Archive for April, 2007

April 30th, 2007 - Third day of gardening

This would have been titled second day, but I actually gardened this morning, too! I decided to do just a wee bit since it’s supposed to rain this afternoon and tomorrow. So before work, I raked off some stuff from the back garden to clean it up and planted the rest of the onion sets. 100 is a lot of onions! Next year, I have to either leave room for two rows in the main garden or just put them all in the back. There was no point to the tiny row of 18!

Yesterday, I finished the compost hauling (ooh, it’s so lovely!) and covered over 75% of the garden, with some reserved for the rhubarb and apple trees. And I planted greens (most of the seed is 2-3 years old, so I hope they germinate. I planted more thickly than I normally would just in case), carrots (three kinds), watermelon, and walking stick cabbage. (I feel like I wrote this already. Did I list them Saturday night when I wrote?) I also thinned garlinc–I had a bunch of old (3+ years?) garlic seeds from Mom. I didn’t think they’d grow but they did! So I had to thin because they are way to close. I ate a few–VERY sharp taste at this point. I didn’t put paper mulch anywhere as it was quite windy. Had hoped for grass mulch, but the lawnmower wouldn’t start and Eric has to take it to the shop this morning. If there’s a break in the rain around dinner, I may hop out and mulch then–the rain will keep it down.

The rutabagas had already sprouted Saturday. Wow!

Michael wondered which neighbors had left: It was the one of the corner. The ones we’d had maybe 5 conversations with in 5.5 years. I’d never even met the wife; I only saw her two or three times (in 5.5 years!). The ones we talk with all the time with two dogs–they are still around!

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April 28th, 2007 - Hi, Orange!

I learned something today due to gardening. When I was a kid, I had freckles. Unlike most girls (or at least those in the books I like to read), I ADORED having freckles. I was disappointed as a grew older to find them fading away. In the summer, I’d always get a few more, but not that much. I’ve been wondering lately and found out for sure today: It’s not age, it’s the sun. As I got older, I wore sunscreen and hats more often, and stayed out of the sun more. But last summer, I started riding my bike to/from work, which doesn’t shade my face at all (and I never put on sunscreen just to ride home). And last summer was the first year of my garden, which means a LOT more time outside than I’ve spent since I was a teenager.

Today, I worked outside for a couple hours. My freckles are huge, prominent, and all over my face (including my eyelids!). I forgot about sunscreen and I very strangely can’t find ANY of my three bucket hats (nor my gardening sunglasses). They must have been put away together, but I’ve looked everywhere that makes sense–and a few that don’t–to no avail. I’m probably going to buy a new one Monday after work as I simply can’t live without it. I’ve been looking for them for about a month so they must be well hidden.

What did I do in the garden? I played with dirt! Compost to be more specific. Nice, lovely humus created over the last three years. (Well, actually, some is older than that, but hadn’t decayed much.) I’ve put a layer on top of the tomato and pepper beds, plus where the salad fixings (greens, onions, and carrots) will go and the walking stick cabbage. Some of the peas we planted last weekend had their top soil washed away in the rains so I put some there as well. Oh, and I also filled in a hole–I’d dug a bunch of dirt from an unused area last summer to hill potatoes. It should grow some very nice beans and zucchini this summer! I also put some in the cherry bushes last week (BTW, a rabbit chewed one in half, so I don’t know if it will survive. They all still look like sticks, despite nice rainy weather all week). I intend to reserve some for the rhubarb planting and I think I’ll still have enough to spread where ever I’m planting beans. I didn’t have enough for the whole garden, so I’m putting it on the most important items. Tomatoes and peppers, since these are both heavily used by all in the family (Eric loved the salsa I made last year and tomatoes quite simply rock no matter how you prepare them except tomato soup and ketchup in my opinion). Walking stick cabbage (WSC) because they are my fun item and I really hope they grow well. And the beans because I loved my dried beans from last summer and hope to have a great crop this year. I’m planting three or four varieties, covering all the fence I can!

I could have gone back out this evening for more work, but after dinner (Eric took us to Ardy & Ed’s), I was really quite sore. It’s supposed to be just as nice tomorrow so I intend to finish the compost work (one more half wheelbarrow load, maybe two) and plant all the April items that I didn’t think of last week–greens, carrots, WSC, and I forget what else. I wrote up the planting guide so that I wouldn’t have to spend two days at the end of May doing all the gardening, but I keep forgetting to pay attention to it! Maybe I should put them on the household calendar as a reminder?

Oh, yes, Maggie helped some today. She wasn’t very interested but did carry one bucket of compost to the garden. She might have done more, but then our new neighbor girl, Carmen, came over to play. This is the first time she’s come over, so I hovered near them to offer things to do in the yard (like throwing Frisbees with the dogs and blowing bubbles). We also got to meet her Dad, which was nice. They moved in last December or January–as we found out in about March. We hadn’t really noticed, as the old neighbors left a lot of their stuff behind! With winter, no one’s outdoors very much but Carmen, who’s 6 has been out playing a LOT now that the weather’s nice. Maggie and I met her a couple weeks ago after a walk, and she came over earlier in the week to ask in Maggie could play. So when I was gardening and she came over to chat and meet the dogs, I told her to come back when Maggie got up from her nap. We told her Dad, too, that she was always welcome to come and play when we were in the yard. (Eric also went over and introduced himself when she first came over. We don’t think it’s a good idea for a kid to play in our yard if the parents have never met!)

Anyway, I just wanted to share my delight in my freckles and my gardening. Another update tomorrow, I hope!

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April 25th, 2007 - Local versus organic

Like the argument over paper versus plastic, there’s a new over organic versus local. Which is more sustainable, evironmentally friendly, etc.

The problem for me is paper products. I have known for a while that P&G products such as Puffs and Charmin are not made from sustainable wood forests. This saddens me because I really like these products. Yes, I’ve tried others. No, haven’t found them as good. Well, except for Charmin; I can live with other brands, but Eric really likes it. Same for Bounty paper towels. I tried Seventh Generation tp (worked fine), tissues (thin and rough), and towels (didn’t absorb much at all, really lousy). So, at least with the tp, it seems like I should go ahead and buy 7th Gen. I should keep looking at other friendly tissues and towels.

Until I add into the equation that P&G produces Bounty, Charmin, and Puffs 45 miles away, employing 1030 people. Which makes these products really quite local. If I buy them at Target, maybe they’ve traveled a little farther for warehousing, but at stores like Menards or Pick n Save, which are regional businesses (as in headquartered within 45 miles also, I believe, and in the latter case having no stores outside a few hundred miles if even that far), they are unlikely to have come very far at all. (Except, I do mostly buy paper products at Target, and I have no idea what their warehouse practices are.)

in the interest of fairness, I should mention that other brands may also be produced here, as we have SCA and Kimberly-Clark factories even closer. I’m not sure which products are made around here. Maybe my next step is to check on their environmental-friendliness and find out which products are made here.

Keeping the paper factories going is actually of big concern to the local economy. But which is better: local or environmentally friendly wood?

You know, I have no idea where 7th Gen products are made. I think of them as a Vermont company, but of course the products aren’t all made in factories there. Maybe one of the paper companies up in the Valley actually makes them? How would one go about finding out?

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April 25th, 2007 - This is why I love my TiVO

Advertising Age - MediaWorks - ABC, the Most Cluttered of Them All

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April 24th, 2007 - 2200 miles

2200 miles is how much we’ve driven our SUV (gasp! yes, we have an SUV!) in the last 6 (SIX!) months. Over the weekend, I looked at the oil change reminder, seeing that we were still 800 miles under. Then I realized that we were “due” in January. That means it’s been six months since we changed our oil! (And, even though Honda says 3750, our dealer still writes it down for every 3000 on the reminder.)

Since we don’t drive to work, we’ve always been a bit lower than average. But our trips our East, happening nearly 2x/year since we married, that increased our yearly amount. We intend to go out no more than every two years here on out. ‘Course that might change, but at least so far that sounds like a good plan money-wise. Plus, our parents have generally come out to visit once year.

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April 23rd, 2007 - Garden alive!

Friday night, we planted the Nanking cherry bushes. These arrived nearly a month ago, but I missed planting them right away in the bit of nice weather. Thank goodness since it then snowed and froze for a while! They dried out a bit, even though I’d kept the shredded paper damp–not sure how they were dry while the stuff around them wasn’t. Eric dug the holes, with Maggie’s help. Then I filled them in with compost; Maggie was a bigger help with that.

Compost: woohoo! My compost pile from a couple years ago really has composted even without turning and such! I prefer to do less work, especially given the size, location, and shape of it. There’s LOVELY dirt in there!!!! Can’t wait to put it on the garden. Except the work involved, since it;s in the far back southeast corner of the lot while the garden is in the front northwest corner.

Saturday, I had a bad headache and only went out as described in the last post and didn’t do any gardening.

Sunday, I discovered a bunny (most likely) had chewed the middle cherry in half!!! I asked Eric if I should put fencing around them so he wouldn’t accidently run them over when mowing, but I guess that wasn’t what I needed to worry about. Got some wire and used that on two and put some old chicken wire around the third (the one that had been eaten).

Maggie and I cleaned up the garden a bit then planted peas, rutabagas, and onions (sets, bought that day, and bunching from seed). Maggie did a great job helping with the peas; she got them right in the row! The first few she actually got them evenly spaced as well, but it was just by accident. She didn’t do as well watering; last year, I bought a little watering can just for her. She loved it. But she tended to pour it down at her feet instead of the row. She always then liked to walk where she’d watered. The hardest thing for me this spring will be letting go of my neat, prefect, unwalked-on garden. It’s just not going to be that if I want her to help. And I really do WANT that instead.

I also planted my cannas. Put them in the back of the bulb garden. They survived the winter to a better extent than in the past. Past years, they’ve been pretty dry by the time I plant, but I found only a couple. So I had a lot more to plant than I expected. The area is quite thick–I hope they grow better, but am not sure as this isn’t as sunny an area as before.

Sunday was a beautiful day, around 80 degrees. Eric brewed beer for the first time, with help from Sean. Maggie and I worked in the garden and she ran around with the dogs a lot. Proof she was tired: In the morning after lunch outside, she happily went inside for her nap. All other times she’s had to come inside this spring, she’s been VERY upset.

I have to check my planting list; I suspect it’s time to plant a few more things. When I get back from my conference, I intend to plant the rest of the onion sets in the back garden, too. I only planned room for a half row–which was only 18 onions with 100 in the package! (I didn’t have time before I had to get Maggie up from her nap.) I wasn’t even sure about planting them this year, because the last time I did, they were really small. I figured that since onions are so cheap, even at the farmer’s market, why bother again? Then Mom mentioned them in our Sunday morning call, saying it was past time to plant them. My problem is that I planted them in late May in the past! So, here’s hoping for bigger onions this time around!

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April 21st, 2007 - Introducing Pi!

I kept meaning to put a photo up of our kitten, who you can barely call a kitten anymore since he’s as big as our nearly 5-year-old cat. Anyway, here’s Pythagorus, called Pi.

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April 21st, 2007 - Hit the jackpot!

Maggie and I went for a walk this morning because I’d seen a garage sale on my way home yesterday. It was a bust. We continued the walk and near the end, found another sale. This one was great! We found two wooden baskets, a pitcher with a spout, and something I didn’t include because it’s going to be a gift for my brother. The lady also gave Maggie the bird; she said she wanted to know who got it and then was thrilled when I said Maggie loves birds and calls it “music” when she hears them singing on our walks. It was an older couple selling their home, so I’m guessing they are going to a retirement community. [AARGH! Em already got to it and chewed off a foot. AARGH! Em has this thing for soft toys even though she ALWAYS gets in trouble for it.]

I love the wooden baskets–my parents had some large ones we used in the garden when I was a kid. I’ve wished for some of my own, but all I have are a few plastic buckets. These are pretty small, but they’ll be perfect for picking vegetables. Currently, I use some small sand buckets and sometimes I can’t fit all the veggies in them. These will work better–and aren’t plastic.

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April 20th, 2007 - Quiet lately…

because I’ve been so busy at work! Mainly, it’s because last week, I was out for half a day because Eric was sick then two days for the Board of Regents. This week, I was out another day for Eric then Monday and Tuesday I’m gone for a conference. It’s really unusual for me to be gone this much so I feel very backed up at work and a bit stressed. Here’s a tiny update:

* For Easter, I tried to dye eggs using homemade dyes. I had cranberries for red and oranges for yellow. I followed directions from Whole Foods that had you simmer them for 30 minutes. The water was a lovely color, but it didn’t dye the eggs! The cranberry dye gave a sickly dark olive coating to the egg (I left it in for about 30 minutes since the usual short dip did nothing at all). I scraped most of it off, then wondered what would happen if I let it dry. It stuck! But it was such an icky color. The carrot turned the egg a lighter sickly olive color and I gave up sooner. I colored the other 6 eggs with a crayon, which was actually quite fun! Next year, I’ll try the directions in my Annie Berthold book, which has you cook the dye for 4 hours. I also tried the dye for coloring homemade playdo. I did get faint colors and ended up using regular food dye instead. Then I used the cooked cranberries and carrots to make fruit bread!

* Last night, Maggie and I put together the firebowl and bench I bought at the end of the season last year. Maggie had to go to bed before we started the fire (she wasn’t happy about that–she didn’t know we were going to make a fire since she doesn’t know what one is, but it was the first time she’d played outside this year and going inside was NOT fun). Eric and I sat in the yard with the dogs for about 90 minutes enjoying our first fire. Now we need to buy some more firewood and I need to saw up the tree branches I saved last summer.

* Exercise without electricity: Oh, yes, I know the BEST way to do this is to exercise outside using just the natural environment. But I’m talking about using my university’s strength and conditioning center. Anyway, one day last week, I was the only person in there so I didn’t turn on the TV and I used the one machine that is self-powered! I was so excited to find that out. I wonder if we can buy one ourselves? (It’s an elliptical trainer, which Eric has wanted to have since using one for knee rehab a few years ago.) The Precor website doesn’t list it for home products, but that brand is VERY expensive ($2800+) so we’ll probably look for something more in the $1000-range.

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April 14th, 2007 - New shoes

Last Saturday, we bought new dress shoes for Maggie for the summer. She’s been wearing a pair of “ruby slippers” for the past few months. We bought them long before we had a kid and thought they were adorable. But they have a slight heel and make a LOT of noise on our hardwood floors. Plus, they are 1/2-size smaller than her tennies. So I figured it was time for a new pair–and Target had a sale.

When we got home, I discovered the pair wasn’t a pair–there was one 6 and one 6 1/2. So I tried to exchange them the next day, but Target was closed since it was Easter. Two days later, I had a better thought: Maggie doesn’t need dress shoes! The only place she wears them is on Sundays, and she doesn’t even go to services just the nursery. Yes, I like to have her wear a dress but who cares what shoes she’s wearing?

I returned the shoes instead of exchanging them. Maybe next fall when she starts attending the children’s service/class instead of the nursery, we’ll get dress shoes. Until then, we don’t care and we’ll save the money!

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April 4th, 2007 - What a disappointment!

Yesterday’s overnight forecast for an inch of snow. After listening to the wind howling all night, I was certain that I’d have a difficult walk to work.

What disappointment I felt when I let the dogs out and discovered a bare dusting had occurred/was occurring (snow was coming down just then). Yes, it was cold and the wind was howling. But no real snow. :(

I am, however, very thankful that I didn’t get around to planting my cherry bushes. I do not think they would have survived last night, not to mention the continued cold weather: Highs in the mid 30s through Friday at least.

In other garden news, Pi is following in Shmi’s footsteps and eating sprouting plants. The cabbages and tomatoes were too tall for the mini-”greenhouse” (plastic lid to retain moisture). He pulled two plants out–one of which I rescued and is doing fine–and ate the “leaves” off of a couple others, along with breaking the stems of a couple (he didn’t go for the ones on the outside edge but the ones farthest back). Unfortunately, we don’t have many sunny spots in the house that he can’t reach. In fact, I’ve only thought of one: our back entry. Which, do to the cold, isn’t a very good spot this week! But once the sun comes back out, it gets quite nice and warm back there and sunny if we remember to open the window shade (there’s also a door w/ a window so some guaranteed light). The problem is remembering to water them twice a day. Having them on the kitchen counter was a great reminder since I’d see them at breakfast and dinner.

I wonder what I’ll do next year–we expect to be gone for about 10 days for Michael and Ann Marie’s wedding (and related visits) right in the middle of indoor season, April. However, since we also have two dogs and two cats to be taken care of, we may look into a housesitter. I wonder what they cost? Maybe I can find a student here on campus who would be cheaper than a pro…but at the same time, we have to be careful since its not just our house but also our pets. For shorter time periods, we’ve had friends watch them all, but two weeks in April isn’t the greatest. (In the summer, we have hired a teenager, but not so keen on that during the school year.)

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April 3rd, 2007 - You Can Hear Me Now book review

Last week, I read another fascinating book related to microcredit, this time about cell phones, You Can Hear My Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World’s Poor to the Global Economy by Nicholas P. Sullivan. This book focused on Bangladesh’s GrameenPhone-from pre-conception through red tape through to successful implementation. There’s also quite a bit about similar initiatives in other countries. (The end got rather boring, and sounds like a good text for an econ or business course.) If you are interested in microcredit, you’ll enjoy (most of) this book! (If you aren’t, I’d recommend books about GrameenBank itself first.)

I don’t know whether it’s just my strong interest in microcredit or the author’s superb storytelling, but this story was captivating! I was rooting for the folks behind the initiative, couldn’t wait to see what would happen next, couldn’t believe the roadblocks they faced. Of course, because of the title, I knew they “won” in the end, but I still wondered what would happen to them along the way.

Having had a cell phone for just 18 months, I’m not very connected to cell phone culture, and I don’t ever expect to (at least not in the next decade). But reading about how they are and have changed the world elsewhere is making me think differently about them. See, in most 3rd world countries, and even in many 2nd world ones, land lines are few and far inbetween. Outside of major cities, they are non-existant. Usually, the telephone companies are government owned and have little interest in the expense of laying lines out to the rural poor. Cell phone companies, on the other hand, have a relatively easier job of connecting distant users. (Very relative; it’s still quite difficult.)

And getting one cell phone in a village can change it dramatically. In one village, 6 months after the phone arrived, bank deposits (an indication of income/savings) rose 80%! One of the specific things the phone allows is for sellers to call around for the best price–or any price at all–rather than to haul things to markey and wonder what the price will be or if there will even be a buyer. On a non-monetary side, they allow relatives to stay in touch and people to contact medical professionals. The guy who started the whole idea for GrameenPhone long remembers the day he walked 10 miles to find a doctor only to find the doctor gone collecting medicinal plants. Imagine if he had been able to call that morning and make an appointment.

The book really shows how connectivity can change the world.

See post on Kiva for more info on microcredit.

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April 3rd, 2007 - Thrift shopping Sunday

There’s one potential problem with thrift shopping: If you forget to look in advance, you might be out of luck when you need something specific.

Luckily, this didn’t end up being a problem but it could have! Apparently, last fall when I put away my summer clothes, I made a mental note to buy new pants over the winter. Unfortunately, I promptly forgot the note (I really should have written it down on paper). When the weather warmed up last week, I found only three pairs of pants in my closet. I was expecting 3 “around the house” and 3 work pairs. Instead, I found what appeared to be one of the former and 2 of the latter. I say appeared because while only one was marked for around the house, the other two weren’t wearable to work! (As I learned after wearing them. Luckily, the worn spots didn’t wear out during the day!)

Also lucky for me, the warm weather didn’t stick around and I was comfortable in my lighterweight cords the rest of the week. Sunday was the day for shopping. I intended to hit at least three stores, with my goal to find 2-3 pairs of chinos for $5 or less. $5 is what I can buy new pants at Lands’ End for, if I find what I need, which is more hit-or-miss than thrift stores. But they are new. First stop was the Goodwill near church. The prices, I think, are higher than the local one, but it was only two blocks out of the way instead of across town. To my delight, it was the only stop! For just under $30, I got three chinos, two green short sleeved shirts (I had only 3 for work which makes laundry more frequent than normal), and two dresses for Maggie. My average was a bit over $5, but it was worth it to have only one stop. This Goodwill, while it might be higher, is about 2x the size so has a much bigger selection of clothing, especially in green shirts. (My preferred color; if I could buy only green clothes, I would.)

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April 2nd, 2007 - HEL money, update 3

March’s totals:

Deal Barbie Pays: $80
Chase: $15 (one of those “cash this check” to try the credit protection service for a month, cancel before the time is up and it costs nothing)
Chase: $25 BP rewards
Friend: $32 (last winter, we mailed a package for a friend. She repaid us via Eric’s PayPal. Unfortunately, it has forgotten our bank account info, and won’t let us re-add it, even though we know that account used it before. It took me a month to think of another resolution: Eric could send the money to my PayPal, which is still working correctly with our other bank account. Then I forgot about it. We finally did this over the weekend. Since the original out-go was in Quicken last year (I included it just in case we weren’t paid back, always a good idea!), it’s an unexpected in-flow this month!).
Testing Feb: $29
Testing Mar: $28
MyPoints: $25 gift card for Walgreens

Total: $234
Running total: $522 (Wow! Almost to the $600 I’d for the entire year!)

Concurrently with bringing a bit extra in, we are also focusing on keeping our household and grocery spending in check.

Groceries: $2 (we resisted buying any groceries but Maggie’s milk in the last 4 days due to the dwindling amount)
Household: $60 (but we’re giving it to the Oshkosh Area Humane Society for food. They had to throw out 90% of their on-hand canned food due to the recall. We intended to give our leftover food budget but that couldn’t be done this month!)

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April 2nd, 2007 - Pruning

Thanks to unexpected nice weather Saturday afternoon (it was supposed to rain all day and we got very little), I pruned. This is a notable event because in the 6 springs we’ve lived in this house, we’ve pruned exactly once. Saturday.

I’m hoping that this improves the currant yields; I have a deal set up to trade someone at church my currants for their extra garden veggies. So I’m hoping for a lot this year! Last year, I picked none. I don’t know if it was the June draught or the unpruned bushes or a combo. Currants grow on year-old branches, and the pruning guidelines are to remove 3-4 year old ones. I could have cut out a lot more than I did, but I recall other pruning advice which says to take no more than 1/3rd of a bush/tree out at a time. So I tried to hold back. The first one was more lightly pruned than the others so we’ll see if it makes a difference. I also removed some undesired trees that were growing in the bushes (had I done this every year, we wouldn’t have had the 10 footers we removed last fall) and a woody vine.

I attacked the lilac bush/tree as well. It was nearing 3 when I had to go get Maggie up, so I didn’t do as much as I’d hoped on that. But a good start. There are two completely dead branches that Eric will help me remove later in the week. One other bush I wanted to prune needed a saw (which we have) so I may attack that next weekend as well.

My planting guide says I should have planted peas, spinach, and rutabagas Saturday. But I just couldn’t imagine plantin in March! Maybe next weekend?

My Nanking cherry bushes (PDF) arrived Saturday. Hope to plant them this week if there’s nice weather after work. Lots of rain expected this week however. They are much smaller than I expected. I thought I was getting actual 12-18″ bushes, but I got three long twigs will all the leaves removed. But they were cheap, only $10 for all three so I guess I get what I paid for…. Hope they still grow well!

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My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for April, 2007

April 30th, 2007 - Third day of gardening

April 28th, 2007 - Hi, Orange!

April 25th, 2007 - Local versus organic

April 25th, 2007 - This is why I love my TiVO

April 24th, 2007 - 2200 miles

April 23rd, 2007 - Garden alive!

April 21st, 2007 - Introducing Pi!

April 21st, 2007 - Hit the jackpot!

April 20th, 2007 - Quiet lately…

April 14th, 2007 - New shoes

April 4th, 2007 - What a disappointment!

April 3rd, 2007 - You Can Hear Me Now book review

April 3rd, 2007 - Thrift shopping Sunday

April 2nd, 2007 - HEL money, update 3

April 2nd, 2007 - Pruning

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