It's Easy Being Green

Its hard to believe we have wiped out the first month of the new year already. I’m still thinking about goals for 2012 so that should give you some idea of how much I truly care about the whole new year, new you crap. That’s why this year, I’m celebrating Losar, the Tibetan New Year’s celebration beginning on February 22nd and lasting a paltry 15 days. It seems the Tibetans really know how to get their new year started right!

Stateside, I’m convinced the New Years’ holiday is nothing more than a ploy by champagne companies to put themselves back in the black. It is truly one of the only times people buy champagne in any noticeable amount. Aside from that, folks just seem to be looking for the next opportunity to get smashed and an excuse to “start over for the next year”.

I’ve never been a fan of the holiday, except that year in high school my parents let me hit a few swigs off the bottle of Moet Chandon White Star that my dad picked up. It led to us carousing in the street with some roudy neighbors and an eventual flyby of the ghetto bird (a.k.a. the local police helicopter). The crew even spotlighted us, searching for the local ruffians setting off the illegal fireworks another street over but I digress.

That lack of enthusiasm for New Year’s has led me to blow over the holiday and and instead spend some time reflecting on what I would like to accomplish in the coming year. That’s why, based on the timing, I’ll celebrate with the Tibetans this year. Happy Losar!

I certainly have goals for 2012 but definitely not resolutions. I don’t resolve myself to anything. Instead I create goals and work toward them. It doesn’t set you up to fail quite like resolutions do.

My goals for 2012 are pretty simplistic:

- Learn to make kombucha

- Preserve more food for winter months

- Increase garden harvest for seasonal eating

- Ace growing and harvesting squash

- Read at least one book per month (mainly talking about novels here)

- Build 2 pieces of furniture and a toy for each girl

- Buy a fuel efficient hybrid or electric vehicle

- Brew more beer or try to make a wine or mead

- Take a REAL family vacation, even if for only a weekend getaway

- Get those six pack abs and bulk up my arms and chest

Okay, so the last goal is a bit narcissistic and different from the rest but its something I’ve wanted to do for myself for a long time. I’ve let the business of work and kids be my lame ass excuse on that one but now that has to go by the wayside. We’ll see how many goals I can achieve over the next 11 months, or shall I say 12, since I’m now going to run on the Tibetan calendar. Here’s to wishing you and yours a very Happy Losar!

How about you? Did you formulate some goals for 2012? What do you hope to accomplish to better your life, your impact on the environment or live more sustainably? Share by posting a comment below.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’ve been told if you get bucked off a horse, you’re supposed to dust yourself off and jump right back on again. The idea I suppose is to help you conquer any initial fear about a repeat performance that might build up inside if you let any great amount of time slip by. When it comes to one of my favorite hobbies, homebrewing, I’ve let far too much time slip by before jumping back on the “brew horse”.

I knew nothing of the hobby until a friend and co-worker of mine introduced the idea. Of all places, I think the inspiration came from an episode of The Simpsons. Have you ever seen the one where Homer tries to make bathtub beer? Needless to say I wasn’t immediately sold on the idea but decided to give it a shot. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

At first it almost felt like we were wading into illegal territory. A run to a local brew shop just blocks from the Arizona State University campus made it seem even more lascivious. I undeniably enjoyed drinking alcohol so the prospect of creating it with my own two hands seemed pretty damn amazing. An hour or so later, the friendly brewer had helped us assemble a kit complete with everything we needed to brew our first batch of beer.

The process proved to be nothing short of great mystery and intrigue. Were we following the instructions right? Did we put the hops in at the right time? Did we aerate the wort enough? Was it the right temperature before we pitched the yeast? Was everything sanitized properly? We’d have to wait a long four weeks before getting it into bottles and then another couple weeks beyond that before we could relish our first taste of that liquid bread we’d toiled over what seemed like ages ago.

As it turns out, our first batch was a hit and then I guess you could say we had both been officially bitten by the brew bug. Like a religious ritual, every four to six weeks we gathered around a stainless steel brew pot and assembled the next beer of the month while sipping down a few cold ones from the previous batch. This tradition carried on for a handful of years until life took my brew buddy and me in two different directions. Since it was a 50/50 investment, we opted to split the brew setup down the middle. Half going with me and half going with my brew buddy made the split seem like an awkward breakup, deflating the sails of this once jovial pastime.

I packed my apartment with Homestead Hottie and made the long trek up the mountain to Flagstaff, Arizona where we planned to launch a new chapter of our lives together. Talina must have sensed my depression creeping in over the loss of my hobby because that Christmas she bought me everything I needed to complete the one half of the brew rig I painfully hauled up to the high country.

Flagstaff had a pretty exciting craft brew scene cooking along with a well-stocked homebrew shop, something I have now come to realize was pretty remarkable for a town of just 50,000 people (most of them crunchy in some sort of way). I brewed off and on and even found a new friend and co-worker that was also into homebrewing. Sometimes, having a brew buddy is just the perfect motivation to punching out some extra energy and getting a batch made. It also helps when several of your friends and coworkers really seem to enjoy chugging down the fruits of your labor. I was in a brewing groove for our 5 years in Flagstaff but when it came time to pack the brew rig up again, I was feeling defeated again.

Our nomadic lifestyle took Homestead Hottie and I to where we still are today: southwestern Indiana. The last three years has proved busy without a doubt and felt like we’ve been moving at warp speed ever since our vintage RV limped us on into town. A new job, the birth of our first child, a layoff, another new job and then the birth of our second child last August seemed to all happen in a flash. The powder keg of life just happens and then you get over it.

Needless to say I haven’t had much time to brew, let alone the toddler-free space to tuck a 5-gallon glass jug full of fermenting beer away for a few weeks. Thanks to the gift of another batch of brew ingredients from Talina, I’m finally jumping back on the brew horse again. I’m breaking myself in with an Irish Red Ale kit and am once again sweating the small stuff while I wait. Was my yeast alive when it pitched? Was the fermentation enough even though it seemed dead? Was the wort exposed to too much oxygen?

I just finished racking my Irish Red Ale over to the secondary fermenter and will bottle in another two weeks. Only then will I know for sure if I’m going to be able to fully get my brew mojo back and ferment some wicked ales. Time to sip a cold one and wait.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Looking battered and beaten, the nasty winter weather certainly took its toll on our doormat this past year. At the time we bought it we were pleased, almost smitten with ourselves. We sprung for a bright, contemporary “designer” coir fiber doormat we found on clearance at Pier One Imports. We got it for a song but little did we know we’d only get half a year out of the darn thing.

Since my layoff last year and the landing of my new job, we’ve done little to support the economy. Homestead Hottie and I have an ever expanding list of wants but have come to the realization that most of it doesn’t even matter. We let products absolutely wear themselves out before replacing them. Some might say we’re cheap. We like to think we’re smart and frugal, so something as unimportant as a doormat will often get forgotten about.

It was forgotten until last month when we had to breeze through our local Menards to pickup some hardware to repair our gate (something we did decide to spring for). Not only do we often “save big money” at Menards but we love their product rebate system on select items. While we were buying our hardware both Homestead Hottie and I groaned to each other that we wanted to replace the doormat. If we’re both in agreement then we know it’s time to pull the trigger and part with the cash.

Taking a gander at their doormat aisle resulted in a pleasant surprise for us new age, non-stinky hippies. Stocked from floor to top shelf were a dozen or so styles of doormats all made from recycled tires and made in the grand ‘ol U.S.A

The first thing we noticed about the door mats made by Multy Home was their look. It’s a classy door mat you can be proud of and nothing like that $1.99 faux grass plastic wonder. Second was the weight and tough construction of the rubber and coconut fiber mats. It feels and looks heavy duty enough to stand the heaving traffic of kids, pets, four season weather and anyone else who might come knocking at your door. While more expensive than the “cheap” door mats, we didn’t think the pricing was too out of line.

We opted for a cobblestone pattern on our recycled tire door mat and I’m anxious to see how well it holds up over the next several months. I’m hoping the old treads that used to propel a vehicle will hold up to a year or more worth of foot traffic treading across the threshold of my Half-Acre Homestead.

*NOTE: I did not receive any compensation for this product review. This is my opinion of a product we recently purchased.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Proof positive that raised bed gardening has its perks: I unearthed these gems this cold late December afternoon out in the garden here at the Half-Acre Homestead. These were planted in late spring and there are many more in line to mature behind them. For anybody who doubts you can grow your own food in the winter this should tell you otherwise!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Photo by Greg Bagley

Are you looking for a cheap, easy way to create several nesting boxes for your laying hens at once? I saw this fantastic setup over at McMurray Hatchery’s Homesteading Chores Ideas and Contraptions Contest that just ended a couple of weeks ago.

It’s basically a wooden rack that holds two stories of 5 gallon buckets that look to make excellent nesting boxes. The plus with Greg Bagley’s design is that the buckets are secured so they won’t move but are also easily removed for cleaning. Click the link above to see more photos and read Greg’s assembly instructions.

Our coop is way to small for this setup here at the Half-Acre Homestead but I hope to keep this idea in the noggin for future use. Do you have a unique nesting box setup? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Popularity: 9% [?]

I’m so enamored with a Christmas card we just received in our office at work today. It’s from our friends at the San Diego Zoo and their pachyderms who also took part in the crafting errr I mean excreting of the card. That’s right, your mind is headed in the right direction.

The PooPooPaper card stock and envelope are crafted from a giant heap of steaming elephant poo, recycled without one whiff or clue to its origin and now resting between your fingers. Some co-workers were disgusted. I was delighted and now I’ll share the poopy greeting with you!

The envelope, giving only the slightest of hint as to the contents inside

The front...

The inside...

The reveal on the back...

A closeup of the logo

Popularity: 5% [?]

Now that we’re in full-fledged toddler mode around the Half-Acre Homestead, it’s exciting to step up the Christmas game a few notches. Like a cranky body snatcher sneaking in overnight, the terrible terrible twos have taken over my Darling Daughter’s little body. It’s been enough to send my Homestead Hottie and me up the crazy wall, wondering on an almost minute by minute basis what creature has possessed that sweet  pixie-faced little redhead of ours.

This Christmas we thought what better of a way to reinforce good behaviors then to join the Elf on a Shelf craze. We’ve heard good reports from hundreds of other parents who swear by this little elf’s ability to keep everyone good little girls and boys during the month of December. We balked at the $29 price tag of that little creepy looking elf and instead opted to go with the cheaper, cuter and oh yeah “original”, Christopher Popinkins. Darling Daughter Everly has gotten into the daily search for our friendly elf and boy, that gets to be a challenge to find a new place to pose the little snooper.

Imagine my surprise when I found out Jill over at baby rabies is putting on an Inappropriate Elf Contest. The idea: pose your elf in an inappropriate way yet keep it PG-13. So many ideas immediately went out the window with that rule but one still remained. There must be at least one elf that gets a little too merry some night, right? If you think the picture below is bad, you should see what Talina caught him doing before he finally passed out. After all, there’s a lot of pressure for one little elf to handle this time of year!

Popularity: 41% [?]