It's Easy Being Green

Our three little Auracana hens are growing bigger and bigger every day and their personalities are developing more too. Check out our live chicken cam where you can see a video stream from their pen 24/7. Just click the video box to the right of this post and sit back to watch the fun! You can also chat with me live via Twitter using the hashtag #babychickcam

I finished assembling the backyard chicken hutch that Talina got as a birthday gift from her parents and soon it will have its own special place out in the vegetable garden. In the meantime the chicks will stay inside where it’s warm and dry. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see the chicks on cam. They’re probably just trying to get some privacy as they sleep right beneath the lens of the camera. Those naps don’t last long though so check back regularly to see what kind of trouble they might be getting into.

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In usual fashion it seems Mother Nature has thrown us the ultimate tease.  Here in the Tri-State everyone was lulled into an idyllic, trance-like state with a string of several 70-degree days.  The sun has been shining brightly and like a kettle full of popping corn, the Bradford Pear trees have been exploding into full bloom this week.  A swift cold front has changed all that, sending our temperatures tumbling into the upper 20’s tonight.  Windows will go back up on the raised beds to protect swift growing, early spring veggies from a bout of frost tonight.

I consider us lucky though here at the Half-Acre Homestead.  While this plunge into winter-like temperatures can all but take the wind out of your puffed-up sails, many people are still in the deep freeze.  I have friends all over the country still shoveling snow and for them, spring gardening is anything but close.  Many zones still have another 6 weeks before they can start setting plants out and some are probably still deciding what to do with their garden this year.

If you’re still on the fence about how to dive into gardening this year, check out Jennifer Bartley’s new book The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook from Timber Press.  More than 200 glossy pages of this paperback are chock full of design plans, seasonal checklists, fresh recipes, plant profiles and growing tips.  In her book, Bartley shows how easy and beautiful growing edibles can be when mixed into your ornamental landscape.  You can create a palette not only for your eyes but also for your belly.

I’ve pawed through several gardening books before but The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook stands out from the rest.  Clearly written, Bartley organizes her book into four seasonal chapters.  She explains what you should plant during a particular season, how you should maintain it and finally what you can create with the resulting harvest.  Too often I think gardening books leave the reader seeking another source for recipes when trying to figure out how best to utilize their bumper crop of fresh backyard produce.  This book is a one-stop shop though, leaving little to be questioned for both novice and expert kitchen gardeners alike.

If you’ve never gardened before or have been considering taking your gardening chops to a whole new level, I would highly recommend this book.  The season by season kitchen garden plans and to-do lists is a gold mine of information for anyone wondering where to get started.

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I can still remember the glowing feeling I had nearly 12 years ago when I received my very first paycheck from my very first job. The money you earned as a teen was completely unencumbered. There were no bills screaming to be paid and the masses weren’t clawing your eyes out to receive their portion of your piddly $300 paycheck. You could spend that glorious amount of cash on anything you wanted; new clothes, a bicycle, the newest video game system or *gasp* you could save it. Those were the days and how quickly things change when you enter the adult world.

For the most part, I didn’t go overboard this holiday season with the amount of money I spent buying gifts and should have all credit card accounts back to zero balances by mid-February. And hey, now that our President wants to throw several hundred dollars our direction to “spur the economy” I’ll be even better off. But, I occasionally do miss those days of having a couple hundred dollars you could just spend on some item you really wanted. Just about every summer, I pick up a second job. I work on the weekends to help make ends meet and supply that extra cushion of cash that can weather you through a mild storm (blowing a tire, replacing the water heater, etc.). But that turns into a real drag trying to gear yourself up to work 7-days a week for three to four months.

Since I concluded my ‘07 summer job, I’ve been brainstorming ways to earn some extra cash from the comfort of home. Seeing my girlfriend’s freelance writing picking up at home, I thought I could pursue that too…making some extra cash while sitting in front of my computer. For the past three months I’ve been trying to sign on with payperpost. It’s a website where bloggers can sign up and get paid for opportunities to post blogs about products or services. My blog has finally been accepted and I can now earn some extra cash doing something I already love doing. Don’t worry, my blog isn’t going to turn into an advertisers paradise. It’s simply meant to tag along with my current and future content. I feel that it’s a super sustainable activity to do at home in my spare time. Hey, maybe I can earn enough to pay for the gas to drive to my regular job!

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Our newest additions to the Half-Acre Homestead have arrived.  We picked up three Auracana chicks from one of our friends yesterday who made a big order and wanted to share in the fun.  Auracanas are the “Easter Egg” chickens that lay green and blue eggs.  We’ve kicked around the idea for a year or two, just wanting to start out with a couple hens to provide us some eggs.  Our decision was pushed last year when we had a terrible problem trying to combat the swarms of squash bugs that devastated our zucchini and summer squash plants, leaving us little to enjoy.

Unfortunately we lost one little girl late this afternoon.  It seems the long journey was just too much for her.  She was sluggish on arrival but some sugar water helped perk her up.  Her activity improved along with her eating and drinking but late this afternoon she just quit moving around and wouldn’t get back up again.  We were really excited about her because she had different coloring from the other two girls and it looked like she was going to be a standout.

Our other two girls seem to be doing just fine.  We’ve been getting a kick out of their little antics, spontaneously falling asleep and waking up.  They love to cuddle too.  They’ll roost in the home office for a few weeks until the weather is nice enough for them to transition out full time.  Now it’s time to build them a little garden hen house.

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As we fully head into the new year, you might be thinking about some spring cleaning activities to get you into high gear.  We’re now officially close to four weeks post-Christmas but if you’re like me, there’s probably still a few reminders of the holidays lingering around the house.  If you received a lot of mail ordered gifts this year than you probably have a lot of those styrofoam packing peanuts shoved somewhere.  We all know their full of static and just plain annoying when they start flying around the room.  They’re also wasteful.  So, instead of just chucking them out in the next round of garbage, consider these next options.

If you happen to know you’re going to be shipping something very soon (maybe the horrible figurine Aunt Maude got you for Christmas that you’re just now deciding to exchange) than you can simply reuse the packing peanuts for your own use.  Many UPS stores around the nation will also recycle your packing peanuts and bubble wrap if you drop them off.  In fact, a lot of the stores report only having to buy 50% new packing material in order to fill all their shipments after people donate their used materials.  To find out where you can drop it off, head over to the Plastic Loose Fill Council website.  It’s as easy as typing in your zip code to find out where you can recycle all those peanuts and bubble wrap.

Lastly, if you do need to buy new packing materials, buy the eco-friendly versions that are now available.  While styrofoam packing peanuts aren’t biodegradable,  new ones made from corn starch are.  They simply dissolve in water and they’re gone.  Stores like Staples and U-Haul sell them.  Just hunt around and you’ll find them.  You can also buy cellulose wadding that’s 100% recycled material or you can buy air chamber cushions for your boxes that are made from recycled plastic.

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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!