Green Daily

Planting Day from Jennifer von Elling on Vimeo

The seedlings were growing out of their miniature greenhouse homes and compostable pots, so we got together last weekend and moved them to their permanent home.

First, we set a path of pea gravel and lined it with marigolds, supposedly a staple of organic gardening for their ability to repell pests. Then, we got to work with a pencil and sketched out a map of what was to be our garden. Lots of eraser dust. And the end result didn't even match what we came up with as we dug in the dirt. But even in just a few days, the seedlings appeared to be getting along just fine in their place in the dirt.

We learned from another more experienced gardener in the neighborhood that our squash and cucumbers shouldn't be as close together as we planned due to the possibility of cross-pollination. Then, we decided we wanted to start some more lettuce seeds in the garden and made the room to accommodate them. Finding room for the many strong tomato seedlings we ended up with was challenging, but we made it work and decided to give a few away. We have two types of beans, two types of tomatoes, three types of onions, bell peppers, garlic, okra, radishes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, bibb lettuce, spinach, chard and arugula.

It turns out, our timing couldn't have been more perfect. Although it was sunny and a little too warm on Planting Day, the next few days brought several inches of gentle rain. I really think the seedlings are loving their new home. In the next few days, a few more residents will be joining them: blackberry, blueberry and raspberry bushes and some strawberry seeds.

The next Neighborhood Garden Project post will appear in two weeks.

I'm not one to tout consumerism as part of green living. But I'll go a little crazy since it's Earth Day and what's Earth Day without shameless promotion for the sake of our planet?

My favorite mainstream green retailer, alongside my local health food stores -- yes, plural -- and farmer's market is The Body Shop. Of course they are touting themselves today. The company has been around for for 32 years, dare I say much longer than most who have jumped on the green bandwagon? They use recycled packaging (although they lose points for abandoning refill service several years ago.) They claim to promote energy efficiency throughout the company's corporate offices and incorporate a green philosophy into the design of new stores. Plus, the company has made a commitment to being a Carbon Neutral retailer by 2010. They also support community trade and Farm Aid.

Basically, shopping there is about as conscientious as you're going to get in the mall.

I think the Earth might have been speaking it's mind about its Day over the last couple of them in the Washington, D.C. region. Boy, did it ever rain on whatever parade may have been planned. And I just feel the need to pile on a bit. Turns out, the Earth very well might have been testing us. And we very well might have failed.

First, it's great to think that some might be inspired to make changes beginning today that impact our planet in less harmful or even beneficial ways. It's great that some might learn a whole lot about doing that via this web site and blog posts from me and my various colleagues who contribute to Green Daily 364 days a year plus today. But there's tomorrow too. And the next day. And every day after that.

The efforts we write about aren't about celebrating a day. They are part of a way of life that will preserve our planet for our children.

Sorry it's been a while since my initial posts on our project. But we've certainly been busy. The lasagna is laid out, most of the seedlings have sprouted and are enjoying a few hours a day in the outdoors and we'll soon have the last frost safely behind us so we can plant the garden.

Jennifer has been pretty successful with sowing seeds. Some never germinated, but we expected to lose a few. We learned that beans look like piles of mold before they become true seedlings. We learned some seeds preferred a roomier environment than the little pods provided in the miniature greenhouses. Jennifer moved them to terra cotta pot saucers and they began to thrive. Some liked more light. Some liked less water. In the end, we have quite a few healthy tomato, melon, beet, and lettuce seedlings, just to name a few. We'll probably supplement our supply and purchase some actual plants this weekend at the annual Leesburg Flower and Garden Festival.

It bothers me every time I crack open a bottle of wine that I throw the cork away. It just seems like an item that should be recyclable. Or at least reusable. Turns out it is. In more ways than I thought possible. There are web sites, such as Just Corks, devoted to selling items that give wine corks another life as bulletin boards or wreaths. One of our other bloggers wrote about this idea and more a while back. But I came across some more innovative ideas submitted by readers to Thrifty Fun that I thought were worth sharing as well. Here are my five favorite posts from that site on how to reuse wine corks (you get bonus ideas as some contain more than one way to reuse corks!):

• "For the garden cut them into tiny pieces, unless you have a chipper or blender to run them through. Put them into the garden. They are great for absorbing and holding moisture for your plants."
• "For a craft project for kids, use the cork as the "body" of a stick figure made with pipe cleaners. Take some of the "fuzz" off the ends and stick them into the cork. You can use a cork cut in half for the head. It lets the kids be very creative with the rest of them, adding things like clothes and accessories."
• "Wine corks can be placed in a simple picture frame with a wood backing, glued in - in rows or a pattern and it makes a great hot plate or serving tray."
• "Take old bottles, fill with herbs, green and red peppers fruits, etc. fill bottle with vinegar and cork. Corks can also be lined up and glued around a picture frame, put in a decorative jar, glued on the backs of doors for doorstops, cut into slices for placing under tabletop glass, glued under chair legs."
• "I'm using champagne corks to hold place cards and table numbers at my wedding. Just make a small slit in the top, slide in the cardstock and it makes for a beautiful, but simple place card holder. And it's so much cheaper than buying them in the store."

[via Thrifty Fun]

For a couple of these ideas, they can't have holes. If you use your socks until they have holes, you're using them longer than a lot of people and therefore get credit for reuse. Or you need to cut your toenails. OK. Enough of that. Here are the ideas:

• put them over your hands and dust furniture or window blinds.
• use as bags for marbles.
• make a sock monkey with a few different colors.
• cover a bag of ice for a more comfortable cold compress.
• make a rice sock, commonly used as a cold or hot compress or as a physical therapy device for hands.

It seems shoe boxes have always been an item we tend to reuse. Something about the size and shape is just perfect for storing so many things besides shoes. But there are more creative things you can do besides throw stuff in it and toss it on a closet shelf. Here goes:

• * photo file box: you can even decorate the outside with paints, fabric or salvaged gift wrap instead of spending around $10 for a brand new one.
• * drawer divider: they're the perfect size to line up underwear in one and socks in another and, voila , your sock and underwear drawer is no longer a jumbled mess.
• * shadow box project: you know the ones; I guess this idea only works if you've got kids in elementary school, but what the heck.
• * valentine box: another elementary school thing. Oh well.
• * mail organizer: they are the perfect size lengthwise for business envelopes; you can make little tabs to separate bills and personal mail and decorate the outside just like my idea for the photo file box.

Artsy stuff and organization. I hope all you creative neat-nicks out there find these useful.

Actually, it's 18 ways. I came across 18 ideas for how to use paper cups and all of them are designed to entertain children. So save yourself some money and reuse cups you come across in your daily life (please don't defeat the purpose and go out and buy a package!) to do the following activities I would consider to be the best of the bunch:

Some of these ideas are better for tin coffee cans, while others would work with tin or the cardboard variety like the ones found at Trader Joe's. Anyway, here are five ways to use the can after you've emptied it of caffeine-fix contents:

• leave a few beans behind and use as a dog training tool; shaking the can when your pet is up to no-good is a nearly fool-proof strategy.
• use one or a few as flower pots or seed starter containers; you could even decorate them with paints or paper if you don't already like the design.
• decorate with recycled wrapping paper and use them for baked gifts.
• with two cans you can teach your kids that old-fashioned, low-tech game of telephone with string.
• use it as a container for loose change (cut a slit in the lid to drop coins through), random nails and screws scattered on your tool bench or garden herbs that you've dried (the air tight container will be perfect to seal in aroma and flavor).

If you've got old sheets that no longer match your bedroom motif or just don't feel as cozy anymore, consider the following ways you can make use of the fabric:

• drop cloth for painting
• Christmas tree skirt, a plus if it's white (looks like snow)
• building a fort for a small child to play in (who hasn't done this?)
• make into a toga to wear as a Halloween costume
• picnic blanket

And here's a few more I thought of:

• dog bedding
• add some edging and make into a tablecloth
• if nothing else, donate to a local charity

I've done my share of gardening. But other than a few radishes that I grew in the first grade, it's been of the inedible sort. I'm able to identify many common flora and fauna in suburban landscapes. I'm able to help customers in the garden section of those big box stores when they can't find a warm body, let alone one with a brain, to answer a question. But food gardening was never my thing until the Neighborhood Garden Project.

For those of you who still read an actual newspaper instead of relying on the internet for all your news, consider the following handy ways to give newspaper a new life after you've perused it and before you throw it in the recycling bin:

• Start a lasagna style garden: Newspaper is the first and very crucial layer over the grass in the popular gardening practice.
• Put under your painting project: Most people have done something like this before on the kitchen table for a kid's art project. But consider linining the edges of walls you plan to paint with newspaper rather than those ridiculous plastic things or ruining your sheets.
• Build a fire: Of course this one's reserved for winter, but keep it in mind for a few months from now. And it's really impossible to get a wood-burning fire going without it.
  
• A kid's project: Besides putting it underneath messy children's art projects in process, you definitely have to have newspaper for the inevitable paper mache assignment in elementary school.
• Packing material: You can eschew the Styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap if you use enough newspaper to cushion shipments in their boxes.

It was never really a question that the garden my neighbors and I created and will maintain together would be in my back yard. I have a fence and a perfect spacious sunny site on the far end of our quarter-acre property out of the way of kids and dogs.

Only trouble is, it's covered with grass. I've already dug a fair amount of sod up from my yard in favor of planting beds of shrubs and flowers. Just the thought of doing more made my back hurt. Apparently, lasagna style gardening could be our salvation. I had heard of lasagna gardening from a friend and a family member. But I didn't know any details about what it is or how it's done. A quick surfing session on the Net gave me all I needed to know and more.

Jennifer, Lauren and I brainstormed about what we'd like to grow in our food garden while our kids were playing one afternoon. I scribbled down the names of fruits and vegetables as they flowed freely from our lips. Lettuce, tomatoes, beets, squash, pumpkins, corn, onions, spinach, chard, herbs, potatoes, berries, melon, grapes. Whew! We were definitely imagining eating more than all the work it would take to grow these things.

Ask any gardener or read any gardening forum on the Web and you know composting is key to a successful garden. It also diverts a whole lot of kitchen and lawn waste from landfills. So it had to be part of our Neighborhood Garden Project.

Jennifer bought a conventional composter for under $100, while Lauren opted for what I believe is the most expensive option available that churns out usable compost in two weeks. I plan to make my own barrel style with a trash can and PVC pipe. Meanwhile, I'm dumping my kitchen scraps into Jenn's bin and hoarding yard waste to contribute.