Counting down One Small Change

The ONE SMALL CHANGE Challenge is coming to a close March I chose not to buy any soda or sparkling water. I can happily report 100% success. Of course it helped that for my birthday I got a soda stream. 22 days in April until earthday. I was going to do something grandiose for the last month, like Re-Use something from the trash everyday for something useful. But then I started to think "That's not the purpose of this challenge! One SMALL Change. So for this month, I think I will do something practical. Again No More disposables. But this time, When buying take out, I will not buy anything that isn't compostable. True, I do pretty well at this already, but there is room for improvement. Always. So my new one small change for the month of April is it's OK to buy take out, only if it comes in a compostable (paper/cardboard, not waxed) container OR I bring my own container.

B*TCHIN BENCH DUDE!

Back outside for some more garden furniture this week: My Gnarly, Bitchin' Garden Bench!
SENOR FROG is playing a salute to the bench on his fiddle!
I am often inspired by my Uncle who makes benches out of water skis and snowboards. I had this old Skateboard deck laying around, so I decided to honor family tradition and make a bench out of it. I buried two pieces of fencing pole in the ground, set with cement, attached wood adapters to them to hold the deck, and bolted on the deck. My neighbors 7 year old boy said it is Bitchin' dude!

This blog post is linked to: trash to treasure Tuesdays at "Reinvented blog";
Diy Day at Soft Place to Land

and 2nd Time around on "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words blog"

Mouse in the House- Sammy's first Kill of the year- Weekly Challenge Update

Sammy say In Your Face Mouse!

Well nice week this week... got into an email argument with my right wing cousin... sending me some Glenn Beck inspired propaganda about our president. And Sammy killed his first mouse of the year. Way to go, Sammy! Maybe I should wrap it up and send to my cousin! The UNION way!!!
On the home front, Got some more seeds started in the greenhouse. Trying to decide what to plant for Arbor Day.
On to the Challenges:|
Sharon's Independence Days Challenge Year 3, week 12
1. Plant something: Started some Chamomile starts so I can make tea. Don’t know how it will work out. Keeping my fingers crossed. Planted more seed starts more tomatoes, squash, artichokes. Planted some mesclun in one of my lettuce boxes

2. Harvest something: Foraged some Dandelion for greens and flowers.

3. Preserve something: NADA
4. Reduce Waste (recycle, reuse, reduce, repair or compost something): Used an old skate board deck to make a bench, composted some cooked veggies from St. Pat’s day;

5. Preparation and Storage: Ordered some more seeds;

6. Build Community Food Systems: Nada

7. Eat the Food (cook or eat something new): Mac and Cheese Pie (Something New); Dandelion Greens and flowers in a salad

Freeze Your Buns off challenge-Not freezing so much. Spring appeards to be here now.

One Small Change- Still no pop or water bottles thanks to the Soda Stream

Garden Challenge (Extreme Evangelist Edition)-Still trying to figure out this years garden. And I am on Information Overload. Yesterdays post finds a lot of different methods. Brain having a meltdown

More Vertical Garden Methods

Thanks to Beth at Fake Plastic Fish Blog- she pointed me to Sustainablog's 24 hour

blogathon, which has a vertical garden post as part of the festivities. Which of course led me down paths of experimental gardens and to this site on constructing a self watering vertical garden on the cheap

Picture: LowTech Magazine

And to this great raised bed garden system I am liking a lot! What a great way to get a big garden with little real estate.
Photo: Urban Garden

Looks like more work for Rob. But I am glad you all send me to great sites to find this stuff!

At least I am not going to try a pant leg garden!

Terracycle makes great products

How about some speakers made from chip bags for your MP3 Player or lap top???
I am loving this messenger bag may out of capri sun drink pouches!
About a year and a half ago, I posted about terracycle. I love the whole concept of Terracycle. I wish they where on the stock exchange!
TerraCycle is offering a whole slew of great products made from Chip Bags, pop bottles, juice pouches. They take upcycling of Plain old consumer waste and make new products out of it. They have all the products featured on their website, terracycle.net. The President/CEO/Founder of Terracycle, Tom Szaky, Founded the company that does everything they can to totally use every part of the garbage they use into something useful. They offer groups (and individuals) money for collecting these items that they then upcycle into great products. They started out bottling worm poop in Used Soda Bottles. But today they partner with people and companies that make a huge range of products. Some of their product ideas come from people. If you have a suggestion for a terracycle product, go to their website.

What's on your IPOD?

Ipods, ep3 Players, Elecronic recording devices. LOL I am technology deprived! I know that downloading music is the modern green way. But, Rob is a guy who still likes ALBUMS. LOL. But if I had an IPOD, I would have AMY WINEHOUSE- REHAB on it. Amy Winehouse? That ICON for personal healthcare? Yes. Say what you want about Ms. Winehouse, she has a great voice and song style. She is no Stevie Nicks, (but then who is?) Anyway she would be on my IPOD list, as would Ms.Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, but no matter I am still missing 8 track players and cassette players in my car- I don't have one of these devices- lol I have one car that has an AM (Only)Radio. Maybe I need one of these:
Lawrence Welk had a record player in his car!! This was a Chrysler Feature that didn't pan out!

Rob's Dirty Thirty

I was recently challenged to come up with a list of at least 25 items I do to help Mama Earth- with Earth day looming in a month or so I took that challenge. To the person who challenged me- Nyah Nyah Nyah I came up with thirty. Phhhhhhhht.

ROB'S DIRTY THIRTY

30 Things I try do to live in a Cleaner "Greener" World

1. Grow my own food
2. Can My own Food
3. Carry a reusable mug for my coffee
4. Carry a Reusable Water Bottle
5. Make my own Soda and by pass the bottle and can
6. Use reusable containers for my lunch
7. Wash clothes in Cold Water
8. Use dryer balls to reduce the amount of drying time in the dryer
9. Use phosphate free dishwashing detergent
10. Use primarily CFL bulbs in my light fixtures and Lamps
11. Eat leftovers
12. Compost
13. Take 5 minute or less showers
14. Use low flow faucets and shower heads
15. Utilize rain barrels to help water the garden
16. Pee In the shower, Save pee for the garden
17. Limit my thermostat to 55 when not at home or in bed sleeping65 when home and awake
18. Buy peanut butter in glass jars
19. buy in bulk whenever possible
20. Reuse materials in the garden (i.e. Pop Bottles as bell cloches, utilize the caps for leveling flats in the green house
21. Reuse my towel for at least 3 weeks before washing
22. Use the dog's towel after bathing dog for a bath mat after taking a shower
23. Save seeds
24. Try to grow my own tea
25. Use a solar lamp for outside
26. Use solar in the scooter shed
27. Try to buy Locally when ever possible, and buy at the Farmers Makret when in season
28. Eat less meat
29. Use my rechargeable Lawn Mower and electric garden tools over my gas chuggling Lawn tractor and other gas tools.
30. Try to drive less and less

Well there is my list. While I think most of the things are good, many are just baby steps.Some areas could very well be improved on,(i.e. Line dry instead of using dryer balls to reduce my energy usage even more- but hey this is Seattle and dry days are few and far between and I do have a job so for now this is it)

ROB'S P.S.- A little background on this post here. The guy was one of those red necks I work with. He knows who he is. He said it with a smirk on his face.(What he said was "I bet you can't come up with 25 things you do to improve the earth". And in some ways,I understand what he said and why- Fear of Change. He thinks that if one guy starts making changes, then somewhere down the line He is gonna have to make changes. But when he said it, the hair on my neck stood up. And I cannot take all the credit- if you read this blog with any regularity, most of these things I got used to and learned doing all those goddamn challenges. so Thanks Crunchy, Chile, Melissa, Mountain Mama, Fake Plastic Fish, etc. etc. Your blogs give me strength. And make me prove myself to red necks!

THE STORY OF BOTTLED WATER

Well as Ronald Reagen Told Jimmy Carter, Well There you go again, Here goes Annie Leonard again, this time instead of the story of stuff, she is telling the story of bottled water. And it is an enjoyable 8 1/2 minute movie. I played it at work and one of the guys (who originates from Cleveland) said he never knew all that about bottled water. I also directed him to the "Glass Filler"(One of those restaurant type spigots for filling water glasses) spigot in the rest room, were we have access to filtered water, thanks to a found surplus filter system... Even at work reuse is my mantra, my motto. Anyway here is Annie Leonard and the story of Bottled Water (BTW Annie has many more great movies on stuff on her website)

STOP! Do Not Enter...

Remember last year I made a bar table for the porch out of a Stop sign and some plumbing parts? Well guess who is at it again.

This is a Do Not Enter Sign that made a perfect table top for a hefty metal base that I found rummaging through Mom's dumpster. What would I ever do without mom or her dumpster? Anyway it will be a companion piece for the Stop table.

The Bar table will have a companion this year!

This blog post is linked to: trash to treasure Tuesdays at "Reinvented blog";
Diy Day at Soft Place to Land

and 2Nd Time around on "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words blog"

Hope Springs Eternal- The Weekly Challenge Update

Well this was a pretty Okay week. Got some seeds planted and even had some starts decide to make a show!

Some of my tomato starts are up, as well as punpkin, cukes and zukes, and Butternut squash. Hopefully it will be a successful year gardenwise! Even mowed the yard a bit (yes with my Nueton Rechargable Mower!) Onto the Challenges:

Sharon's Independence Days Challenge Year 3, week 11
1. Plant something: More tomato starts, some pumpkin starts, starting some evil broccoli, planted Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe in the green house, planted some more lettuce and mesclun for salads in the green house; planted peas
2. Harvest something: Some pea sprouts; Radish sprouts
3. Preserve something: Nada
4. Reduce Waste (recycle, reuse, reduce, repair or compost something): Found an old kid’s wading pool in mom’s dumpster, decided to try a raised bed in it; Reused an old recycling bin for planter for cantaloupe;
5. Preparation and Storage: Nada
6. Build Community Food Systems: Nothing
7. Eat the Food (cook or eat something new): Pea and Radish sprouts in a Broccoli slaw

Freeze Your Buns off challenge-Have not raised the temp once this month. Or turned the heat on. Or taken off my sweater.

One Small Change- Decided on my final “one small change” challenge for April. I think it is a doozy, more on that later- For March, I have not bought one pop or seltzer water, using my Soda Stream faithfully

Garden Challenge"Extreme Evangelist Edition"- Found an old kid’s wading pool in mom’s dumpster, decided to try a raised bed in it.

LATE NIGHT TV GOES GREEN

There is a new late night war (not Conan vs. Jay). The hosts of our late night fare seemed to be doing things for Mama Earth.
Fake Plastic Fish has an interview that Dave Letterman did with Captian Charles Moore on her blog. Dave at least asked the serious and hard questions with the Captain. The reason I mention this, is I know this will be the only exposure many in America will ever get to the problem of plastic waste. It is really worth taking a look at.
Jay Leno has been an eco warrier for awhile now. Jay Leno? The man who has more gas guzzlers than god? Well, the argument can be made that Jay doesn't drive the hefty cars that much. And he reuses a lot of parts, as any car guy and I can attest to that when owning a classic car you are dependant on reused parts. Jay, a friend of Ed Begley, Jr also goofs on Ed's show quite a bit. Whether showing his 1909 Baker Electric, or putting up a bigger wind turbine than Ed, he is a proponent of alternative powered vehicles. I know he has a Vectrix Electric motorcycle. And he was charmed by the A2B Electric Bicycle,which also is charming me.
Hollywood Hype? Maybe. But I like to think that these guys are looking to the future. Dave has a son now and probably feels it is important to hand a better cleaner earth over to Harry. Jay, whose wife Mavis is an enviormentalist and activist, must realize the oil is a finite resource and we need alternatives if we want to keep on driving. Whatever the reasons, I am all for it!
Some vids from Jay Leno's Garage



And for the classic car guys:

ROB'S WORLD REPORT

Let's take a look at what's going on around my world... First, AT&T announces a no draw charger for your cell phone which means that if it ain't plugged into the charger, no vampire draw. Then Chris Prentice does a review of the book "Do One Green Thing: Saving the Earth through Simple, Everyday Choices" By Mindy Pennybacker. Hank Green blogs that the Department of Energy now says that LED lighting would save America $120 billion. Apparently the DOE has done a study backing up that claim. I already knew that- I watch Living With Ed. Kirsten Dirksen has a Mayo Free Coleslaw Recipe over at ecomii. Also at ecomii, Bill Marken & The National Gardening Association make the claim that Making Container Plants Part of Your Landscape is the way to go. Of course we all knew that, right?

Kiddie Pool Garden- Garden experiment 2010

Photo: The Oregonian

I have done a few experiments in the garden over the past years. Last year I made a hanging wall garden out of a shoe organizer, and found it worked best if I put the plants in a coffee cup. (two fer- I get to reuse disposable coffee cups I find in the trash and I have a plant) The year before I tried making Topsey Turvey planters- with mixed success (I found it depends on the variety of tomato plant to work) and also made self watering planters with success. This year I am going to make a salad bed out of a Kiddie Pool I found at mom’s dumpster.

First I picked a nice spot for the kiddie pool-

Then drill some drainage holes.Then I plan fill it with compost and soil and plant some seeds (OR rather SeedBallz)

I know it is not much in the science department, nor is it an automated grow box Light that cheap veggie gardener would make. But what I am going for here is an easy way to make a complete garden bed with little work and great results. A neat idea if you have little gardeners around is make their first garden in that old Kiddie Pool. It help teaches them to grow their on food! And it keeps one of those big old plastic kiddie pools out of the waste stream (at least for a season or two)

Here are simple instructions (Instructions? Yes, I didn’t invent this-so see I didn’t make it up) To making your own Kiddie Pool Garden.
I also found a lot of good how to info at Wondering Chopsticks blog- she also found her kiddie pools when a neighbor was throwing them out!
And over at I dig my Garden, they have a whole forum dedicated to using kiddie pools for gardens!
Over at ehow.com, they have instructions on using kiddie pools to grow pumpkins.
And finally, in Portland, Or., a restaurant uses their rooftop to grow arugula, using kiddie pools. Hopefully this will work. And another easy way to garden!

Happy St Pat's to all my Irish Soccer Hooligan Friends

I Ain't:

• Irish
• Catholic
• Or
• A leprechaun
• Wearing green

I dont:

• drink green beer
• Kiss the blarney stone
• or
• Erin Go Braugh
• Wear Kilts (Although I do have the legs for it- don't want the third leg getting cold!)

So not sure as to what the hell all the fuss is about

exceptin' Corned beef, Cabbage and beer bread made with Guiness Stout

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY !!!

Light Bulb Vase

Well for DIY DAY, Trash to treasure Tuesday and a picture says a thousand words, Here is a hanging vase I made from a crapped out light bulb. I simply followed these instructions except I made the hanger out of an old wire hanger by disassembling it, straightening it, drilling two holes in the screw on part of the light bulb, bending then ends and inserting them in the light bulb. Something trashy, something recycled, something reused!

This blog post is linked to: trash to treasure Tuesdays at "Reinvented blog";
Diy Day at Soft Place to Land

and 2Nd Time around on "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words blog"

Foraging in the North West

I love it whenever I find a book to help with a problem...

I am so determined to find out more about foraging, I found this book, "Northwest Foraging", to help me.

What good does it do to eat "weeds" if you poison yourself?

Already I have learned that cattails are edible, they grow in abundance around here.

I always knew that Dandelions were edible but did not know the roots when ground and roasted makes a coffee substitute.

I still don't think I could ID Lamb's Quarters though.

Hopefully this well written guide can help, it is well illustrated and even has recipes in it for all that one forages.

But don't worry, I am still looking for foraging classes!

Weekly Challenge Update

Can you believe it is the 11th week of 2010 already? Things are on track here to be a great year in the garden as long as I pay attention to the seeds I've started. Been very busy with that and diving into dumpsters to find shit to make furniture with, as well as artsy crap. Gave bot puppy and kitty their first flea treatments for the year, Romeo needs a haircut... I need to learn to shear my pup and save $80 a pop! Or $80 a pup! Any way life goes on and so does the challenges:

Sharon's Independence Days Challenge Year 3, week 9 & 10

1. Plant something: Started some sweet pepper, 5 varieties of tomatoes, Butternut squash, Cucumber and onion plants, planted some Chard and planted a lettuce box, planted some Minnesota Midget cantaloupe seeds- suspect they will be long term residents in the greenhouse

2. Harvest something: Some Khol Rabi that wintered over

3. Preserve something: Pickled some radishes I bought at the store- a stretch but it is short term preservation, Pickled some onions as well.

4. Reduce Waste (recycle, reuse, reduce, repair or compost something): Saved a bunch of boxes for gifts for the holidays, made a vase out of an old 300 watt light bulb- more on that Tuesday; obtaining large parcels of cardboard to use as weed block again in the garden

5. Preparation and Storage: Got the stuff to put some shelving up in the Kitchen l set out some Praying mantis egg sacks for the season; Got a book on Foraging in the NW - I am bound and determined to learn to forage for more than Blackberries and Dandelions.

6. Build Community Food Systems: Donated some seeds to New Futures garden; Trying to obtain screening rights to show a screening of Mad City Chickens the Movie (Thanks to Jenna for the idea!)

7. Eat the Food (cook or eat something new): Got off my Chazuke kick. Succumbed to pressure and bought a can of Batter Blaster pancake batter- and my suspicions as far as pancakes go are correct- CRAP! Not only bad packaging but worse pancakes! Give me Melinda’s Pan Crack pancakes any day- but waste not want not attitude tells me to try making churros out of them- maybe useful for something!
　　
Freeze Your Buns off challenge- No problems here, letting the programmable thermostats keep me honest!

One Small Change- I am so loving the soda stream. Found that stainless steel water bottles are excellent for taking pop to work for lunch

Garden Challenge- Starting seeds right and left! Sharing seeds I got from Hometown Seeds with New Futures Community Garden- otherwise I would do a giveaway with them.

BOOK REVIEW: Edible Schoolyard by Alice Waters

When I heard Alice Waters had written a book about her edible schoolyard project in Berkley, CA, I was thrilled. Finally a tell all book on how to make a garden program. When I first saw the book in library, where it was held for me... I did a personal groan. The book is no bigger than a Cat in the Hat book. I don't want to read a child's book. Boy did I get it wrong!
I wouldn't exactly call this a childs book. Just a simply written adventure story about starting a garden in a busy full, underfunded middle school. Ms. Waters writes about the history of their garden, problems starting it, and the beautiful people who helped get it off the ground. Very uplifting for such a small book! Great pictures, towards the back even the visit by Prince Charles and Camilla, My favorite quote from this book is:

"Right there, in the middle of every school day. lies time and energy already devoted to the feeding of children. We have the power to turn that daily school lunch from an afterthought into a joyous education, a way of caring for our health. our enviorment and our community."

This definitely is a capital book if you or someone you know has ever wanted to go into a school and start a garden program. I give it four big green thumbs up!

PS- I did a post on Alice Waters and the Edible School yard, with a video clip, before this book review after on of my readers, Frustrated Farmer Rick of Caerwyn Farm And Spirits Blog directed me to her activities!

Gorilla Report- A plant pole!!!

Well a little Gorilla Garden report- There was a cut off pole in the BIAS spot, and I thought hell why not put a pot of flowers in it- so that's what I did. The flower pot is an old bucket from the Dollar Store, and I planted some pansies and violas in it. Lucky it is raining today so water is no problem!

WHICH IKEA HACK IS MY BEST WORK?

Poll time- I want to know which of these four Ikea Hacks you like best. I have done many but these are my four faves,

1- Mom's Sideboard

2- My China Cabinet

3- Coffee table/ottomans


4- My Vessel Sink and Vanity

poll closes on March 17th, 2010

Mom's Sideboard and Cabinet

This is a repost of an earlier post.

The cabinet was easy to hack out- And yes I made the pot holder next to it

Mom needed a sideboard in her when she moved in to her apartment- but it couldn't be too deep and need to clear a 2 foot long baseboard heater.

I made my mom a sideboard and cabinet using IVAR cabinets, a 1X12X6 foot pine board and some mackis office storage units-

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30032387
I mounted the mackis units in a group of three , reversed the drawers and put knobs on them. I also mounted a shelf below for added stability, yet high enough t clear the small baseboard heater safely. I used wooden drawer knobs from home depot for the feet

This blog post is linked to: trash to treasure tuesdays at "Reinvented blog";
Diy Day at Soft Place to Land

and 2nd Time around on "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words blog"

Speaking of Guerrilla Gardening...

A little vid of a Brit Garden show for you...

The Gorilla Garden Challenge

Chazuke, 4 different ways

Anyway, I was amazed at the taste the first time I made it, and am even more amazed everytime I make a variation of it. A cool way to get rid of leftovers, I wish I knew about this during the Food waste Challlenge Here is the original recipe for Salmon Ochazuke and the others I have come up with.

CHAZUKE (JAPANESE RICE/TEA/SALMON SOUP)

3 c Leftover cooked rice

1 tb White sesame seeds

1 Sheet asakusa nori

1 sl Salt-grilled salmon

2 -(up to)

3 tb Chopped coriander

1/4 ts Wasabi

2 c Very hot; freshly brewed green tea

CHICKEN CHAZUKE
3 c Leftover cooked rice
1 tb White sesame seeds
1 Sheet asakusa nori
1 chicken breast, cooked (great use for leftover Chicken)
2 to 3 tb Chopped coriander
¼ cup cooked peas
1/4 ts Wasabi
2 c Very hot; freshly brewed green tea

Divide the rice among four deep bowls. Dry roast sesame seeds in dry skillet until golden, and crush them coarsely (in a suribachi, or a blender or with a heavy knife) and sprinkle them over the rice. Dry roast the nori by waving it over a gas or electric burner for up to a minute; fold and tear the sheet into 20 small rectangles and place 5 in each bowl of rice. Cut the chicken into little chunks; divide it among the 4 bowls. Garnish each bowl with a little coriander and a small dab of wasabe. Pour 1/2 cup of very hot tea over each bowl and serve immediately.

VEGGIE CHAZUKE

3 c Leftover cooked rice
1 tb White sesame seeds
1 Sheet asakusa nori
½ Cup cooked carrots
½ cup cooked peas
½ cup cooked (steamed) celery
2 to 3 tb Chopped coriander
1/4 ts Wasabi
2 c Very hot; freshly brewed green tea
Divide the rice among four deep bowls. Dry roast sesame seeds in dry skillet until golden, and crush them coarsely (in a suribachi, or a blender or with a heavy knife) and sprinkle them over the rice. Dry roast the nori by waving it over a gas or electric burner for up to a minute; fold and tear the sheet into 20 small rectangles and place 5 in each bowl of rice. Chop the Veggies into little chunks; divide it among the 4 bowls. Garnish each bowl with a little coriander and a small dab of wasabe. Pour 1/2 cup of very hot tea over each bowl and serve immediately.

BEEF CHAZUKE
3 c Leftover cooked rice
1 tb White sesame seeds
1 Sheet asakusa nori
1-2 slices Roast Beef; about ¼ pound per slice, finely chopped, or a small bit of leftover steak, finely chopped
2 to 3 tb Chopped coriander
¼ cup cooked peas
1/4 ts Wasabi
2 c Very hot; freshly brewed green tea

Divide the rice among four deep bowls. Dry roast sesame seeds in dry skillet until golden, and crush them coarsely (in a suribachi, or a blender or with a heavy knife) and sprinkle them over the rice. Dry roast the nori by waving it over a gas or electric burner for up to a minute; fold and tear the sheet into 20 small rectangles and place 5 in each bowl of rice. Add the beef; divide it among the 4 bowls. Garnish each bowl with a little coriander and a small dab of wasabe. Pour 1/2 cup of very hot tea over each bowl and serve immediately.

Another Rob Home Made tool

Ever wonder how to water those seed starts? Do you use a hose and sprayer (my water wand has a mist setting so it is doable, but still gets water everywhere.
Well, I used the logic of my fore fathers (er rather fore grandmother). She used to make a "spritzer" bottle out of a mason or a mayonnaise jar and lid with holes punched in it, for when she ironed clothes. Well, this is 2010, I took Grandma's invention and one upped it! I took two plastic bottles I found in the trash at work, 1 wide mouth Gatorade bottle and 1 regular water bottle. (Yes the food service still gives out bottles of water- they haven't seen that light yet, but they have started to compost their leftover veggies bread and wrappers- so I'll let them off the hook this month)

Anyway, I digress, I simply drilled some small holes in the caps of the bottle. Now I just take my bottle set up directly to the seed starts-no mess no fuss.

Plants are happy (haven't seen any yet but I am sure they are pleased with a good drink of water), Rob is happy, The only person around here who isn't happy is Romeo; he likes hose water!

Damn- I gotta work today. Oh well, gives me an excuse to go to Aloha Hawaiian Grill, where they serve great Hawaiin BBQ. I don't know about you, but I just love a good BBQ Hawaiian. They also have Spam Musubi, or rather "sushi". And they serve so much, I am sure I will have leftovers to make Chazuke. Chazuke is a Rice soup made with green tea, and I have been experimenting with other ingredients besides salmon, I have made it with chicken, veggies, and am going to try eggs.

Spam Musubi

NEW FUTURES/The Heights COMMUNITY GARDEN

Some of the other volunteers with the new sign going in

The New Futures Community Garden is going strong. Last week, folks went to finish the fencing and add some soil to the garden plots and plant some of the berry bushes around the fencing. John, who is the focal from the Sustainable Burien side of things, has been organizing right along with Aimee from New Futures@ the heights.

The Heights is an apartment complex that has been in Burien for years. My grandparents lived there in the early 50's when they first moved here from North Dakota. Then it was known as Burien Gardens, and at that time was a very upscale apartment complex, complete with a Grocery store, a Drug store, barber and beauty shop. Over the years though, it has become a low income housing complex. And today hosts many families that have immigrated to here from Latin America.

New Futures is an organization that helps these families out with a unique blend of educational programs, ESL classes, family support resources and community-building assistance, New Futures makes a positive impact on the more than 4,000 residents at the four apartment complexes in which they operate. The Heights is one of these complexes.

Local Flowers

What a neat thing to see when you go to the Ace Hardware. These flowers where grown in a large greenhouse operation in Burien. I had forgotten about it- just a few blocks away from my Grandparents house. Nice to see Ace get on the local bandwagon, They could have just sold the flowers grown by the mega greenhouses, like 99.9% of local hardware stores, but chose to buy local. Of course I had to buy some, for my Guerrilla Garden project, and also for my garden.Did you know Pansies are edible flowers? Melinda's Blog has a great post today on buying locally.