Buy local

Buy local as much as possible. Join a food co-op such as Arroyo Food Co-op https://arroyofoodcoop.com/ or get a local organic farm subscription such as Muir Ranch http://www.muirranch.org/.  By doing this we support our local farmers and growers, reduce our carbon  footprint by reducing the fuel needed to transport our food, and get local delicious food while building a community.  With the Muir Ranch subscription we pick up our fruits and veggies once a week at the local high school, which is where they have their "farm".  In the photo above we have greens from our garden mixed with greens from Muir Ranch along with persimmons from Muir Ranch in the salad and butternut squash from Muir Ranch.  The brown rice and black beans I buy in bulk.

We never know what we are going to get from our subscription which is fine with me as I love to be creative with my cooking and try new things. When you buy local you end up eating seasonally which is cool because you're eating squash in the fall, melons and lots of tomatoes in the summer, broccoli in the winter, etc. I love that Muir Ranch is staffed by the students from the high school. They help plant the vegetables, water, harvest, sell and provide customer service. 

Worm work is dog's favorite entertainment

I have been composting since I was a freshman in college. My mom had a big beautiful garden when I was growing up and would show me the wiggly worms in the soil and explain how good they were for the garden. So when I moved into my own place I created a place for those wiggly worms and used the finished product for the plants in my yard.  Each time I moved I started a new compost, often bringing some of the old compost to get the new one started. When our kids were little we got them involved by having them empty the green compost bucket we keep under the sink for fruit and vegetable scraps. They actually enjoyed showing their friends the compost, worms and all. Then we got our dog Cookie who discovered that there are bigger critters that visit the compost at night and she is completely fascinated! She asks to go outside and then will stand on a stump looking up at the top of the compost for an hour sometimes. She doesn't try to catch the critters, she just stares at them if they happen to scuttle by.  The bin I have is a tall black bin with a lid but somehow the critters chewed a hole in the side so that they can get in. At first I was completely grossed out but now I think they're kind of cute. However, I am a bit worried about possible cooties from them. Anyone have any info on this? By the time the compost is finished at the bottom, are the cooties eliminated?

If you want to start a compost pile, it is super easy. Just find a sunny spot in your yard as the sun helps break down the kitchen scraps and yard waste. You can just pile everything up, or you can purchase a compost bin, or you can make one yourself from stakes and chicken wire. The purchased ones are the easiest as they generally have a door at the bottom where you can pull out the finished material that is ready to put on and around your plants in your garden. Once you've got your spot, add any sort of vegetable or fruit scraps. Egg shells and orange peels take a long time to break down, but we put them i anyways. You can also add non-glossy paper and egg cartons, or any other paper material. I even put in my shredded confidential financial papers for the worms to figure out!  Then you need to add yard waste such as grass cuttings, yard clippings and leaves. If your pile is too wet from mostly veggies and fruits then add more dry leaves, etc. If your pile is too dry from not enough wet additions, add some water. The pile should be moist but not soggy. If you get it right, it won't smell bad, but it will smell earthy. If it smells like rotting fruit and veggies then you need to add more leaves on top. Some people turn their piles and some people compress them down. I generally just pile everything on and leave it alone.  If you're just starting a new pile, you can purchase worms from a local nursery or online. Although, if it is on top of soil, worms will generally find your pile. We bought our compost bucket that we keep under the kitchen sink from Gaiam, but they have them all over the place now, including Sur la Table and Crate and Barrel. They all have charcoal filters at the top that let air in but don't let smells out.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions - I can talk about compost all day long.