A Fabulous Farm Fieldtrip

Today we celebrated Earth Day by going on a fieldtrip to a local farm. This farm is actually the one I get our free range chicken and eggs from, and starting next week (as well as in the fall), where I will be getting my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetables.

The kids got a chance to walk around the farm and see the raised vegetable beds, which they weren’t overly thrilled about. Mr. Farmer and one of our homeschool moms got to chatting about some organic/natural farming methods and the kids were not interested, so they wandered around, climbing on wood piles and playing with the farm cats. I enjoyed seeing how Mr. Farmer planted the vegetables in his raised beds so close together; having some vegetables “share” the same space. An example was turnips and carrots. Mr. Farmer explained that since the turnips would be harvested much sooner than the carrots, they could occupy the same space because when the turnips were ready to come out, the carrots would be ready to start rooting more deeply and would then have the space needed to thrive. I didn’t plant my seeds as closely as Mr. Farmer did, but did utilize more of a wide row planting method as opposed to traditional rows. I’ll have to do some more research and see if maybe next year I can have some of my veggies “share” the same space, thus saving me precious garden space.

The laying chickens and sheep were a huge success. There was a four day old lamb and a twelve day old lamb that the kids took a liking too. Mr. Farmer let the kids into the pen with the laying hens and let them feed the chickens some fresh grass. I was proud that none of the kids chased the birds, but instead respected their space and crouched down to feed the birds, allowing the birds to come to the kids if they were interested. The meat chickens weren’t as interesting. They were kept in smaller pens that are moved every day to allow them fresh “grazing” space. We had some vegans in the mix, so I’m not sure that the talk of utilizing animals for meat was very popular.

Mr. Farmer showed the kids a wild blackberry that had vined itself around a small hedge and the kids went to town. I don’t think my kids had ever had blackberries before, but let me tell you my boys loved them. Jolie wasn’t a big fan, but enjoyed picking them for her brothers. We also went mole cricket hunting, with no success.

The kids wrapped up the fieldtrip planting seeds of their own in small peat pots. Jake and Jensen planted watermelon, and Jolie planted watermelon and sunflowers. I have some watermelon plants ready to go in the ground, so we should have plenty of watermelon to go around this year. I also got to take home some goodies. Mr. Farmer had some left over pepper and tomato plants, so I grabbed two large red cherry tomato, two banana pepper, two jalapeño pepper, and two bell pepper plants. I need to try to get them in the garden tomorrow.

My kids left saying that they all wanted to be farmers when they grew up. I said I too wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. Jake spoke with Mr. Farmer about coming back at some point and doing some work around the farm. I think that might be a great plan. Mr. Farmer offered to have us back again soon, maybe to see one of the other plots they have…either cows, timber, or some other wonderful farm area.

I think it the farm fieldtrip was a wonderful way to spend Earth Day. Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Seed Orders are In

I finally got around to ordering the seeds for my garden. I’m probably a little late considering we live in Florida and the weather seems to be making the shift toward spring. I am also delinquent in planning my garden design, building fencing, and getting my tilling done. If the weather holds, I will be getting my hands dirty this weekend for sure. I did find a garden planning website that looks promising. Plangarden.com has a 45-day free trial, so I think I might give them a try and see if it works for me.

I ordered seeds and live plants from two different companies. I’ve never ordered seeds online before. In the past, I have just grabbed some seeds when we were at a home improvement store and threw them in the ground. I have had fairly good luck with my generic seeds, but since we are making adjustments in other areas of our lives in order to be more health and eco-conscious, I decided it was time to spring for something a little different.

As I learn more about homesteading, becoming self-sustaining, improving our nutrition, and eco-friendly practices, I am realizing the importance of growing food to sustain my family nutritionally and financially, as well as ensuring that my gardening is having a positive impact on the environment.

Buying organic is important to me not only for the nutritional value of the organic food, but also the way in which the food is grown. There is some great information on sustainable agriculture and organic farming on the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service website. We buy organic products to reduce the amount of pesticides being used, support non-GMO crops, and encourage the growth of the local farming community.

Because our garden is in the start-up phases this year due to our move, we have decided to participate in our local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program offered by one of the local farmers. His produce will help to supplement the veggies and fruits we will have in our garden this year. We are also currently purchasing eggs from this local farmer and will have chicken this spring and turkey in the fall. Supporting the local famers is important to our family, so we will be making a trip to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday to see what is available.

It should be no surprise that the seeds I ordered are organic, open-pollinated, and in many cases heirloom. I am excited about their arrival and know that I need to get a move on so that I’m ready to plant not long after they arrive.

Here is the list of seeds (by company) that I ordered. I’m looking forward to trying out some new varieties (Hopi Blue Flour Corn, for instance) and getting back in touch with some old favorites (Blue Lake Bush Green Beans).

Wish us luck!

Seeds of Change
Seeds-
CAULIFLOWER, ALL-THE-YEAR-ROUND
CORN, HOPI BLUE FLOUR
CORN, DAKOTA BLACK POPCORN
CORN, SWEET, HOOKERS
CORN, SWEET, STOWELLS
ONION, VALENCIA
PEA, SHELL, PIONEER
PEA SNAP, CASCADIA

Heirloom Acres Seeds
Seeds-
Black Turtle Bean
Small Reds Bean
Black Eyed Pea
Sunflower, Mammoth Gray Striped
Blue Lake Bush Green Bean
Green Sprouting Broccoli
RedCore Chanteney Carrot
Paris White Cos Romaine Lettuce
Buttercrunch Head Lettuce
Evergreen White Bunching Oregon
Sugar Pod Snow Pea
California Wonder Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Long Red Cayenne Pepper
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Tall Utah Celery
Sesame

Live Plants-
Inchelium Red (garlic)
Yukon Gold Potato
Bay, SweetDill Plant
Basil, Genovese
Chives, Onion
Parsley, Flat
Rosemary, Arp
Sage, Broadleaf
Oregano, Greek
Tarragon, French
Thyme, English

Our Annual Winter PJ Ritual

For the past ten years, we have each gotten a new set of pjs to celebrate the winter holidays. We usually open them on Christmas Eve, sleep in them, and then open gifts in them the next morning. Each year, the pjs have a colored theme…this year’s color was blue (my favorite)…I believe last year’s color was blue too. I guess I should mix it up a bit next year.

I had been searching online for organic cotton fabric so that I could make the jammie pants. I made them the year Jolie turned two…they were blue flannel camouflage material and came out wonderfully soft. Jake is still squeezing his little self into his four years later (I made them big so he could grow into them). I found quite a few companies that sell organic cotton fabric, but the prices were seemingly pretty high. I was looking at $15-$20 per yard for organic flannel, and $12-15 for knits. Ouch! For the patterns I have, I was going to need 11 yards of fabric to make all five pairs of pants. You do the math.



I decided to give my local fabric shops a call just to see what they had in stock. None of the mom & pop shops had any sort of organic fabric. As a last ditch effort, I decided to check out JoAnn Fabric’s online store. To my surprise, they had organic cotton fabric! It is listed as a “cotton solid” and as a “quilting fabric,” and comes in eight different colors. In the hopes that my local JoAnn store would also carry the organic cotton, I stopped by while I was on that side of town running errands and found that they too carry the fabric. Of course I had my 40% off coupon with me, decided on the New Navy color, and got 11 yards to make the pants. It ended up that the fabric was already on sale ($5.99/yd; regularly $9.99), so I had to use my coupon on something else, which was alright by me. I was pleased that I had found the fabric for less than half the cost of other online companies.


The jammie pants turned out well. Since I didn’t make any of us jammie shirts, I had the kids wear their UU rainbow shirts that they had gotten last year, and we wore our UU principles shirts. The kids were all excited to open their winter pjs. They have each requested me to do an additional load of laundry here and there so that they can wear their pants again the following night.


I like our jammie tradition. Next year we will probably shift our jammie opening to solstice and possibly stay up all night wearing them. I have some other new traditions that I hope to start for next year’s solstice. I’m enjoying reading about other family’s solstice traditions on my UUHomeschoolers Yahoo! group. I look forward to morphing our holiday traditions into some that will be meaningful for our family for years to come.

A Green Dilemma

I am an Earth-hugger through and through.

I was the nine year old that boycotted McDonalds and Burger King when they were serving their burgers in Styrofoam packaging. I was the ‘tween who informed everyone I knew about the danger of CFCs and the hole in the Ozone layer. I was the teenager who searched out the school recycling bins and inquired if each of my classrooms didn’t have one next to the trashcan. I am now the sister who packed up all of the “un”recyclable items during our Thanksgiving vacation and drove them home from North Carolina to ensure that they were in fact recycled. It is no surprise, then, that my kids are the ones who check their unopened toy packaging for evidence of post-consumer recycled content and whether or not the package itself can be recycled.

We try our hardest to make as small a footprint on this world as possible. We recycle, turn the heater down, leave the windows open, combine errands, grow our own vegetables…you get the point. As a family, we are doing what we can to try to make a difference.

In an effort to improve the aesthetics of our home, and hopefully increase our home’s appeal when we try to sell it several years down the road, we decided to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. This facelift was planned in conjunction with the installation of new flooring in our great room (after experiencing hardwood flooring in Washington, carpet just isn’t the same).

Our mini-remodel came upon one big roadblock…cost. Being as eco-friendly as we are, we knew that our best flooring options were bamboo or cork and that our best paint options were no or low VOC paint. After much research, we were humbled by the cost of these eco-friendly options. Bamboo hardwood flooring was priced three times higher than laminate flooring and no VOC paint was twice the cost of traditional paint.

As with many other good VS bad products on the market, I was disheartened by the extreme price difference between the more eco-friendly home improvement products and the more harmful/less helpful products. Whether it is food, cleaning supplies, or now home improvement products, I am upset at the cost difference between the helpful/healthful products and the polluting/contaminating products.

Being the naive person that I am from time to time, it is hard for me to understand why a company would 1) create a product that is harmful to people; and 2) continue to sell it when there are more environmentally friendly and/or healthy options available. I personally would be the first company to want to scrap the old product line in order to provide a more positive product to my customers/consumers. I guess that’s just me.

In the end, because of cost restraints, we decided to go with laminate flooring and traditional paint for our mini-renovation. We are pleased with the flooring, although it isn’t the same as hardwood, but much better than carpet. I enjoy the wall color (Behr’s Brown Teepee); it’s warm and inviting. Had we just needed one gallon of paint, I could have afforded the no VOC variety, but when purchasing 8 gallons at once, the cost was more than we could afford at this time. I’m considering painting Jolie’s room some time this spring, and hope to be able to “spring” for the no VOC paint (I looked at the brand offered by Home Depot…FreshAire…and the colors look wonderful).

I hope that companies will consider cost when marketing new, more environmentally friendly products. Making those products affordable will allow more consumers to purchase eco-friendly alternatives and compel other companies to either transition to “greener” product lines or force them out of business. I guess I can continue to hope that someday, environmentally friendly products will be affordable for all.

A Simple Way to Green your Holiday Gift Giving

All of those packages under the tree, the menorah, or the kinara, wrapped up in colorful paper, are just that…wrapped in paper. According to Hotfact.com, during the time between Thanksgiving and New Years, Americans throw away about 25% more trash than they do during the rest of the year. This extra waste is estimated to create about five million tons of trash, with about four tons of that waste coming from wrapping paper and shopping bags.

Traditional paper gift wrapping is, as you know, a paper product. Soft wood trees are cut, milled, bleached, and dyed, forming what you see down the “wrapping” aisle at your favorite big box store. This process can adversely affect our environment unnecessarily, especially since there are alternatives that can be used instead of new paper gift wrapping.

So how can you help to decrease some of the waste associated with the holidays and help to green up the gift giving process? Reduce, Reuse and Recycle…your gift wrapping, that is.

Reduce – Rather than wrapping all of those little bundles with new paper wrappings, why not use reusable cloth bags. Wrapsacks are wonderful alternatives to traditional wrapping paper and they can be tracked online adding to the gift giving fun.

Reuse – If you do choose to use traditional wrapping paper, try saving and reusing that paper for another holiday or event. You might also try wrapping gifts with newspaper (the funnies might be fun) or letting the kids decorate brown paper bags from the grocery store and wrap your gifts with a little extra love.

Recycle – Be sure to have a recycling bag or bin handy to catch all of those paper wrappings and packaging to recycle. Check with your local recycling center to find out whether or not they accept traditional wrapping paper.

The EPA has a great list of ways to reduce holiday waste; everything from recycling trees to purchasing rechargeable batteries.

Please join me in reducing or eliminating the amount of new, traditional paper gift wrap that finds its way into our nation’s landfills by reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Teaching the Water Cycle and Water Pollution

The first Wednesday of the month we gather with other homeschoolers for Roots & Shoots. This month I was in charge of leading the group and chose to focus on the water cycle and water pollution.

Being me, I stressed over the presentation for weeks. I had lots of great ideas…have the kids test water samples…teach them about our watershed…go on a fieldtrip to the water treatment facility, but none of them came to fruition.

I did find several nice water projects for us to do as a group, but the timing was off and the kids in our group were a bit young. Although we didn’t participate in that one, I think I will have my kids participate in some of the other projects offered by The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education throughout the year because they look very interesting and engaging.

After utilizing the adrenaline associated with procrastination, I found several fabulous activities to do with the kids. Because I like multi-sensory presentations, I tried to mix up the demonstration a bit.

We started by discussing the water cycle. I was surprised that some of the kids didn’t know about the water cycle, so I explained and then showed them a picture and read the captions from one of the books I displayed on the front table. I then had them color a picture of the water cycle. I had two different sheets, one for the older kids that was a bit more detailed and one for the younger kids that was simpler. From there I had them gather in a circle and taught them a song to help them remember the water cycle. I thought it was a cute song. My kids have been singing it around the house for the past few days. We then transitioned into a game that walks the kids through the water cycle. I think it would have worked better had we had more kids (we only had eight and that included Jensen) and if they had bee a bit older.

I was also surprised that the kids couldn’t explain what water pollution. The two nine year olds knew, but the six and seven year olds (five of them) had trouble with it. I read them A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. I thought it was a wonderful story that followed the life of a river from its discovery by a Native American tribe to the pollution of the Industrial Revolution to the cleaning of the river. The kids’ eyes grew wide as they learned about companies polluting the river with chemicals and dyes. We had a great discussion about the book, which led us into our experiment.

I created two models, one represented a landfill and the other represented someone’s yard. We talked about harmful things that some people throw into the trash (i.e. motor oil, medicines, etc.). Then I showed them how when it rains, the water washes some of the contaminants into our lakes and streams. The same went for the pesticide model. The kids saw how the water washed the fertilizer into the pond at the bottom of the hill. I think both models had an effect on the kids. The moms were pleased with it, so I was happy that all of my stressing had paid off.

I found a great reading list of books covering water conservation and water science. The list includes books of all levels for students and adults.

I got the idea for the landfill and fertilizer runoff models from Water: A Resource in Crisis by Eileen Lucas. If anyone is interested in recreating them, here’s how –

Materials (per model) –

Rectangular plastic food storage container (mine was about 11”x7”)
Pea gravel (about 4 cups)
Foil
Small saucer
Cotton ball
Food coloring
Water

Place the saucer at one end of the plastic container. Stack pea gravel three-fourths of the way up the opposite side of the container. Lay a piece of foil from the edge of the container and up the sides down to the saucer, completely covering the gravel and slightly overlapping the saucer. Add additional gravel over the foil, not covering the saucer. You should now have a “hill” on one side of the container with a “pond” at the other end. Pull the cotton ball apart slightly and drop several drops of food coloring onto it (I used red for the landfill and green for the fertilizer). Place the cotton ball on top of the “hill” and cover with a bit more gravel. Pour water on the top of the “hill” to symbolize rain and watch the runoff that collects in the “pond.”

Know Your Animals

I have a fat cat. Not quite Prince Chunk fat, but when we left Virginia she was a rolling 17.5 lbs. You have to understand, she isn't a petite cat. She would be anorexic if she were any less than 12 lbs. I know she needs to lose a few pounds, but until a few months ago she seemed happy and I didn't mind her chunky-ness.

Not long before we left Virginia, DC (short for Dog Chow) started having accidents just outside the litter box. I thought that maybe she no longer liked the kitty litter that I was using, so I decided to try a new litter. We first tried a pine cat litter. In trying to slowly save the world, I decided to do some research and learned about all of the problems with traditional clay-based litters and decided to try something a bit more eco-friendly. Pine seemed like an acceptable alternative, but neither DC nor I enjoyed the pine litter. The original pine wasn't a "clumping" litter like the two of us were used to, so it just wasn't going to work for us.

We next decided to try a wheat based litter and we immediately fell in love. The wheat is all natural, clumps nicely and can even be flushed down the toilet. She seemed to be doing better, so I figured the litter switch was the magic ticket for her. No problem.

About a week later, she started to have additional accidents just outside of the litter box. I was having trouble understanding how she could pee just outside the box (I mean seriously, the litter box is right there), so I decided to check it out one evening. Do you know what I found...she was having trouble getting her large self completely inside the covered box.

Well that wasn't going to work. I decided to try an open pan box, figuring she would have less trouble maneuvering around in the open system. Once again, all was going well and then the accidents resumed. For the time being I decided to just wash the towel under her box as needed and try to figure out a new plan once we got here.

When we got here we set her up in our master bathroom. Since the accidents were continuing, I decided to try yet again another litter box, this time a top opening system. I figured if her fanny couldn't hang over the side of the box she wouldn't be able to have any accidents. Well that backfired on me. She was so big that she couldn't get into the box, or maybe she just didn't like it, I don't really know. Either way, she wouldn't use it and I became concerned.

Not long after, I caught her sniffing around by the front closet and discovered that she had had her first real accident away from the litter box. I was angry. I couldn't believe that she had done that. I changed her litter box back to the open pan and cleaned the carpet with vinegar and water and then sprinkled on some baking soda to try to manage the cat pee smell. The smell initially went away, but came back with a vengeance.

Those of you familiar with cat pee know the nose curling smell I'm talking about. My husband hates cat pee. One of his brothers had a cat when he was growing up that used to pee on his clothes, so Justin has some baggage when it comes to cat pee. We've already had to get rid of a Himalayan kitten who ruined our previous couch by peeing all the way through it to my hardwood floor. I don't want DC to have the same fate. She might be fat and mean, but I still love her.

I mentioned DC's troubles with my vet-tech neighbor who recommended that I have her checked for a urinary tract infection (UTI). A UTI? I didn't even think about that. I decided to wait to see if it happened again, and when it did, I knew that I had to make sure she didn't have a fixable problem. Well low and behold, she had a severe UTI. Of course she wouldn't pee for the vet and instead had to be kept over night (still no luck) and then finally "tapped" in which they used a needle to get the urine. I wasn't a big fan of the needle method, but she wouldn't go any other way. She is now on some antibiotics and will be rechecked next week to make sure that she is back to normal.

I'm glad we had her checked. Her accident spot was halfway between where she spends most of her time and where her litter box is, so it would make sense that she was having accidents halfway between the two. Being the researcher that I am, I looked up some natural remedies for the carpet smell and discovered that enzyme cleaners were the best and only real alternative to make the smell really go away and make it not longer detectable by the cat so that there wouldn't be a repeat offense. I would have to say that Anti-Icky-Poo has worked wonders. I used it twice to make sure that the smell was completely gone and we haven't had any repeat offenses. I've also used it twice in the past two weeks on vomit (those are blogs for another day) with much success.

Please listen to your pet. If they are behaving in an unusual way, have them checked out by a vet. To our family, a pet is a part of the family. We lost a furry member of our family to an unavoidable health disease three years ago today. We miss him dearly and treasure every moment with our furry family members. Be sure to love your pet today.

Two Loads a Day Keeps the Laundry Pile Away

I start my day each morning with a load of laundry. The earlier I get it in the washer, the earlier I can get it hung, hopefully allowing enough time for me to wash and hang the second load before the (usually) daily afternoon summer shower.

That’s right, I hang our laundry out to dry. I am trying to decrease our electricity usage and save the Earth one load at a time. I’m not sure exactly how much money I’m saving by hanging a load of laundry rather than drying it in my electric dryer…I should look that up. But to me it’s more than just saving a few cents. I want to do my best to help decrease my family's carbon footprint, and if hanging my laundry is one small way in which I can do that, then I'm all about it.

I also like getting back to the way things used to be…the “good ‘ole days” if you’d like…and feeling that connection with those who have come before me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to grab a washboard and run down to the river with a bar of soap to wash the laundry. I do, however, think about my great-grandmothers every time I’m hanging a load, and wonder what their lives were like when they were down by the river, or next to the washtub scrubbing the dirt out of their kids’ clothes, rather than reading a book while the washing machine was going. Makes me thankful for the small conveniences in life.



We currently have an “umbrella” type laundry line. I’m not a big fan of this one, but it was here when we bought the house, so I’ll use it until hopefully Santa can bring me a newer one. Our current umbrella line has rusted so that it has trouble staying open and is concreted into a poor location in our yard (touching some young trees), so I’m thinking of getting a newer model, probably still an umbrella line, but one that can be removed from the ground should we need to move it, or take it with us when we move. We also have a wooden clothes rack that I can use indoors or outdoors. I usually use it outside for our unmentionables. or clothes that are too small or delicate to hang on the line, or if the umbrella line is full.


Two-a-day seems to be the magic number for our family to keep the laundry pile from becoming too overwhelming. We have a three-bag sorter in the laundry room that holds our “waiting” laundry. One of the kids’ chores on M/W/F is to bring and sort their laundry into the three bags (whites, colors, and jeans/towels/sheets) from the hamper in their bathroom…I bring mine on those days too. Then, whichever bag is the fullest, that type of laundry gets to be the first load of the day. That is unless someone is in need of a particular article, or it is Tuesday…Tuesday is change the sheets day, and unfortunately the boys only have one set of “summer” sheets (I know, how can I be such a negligent parent and only have one set of sheets for my children), so their sheets are obviously one of the two loads done on Tuesday.

Now, I say two loads a day, but that is two loads a day, Monday thru Friday. I used to do all the laundry in one day, which was very tedious. Since I’m using my clothesline, I don’t have the ability to do all the laundry on the same day, nor do I want to. It used to take a full day to do all the laundry, and it would always happen that someone would have something they needed washed in the middle of the week, thus throwing off the whole “one-day of laundry” thing.

I think we are all benefiting from our laundry routine. I get a little time in the sun each day hanging laundry, our clothes last a little longer, we save a bit of money and the Earth one load at a time.

Where Would You Go First?

So where was the first place we went as a family in our new town (other than to the grocery store)? We went to the library. While holding the key to learning just about anything in the palm of our hand, we use our library cards like most people use credit cards. We frequent the library at least once a week, leaving with bags overflowing with all sorts of books (paper and audio) and videos (educational and entertainment).

As homeschoolers, we find the library very helpful. The library systems we have utilized over the years have each saved us a large amount of money. Though I do have to admit we still buy lots of books (we have six full sized bookcases to prove it), it’s the library that helps us to supplement many of our educational books. This resource gives the kids (and us) access to areas of study rarely frequented by the traditional learner.

The kids are also participating in the library’s Summer Reading Program. I am sometimes weary about summer reading programs. I don’t like to artificially reward the kids for reading. I think that they should read books that are interesting to them, when they are interesting to them, not necessarily because they’re going to be getting a prize for reading. The ultimate reward for reading should be the knowledge they gained from reading the book, or the pleasure they received from the process. Call me old fashioned if you must.

Well, this library has a slightly different program, so I decided we would give it a try. The kids are asked to roll a die each time we come in and then they will “move” along their game path the rolled number of spaces and read the type of book described on the spot landed upon. Today, for instance, Jake rolled a 1 and was asked to read a story about an animal (pointing him to the call number of the animal books in the youth section of the library). Jolie rolled a 6 and was asked to read a story by an author whose last name begins with the same letter as her last name (M). Jensen will be participating too, and he (well, really I) rolled a 1 and will be reading a book whose author has a last name beginning with E, F, G, H or I. The kids have all met today’s goal, so we will probably be making another trip to the library in the next few days so we can roll again and see what type of book we will be encouraged to read next.

So where was the second place we went as a family, you might ask? The recycling drop-of center, of course. Our new town doesn’t currently have curbside recycling pickup, so we’ll be taking our recycles to the drop-off locations around town when we are out and about heading to other places (there is one on base, near the library, and behind the organic food store that I know of thus far). I am pleased to say that our new town allows us to recycle more items than any other place we’ve lived. I can’t imagine us filling the 90 gallon garbage can each week, yet trash is collected twice a week! Come the beginning of the year, our town will be starting curbside recycling pickup, so we’ll be able to downsize our trash can (to a 45 gallon can) and upgrade to a 90 gallon recycling can. I’m sure we’ll proudly be filling the recycling can each week.

We take great pride in being recyclers. While in Virginia, our curbside recycling even caught the attention of others on our block, who would ask us which weeks were recycling weeks so they could recycle too. The kids have been recycling since day one and are trained to look at the bottom of any plastic container to see if we can recycle it. We have been at homes of friends and family and had the kids ask where they put their recycles. Unfortunately in some instances we’ve found that they didn’t recycle. Maybe the kids’ asking put a little bug in their ear.

Again I ask, where would you go first in your new town? I am one of those people who think a person's actions speak louder than words. We are trying to teach our children to be proactive, thoughtful, compassionate people. I think our first family adventures in our new town have spoken volumes about us. What would your travels say about you?

Our New Toy

It isn’t often that we buy ourselves an adult toy. The kids have their fair share of toys, but Justin and I usually are content with what we have and rarely satisfy those “I want” urges. I’m sure it’s the frugalness in us that says, “No, I don’t really NEED that, but I am going to add it to my wish list.” Our family has a running wish list on the fridge. We add to it anytime we see something that catches our eye, that way when birthdays, holidays, or any other special time comes around, we (and when I say we, I really mean me, because I can never remember what Justin wants/needs, yet he on the other hand can remember every thing I have ever oogled at for more than a moment) have some idea what the other one could really use.

Well, with our move right around the corner, and the high likelihood that we will be purchasing a home, we found that we were in the market for a lawn mower. We sold our old gas mower when we moved from Washington and have just been using an electric weed whacker to clear the small yard we have in our current rental town home.

In trying to be more eco-friendly, we were looking into an electric mower. There are corded and cordless electric mowers currently on the market. They both looked wonderful, but a bit pricey for our taste.

I then just happened upon some reel mowers. You know the ones. Well, actually, I bet you wouldn’t recognize the “new” reel mowers. I remember the one my parents had when I was small. It was metal, it was bulky, and I vividly remember it throwing a rock at me. We were impressed by the price of the reel mowers and their ultra-greenness…there is no gas, no oil, and no electricity to these babies. Just good old-fashioned sweat to make it run.

After some research, we chose the Scotts Classic 20” reel lawn mower. The Scotts had great reviews and was reasonably priced. I liked the fact that it has a 20-inch cutting path, one of the largest in reel mowers on the market. We ordered the mower, along with a grass-catcher bag, which didn’t come with the mower (its only real draw back).

The mower got here today, so what did we do but put it together and play with it. It worked great! No loud engine, no fumes. We are very pleased. Justin mowed not only our yard, but part of the common area at the end of the building. Jake is excited about getting to mow the lawn (I wonder how long that will last). I think the reel mower will be a great addition to our new home.