Independence Days Challenge: Week Ending 3/30

Plant: Started leeks, Hopi red Dye amaranth; arugula, Early Green Broccoli, Nevada Lettuce;
Harvest: Sprouts

Preserve: nothing
Prepare: Cleaned out freezer- restocked it.

Local Foods: bought some local cheese; local eggs, jam, frozen food*

Community: Joined in a "Cash Mob" to help a local merchant 

Eat the food:
Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle: Made a sip planter out of a 2 litre bottle;

*When the Farmers Market season ends here, I usually shop at Eat Local, a local store that sells locally made foods, and cleaning products right here in Burien. Local eggs are delivered by my milkman, and come from Olympia.

Earth Hour 2012- Are you going to participate?

Saturday is Earth Hour. I must admit while half heartedly participating in years past, I cannot this year. I will be at work, so shutting down the power for an hour is off. I can how ever make sure the escalators are shut down, and rest room lights are off. And that doesn't mean I can't participate later when I get home. I think the earth needs more than an hour or just a day. Personally, I believe we all need to do things to be kinder to our Mother Earth 365 days a year, 24 7. Saturday also marks the end of Crunchy's Frozen ass challenge, but thatdoes not mean I will be turning up the thermostat either. Are you going to participate in in Earth Hour this year?

A quick green house visit

After having some success in the greenhouse last year, this spring has become a season of renewal. After finally getting the broccoli monkey off my back, I am back again with gusto, am an even trying Romanesco broccoli this season as well as Cauliflower. Of course some seeds do not need the greenhouse to jump start their growth- so the chard, lettuce and basil will have to wait until it gets a bit warmer. But I already have sown radishes and beets in the "ground".

Cash Mob!!!

All photos courtesy the "B-Town Blog"

Even my man, Da Bieber is all for the Cash Mob!

Saturday, I participated in a mob event. Cash mob. Cause that's how I roll.

The Cash Mob met up at a local pizzeria, and everyone agreed to spend $20 at a local store. There were about 40 of us, The store picked was "Goodie Gumdrops" a local toystore I must admit to never having frequented before. And boy was I surprised at what I could find there-  They had those cool little science kits I love that require a piece of garbage to recycle/re-use, wrapping and art supplies. I picked up a Weather station science kit and a Fridge Rover ( a wind up car the travels up the frigidaire!) It was so cool to see members of the community to get together and help out one of our local businesses. And now I am wondering... who's next to get hit by the mob?
More on this at the B-Town Blog

Happy 7Th Birthday Romeo!

A quick post to wish my pup, Romeo a happy 7th birthday tomorrow. For his birthday, he is getting a doggy door, a Leash cabinet and a day at the Dog Park! Shhhhh! It's a surprise!
"You keep me active, you give me unconditional love, and you are my Best Friend Forever! Plus... You eat cabbage!"

Independence Day Challenge week ending 3/23

Plant: Started kale; Broccoli, Purple Sprouting; Broccoli, Romanesco; Cantoloupe, Minnesota Midget; Cucumber, Lemon; Tomato, Clint Eastwood; Tomato, Window Box Roma; Tomato, Red Robin, and  Amaranth; Planted Radishes, Beets
Harvest: Some sprouts;

Preserve: Froze some corned beef and cooked cabbage.
Prepare: Made another Duct Tape shopping bag;

Local Foods: Some local eggs

Community:  Gave those seeds I talked about to the student starting the Food Bank Community garden;

Eat the food: Eggs in an Omelet;
Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle: Repaired my glasses; Made another Duct Tape shopping bag;

How to save money Traveling

My friend, Cheap Like Me, has an excellent post on saving money traveling. But I have one of my own. (or Rather Food Network's Alton Brown has one) Try making your own Oatmeal breakfast!

And instead of trying packaged instant oatmeal, make your own instant oat meal and take it along!

Cabbage Chips for Romeo

I discovered that my pooch, Romeo, likes to eat raw cabbage. So I thought , what about dehydrated cabbage? Here are the instructions for dehydrating cabbage that you can use as cabbage chips or save to reconstitute.
Dehydrating or Drying CABBAGE (RED OR GREEN)
Instructions for Dehydrating Cabbage:
1. Wash the cabbage heads and trim away the outer leaves.
2. Remove the core
3. Shred/grate the cabbage head.
4. Steam blanch vegetables for 2 minutes. For Chips, Salt to taste.
5. Dehydrate cabbage at 100 degrees (F) for 18 hours or until crisp. Note: I use my dehydrator, followed the same time rule
6. Store dried cabbage in a clean, dry, airtight container, in a cool dark location. (Light can cause discoloration) Dried cabbage can be added directly to soups or stews without rehydrating.
 Note: Red cabbage loses some of its color when rehydrated. To rehydrate, soak in cold water with a little lemon juice for 30 minutes and drain.

2 Litre Sub Irrigated Planters

My friends over at Green Roof Growers came up with a way to make SIP's out of a 2 litre pop bottle- big enough for a lettuce plant or a small cherry tomato- and they shared this knowledge with a group of school kids!

Independence Days Challenge FOR 3/16

A bucket SIP

Weekending 3/16/2012
Plant: Nothing
Harvest: Some arugula; Some Kale.

Preserve: Froze some lasagna.
Prepare: Did my Taxes. Gives me back some income!

Local Foods: Picked some arugula and kale

Community: Offered up some leftover seeds to a local High School student making a community garden for the clients of our food bank for his Senior Project; 

Eat the food: Arugula and Kale in Fettucine.
Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle: Reused and recycled some 5 gallon buckets into SIP planters

Reverend Billy and Climate Change

Earthalujah y'all! Dig Reverend Billy? Here he is on the topic of climate change...

3 New Blogs (And 1 Old One Returns)

Hey there...in case you haven't noticed, and judging by the amount of visitors to this site, probably a lot of you!, there are some new blogs in my side bar that are worth taking a look at!

Kathe With An E- Kathe writes a great blog about design, re-design etc. She also is a consumate crafter. Great looking blog as well

A life Unprocessed- Written by my friend and fellow Burienite Mellow, she explores the unique and challenging "Raw food" world, as well as trying to make her world a better place for her children. And finally someone else around here besides me who eats weeds!

Our School at Blair Grocery- this is a blog that reports the news from the School at Blair Grocery, a really cool program teaching kids in New Orleans how to Urban Farm, as well as giving the community there something to smile and sing about!

Chile Chews- What? Rob have you gone batty? No. I know Chile is not new, but after a brief retirement she is back, and just as sassy, just as honest and just as good a read as ever. I look forward to reading her unique views on topics such as Diet, People and store managers!

Special Twice Baked Potatoes

What's so special about them? well besides being loaded with everything but the kitchen sink, No Meat!!!

Special Twice Baked Potatoes
* 6 large russet potatoes
 * 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 medium green pepper, chopped
 * 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
 * 4 garlic cloves, minced
 * 1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
 * 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
 * 1 tablespoon tomato paste
 * 1 tablespoon steak seasoning
 * 1/4 teaspoon salt
 * 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* Dash cayenne pepper
* 2 teaspoons paprika, divided
 * 1/2 cup butter, cubed
 * 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
 * 1/4 cup sour cream
 * 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
 * 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
 * 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
 * 2 tablespoons minced chives
 TOPPINGS:
* 1 teaspoon paprika
 * 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
 * 1 tablespoon minced chives

  Scrub and pierce potatoes; rub with oil. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until tender. In a large skillet, cook the onion, peppers and garlic over medium heat until translucent; drain. Add the mixed vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, steak seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne and 1 teaspoon paprika. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender. When cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice off the top of each potato and discard. Scoop out the pulp, leaving thin shells. In a large bowl, mash the pulp with butter. Add the whipping cream, sour cream, cheeses and chives. Mash potatoes until combined. Spoon 1 cup of the veggie mixture into each potato shell; top with 1/2 cup potato mixture. Sprinkle with remaining paprika. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until melted. Sprinkle with chives. Yield: 6 servings.

How to Grow-A-Row for the hungry...

Found an interesting article on the interwebs about how Greg Horner's nephew, an avid backyard gardener, organized a “Grow-a-Row” campaign in his community in eastern Massachusetts. He signed up 40 other gardeners in his community and how they delivered the produce to their local food pantry.Read more about it HERE.

Eco City Farms: Off grid learning expierience

What a great idea- a farm that teaches! Eco City Farms in Edmonston, MD.

Introducing Sprout Robot

Of course one of the advantages to reading blogs like Cheap Vegetable Gardener is I get all the cool garden tech news. And he found out about Sprout Robot, a neat little computer site that works like an almanac to tell the best time to start plants in your zip code. Well, my zip code is not listed but the neighboring one is. Anyway a cool little app for your garden! And it doesn't cost to use!

BioChar stoves

I got to see a demonstration of a Biochar Stove- which is very similar to a Rocket Stove, which I have made, but this one cam be used inside- providing you monitor for carbon monoxide. Biochar-producing stoves are potentially much cleaner, with lower emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and fine particles. Biochar-producing stoves have lower greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide and methane) and black carbon emissions, create biochar that can be used to sequester carbon in soils, and reduce the use of fossil-fuel based fertilizers. Don't know that I will make one, but Great news for TEOTWAWKI type folks. Also great for Disaster preperations

Todmorden Guerilla Gardening

Guerrilla Gardening gone amuck in Todmorden, UK

THE ID CHALLENGE 2012

The Independence Day Challenge- 2012 Version!

Seems like this is the fifth year I have done this challenge, albeit with some changes from the official version. I like this challenge because it motivates me, keeps me active and it helps keep me honest!

Plant: Started some gourd seeds, started some sprouts

Harvest: sprouts

Preserve: Froze some leftovers from my Mom's 80th B-day party (buns, meat);

Prepare: bought seed potatoes for 2012; Bought and traded seeds as well.
Local Foods: Nothing yet

Community: Getting ready for another year at the community garden- put in my plot fee!

Eat the food: Put some sprouts in Green Pea Hummus I made
Repair, Re-use, Reduce, Recycle: Repaired an old umbrella I use at work.  Repaired my garden clogs.

MY annual rant

I am a year older today- so I thought I would do off about some things i perceive to be wrong and rave about some I thought where right. I my birthday and my blog.

Over 52 years, I have seen some amazing things. I saw people put away their TV’s so they could sit and stare at CRT, and later LCD Monitors. I have been in a 10 + year relationship. I have ended a 10+ year relationship. I have seen people trying to get back to the right way of living. I have seen an African American elected president. I have seen people come together, no matter what race, creed, religion or ethnical background in times of disaster.

But in 52 years, I have also NOT seen people who love each other be able to get married, women’s right to do what they want with their bodies (without a bunch of men in a meeting determining what’s right and proper for women). I see continuing bigotry and hatred in the name of god and politics.

See, I don’t see anything wrong with this country, just this country’s leaders. It is high time we have true non-bipartisan-ship, not political wrangling. We need to see an end to white color criminals, who steal millions of dollars, getting near to nothing in jail time, or house arrest- if you live in a mansion, house arrest ain’t so bad! Meanwhile some poor mother gets 10 years without parole for selling marijuana. The punishments have to fit the crimes!

And Finally, I have seen a world of Corporate greed, that corporations get to do what ever corporations do. I say it is time to end this practice. I have a proposal to congress... Every corporation, from know on while get 10 chips, Every time they do something bad, they will have to give up a chip. And then at the end of the year, the bill is 10 chips, the CEO’s will have to go to jail, no wait, go live in a neighborhood directly affected by their deeds… the only way to get their old life back is to pay back 10 chips- I am guessing that the CEO’s will run cleaner companies.