Gardening in Black 101 -- Part 1: Dracunculus Vulgaris

This lovely flower is 12 inches long! Amazing! I found it while walking to work. It wasn't there, and then the next day the plant had exploded with color! I hope to plant this lovely devil in my garden next year. They stink like rotting fish to attract pollinators which means that I will need to be selective in where I place it. ---not under a window-- for example!

Give your Fruit Tree Fruit to the LOCAL FOOD BANK!

Got a fruit tree that produces more than you and your family can eat?  That is OK! Don't deal with the rotting fruit this year.  GLEAN-IT!  Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle (http://www.gleanit.org/)  will come to your home, workplace (wherever the tree is) and harvest it for you.  All of the fresh fruit will be dontated to local food banks!  Don't let it go to waste! 

Other cities also have these awesome volunteer-run organizations! Google your city and fruit harvest or food bank.  If you don't have a fruit collection organization don't be shy, START your own!  Check out this great flyer on instructions of how to "Organize an Urban Fruit Harvest"

Huevos! How to get More Out of your Breakfast!

Photo by Compost This! Ingrid's Garden, Denver, Colorado
(Ingrid sells vegetable/herb seedlings for the Denver Farmer's Market! Check out her website! Ingrid's Garden Seedlings!)

Egg shells can add calcium to your soil. Certain plants : Tomatoes and peppers really like calcium and tend to produce more fruit (and fruit without blossum rot) when they have adequate calcium uptake.

This last winter I saved all of my egg shells in a freezer bag. Today I'm going to take them all out, spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 F for 10 minutes. Then I'll let them cool and and grind them up a bit. You could put them in a spice / coffeegrinder if you have an extra one handy. This weekend, I'll sprinkle the shells around the area where my tomatoes are!

WATCH OUT! soon you'll have lushious tomatoes and peppers.

 

RADIATION ALERT: Japan Fallout Hits USA Hard! Protection Tips

We all live on one planet.  Earth.  What happens on the other side of the planet will effect us. This is ever more apparent with the current situation in Japan after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami earlier this year.  Now HIGH levels of radiation are swirling around the planet.  All of us are in this together. 

Seattle has radioactive hot particles in the air according to CNN.
Hot particles can lodge in your body (lungs, bone).  The average Seattleite is currently breathing  in 5-10 radioactive particles a day.   

To move radioactive elements from your body: 
1. Make sure you are ingesting enough iodine (See the Mayoclinic website for more info).
2.  Eating seaweed and iodized salt are ways to increase iodine. 
3. HEPA air purifiers are thought to remove radiation from the air.

Make sure to plant as many green plants as you can.  Plants are nature's air purifiers.  Over time they will help maintain air quality! 



Say NO to Styro! Now it is compostable!

Ok...........so I thought that the meat at the grocery store was the last place I could find stryofoam............but no longer!  Now the styrofoam-looking platters that meat is packaged on is COMPoSTABLE!  Check out Earthchoice and their Pactiv products!

BYOB! Bring Your Own Bag!

SAY YES! To BYOB!  Bring Your Own BAG!   I've been trying to keep a reusable bag in my backpack for years.  It all started back in the 1980s in Central Illinois where I got the funniest looks at the grocery store...........

I take my BYOB everywhere!  It is not just for groceries anymore!!

In fact, I've become so addicted to NOT having plastic bags around that I recycled my last batch of them the other day.  NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS!  (I reuse the 2 plastic bags I have ---they are liners for my trash bins in the kitchen and bathroom).  All food waste is composted and most everything else is recycled.  Basically, I throw out a small bag of trash less than once a month.  It is SO cool to look under the sink and NOT see plastic everywhere! 

I love my re-useable bags!  Not only are they great for the environment they hold a ton, I can throw them over my shoulder on my walk back to my apartment (no more numb finger syndrome). 
BYOB!  we are changing the world ...........Yeah baby!