Well, as you may know, Earth Day was yesterday. I had planned to post about it, but Brennan was not cooperating (he wouldn’t stop screaming long enough for me to type. Babies.). So, instead, I will post some news items from yesterday along with some tips.    Also, I am interested to know if you celebrated Earth Day.  If you did, what did you do?  If not, why not?  Leave me a comment!

First on the list is a call to action from one of my favorite groups, WalMart Watch.  Walmart Watch is a group dedicated to challenging Walmart to be a more responsible retailer and employer.  So far, they have had a good bit of success organizing consumers to let Walmart know that they can’t do whatever they feel like just because they’re flippin’ huge and drive other stores out of business.  Here is a link to a petition to ask Walmart to live up to its promises to become “green” and stop their negative environmental practices.  I encourage you to spend some time on walmartwatch.com.  You might be suprised at what you learn.

The Green Guide, a print magazine, website and email newsletter published by National Geographic, has a pretty neat article about how to pick and choose which foods to buy organic when on a limited budget.

Larry West, the About.com Guide to the Environment, has published an article about things the average person can do to help the environment in 30 minutes or less.  He also publishes a newsletter, which I highly recommend.

I also recommend Freecycle, which is an organization that encourages people to reuse items by offering them free-of-charge to members of the local group.  I have gotten some firewood and movies free, and have given away a stroller, my old compound bow, and some other stuff that otherwise might have been thrown away.   By reusing our goods, we cut down on manufacturing waste and consumer waste because the stuff I don’t use anymore is almost always still in great shape.  You can check out Freecycle here.

Well, that’s all I have time for today.  Stay tuned, because I hopefully will have pictures of me playing in the dirt this weekend!

Author’s Note: Sorry for my long absence, it’s been quite the mess in my world the last few weeks. If you’re interested, you can read about it here. Hopefully, I will now be able to devote time to this blog again. Thank you for your patience!

**************************************************************************************

It’s time.

That time.

The time we’ve been waiting for.

Yes, Virginia, it’s Garden Time.

I think we’re finally at the point where I can start planting.  But first, I have to take care of the ground.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I have purchased the book, The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman.   So my project this weekend is to learn how to prepare my ground, and then actually dig my garden!

My dad thought it would be a good idea to call the power company and have them mark the yard just to be on the safe side, even though I was only digging a garden.  Well, I’m glad I listened to him for once.  Turns out that it is illegal in the state of Indiana to break ground without having all local utilities mark where their lines are.  Things like phone, internet, electric, gas, sewer, water, etc.

In Indiana, go to the website for the Indiana Underground Plant Protection Service.  There is a phone number to call, and they will ask you several questions about your project such as scope, location, and things like that.  After you schedule the visit, there is a 48-hour waiting period to give the utilities time to mark the ground.  There are little colored flags and spray paint all over my yard, but thankfully there’s nothing where I want to put the garden.

It may seem a little silly to go to all that trouble just for a garden, but in this case a little caution and preparation could help avoid serious injury or death.

If you’re not sure what the regulations or contact numbers are for your state, go to the main Call Before You Dig website.  All the information you need is there.

If I actually get to break ground this weekend, I will post some pictures and tips.  Have a great weekend, and remember, safe gardening is happy gardening!

Author’s Note:  Today’s post will be a short one, as I am home with the baby today, and he takes up loads of time.  Tomorrow I should be a bit more settled, and will return to our regularly scheduled programming.

************************************************************************

Fresh, clean water is at a real premium in the world today.  Even when I was a kid, around 20 years ago, it was still possible to drink directly from a spring or artesian well.  No longer.  Now, if you are going to be in a situation where you will have to drink from a natural, untreated source such as a lake, river, or spring, you’d better have a filter that cleans both viruses, bacteria, and chemicals.

Not only is our natural water no longer safe, we are using more and more water every year.   Many states in the western part of the country experience serious water shortages every year, with rationing going into effect in extreme cases.  That’s why its so important to cut back on the water we use.  Here are some tips that we follow at our house to cut down on how much water we use:

• We have an energy-star certified dishwasher.  It uses much less water than conventional models.
• We have an energy-star certified washing machine.  No joke, this thing uses less than 1/3 of the water that a conventional one uses.
• We have cut back the amount of time spent in the shower.  This is big for me, because I like to take long, hot showers.  But we need to make sacrifices, however small they seem.
• I turn off the water while scrubbing my hands, and while brushing my teeth.  Little things, put together, make big things.
• I don’t water my lawn.  Sure, we all want nice green grass, but I want to save my water for my vegetable garden.

There are a few more things we do, but Brennan is shrieking right now, which makes it very hard to write, so I am going to go see what he needs.

What are some things you do, or are planning to do, to save water?

(I had originally planned to write this on my other blog, but I thought it would be appropriate to post here.)

I am a Christian.  A morally conservative, politically liberal (usually) Christian.  I read blogs that are written by Christians.  I read blogs that are written by people of other faiths.  I read blogs that are written by atheists.  I read blogs written by people that I have no idea what their spiritual beliefs are, if any.  Some of these blogs are about spiritual topics.  Some are about environmental, or political, or economic topics.  Some are personal blogs.

A lot of times I find myself “caught in the middle” between my moral and religious/spiritual beliefs and the way I believe that the government and economy should work.

But you know what really bothers me?  It seems that most of the morally conservative people hate the people who are opposed to war, or to corporations taking advantage of our economy or to the rape of the Creation God gave to us.  And it seems that those who are against all of those things hate those who believe it is wrong to abort a baby, or to sleep around, or for homosexuals to marry.

I understand that people disagree with each other.  I believe that abortion is wrong, but I also believe that the environmental practices of many corporations amount to murder in the end.  I disagree with the motives for the war in Iraq (although I support each and every single soldier who is serving there), but I also believe that basic human rights must be protected, and sometimes you have to fight for it.

But I don’t hate anyone.

I don’t write long, nasty posts or articles about “those other people”, talking about how they’re “backward” or “superstitious”, “hippies” or “pansies” or “fags”.

I think its time for folks on both sides of the issues to grow up, stop behaving like little children having a shouting match on the playground about whose turn it is to go down the slide and start exploring the how and why of their differences.

I think they’d find they have  lot more in common than they thought.

And hatred never accomplishes anything; it just destroys.

Love builds.

“It’s raining on prom night, my hair is a mess
It’s running all over my taffeta dress…” Cindy Bullens

Ok, so it’s not really Prom Night, and I’m not wearing a taffeta dress (c’mon people, haven’t you ever watched Grease?!), but I kind of feel the same disappointment.

You see, this year I am planting a large garden (for the first time since I was 12 or so, wish me luck!) and I’m ready to get started! The only problem is, the weather is not cooperating.

It is March 27, and it is SNOWING. Not just little baby flurries, but major, big, floppy wet flakes. The kind that are perfect for making snowmen with the kids. The kind that you like to watch on a December evening curled up by a fireplace with someone you love. NOT the kind you want when you are desperately longing for Spring.

I believe that global warming is a major issue (even if it has become, sadly enough, politicized). But at times like this, I can’t help but start to wonder….

Maybe next week. Sigh.