The Family Plot week 3

Week 3 of our family garden. So far we have planted several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, heirloom eggplants, organic squash and zucchini, pole beans, heirloom watermelon and cantaloupe, heirloom bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and okra. The garden is doing very well. The hay bales seem to be doing great. I'll post a tutorial of growing in hay bales soon.

The Family Plot

Not too long ago my dad called me and my sister “tree-huggers” and “green weenies,” Oh wait that was two weeks ago when we bought our electric lawn mower. Mind you it was my dad that took my husband in his truck to get that “green weenie” mower. Last year when I started my quest to lose weight and eat unprocessed food my dad said “oh good then we won’t have to worry about you coming over for dinner anymore.” Then he unceremoniously switched to naturally raised chickens on the grill and lots of steamed and stewed veggies for Sunday dinner. When I told him my daughter was not allowed to have milk from his house or refined sugar snacks, he scoffed at me and then he started buying milk from a local dairy, peanuts as snacks, and organic cookies instead of oreos. You can see a pattern here right? This year when I told him we were committing to buy locally grown food from farmers in our area, well, he became one. Farming is in my family’s genes and we have all had gardens, this year my dad created a very impressive family plot, garden plot that is. See, we live only a couple blocks from each other as does my sister and my grandparents. My dad decided he would create a very sizable garden in his very sizable yard that could accommodate all of our needs. The deal is we all contribute to the planting and care of the garden and we all reap the rewards. I see lots of weeding in my future as well as lots of homegrown goodness. Way to go Green Weenie Dad! I will chronicle the growth of our family plot through the season; we are currently on week 3. The pictures are of the garden at week 1, prior to planting. The garden includes a large raised bed and a double row of hay bales.

Food, Inc.

If you have not seen the fantastic movie Food, Inc tonight is your chance to watch it for free. PBS will be airing this as part of the P.O.V. series. In my local area it will air tonight, Wednesday April 21st at 9 pm. Check your local listing for the time in your area. This is one you don't want to miss.

High on Tea

Drinking tea has many health benefits. Many studies have shown drinking tea can radically reduce cancer risks. Also polyphenols in tea help reduce risks from blood clotting thus reducing heart disease in tea drinkers. Aside from being full of antioxidants it can also calm you and help release tension. Plus, having tea with friends can be fun!

My sister, bonus mom, and I have a birthday tradition of going to have tea to celebrate each of our birthdays. For those of you who are not hot tea drinkers having high tea can still be a fun experience.

We have always driven to Charleston, SC in the past to go to Charleston Place’s Thoroughbred Room; it’s easily a day trip since it can be reached in a little over an hour. It is devine and the selection of local and organic tea is impressive. However, this trip we decided to try a tea room closer to home, Laura’s Tearoom in Ridgeway, SC. This tea room is located just outside of Columbia, SC on I-77 from Charlotte, NC. The dress up nook filled with hats and shawls makes this tea an especially fun girl’s trip. Notice all of us in our borrowed attire; we tried on several options before settling on them. Well, actually my sister didn’t want a hat at all so we had to select one for her; she probably then wished she had picked one herself.

We three all love hot teas and make it at home for ourselves regularly. For my sister’s baby shower last year we actually hosted a tea in my parents’ home as her shower, which shows our devotion to tea! We typically have high tea. High tea includes several courses of small fare including scones, tea sandwiches, and bite size desserts. At Laura’s Tea room everything is made fresh in house, nothing store bought. They select the tea for you, both hot and cold. Then they bring out a fresh scone with Devonshire cream. You also get a choice between quiche` or another small entree item. I opted for the cornbread salad, which was similar to a pimento cheese or chicken salad texture and included pinto beans, peppers, and cornbread. Next course is a tower of chocolate covered fruit and tea sandwiches. Finally, they bring out sherbet and two small but good cookies. The portions are very small but filling. We loved it and will put it in rotation with the Thoroughbred club in Charleston. I think this tea service would be a fantastic starter for those who want to try high tea but are intimated by all the selections at a more formal tea room. It got three thumbs up from us!

Clean with Steam and Microfiber!

I hate to mop, really hate to mop. Lugging around nasty brown water and then finding somewhere to dump it, yuck. Several years ago I tried a swiffer wet jet, it just left a trail of sticky chemicals behind it plus the disposable paper on the bottom never held up. Then two years ago I ran across a steam mop, Bissell to be exact. I am sure you all have seen the infomercials for various brands. Well, I still don’t like to mop but when I do mop I love my steam mop. No chemicals on my shiny floors and the microfiber cloths hold up pretty well. I have had to replace the microfiber cloths because the elastic cording that keeps them on the mop always fall apart so at 10 bucks each I had to look for another solution.
Well, I found it and not only was it cheaper but it works so much better! Last month I ran across a three pack of microfiber cloths at Ross, one side is plain microfiber while the other has a mesh fiber on it for scrubbing, Jackpot! How do I keep the cloths on? Well, it may be redneck but it works; rubber bands. Next time you’re at Ross or Marshall’s look for this handy pack of cloths, they are cleaning miracle around the house and only cost me….get this....$2.99 for a 3 pack. I also use them with my tub scrub cleaner to clean the bathrooms and with my granite cleaner on the counter tops. Ahhh, a chemical free and clean house. Happy Cleaning!

Neuton electric lawnmower

We are the proud new owners of a new Neuton CE-6 electric lawn mower. Last weekend our city hosted a lawnmower exchange. For any old gasoline mower brought in by the first 115 people a discount of up to $200 was given towards a new Neuton mower. We got up bright and early and arrived about two hours before the exchange began and we were 10th in line. By the time the exchange began the parking lot could not hold any more vehicles so getting there early was essential to actually getting a mower. My husband the consummate tech geek was enthralled with this new purchase and got to using it right away. While he was quite skeptical when I first mentioned the swap, he is very happy with the new mower. With a kid size grin he exclaimed that “I really like it!” It seemed to work perfectly and didn’t stutter once on our uneven overgrown lawn.

A Case for Bare Feet

I admit it; I am that crazy lady who asks guest to her home to take their shoes off before coming in. Most of us try to keep our homes free from germs and disease bacteria by cleaning, using air purifiers, and even resorting to germ killing aerosols like Lysol. Yet, we then track some of the most deadly contaminates right back in onto our floors via our shoes without a thought. Honestly, I never thought a great deal about the germs on my shoes until I had a baby. Babies’ worlds are right at floor level so they are directly exposed to germs on the floors they crawl on and then put those little hands into their mouths. Then the toddler stage begins and they eat off the floor and put the toys off the floor into their mouths.

So, what are the common things we track in on our shoes…is it really that bad? Well, Yes. According to one study the most common germs found: “Escherichia coli, known to cause intestinal and urinary tract infections, meningitis and diarrheal disease; Klebsiella pneumonia, a common source for wound and bloodstream infections as well as pneumonia; and Serratia ficaria, a rare cause of infections in the respiratory tract and wounds.” They also found that the bacteria transferred from the shoes onto flooring surfaces “90% to 99% of the time”.

Basically, if you wear your shoes inside there is at least a 90% chance that bacteria will transfer onto your floor, bacteria that can cause anything from upset to stomach to death.

So, you may want to think about becoming that crazy person in your family that asks visitors to take their shoes off before coming into your home too.

Homemade Deodorant Stick

About 7 years ago while in my twenties I had a breast cancer scare. It turned out to be nothing but for about a week I was really nervous. During that week I did a lot of research about breast cancer prevention and causes. Most scientists will tell you that antiperspirants are perfectly safe and you know that very well may be but then again it very well may not be. I stopped using antiperspirants at that time and started using deodorants without Aluminum, the primary suspect ingredient in antiperspirants that may increase our risk for breast cancer. The tissue under our arm is so close to the breast tissue it only makes since that the ingredients our body absorbs to prevent sweating would accumulate in the breast tissue. After searching homemade deodorant recipes I settled on one I found at littlehouseinthesuburbs.com mainly because it looked so easy, I didn’t want a powder recipe, and I had all the ingredients on hand.
So far the stuff works great and I am a hard customer, nothing has really worked great from me since Secret. I smell as cool as a York Peppermint Patty and my underarms are really soft too. As the summer warms up and I wear it to the gym, I’ll update on how it’s going.

Deodorant Stick:
¼ cup Aluminum free baking soda
¼ cup Cornstarch
10 to 20 drops essential oil (Tea Tree or Lavender are recommended; I used Peppermint and Eucalyptus because they make me happy)
2 tbsp. Coconut Oil (this stuff is solid at room temperature and melts with body heat)

Mix all the ingredients together into a smooth paste and stuff into an empty deodorant stick. I refrigerated mine for a few hours at first to help it get good and solid.
Make sure to apply on a light layer to your skin, that's all you need!

Update: After weeks, 95 degree days, and through a dozen long workouts I have yet to have any "smells". My husband has acted as my sniffer and confirms minty freshness. This stuff is great!