I have a new pet… Never before have I been so excited to have a toad in the garden, but he is too cute, and he is doing a great job too. This morning I was watering the plants, and my little toad hopped right along with me. Maybe I should give him a name… Anyway since he has made a home in the garden the melons are growing like crazy and I counted at least 4 zucchinis and 3 cucumbers. I hope the veggies will be ready to be picked next week.
As you might have read, I’m trying green my driving routine by not driving (or riding) in a car at least one day a week. Last month I decided that I would put a gold star on the calendar for every day that I didn’t drive. On the first day of August I totaled the stars, and I had 11 for the month of July! I was really shocked that for 1/3 of the month, I didn’t drive.
Strangely, I didn’t miss driving that much. I thought that I would feel stuck, bored, and miss out on all of those little trips here and there. It was fun though, I planned my errands and shopping trips wisely. I also found several places close to home that the boys and I could walk to. We would wake up early, and walk to the Post Office or Farmer’s Market before the weather became too warm. Getting out and walking became a fun way to connect with my kids, and they got to see a little bit more of our town.
I would like to continue this trend of Gold Star days for August, and see how just many more days I can go without driving. If I can make it 10 days this month I’ll be really happy, but even a few here and there will help a bit.
2008 is the year that I am “greening my family and home”, I’m trying to live more eco-friendly, and attempting to reduce those food miles by growing our own organic veggies. Our garden has also helped Thade realize that our food doesn’t just come from Wal-Mart.
I’m really proud of those little Yellow Squash, and it proves to those local naysayers that YES, you can grow veggies without pesticides. I can’t wait to make my Garlic-Squash Couscous with my fresh produce.
We are out in the garden every day in the morning before it is too warm. Occasionally we have a cool insect that Thade has never seen before, and sometimes a toad or two. I love to watch the busy honey bees buzzing from flower to flower.
This week we had an amazing Moth that paid the garden a visit. The moth was huge, and Thade couldn’t believe his eyes. He asked if it was a bat, and gave it a little space just in case it was.
I hope that next week we’ll have a few more veggies, and maybe the kids will give them a try too.
Today’s post is all about veggies! I finally have a few tiny green beans growing, and one teeny zucchini. I can’t wait to see what will be growing next. The cucumbers are in bloom, and the cantaloupe is branching out too.
This week a friend brought over a beautiful assortment of tasty lettuces from her organic garden. My new veggie tray is paying off too. I made an assortment of cru-de-te, and the boys devoured all of the veggies. Even Dylan munched on the celery (cut into teeny tiny pieces).
I’m also in love with the Squash blossoms in the garden. The bright yellow flowers are so pretty. James found another little toad in the garden too, this one was little bitty, but super cute. I hope he sticks around and helps out too.
About a month ago, my Mom read a great article about driving less and simple ways that we could take steps to help save our Planet. One of the items that she liked best was avoiding driving your car or cars for one day a week, and how much just one day without driving would greatly cut down on pollution. With $4.00+ gas it would also save a little in the gas tank too.
She commutes and I stay home, but we both decided to take the driving one day less challenge. I’ve also decided to keep track of my no driving days for the month of July. I’m using gold stars on the calendar, and so far I’m up to 4 days without driving or riding in a car. I hope to add many more stars to the calendar, and lighten my carbon footprint a little along the way.