Wednesday 28 March 2012

Product Feature: The Paper Potter


While plant pots and peet moss definitely have their place, this ingenious little device is a unique alternative.

Use it to turn any old paper into biodegradable plant pots for your seedlings. Once your plants have reached the desired size, simply plant them in the ground, pot and all!


If planting is a family activity in your household, making these pots is something that even younger kids can help out with!


Instructions: (Borrowed from CleverBean)

1. Cut dry newspapers into strips (8cm x 57cm approx.)
2. Roll strip loosely around potter and roughly fold over excess paper.
3. Press potter onto base.
4. Remove pot & fill with growing medium.
5. Plant seedling or sow seeds directly.
6. Paper pot will biodegrade when transplanted to garden.
Pot is approx. 5 ½ inches high.


Find It On Amazon
Or CleverBean


This would be a great way to start your seedlings if you have an aquaponics setup; no pots to store when you're not sprouting!
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Friday 23 March 2012

Soap Nuts!

Mountain Rose Soap Nuts
When it comes to chemical-free cleaning, the soap nut (sometimes called the soap berry) is one of the best ways to go. The soap nuts contain something called saponin, which is a natural detergent. In water it works to free dirt and oils so it is especially great for laundry.

A few soap nuts in a mini cotton bag included in your laundry are all you need to achieve clean clothes without the chemicals. The soap nuts can be used more than once (they will start to disintegrate and lose color when they need to be replaced).

Thursday 22 March 2012

Juicing Adventures Vol. 5 - Tomatoes

I finally got around to trying a concoction that I had been thinking about for weeks. I'd never juiced tomatoes and I really wanted to give it a try!

tomato reds

I think I was envisioning something like V8 or a caesar - what I got was not even remotely similar.

I juiced tomatoes, celery, zucchini, lime and oregano. In my head it was going to taste delicious. It didn't.

Fresh Oregano

It was my first absolute disaster - I drank every bit of it as I couldn't bear to waste the vegetables, but I did it with my nose plugged. I'm not entirely sure what made it so terrible, or whether I just managed to pick the 5 things that were never meant to go together, but either way this is one concoction that you really don't want to try!

;)
Pictures via Muffet and cookbookman17
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Tuesday 13 March 2012

Aquaponics (Videos Included)

Photo1602


One of the facets of organic farming that I am most fascinated by is aquaponics. I'm not sure that there is a better or simpler way to grow large amounts of food in a small amount of space.


(This first video is just a brief summary of a DVD that gets into the nitty gritty - but it is still a great explanation of the basics!)



I think one of the more challenging parts might be finding a good source of organic fish food! Most people just tend to use whatever fish feed is readily available; but I would be hesitant to trust most sources without a great deal of research. I think the key would be to first choose your species and cultivate your own food that suits that species of fish. (A lot of fish feed contains corn; which as you may know, is more often than not genetically modified - and I doubt that many fish feed companies would bother purchasing organic corn!)

Tilapia are one of the most common fish grown in aquaponics; they can live off a diet of duckweed and apparently pretty much anything else including plants, worms, smaller fish, algae... no wonder they are one of the most preferred fish for aquaponics! (How nutritious your tilapia are is directly affected by what foods they eat!) Crazily enough I've never tried tilapia, but apparently they are one of the most mild fish out there.



I've watched about a million videos (teeeeny exaggeration) so far on aquaponics, fish ponds, and so on... I've only posted a fraction of them here; if anyone is interested let me know and I'll post some of the others that I enjoyed!

See you soon!

Photo via Kanu Hawaii

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Monday 5 March 2012

From the mouths of babes...

If a kid can recognize the truth about industrial farming and be willing to make the right choices to help change the current system; there is no excuse for anyone else.



I feel infinitely sorry for those who are so willing to see only what the corporations want them to see. Last time I checked, we weren't horses, to be led around with blinders on. We each have the ability to remove our blinders; I say kudos to this young gentlemen and to his family for being willing to not only remove theirs, but make an effort to share the knowledge with others.

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Sunday 4 March 2012

Blog Update!

After yesterday's disappointment with the seed order I was a little bit miserable for a while. (My family would argue that my definition of miserable and theirs is slightly different.) I have since gotten over it and renewed my quest for inexpensive organic and non-GMO seeds that are in fact available in Canada. If you have an amazing supplier I would love to hear about it.

Next time I will wait to post until after the order has actually gone through. :P

The whole debacle, as minor as it was, got me thinking. I started wondering why I bother writing this blog, or if anyone that isn't in my immediate family actually reads it. The truth is I don't really know if anyone pays attention yet, and if not that's ok. Hopefully one day they will.

The reason I spend so much time on it, sharing things that I have found, is because I care. I care about what I put in my body, where things come from, what effect they have on the world, etc... And the best way to show you care, is to spread the word. If I can inspire one person to grow their own garden, or start asking questions, or even get interested in something, anything green... that would be fabulous.

I enjoy sharing the things I find; I spend a lot of time doing research, watching videos and reading... and it wouldn't be nearly as exciting to discover new things, if I couldn't share it.

If you have discovered something amazing, you're welcome to share it with me. I've recently added a 'Contact Me' tab in the navigation at the top of this blog, and you are always more than welcome to do so.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!

Saturday 3 March 2012

Organic Non-GMO Seeds - Vegetables, Herbs and Flowers!


Gardening season is getting close, it's time to start sprouting and figuring out what plants are going to grace your garden this year. (I'm leaning towards ones that I can juice!)