Happy Earth Day!

It's that day of the year again, where we set aside our normal routines and green things up a bit.  I do, anyway.

One of the things that I believe most strongly in is advocating for those who can't, and that includes our earth.  I don't just do it for myself, though, I do it to get the children involved and teach them a sense of personal responsibility for the planet we live on.

Now, activism with children is not taking them out on a greenpeace boat and attempting to destroy fishing boats and fishing nets.  No, activism can be much more subtle and age appropriate.  Activism is simply taking steps towards restoring and saving the resources we have available to us.

For example, right now in Florida, our groundwater is being tapped and pumped for companies to use for bottled water.  This is causing a multitude of problems, including backflow of rivers into our natural springs, causing "brown outs" of the normally crystalline blue waters.  Kinder Major has become quite the activist, writing letters and sending them to the water management district, the EPA, our governor, and even the private water bottling companies themselves.  She has, in a stroke of child genius, included pictures she's drawn of the fun times she's had in those springs and rivers, and what she feels will happen to them if the continued draws keep occurring.

Activism can be simpler than that, even.  We were briefly involved in a project called "The Need-A-Bag project." The premise was simple - provide reusable shopping bags to the patrons of our local farmer's market.  Due to a lack of response in the area we chose to open our branch we no longer participate, but that small act was activism alone.

If you're the type that is hesitant to go out and be bold due to whatever reason, remember that even the small act of responsibly growing one's own veggies is a form of activism.  Sustainable agriculture, no matter how small, is one of the many ways we as citizens can rebel against large corporations like Monsanto who are intent on dominating the agricultural market.  Growing your own food, visiting farmer's markets, purchasing from local small farmers - those are all ways you can get involved and be part of the global movement.  Not to mention that it's wonderful fun for the kids to get out there and get dirty, after which they get to witness the magic that is a garden- their garden- grow.

Don't have enough land to grow a full garden? No worries.  Pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, berries, radishes, carrots, herbs, and many other edible plants can be easily grown in containers on a back porch or balcony.  If you're unsure of what you need or how to do it, ask here, ask at your local nursery, but do make sure you ask.  There's nothing quite as satisfying as a meal made with the literal fruits of your labor.

Kinder Major starting seeds for pumpkins, green beans, tomatos and squash.

Don't just sit around today, folks.  Get involved.  Get your kids involved.  Go pick up trash in a local preserve, plant a garden, start some seeds, offer up some of your extra re-usable shopping bags at a market.  Do something.  This is our planet and our society.  Use this earth day as a wake-up call and make it count so that EVERY day becomes earth day.

XOXO,

Accidentally Mommy.

Putting some Spring into your step! Or your lawn, or your terrace, or your patio...

I've been covering a lot of heavy stuff lately, it seems.  Not to say that any of that is unimportant - I wouldn't have posted about it if it wasn't.  However, I do feel that it's time for a much-needed change of mood!

Spring in GreenSwamp, Florida is a BEAUTIFUL sight.  There are so many different shades of green that Crayola would pee their pants if they came and hung out for a while.  Azalea bushes, Orange trees, Wisteria, Magnolia trees, Plum trees... the list of things blooming with beautiful flowers and scents is endless.

It is also THE time to start your gardens in GreenSwamp.

Here we have Kinder Major showing off her greenhouse and the seedlings we've started for our vegetable garden:

Those seedlings were planted by her in re-constituted growing pellets (the flat, hockey-puck looking discs of soil they sell exactly for that purpose,) and she also helped assemble our mini-green house.

Show right to left are Bell Peppers, Big Boy Tomatoes, and Zucchini and Crookneck Squashes.

Planting seedlings is probably one of THE best activities you can do with a younger child.  Their tiny little fingers are perfect for poking seeds down in the soil, and they (as I'm sure you well know,) really love to get their hands dirty.

You also don't need a fancy green house like ours to have seedling success.

There's a couple of different options available to you if you really want to actively ensure a proper sprout and start for your seedlings.  You can build your own green house for indoor seedlings, or you can build little individual greenhouse covers for seedlings you start directly in the ground outside.

For an indoor greenhouse, you can do one of two things:  You can buy a kit like I did, or you can DIY your own out of upcycled materials.

The kits can be found at any home improvement store and run from $50 and up.

Building your own can be done for under that amount, depending on what you have on hand and what you think you can get from freecycle/yard sales.

Start out with a three (or more) shelf bookcase.  I like the ones that have slats with spaces between them for shelves, because they allow the light to filter through to the shelves below, so you only have to use one light.  Install a shop light with a full-spectrum grow bulb under the top shelf.  (you will only be using the shelves below the grow light.)  Using a large piece of plastic sheeting like those used for painter's drop cloths, cover the bookcase on all sides.  Depending on how you arrange your plastic sheeting, you may need to cut yourself a flap for access.  Make sure to tack the sheeting down, you don't want it falling off the shelf unit.

Ta-da!  Easy, cheap greenhouse.  There are some excellent tips to be found at Charley's Greenhouse.  (I have no affiliation with Charley, I simply stumbled across his site when I was looking for ideas long ago, and have been visiting it faithfully ever since.)

The other option you have available to you  is starting your seeds outside, in the ground.  To ensure that they have the best chance at germinating, you may want to place individual portable greenhouses around them.  This... is ridiculously easy.

Get yourself a two-liter bottle, like the kind Coke or Pepsi come in.  Trim off the very bottom.  Wash out.  Place on top of planted, watered seeds.  Push down 1" to secure.  Remove cap.  Voila!  Insta-green house.  Removing the cap is important, because you want that area to be able to get air without letting out too much of that valuable condensation or heat.

These tips are guaranteed to help even those with the blackest of thumbs.  At the very least, we can lighten your thumbs to a lovely shade of beige. ;)

Go forth, plant and enjoy!  Live, Love, Garden.  :)

Feeding our families, souls and communities.

Before I go on, I'd like to let you all know that I'm not preaching.  Quite frankly, there are very few things that I'm passionate about enough to personally preach.  I simply want to share my experiences.

I became a locavore quite by accident.  I had known about the locavore movement, but didn't put much thought into it.  I shopped at a grocery chain that made it a point to use as much semi-local produce as possible, where I checked origins and made it a point to skip over anything non-US grown and avoided anything that deviated from the Southeastern area.  For a time, that was enough. Then I discovered the gems that are my local Farmer's Markets.  THAT'S when I was converted.  A sunny, summer afternoon spent people-watching, chatting up vendors, and buying some of the most beautiful tomatoes and Muscadine grapes I had ever laid my eyes on, all the while snacking on beautifully made artisan bread still warm from a vendor that gave it to us for free, in exchange for a smile and a hug from my outgoing and bubbly toddler.

Kinder Major after we got home from our first market adventure, circa July 2006!

That afternoon got me hooked on the soul-food that is interacting with the community in a small yet impacting manner, as well.  As my daughter played at my feet and I watched the busy goings-on of the downtown market, I saw many beautiful things.  Families still smudged with dirt, vending from the tailgates of beat-up 20 year old pickups laughed and played together between customers.  Mothers brought their children and fed them directly from the stands they just purchased their foods from.  Indigent residents came and bartered and haggled to afford vital fresh veggies and fruits that otherwise wouldn't be available to them, that provided them with the nourishment necessary to keep them going just that much longer.  Students, professionals, young, old, fashionable, scene, hippy... you name the demographic, it was represented.  It was and is a breathtakingly beautiful melding of our community, all gathered together to laugh and play.  Smiles are abundant between strangers, which we all know is a rarity in today's society.

These markets are so much more than food markets.  Locally made crafts, clothes and gift items, vocal advocacy for political and social issues, musicians, dancers, artists... they all gather to ply their wares, stances and performances.  There's something that appeals to every sense.

It's markets like these that truly feed us as a society.  Not just by providing nourishment for our bodies, but economic nourishment, social nourishment, and soul nourishment in the form of hope.  In today's society where so many are isolated by choice and by chance, these markets provide us with the opportunity to come together for a common purpose.  It provides the necessary soul-ular (get it?  Soul-ular instead of cellular?  I'm punny =P) vitamins of smiles, kindness, laughs and camaraderie.  It helps to rebuild our faith in our fellow man, if only for a few hours each week.

I didn't become a locavore to spit in the face of Big Agriculture, nor to perpetuate a socio-political movement or simply because my friends were doing it and it was trendy.  I became a locavore because I realized that by feeding my family the (literal) fruits of my neighbors' labor, I was feeding their families as well as my soul and our communities. 

This year I plan to take my locavore-ism to the next step, with a garden that should produce enough to feed my family comfortably, as well as allow me to reach out individually to someone who is in need, since there will undoubtedly be more than enough to share.  I've said in jest that even in the worst-case scenario, I would have enough extra to set up my own vendor's stall at the market, but that goes against what it feels right in my heart to do.  The profit I'm looking for isn't monetary - I want to give back the good feeling I've been blessed to receive that comes with knowing that someone cares about me and my family, and is willing to share their good fortunes with me.  That, in my opinion, is the key motivator behind home-base locavoreism.

So that you gain more than just my rhetoric from this post, I'm going to leave you with links to finding out how to become locavores in your own communities and a recipe.  Happy Nurturing!

http://www.localharvest.org
http://www.eatwellguide.org
http://www.eatwild.com/

Vegetable Squish
***Please note:  All measurements are approximate.  I'm a firm believer that cooking is based more on feeling and heart than measurements and calculations, but I acknowledge that not everyone cooks that way, which is why I provided the estimates.  :)

• 5 large tomatoes (two cans of diced tomatoes can be substituted, or you can mix fresh and canned.  I often make this substitution, simply because tomatoes get eaten like apples in my house and I never have enough left.)
• 4 mid-size crookneck/yellow squash
• 4 mid-size zucchini
• 2 large onions
• 1 TBSP minced garlic
•  Fresh ground pepper, to taste
•  Fresh ground sea salt or kosher salt, to taste

The layers in which you add your veggies is important, so take heed.  In a large pot, add garlic.  Dice tomatoes, making sure to reserve all liquids.  Add to pot.  Coarsely chop onions, add to pot, stir to combine with tomatoes and garlic.  Chop squash and zucchini, making sure to discard ends. Layer on top of the onion/tomato/garlic mixture on the bottom. 


At this point, cover your pot and simmer on low.  The idea is to cook the tomatoes well along with cooking the onions to translucency, while steaming the squash and zucchini.  


After ten minutes of simmering, mix to combine the squash and zucchini with the tomato-onion-garlic mixture.  Cover and simmer until squash and zucchini are tender to taste.  (We like them very mushy, so it's usually another 20 minutes or so for us.  YMMV.)  


When veggies are fork-done to taste, add ground pepper and the salt of your choice, mixing to incorporate.  Cover for another five minutes to let flavors mingle.  Remove from heat and serve over white or brown rice, or egg noodles.


I generally serve this over white rice with stew beef marinaded in a honey-sesame teriyaki sauce.  It's a very flexible dish, though, so experiment and enjoy!