It's Easy Being Green

There’s been a lot of talk about how harsh our everyday, household cleaners really are.  Not only to ourselves but also to our environment.  We’re beginning to see some, commercially produced cleaners that are more natural and biodegradable.  It’s a small niche market right now but as the green movement picks up, more and more companies are turning to more sustainable options.  Not only will it be better for our environment in the long run, it will also protect our children from allergic reactions, poisonings and illnesses in kids associated with chemical-laden cleaning products.

Smaller companies like Seventh Generation are working to produce more natural cleaners and more sustainable lifestyles.  The Burlington, Vermont company lends its employees up to $5,000 to buy a hybrid car or make energy-efficient upgrades to their homes.  They also reimburse employees up to $500 for alternative commuting costs and gives them another $500 to buy energy efficient appliances.  The company also participates in a reforestation program in New Orleans.   Another company making environmentally friendly cleaning products is Method.

Even cleaning giants like Clorox are entering the green age.  This month they’re releasing their new line of cleaners called Greenworks.  The eco-friendly products will be sold right alongside their normal line and will apparently cost about 20% to 25% more.  As part of their move to get on the green movement, the Clorox company also purchased Burt’s Bees for $950 million back in November.

I’ve been interested in making some environmentally friendly cleaners at home.  I recently bought two different books that have different formulas and recipes for homemade cleaners.  I picked up Homemade: How to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products Fast, Fresh and More Naturally and 1,001 Secret Household Hints and Formulas.  I’ll of course post my thoughts on these books when they finally arrive.  I’m hoping they turn out to be helpful in our pursuit to continue living in a more sustainable way in 2008.

Do you have a homemade or store-bought cleaner that’s environmentally friendly and works great?  Post a comment and let us know about it!

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This time of year, many families are probably happily awaiting their tax return. In years past, the return has always felt like a surprising windfall, giving us a little boost of spending money to pick up a large item or two we normally wouldn’t have the funds for. Last year we used some tax return money to finally purchase an HDTV after using our two little 19″, no frills TVs for more than 10 years. We also completed our Darling Daughter’s furniture set in her bedroom. The most beneficial purchase we made though was buying ourselves real food security.

Last year we made the move to go more local and organic with our food. I’ve discussed the benefits before but we’ve never made it a priority until last year when we finally decided we just needed to bite the bullet. Luckily we ran across the Cannon family and their local meat operation called Stonewall Farm.  The Cannon’s raise all natural grass-fed beef, pork, lamb and poultry on several acres between Evansville and Mt. Vernon.  We had initially thought about buying a half-share of a cow or other large meat animal with another farmer but our major dilemma was we didn’t know how we were going to store all that meat.  But once we learned about the Cannon’s meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, we were hooked.

The beauty of the Stonewall Farm CSA program is that you can buy several different sized shares of all natural, grass-fed meat products for six months or a year and it is delivered to you monthly.  You don’t have to fret about finding space in the deep freeze for a year’s worth of meat!  We purchased a full year family share of meat, along with an additional poultry share (we love our chicken) and an additional share of eggs every month.

While we were kicking around the prices, it initially seemed very expensive and maybe even frivolous.  Then, we kept reminding ourselves of the horrific feed lots we saw as we drove across America’s Heartland to our new home in Indiana a couple years ago.  Once we tallied up the environmental damage along with the damage we were doing to our health by purchasing CAFO meat (Concentrated Animal Feed Operation) at the local supermarket, we knew it was the right investment to make.

We’ve reaped the rewards of a year’s worth of all-natural, grass-fed meat products and it has been nothing short of spectacular.  Each month we get to see Keith and Jerlene Cannon, along with their children, as we pick up our monthly delivery.  We get to actually talk, laugh and ask questions of the farmers raising our food.  How many people can say that these days?  We have also visited the farm on several occasions, seeing our future food roaming about happily, well-fed and treated well.  That’s the kind of meat I want on my plate.  Not some phony, fatty meat injected with every antibiotic, hormone and preservative or flavor-enhancer that some lab junkie whipped up in a test tube.  All of the meat tastes amazing and is often far more flavorful and juicy than market bought goods.  The eggs are huge and have an incredible color that lets you know you’re getting their full offering of flavor and nutrients too.

If you’ve ever wondered how you can better use your money to make an investment in the future, food security is one of them.  Buy your food from local producers.  Keep the money in your community and learn how your food is produced.  It’s time Americans stop investing their hard-earned dollars on cheap, subsidized foods that don’t do any justice for their own community or their family’s overall health.  True, you are going to pay more but the benefits are so worth it.

Make sure to check out Stonewall Farm.  Several area natural food stores sell their products or you can order direct from them.  They also set up a booth at the Evansville Farmer’s Market when that’s in season.  Join their CSA program for 6 months or a year and help the Cannon’s help you.  Do me a favor, let them know Nathan Ryder sent you

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U.S. News and World Report had some interesting facts about the amount of corn being grown and used in food products these days.  According to the magazine, U.S. farmers harvested about 13-billion bushels of corn this year which is the largest harvest on record.  That’s great for the farmers and the government subsidies that were handed out to them to increase the corn production.  However, there’s new concerns that we’re intaking too much corn in our diets.

Because corn syrup is such an economical sweetener, it’s used in just about everything.  Some estimates suggest that close to 10% of our daily caloric intake comes from high-fructose corn syrup.  It’s said that the average American consumes 42 lbs. of the sweetener every year, most of that in the form of sugary soft drinks.   That breaks down into 76,000 calories a year, enough to feed some men for 29 days.  Sugar is just as bad but some health experts say if you just cut one sugary soda or flavored water, per day, out of your diet you would cut 10lbs. of fructose consumption.

The problem isn’t just soda though.  Most corn is diverted as a feed crop for our nation’s cattle.  Cows fatten quickly on the grain but the resulting meat is much higher in artery-clogging, saturated fats.  It’s another reason why consumers should look toward grass-fed beef.  Researchers have also discovered that cows raised on corn are more susceptible to contracting a deadly strain of the E-coli bacteria.

With corn now feeding the ethanol market and the price of the commodity on the rise again, many companies are finding ways to turn away from the use of corn.  Back in October, Heinz announced it would stop using high-fructose corn syrup as an additive in their ketchup products.  It’s a way to keep the price down.  But Heinz researchers are now tinkering with their company controlled tomato varieties, looking for the sweetest bunch.  Heinz says they evaluate 700 new tomato varieties every year.  Jones Soda Company has never used the sweetener, instead turning to pure cane sugar juice.  The Dr. Pepper plant in Dublin, Texas is still bottling the drink under the original recipe, using real sugar.  I think the taste is amazing and if you happen to run across some bottles, you should snag some and try it.  In fact, most of the sodas I’ve come to like use real sugar, like the Mexican Coca-Colas.

If you’re looking for a fun and interesting assortment of soda you can’t find at your local grocery store, check out one of my favorite stores, Pop the Soda Shop.  They’ve got a great selection of the rare and unusual!

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Spring can’t arrive soon enough here at the Half-Acre Homestead.  The first day of spring is March 20th, just two and a half weeks away but we’re already itching to get back out into our garden and get back to growing our own food.  One of the most missed garden items at the moment are those glowing orbs of goodness brought on by sunshine and warmth called tomatoes.

Some of the biggest tomatoes we've ever grown came off our Pink Brandywine plants that we bought at the Master Gardeners Spring Plant Sale. This is the type of tomato we miss in the winter doldrums.

Typically we just avoid buying store bough tomatoes altogether.  They’re horribly bland, watery and shipped in from destinations several thousand miles away.  If  I haven’t ever been able to visit the country where my food is coming from then it certainly doesn’t belong on my dinner table.  It’s not sustainable and doesn’t do me or the farmer in that country any good.

This has become a bit of a challenge the past few weeks though as my Homestead Hottie has started craving a nice big juicy tomato to slice and eat.  It could be a pregnancy thing but she always likes to slice tomatoes, sprinkle with Himalayan Pink Salt and eat away.  We love raw, fresh tomatoes in this house!  However, finding a tomato that isn’t foreign and isn’t terrible is an insurmountable task this time of year.

There wasn’t a single tomato grown in the U.S. to be found at Sam’s Club during our recent visit.  Some came from as “close” as Mexico while others heralded banners from Guatemala, Chile and other exotic South American destinations.  Thank heavens for produce labels that proudly display where a fruit or veggie has come from!

Our next stop was the local Schnuck’s grocery store where we found one brand of tomato grown in Florida.  These hulking, misshapen and truly red tomatoes looked like something you might pluck off an heirloom tomato plant out in the garden.  Each one was delicately wrapped in it’s own styrofoam net, protecting it from the bruising or beating it might have endured on it’s shorter truck ride from the sunny Florida coast.  They looked like a winner.  They were called UglyRipe.

UglyRipe claims their tomato is an heirloom, a derivative of the deeply ribbed Costuluto variety from Italy.  Sadly, the state of Florida wouldn’t originally let these tomatoes be sold because they weren’t perfectly round and didn’t have smooth skin.  In the eyes of these beholders, we thought they looked perfect.  We plucked about four of the “beauties” from their display basket and proudly paid our price at the check-stand, about $8.  Yes, exorbitant the cost but it is the dead of winter.  Fresh local greenhouse tomatoes are still at least another two months off.  Plus, our food dollars were still going to support a U.S. based farm operation.  With anticipation we hurried home and Talina got right to slicing open a tomato for a mid-afternoon snack to share with baby 2.0 in the womb (that’s two-point-oh as in version number two of our offspring following our Darling Daughter Everly).

I have to say on first taste, the UglyRipe did manage to win over our tomato craving taste buds.  The texture was firm and juicy with deep red flesh, much redder than you typically see in store-bought tomatoes.  The taste for me was mildly acidic with a hint of minerals.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the UglyRipe a 7.  It certainly is much better than the watery, tasteless, yellow-orange fruit labeled tomatoes at the local store.  It has more flavor, better texture and a beautifully imperfect shape with deep coloring.  It’s a monster-sized tomato too.  One slice will easily cover your hamburger patty.  But I give it a 7 because it still doesn’t live up to the freshly plucked, hot off the vine, perfect 10 creation that I grew with my own bare hands.  Nothing will ever replace that so here’s to hoping tomato weather arrives real soon.

What is you favorite tomato to grow? Leave a comment below and let me know.  We had a few standouts last season (read more here) and we’ll be trying some new varieties this year but that’s for a future post!

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Valentine’s Day here at the Half-Acre Homestead was hot!  Humid too but not because we jetted off to some couples only, exotic beach resort.  No bikinis or frozen concoctions to help us hang on here.  Just the love of our little trio knocking around town together and enjoying one of our favorite spots in Evansville:  Amazonia at Mesker Park Zoo.

The miniature tropical rain forest, cloaked in glass and kept at 75-degrees year round is a deliriously balmy hideout from the swirling snow and sub-arctic blast biting on the other side of those steamed up windows.  It also doesn’t hurt that our Darling Daughter can occupy the better part of an hour just letting off some steam as she runs from one end of Amazonia to the other, pausing briefly to scope out the fascinating and colorful inhabitants.  If you’ve never visited the exhibit before, you enter the tropical rain forest on wooden-planked bridges suspended high above the forest floor.  Here you meet colorful monkeys, birds, sloths and other creatures who like to hang out near the forest canopy.  As you move down through Amazonia you pass through waterfalls and caves meeting more creatures before you end up on the riverbanks coming face to face with piranhas and several otherworldly looking water creatures.  It’s by far one of the bright spots in this fair city and something I wish Evansville could build on.

This trip deep into the misty jungle on Valentine’s Day was to enjoy the Orchid Escape.  We grow a handful of orchids in the Half-Acre Homestead and Talina just amazingly got one to re-bloom after a long slumber.  These amazing plants range all across the globe in nearly every climate, with about 25,000 different known species.  That’s double the amount of bird species on our planet and four times the number of mammals.  More than 30 varieties of orchids are native to Indiana, some growing right here in our own backyard of Evansville.  Orchids are not only beautiful but one species also produces one of the most sought after spices:  vanilla.

Amazonia is already flush with hundreds of different South American tropical plants on showcase (the exhibit also doubles as an arboretum) but for one month every year, the zoo tucks hundreds of orchid plants into every available nook and cranny.  It’s a dazzling display of natural color, form and textures.  Hilltop Orchids out of Cloverdale, Indiana has grown and supplied 170 South American orchid plants for this year’s exhibit ranging across 30 different varieties.  Each grouping of plants has been meticulously arranged and lit with subtle spotlights as if each grouping is on stage to belt out their own aria of uniqueness.

The winter sun beams through the greenhouse roof onto my favorite orchid on display, Zygopetalum "Jumping Jack".

Each variety of orchid displayed is clearly labeled to help you identify your favorites like Phalaenopsis "Jungle Cat".

If you haven’t already checked out Amazonia’s Orchid Escape at Mesker Park Zoo you should take the time to do so.  Time is running out for a visit in 2011 as the exhibit only runs through March 12th.

My "Darling Daughter" Everly and I watching the monkeys climb to the tops of their forest enclosure

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