NO MORE PAPER Coffee Filters! COFFEE THE RIGHT WAY!

Ok, I have to admit it.  I have an addiction.  I am addicted to coffee.  Living in the coffee capital of the United States---Seattle, Washington where we are lucky to hit 70 degrees on a mid-July afternoon, coffee is a necessity right up there with food, water, and shelter.  I have it listed as its own separate budget line item!  LOL.

Coffee in the morning, coffee in the afternoon, and even coffee before bed.........coffee coffee coffee!



Photo from How to make a Reusable Coffee Filter on Wikihow.com



So, needless to say after my coffeemaker broke (the one with the cool reusable coffee filter) I started brewing single servings with a Melitta brewer and paper filters.  Just a couple days ago I decided to take the plunge and create my own reusable filter.  Wikihow  has some great directions on how to make your own coffee filter!  I did exactly what they suggested, but cut out my coffee filter from a muslin dishtowel.  I made sure I cut it a little big so that it curls nicely around the brewer and that the finished ends of the towel matched the top of the filter so that it has a finished look.  I also did it all by hand and it worked out great!

Rinsing out cloth coffee filters is extra easy!  Coffee doesn't stay on/in the fabric.  I dump as much as I can into a container for the garden and the rest just washes away!  Muslin is so light that I clip it to the pen holder on my fridge and it is dry in a few minutes!! 

And the COFFEE TASTES AMAZING!  I hadn't realized that it tasted like paper (doh!) and chemicals, until I tried it filtered through organic cotton! 

Front Yard Vegetable Garden Illegal in Oak Park, Michigan?

Oak Park Michigan officials really need to take a look at Vegetable Gardening For Dummies and GET A CLUE about the importance of home vegetable gardens!  Officials have said that a nicely constructed raised bed in the front yard is not for 'vegetables' but  for "suitable plants" but does not list the exact plants you are supposed to grow. 
With the dangerous chemicals leaching into our food, the great recession we are in,  the lack of low-cost organic produce, and the fact that most kids don't understand where our food comes from.....I am worried that our 'leaders' just don't 'get it.'  Sign a petition CLICK HERE to tell the folks running Oak Park that they should actually be fining and jailing the people who vandalize property not those who grow food!

Oak Park isn't the only city that has had an issue with gardens.  Even in the environmentally rich city of Seattle, gardening anything other than a well manicured lawn in the public green space between the road and the sidewalk was illegal until last year when Seattle declared 2010 the year of Urban Farming and allowed land owners to garden the green space with vegetable patches.

We need to be able to grow our own food.  We need to be able to create gardens. We've cemented over too much of this Earth. 

WE NEED GARDENS EVERYWHERE!

FREE Fertilizer for your Garden!

You can create fertilizer out of materials that are in your trash!  REALLY!  Believe it or not gardeners have been spending thousands of dollars on nitrogen and calcium enrichment fertilizers while at the same time throwing out after their morning meal thousands of dollars of perfectly great sources of nitrogen and calcium !!

Ok.  So I have a apartment garden and it is constructed on cement out of reclaimed wood and potting soil.  How do I keep my soil healthy if it isn't actually "real" soil? 


 I add what other folks would consider breakfast, still others may consider 'trash,' or here in the Seattle what many consider something that goes in the yard waste container.  . . . Coffee & Eggs!


Coffee Grounds
Get this!  Used coffee grounds (minus the filter) are great as mulch on the garden AND it deters slugs!  It adds nitrogen to the soil and can either be added to compost, dug into the soil, or placed on top directly.  Vegetables and other plants that grow fast love this nitrogen-rich amendment!  check out this great article by the Seattle Pi on the benefits of using coffee grounds in the garden: Give Your Garden a Jolt. . .   I suggest getting organic coffee!  Chemicals used on non-organic food sources leech there way not only into your body but into the dirt!

Egg Shells
Clean, crushed eggs shells make the perfect amendment to soil that is lacking in calcium.  Tomatoes LOVE calcium.  See my previous post "Huevos! How to get More Out of your Breakfast!   for more details.  I use organic, free-range  egg shells only!  If you haven't tried organic, they are worth the extra cost!  The egg shells are thick and rich with calcium!

Here is to gardens everywhere!

Gardening on Cement: Hummingbird Haven



"Hummer Chillin' Out" Photo by Compost This!



Hummingbirds are magic in motion!  Today a hummingbird hung out with me at my apartment garden (this garden was constructed entirely on cement (no liner)).   I believe I'm on her 'route' in that this is the second time I've seen her visit the garden at 2:30PM. 

The Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is common in Seattle but I didn't think they would find my little, tiny, hidden garden! 

I refuse to use hummingbird feeders (1) they need to be cleaned out daily because the sugar can go rancid and this can kill hummingbirds and (2) nectar is the true source of nutrients for these flying magical creatures.  I got this plant last year on sale at Home Depot, as soon as I figure out the name (common and scientific) I'll be sure to post it. 

All gardens NO MATTER HOW SMALL are important!  Start gardening today!  We need gardens  EVERYWHERE!



"Hummer Haven" Photo by Compost This!



SAY NO TO OOOZE! Compost Your Kitchen waste!

Kitchen Composting bins: Some of these kitchen bins are pricey.  NO FEAR EVERYONE CAN COMPOST their kitchen waste!  It is easy as pie! 

Keep food waste out of your garbage can! NO MORE OOOOZE from the organic stuff in the garbage bags. No more gooey icky stuff  to clean up. Now it can all go in the yard waste container!

Check out this website for ideas on how you can collect your food waste! Seattle is one of many cities in the USA.

Hello! to all of those folks on the other side of the pond!  What is your country doing with regards to composting?  I know from living there that Seoul, South Korea composts ALL FOOD WASTE!  ROCK ON!

Composting Tips:
1. Get  paper when you don't use your re-useable bags at the grocery store. PAPER IS COMPOSTABLE! Put your food waste in the paper bags and take out to the yard waste container.

2. To cut down on smell you can compost shredded paper.  Got important paper that needs to be shredded? Line your kitchen composting container or the yard waste container.  Great way to make sure no one steals your info!  (No plastic or waxy paper please).

City Dweller? Need a Garden? Try Urban Garden Share!

Urban Garden Share! Check out how Seattle is matching gardeners with homeowners who want gardens!  Click HERE

Community Harvest is a volunteer led organization that 'gleans' fruit trees for the foodbank! Check it out Click HERE!

In San Fran they are producing produce EVERYWHERE! Check out the article in Mother Jones HERE.

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  Gardens gardens EVERYWHERE!