produce or bulk bin bags from the grocery store, and any others I can possibly hang on to. I keep the produce bags and tote bags I use for groceries in a milk crate in the trunk of my car so I remember to bring them into the store. I also bring my own bags to the farmer's market -- the folks there really appreciate it because they have to save or collect bags for their customers.

Another kitchen item I wouldn't want to do without is my ceramic compost holder. It is attractive, doesn't take up too much counter space (it's about the size of a gallon jug), and saves me from having to take scraps to the compost bin every single day. It has holes in the cover and a carbon filter to eliminate odor. I got it from Gardener's Supply, but Amazon carries them as well. There are stainless steel versions, but I got a cobalt one to match the rest of my kitchen.

I don't have a lot of counter space, but these two items are in constant use, so they definitely deserve their permanent place in the kitchen. The things I use less frequently, such as the food processor, waffle iron, bread maker, and crock pot stay in the closet until I need them.

Cold and Rainy

Cold and rainy. That's the best description of the '09 garden season. A few of the perennials were happy -- particularly the ones in the dry shade gardens -- but most of my flowers have been leggy and floppy, sporting powdery mildew and brown spots and slug damage. Then there are the vegetables. I will first say that I have been incredibly successful with summer squash (zephyr) and swiss chard, in addition to onions, garlic, basil, oregano, cilantro, and parsley. But the losses have been devastating, including the loss of most of my large tomatoes to late blight. I have a wealth of sun sugar and sun gold tomatoes, which seem to be resistant to the blight. My first planting of pole beans drowned. The second planting is just starting to flower, so I'm hoping for a late frost to have the opportunity to freeze some beans. Peppers and eggplants were simply sluggish to produce fruit because of the lack of warm days and nights. I'm finally starting to get a few, but the yield will be disappointing.

I have had perennial gardens for much longer than I have been growing vegetables, and have attributed my success to the following philosophy: If something grows well, plant more of it. If not, 3 strikes and you're out. This approach has worked so well that I have gained somewhat of a reputation as a master gardener among my garden-minded friends. Unfortunately, this summer has taught me that vegetable gardening requires the exact opposite approach. With the fickle weather and unpredictable insect and disease patterns, it seems that the best strategy for veggies is to plant a wide variety and see what does well this year. That way I'll have SOMETHING to put in the freezer. My husband has already announced that he's getting a little tired of squash, which is a real shame since we have a freezer full of it!

The Lawn

I have always had the following philosophy about the lawn: If it's green and I can mow it, it's lawn. That means that I don't use chemicals on my lawn and I am not too concerned about the grass vs. weed ratio as long as it's green and mowable (but I will dig up prickly weeds because I like to go barefoot). My lawn is made up of lots of clover, lamb's ears, creeping charlie, moss, hawkweed, dandylions, and a host of other unidentified green stuff. Oh, it also includes quite a bit of grass. I never understood why people would risk their children, pets, and drinking water by dumping chemicals on their lawns. Not to mention the time and expense! Last week I saw my neighbor across the road using a broadcast spreader to put something on the lawn. I am hoping that the aquifer feeding my well doesn't flow from her property toward mine. I don't know how to convince someone who is hung up on a golf-course-like expanse of grass that they can live with a few weeds easier than we can clean up the ground water or bring back bird species that have been poisoned. Frankly, when it is neatly mowed, my lawn (from a distance) looks nearly as good as my neighbor's. When you get up close, it's another story, but so what? You would be so busy looking at my colorful gardens that you wouldn't notice the lawn anyway. I'm gradually replacing lawn with gardens. My new plan is to put a garden in anywhere I don't like to mow!
I have to admit that I recently did think of a disadvantage to my weedy lawn. With dismay over the rising gas prices and my concern about global warming uppermost in my mind, I considered whether a reel-type mower would work for me. I couldn't use it exclusively, because there's just too much to mow -- by the time I finished it would be time to start all over again. But having used an old (antique, but with sharpened blades) reel mower, I can say that it did NOT do a good job with weeds, quack grass that grows sideways, wet grass, or grass that was a bit too long. It also didn't handle uneven terrain very well. If anyone has had experience with a more modern reel mower under my jungle-like conditions (my lawn is rarely completely dry, for one thing), please let me know. I'd be interested in one that really did the job well. In the meantime, I'll continue to advocate for a chemical-free lawn, and I won't have to worry about poisoning the local wildlife.

Gifting Green

Hints on Gifting Green:

For gardeners: Give plants from your own garden, make new houseplants from cuttings, give a gift certificate to a garden center, or give a really useful tool that you know she needs and doesn't own.

For anyone: Give your time. Free babysitting, house sitting, dog walking, house cleaning, weeding, etc.

Give tickets to a musical, play, or other event.

itunes gift cards are great for teenagers! (Also for grown-ups)

Give to charity in someone's honor. This is particularly good for the giftee who "has everything." Sometimes older people don't want to accumulate more stuff. My husband's grandmother said, "No more gifts!" when she turned 90. We've been donating to charities for her ever since and she is always appreciative.

Home baked treats -- no one has time to bake and everyone loves a pie or a fresh loaf of bread.

I think it's fine to give "stuff" if someone needs "stuff." It's incredibly satisfying to be able to fill a genuine need in someone else's life. But so many times one needs to give a gift because it's a holiday and not because the giftee actually needs anything in particular. I love the holiday season, but I don't want it to become an environmental liability. Please add your thoughts about other green gifts!