Glass Honey Dispenser

We consume a lot of honey in our house.  I'm not convinced that local honey will cure my allergy symptoms but I am convinced that it's yummy, which is why I put so much of it in my tea.  We buy it in bulk but pouring a little bit into my tea from a 6 pound jar is awkward to say the least so I keep refilling my old plastic bottle.  He's a cute little bear but he's plastic, which makes it easy to squeeze and keeps everything clean, but it's still plastic.  I'd rather not store my food in plastic.  Plus, the flip-top lid broke last month.

I didn't want a mess so those super cute pots with the equally cute dippers were out of the question.  (Yes, I know there is a technique but I didn't want to explain it every time someone needed some honey!)

So I was stumped.  I started asking friends but, like me, they were also still relying on their old friend, the plastic honey bear, too.

Then I found this:

Hello, sleek glass dispenser.  Good-bye, plastic bear.

 

It is actually marketed as a maple syrup dispenser but so far it's working well as a honey server too.  It quick, easy, and clean!  (No explanation required.)  Plus, since I like simple lines, I think it's even cuter than that old honey bear.

Do you have any other ways I can replace some of that lingering plastic in my life?

Peace,

Stacey

E-Recycling (cell phones)

"Old Red" has finally retired.  See her there lost in the bottom of that box of recycling?

Much to my chagrin, I finally had to admit that my cell phone needed to go.  It didn't hold a charge.  The button to lock it would only work some of the time.  The buttons to adjust the ringer volume had given up on me.  (This might not sound like much but those are pretty important for a yoga teacher.  Imagine if your teacher's phone rang during savasana?!?)  Oh, but sometimes the ringer didn't work at all.  The real kicker happened when Mr. Green Stuff called but I couldn't answer it when it rang.  Seriously.  The "connect" button could not connect.  Some how I was able to call him back and here's what happened.
Me:  Hi.  I'm sorry.  My phone wouldn't answer.
MGS: Stacey, (pregnant pause) it's time.
Me:  (sounding defeated) I know.

The next day, I was handed a new smartphone at lunch.  

And now my (not so) faithful old phone is sitting at the bottom of that recycling bin.  Not surprisingly, it's pretty easy to find a place to recycle electronics like cell phones, MP3 players, and old laptops.  The hardest place for me was remembering to drop mine off somewhere.  This one is used to raise money for a local school but there are some many different causes like preventing domestic violence in cities big and small,  animal conservation and protection around the world, to purchase calling cards for U.S. military personnel, and even as a fundraiser for disease prevention organizations.  Plus, most wireless providers make it convenient to recycle (and maybe even refurbish) your old phone right when you buy your new one. 

Wonder how it happens?

So, I'm disappointed that I needed a new phone but at least I know I wore out my old one first.  Where did you take your last cell phone to be recycled?
Peace,
Stacey

A New Raised Garden

I just finished reading an interesting book (The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year) about a family growing 75% of their food.  It was a very interesting book that I actually had no intention of reading.  I can explain.  Mr. Green Stuff sent me to the library (without a list, mind you!) and asked me to bringing home a book about gardening so he could plot out our summer garden.  There were so many that I came home with four.  I thought this one sounded perfect (good thing I brought home three others!) but he dismissed it before he even read the first page.  There weren't enough pictures.  Plus, he wanted a book that explained the planting/growing process in scientific, biological terms.  Personally, I thought one woman's struggle sounded interesting so I read the first couple pages... then I was hooked.  Anyway!  I read this book and then this appeared in our back yard:

Wow!  I know!  Perfect, right?  Well, maybe a perfect coincidence is more accurate!  Mr. Green Stuff has had it planned all winter.  He's actually built a raised bed three out of the past four years... usually on the weekend closest to Earth Day.  It just happened to be a warm enough day over the weekend and he couldn't wait any longer.  He even used some of our left over barn wood flooring as the braces on the outside.

After it was built I "lined" the bottom with our worn-out cloth napkins and dish towels, some used  "disposable" bamboo plates, and the paper bag I'd stored them all in.  They'll eventually breakdown and hopefully keep out some pesky weeds in the meantime.  Then we emptied our compost bin on top of them.

A quick note on "compostable" utensils.  The ones you can see in the picture above have been "composting" for a couple years.  They're clearly not breaking down and are no where close to becoming compost!  Last year, I read that it actually means that it's compostable in an industrial compost facility not my cute little back yard composter.  (Now I know why we had to keep tossing them back in the bin when we'd use some of the finished compost.)  Here's a interesting video about it:

But back to the happy, exciting, feel-good stuff!  

Woo hoo!  We have another garden!  Do you plan to grow any food this year?  Do you feel like you can hardly wait too?

Peace,

Stacey

Maple Syrup: a local discovery

Did you know that maple syrup can come from any maple tree - even the ones outside of Vermont and Canada?!?  Well, apparently the answer is yes, it can.

I recently discovered a local farm that makes maple syrup and since we've been on a pancake kick lately, I planned a little field trip. (I should really learn my husband's whole-grain pancake recipe and share it.  It's that good!)

Here's what I learned.

Any maple tree can make maple syrup.  Even the one in our front yard (!) but it takes a lot of sap to make syrup.  From a hard maple tree it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  It takes 60 gallons from a soft maple... so much for the one in my front yard.

It takes many hours and even up to days (Little House on the Prairie style) to reduce it down that far.  The farm where we went recently got a new "oven," which reduced their boiling time to only about 5 hours.

Maple syrup tastes different depending on where and how the tree is grown.  It's kind of like wine.  I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur of maple syrup (or of anything really!) but this stuff was delicious.  It tastes a little like caramel.  Yum!

And, yes, it's already half gone!

Oh, and it's cooooold when the sap flows!!  Temperatures need to be freezing over night and just above freezing during the day.  Once that fluctuation in temperatures changes so does the sap and the "season" is over.
 
What local treasures are waiting for you just outside your back door?  

Peace,

Stacey

Sprouts!

It's still cold here in the Midwest but we're already dreaming about Spring at our house!  

Every year we plant a garden in our tiny yard but this year we've decided to try something new.  We're attempting to grow our plants from seeds.  Yep, seeds.  All of our plants!  From seeds.  Not just the peas and marigolds like other years but the broccoli, peppers, and tomatoes too.

Who knows if we'll succeed but we're excited right now.

The plan was to use empty toilet paper rolls to grow the seedlings but even after saving them for months, we didn't have many.  I ended up buying one of those peat cell trays and some organic seed starting mix to (hopefully) give our heirloom seeds a boost.

Someone thought it would be exciting to try to grow a monster-sized fruit this summer.  Off we grow!

Have you ever grown your garden from seed?  Feel free to pass along any tips you might have. (Please.)

Peace,

Stacey

Homemade, Repurposed Gift Wrap (FREE!!!)

We've been invited to a lot of birthday parties lately.  (I know! We're very lucky!)  Parties are a great time to have loads of fun, enjoy a tasty treat, and let someone know you care about him/her.  How fun is that?!

I'm definitely not one who thinks a gift is necessary to let someone know he/she is important but it's usually appreciated (especially by the under 10 crowd) so here's how we wrap those gifts.

And, yes, it's usually a book and a donation.

Yep, it's just some good ol' artwork.  What can I say; I like to paint. ;)  It's very gratifying to know you created part of the package too.  If you have kids, this might help free up some of that valuable real estate on the front of your fridge.  Really, it's a win-win.  Repurposed wrapping (FREE!) that gets some clutter (beautiful as it is) out of your house, while boosting the artists self-esteem all at the same time.

What?!  You don't have stacks of artwork just piling up on the front of your refrigerator?!?  My sister likes to use the comics section from her daily newspaper.  Older kids love this because they can read it too!  I've used maps from vacations.  These are fun because they're usually brightly colored and seem to multiply otherwise.

There's also the option of using reusable bags (if the recipient needs/wants them!) or even using part of the gift itself like dishtowels (think: weddings or housewarmings) or blankets (babies) as the wrapping. 

Personally, I usually stick to the artwork, newspaper, or maps because I think it looks pretty and it gets it out of my house. ;)

Yep, same theme but different book.

With all this being said, please, don't give me a gift.  I'd rather share a meal or an adventure.

I know you have some great ideas out there.  Please, share.

Peace,

Stacey

Use What You Have

Quick!  Name something that's really easy to do and green at the same time.  Oh, that's a good one!  You should put that in the comments.  

I was thinking about using something that we already have rather than buying something new - no matter how environmentally-friendly the new thing is.  It's still better to use what you have until it fails to meet your needs.  (And as my dad used to always ask me, "do you need it or just want it?"  My dad should be proud every time he looks at the sink in our new kitchen!)

Mr. Green Stuff and I really wanted to replace our old sink with a different one.  Our original plan was to reclaim an old farm house sink (with the drainboard and all!) but then we remembered how scratched and disgusting the porcelain sink was that came with our house.  After that was scratched off the list, we talked about a trendy under-mount sink.  We weren't looking for trendy and we were concerned with the bowling alley counters being exposed to that much water so that was nixed.  Then we looked at new square stainless steel sinks.  They were all really great looking but then realized they weren't that much different than the one we put in our kitchen when we bought our house.

So here's what we put in:

Our old sink.  Isn't it lovely?  It may not be the oldest, the coolest, the trendiest, or the fanciest sink around but it makes me happy that we kept it.  And that makes it fancy-cool to me! 
 
What have you been able to reuse lately? 

Peace,

Stacey