Day 68 of our Green Year: A Natural Weed Killer

We have some weeds in our garden, and while I am one to leave weeds in the yard since they aren't really doing any harm, I do have to remove them from the garden. This is because they can choke out our vegetables, and those vegetables are feeding us over the winter.
Obviously, we are not going to be using herbicides on the weeds because we are a 'no chemical zone' here. Therefore, we can use our muscles and pull the weeds out by hand, but there is another way that goes along with our message of 'Re-use, then recycle'.

In this sense, we have chosen to use something we make nearly every day to get rid of weeds. That something, is boiled water. Whether it is making pasta, boiling potatoes, making tea or whatever, we have boiled water nearly on a daily basis. Now, instead of just dumping that water down the drain, which is a big waste, we are pouring it on weeds. Boiled water is a great weed killer because it essentially destroys the entire plant and the root system if it is shallow enough. No herbicides, or pulling it out by your hand. Just reusing the water you just boiled to kill a weed.

Many gardeners are going with this method over other methods because it is healthier for the environment without herbicides floating around everywhere. This, of course, is not to say that we will not be pulling weeds by hand. Nor will we be boiling water to specifically pour on weeds. Instead, we are only using the water that was already boiled for something else, on the weeds. Remember the motto of Our Green Year, "Reuse, then Recycle"

Got any other natural weed killers? Let us know!

Day 57 of our Green Year: No more cans

A few weeks ago, Layla and I committed to recycling nearly everything we could. This included pop cans. When you recycle pop cans, you save about 60 percent energy that it takes to make them from scratch.
However, recently, we began to think about the pop cans themselves and the harm that may be caused to the environment by buying things like pop cans.
As a result, we are committing to eliminating pop cans for our life. The reason we chose to do this is two-fold, and it has to do with our own health and the environment.

First, the environment. When aluminum cans are made from scratch, it has to use aluminum that is processed from the Earth. This is VERY energy intensive, so it contributes heavily to greenhouse gases, and the mining itself destroys local habitats.

The second reason is our health. While we are not doctors, we recently chose to buy only natural personal care products to keep harmful chemicals out of our lives. Well, aluminum is the main component of cans, and some studies have shown that Alzheimer's Disease can be caused by aluminum. Now, we are not saying it does cause it, or that if you use aluminum cans you will get Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, but we are not taking the chance.

This is why we are going to begin making our own drinks (stay tuned for making your own soda this week) and keeping it in reusable containers.
If you do use aluminum cans, please remember to at least recycle it!

If you can, check out a great website called Tree-Nation (www.tree-nation.com), which will let you buy your own tree and become the guardian of that tree. If you can't plant a tree, this is a good place to check out.
Also, Layla and I saw a news report last night about how the government is changing the designation of lakes across the country so that mining companies can dump toxic mine waste into the isolated lakes. This will kill the lakes, and despite what the mining bosses say "It is the safest way to dispose of it and we have many lakes", it is not a good thing to do. Over 50 lakes are already designated in such a way that they will be polluted with toxic waste. Read more about it here:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/16/condemned-lakes.html?ref=rss
Please join our Facebook group to help stop this:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17741112868


UPDATE: Our garden is coming in great, and here are some pictures of the garden and the veggies that are coming in, including peas, potatoes, radishes and corn. Thank you to KBS Radio and Organic Living Magazine who interviewed us about Our Green Year. If you know of any media who may be interested, contact us at crwbaird@gmail.com and I will send you a press release.

Day 56 of our Green Year: Bottle Composting

You may be thinking we are talking about composting bottles, but the truth is we are talking about making a portable composting machine that you can take with you. Whether you are on vacation, or even at work, why should you forget about going green when you are not home? This is where the portable bottle compost method comes into play.

You can easily make this portable compost device and take it with you wherever you go. Now you don't have to throw things out that could be composted when you can simply put them in the bottle and compost it from your car, hotel room or office.

These are really easy to make. To make them, you need these items:

• A Two-Liter Plastic Soft Drink Bottle
• Two Cups of Fruits and Veggies Scraps, all chopped up.
• One cup of grass clippings or leaves
• Two cups of garden soil.
• Blood and bone fertilizer if you have it.
• One newspaper torn into squares.
• Spray bottle with water.
• Spoons for the soil.
• Tape and a marker

To make the compost bottle, follow these steps:

1. Remove the label from the bottle, leave the lid on and cut about three-quarters of the way up the bottom to form a flip top.
2. Put the soil into the bottom and then moisten it with the spray bottle. Put a layer of fruit scraps in, then cover with soil about one cm thick.
3. Put some fertilizer in it.
4. Add leaves and then cover with another one cm of soil.
5. Put some fertilizer on that.
6. Place newspaper in the bottle and put another one cm of soil.
7. Put another layer of fruit and vegetable scraps in, cover with one cm of soil and sprinkle with more fertilizer.
8. Tape the top up and put it in a sunny spot on the window sill.

Afterwards, every so often, check to see if it is too moist (open lid) or too dry (add water). After a few weeks of adding composting to it, then take it out to the garden and put it in the soil.
This really makes a great portable compost bin for when you are on vacation or in the office.

If you have photos of you making this compost bottle, send them to crwbaird@gmail.com and we will put them up.
Here are a few photos of me using our manual lawn mower, which does a great job of the lawn.

Day 48 of our Green Year: Clearing The Air Inside

Day 47 is here and we are going to talk about container gardening inside. One of our readers, Maggie, already has one on her deck but one of the most important things you can do for the air quality in your home is to set up some containers in your house.
So much of what we have in our house, from the curtains to the carpets, from the cleaners to even the food, has chemicals in it. The great thing about container gardening is that it works the same way that the trees do. It takes the bad chemicals out of the air and replaces it with healthy oxygen.
So, this also helps you get nice clean fresh air inside.

What Layla and I have done is that we are setting up an 'indoor garden' to go with our outdoor one. It is only a few pots right now but Layla and I are working at turning a good part of our living room into a garden, complete with soil, plastic wrapping to prevent it leaking on the floor, and about 6 inches to one foot deep, and several feet wide and long. This will not only provide us with food through the winter as we grow indoors, but it will also help us keep the air inside our home clean, and keep us from buying veggies from the store.

Do you have some tips for us and our indoor garden? Do you have an indoor garden yourself? Send us a photo to crwbaird@gmail.com and we will put it up!

Day 28 of our Green Year: Dandelion Tea

Now I know what a lot of you must be thinking. How is drinking Dandelion tea a way to go green?
Well, first of all we aren't going out to our yard and ripping them out of the lawn (from the roots), we are not preventing them from seeding and we certainly are not using herbicide to kill them. So, why not use something from the Earth to get something beneficial in your body?

The truth is that Dandelions are far from a weed, they are one of the best plants you can have for your body and they have been cultivated for literally thousands of years. Just a few of the benefits of Dandelion tea include:

• They are a source of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and E
• They are rich in calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, selenium, silicon and zinc
• They are a laxative, cholertic, tonic antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory
• It is one of the best herbs you can have for gall, spleen and liver problems, and it can relieve symptoms of menstruation in women.
• They keep the liver at peak efficiency and they can purify and build blood when ingested and will even cleanse and regenerate cells. They help the pancreas and they absorb toxins in the bowel.
• Some even say it can help relieve diabetes when consumed as a tea or food on a regular basis.

So, we have decided to use it in tea instead of getting rid of it with herbicide or ripping it out by the roots.
To make dandelion tea, just follow these easy steps:

1. Pick five or six dandelions
2. Cut off the stems
3. Wash the heads slightly
4. Place the the heads in a cup
5. Pour boiling water on them
6. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes
7. Enjoy!

That is all there is too it! Tea from your yard, free and very healthy!

If you are not into tea, then you can use young dandelion leaves in salad, you can steam them or you can add them to stir-fries.

You can even use the roots of the dandelion to make non-caffeine coffee by waiting until the plants are nine to twelve months old (growing inside). Then you roast them in the oven until they are a coffee colour, grind them and use them!

It is a plant we think of as a weed that actually has many uses and can be very green and beneficial to you. Give it a try and let us know what you think! Send us photos of you with your dandelion tea and we will post them on the blog!

Day 13 of our Green Year: Controlling Pests Naturally

As you have read in previous entries, Layla and I are going natural with a garden in our backyard. We are doing it to help the environment, as well as save costs for ourselves with rising fuel and food costs.
As we grow the garden, we are beginning to find ways to get rid of pests, without worrying about hurting the environment. We have chosen not to use pesticides or anything else chemical, and are choosing natural ways to protect our garden plants.

As a result, we have a list of the things you can do to keep pests out of your garden and keep your garden looking lush.

1. If you have cats going in your garden and using it as a litter box, you can circle the garden in lemon peels, or you can put together an orange peel/coffee ground mixture and scatter it around the garden. Can't will not go in as a result.
2. Fill some grocery sacks with air and tie them shut. Afterwards, place stakes around your garden and tie the bags to them. The rustling sound it creates will scare rodents and birds away.
3. If you have birds taking your strawberries, then simply get some small stones and paint them red and put them around the plants. The birds will eventually tire with trying to eat the 'hard strawberries' and will move on.
4. Insects cause a lot of problems in the garden, and if you have spider mites, just spray leftover coffee where they are and they should leave. You can also create a mixture that will get spider mites off your plants. The mixture is 1/2 cup buttermilk, 4 cups of wheat flour and five gallons of water (try to use rain water). Spray it on your garden and you should be able to keep spider mites out, as well as ants, caterpillars and cabbage worms.
5. You can mix up black pepper and flour and sprinkle it around your plants to keep the insects out.
   
6. If slugs are moving into your garden, simply take an old recycled sandpaper disk, cut it open and put it around the plant. Slugs won't cross the sandpaper.
7. Plant garlic throughout your garden. Doing this will keep insects out of it because they do not like the smell or taste.
8. While some bugs are bad for the garden, others help. Spiders eat insects that destroy plants, so to encourage them, lay some mulch at the beginning of the year. This will attract them and they will eat the aphids that come into the garden.
9. Are dogs digging in your garden? If they are, you just have to mix a clove of garlic, onion, Tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper in a bucket of water. Let it steep, then let it dribble into the garden where you don't want the dogs. If you have cats digging in your garden, then use powdered mustard and flour instead of garlic and onions to deter them. Mice will keep out of the garden, as will squirrels because the sauce, powder and pepper will stick to the bottom of their feet, which will frustrate them and keep them away.
10. Spray vinegar at the base of trees and walls to keep cats away and hide the scent of tomcats who have been in the area.
    

These are just a few of the natural ways you can keep your garden safe without killing anything, or resorting to chemicals.

Day 10 of our Green Year: Starting the Garden

As part of our Green Year, Layla and I have decided to put in a garden. We are doing this for a variety of environmental reasons, as well as to help save some money on the rising costs of food.
When you put in a garden in your backyard, on a windowsill or on your deck, you are actually giving Mother Nature a helping hand.

It may not be hard to see why a garden is something good for the environment, but here are just some of the reasons Layla and I have decided to put a garden in the back and in the front of our house:

1. When you grow a garden, you are helping take CO2 out of the atmosphere through the plants that grow in the garden. As well, you reduce food miles because now the effort to transport food to your home is zero.
2. We will not be using pesticides in our garden and it will all be organic, which means less pesticides in our bodies and the air of our planet.
3. Gardens are habitats for a wide variety of insect species. Instead of trying to get rid of them with chemicals, we are going to try to use natural messages to deal with them.

To deal with our garden, we will be watering minimally, using rain water to water the garden, and we will be composting certain food scraps and other compostable items and using that in the garden instead of buying fertilizers. This will help the soil and the plants, while recycling waste products such as used vegetables and fruits.

If you have any area in your yard, deck or window sill, build yourself a garden. It can be a flower garden to help pollinating insects, it can be vegetables that will put organic food in your diet, or it can be a mixture.
Gardens are easy to make, fun to maintain, the rewards are beautiful and the garden produce tastes great.