Greenblog

Stop Smart Meters

2012-01-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

On the Seventh Day of Christmas_Visit holiday displays

2011-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

We live in a great city for Christmas events and displays, and are only a sky-train ride to Vancouver for even more free family events! Here in New Westminster there are many holiday celebrations taking place. Staring with lighting of a large Christmas tree in Hyack Square at the end of The Parade of lights AKA the Santa Clause Parade, held in early December.

New Westminster has a large Merry Christmas sign on City hall!

Irving House, built in 1865, is a beautiful place to visit to experience a recreation of a traditional 19th century Christmas. A little further west you can visit The Burnaby Village Heritage Christmas.

Spending time in this village is like stepping back in time. There is even an antique carousel and the best salt water taffy for sale in the gift shop.

Venturing downtown Vancouver there are so many great things to see! The lights in Stanley Park are a terrific for the whole family. The annual light display is put on by local firefighters and is a fundraiser for the burn unit. Admission is by donation. There is something really magical about thousands of lights in the forest!

The Bay downtown has a seasonal floor that is a Christmas wonderland and a fantastic way to pass some time if the weather outside is frightful. Be sure to check out the large office building's lobby's, around Georgia and Burrard and Thurlow are all pretty spectacular, Hotels are also incredible . The Four Seasons has a Festival of Trees, which is a collection of sponsored decorated trees, there are themed trees and some are pretty fun! The Hyatt Hotel has an annual gingerbread display with world record setting large gingerbread houses and men!

Downtown you can take the Old Woodward windows display tour at Canada Place. These old fashioned windows are nostalgic and beautiful!

There is a dramatic art instillation at the Vancouver Convention Center so be sure to look for that downtown too. The Douglas Coupland Orca is my favorite, as well as The Drop, although not holiday related, it is a visually stunning piece of art, and worthwhile seeing if you are walking near by in Vancouver.

When you are downtown there are many unexpected things you can see just walking around enjoying the atmosphere. There are plenty of family friendly events that are free or reasonably priced. Many of these things run past Christmas and into the new year so enjoy some Christmas cheer and be a tourist in your your own city.

On the sixth day of Christmas; The gift of experiences

2011-12-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ava and I attended the Royal City Youth Ballet's The Nutcracker. This was our first time at the ballet! As a family we usually try to see some live performance as part of our holiday season.
It is fun to attend plays, musicals and special events like this with your family for the holidays.
There is no waste and the memories will last a lifetime, and can inspire a child in many ways.

A few weeks ago we also saw The Wizard of Oz at the Carousal Theatre on Granville Island. This is one of my all time favourite stories! It is fun for all ages and the Carousal Theatre is very reasonably priced. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from seeing live performances and participating in plays and the choir in school. The excitement of live theatre, and the feeling that you are all grown up never leaves you.

Many high schools, and colleges also put on plays you can attend for a fraction of the cost of a professional group. You can also find more affordable tickets to matinees, the opera and the symphony. Sometimes you can even get to talk to the performers and really feel like part of the action. This is not the cheapest thing to do for the holidays, but everyone is sure to enjoy themselves and share the love of performance art together.

On the fifth Day of Christmas, waste free wrapping.

2011-12-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year we are making holiday gift bags and wrapping paper from cloth.

We have some left over from last year and we are making more. These bags are reusable and fun! You can buy material on sale in the off season and save it up for this. You can also use non holiday themed prints to make everyday gift bags for birthdays and other gift giving occasions.

We also reuse our old cards every few years. We will save our Christmas cards and cut them out and reuse them to make new cards to send to friends and family.

Another green wrapping idea is to use newsprint and stamp or decorate the paper yourself. This way you can personalize the gifts and don't have the plastic and paper waste from the traditional wrapping paper packaging.

When you plan ahead these idea's are really simple and people love to get gifts you have made yourself and can reuse! It's easy being green and not creating waste.

On the fourth day of Christmas_shop locally.

2011-12-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

So technically yesterday was the fourth day of Christmas, and we went shopping!

I have done some online shopping (LEGO.com) yesterday we went to a few local shops to pick up some great gifts.

We first went to The Urban Gypsy a shop here in New Westminster that carries all sorts of jewelry, art and beautiful furniture. The owner, Jason, travels the world and buys carvings, statues, and hand carved furniture and ships them back to Canada. I bought some beautiful scarves for my mom and sister and a gorgeous carving for my brother and sister in-law.

Recently I discovered an amazing Folk Art shop in gas town, in Vancouver called La Sirena. All the items are made in Mexico, they support small scale artist and bring beautiful art, clothing, jewelry and more to Vancouver!

I love this bag and put it on my wish list, it is perfect for taking to the market, library or beach.

We also love to shop at Ten Thousand Villages They have a number of stores around the lower mainland and exclusively carry fairly traded goods, including coffee, chocolate, toys, stationary, items for the home and garden. It is incredible the variety and quality at this store. You are sure to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list here.

One more great place to shop locally is Great Wall Tea, a shop in the River Market at the Quay in New Westminster, they carry over 150 types of tea and you can sample any type you like. I personally love the Cream Earl Grey and Orange Mate, my kids love the Chocolate Mint, and with flavours specially mixed for the holidays you are sure to find something you will love and will love to give. You can also just stop by on your busy shopping day and take a few minutes to try some tea for yourself.

On the third day of Christmas; Home made goodies as gifts!

2011-12-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

Banana Bread is a popular choice, or Orange Cranberry loaf makes a perfect holiday treat.

This year we will be giving some home made gifts as well as a few store bought ones. We have already done a lot of the work over the summer and fall when we canned fruit, made jam and antipasto!

We usually bake at the holidays. Cookies, cakes, and loaves make perfect gifts that will not be wasted!

Peaches in syrup from the Okanagan this summer.

Strawberry Jam we made in June.

Cynda's Antipasto made in November.

It is easy to plan ahead and make large batches of fruits, jams and even more "complicated" things like antipasto. They are colourful and thoughtful gifts you can feel good about giving to people.

On the second day of Christmas; we put up our lights; LED!

2011-12-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

Yes we have made the switch over to all LED lights for our house and tree this year. Most people are now aware that LED lights use only 10 % of the electricity of incandescent bulbs, they will last many more years and do not get as hot, so they are safer too.

Since 2007 The Home Depot has offered a light exchange as part of their Eco Options Initiative

They offer to responsibly recycle old holiday bulbs and discount LED lights up to 50% to encourage people to make the switch.

Their results are encouraging;

close to 600,000 light strings collected
more then 8000 MWh of energy saved
more then 2,227 tonnes of green house gas emissions prevented(equal to the annual energy consumption of 789 houses)

Lights are so much a part of the holidays. Maybe it is because of the lack of sunlight and the cold colorful Christmas lights always make long winter nights more cheerful and bright.

On the first day of Christmas we put up our tree...

2011-12-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

My 13 year old son, Justin, suggested I write about the 12 GREEN days of Christmas and as it is the 13th of December we figured this is the first day! So I will share our green holiday tips.

Tonight we will decorate our tree. This year we have a real tree. After going back and forth about what is the most environmentally friendly type, we decided on a cut tree.

This link from the National Christmas Tree Association makes some good points about real tress vs artificial.

There is no lead, PVC, plastic or other chemicals in a real tree. They are biodegradable and support farmers. We bought our tree down the road from us at the local hospital fundraiser.

We brought it home on our wagon and will pull it up to the fire hall in January when they do the free tree chipping. Our house smells great, it is like we have a 7 foot air freshener in the living room.

Green Canning Workshop _ November 8th!

2011-10-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

You and your family are invited

What : "Green" Canning workshop

When : Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Time: 6:15 - 8:15 PM

Where: St. Barnabas Church Hall Located at 1010 5th Ave.

Cost: $5.00 Per Family - payable at the workshop

Come and learn how to preserve your own food. Learn up-to-date canning methods and sample some delicious jams, jellies and chutneys. An expert from Bernardin Canning Co. will be demonstrating the boiling water bath technique of canning and will speak about using a pressure canner.

No experience necessary!

You must pre-register register sending an email to

ipenit@fsgv.ca or leave a message at 604-836-1968

Please leave

1) Your name

2) Telephone number and Email address if you have one

3) How many people in your family are attending and if you require childcare - For how many children and ages

Space is limited Register Early!

2011-07-28T16:18:00.002-07:00

Summer is here and so are the bees!

How green it is - Treehugger ?

2011-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today when I visited TreeHugger.com , the mother of all Enviro-blogs , I was ~~shocked~~ ~~saddened,~~ disappointed by the adds that dominated the front page.

The top three advertisements I saw were for an airline, a car company and a petroleum company. Should we expect more from our Eco brothers and sisters over at TreeHugger? As a business person I understand the purpose of business is to make money after all. The purpose of environmental blogs or websites is to inform and inspire better (environmentally sustainable ) living, or so I thought.

Their name surely implies the hippy, happy, Eco- friendly life style. We are all "tree huggers, in a way, we want to lesson our impact and be more accountable. Or do we? Do we really just want a convenient way to continue doing all the consuming, driving, flying, texting, eating, and living that we, in the developed nations, demand and expect.

The answer is clear. Yes we do want to do all this and more. We do want to make a difference, to be better, to be greener.

So what if TreeHugger is making money from advertisers that perpetuate the destruction of the planet? They are, after all, still shining a light on the evil that dominates our green little planet. They offer us vast amounts of information and alternatives, all the while taking money from the multinational corporations that threatens our very existence.

Should we be discouraged by this act of treason? Is this just the cost of doing business in the 21st century? You can talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk, some still prefer to drive.

Food Forest Gardening

2011-07-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was lucky to attend a workshop hosted by The New Westminster Community Gardening Society about Food Forest Gardening.

The term Food Forest may be new to some people. Being a novice gardener myself I only heard about it last year. Although the term and knowledge may be unfamiliar the concept is ancient.

During the workshop we watched a number of short videos including this one about a 300 year old food forest in Vietnam.

As well an ancient food forest over 2000 years old in Morocco.

During the workshop we were given lots of resources as well as some hands on practice as we were at one of the community gardens for the day.

Some ideas we talked about were the concepts of Permaculture, Graywater, and Peak Moment T.V. on youtube.

Regular people growing food is becoming more common, but the way we grow food is changing. GMO's, the green revolution and organic gardening have hit the mainstream. Backyard gardening, community gardens and CSA (community supported agriculture) are growing like wild fires.

Taking an interest in where your food comes from, shopping locally, supporting farmers markets and growing your own back yard (front yard) garden has become common place.

By sharing resources and getting back to the earth each of us are able to take control of our own food destiny.

Planting trees with NWCGS

2011-02-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

On a very snow day this November me and Brennan, from The New Westminster Community Gardening Society, went to check out some trees that had been offered to us for transplanting. The home owners were remodelling their back yard and didn't want everything to go to waste.
I had posted an ad on the Shared Harvest website in the fall looking for trees and shrubs for the garden that is planted at St. Mary's Church on Columbia.
This garden, called The Mary Mount Garden, is the first of two community gardens started last year. It has 15 plots and plans to double in size this spring. The Shared Harvest site allows you to post if you are looking or have items for sale, barter or to give away. It is one more step in creating a secure local food system.

We decided to take some smaller shrubs, wood we could reuse to build more beds, some jasmine plants, lily's, five cherry trees and one magnolia.
We planned to do the work this winter, and on February 5th we had a work party!

We arrived at the home with a half dozen other members and the home owner. We dug out and moved everything quite efficiently. The owners also generously donated a bench and arbour as well as stones to use for building beds.

Ava and Brady dug for worms and checked out the beds back at the garden.

Mark and Brennan staking out spots.

Brady and Autumn are finishing up with this small cherry tree.
The soil was really beautiful here, there was even a lot of compost in the composter and we added some of that as well.

This was a really big worm, it was fully twice this size when we first pulled it out of the ground!

When the gardening society was still forming member and co-founder David Maidman had the idea to build a public orchard. Well we are one step, and six trees closer to that dream today!

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds.
A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy
reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.- Basil

Toys From Trash

2011-02-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I used to play string gam es with my sister and class mates all the time, at recess, on the school bus. Unlike skipping ropes, which were relegated to the girls, everyone played the clapping games. I was searching through a website I had bookmarked as "Toys From Trash" when I came across this string butterfly and it reminded me of those games!

String games and hand clapping games like " see see my play mate" or "miss sue from Alabama" What kids did before ipods and Nintendo's I guess ;)

This page has links to dozens of fun and educational activities, and a whole section called Toys from Trash. It is a great resource! I can't recall where I first heard of it, most likely the homeschooling list I subscribe to as it has inspired and informed me of so many things too numerous count.

Solar Powered Parking meter

2011-01-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I took a trip back east to the town where I grew up, Brampton Ontario.
While walking around the down-town I saw this Solar Powered parking meter!
Not being a driver I just hadn't seen one before. After searching on the Internet I learned Vancouver also has some new Solar Powered parking meters as well!

From calculators, watches and street signs to large solar power plants, Solar technologies are everywhere. Classified as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight, solar power remains a valuable renewable resource!
This diagram is from Sunpetra Solar Energy website.
It shows how a solar power system works .

2010-12-23T01:11:00.000-08:00

Lemon Balm -

2010-11-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

This summer we grew an herb garden!
We planted a number of herbs, including mint, oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, dill, chives, and three types of sage. To our delight, five wild Lemon Balm plants grew on their own!
Lemon balm is a native plant in the mint family.

Lemon balm can be used in tea, in cooking and baking, medicinally it can be used for skin care and it even repels insects.

I dried the plants for quite a while, first outside on the back porch but eventually moved them into our games room in the basement.
Finally today I harvested the plants and now I have four 500 ml jars full!

Such abundance and free! Gifts from the universe :)

New Westminster Environmental Partners AGM

2010-11-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Community Garden Harvest 2010

2010-10-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

Community Garden 2010

everyone helped out

We built key hole style garden beds.

Things grew and grew...

Beyond our wildest imaginations!

garden meeting

Our first pot-luck!

Harvesting worms!

2010-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

This summer, for the first time we "harvested" the compost from our worm composter !
There are many types of worm composters on the market today, some are very fancy and look nice, but a simple Rubbermaid container with some holes drilled in the bottom has worked for us for a number of years.

The compost in this container needed to be separated from the worms. This is quite simple but time consuming. I enlisted the kids to help and they were happy to save the worms for me!

First you need some newspaper or garbage bags, or both like I used. You simply take out the compost and the worms make their way to the bottom of the pile. This is best done on a sunny day in the backyard. Once the compost is spread out you remove the worms,(you could keep some in the compost you are going to use in the garden) We took them out very carefully and returned them to the container.

In the end we were left with many buckets of beautiful compost to add to my garden!
This was in June, and things sure have grown since then! Gotta love those worms! They eat your garbage (food scraps) and give you compost! yeah!

Community Garden Pot Luck

2010-07-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we celebrated our community garden with a pot luck. The New Westminster Community Gardening Society is in it's first year. We have successfully started two community gardens this year. After many meetings, fund-raisers and the hard work of many individuals the dream of a community garden is a reality!

The design came together under the supervision of some innovated individuals, this garden has 15 plots and the plan includes another 15 for next year. We also plan to have fruit trees and an herb garden.

We have been sharing tips and I have already learned a lot from the more experienced gardeners in the group.

We enjoyed all these different foods, the mayor Wayne Wright also attended! The pot luck was held in the church hall, this garden is on the front lawn of the church!

Garden Tips

2010-07-12T15:35:00.001-07:00

From my community Gardens Group this message came through last week and I thought I would share it :)

As some people are still planting and others are harvesting, making
way for more crops;I though I'd give a quick breakdown on what's
perfect to plant at the moment.

July
Direct Seed - Kolrabi, Asian Greens, Beets, Carrots, Scallions,
Turnips
Transplants - Late Cabbage, Cauliflower,

Aug
Direct Seed - Arugula, Carrots, Corn Salad, Overwinter Onions, Radish,
Spinach, Turnips
Transplants - Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts

Sept.
Direct Seed - Corn Salad, Garlic, Rutabagas, Spinach
Sow Lettuce under cover

Happy growing
-Rob

how does your garden grow?

2010-07-03T22:04:00.001-07:00

With the cool spring and not so much sun, I am happy to say most of my plants
are still alive in my garden!

The garden has seen a few casualties so far, I have lost some onions and kale and I can't seem to keep basil alive. I have taken to putting egg shells all around the garden to keep the slugs away.

This is the potato plant (above) I have grown from a potato in my cupboard!!

The Chrysanthemums (mums) I had in planters last year, this year they have doubled! - Romaine Lettuce ~ Zucchini

I have staked up my tomatoes and pea's, you can see my broccoli; top right has gone to flower :(

These beautiful plums are growing over my front lawn - from the neighbouring tree!

I have been lucky enough to harvest a few strawberries so far this year!

After weeding and watering the garden tonight, we picked some cherries from the tree on our front lawn. These are some of the best cherries I have ever eaten if I do say so myself!!

Gotta love summer in the garden!

free water

2010-05-13T15:18:00.001-07:00

Our rain barrel is full! Well it was at least the other day when I went to water my garden! I purchased it from the city last month and hooked it up to the front drain pipe of my house. I didn't think too much about it after that. Our family went on vacation for a few weeks, I guess it has been raining a lot in those two weeks because when I returned home this week and decided to turn the taps on this barrel we had water! LOTS of water! The pressure was akin to the backyard hose!

The city of New Westminster is selling rain barrels for $75 each. A good investment when you factor in the savings from using the hose to water the garden, unlimited recycling, and no chlorine in this water to boot!

I am thrilled as I have only barely started my garden, knowing we would be out of town I selectively planted a few things and lefts most of plants in containers, dreading the cold nights or droughts that may affect them in my absence.
Thanks to my wonderful friend Jenny, and the plethora of rain, all my plants have survived! (with the exception of one small catnip plant that a neighbourhood cat likes to remove from it's container every night!)

My previous gardening experience has been limited to the rooftop gardens I have had while living down town. This is our first year in a house and the possibilities are exciting and a little overwhelming!

I have been dreaming and planning for the warm weather, and now it is here and I need to get our and plant! I read recently that gardening is the number one hobby in Canada ( they must not have asked the hockey fans) I also read that younger people are coming to gardening, but that it is a harsh reality to encounter, as we are used to an instant gratification that does not come the day the seeds are sown, but weeks and months later.

I plan to grow vegetables and flowers, I have two strawberry plants and a raspberry stalk that has already flowered! I have a bunch of herbs, and a backyard plot that is currently overrun with lemon balm and some other interesting looking "weeds" that I will examine further before planting back there.

Gardening is a lot of work and so rewarding! There is nothing like fresh vegetables from your own garden! My basil is already needing some pruning so we will be making pesto this week for sure! I am looking forward to getting into the garden and growing Kale, peas, carrots, chard, beans, peppers, onions and potatoes, it may not sound exciting, but really I can't think of anything I would rather be doing!

Now I am off to water my raspberry stick, um I bean bush!

Bottled Water Free Day- March 11th 2010

2010-03-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

By now most people know that bottled water is bad! Bad for the environment, bad for your health if you factor in that the plastic leaches toxins into the water you are drinking. and bad for your pocketbook, as it costs hundreds of times more then tap water, which is what most bottled water is.

In Canada this March 11th will be the first Bottled Water Free Day!

Watch this short video and visit the website. Learn the facts and tell your friends. Small changes made by everyone will equal big changes felt by everyone.

diggin in

2010-03-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

We are famous! Well I never post pictures of myself or children online, even facebook. Recently things have changed! We are on the cover of the local paper! Here!

I have been volunteering with the local community garden society. I strongly believe in their mandate. To bring people together in the community around growing food!

The community gardening society has been successful in securing our first plot for a garden and it is just steps away from my house! There are a number of initiatives under way in the city of New Westminster. Including the community gardens, farmers market, community kitchens, an environmental partners organisation, and a food security group.

Knowing where our food comes from and how to grow food is becoming more important to many people.
To be sustainable we need our food source to be local and to take personal responsibility for food choices.

Every thing you can grow yourself bring you one step closer to nature and you will reap more then a few herbs and vegetables. Growing food is more satisfying then you can imagine! Why not try something new this year and grow your own?

We need a Food Revolution

2010-03-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

I just watched this great talk by world renowned chef Jamie Oliver. In this twenty minute video he talks about our food culture, and a need for real tangible change.
We are on the verge of a global health catastrophe and we need a revolution!

the worms live!

2010-02-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

As I posted a while back we are now composting all our food scraps and yard waste into a large composter! It was always my intention to start using the big compost bin, and had my old worm composter in the backyard for a number of months untouched. I feared that I had killed all of my worms! When I started we had 300 red wigglers. The worm composter was so successful we were emptying the bottom tray every week as it filled with "compost tea"
After we moved we had many distractions, family visiting, a big wedding and general new house issues and the composting fell to the bottom of our list.

When I saw the "One Small Change" challenge posted by hipmountainmama, I renewed my resolve to start composting again! I moved the large compost bin and began. I still left my old poor worms for "another day" as I thought it may be a lost cause.

I was pleasantly surprised to find so many worms in it I couldn't count them! Those little wigglers are hardy! So my old balcony worm compost bin is half full of compost with food still in there to keep the worms going for some time. I am not sure what to do with the worms now, maybe I will leave them for a while and then harvest them in the warmer weather.

Who knows maybe we will go fishing this summer with some of our own home grown bait! Talk about full circle!

Colours

2010-02-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

I have had this basket of dried leaves since the fall. I have been meaning to compost them. We originally collected them for thanks giving because when I was growing up we always decorated the house with beautiful leaves we would find for thanksgiving dinner.
I couldn't believe how the colours had lasted, and although they will crumble if you touch them, they are frozen in time and now here forever beautiful.
(click to enlarge)

One small change - February

2010-02-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

As we enter another month in the One Small Change Challenge I have to admit it was a little difficult to find something to change. No, I am not "Mother Earth" incarnated, but my family and I are very aware of how our actions affect the environment. I decided to ask my husband and son what they thought we should do for the next three months of challenges. They had some great ideas! Let me start with last months change and then go on.

In January we started to compost our vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, and yard waste. I found there are some more things we can compost as well, dryer lint is one, and pencil sharpenings are another! It has been a very easy transition and we can actually skip a week of garbage pick up almost undetected!
On to February.. For this month and from now on we are going to reduce and hopefully eliminate our use of "single use items" these include coffee and drink cups, disposable cutlery, condiment packages, take out containers, disposable napkins and tissues. This may seem like a lot, but really we already use cloth for most things around the house so we are just going to be sure to bring them along with us when we go out, especially to eat.
I wrote a post on my website here about many of the options available to use in place Styrofoam take away boxes. We just need to be diligent and remember to bring a container when we go out, in case we have left overs or want to get something to go! This idea has been on my mind for a long time and as you can see from the top picture, the amount of garbage created everyday in an average food court is unbelievable. I think these things should have an environmental tax on them, and restaurants should be given incentives to provide compost-able or recycled materials in there take away items, but that is a post for another day!

For now we are going to be more aware of the garbage we create both inside our house and when we are out. We decided that if it is necessary to buy and use some single use items we must bring it home and compost it or reuse it!

One not so small change, but a challenge to be sure!

For the birds

2010-01-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend the kids and I attended a wonderful exhibit about birds of prey. It was held at The Fraser River Discovery Centre.

We saw all types of birds that had been "stuffed" and were in many natural poses, some with their prey! The kids loved to build the bird houses, we made one for my dad too, as you can't have more then one per house Chick-a-Dee's are very territorial!
We are hoping that Chick-a-Dees will nest in our box this spring! We have seen dozens of these cute birds at our tray feeder this winter and would love to have some babies to observe too!

We are planning on taking part in this years annual Great Backyard Bird Count starting in February. I also wrote about another event that involves counting bees this spring and summer, on my website here.

I know it is still deep winter, but we are very eager for spring around here!

Making changes - getting back to the Earth

2010-01-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

My one small change project is going great! This is my second post about it. I officially began only a week ago, that was when I read a blog by hipmountainmama. She had issued a challenge to everyone who reads her blog to make one small change each month until Earth Day, April 22, to be more environmentally friendly and help the earth.

Luckily I had already made an "unofficial" resolution to get back to composting my food scraps. I had been using a small worm composter from our apartment balcony before me moved.

On an unseasonably warm day last week I decided to check out the condition of the old compost bin that was left by the previous tenants. To my delight I found the container more then half full of rich black soil, full of worms and ready for planting!! For a gardener, even a novice like me, I know this is the good stuff, black gold if you will.

Once the composter was empty I moved it to the far back corner of my backyard and started using it!

The weather was so nice I ended up turning the soil in my garden bed. I know it is still January and sewing season is still far off, but I expect my seed catalogue to arrive any day and the planning and sprouting will begin!

Kale Chips!

2010-01-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

I don't know what is going on in the culinary world, but it seems that Kale chips have sprung onto the menu everywhere!!

I first heard about this crispy delight a few months ago at a food sustainability seminar hosted at the public library. The speaker was a well informed foodie. whose true love is food sustainability. (her name escapes me but I will fill in later) She has many ideas and information to share about growing and sustaining local foods. Either by backyard gardening, buying in local co-ops, farmers markets and other food sharing programs like the fruit tree sharing project.

One secret she shared was a fantastic recipe I just made again today to go with lunch.

Crispy Kale Chips! The recipe is simple;

De-stalk kale and cut into 3 inch pieces
place on roasting pan
add Olive oil,a small amount of apple cider vinegar, and salt
bake in hot oven at 350 for ten minutes
the kale will crisp up like chips in a few minutes
serve and enjoy!

A few weeks after the lecture where I first hear of the kale chips, a mum brought Kale chips to a home learing drop in. It was on someone else's blog yesterday and then again today I heard a reference to "Baked Kale" and "Kale chips"! I guess good news travels fast.

Besides being an extremely healthy and surprisingly delicious snack it is also an incredible sustainable crop as it grows year round in B.C. _ this does not explain why I have yet to find any of locally grown variety at the major chain groceries over past few weeks.
I will check out the winter farmers market this weekend and hopefully find a local source of this super food soon!

P.S. My kids and husband love these "chips" and that's enough for me!

Photo credit: EcoQuaker

One small change

2010-01-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

I have taken up the challenge put forward by hipmountainmama to make one small change for the planet each month between now and Earth Day (April 22, 2010)

I already have a pile of idea's of things I will try and incorporate into my routine, but this months idea has been needed for a long time.
- to compost food scraps!

I had my worm composter going strong for the past year. While we were apartment dwellers it was very important to me to keep it monitored. However when we moved to a house this summer I left the worms outside in the backyard and didn't really drain it properly and check it the same. I know I am a worm murderer. but maybe not. I will check it tomorrow and see what the damage is.

I am going to empty out the old "earth machine" read big black composter the city sells each spring, that was left here by the previous tenets and see if I can use it!

One thing I don't understand is why the spell-check does not recognise the word composter??? How environmentally unfriendly! - but it also doesn't accept homeschooling as a word either- go figure :)

the real home school

2010-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

When I was little The Family Circus was my favourite cartoon. I would look for it every weekend in the coloured pull out comics section. There was something so great about this family,full of kids and animals, a beautiful mom and a dad who worked hard and still had time to play down on the floor with the kids.

Now that I am a mom myself I find the ideal the was represented is hard to match, but still it is just an endearing as ever.

I particularly love this one I found last week. I admit because we are home schoolers and I honestly believe that the earth is the best teacher we all have.

Putting up some plums

2009-07-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got a knock on the door from a neighbour asking if we were going to use our plums! He said he would gladly take them off our hands (and our tree) for us.

We have only been in this house for a few weeks. We noticed the trees were full of plums and cherries when we moved in but we were busy with a family wedding and house guests as well as the unpacking and the general chaos of moving, we all but forgot about these little beauties!

We were able to gather a couple of pounds from the ground and just shaking the tree lightly. My dad just brought over his step ladder to aid in the harvesting! We will be canning and making jam this week!

I have been looking online for recipes using honey as I have a few jars of local raw honey I got from a home schooling family last month, I wrote about it here on my website URBNgreen.com

I have great memories of making jam and canning tomatoes with my mom and aunts when I was little, I hope the current heat wave subsides soon as I can't imagine standing over a boiling pot in this temperate right now!

I will post my recipe and more pictures when I am done!

Summer is here!

2009-06-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

Canada Geese Goslings

Mallard duck and two ducklings

Salmon Berries on the trail.

Water Lilies in bloom on Beaver Lake

Stanley Park Rose Garden June 2009

2009-06-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

This week we went to the Rose Garden in Stanley Park. I love it here in June, no wonder so many people take wedding pictures here. Beautiful!

For Jackie

Vancouver Car Free Day 2009!

2009-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Car Free Day in the city of Vancouver. We celebrated by attending the festivities in our neighbourhood.

Taking to the streets!

Out door Cafe for Car Free day on Denman street.

Live music at Car Free Denman street 2009!

We live in one of the most pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods in North America! We don't own a car like many people who live in the West End of Down Town Vancouver!

Spinning Poi

There were many wonderful activities there, including double dutch skipping, Giant Chess games, Live bands playing, Poi spinning, Square Dancing, dinning on the streets, bouncy castles, bubble blowing, chalk drawing, and many hands on activities at different tables set up along Denman Street!

How sweet it is!

2009-06-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Our peas have come up in our rooftop garden!

From the garden; mustard greens and lettuces!
This weekend we were happy to see so much has grown in our garden! Most of our greens were ready to pick and a lot of it had "bolted" which means they have sprouted flowers or " gone to seed" Our garden goddess, Jackie, has been a huge help and suggested we pull all the greens and eat them now so we did!

I made a birthday dinner for my brother on Sunday, and accidentally served him a lady bug with his salad, well you know it is fresh and no pesticides! He was a good sport and ate the rest of his salad after I removed our little friend.

NUMBERS

2009-06-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

I have been reading some wonderful and inspirational blogs like this one and the blogger had a challenge to look for numbers in our lives and photograph them!

I took the challenge to find numbers today on our walk. As we live in a big city numbers are everywhere, at the beach, the library, on the street, in the store, at home.

I liked to look at these numbers and think of what another meaning could be. This photo is from a news paper box, but also to remind us we have 24 hours every day for free!

To see all my numbers check out the new photo box I added from Flickr

Goo

2009-06-09T12:00:00.001-07:00

When you live in a rainy city you have to find new ways to keep your little ones busy.
Today my daughter asked me to make "Goo" so we did.
The recipe is simple; 1 part corn starch, 1 part water, food colouring, mix and have fun!
We used up our old green food colouring for this project, (we don't eat this stuff anymore)
If you want to get experimental try using natural food colouring from pickled beets, turmeric or berries.
This Goo is fun to play with and clean up is easy, my four year old spent the better part of the morning playing happily with the stuff!

Roof Top Garden

2009-06-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our roof top garden has already yielded dozens of radishes and mustard greens. Last week we tied up the peas and planted a pepper plant!

Emergence

2009-06-05T15:23:00.001-07:00

This spring my kids and I were lucky enough to witness one of natures miracles in our own home!

We ordered some Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars from a home schooling distributor in Canada. Six arrived in mid May via Fed Ex as larvae in a small deli container!

We put them in a terrarium ($2 flea market) to observe their life cycle and transformation!

We kept a log of their progress;

May 12 - Caterpillars arrive, all are about 1.5 - 2 cm in length
May 13 - All look bigger except one- we name him Smally. They move and eat all day!
May 16 - Most are about 3.8 cm long, moving faster, eating all the food!
May 18 - Longest is about 6.5 cm long! A small yellow line appears on their sides
May 20 - Four of the caterpillars have moved to the lid and hung down and folded over!
May 23 - Smally is the last one to hang down and form his Chrysalis (cocoon)
May 26 - All are in Chrysalis form, the food is all gone, no movement from them
May 27 - Two emerge!! They hang from the top, some colour drips from them, this looks like blood but is not, it is either dye or meconium (waste products) they both open their wings within about 30 min of emergence!! They flutter around a little!
May 29 - all but one are hatched! We put a wet cloth (we couldn't find our sponge) into the terrarium for moisture, and a little orange Gatorade as directed by instructions for a food source until we release them. We have a near drowning in the Gatorade at first and change the container to a dish, then one decides to "rest" in the Gatorade overnight, causing him to dye himself orange!! We named him Gatorade!
May 30 - We release five butterflies! They all fly away, not too far at first but fly none the less!
June 2 - Smally emerges!!! He looks great, perfect just like the others
June 3 - We release Smally!

Overall it was a great experience. Painted Lady Butterflies are the most common Butterflies in the world. They are beneficial insects as they are pollinators. They add colour and joy to everyone who sees them! It was an honour to be a part of their lives for the short time we had them and would recommend anyone who is interested in learning about butterflies to try and raise some too!

2009-05-24T21:22:00.001-07:00

Is it ironic that I put google adds on this blog, not on my website, where I have previously written about how I don't use certain products, namely Tide, because of there horrible record for animal testing and wouldn't you know it the first add to appear on my blog, my "green" blog, was from Tide! Something about Eco-tide, something. but you can't win in this situation.

I decided a long time ago to support the good where I can find it. No, I don't buy "Eco" tide or any of the mainstream brands like that, but I will shop for organic food at Safeway or Presidents choice brands. I don't want to fight "the man" I am just one person, but I know my buying power does count for something.

So what if ads for Tide or even Walmart show up on my blog? Am I a supporter by default?
I have to trust that other people see the reality of what supporting unethical companies does to the planet. I believe in free choice, how informed is that choice? Well that is the question

Spring in my neighbourhood

2009-05-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I have taken of spring in Vancouver!

Shop Smarter

2009-05-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

That is the purpose of the sustainable living expo on right now at the new Vancouver Convention Centre.

For the third year I am volunteering at EPIC! I am a strong believer in supporting ethical, fairly traded, organic and local products. Epic gives consumers an opportunity to sample products, talk with business owners and find out what is new and exciting in many areas of green consumerism.

There are hundreds of products to try at EPIC this year. There are fashion shows, food and beverages, health and beauty products, travel and recreation, transportation, business products, recycling information, energy & technology, kids and babies products, pets, community and finance information.

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about companies I have met and products I bought or sampled at EPIC.

The world is getting greener and the people who are spear heading the movement want you to join them! Come and check out EPIC tonight or tomorrow, Sunday, May 10th from 11-5, at the new Vancouver Convention Centre, beside Canada place. (the future site of the media headquarters for the 2010 Olympic games)

Roof Top Garden

2009-05-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, time to get dirty and sow some seeds.
My youngest daughter has started a roof top garden at the local community centre.

We have planted radishes, peas, beans, lettuce, mustard greens, beets, and flowers! Things have already started to sprout and this weekend we spent some time thinning the radishes and replanting some.

When you live in the city you have to take opportunities to be in nature and the roof top garden is a special oasis hidden away from the hundreds of people who pass by daily.

In some large cities in China and Cuba food must be grown in the city because there is no other option. We are looking forward to the farmers markets that will be starting soon! Until then it's the roof for us!

Eco Loot Bags

2009-05-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Loot bags are one of the best parts of the birthday party experience and this year we decided to put an Eco twist on ours. We painted each guests name on their bag then had paints, markers and pastels for everyone to customize their own. These little bags can be reused to store many treasures, snacks, trading cards or whatever you choose.
In our loot bags we included notebooks, stickers, Earthzone recycled pencils, organic lollipops and chocolate bars.
Last week I found some great Ripley' s Believe it or not books on clearance and included them as well.
We has prizes of a slinky or Rubik's cubes .
Finally I included some flower seeds for each bag, I thought this would allow the kids to have another activity to do later while providing more beauty for us and food for bees!

2009-04-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

Living on the west coast we are lucky to live so close to nature.

This tire washed up on English Bay last week.