Living Green November 17, 2008

It’s all over the news this week as NBC salutes green living.  They have a sweepstakes going called “green your routine” and I thought maybe I could enter to win a green trip to Costa Rica.  I got to thinking about how green we actually do live, and thought that maybe if I told them, I’d have a shot at winning.  I went to their website and it’s about what you are willing to do for the next 30 days, not what you have been doing all along.  I already do most of the options on the list anyway.

Now I’m not really a tree hugging environmentalist, but the sweepsteak got me to thinking.

Many people will say that they can’t afford to “go green”.  In our case, it’s being poor that was the catalyst for it.  We conciously use less energy to decrease our bills by: Switching to low-e lightbulbs, and turning off appliances at the breaker box every night. We don’t pay for trash pick up by recycling metal (Which we make money from), burning our paper trash (after using both sides) and composting much of our household waste. We only make one monthly trip to the landfill site and drop off about 15 bags of plastic and non-recyclable food. (EDIT: We do not have recycling facilities for plastic here.) Soon, even some of that food waste will be fed to chickens we will be getting–who will live in a coop made with reclaimed materials. Prior to our move here, we had to pay trash pickup for 4-7 bags per week.  We save money parenting by breastfeeding and cloth diapering (some).  This also saves formula cans and diapers in the landfills.  We save on our water bill by watering our gardens with rain collected in rainbarrels made with reclaimed materials.  We do all of our grocery shopping for the month in one big trip, and grow some of our own foods. This saves us in gas money and in impulse buys.  And speaking of gas money, we only have one car.

So, while I didn’t get the chance to tell NBC about how we live green, now I’ve told you.  Money should not be a limitation on more environmentally responsible living. Green living saves money, not just the planet!

Aw, Nutz! November 7, 2008

Our latest find on our property are hickory nuts!! We have 2-3 different kinds, and it appears they are all the sweet kind.  We have been gathering and husking them. They will need to dry for a few days before we can crack the shells and dig out the meats.  This might be too much of a task for most people–hickorys have a bad rap for being hard to open–but there is an article in Mother Earth News that shows us where the sweet spot is. Since we have over 500 (I’m guessing) I bet we can get the hang of it.

The husks themselves smell delicious. We have half of a 5 gallon bucket filled with the. They would make good potpourri, but they also lend a great smell to a fire. K tossed a couple into the fire and their aroma carried all over the yard.

I am not sure what all I’m going to do with the nuts once I get them.  I want to try to make nut butter for one, and maybe a hickory nut pie (hickory’s and pecans are in the same family).  I may just keep them for hand eating.

We are excited about finding more “free” food on the property. First the blackberries, now this.  The Lord does provide!

The weather has been autumn perfect for nearly 2 weeks.  Warm and colorful, most of the trees still have their leaves, and we had a late “peak”.  We are supposed to be getting a cold snap in the next few days though, so we are preparing for winter to set in.   I still can’t get used to it being dark so early!

Keith has finished his chicken coop, and today I dragged it into place with the tractor.  Other then the roosts and the fencing we are good to go for spring.  The pen will be down by the hickorys. I keep imagining a nut falling off the tree and clonking a chicken on the head! Brrrraaaakkk!!

That’s all for now!

Narnia Royalty November 1, 2008

The kids wanted to be Prince Peter, Prince Edmund and Princess Lucy for Halloween. They certainly looked ready for war. I wouldn’t want to tangle with them!

Emme and I had matching outfits. The boys pretended that I was Princess Susan, but I am too old and fat so I am just princess ).  The dress was NOT flattering in the least, and I regret volunteering to wear it for the church christmas program. (there is a medieval feast scene). It makes me look as big as a house, so here’s just a nice picture of me and Emme.

Although the weather the last couple days has been much more normal, it got really cold for a few days. I remember Mom using one of Phil’s shirts for our boxer when I was a kid, so I stole a shirt from Nick and it really did the trick! She loved wearing it and never fussed for a minute.  I think she’s getting a real dog sweater for christmas. She acted like we’d finally realized that she is a person after all.