A few weeks ago, on a whim, I purchased a butterfly bush for our back garden. Since we didn’t have a flower bed available, I dug out a spot in the vegetable garden for her. She grew beautifully, but unfortunately, she expanded across the entire bed (so our tomato and pepper plants looked a bit claustrophobic). This weekend, my hubby surprised me by suggested we visit the gardening center for stones and dirt so that we could build the butterfly bush her very own bed. Together we transported the stones (Annabelle rode atop the wagon full of bricks since we used her Radio Flyer), dug out the bed, split bricks, leveled the ground, and achieved a sturdy and pretty stone wall. We like the look of it so much that we are thinking of replacing the wooden slabs on the vegetable garden with stones and adding yet another stone bed to our backyard this coming Spring. Oooh, I almost can’t wait!

The best part about this whole project, though, is that our butterfly bush helps to contribute to the conservation of butterflies, since they have lost their natural habitat due to development and urbanization.

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“Flowers are beautiful hieroglyphics of nature, with which she indicates how much she loves us.”

–Wolfgang von Geothe

These are just a few pictures I took last week at the Hahn Horticultural Gardens in Blacksburg, Virginia. What a delightful way to spend an afternoon.

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image by Pix Elate via Flickrr

My family and I headed back to the mountains, but this time we went south. Reason for the trip? Hubby’s work brought us there. Over the weekend, I plan to get resituated, post alotta pictures and work on my leadership application for a parenting support group close to my heart. I also have a couple of blog posts due this week, so I’ll have to catch up on that too.

Still, I missed the blogosphere and my bloggy friends. I hope you all enjoyed a great week!  I’ll be back soon . . .

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Photo Courtesy of Kessner Photography

Have you ever heard of the book Worms Eat My Garbage? Written by Mary Applehof, Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System is the book for you if you are a) interested in recycling your food scraps, and b) live in a moderate climate with a year round annual temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you haven’t yet and are committed to leading a green lifestyle that includes monitoring your trash, then check out Worms Eat My Garbage and begin your very own adventure with worms and composting.

My own journey as a composter and worm lover began several summers ago when another green mommy suggested I check out Applehof’s book. A few hours (and chapters) later, I sat down to a romantic dinner with my husband to talk worms. Not always the great enthusiast for some of my ideas (he’ll never go for living without toilet paper), he dismissed my first idea and said that a compost would stink up our apartment. Friends, who I invited into our discussion, sided with my husband saying that food scraps could more efficiently be managed with the garbage disposal.

A year passed. Everyday I was growing greener and greener, swapping out household goods to organic and homemade items and often choosing not to make a purchase at all (now I think the greenest thing we can do for our planet is to not buy anything). Then we moved to our townhouse where, though we do not own much land, there is enough land to support a small vegetable garden and a flower garden. My wheels started turning yet again when our new neighbors told us about their multiple compost systems (not only did they have worms but they had a big rotting pile of compost in 2 of their gardens). One afternoon I paid a visit to our neighbors to see and smell the worms for myself. Let me tell you. These worms smelled delicious (not to eat of course! I am vegetarian afterall). There was no odor, and I even awed over them because little baby worms were wriggling all over the place. Oh, and Annabelle thought the worms were fantastic.

Finally, around the time I turned 27, I told my husband that I wanted to get the worms for my birthday. After a little bit of web browsing, I located a worm dealer and compost container who not only got me started by giving me a good price but who called me to guide me through the process of creating a worm bed.

The day the worms arrived my husband and I went out to the backyard, gathered some dirt and leaves and got started brewing up our compost. An hour or so later, our little wriggling guys were squirming all over the place in our very own compost. And, I’ll say it again, the worms didn’t stink one bit. Not at all.

Over the summer, we collected food scraps, learned that chopping the scraps into small pieces helps the worms more easily digest, and sort of stepped back and let the worms do their thing. Oh boy do those little hermaphrodites like to make worm castings (or awesome worm poop that is super yummy for our plants)! Some weeks I would forget to visit my wormy friends, but they usually do fine, so long as we feed them well (and watch that we don’t overfeed them–that creates a stink).

So, if you’re interested in starting your own worm compost (or any compost at all), there are a few ways to get started (although I totally recommend Worms Eat My Garbage for a more precise way for getting started).

1. Decide what kind of compost bin you want. The size of your home and yard may factor into your decision unless you keep your compost at a community garden or a neighbor’s house.

2. Learn what is good for your compost and your worms. Worms love fruit and veggie scraps (although we avoid adding citrus), newspaper, egg shells, egg cartons, and bread. We avoid adding bones, meat (from my husband’s diet), and any trash that is not biodegradable (but you can read my earlier posts about fun ways to use or recycle non-biodegradable trash).

3. Keep a trash inventory. Note the number of bags of trash your family produces each week and also what kinds of trash you produce.

4. Order your worms. Your worms will likely arrive with instructions on how to prepare their bed. Read these carefully. Make their bed.

5. Start composting. Pay attention to the mixture of scraps and trash, keeping it oxygenated and damp.

The advantages of creating and maintaining a composting system are abundant so far as our planet is concerned. Not only are you making something from otherwise unusable food scraps (that would otherwise rot in a landfill) but your compost will become a nourishing meal for your yard and garden. Free food!

What are your thoughts on composting? Do you keep a compost? Would you like to? If you compost, what tips do you have for those of us who are new to it? Thanks again for sharing!

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“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

~Anonymous

Weeks ago in the Shenandoah Valley, Annabelle and I woke up with the sunrise. We saw a heavy mist of clouds hovering over the valley, as though the mountains were covered with rolling cloudy waves. As we wandered down the road, we crossed paths with deer grazing in a patch of wild flowers. These were certainly a few of many moments that took my breath away while in the mountains.

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Kerri Anne, over at 5 Minutes for Going Green, just posted this article on the Great Pacific Garbage patch, an island of waste that is accumulating between San Francisco and Hawaii.  To be honest, I had never heard about this pile of waste in the Pacific ocean, but it really doesn’t surprise me.  Kerri Anne discusses how the garbage is affecting sea life as it decomposes and breaks apart (as plastic does).  In my mind, this is just one more reason not to use plastic bags and to tote reusables wherever I shop (even when that means going into non-food shops).  And as Kerri Anne recommends, educating ourselves about the garbage crises in our oceans is the best way to get started so that we may help reduce this growing problem.

What are your thoughts on the Great Pacific Garbage patch?  What are you doing to reduce the amount of trash you and your family produce? I love learning new things from you.  Please share your ideas.  Thanks!

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Every now and again a real jewel winds up in my inbox. A few weeks ago, the publishers for Melanie Walsh’s 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World contacted me to ask whether I’d like to review Ms. Walsh’s book on Green Mamma. Being the lover that I am of children’s literature, I asked them to forward me the book so that I (and Annabelle) could give it a read.

Written and illustrated by Melanie Walsh, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World is made from 100% recycled materials and includes 10 practical tips for kids and their parents to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. According to the press release, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World is intended for children between the ages of 3 and 6, or from pre-school to grade 1. When I read 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World to Annabelle (age 20 months), she enjoyed turning the pages (several function as cut-out flaps that hide “tips”) and listening to the simple, short sentences that flow from page to page. I noticed that if I tried to share some of the longer bits of information about energy conservation, recycling, etc., my toddler grew bored of me (and the book), but as I said, she is a bit young for all parts of the book.

Some of my favorite tips from 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World include: unplugging appliances that are not in use, feeding birds in winter, and upcycling packaging to create new toys. I couldn’t help but think that any child (or family) who receives this book as a gift will likely teach the adults in their lives a thing or two about caring for our earth.

With the holidays just around the corner, this book would make a wonderful gift and addition to any young environmentalist’s library. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

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Okay, so let’s see here.  Should the Department of Transportation have the authority to determine whether or not our native wildlife (like wolves, polar bears, and panthers) are threatened by highway projects?  Does the Dept. of Transportation have such authority, currently?  Well, if it is left up to the Bush Administration, our scientists and wildlife biologists will no longer have the jurisdiction over whether a project endangers our animals.  Um, maybe it’s me . . . but is there any logic to this idea?  Oh yes, um, compromising animal life and the environment for sake of, well, money.

Ahhh!!!!

Once upon a time I thought that, and correct me if I’m wrong, based on our current model of education, individuals interested in a particular discipline will set out to study said discipline with the goal of becoming an expert in their field.  Sure, not everyone’s first choice of study in school works out for them their entire lives, but for those who do go into the field they prepared for, don’t they deserve the chance to work and make decisions based on their knowledge in a subject area?

Don’t our scientists deserve the opportunity and power that accompanies the long and rigorous training that brought them to the point in their careers where they work as scientists?

But alas, it is not to be.  Instead, the plan is to dismiss what science and those lofty scientists are recommending so that we can listen to a bunch of politicians, er, “experts” from the Department of Transportation?  I wanted to find out for myself whether the Dept. of Transportation employs any environmental field experts.   Well, as it turns out, the opportunity areas at D O T don’t include environmental scientists or biologists, but there are plenty of positions for engineers and highway safety specialists.  To see for yourself, go here.

It is my opinion that the only decisions that the Dept. of Transporation ought to make, theoretically, regarding polar bears and wolves, is whether or not the current transportation routes for our wildlife are in good working condition.  Yes, if the D O T wants to become involved with wildlife, why not have them focus on what they’re good at?  Oh yeah, that’s right.  Wildlife don’t need cement, lights, and lots of pollution.  So, based on my logic, the D O T needs to butt out of it, and while they’re at it, take  . . . arghh.  I have nothing nice to say.

To take action against the Bush Administration’s plans to gut the Endangered Species Act, send a message to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to let him know you will not stand for the weakening of endangered species protections. For a sample letter at the National Wildlife Federation, please visit Speak Up for Wildlife.

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Okay, so I have a strange neurosis regarding floor cleanliness and not wearing shoes indoors. Sometimes I even wish I were Asian so I could simply tell people that they have to remove their shoes because it’s a cultural thing. My husband looks a bit like Keanu Reeves, so I guess we could lie . . .

Anyway, to read more about my obsession with clean, green, and healthy floors, go on over to 5 Minutes for Going Green and read “Shoes Off!”

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