hello, spring?

Is it just me or does Spring seem to be taking her sweet time arriving this year? Come on already!

I just came in from planting some more seeds in my front yard. I planted spelt, and lots of sunflowers. Elias is a big help when I'm working outside, he is my official soil tester, and according to him the soil is yucky. Perfect, just what we need. He knows, because he ate a mouthful of it while I was digging rocks into the side yard for a rock garden. 

He is sleeping right now and every time he lays down for a nap I am amazed and I feel like I have won the lottery! He sleeps! On his own! Am I the luckiest mother around or what?

Normally he sleeps with his hammer in hand. You never know when you are going to need a hammer during nap time or even at night. Some kids like stuffed toys, some like blankets, mine likes tools.

Anyway, although I haven't posted any changes for a few weeks, I am still changing something every week. Rain barrels are one thing and driving less is my newest challenge. It is hard when you live in the boonies, but I am trying to do more things near my home and walk to places that I can, like the library or the grocery store. Somedays I don't even drive at all. It's easy when the weather is warm, but believe me, when it's -30, I won't be walking to the library.

it's been a long long time a coming...

How long has it been since I last wrote? It should be called the small planet whenever I feel like it. or the small planet monthly.

I've been busy since my last posting. I've had my first few nights of blissful, uninterrupted sleep, and strangely I am more tired than I have been in years. It's like my body suddenly realized I've been working on such an incredible sleep deficit, that now it's saying, "whoa! slow down lady. We need some SLEEP!" and so, that is what I have been doing, in between taking classes on organic gardening and naturalized landscaping, planning out my vegetable garden, and setting up rain barrels in my yard.

Actually, Mike is in charge of the rain barrel portion. We have 4 rain barrels connected by a series of tubes and hoses and it works! We are only watering with rain water that we have collected from the sky! It's amazing. In fact most of them are full just from the rain and snow that has fallen in the past week. If you don't have a rain barrel get one, get four, or six...

I have planted some native wildflower seeds, that I got for free from the Bow Point Nursery, in my front yard. The nursery is quite unique and environmentally friendly too. They specialize in native, drought resistant plants, shrubs, and trees that grow in right here in Southern Alberta. Imagine planting something that will naturally do well here! So smart. There is a reason that cedars don't grow here, they are meant for a moister, warmer climate. (like the west coast) It makes me sad to drive by the superstore and see all of the half dead cedars standing outside.

Next I will be transplanting the tomatoes that we started from seeds in March. They are quite big now and are taking up half of my kitchen table, so it will be nice to get them outside. I am planting them with lots of basil to confuse insects and make them taste better. If it would only stop snowing... Then I'm planting lots and lots of peas. I am going to build a structure so they can climb upwards, saving space and creating a windbreak for the rest of my garden. ( a little trick I learned in my class.)

We bought a truckload of compost from Bow Point as well. We filled up the back of Mikes truck and it only cost $10. That we dug into the vegetable beds so they are ready for the organic seeds that I bought at sunnyside market. I wish I would have bought more seeds on seedy saturday.

plumb dumb

We had a plumbing problem the other day and I was truly panicking. I was thinking to myself, What do I do? I have to call a plumber!

Our bathtub was plugged. I screwed off the drain and pulled out a handful of hair, because that is the only way that I know how to unclog a drain. It didn't work. So then I dropped some baking soda down, followed by some vinegar. It bubbled up really nice but it actually made it worse. Then I called Mike in and told him, "I think we need to call a plumber." He didn't even respond to that suggestion. Did I mention that Mike likes to fix everything himself?

Anyway, he got out the toilet plunger and tried to plunge while standing on the sides of the tub. That didn't work so well and he fell into the half full bathtub. While standing in ankle deep water he plunged the bottom drain. Nothing happened. He removed the cover from the top drain, plugged the bottom drain with his foot, and plunged the top drain. It worked! And as a bonus it was fun to watch my handy (and flexible) husband work. I was so excited, and so happy that I married such a handy guy. So there you have it, unclogging your bathtub for dummies.

Our big change this week is a jacket for our hot water heater. Apparently it prevents the loss of heat from your water heater, so you use less energy.  They are available at home depot for $30. What would be really great is a system that heats up your water as you need it. It seems wasteful to heat up a whole tank. 

phew!

Is is already friday?

This week has flown by at a frantic pace. I didn't even post my change of the week so here it is. No more music on cd's. I have been buying all of my music from itunes. I thought this change would be easy, but I miss the cd insert. I'm one of those people who likes to sing along to the song, and I love reading the insert. I even read the "thank you" section at the back. I like to know who they are thanking. I was once mentioned in the back of a cassette that a friends band in high school released. Well, not me personally, but they said thanks to the "girls from the North." It was the highlight of my grade 12 year. 

I have been spending some of my days at the "Growing up Green" eco-fair at North Hill Mall this week. It runs until sunday. I have enjoyed my days at the mall immensely. I met some very cool people who are committed to saving the world. 

My first day was spent with Tim from Swizzlesticks Salon. I didn't realize that the swiz was so earth-friendly. I am definitely purchasing a REAP passport to take advantage of a free haircut and make-up consultation.

I spent 2 hours laughing until my face hurt with Dr. Tania Rampersand from Effective health solutions. If you are looking for a naturopath/homeopath give her a call. She is funny, passionate, and truly cares about people.

Jennifer from Verde tea is a lovely girl and her tea is all fair trade organic, unlike the other tea shops in town. I just had myself a cup of white tea with rose petals and vanilla. Yum.

Lauren from Conscious Home is so committed to saving the world that she will come over to your house and help you green it up, as a bonus you get a whole bunch of great stuff, including some of the best cleaning products around. Have you heard of small planet?

At the end of the week, I am tired but so excited that so many people are out there, making a difference. I am inspired and grateful for all the people that I talked to. Good things are happening in the world. I can feel it.

things keep changing...

The war on flyers has been won! I'm not sure what was the final key, but there have been no flyers on my door step for about a week. My neighbours do think I am nuts for having that huge NO FLYERS sign, but it has all been worth it. Ah, victory. It feels good.

This week I am cutting down my showering time to 5 minutes or less. It sounds easy, but I am a person who can easily spend 30 minutes in the shower. I can spend an hour or more in the bathtub, it's like therapy for me. I love the water. If Mike and Elias go out I run upstairs and jump in the tub. 

I've been practicing my 5 minute showers all week. If I don't wash my hair it's easy peasy. If I do wash my hair it takes a little longer because I cannot get the tangles out of my head these days. You see, I'm cutting down on packaging, so I have been using Lush conditioner that comes in a solid bar. It's called Jungle, and it does turn my hair into a jungle. A wild, tangly, jungly mess that small rodents could live in. LOVE this. 

The reason I am doing this is because I want to reduce my water consumption. I have many more great ideas for this as well. Like using a rainbarrel to collect water to water my organic vegetable garden (which is not in the ground yet, but it is in my mind!) and collecting water from my (less than 5 minute) shower to water my houseplants. I am also planning a rock garden/native plant haven in my front yard so I don't have to waste water keeping my lawn green. I have signed up for some classes at Mt Royal college, one of them is about organic vegetable gardening, one about native plants and flowers, and one about low maintenance landscaping. 

I can't wait for warmer weather.

Water

One of my sons favorite words is water. He says it about 100 times a day. One of his favorite activities is playing in water, in the tub, in the kitchen sink, at his little table in the kitchen where he pours water from cup to cup, to the floor. Another favorite is puddles, and it is a good thing that he loves to wear rubber boots. In fact his name was River for the first few hours of his life, until our parents said, "You can't name a baby River!" To which Mike and I, still in shock from the miracle of birth and life, said OK, we'll call him Elias River.

Whenever he sees the river, he heads straight for it and wades right in. Last summer he was swimming in the bow, at night, and he was only a year old. We couldn't keep him out of it. I love the water as well, having spent most of my childhood in a swimming pool, and the first ten years after I graduated as a swimming instructor/lifeguard. 

Which is why I take water so seriously. There was a time when I would buy bottled water, mostly because I was too lazy to bring my own bottle with me. Then, I saw Dr. Vandana Shiva speak about water here in Calgary. Slowly, things started to shift for me. Why are we paying for something that is free? We live in Canada, we have clean water that comes right out of our taps yet we pay dearly for bottled water, and the truth of the matter is that most of that water comes from the tap! It is no cleaner than what comes from the tap, in fact it is most likely full of bacteria. How well do you think those bottles are sanitized? What about the giant water cooler that holds it? Who cleans that? Recently, a local water business was shut down, the reason? They weren't sanitizing the bottles, there was unacceptable amounts of bacteria in the water, and they weren't even supposed to be bottling water on the premises. 

Another problem with the bottled water industry is the amount of bottles that are produced. Most of those bottles end up in a landfill where it takes 400- 1000 years to break down, that is a long time. 

My dad is very wise. When I was a kid and I came home from school feeling yucky, he would ask me "did you drink any water? What did you eat?" He refused to eat food that was cooked in a microwave, and he never drinks bottled water, only tap water.

Today, if people tell me they don't feel well, I ask them if they have drank any water, and what they ate. I don't even own a microwave, and tap water is my main source of hydration, although I do have a filter on my tap. It's from aquasana and it takes out chlorine and other stuff, I just got it at Riva's Eco Store. (If you haven't been already, GO! It's a great store.)

My point, after all of these rambling thoughts, is this: break free of your bottled water addiction! Buy a reusable water bottle (MEC sells stainless steel ones for $10) and fill it with tap water. Don't pay for things that are free!

The human cost of chocolate

The more I look, the more I see, and some things I don't want to see because they are so incredibly unfair and unjust. The chocolate trade is one of those things. Most of the chocolate that we can buy here in the First World comes from West Africa, and it is harvested by children, under terrible working conditions. The word for it is "slavery." These children are bought and sold and subjected to abuse and worse.

I've been hearing more and more about it, which is a good thing for maybe people will stop buying slave chocolate. The big companies to avoid are Nestle, Cadbury, Mars, and Hershey.

The next time you sit down to enjoy a chocolate bar, take a moment to think about where it came from, who produced it and what the real, human cost of it is. Kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

The only chocolate that is going to be making it's way into my mouth is Fair Trade Organic. You can buy Fair Trade Chocolate at any health food store, and if your local grocery store doesn't carry it you can ask them to.