In an effort to reduce our waste even more, I've been on the hunt for things we weren't composting that we could. In my search, I found some surprising things. As a result, we've begun reducing our waste even further and creating more compost for our spring and summer gardens.
I knew, but hadn't really thought about the fact, that recycling takes a lot of energy. This means that anything we can remove from our recycling bin and reuse or dispose of in another way ends up saving energy. We already do the obvious, like using both sides of the paper and reducing the packaging that we purchase. But recently, we've started composting any paper that we can (newspaper, brown paper, brown cardboard, etc.). To make this decompose faster, we cut it up into small pieces. You can also compost paper towels, paper napkins, tissues, etc. You do want to be careful of papers with certain dyes that aren't organic (newspapers use soy-based inks).
We've begun composting used cotton balls and cotton swabs made with cardboard (not plastic). This cuts down on our bathroom trash some. You can also compost hair trimmings, so when I cut Benny's or little man's hair, I put it in the compost. We also compost the gunk we clean out from the drains when we clean them out, since this is mostly hair. You can also compost pet hair (thank goodness for those of us with dogs with long hair) and the dust, crumbs, etc. from emptying the vacuum cleaner bin. Dryer lint is also compostable.
I recently read that you can compost steel wool, which I use for cleaning in the kitchen. We'll try it with our most recent steel wool pad. It's supposed to add some more iron (duh) to your soil. We're also composting muffin wrappers (white or brown ones without dye are best). Composting natural fibers (wool, cotton, etc.) is also a possibility, so when we cut up a shirt for rags this week, we composted the scraps (cut into small pieces).
We're also beginning to scavenge for our compost bin some by collecting coffee grounds from the coffee bar at church and any organic food scraps from Sunday dinner with Mom. I also collect pencil shavings from school, which adds some nice "brown" to our compost. I'm considering talking with a local brewery to see if we can collect their spent grains, hops, etc. for composting.
If you're looking for ways to reduce your waste stream and have a compost bin, I found this resource really helpful.
I'd love to hear how you're living and saving green this week! Leave a note in the comments for me.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Going Paperless (or Reusable) as Much as Possible
We've made the effort to go paperless as much as possible in our household. Not only does this mean we're using fewer resources, and therefore being more environmentally friendly, but we're saving in our budget too. Here are a few places we've started:
1. Paper towel-less. We try really hard not to use paper towels to clean up messes, cover food in the microwave, etc. We use rags for messes, and have a microwave cover for the microwave (you could also use a plate you turned upside down too). I've been known to use brown grocery bags cut down to cook bacon in the microwave, or to drain meat instead of paper towels. (We then compost these; we've never had any trouble with the minimal amount of grease affecting our compost or drawing unwanted pests.)
2. Tissue-less. We use handkerchiefs instead of tissues in our house, and have for a long time. We use them for a few days at a time and then wash them in warm water with towels or sheets, so we don't have any bacteria issues to worry about. If we're sick, we sometimes do use tissues because they're easier on the nose, but we generally compost them too (as long as your compost gets hot enough for long enough, bacteria shouldn't be a problem).
3. No disposable dishes. There are a few times a year we break this policy (for parties mostly), but even then, we try to choose items that can be composted or washed and reused. We always use dishes that can go in the dishwasher, so clean up is a breeze for weeknight dinners.
4. No paper napkins. Cloth napkins have been the standard in our house since we got married. They're nicer for guests, and easy to wash with the weekly load of towels or sheets. We try to use patterns that hide stains, such as plaid or darker colors, so we don't have to use a lot of stain remover.
5. Cloth diapers, not disposable. For the first year of little man's life, we had him in cloth diapers exclusively. Now we use one disposable at night, because he sleeps through the night that way. We also use disposable for travel, but we plan to potty train next month over spring break, so hopefully we'll be done with diapers all together soon.
6. Cloth wipes (or "family cloth"). We use cloth wipes for our little one, and also use them some for ourselves to cut down on our toilet paper usage. This actually ends up being really good for those of us with sensitive skin, because it means that we're not exposing our skin to all the bleach and other chemicals that are used in commercial toilet paper. We just wash the wipes with the cloth diapers, so it's pretty easy. The wipes that we use are just cut from a few old t-shirts, so there's next to no work involved. For some people, this would be over the line, but for us, it works. We still have TP around for times when we need it and for guests.
7. Less packaging. Buying in bulk saves a ton of paper and plastic packaging. Buying used saves packaging all together (think Craigslist, thrift shops,etc.). What packaging we do get, we try to deal with responsibly (recycle, reuse cereal-type boxes for projects, composting unwaxed cardboard, etc.). By using whole foods (whole produce, baking from scratch,etc.) and cooking from scratch, we save a ton of packaging.
8. Reuse containers. We wash and reuse plastic ziplock bags that didn't contain meat. Saving produce bags and bread bags from our CSA subscription gives us enough bags to handle our homemade bread for a year, usually. Repurposing plastic containers (sour cream containers, large yogurt containers, etc.) gives us a ton of storage containers for small toy items, craft supplies, etc. We can also use these for starting seeds early for the garden. This is a huge help with our herbs and lettuces. You can also do some cute kids crafts with paper milk cartons. Some of these containers make fun bath toys too.
9. Use both sides. When cleaning, I use both sides of a rag. When we print something, we try to use both sides, or at least use the back for a to do list or something else. When I use cotton balls or pads to clean my face, remove makeup, etc., I use both sides.
10. Reduce magazine subscriptions and bill mailings. We're trying out an online subscription to a magazine this year and so far it's working out. By paying most of our bills online, we save on paper and on stamps. The company saves on resources too, which hopefully would trickle down to us. Our church recently went to online giving, so this has saved us paper in the form of checks each month too.
These things have become so much a part of our lives that we rarely consider that they might not be the cultural norm. It's only when we go to someone else's house and see something like *shock* paper towels or the lack of a compost container that we realize how much we have reduced the amount of disposable resources in our lives. (It also registers when we consider that we only have to take one kitchen trash bag out about every two weeks, and that's with someone who rents our upstairs space contributing.)
What have you done to reduce your resource consumption? Did I leave anything off my list? How are you living and saving green this week? I'd love to hear from you!
1. Paper towel-less. We try really hard not to use paper towels to clean up messes, cover food in the microwave, etc. We use rags for messes, and have a microwave cover for the microwave (you could also use a plate you turned upside down too). I've been known to use brown grocery bags cut down to cook bacon in the microwave, or to drain meat instead of paper towels. (We then compost these; we've never had any trouble with the minimal amount of grease affecting our compost or drawing unwanted pests.)
2. Tissue-less. We use handkerchiefs instead of tissues in our house, and have for a long time. We use them for a few days at a time and then wash them in warm water with towels or sheets, so we don't have any bacteria issues to worry about. If we're sick, we sometimes do use tissues because they're easier on the nose, but we generally compost them too (as long as your compost gets hot enough for long enough, bacteria shouldn't be a problem).
3. No disposable dishes. There are a few times a year we break this policy (for parties mostly), but even then, we try to choose items that can be composted or washed and reused. We always use dishes that can go in the dishwasher, so clean up is a breeze for weeknight dinners.
4. No paper napkins. Cloth napkins have been the standard in our house since we got married. They're nicer for guests, and easy to wash with the weekly load of towels or sheets. We try to use patterns that hide stains, such as plaid or darker colors, so we don't have to use a lot of stain remover.
5. Cloth diapers, not disposable. For the first year of little man's life, we had him in cloth diapers exclusively. Now we use one disposable at night, because he sleeps through the night that way. We also use disposable for travel, but we plan to potty train next month over spring break, so hopefully we'll be done with diapers all together soon.
6. Cloth wipes (or "family cloth"). We use cloth wipes for our little one, and also use them some for ourselves to cut down on our toilet paper usage. This actually ends up being really good for those of us with sensitive skin, because it means that we're not exposing our skin to all the bleach and other chemicals that are used in commercial toilet paper. We just wash the wipes with the cloth diapers, so it's pretty easy. The wipes that we use are just cut from a few old t-shirts, so there's next to no work involved. For some people, this would be over the line, but for us, it works. We still have TP around for times when we need it and for guests.
7. Less packaging. Buying in bulk saves a ton of paper and plastic packaging. Buying used saves packaging all together (think Craigslist, thrift shops,etc.). What packaging we do get, we try to deal with responsibly (recycle, reuse cereal-type boxes for projects, composting unwaxed cardboard, etc.). By using whole foods (whole produce, baking from scratch,etc.) and cooking from scratch, we save a ton of packaging.
8. Reuse containers. We wash and reuse plastic ziplock bags that didn't contain meat. Saving produce bags and bread bags from our CSA subscription gives us enough bags to handle our homemade bread for a year, usually. Repurposing plastic containers (sour cream containers, large yogurt containers, etc.) gives us a ton of storage containers for small toy items, craft supplies, etc. We can also use these for starting seeds early for the garden. This is a huge help with our herbs and lettuces. You can also do some cute kids crafts with paper milk cartons. Some of these containers make fun bath toys too.
9. Use both sides. When cleaning, I use both sides of a rag. When we print something, we try to use both sides, or at least use the back for a to do list or something else. When I use cotton balls or pads to clean my face, remove makeup, etc., I use both sides.
10. Reduce magazine subscriptions and bill mailings. We're trying out an online subscription to a magazine this year and so far it's working out. By paying most of our bills online, we save on paper and on stamps. The company saves on resources too, which hopefully would trickle down to us. Our church recently went to online giving, so this has saved us paper in the form of checks each month too.
These things have become so much a part of our lives that we rarely consider that they might not be the cultural norm. It's only when we go to someone else's house and see something like *shock* paper towels or the lack of a compost container that we realize how much we have reduced the amount of disposable resources in our lives. (It also registers when we consider that we only have to take one kitchen trash bag out about every two weeks, and that's with someone who rents our upstairs space contributing.)
What have you done to reduce your resource consumption? Did I leave anything off my list? How are you living and saving green this week? I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Weekend Warriors and Updates
This weekend was filled with lots of frugal projects... and we totally blew the no spend grocery month for February!
We discovered on Friday that our upstairs bath, which we rent out as a part of renting an upstairs bedroom, had some cracked caulk that needed to be replaced. So, we purchased a new tube of caulk for a few bucks and Benny worked to get the old caulk scraped out on Saturday afternoon. After we cleaned the tub, we let it dry and had dinner, and went back to caulk later that evening. Well, the brand new tube of caulk busted and oozed all over the place. So, we were in a holding pattern until we could return the tube and get a new one, which was Sunday. Ah well, it was a project checked off the list by 5:00 yesterday, and way cheaper and easier than having someone do the work for us. (Well, Benny did most of the work, I made sure little man didn't try to tackle him while he worked.)
The weather was unseasonably warm here this weekend, and beautiful, so it turned out to be a great time for Benny to give me my Valentine's present... raking the leaves out of the ditches and culvert at the bottom of the driveway, mulching them with the lawn mower and bag, and adding them to the compost. This took a few hours yesterday afternoon, but it's so nice to have them all cleaned up and it will really help to balance the compost out (which means it will break down more quickly). We had enough left over that we could fill out one new bed we started with leaves, which I'll pull back in the spring and add to the compost then.
We ended up blowing the no spend challenge because we found a great sale on bacon and cheese, which allowed us to restock the supply in the freezer. The cheese ended up being under my target price of $1.80 for 8 oz, and the bacon was rock bottom prices with coupons. We didn't spend over our normal grocery budget, though, so it's not a total loss.
Our basement apartment is also rented starting in August, and maybe as soon as May! We worked to get our lease updated and sent to the tenant, so as soon as it's signed, we'll have the security deposit, which will help things out too. That extra rental income will really help us achieve our goal of getting the home equity line paid off and adding to our emergency fund by the end of the year.
I'd love to hear how you're living and saving green! Leave a note in the comments!
We discovered on Friday that our upstairs bath, which we rent out as a part of renting an upstairs bedroom, had some cracked caulk that needed to be replaced. So, we purchased a new tube of caulk for a few bucks and Benny worked to get the old caulk scraped out on Saturday afternoon. After we cleaned the tub, we let it dry and had dinner, and went back to caulk later that evening. Well, the brand new tube of caulk busted and oozed all over the place. So, we were in a holding pattern until we could return the tube and get a new one, which was Sunday. Ah well, it was a project checked off the list by 5:00 yesterday, and way cheaper and easier than having someone do the work for us. (Well, Benny did most of the work, I made sure little man didn't try to tackle him while he worked.)
The weather was unseasonably warm here this weekend, and beautiful, so it turned out to be a great time for Benny to give me my Valentine's present... raking the leaves out of the ditches and culvert at the bottom of the driveway, mulching them with the lawn mower and bag, and adding them to the compost. This took a few hours yesterday afternoon, but it's so nice to have them all cleaned up and it will really help to balance the compost out (which means it will break down more quickly). We had enough left over that we could fill out one new bed we started with leaves, which I'll pull back in the spring and add to the compost then.
We ended up blowing the no spend challenge because we found a great sale on bacon and cheese, which allowed us to restock the supply in the freezer. The cheese ended up being under my target price of $1.80 for 8 oz, and the bacon was rock bottom prices with coupons. We didn't spend over our normal grocery budget, though, so it's not a total loss.
Our basement apartment is also rented starting in August, and maybe as soon as May! We worked to get our lease updated and sent to the tenant, so as soon as it's signed, we'll have the security deposit, which will help things out too. That extra rental income will really help us achieve our goal of getting the home equity line paid off and adding to our emergency fund by the end of the year.
I'd love to hear how you're living and saving green! Leave a note in the comments!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
No Spend February
We're challenging ourselves this month to eat from the pantry, fridge, and freezer as much as possible. We will buy a few fresh produce items, dairy (cheese, milk, etc.), but we'll also make use of our stock of frozen veggies and evaporated and powdered milk.
We issued this challenge because we knew we were facing some car maintenance and repairs this month, so spending less in the grocery budget freed up these funds for the car repairs. (The Jetta needed new tires and breaks and the check engine light just came on for the fuel sensor in the Subaru.)
This challenge was also a little easier to do this month, since February is a shorter month. Additionally, we knew that we'd have at least six meals covered, since we were doing two potlucks and four Sunday dinners with my mom.
So, here's most of the menu for the month. This, of course, is subject to change a bit as we're gifted food or come along freebies (like I saw free hard shell tacos at HT this week with a coupon).
Breakfasts: Panera bagels (free with gift card), cranberry muffins, lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, banana nut muffins, egg and cheese bagel sandwiches
Lunches: Leftovers, pasta salad with tuna, frozen peas, and basil, fruit, homemade yogurt
Dinners: potato soup with garlic toast, quiche and roasted veggies, tomato basil soup, sesame orange stir fry with veggies, jambalya, winter white lasagna with pesto and steamed veggies, pesto pizza with green peppers, mushrooms, and ham (in the freezer from Christmas), fried rice, sauteed cabbage with peppers, potatoes, and sausage, beans and rice with fixins, chili with corn bread, loaded baked potatoes with chili, cheese, and sour cream, meatball subs (meatballs purchased on sale with coupon for 80 cents a bag), lentil sloppy joes, tacos or burritos with cilantro lime rice (cilantro butter is in the freezer from this summer) squash (winter squash frozen from the fall), beans, and toppings (homemade peach salsa canned this summer, homemade yogurt, cheese, olives, etc.).
We've discovered that The Prudent Homemaker's tomato basil soup makes a great base for meatballs and lentil sloppy joes, so making a big batch in the crockpot yields us several meals. It's nice that the recipe has carrots, so it ups the nutritional content. Creatively using leftovers to make a new meal keeps things from getting old. We'll do this again with loaded baked potatoes with chili, since we'll have chili earlier that week.
To make the produce cost less this month, we'll purchase from the discounted produce rack. I have discovered that Saturday mornings early seem to be a good time to do grocery shopping, since no one's out yet at 7:30 and it's when the produce managers seem to clear out things. We were also able to glean several bags of broccoli and beets last week for the chickens and our compost from the produce department's waste bin, which was really nice. Some of it was still good enough for us to eat. It hurt my green-loving heart to leave the rest behind, but I didn't want to take advantage of such a gift either.
We issued this challenge because we knew we were facing some car maintenance and repairs this month, so spending less in the grocery budget freed up these funds for the car repairs. (The Jetta needed new tires and breaks and the check engine light just came on for the fuel sensor in the Subaru.)
This challenge was also a little easier to do this month, since February is a shorter month. Additionally, we knew that we'd have at least six meals covered, since we were doing two potlucks and four Sunday dinners with my mom.
So, here's most of the menu for the month. This, of course, is subject to change a bit as we're gifted food or come along freebies (like I saw free hard shell tacos at HT this week with a coupon).
Breakfasts: Panera bagels (free with gift card), cranberry muffins, lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, banana nut muffins, egg and cheese bagel sandwiches
Lunches: Leftovers, pasta salad with tuna, frozen peas, and basil, fruit, homemade yogurt
Dinners: potato soup with garlic toast, quiche and roasted veggies, tomato basil soup, sesame orange stir fry with veggies, jambalya, winter white lasagna with pesto and steamed veggies, pesto pizza with green peppers, mushrooms, and ham (in the freezer from Christmas), fried rice, sauteed cabbage with peppers, potatoes, and sausage, beans and rice with fixins, chili with corn bread, loaded baked potatoes with chili, cheese, and sour cream, meatball subs (meatballs purchased on sale with coupon for 80 cents a bag), lentil sloppy joes, tacos or burritos with cilantro lime rice (cilantro butter is in the freezer from this summer) squash (winter squash frozen from the fall), beans, and toppings (homemade peach salsa canned this summer, homemade yogurt, cheese, olives, etc.).
We've discovered that The Prudent Homemaker's tomato basil soup makes a great base for meatballs and lentil sloppy joes, so making a big batch in the crockpot yields us several meals. It's nice that the recipe has carrots, so it ups the nutritional content. Creatively using leftovers to make a new meal keeps things from getting old. We'll do this again with loaded baked potatoes with chili, since we'll have chili earlier that week.
To make the produce cost less this month, we'll purchase from the discounted produce rack. I have discovered that Saturday mornings early seem to be a good time to do grocery shopping, since no one's out yet at 7:30 and it's when the produce managers seem to clear out things. We were also able to glean several bags of broccoli and beets last week for the chickens and our compost from the produce department's waste bin, which was really nice. Some of it was still good enough for us to eat. It hurt my green-loving heart to leave the rest behind, but I didn't want to take advantage of such a gift either.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments
We cooked all meals at home. These included corn chowder, veggie stir fry, veggie fried rice, beans and rice, chili and cornbread, and homemade pesto pizza. We used a lot of frozen veggies from our CSA subscription, so they were still locally sourced, which is a nice green bonus.
We made a meal to take to a family with a new baby, helping out their finances a bit. This was chili and cornbread, and we included some homemade applesauce and muffins for breakfast. This is their fourth child, so the meal was a total blessing and I think they really enjoyed it.
The temperature outside was really cold (below zero with the wind chill), so we pulled out the down comforter rather than cranking up the heat. We also ran the gas logs a bit to take the chill off, which was cheaper than running the HVAC more.
I carpooled to work each day. My teammate will drive this week.
Because we had a snow day, I was able to stay home and allow Benny to get some extra hours in at the store. This was nice since he took some extra time off over the holidays, but time off for him now means time without pay.
Showers only happened every other day last week. This saved us on water, water heating, toiletries, and, most importantly, it saved a bit of time and our skin. Our skin really dries out in the winter, and our dermatologist recommends showering less frequently in the winter to preserve the skin's natural oils.
We combined errands and went out very little during the day. Our Walmart trip was funded with gift cards, so no money out of pocket was spent.
We took advantage of Harris Teeter's Super Doubles (good through 1/13), and saved a bundle on groceries. We are now well stocked on hot tea for the year, as well as potatoes and laundry detergent. We also got some great deals on birthday snacks for Wubby's birthday bash.
We placed our annual bulk spice order, including pumpkin seeds, flax, and dehydrated onions. We'll use these throughout the year. Since we did this order this month, we're trying to keep other grocery costs low so that this total can come out of the grocery budget.
Our citrus marmalade was finally made and canned, which freed up some freezer space and we were glad to have it made. We made some yummy muffins out of it from Muffins A to Z. Marmalade is awesome, because it uses the part of the fruit that most people generally throw away. This year's batch was pretty cheap because we used sugar we'd bought for practically free during holiday sales. We have enough peels in the freezer to make another batch, which I might do on a snow day. It always makes nice holiday gifts, and it's nice to do it well ahead of the holiday rush.
Our basement apartment is finally ready to list! We wrote up the ad yesterday and should have it posted today. Having this rented will be a welcome cushion back in our budget.
Closets began getting cleaned out again, in search for more things to list on eBay and Craigslist. The funds from these sales will help to pay for our CSA subscription this year.
We started tidying up our basement craft area and storage area in preparation for little man's birthday bash later this month. This meant that things got more organized, we cleaned up the chairs, and began a plan for painting the shelving and trim. This didn't really save us any money, but it did mean that we got the spaces better organized and found some things (supplies, tools, etc.) that we might have otherwise purchased had we not found them.
What about you? What did you do to live and save green last week? I'd love to hear from you!
We made a meal to take to a family with a new baby, helping out their finances a bit. This was chili and cornbread, and we included some homemade applesauce and muffins for breakfast. This is their fourth child, so the meal was a total blessing and I think they really enjoyed it.
The temperature outside was really cold (below zero with the wind chill), so we pulled out the down comforter rather than cranking up the heat. We also ran the gas logs a bit to take the chill off, which was cheaper than running the HVAC more.
I carpooled to work each day. My teammate will drive this week.
Because we had a snow day, I was able to stay home and allow Benny to get some extra hours in at the store. This was nice since he took some extra time off over the holidays, but time off for him now means time without pay.
Showers only happened every other day last week. This saved us on water, water heating, toiletries, and, most importantly, it saved a bit of time and our skin. Our skin really dries out in the winter, and our dermatologist recommends showering less frequently in the winter to preserve the skin's natural oils.
We combined errands and went out very little during the day. Our Walmart trip was funded with gift cards, so no money out of pocket was spent.
We took advantage of Harris Teeter's Super Doubles (good through 1/13), and saved a bundle on groceries. We are now well stocked on hot tea for the year, as well as potatoes and laundry detergent. We also got some great deals on birthday snacks for Wubby's birthday bash.
We placed our annual bulk spice order, including pumpkin seeds, flax, and dehydrated onions. We'll use these throughout the year. Since we did this order this month, we're trying to keep other grocery costs low so that this total can come out of the grocery budget.
Our citrus marmalade was finally made and canned, which freed up some freezer space and we were glad to have it made. We made some yummy muffins out of it from Muffins A to Z. Marmalade is awesome, because it uses the part of the fruit that most people generally throw away. This year's batch was pretty cheap because we used sugar we'd bought for practically free during holiday sales. We have enough peels in the freezer to make another batch, which I might do on a snow day. It always makes nice holiday gifts, and it's nice to do it well ahead of the holiday rush.
Our basement apartment is finally ready to list! We wrote up the ad yesterday and should have it posted today. Having this rented will be a welcome cushion back in our budget.
Closets began getting cleaned out again, in search for more things to list on eBay and Craigslist. The funds from these sales will help to pay for our CSA subscription this year.
We started tidying up our basement craft area and storage area in preparation for little man's birthday bash later this month. This meant that things got more organized, we cleaned up the chairs, and began a plan for painting the shelving and trim. This didn't really save us any money, but it did mean that we got the spaces better organized and found some things (supplies, tools, etc.) that we might have otherwise purchased had we not found them.
What about you? What did you do to live and save green last week? I'd love to hear from you!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Putting the Gardens to Bed for the Winter
We've never done it this late before, but the weather was perfect. (A few years, we've totally skipped this step and I've regretted it in the spring.) We put our garden beds to "sleep" for the winter on November 30 in the span of about two hours, with the little man in the pack on Daddy's back. So we got some family time outside to boot.
How'd we do it? We tried the lasagna gardening method, which was super easy to prep. We started by laying out our layers of newspaper in the gardens after cutting back the old plants (and weeds!). We collected these newspapers from friends and from our days of purchasing the Sunday paper and now we're using them in the garden, which means that we're totally saving green in both senses of the word.
The next layer was about a two inch layer of our compost. Our composter was bursting at the seems from our kitchen scraps, yard waste, and what came out of our gutters after cleaning them. It felt great to be able to almost empty the composter and put that black gold to good use! We still had a few whole egg shells and citrus peels in there, but hopefully after composting some more over the winter, it'll be good to go in the spring.
Then, we added a layer of straw. We'd purchased this straw bale about a year ago, and hadn't gotten around to using it as mulch between our raised beds as intended, so we used it here to heavily mulch these beds. We probably added a 3-4 inch layer of straw to each bed. If we have time, I'd like to add a layer of leaves to the top when we clean out the ditch and culvert below the driveway.
I'm hoping that by doing all of this in the fall that our beds will be ready to go in the spring. I'd love to plant one with raspberries, one with rhubarb, and one with asparagus. We did go ahead and plant the bed that had basil in it over the summer with garlic for the winter, so we'll see how that turns out in the spring. I'm hoping it had enough nutrients in it to support the garlic. I've never planted it before.
And, can I just say how good it feels to have that bale of straw out from in front of the house and some of those newspapers gone from the basement?! And they're being put to good use... even better!
So, what about you? How're you living and saving green in your gardens this winter? I'd love to hear from you!
How'd we do it? We tried the lasagna gardening method, which was super easy to prep. We started by laying out our layers of newspaper in the gardens after cutting back the old plants (and weeds!). We collected these newspapers from friends and from our days of purchasing the Sunday paper and now we're using them in the garden, which means that we're totally saving green in both senses of the word.
The next layer was about a two inch layer of our compost. Our composter was bursting at the seems from our kitchen scraps, yard waste, and what came out of our gutters after cleaning them. It felt great to be able to almost empty the composter and put that black gold to good use! We still had a few whole egg shells and citrus peels in there, but hopefully after composting some more over the winter, it'll be good to go in the spring.
Then, we added a layer of straw. We'd purchased this straw bale about a year ago, and hadn't gotten around to using it as mulch between our raised beds as intended, so we used it here to heavily mulch these beds. We probably added a 3-4 inch layer of straw to each bed. If we have time, I'd like to add a layer of leaves to the top when we clean out the ditch and culvert below the driveway.
I'm hoping that by doing all of this in the fall that our beds will be ready to go in the spring. I'd love to plant one with raspberries, one with rhubarb, and one with asparagus. We did go ahead and plant the bed that had basil in it over the summer with garlic for the winter, so we'll see how that turns out in the spring. I'm hoping it had enough nutrients in it to support the garlic. I've never planted it before.
And, can I just say how good it feels to have that bale of straw out from in front of the house and some of those newspapers gone from the basement?! And they're being put to good use... even better!
So, what about you? How're you living and saving green in your gardens this winter? I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, December 1, 2014
December Menu Plan
This month is all about making the most of what we have so we can spare a little cash for holiday baking. We'll be making the most of the pre-Thanksgiving sales by using potatoes, cranberries, winter squash, and turkey in lots of things.
Breakfasts
We'll be having lots of muffins this month: Cranberry oat muffins, espresso muffins, gingerbread spice muffins (all from Muffins A to Z, which I checked out for ages from the library before purchasing my own copy), The Prudent Homemaker's lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin (or winter squash) muffins, and my family's berry muffins. We'll also be having bagels from Panera (thanks to gift cards), egg sandwiches, and baked oatmeal (from Simply in Season).
Dinners
To use up the turkey, we'll have:
Breakfasts
We'll be having lots of muffins this month: Cranberry oat muffins, espresso muffins, gingerbread spice muffins (all from Muffins A to Z, which I checked out for ages from the library before purchasing my own copy), The Prudent Homemaker's lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin (or winter squash) muffins, and my family's berry muffins. We'll also be having bagels from Panera (thanks to gift cards), egg sandwiches, and baked oatmeal (from Simply in Season).
Dinners
To use up the turkey, we'll have:
- turkey soup (with barley, rice, or noodles) with homemade bread and herb butter
- turkey tacos with winter squash, refried beans, and homemade peach salsa
- barbecue turkey burritos or sandwiches with spinach salad
- confetti fried rice with turkey (a great way to use up those tiny bits)
*We'll also make several batches of homemade turkey stock using the three turkey carcasses we've got in the freezer now (we gleaned a few). Just put the carcass in the crockpot, fill with water, add an onion if you have it, and cook on low all day. Then strain it and pick the meat off to use in soup, casseroles, or fried rice.
To use up the winter squash/sweet potatoes, we'll have:
- tacos
- squash and black bean chili w/ cornbread
- lentil and sweet potato soup w/ pesto grilled cheese
- winter squash cream sauce with pasta and broccoli
- breakfast casserole with winter squash muffins
To use the cranberries, we'll have:
- whole wheat pancakes with cranberry apple crisp and bacon or eggs
- open faced meatball subs with cranberry/tomato sauce
To use up the potatoes, we'll have:
- slow cooker potato soup with bacon and cheese (using homemade turkey stock)
- loaded baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese
Other fillers include:
- jambalya with steamed veggies
- broccoli and cheese soup with garlic toast
- pesto pizza with veggies
- spicy thai noodle stir fry (my riff on this recipe)
- tuna casserole with peas or broccoli
Lunches
As usual, lunches will be leftovers. We'll be getting our order of fruit from the high school orchestra in a few days, so we'll have those grapefruit and tangelos to fill in lunches and breakfasts.
Holiday Goodies
The holiday goodies we'll be baking/making this year include:
- rosemary olive oil bread
- chocolate dipped peppermint jo-jo's (these are from Trader Joe's and they're fabulous on their own, but even better dipped in white chocolate)
- muddy buddies/puppy chow (people call it either, but it's the same peanut butter, chocolate-y goodness)
- muffins for the work crowd
- citrus marmalade
- candied grapefruit peal
- sand dabs --a family favorite, my uncle eats them by the triple batch, and Benny's not far behind! (some people call them wedding cookies, basically butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and pecans rolled into balls or crescent shapes)
We'll save some green by using what we have on hand, buying ingredients in bulk, and using the slow cooker like the work horse that it is. We'll also save some energy on our heating bill, since the oven will be running more, and we'll batch cook as much as possible.
How's your December shaping up? Are you keeping dinners easy to make time for holiday baking? I'd love to hear from you!
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