Mindful Momma

How to Choose an Indoor Compost Bucket

It was time. The trusty, green, plastic compost bucket that lived under my sink for many years had to go. For months, I dealt with the cracked top rim but when the handle snapped off completely (showering my legs with compost - thankfully outside!), I knew that its days were numbered. Even though my plastic bucket held up for many years, I wasn't so sure I wanted another one of the same model. So I took to the internet to do some research on what type of compost container to buy:

Factors to Consider

Assuming that you have a place to compost food scraps outside, you will need some type of container to store them temporarily in the house. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Will the container be kept under the sink or on the counter? If it's sitting out on the counter you will probably want something that looks nice. If not, butt ugly might be just fine.
• What material is the container made of? Popular choices are stainless steel, plastic and ceramic.
• How much does the container hold? If you create a lot of food scraps, you will want to lean towards something larger. If not, a smaller size will suit you just fine. Most containers hold between 1 gallon and 2.5 gallons.
• What type of filter does it use? Most compost buckets use a charcoal filter but the key question is - are they readily available? If not, you might want to consider a different model.

A Very Special Cucumber Plant

My youngest son came home from school one day last spring clutching a tiny cucumber plant in a Dixie cup. His only words were "Don't let this die Mom. It's very special. I grew it."

No pressure! I transferred the plant to a larger pot and watered it diligently for a couple weeks. I knew that I needed to get that poor little plant outside pronto for it to really thrive, but our yard was still a giant mud pit after our big remodeling project last summer.

So I hurriedly created a little bed in a spot that gets some good sun and I tucked that little cucumber plant into the ground. I threw in a couple tomato plants and some basil and called it a garden.

Now that tiny plant is possibly the most productive cucumber plant on the planet! My son has harvested at least a dozen cucumbers already with many more to come.

I'm looking forward to a more elaborate vegetable garden next year but I love that this very special cucumber plant was the catalyst for our tiny garden in a year that we otherwise wouldn't have had one.

Do you have a vegetable garden? Do your kids help harvest what you grow?

Staying Fit on the Fly

 

That's me laying sod in 90+ degree weather!

It's hard to believe it's been 12 weeks since I set out to participate in the Go Green Get Fit Challenge with a bunch of other green and health focused bloggers. Summer always flys by but this time I swear someone stole away some of the days...where did they go?

My fitness challenge didn't quite go as planned but I did get exercise in some unusual ways - like lifting 100 pound blocks of stone and heavy rolls of sod! Here's how it all played out...

The Goals

My goals for the Go Green Get Fit Challenge were fairly simple:

• Push my running farther than usual
• Return to the fitness yoga class I love
• Start up strength training again

Happy, Healthy Summer Eating

 

This is the time of year when eating is like an orgy every day. The number of fresh, fabulous tasting fruits and vegetables is at its peak. Our CSA box is brimming with locally grown organic veggies each week. The farmer's markets are a treasure trove of home-grown goodies like heirloom tomatoes, multi-colored carrots and of course sweet corn!

Lessons from the Lorax: 5 Ways to Help Your Kids "Speak for the Trees"

Unless you are living on a different planet, you've probably heard that Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is coming to town. Everywhere I look, there's another advertisement or product endorsement mentioning it. The adaptation of the classic book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is about to hit theatres on March 2nd and I can't wait to see it!

When Universal Pictures asked me to be part of a 12 stop, Lorax inspired, blog tour, I was happy to oblige because there are so many lessons to be learned from this story, which manages to be both beloved and a little bit controversial at the same time.

 

 

The Movie

The Lorax, in typical Dr. Seuss style, is full of silly characters with even sillier names. From what I've seen in the trailer, it has huge appeal to both kids and adults alike. Still, it deals with a very serious, environmental topic - what will happen if we use up all the beauty in our wonderful world? I'm so glad to see this message being broadcast to a national audience. Let's hope people listen.

The Lesson

The lesson that stands out for me is that we must all do our part to preserve this beautiful planet we are so lucky to live on. I think it is critical to start at an early age, teaching kids to take responsibility for how they treat the earth. Help your kids "speak for the trees" by establishing eco-minded chores and actions like these:

Conserve water - Teach kids to turn off the water when brushing their teeth and to take shorter showers.

Save energy - Make kids responsible for turning off the lights when they leave the room. Show them how you lower the heat at night or when you leave the house.

Recycle - Let kids help sort the recycling (with supervision for younger kids) and take it out to the curb on recycling day.

Pick up trash - Get kids involved in community garbage pick-up events. Teach through example by picking up trash you see around your neighborhood and disposing of it properly.

Get in the garden - Involve your kids in growing something, whether it is a garden at home or a community plot; one tomato plant or a huge veggie patch!

The Blog Tour

Yesterday, my friend Lori from Groovy Green Livin shared her Lessons from the Lorax post.  After me, there are only 4 stops left, including Sommer at Green & Clean Mom tomorrow. Check out all the stops on the blog tour - each one has a different perspective!

2/20 New Green Mama

2/21 The Green Parent  

2/22 Eco Child’s Play

2/23 The Smart Mama  

2/24 My Plastic Free Life  

2/27Retro Housewife Goes Green

2/28 Groovy Green Livin

2/29 Mindful Momma

3/1 Green and Clean Mom

2/2 Moms Going Green Blog

2/3   Kitchen Stewardship

2/4 Nature Moms

Do you plan to see The Lorax movie? How do you teach your kids to "speak for the trees?"

(Full disclosure: I was compensated by Universal Pictures to write this post. All opinions are my own.)

 

FruitShare is 100% Delicious!

Imagine a big box of organic fruit arriving on your doorstep one day...with a flyer inside talking about the farmers that grew the fruit and a handwritten thank you from the owner of the company. This happened to me and let me tell you, it was quite a treat! It didn't take long for me to break into those juicy blueberries!

The box came from FruitShare, a Minnesota based company that delivers certified organic fruit to lucky customers all year long. The mission behind FruitShare is to connect organic family farms to consumers who want great tasting, in season, pesticide free fruit. FruitShare works with organic growers all over the country, with an emphasis on local, then regional, then national. The fruit is shipped direct from farm to FruitShare and does not spend time hanging out in a warehouse like most conventional fruit. They make it easy by delivering direct to your home, workplace or school.

Wouldn't this make a fantastic birthday, new baby, housewarming, thank you or teacher gift? They even have a fundraiser program - I'd much rather sell organic fruit than wrapping paper or chocolate bars!

We loved our FruitShare fruit! I bet you would too! To entice you to try them out, I can offer you a 5% discount on your first order. Just use the code MINDFULMOMMA at checkout. Trust me, it's 100% delicious!!

Have you ever bought a fruit share or fruit CSA?

{Full disclosure: FruitShare sent me a free box of fruit in exchange for my honest opinion}

Daily Eco-Deals: Feast or Fatigue?

Do you go wild for daily deals or do you find them overwhelming? I subscribe to a bunch....but I have to admit....I've never bought a thing from any of them. I find I just can't keep up with all the emails. On any given day I might take a peek at one or two and while I love checking out cool, new products, unless I have a specific need for something, I am not likely to press the BUY button.

Green, health or cause-minded consumers have no shortage of daily sites to choose from. Here are the eco-minded daily sites on my radar:

Eco Mom  - An kid-focused eco-conscious shopping site offering organic food, skincare, toys, clothing, baby gear, home safety products and more. The nice thing is that you can still find the product (albeit at full price) after the daily deal is over. Sample Daily Deal:  LOVE reusable stash-it bags at almost 50% off + free shipping.

Blissmo  - Organic and eco-friendly products at up to 70% off. The company mission is to promote sustainable consumption for a happier, healthier people & planet. Deals last for 2-3 days but once the deal is done, it's done.  Sample Daily Deal:  3-Tier Tiffin with Carrier Bag and Bamboo Utensil Set from To-Go Ware:  $53 Value for $25 (53% savings).

Green Deals -  Discounts and deals from local and national green online businesses approved by Green America.  Deals appear to last for about a week.  Sample Daily Deal: 33% off All-Natural Shampoo, Conditioner, and Lotion from Sonoma Soap Company.

Daily Grommet - An online marketplace with a daily feature created to help people buy products and services that align with their values. You won't necessarily be getting a special price but this is a really great place to find unique products that you won't find anywhere else. Features include products for green and eco-living, health and wellness, food and drink, fair trade gifts and even donations to charitable organizations.  Sample Daily Feature: Moultonology Garden Bon Bons - seed balls that look like chocolate truffles - you have to see them to believe!

Milkshake - Another feel-good marketplace selling "goods that give back".  Milkshake invites readers to discover products, people, causes and companies that are making a difference and then inspires them to take action. Similar to Daily Grommet, the focus is less on the "deal" and more on spending your dollar wisely. Sample Daily Feature: Blackberry Farm Pickles and Preserves - straight from a working farm in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.

Other daily deal sites like Groupon and Mamapedia occasionally offer eco-friendly products and locally targeted deals but you have to wade through a lot of stuff you probably don't want or need before you find anything of interest.

What daily sites do you subscribe to?  Have you ever actually bought anything?  Do you think they provide a helpful service or just encourage consumerism?

Getting Kids To Eat Their Veggies: Root 4 Kids

For many health-conscious parents, life without Annie's bunnies or mac & cheese would be very sad indeed. What they might not know is that Annie (yes, there is a real Annie!) has been advocating for healthy food for over 20 years!  She started small with the goal to create healthy food that Moms felt good about feeding their families.  While the company has grown by leaps and bunnies, they have remained true to their mission over time....as evidenced by their new Root 4 Kids campaign.

Root 4 Kids is a movement intended to inspire kids to dig real food.  Both literally and figuratively.  Why?  Because too many kids out there have never tried a fresh pepper, much less planted one.  The goal of the campaign is to get 1 million kids to eat and plant new veggies from now through harvest 2011.  To achieve this goal Annie's has partnered with the National Farm to School Network, a nationally recognized, collaborative non-profit that connects schools with local farms to provide healthy school lunches, classroom education and hands-on learning through school gardens.

Get started by joining the movement and planting a veggie in the virtual garden.  Then visit the Eat, Love, Play and Dig sections of the website to learn more about what you can do to spread the veggie love.  You could even win a Farm to School program or garden for your school! 

Does your school have a garden or any type of nutrition education for kids?  Do you have any tips for getting kids to dig real food?  Please share!

(Did you have a chance to check out any of the Parent Earth videos I blogged about last week?  Pretty cool, huh?  Stay tuned for part 3 of my little series on Getting Kids to Eat Their Veggies - coming tomorrow!)

A Day at the CSA Farm

Most Fall Sunday afternoons in this testosterone-rich household are spent watching guys running around with footballs.  Thankfully yesterday, the family team of choice had a day off and I convinced my boys (2 kids + Dad!) to head out to the farm where we buy our vegetable CSA share for their annual Fall potluck. 

Common Harvest Farm is out near Osceloa, WI - about a 75 minute drive from our house in the Twin Cities.  It was a gorgeous day for a drive and a picnic - sunny, clear blue sky, about 60 degrees - my idea of the perfect fall day!!  When we arrived, we were met by Margaret, one of the owners, who gave us the run-down on what was going on (and how to find the compost toilet!) 

We plopped down on our picnic blanket, listened to the lively music and feasted on an incredible array of healthy dishes including a yummy kale & fennel salad that John made.

My favorite part was seeing the long rows of vegetables - especially the purple & green kale!

And check out all the squash in the storage shed - there was tons!!

Liam's favorite part was the animals.  We took a ride on a wagon pulled by horses and got to visit the pigs.  Liam loved the pigs!

Drew spent most of his time playing with his pigskin (football) and sampling desserts....but here he is checking out the CSA box assembly line:

I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live on a farm.  It's SO different from our urban life.  It's beautiful but it's hard work.  I'm hoping to bring the family out for a work day sometime - to give them (and me!) a taste of what it's really like to work on a farm.  Hmmmm....better check that football schedule....

Random Updates

Um, where has summer gone??  How is it that the beginning of the school year is only 2 weeks away?  (my kids are starting a week before labor day this year - outrageous!) Just thought I'd fill you in on a few random things since I clearly won't have time to write a separate post on each.

The Garden:  Remember when I was lamenting my pest-ridden garden?  Well, I'm happy to say that my broccoli is flourishing and I've got a bumper crop of basil!!  But have you seen the price of pine nuts lately?  I think I'll be using walnuts in my pesto next time.  How is your garden growing?

The CSA:  Joy of joys - we got sweet corn in our CSA yesterday!!  A huge wind storm damaged the corn crop at our CSA farm in Wisconsin and I wasn't sure if we would be getting any.  It's kind of wild having a vested interest in the well-being of a farm that I have never even visited (yet).  Each week we get an update on what's coming in the box and what's going on at the farm.  This week we learned about various ailments that have hit the vegetables:  purple leaf blotch that causes onions to go rotten and alterneria blight that has hit the tomatoes.  Right now I'm feeling very thankful to the farmers who grow my organic vegetables and I'm more than happy to take on my (very little) part of the risk.

The Green Moms Carnival:  I'm hosting this month and the subject is back-to-school!!  Do you have any ideas to share about eco-friendly ways to head back to school?  Feel free to contact me and submit a post for the carnival -I'd love to hear from some new voices!  It's going live on Monday, August 23rd.  

(Speaking of back-to-school, be sure to check back here next Monday for a review and giveaway of the Healthy Snacks To Go eBook from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship.  It's a back-to-school must!)

The House: We are gearing up for a major remodel of our 100+ year old house. I almost don't even want to tell you about it because it involves lead paint and some eco/financial trade-offs.  Thankfully the lead paint will be gone soon and the plan is to re-side our house in eco-friendly Hardie board.  We'll be adding a lot of insulation too.  Meanwhile, does anyone have a recommendation for a good vacuum with a Hepa filter? 

On another note, I did a radon test in our basement awhile back and it came back a bit above normal.  They suggested doing a 3 month test so I did.  Just got the results back and they came back normal!  Big sigh of relief.  (FYI - you can order test kits online and they are super easy to use)

That's all for now!  See you next week.