Reduce, reuse and recycle

My friend turned me on to ThredUp, an online store to buy clothes you want and sell what you don't. What a perfect way to recycle! In their package insert they explain, "We know shopping secondhand helps the world in some small way, and we're proud to be a part of that. We know being a conscious consumer matters. It matters to us, it matters to you, it matters in the whole big picture of the world."  Cool!
#reducereuserecycle
+thredUP

Rats! Time for a new compost system

Well, I don't know for sure it was rats, but I'm thinking that's who was burrowing into my compost pile at night, eating all the organic bits of fruits and veggies trimmed from my bell peppers, cantaloupes, and watermelon. Cookie, our dog, had gotten a little too excited about these supposed rats and was digging in the compost and/or barking at them in the middle of the night.

So my dear husband went to Costco and bought a double barrel compost bin that unfortunately is made with so much plastic that I'm not sure if we're in the 'sustainable zone' here but nonetheless, may help us to compost more, and peacefully at that.

I took all of the compost from my pile and sifted it with this old yellow milk crate giving me quite a lot of fresh compost for my fall vegetable seedlings, and deposited the larger uncomposted pieces into the barrel on the right. Once that's full, we will use the compost and start using the one on the left.

Don't feed the landfills

Subaru had been a zero landfill plant since 2004. Check it out! @subaru.com

and check out #dontfeedthelandfills
What can I do every day to reduce the trash going to the landfill? Can I use less disposables? Can I recycle more? Can I compost? Can I reuse or pass stuff on to someone else who wants to reuse?

(Not) for the Birds

Winter crop: kale, spinach, Swiss chard

Another garden mystery solved for me! I have tried and tried over the years to grow vegetables from seed, with little success. I have carefully planned out spacing, depth and design, planning for taller plants in the back, and shorter plants in the front. I have carefully prepared the soil with organic fertilizers, my own compost and worm tea, figured out companion plantings, etc. I have carefully watered to keep the seeds moist and at the same time not blast them with any streams of water.

I could not figure out where I was failing, but finally, I found the culprit - birds!! These cute little birds were visiting my pots and garden beds with fresh warm soil ripe for scratching, dirt baths and maybe even finding a worm or two. Great for them, but not for me. I recently purchased this black netting and draped it over my pots and voila! I have a bounty of winter vegetables springing up!

I love these organic seeds from Botanical Interests, and now I know I can get them to grow!

+Botanical Interests, Inc

@ebstoneorganics

#birdnetting #organicgardening #organicseeds #wintervegetables

Trail Etiquette

Had a lovely hike on a clear blustery, chilly (for California) Christmas and was thinking about writing on trail etiquette, but LNT does a great summary. Bikers yield to everyone, hikers yield to horses, and downhill yields to uphill, but there are some considerate exceptions in this article. Leave No Trace Trail Etiquette 101 And I would add that around here there are a lot of mountain bikers that have a ton of fun on the trails and I love it when they hang bells on their bikes so others can hear them coming! And of course it never hurts to be considerate and not expect that everyone will know the rules.
#trailetiquette
#mountainbiking
#hiking
#horsebackriding
#lnt
@leavenotrace

EZ-PZ Compost Bin

Check out this EZ-PZ turning compost bin made by a high school student! You can purchase one for $150. It's currently on display at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles as part of an exhibit on going green. https://swagcompost.wordpress.com/

Fresh cabbage and cucumber salad

So I'm getting the tail-end of the cabbage (winter vegetable?) from Muir Ranch organic garden CSA and the beginning of the cucumbers (definitely summer vegetable/fruit?). So I dug through my fridge tonight and came up with a fabulous recipe, if I do say so myself.

1 head of green cabbage, sliced and diced into dime sized pieces
2 cucumbers, peeled, sliced and diced
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's, including the juice
5ish jalapeno-stuffed olives from Trader Joe's, diced (add more to taste)
Rice vinegar to taste
Sesame oil to taste
Salt to taste
Divine!

+Trader Joe's
@MuirRanch.org
#eatlocal
#eatseasonal
#organic
#eatwhateveryoufindinthefridge