Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

This spring, we joined a CSA called Turnip Rock so we could get local, fresh, in-season produce directly from a farm and support a local farmer. We do live really close to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market but the CSA is really easy and all we need to do is go pick up our fresh veggies every Thursday. We've loved it so far and we've been pretty good about not letting our veggies go to waste. For more information about Turnip Rock farm, check out their blog: http://turniprock.wordpress.com/

If you're not familiar with CSA's, here's a primer (taken from The Land Stewardship Project website):

At their most fundamental level, CSA farms provide a weekly delivery of sustainably grown produce to consumers during the growing season (approximately June to October). Those consumers, in turn, pay a subscription fee. But CSA consumers don't so much "buy" food from particular farms as become "members" of those farms. CSA operations provide more than just food; they offer ways for eaters to become involved in the ecological and human community that supports the farm.

...being involved with a CSA operation always means sharing the rewards as well as the risks of farming. The rewards include: enjoying the freshest produce available, often harvested the same day you receive it; knowing where, how and by whom your food is being produced; having a direct connection with the people who produce your food; and supporting the kind of stewardship that is good for the land as well as its people.

The risks include weather and pests. Though formidable for small, self-sustaining farmers, these risks are bearable when shared by a group of subscribers. By linking together through CSA operations, farmers and consumers alike can benefit from an agriculture that provides beautiful and bountiful food while preserving the ecological and social basis necessary for coming generations to be so blessed.

So basically, it's good for us, it's good for farmers, it's good for our local economy, it's good for the environment - I mean, could it really get any better?! In the past few weeks, our CSA share has had cucumbers, parsley, new potatoes, onion, green onion, beets, squash, romaine lettuce, carrots, sunflowers along with other veggies. Yum! Today, I wanted to use the parsley, cucumber, romaine lettuce, green onion and some mint that a friend gave me from her garden. So we made tabbouleh for supper and ate it along with some organic whole grain pita bread and tzatziki (mixed with chopped cucumber) from Holy Land grocery in Minneapolis. The only thing that was missing was falafel. (Oh, how I love falafel!!) Here's the recipe we used:

Tabbouleh
2 cups bulgur wheat (presoaked for 1 hour)
3 cups parsley, finely minced
1/4 cup mint, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely sliced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded & diced
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, gently mix together the bulgur, parsley, mint, green onion, tomato, pepper, cumin & salt with a wooden spoon. Add the lemon juice and mix again. Chill the tabbouleh for one hour to let the flavors blend. Just before serving, add the olive oil and mix well. Serves 6.

It was very easy to make and tasted good, but I should have minced the parsley much finer. The pieces were a little too big and the flavor overwhelmed the flavors a little bit. So don't be lazy like me when you make this! Here's what it looked like:


We hope you had a great supper tonight, too. Tomorrow I have to make something with all the beets we have. Any ideas or recipes to share?

A Plague of Plastic be upon your home...

I...feel...a little bit guilty. Sick to my stomach guilty, like this:

As you know, we've resolved to not purchase anything made of plastic unless it's our only alternative. Well, this is a very, very difficult thing to do when you're used to buying whatever you want regardless of what it's made of. I could list a million examples of how we're breaking our resolution every day, but this one example is really bothering me. Last night, we were out and about running errands and we stopped to grab supper at Leeann Chin. The food was ok but between me and Jason, we used about 8 pieces of plastic that ended up in the garbage after only 15 minutes of use. Our plates, lids, silverware, cup - everything was plastic! So this doesn't make any sense to me. All the resources (water, electricity, etc.) used to make those plastic items which are used for about 15 minutes if they're lucky (the guy next to us ate in about 3 minutes!) and then they're tossed. Is it worth it? And we're contributing to the problem. Well folks, we're a work in progress - we are not even close to perfection. This change is hard! There are restaurants that offer quick food which do not require you to use disposable plastic - Chipotle is the first that comes to mind. The burritos are wrapped in paper backed foil, the burrito bowls are a paper product and their cups are paper, also. As long as we don't use utensils, it's an entirely plastic-free option. I'll need to try and come up with a longer list of options for us so that in a pinch, we can make a good choice.

Now, so of you may be thinking to yourselves as I often do, "Aren't there more pressing issues to feel guilty about? Like genocide in Darfur, the AIDS crisis, the healthcare crisis in America, etc., etc.?" The answer is yes and I feel just as strongly, if not stronger, about those issues. But that doesn't negate the seriousness of the problem of plastic. Keep in mind that the plastic currently existing in our world will NEVER go away. NEVER. It doesn't degrade. It only becomes smaller and smaller molecules of plastic which are filling our landfills, our lakes, our rivers, our oceans, our forests, our children's bodies and on and on. Hence, our resolution.

Beth Terry from Oakland, CA has taken this about 1000 times farther than we have and is doing an amazing job eliminating plastic from her life. Take a look at this list she compiled on her website (http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/) of ways to stop using plastic. We will continue to try and slowly make these changes and hopefully be more successful than we were yesterday. What's your take on this issue? Are you doing anything to eliminate unnecessary plastic in your life?

Eco-friendly High Chairs

Eliot is now eating solids and is ready for a high chair. Since we have resolved not to buy any plastic unless it's our only option, a plastic high chair was out of the question. However, there are lots of nice wooden high chairs on the market, so it wasn't difficult to find an eco-friendly and baby safe alternative. These three were our favorites.

Stokke Tripp Trapp
Chair Price: $229.99
Cushion Price: $39.99

Before we started researching high chairs, we thought that this would be the one we would choose. Both the seat and footrest of this high chair are adjustable so it can be used for kids 6 months of age through adulthood (it holds up to 300 lbs). It's ergonomically designed and made of cultivated beechwood. It meets US and international safety standards and has a five-point safety harness. It's JPMA certified. There are 9 different wood finishes to choose from including nice bright colors. A cushion can be purchased separately and there are 7 color/pattern options. There's a 7-year warranty on all wooden components. A really nice feature of this chair is that it is meant to be pulled up to your dining table so that your child can eat with the rest of the family. But there is no option for a separate tray, which was something we wanted. Overall, we found it to be a very well designed and attractive chair. It was also the most expensive option.

Kuster K2
Chair Price: $175.00
Cushion Price: $24.99

This new high chair from the UK is adjustable and can be used for kids 6 months of age through 6 years old. It's ergonomically designed and has a simple folding mechanism which makes it easy to store. It has a removable tray, a five-point safety harness, a basket for storing things like bibs (very handy!), self levelling feet and a completely adjustable tray that is removable and dishwasher safe. The chair comes in 4 different finishes and there are 3 cushion options (purchased separately). This chair is made of sustainable beechwood. We really liked the look and function of this chair but ultimately we decided that we wanted something that was made entirely of wood. Additionally, we weren't sure whether the tray was made of a safe plastic, so we chose the final of our three options, the Anka, by Svan. To be fair, I'm sure that we could have confirmed the tray material by contacting the manufacturer.

Anka, by Svan
Chair Price: $169.99 (Cushion included)
Extra Cushion $39.95

This chair was exactly what we were looking for. It's well designed and well priced, attractive, environmentally friendly and baby safe. The chair is made entirely of sustainable wood, except for the tray cover, which is made of phthalate and bisphenol A (BPA)-free plastic. The included chair cushion is made of PBDE-free foam. The tray is removable so it allows us the option of having Eliot sit at the table with us or use a tray of his own. It can be used as a high chair or a booster seat (through 5 years old or 50 lbs). By the time Eliot is 5, he should be able to sit at the table with us on a regular dining room chair. This chair has an ergonomic design with an adjustable seat and footrest which provides good support and it folds for easy storage. The tray cover is dishwasher-safe and the chair cushion is machine-washable which should help with cleaning! It comes in 3 different finishes and there are five cushion colors. It meets both US and international safety standards and is JPMA and ASTM certified. We really love this chair and can't wait to start using it. After we get it set-up and use it for a while, I'll post again to let you know how it's working for us. Also, if you were just dying to know: the strawberry rhubarb pie that I made for the 4th tasted fantastic, including the crust!

Cloth Diapering

As of Sunday, we've officially switched to cloth diapers. So exciting! We had been using gDiapers until Eliot grew out of the small size very quickly (he's a chunky monkey) and then we used Seventh Generation and Nature Babycare disposables for a while. We really liked the gDiapers (very new and innovative) but found them to be a little bit expensive for us. You have to purchase both the 'little g' pants (at $16.99 - $18.99 each) and the liners ($14.49 for 32-40 liners) which together cost more than either disposables or cloth. We couldn't in good conscience keep using disposables, so we switched to cloth. Currently, we have a stash of bum genius 3.0 and Happy Heinys, as well as some different inserts, three PUL wetbags and about 30 cloth wipes. The whole shebang cost about $450 which would have been around 8 months of disposables, not including wipes. Considering that he will likely be in diapers for another year and a half to two years, it was completely worth it. *** Shameless Pitch: We purchased our diapers from Abby's Lane. They have fantastic customer service! ***


So far, I'm totally in love with them. Both the bum genius and the Happy Heinys work great ~ no leaks whatsoever! They're super soft and I imagine that they feel much better for Eliot than paper/plastic disposables. Washing them has been very easy - his first poopy diaper came completely clean with no stains after a cold rinse and a cold wash cycle with 1/4 the amount of detergent recommended. We used Purex Free and Clear for our first couple of loads but I have a huge order of Charlie's Soap on the way, which we plan on using regularly. We think we'll end up washing every other or every third day and we will definitely be line drying, rather than using our dryer. The cloth wipes are really nice, also. I made my own wipe solution (water, olive oil, 1/4 tsp. castile soap, 4-5 drops tea tree essential oil, 4-5 drops lavender essential oil and a splash of vinegar) and we just spray the wipe before we use it and toss it in the wet bag with the dirty diaper.

In terms of environmental impact, there is currently some debate whether cloth or disposables are better. A recent study by an advisory board to the UK Environment Agency came to the conclusion that cloth diapers had equal the impact of disposable diapers. (You can read the whole 200+ page report here.) They found that since cloth diapers are made primarily of cotton, (requiring pesticides, fertilizer and significant amounts of water) and they require both electricity and water to clean, they were not any better for the environment than disposables.

However, in my opinion, there are many things cloth diaper users can do to lessen their impact. For example, we wash our diapers in cold water rather than hot, we use an earth-friendly detergent, we wash them only when we have a full load, we will be line-drying our diapers and we will be purchasing Windsource® energy from Xcel Energy, which is clean wind-generated electricity. Did you know that washing cloth diapers at home uses about 70 gallons of water every three days, which is about the same as a toilet-trained child or adult flushing the toilet five to six times a day? Our additional laundry will equal about 3 extra loads per week.

Another advantage to cloth diapers is that they prevent vast amounts of waste (including human feces) from being deposited in our landfills. Mothering magazine proposed that there is a "...serious threat of contamination from disposable diapers, because of human sewage going into landfills. The disposal of human waste in residential garbage is technically prohibited, and instructions on disposable diaper packaging recommend that you shake out any fecal matter into the toilet before disposing of it; but in practice this is almost never done. Live viruses in the feces, such as the polio vaccine, can live in landfills for a long period, and if there were ever any leakage, could potentially contaminate a community's drinking water."

Over 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown in landfills each year, taking as many as 500 years to decompose. Disposable diapers make up the third largest source of solid waste in landfills, after newspapers and food & beverage containers. According to the Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation, it takes nearly 82,000 tons of plastic and 1.3 million tons of wood pulp, or a quarter-million trees, to manufacture the disposable diapers that are used in the United States.

Lastly, there are huge benefits for babies being diapered in cloth versus disposables. As I discussed in a previous post, there are toxic chemicals in disposable diapers including traces of dioxin (an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process which is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals - banned in most countries but not the U.S.), tributyl-tin or TBT, (a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals) and sodium polyacrylate (a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet). In addition to limiting Eliot's exposure to these chemicals, cloth diapers also help him "feel" wet which should assist in potty training, they are gentler on his skin, they "breathe" better than disposables and they're cuter (that part is just my expert opinion).

We've decided that the best choice for our family is cloth - what about you?

Our Little Vegetable Garden

Today, I finally planted our garden. It was a lot of work. It still contained the remnants of last year's garden, leaves from the fall and about a million weeds. I cleaned up all the dead stuff (perfect for our soon-to-be compost pile) and pulled all the weeds. Then I turned the soil with a pitchfork - that was a good workout! Here's what we'll be eating this summer: Tomatoes (5 different kinds - I'm a bit of a tomato junkie!), Cucumbers, Peppers, Beans, Lettuce, Basil, Dill, Chives and Lemon Balm (for tea). That completely filled the space we have - I'd love to create more space and have less lawn...I may need to talk Jason into that. Elaine, one of my good friends, was awesome and came over to help me plant. Thanks Elaine! I can't wait to eat veggies that we planted, raised and harvested. Our hope is that by growing some of the food we eat, we're becoming a little bit more self-sustaining. Every little bit counts, right? We'll update you on the status of our little garden as the summer progresses.

Christmas Greetings

This Christmas, we're not doing any major gift exchanges which is a relief and a blessing for many reasons. First and foremost, we've been so busy with other things (baby-related) that we haven't really had the time to go shopping. Second, we really do want to reduce our "consumerism" and eliminating presents at Christmas time is a great way to do so. There's a big difference between buying something for someone because they NEED it and purchasing Christmas presents because they're just a routine part of the holidays. Half the time, we don't know what to buy anyway and we just end up picking something that maybe isn't wanted or won't get used. Now don't get me wrong - I'm no grinch - any other year I've participated in this tradition just like everyone else and loved it. And we have exchanged some gifts this year in a MUCH smaller capacity than normal. My hope is that this year, we'll change the WAY we give gifts at Christmas and make a tiny difference, if only just in our household...

So rather than focusing on gifts this year, I want to focus on spending quality time with family and friends and be 100% grateful for all the fabulous things, both material and non-material, that I already have in my life. I have the poem, Desiderata, up in my cube at work and whenever I feel particularly crabby, sad or ungrateful, I like to read it to remind myself of what's truly important. So here it is in it's entirely - my non-material Christmas present to you.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.