Mommy Goes Green

I finally feel like we’ve moved successfully from conventional products to eco-friendly products in our lawn and garden.  The icing on the cake was finding a safe way to control our weeds:

1. Water plants, not weeds.  We turned off the sprinkler heads in our garden beds and used a sprinkler head conversion kit to install a drip system.  It’s inexpensive and very easy to install.  Each drip is set to only water plants, flowers and trees, where necessary.  The rest of the bed doesn’t get watered, saving water (and $$) and keeping weeds down.
2. Use a thick layer of mulch or bark.  We’ve spread mulch too thinly for the past couple summers.  At only 1-2 inches, it thinned out quickly and disappeared before summer was over. It didn’t help with weed control.  This summer, we spread it 3 inches thick and it has made a huge difference.  Mulch also helps keep your water needs down (and $$) as it reduces evaporation by up to 50%.
3. Plant drought tolerant ground cover.  Ground cover acts similarly to mulch so it covers the dirt, keeping weeds down and reducing evaporation.  By choosing drought tolerant ground cover, you further reduce your water needs.
4. Use a weed killer, if necessary.  The final piece of our eco-friendly weed control puzzle was finding a weed killer that worked and WE. HAVE. FOUND. IT.  EcoSmart contacted me to see if I would check out a few of their new products and I was excited to try out their Organic Weed & Grass Killer.  I just hoped it worked and it does!   We have some weeds in a rocky area that are hard to hand pick so I started there.  It was a hot day and I sprayed all the weeds in the morning.  By afternoon, all the weeds were shriveled up and dead!  {I did a little happy dance} 

So the good news is that you don’t need a big bottle of Roundup to kill weeds particularly because I’m not convinced on any level that Roundup is safe.  For example, scientists in France evaluated the toxicity of Roundup on fetal umbilical cord cells. They found that every formulation of Roundup caused total cell death within 24 hours.  And they weren’t even testing with agricultural levels of Roundup, they were using levels that would be found in food or feed.   Roundup has also been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  If you think you are safe using it in your yard, did you know that it’s half-life is at least 47 days?  It also contaminates surface waters and is not readily broken down by sunlight or water.  Scary stuff, just say no.  Promise you, EcoSmart works just as well.  If I get one reader to stop using Roundup, I’ll feel better

A couple years ago we ditched the Round Up and chemical filled fertilizer for more eco-friendly alternatives.  It has taken some time to figure out how to maintain our lawn without chemicals but this summer we’ve found some great methods that are doing the job. I know it would be more eco-friendly not to have a lawn at all but we have two young children who love to run barefoot through it.   It doesn’t take any more effort than conventional methods to have a safer, eco-friendly lawn. 

1. Know how much water your lawn needs.  Your lawn only needs 1 inch of water a week and preferably, all at one time.  This way the water gets down to the deep roots.  To determine  how much water your lawn needs,  put an empty tuna can in the middle of the yard.  Turn on the sprinklers and record how long it takes to fill the tuna can up. Once you know how long it takes, set your sprinkler system to water 1x per week for that length of time.  Remember, different parts of your lawn may need different amounts of water.  We water 30 minutes, 1x per week in our front yard and 1 hour, 1x per week in our back yard.
2. Don’t waste water.  Water in the morning.  If you water during the day, it evaporates before it hits the ground. We start our watering process at 5am.  If you have a sprinkler system, turn it on and watch how each sprinkler head is functioning.  Is it overwatering by spraying sidewalks or driveways?  Do you have too many sprinkler watering the same area?  The spray area on each sprinkler head can be modified, usually with a screwdriver applied to the top.  We have turned off about 25% of our sprinkler heads totally because they were watering areas that weren’t planted yet or were overlapping with other sprinkler heads too much.
3. Don’t mow too short.  Keeping your lawn about 3 inches long
4. Use free fertilizer.  By leaving your grass clippings on your lawn, you reduce your fertilizer needs by 25%.  To keep our garden beds grass clipping free, we bag the grass clippings while mowing and then empty the bag back onto our lawn.  You also reduce your trips to the recycling center to take grass clippings.
5. Get chicken manure.  According to SafeLawns.org, chicken manure is the best fertilizer so we picked it up.  This is the product that has made the biggest difference for our lawn.  It took a thin, yellow lawn and made it lush, thick and green in about a week.  As long as we remember to use it every month, the lawn is awesome.  We buy chicken fertilizer at Lowe’s – it’s not any more expensive than conventional fertilizer and it contains no chemicals.   SafeLawns recommends one called Chickity Doo Doo.  EDITED TO ADD:  We don’t use plain chicken manure, it’s an organic fertilizer where the primary component is chicken manure!

Using these methods, we’ve saved money on our water bills and have a safe lawn that I feel totally comfortable having my children play on.  For more tips, I highly recommend checking out SafeLawns.org.

Check in tomorrow for tips to keep your garden beds organic AND weed-free!

This is part of the Healthy Child Blog Carnival - an effort by Healthy Child Healthy World to help inspire a movement to protect children from harmful chemicals.  For great posts from other green mamas, check some of them out!

• The Most Expensive Egg We’ll Ever Eat by RookieMom
• Clean Food, Dirty Kids by Spoonfed
• Our Grass is Greener by Farmer’s Daughter
• Quick Spray to Save Summer Veggies by Easy Peasy
• How to Relax and Let the Kids Have (Non-Toxic) Fun by Almost All the Truth

The Home Depot has a FREE Eco-Gardening class on June 3 from 7 – 8:30pm.  You’ll learn :

• How to plant and maintain an edible garden
• Create raised garden beds that allow you to start with balanced soil, no matter what’s underneath – even cement
• See the difference using rain barrels can make for your water usage
• Learn all about composting to create endless nutrient-rich fertilizer

 Take advantage of this great free class by registering.   It’s perfect timing to get your summer vegetable garden off to a good start.

If you plan on going green in your garden or home this summer, now is the time to purchase those items!  Earth Day (tomorrow!)  has mass retailers selling eco-friendly products at great prices. 

Home Depot

• 120 Gallon E-Composter with Base $49.97
• 57 Gallon Ruscany Rainwater Barrel $98
• 4×4 Raised Garden Bed Kit $29
• Ortho Ecosense Lawn Weed Killer $10
• 64 oz Ecosmart Home Pest Control $8.99
• BOGO All Organic Veggie, Herb and Flower Seed Packets
• Solar LED Walk Lights $3.88
• Martha Stewart Cleaning Products $3.98
• Honewell Programmable Thermostat $29.98
• Lutron Skylark Eco-Dim 600 Watt Dimmer $22.88
• TCP 14 Watt Soft White CFL Bulb $1.97

Target

• GE Energy Smart CFL light bulb $5
• Seventh Generation Dish Soap $2.49
• Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent $12.99
• Waterpik EcoFlow Showerhead $25

Fred Meyer

• Fiskars 48 gallon Rain Barrel $89
• Eco-Friendly Hoses $9.99 – $34.99
• Eco Fiber Bamboo Gloves $3.99
• Rain Bird Drop Patio Plant Watering kit $23.99
• 120 Gallon E-Composter $34.99
• 1  Gallon Kitchen Compost Carrier $16.99
• Easy Go Eco-Friendly Multi-Purpose Cart $26.99
• Concord Black Solar Light $4.99
• Earthwise Corded Electric String Trimmer $24.99
• Eartwise 3-in-1 Cordless Lawn Mower $289
• G-Oil 2 Cycle Engine Oil $5.99
• G Bar & Chain Oil $9.99
• Herbs in Pots 2 for $3
• Organic Veggies or Tomatoes in Pots 4 for $9
• All Seventh Generation Products 30% OFF

For Earth Day only freebies, check here.

Spring is slowing making its way through the Northwest and I’m getting excited to plant my vegetable garden.  Depending on where you live and what you are planting, you may have already started planting.  I generally plant starts so I likely won’t plant anything for another couple weeks. Last year, I didn’t get anything in the ground until the end of May (which was a little late) but I ended up having a great garden anyway!  

If you’ve never had a vegetable garden, I highly recommend that you start one this summer – it’s easy and a great project to do with your kids. 

CONTAINER AND LOCATION
It can be as easy as using a pot for one tomato plant or you can buy or build raised beds.  The first summer that I grew anything, it was one tomato plant in a pot .  The next summer, my husband built me a raised bed for Mother’s Day.  Raised beds can be as small or large as you have space for.  Ours is long and narrow – 3 x 11 – between the edge of our grass and the fence.  Often, the container where you keep your vegetables will be highly influenced by the location you have available with LOTS of sun – preferably 6-8 hours a day.  

SOIL
Once you choose a container and location, start with some great soil.  We have a compost bin that we stock all year just to use when planting our vegetable garden.  If you don’t have a compost bin, you can purchase compost and/or soil mixes to use. 

CHOOSING VEGETABLES
One of my favorite things about my garden is experimenting.  I am NOT a gardener and I don’t have a green thumb.  I just try new things each year to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  The first summer I learned that we eat way more cherry tomatoes than plum tomatoes.  Last summer I planted more celery than we could eat.  I couldn’t give away all the jalapeno peppers we had and I planted beans and peas way too late to get anything out of them.  When choosing vegetables to plant, choose ones that you and your kids will eat.  Tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini are all easy to grow and you’ll get LOTS of them – with just one plant.  Talk to the growers at the local nursery or farmer’s market – they are a wealth of information about the different varities of every vegetable.  

WATER  
I tend to kill anything that isn’t automatically watered so we put a drip system in our raised bed. It was inexpensive and easy to hook up through our automatic watering system. You could also use a soaker hose or just get out there and manually water every day. 

For additional resources on planning your vegetable garden, check out Martha Stewart’s Vegetable Garden Guide or Better Homes and Gardens Edible Gardening Guide.

The following is a guest post from Tracey Bianchi, author of the newly released book “Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet.”

The Magnolia Tree just outside our kitchen window is the first to bloom every year. When I see these fuzzy little nodes erupt into flowers a soft smile creeps into my very soul. It is officially Spring, and Springtime in the Midwest is no small thing. This seasonal shift means emergence from a cocoon of duvets and wool socks. It means flip flops and pale white feet hit the pavement everywhere.

Come late-March, my children are like caged animals that have been released into the wild. Shrieks of joy, a flurry of sidewalk chalk and bike helmets litter the driveway. They rip open the patio door and dash outside still hopping and pulling on shoes along the way. It is bedlam and bliss all rolled up into one sunshine filled afternoon. The sign of many more to come.

And as a mom who has hollered and cajoled her way through the long winter I am just as giddy for fresh distractions and a reunion with big wheels and bicycle helmets. This change of place has been a long time coming and I find myself yelling less and playing hop scotch more.

Finally.

I am completely and utterly thankful for Spring (well, almost).

You see, all this sunshine and balmy weather means that I also need to plot out my garden. The fresh vegetables that will dance across our table all summer. Sugar snap peas, broccoli and beans. A web of crooked carrots that hide underground and renegade pumpkin vines that take over the lawn.

I need to find the garden gloves, shovels, stepping stones. I need to tie back the random rose bush that has cropped up in the middle of our little plot. And more than anything, I need to find time and energy.

Time and energy. Time and energy.

The hot commodities of motherhood. The thought of it all actually makes me long for February once again. Less pressure to perform.

I confess, I am a “green mom” but a reluctant gardener.

But I will forge ahead this year just as in the past. I will plunge my hands into the dirt as my toddler daughter drags behind me stomping on all the seeds I so gingerly settled into their homes. I will water and weed. I will stand with my earth-laden hands on my hips, brush my bangs from my face, and I will sigh.

I know people who love to garden. I envy them. I wish I had an eye, a heart, a passion for it. Sort of like I wish I was Rachel Ray on occasion. Oh to have food and festivity just splash out of a pan whenever I wanted.

Not me. I was born with a normal, peach colored thumb.

But I will carry on this Spring and begin planting lettuce next week. And if there is any part of you that can rally the strength to do the same I beg you to join me. Reluctant or not, there is no greater joy at the dinner table than eating the food your family grew in the backyard. There is no “greener” endeavor you can embark upon other than connecting yourself to the very plants that give us life.

To see my wiry son pull a handful of string beans for dinner, to watch my saucy little daughter pop a Roma tomato right off the branch and into her mouth beats pounding a bag of fruit snacks any day. And to watch my second child, with all his defiant middle-child-ness drag a cucumber into the house is to officially trump our industrialized food industry, the grocery store chains, and the picky-eater syndrome all in one glorious moment.

As Spring gives way to Summer I beg you to grow something. Even if you find yourself garden-challenged like me. Drop basil into a pot, toss cilantro on your window sill, or plot out that long awaited vegetable garden. Then sit back alongside your children, with sidewalk chalk and bubbles, and just watch it all grow. There is no greener endeavor.

Tracey Bianchi is a mother of three who lives in the Chicago area. She is the author of the newly released book “Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet”. She is a freelance writer, speaker, and is the Coordinator of Women’s Ministry at her church. You can catch her musings on a more sustainable life at http://traceybianchi.com

Check back tomorrow for our review of Tracey’s new book and a great giveaway!

Parents Magazine has a lot of great safety tips in their August issue including one about garden hoses and lead that I hadn’t heard anywhere before.  There is no safe level of lead consumption so we should try to limit exposure to ourselves and our family as much as possible.  The magazine’s advisor, Ari Brown, M.D., noted that many hoses are made of PVC, a material that contains lead.  ( lead is just ONE of the problems with PVC )  Since lead can leach into the water coming out of the hose, you should run the hose for a minute or two before using it to fill baby pools, for example.  Whether we like it or not, we know our kids drink the water in the pool!  They also suggested never letting children drink directly from the hose. 

 This is a great practice for in the house, too.  We recently had the water in our home tested for lead and it came back positive.  Our house was built in 2007 so lead exposure in your house does not just apply to older homes.  The advice we received from the testing lab was to run water for a couple of minutes until it’s cold before drinking and never to drink hot water from the tap – always heat cold water in the microwave or on the stove.  We are also purchasing a water filter – more on that in the future!

My wonderful husband built me a garden box for Mother’s Day this year and then my daughter and I filled it with wondeful veggies to eat this summer!  This is only the second summer that I’ve grown food ( in my life ) after growing tomatoes in containers last summer.  Well the veggies must love the new box and organic soil because they are growing like weeds!  I planted all of this about 3 weeks ago and it’s going crazy!  In the box, we planted cherry tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, onions, celery, summer squash, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers and orange bell peppers.  All in one 3×11 box.  Now I may have packed too much in there – I’m just learning – but the joy of seeing my daughter’s delight and learning while watching everything grow is wonderful and we can’t wait to start eating the veggies of our labor this summer!

You still have time to plant fruits and veggies this summer! If you don’t have the space for a box, it’s easy to grow things in containers.  We started last summer with tomatoes only and it was so easy to grow them.  You’ll find that your kids love going out to water and pick the fresh produce every day and I tell you – tomatoes from your garden are amazing compared to those in the store!

What are YOU growing in your garden?

You often see vinegar used in DIY cleaning solutions but vinegar is an amazing product that can be used in many more applications than cleaning and it’s so inexpensive – try out a few of my favorite uses

• Cleaning your coffee pot
  White distilled vinegar can help to dissolve mineral deposits that collect in automatic drip coffee makers from hard water. Fill the reservoir with white distilled vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle.  Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished. (Be sure to check the owner’s manual for specific instructions.) Works great!

• Kill Weeds
  Spray white distilled vinegar full strength on tops of weeds. Reapply on any new growth until weeds are dead.  We tried this and found that some weeds fell over dead and a few couldn’t have cared less. I just pick those.

• Freshen Baby Clothes
  The addition of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to each load of baby clothes during the rinse cycle will naturally break down uric acid and soapy residue leaving the clothes soft and fresh. I particularly use vinegar on anything with urine on it.

• Glass Front Fireplace Doors
  Wash fireplaces with a 50/50 ratio of water and white distilled vinegar to remove the blackened soot on glass front doors. If the doors have a spring-loaded clip, remove it, then take out the doors. Lay them flat on newspapers, spray with the vinegar/water solution and soak. Wipe it off with newspaper. I’ll be using this once we turn off the pilot light on our gas stove for the summer.

• Freshen a Lunch Box
  It is easy to take out the heavy stale smell often found in lunch boxes. Dampen a piece of fresh bread with white distilled vinegar and leave it in the lunch box overnight. This is my new favorite vinegar use- it’s so hard to keep my daughter’s lunch bag smelling good!

• Make a Volcano Explode
  First, make the “cone” of the volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2cups salt, 4 tablespoons cooking oil and 2 cups of water. The resulting mixture should be smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed). Stand a soda bottle in a baking pan and mold the dough around it into a volcano shape. Do not cover the hole or drop dough into it. Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food color (can be done before sculpting if you do not take so long that the water gets cold). Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to the liquid. Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle. Watch out – eruption time! How cool of a mom would your kids think you were!

• Vomit in Car
  Remove the leftover odor after a rider has been carsick by leaving a bowl of white distilled vinegar overnight on the floor. Hasn’t this happened to every mom?  It’s SO hard to get that smell out, particularly on hot days.

• Clean Vegetables
  Get rid of expensive ‘veggie washes’ and use vinegar, particularly for non-organic produce.

• Deter ants. Discourage ants by spraying undiluted white distilled vinegar outside doorways and windowsills, around appliances and wherever you find the pests coming in. These pesky critters often move in unannounced and next time I will be welcoming them with this great tip!

• Remove sticky residue.  To remove the sticky residue from bumper stickers on your car, price tags on a new product or stickers your 2 year old put all over your window ( a recent development at my house ), use full strength vinegar.  This works great and replaced my bottle of Goo Gone (saving money and the use of more chemicals than we actually needed ).

For many more tips, visit The Vinegar Institute ( yes, one exists ) for their Vinegar Tips and Tricks Guide or VinegarTips.com for 1001 vinegar tips and tricks.

Vinegar is so versatile – what are YOUR tips for using it?

Recycled Glass Balloon Vases - VivaTerra carries these beautiful, unique vases made from recycled glass. I love their simple, classic beauty. Lopsided in just the right way, these oversized, delightful melon-shaped vases can be grouped as a threesome to hold tall flowers and branches, placed individually on tabletops, or clustered as a transparent accent.  From $39.00

Teething Necklace - This is a great gift for a pregnant or new mama!   They were created so moms wouldn’t have to give up wearing pretty jewelry, but would also be something safe for baby to grab and put in their mouths.  Available in 12 colors, they are non-toxic and dishwasher safe. Made from phthalate, BPA, PVC, and lead free silicone. $19.00

Year of Seeds - This gift, from Red Envelope, keeps continues to give with a year-round windowsill garden. Simply place the included soil and seeds into the pots, add water, and watch the flowers come to life.   Set includes seeds, bag of soil, 12 pots and easy growing instructions. 10% of proceeds go to the March of Dimes. $79.95

Custom Scrabble Tile Art Pendant by PendantLicious - I love how this mom repurposed Scrabble tiles into sweet necklaces. Send in your favorite photo and see it turned into a custom pendant.  Each pendant comes with a 2mm 18″ Ballchain Necklace ( other lengths available, upon request ).  These are so affordable, every mama needs one!  $8.00

BookSwim - If you know a reader, this is the perfect, unique gift!  BookSwim is the first online book rental library service lending you the latest bestseller, new releases and classic paperbacks, hardcovers and college textbooks Netflix®-style directly to your house!   Starting at $9.95 per month. For Mother’s Day, you can purchase a $50 gift card for $40. CODE: MOTHERSDAY2009

Envirosax - Have I mentioned what a HUGE Envirosax fan I am?  Envirosax are chic, inexpensive reusable bags.   They have a fantastic Mother’s Day special – Buy any pouch (set of 5 bags) and receive a Retro Kitchen pouch absolutely free ( value: $28.50 ) It’s only valid for pouch purchases until May 5. The free Retro Kitchen pouch will not show up in your shopping cart but will be added to your order by staff. $8.50 each or $28.50 – $37.95 per pouch ( set of 5 ).

Organic Bouquet – Take a traditional route and send flowers but this year, choose eco-friendly flowers from Organic Bouquet.  Their flowers are VeriFlora certified, grown with the least environmental impact.  Growers must meet rigorous criteria to achieve certification including fair labor practices, sustainable crop production, ecosystem protection, and product quality. $44.95

Kiwi Magazine Subscription - Mamas interested in a greener, natural lifestyle will love Kiwi. KIWI features the latest in everyday natural and organic family style – helping you to raise your children the healthiest way possible.  $11.95

Pacifica Soy Candles – Candles are such a treat, I love to curl up with a blanket, book and several candles.  Conventional candles are composed of  paraffin wax, synthetic dyes and artificial fragrances, which are toxic to produce and result in indoor air pollutants. Cheaper wicks may contain traces of heavy metals ( like lead ), which can get released into the air during combustion. Choose a safer product – soy candles.  Pacifica Soy Candles are handmade with vegetable soy wax, lead-free wicks and Pacifica’s signature perfume blends with essential and natural oils. $22.00

Handmade with Love – Any mama is honored to receive homemade gifts.  Gather the kids together, pick a project and get to work. FamilyFun.com has a great group of projects for all ages.