It's Easy Being Green

I’ve seen the commercials a million times over the course of my 30 years on this planet.  A parent wakes up in the middle of the night to a coughing, sniffling, horribly sounding baby who is very sick.  It’s not until it is actually your child playing that part that you know how it feels.

That was our night last night.  Cuddled in bed, Homestead Hottie and I were three hours deep into our Dexter marathon.  We’ve all been battling what we dub an upper respiratory “disease” since the day after Christmas.  Tracking back, we think the disease made its way into our normally sickness free house via some items we picked up on Freecycle.  It was a dirty Evansville apartment complex and an undoubtedly dirty family that granted us this thoughtful gift.  We normally disinfect every such item like this before it comes inside but we let our guard down this time and we’ve paid for it.

With the clock sneaking toward the 12:30am mark and our eyelids finally beginning to grow heavy, we heard our Darling Daughter wake up and immediately get very upset; a night terror we thought.  We let her go for a few minutes because we’ve learned not to rush in on the process of self-soothing.  The more upset she got though the more we knew something was wrong.  Clomping down the stairs we both froze in sheer horror at the sound of our daughter barking like a seal, clearly struggling to control her breathing and draw in a deep breath.

Rushing into her room and throwing on a light we could see she was distressed.  Tears the size of water buckets streamed down her face and our poor daughter was shaking like a leaf.  Snatching her into my arms while Talina started taking her forehead temperature, it was almost as if little Everly couldn’t control herself.  I patted her back firmly and this seemed to help clear her lungs and her mind of the panic she awoke too.  With no fever, Talina slid Everly into the rocking chair to breastfeed while I worked up another dose of her natural cough and mucus medicine.  Darling Daughter was calming but her Mommy and Daddy were thinking the worst.

Everly hasn’t been immunized yet.  We believe in completing a delayed schedule of the necessary vaccinations, giving her body and brain more time to develop to proper levels before subjecting her to the dangerous toxins, chemicals and diseases used to produce immunizations.  It’s not something most people understand or support but we’ve done our research, consulted with family physicians and talked at length about it with our midwife.  We have to be super vigilant and super protective when it comes to our Darling Daughter getting sick, this the first time in her 18 months of life that she’s been ill.

As our panic took a firm grip on us, we both agreed it was time for a late night visit to the Emergency Room.  The dark drive down empty, traffic-less streets was nerve racking, thinking about all the things that could be wrong.  I was also secretly hoping the visit would squeeze us in before any New Years Eve madness began to overrun local trauma rooms.

Of course, by the time we arrived at the door to St. Mary’s Emergency Room, Miss Everly was acting as if almost nothing had happened and her breathing had greatly improved.  The giant steaming hulk of a pressure washer machine standing firm at the front door, hissing loudly and belching thick acrid steam cleaner caused her to freak a bit, burying her head in our chests.  Once inside and away from the steam monster, she was clearly interested in the friendly trauma nurse poking, prodding and temperature taking.  Hot on our heels headed into a trauma room, Dr. Sorentino was ready to begin his work before we’d even hit the bed.

Sorentino was cool and calm with a friendly disposition that I wish a majority of doctors could replicate.  He asked the right questions as if he already knew what the end result was going to be and didn’t question or scorn our philosophies and thoughts on vaccinating our child.  That is also unusual within the medical community, even at St. Mary’s Medical Center where we have dealt with an OB/GYN that loves to tell you how it is and why you’re a horrible person for thinking the way you do or questioning her motivations.

Everly was very interested in all the excitement of her ER visit but just couldn't seem to get comfortable on those horrible beds.

Dr. Sorentino laid out his plan of action for us quickly and even asked us what we thought about his thinking, including us in the decision making process of our child’s care.  A couple chest x-rays and tests later, the good doc determined our Darling Daughter had a bout of croup.  Sorentino kept joking that Everly certainly wasn’t acting sick and was one of the most animated sick children he had ever seen.  She was bouncing on the bed, greeting nurses and doctors as they came and went and even mimicking the sounds of the woman puking her guts out in the next trauma room over from us.  What a delightful night!

Since she was doing so well, Dr. Sorentino determined meds were not necessary nor was an injection of steroids before our trip back home.  Everly was requesting night-nights by this point and so we set out just under an hour after arriving to land back in our comfy beds.  The staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center were so quick and efficient we could hardly believe it.  From our admitting nurses at the front door to Dr. Sorentino, we couldn’t have found a nicer, more caring and non-judgmental medical team.  We now know the next time croup crops up, to just step out into the cold air or throw open the freezer door to help calm the breathing down and reduce the swelling of the windpipe.

Everly cuddling with her Momma while waiting to go home for night-nights

Now to some much needed rest as we head into the new year here at the half-acre homestead, with much thoughts on peace and prosperity headed into 2011.  This has been a banner year and one I can’t wait to finally see in the rear-view mirror.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Cruising the backroads of western Kentucky and making deliveries these past couple of days after Christmas, I’ve already seen some scattered Christmas trees thrown into the drainage ditches.  Some have been carelessly tossed on the front porch as if waiting for a magic ride to the dump or perhaps waiting for a hitch to the next rural ditch somewhere.  While some could argue this is redneck composting at its finest, this is not the preferred way to recycling your evergreen tree.

Here at the half-acre homestead, we usually keep our tree up until January 2nd, when we are finally all but drained of festive holiday feelings and yearn for the return of our living room.  Well, maybe the return of one, little used corner of the living room but the though is the same nonetheless.  In years where we’ve lived in a house with a fireplace, the Yule Log will get stripped of its branches and be left to dry for burning next year.  The same can be held true for the outdoor firepit.  True the romance isn’t quite the same but the novelty can ring out for all your neighbors to see.  I know what’s coming next because it is by far a Midwestern specialty.  No, I don’t think burn barrels or burn piles qualify for the same appropriate disposal of Ihren Weihnachtsbaum.  For all of you non-Germans in this pro-German area, that’s “your Christmas tree” in deutscher Sprache.

If you don’t have a neighbor handy with a chipper or shredder you can borrow, simply take advantage of one of two drop-off locations on either side of the Ohio.  In Evansville, you can drop your tree off at Newman Park near where the nature trails begins.  The city parks department says there are signs already posted and even some trees which have already been dropped off.  The Christmas trees will be chipped and mulched for use in the local parks.  The last day for drop-off is January 7th.  In Henderson, you can drop off your trees at the Newman Recreational Complex on Sand Lane through January 8th.  Don’t forget to remove as much tinsel and ornaments as possible because those items don’t beautify the forest floor or local tree trunks anymore than that Styrofoam thirst-quencher cup tossed out the window.  Most of all, please don’t ditch your tree in a drainage ditch, farm field or other illegal dump site.

Do you know of another Tri-State Christmas tree recycling drop-off point?  Leave a comment and share with our other readers so the word can spread!  Happy mulching!

Popularity: 14% [?]

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

Scrubbing your pearly whites while keeping a green lifestyle might seem like a challenge but with Tom’s Of Maine you can easily green up one of your daily regimens.  Normal toothpastes are often fraught with chemicals, half of which you could spend the better part of a day just trying to figure out how to pronounce.  With Tom’s, they explain every ingredient found in their products and most of them are sourced straight from nature and minimally processed.  They don’t use any artificial flavors, coloring, preservatives or fragrances.  The company even goes so far as breaking down the ingredient list in each product and explaining what it’s from and what it’s doing in your toothpaste or mouthwash.

Tom’s of Maine products are not tested on animals and every bit of their operation based in Maine strives to be as sustainable as possible.  Even all of their packaging is meant to be environmentally responsible and is scrutinized against the company’s recycling and Stewardship Model.  Employees spend 12 of their work days volunteering outside of the company and 10% of Tom’s profits are directed to human and environmental goodness.  These are old fashioned products made with high-tech science and research and a keen eye focused on environmental impacts.  Tom’s of Maine is producing a product that is as natural as possible without scrubbing your teeth with plain old baking soda.

I’m excited about Tom’s latest round of products called Wicked Fresh.  The new line of toothpaste and mouthwash uses powerful natural flavor oils and botanical extracts to provide even longer lasting fresh breath.  The secret is a flavorless botanical extract from licorice root combined with a punch of powerful natural mint flavor oils for what Tom’s calls a “refreshing taste that helps banish bad breath”.  Two flavors are offered: Cool Peppermint and Spearmint Ice.  The tube is completely recyclable.  The mouthwash is available in Cool Mountain Mint and Peppermint Wave flavors and is wrapped in compostable yet tamper-proof shrink wrap with a recyclable bottle and cap.  Make sure to check out their That’s Wicked Fresh contest page for a chance to win a $500 Target gift card.

Don’t forget you can follow Tom’s of Maine on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomsofMaine and Twitter @TomsofMaine

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Popularity: 5% [?]

It’s Saturday and still dark out which means it’s time for me to gear up and get ready to make my last rounds of deliveries for the week today.  Before I take off, I like to check my email and peruse the scheduled happenings of the day.  One event I’m sad I’m going to miss is the launch of the new Nissan Leaf this afternoon.

In a bid of creative social marketing, the folks at Nissan will be streaming live the delivery of their first electric car to one lucky customer.  What better of a way to build hype around a green product than to involve the rest of the world at the same time.  I’ve followed the Leaf from conception to pre-order and am now excited to see the thing finally hitting the streets of our nation.  Homestead Hottie even has her eye on one now so maybe there will be a Leaf in our near future.

We need more of this kind of ingenuity and excitement around products that will help us maintain a sustainable life here on Mother Earth.  I’m hoping more U.S. companies will get on the wagon and start planning for our future, not only to save our world but to put our workers and our country as a whole back on track to lead the world by example and thus bring back prosperity.

If you’d like to join in the Nissan Leaf Event today (scheduled for 1:30 PST), than click this link.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Summer has definitely come to a close for 2010 and many gardeners are left wondering what to do with all those leftover green tomatoes. We had many ourselves and then also acquired three more boxes from a gardener who had quite the bumper crop of green tomatoes that they didn’t want to mess with.

Green tomatoes can be left to ripen. The process is slow but if you have the space, you can enjoy red ripe tomatoes in the dead of winter.  In the book Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables, it is recommended that you store green tomatoes in a single layer, out of direct sunlight in a 60 to 70 degree room.  Green tomatoes can hold for several weeks in the 50 to 60 degree range, delaying ripening even more.  We’ve had good luck ripening green tomatoes with the stem end facing down on a bed of crinkled newspaper.  Homestead Hottie has beat into my head that the tomatoes need to be checked ever few days and turned to prevent them from getting too soft on one side and molding.  If let go, it will spoil your whole box of summer stretched into the winter.  A couple I’ve let go have gone airborne across the kitchen at me and believe me, you don’t want to get hit in the face with a rotten tomato!

If you’re impatient and would prefer trying another treat with green tomatoes, you might want to consider pickled green tomatoes.  The odd pickles can be used as an accompaniment to hamburgers, roasted chicken and charcuterie.  Tied with a red ribbon, they’re pretty enough to give as a hostess gift or to bring to a holiday party so you can share a taste of your summer garden after it’s long gone.  Here is a recipe that was printed in the 2009-2010 winter edition of Organic Gardening Magzine:

Pickled Green Tomatoes

1.5 quarts white wine vinegar
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
2 pounds green tomatoes sliced into wedges 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick
1/2 cup fresh tarragon leaves, stems removed

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and garlic in a stainless steel saucepan and bring to a boil. Once sugar is completely dissolved add in tomatoes. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes are tender. Don’t let them get mushy!

Strain the tomatoes but reserve the pickling liquid. Add tarragon to the reserved pickling liquid. Refrigerate both the drained tomatoes and the pickling liquid in separate containers until cool and then combine. Spoon into lidded glass jars and refrigerate for up to 3 months.

A month into the pickling process, I’ve already dipped into one of my two jars.  I’ve found the pickled green tomatoes to be sweetly sour, a combination of the vinegar and sugar.  I think I might try a jar or two without the sugar to see what the end result is because I’m not a fan of sweetly pickled products with the exception of cinnamon pickles, a completely different jarred treat to discuss in another post.

Do you have a favorite recipe or way to use up green tomatoes?  Share your ideas and inspirations so others don’t let those green tomatoes go to waste!