Seaweed bath

I have a mission for everyone reading this right now. Go to your local market, buy a pack of dried seaweed...it does not matter what kind. Boil the heck out of it and dump the whole thing, plants and all, into a bath. Soak in that bath for as long as you can, adding water to keep it piping hot. You will feel amazing. Not only is it an environmentally friendly way of cleaning yourself...it's cheap!

Strange things are afoot at the local Co-op.

One of the things I hate about shopping at big-box supermarkets is the lack of variety throughout the year. They might have a big selection of produce...but it never changes. At markets which sell locally grown food, you can really get a feel for not only the changing of the seasons, but also for what crops have been abundant from week to week. Lately, our local co-op has been getting some very interesting things in the store. So, we've been trying some new things...here is what has stood out:

Amaranth Greens
Okay...not really greens...more like...reds? Burgundies? You might know amaranth as the tiny nutritional powerhouse of a grain but the leaves of the plant are also edible. Not only edible but delicious! I did some research and apparently this is popular in Mediterranian cuisine. In Greece, the dish made with this is called "Vleeta" To prepare, I did a quick saute in olive oil and garlic and squeezed some lemon over it. It went very well alongside veggie loaf and potatoes! They taste like a combination of spinach and beets...if you can imagine that!

The next things we found (and LOVED!) from the co-op are Pink Pearl apples. They get their name from the fact that the flesh inside is bright pink!















I have to say, these are some of the BEST apples I have ever had! I think they tasted like a perfectly ripe Fuji apple if it had been dunked in cranberry juice. The only thing better than the apple, itself was the juice that came from it! And yes, that was pink too!
Cheers!

Happy Halloween!

Okay, it's a day late, but the sentiment is still there!

Fertilizer!

When it comes to fertilizing my plants, these guys are my best tools! That's Romulus and Remus, my adorable bunnies. Rabbit poop is the best fertilizer money CAN'T buy! It's also the only kind of poop that you can directly apply to plants without "burning" them. Plants are "burned" when something that is applied to them has too high of a concentration of mineral salts. So horse, cow and chicken poop have to sit and mature for about 6 months to a year before they can be useful to plants. You can just dump the poop right on the plants but the most effective way of getting the minerals to the plants is by making a poop tea. Gross sounding, right? The basic way of doing this is to take a bucket, put a few scoops of poop into it, add a little molasses (not sure why but it really works!), and let it sit overnight. The next day, just strain off the poop and water your plants with the remaining liquid. The plants absolutely love it, especially the tomatoes.

Fertilizing plants is a good thing once in a while, especially if you have weak soil. With a container garden, however, fertilizing becomes extremely important. This is because when you water the plants, the water drains out, taking the important nutrients with it. If you don't add the nutrients back into the soil, the soil becomes very weak. Luckily, there are lots of homemade fertilizers that you can make for free (or at least, very cheap). If you have rabbits or know someone else that does, that's an amazing source of plant nutrients. You can also make fertilizer tea with vegetable scraps or grass clippings! If you want to really go green, vermicomposting (worm composting) is a great way of reducing your amount of trash and creating amazing fertilizer. But, that's a post for another day :-)

Washing clothes by hand

My favorite way of being more eco-friendly is also that one that makes people look at me like I'm absolutely insane. I wash my clothes by hand. Now, I wouldn't do this if I actually owned a washer and dryer because they make really eco-friendly ones now...however, most apartment dwellers, like myself, seem to only have the option to go to a laundromat. Not only are washers in the laundromat usually old and waste a ton of water, but it's expensive to do laundry there! Not to mention the fact that you have to drive there to carry any useful amount of washing! I did it for years while living in Santa Cruz and it sucked. Well, no more! Laundry by hand saves water (about 6-7 gallons/per load vs. anywhere from 30-60 gallons using a regular washer), it saves gas, electicity (hanging clothes to dry vs. using a dryer), time, and MONEY!

Also, it's not that hard! Here's my way of doing it...

Step 1.) Boil some water...not a lot, just enough to dissolve the soap. Put about 1/4 cup of powdered soap (you can use liquid too...just make sure it's biodegradable as you will be pouring it into the ground) into the bucket along with 1/4 cup of baking soda, which will soften the water. Add the hot water and stir to dissolve.

Step 2.) Fill a container with water. I use a 12 gallon annodized steel bucket, which I don't fill all the way. I fill it with the hose. Add the soapy water and the clothes and let it soak for however long is convenient for you. By this I mean, if you don't have a lot of time, soak for about 10 minutes and then agitate it a lot. But, you can leave it to go grocery shopping or take a shower or do other things. The longer you let it soak, the cleaner the clothes will be. One of the things I really like about doing laundry this way is that you don't have to babysit it. Neighbors will not be angry at you if you don't take it out right away and you won't worry that your clothes could be stolen! All in all, I usually let it soak for about an hour...longer if I space out and forget about it!

Step 3.) After soaking, you have to agitate the clothes. In cavemen terms. this is equivalent to beating the clothes against a rock. I, for one, use a slightly more sophisticated tool...


Why, yes...that is a plunger! Don't worry, it's clean! And yes, I bought it only for this job and it has never been used for any other *ahem* jobs. You can't see it in the picture but it has a big label on it that say "LAUNDRY" There are other old-fashioned tools for the job that you can order online. (For example, Lehman's has a good one!) but they all looked like expensive plungers to me. But hey, it's your call! Anyways, plunge the clothes for a few minutes. You will be shocked at how dirty the water gets! It's okay...that's just the nasty stuff that is no longer in your shirt!

Step 4.) Rinse the clothes in a big container filled with water and about a cup of vinegar. The vinegar gets the soap out very well and also acts as softener...which is important for line-dried clothes. Swish an item of clothing one at a time in the water, then wring (either with a wringer or by hand) and hang it up!

That's it!
I find that the clothes get cleaner like this. You can reuse the water for about 3 loads before it gets too gross to use. A general rule of thumb is to wash the cleaner things first and the dirtier ones last. The general order for me is: Towels, clothes, socks, underwear and then cleaning rags. I usually do laundry about 1-2 times a week, more if I'm feeling ambitious.

Well, I hope this inspires some other apartment dweller to give it a shot!

Scary Storms and Container Gardens

Yesterday, we had a huge storm come through Sacramento! The rainy season has begun! Although, I hear from people who have lived here longer than 4 months that storms are somewhat rare around here. Coming from Santa Cruz, where they have many, many storms every year...well, I'm a little disappointed.

My plants appreciated the rain though! Although, the tall tomatoes really didn't fare well in the 50+ MPH winds. It wasn't too bad, two pots fell down, a few tomatoes were lost and one of the pots cracked open...





Although, the biggest loss for me was my lone bell pepper, which snapped off in the winds. I've had good luck with peppers this year: fresno, jalapeno, cayenne...but only one bell pepper actually went to fruit. Alas.


Here it is on my kitchen counter. I think it's big enough to eat anyways.


So, I repotted my tomato plant and added a few things to the garden. Namely, broccoli and sugar snap peas. Apparently, Sacramento gets so hot that it has two planting seasons...so the sugar snap peas are actually viable in winter!

I had to go buy some more potting soil and when I went to go pay, I asked the cashier if they had any tomato cages (because my tomatoes have recently exploded!) He looked at me like I was absolutely nuts. He asked what I was going to use them for.
".....tomatoes?"
"Yours haven't died yet?"
"Nope."
"Wow. We stop selling cages this time of year"

So, apparently, my tomatoes kick ass.


In lieu of cages, I had to get a bit creative....
I tied them to bamboo poles and, most recently, to the stairwell next to my porch. Luckily, the neighbors don't mind! In fact, I think that they really like my garden. I live in a drab, ugly 4-plex so the greenery really brightens up the place!


In conclusion, here is my favorite photo of the day...my fresno peppers that are just starting to ripen...