.

Headed to the big city this weekend and that means Union Square Market. I am downright giddy at the prospect of leisurely perusing all manners of produce, plants (yes, there is a pop-up greenhouse filled with many colorful, potted choices) and vendors galore selling meats, cheeses, eggs, honey & lots more. Don't even get me started on the bread. Oh, the bread! I am truly thankful for the opportunity to be in one of my all time favorite places, cold weather be darned. I am even packing a cooler to stash all my great finds to share with those I love back at the homestead.
Last year, I was able to pick up some great information about composting. A list of do's & don’ts that has been a great kitchen reference for my family. It was a bit funny to be in such a metropolis & find out about such a dirty process. Well, on second thought, maybe not. Lots of dirty things happen in the city, right? Wink, wink.
My budget for a hotel is usually very low. Just a place to hang my hat, as I am out & about most of the time. This time I got lucky. A while ago, my husband & I attended a great benefit for some amazing people and won two nights in NYC. Yeah!
So this time around it’s high style & a sleep concierge for me. While obsessively checking out the hotel website, I found some green good news as well. The Benjamin is one of five certified Ecotel hotels in the US. Apparently, they have been environmentally aware & responsible long before it became "fashionable".
The subway has mocked me for years on most of my previous visits. But I was lucky enough to get a hand-holding lesson from a good friend the last go round. I don't know if it was my fear of getting on the wrong train or the images from all the movies I have watched but I wasn't able to get over this obstacle in all my years of crisscrossing “the big apple”. But now I am armed with a metro card, so watch out Manhattan.
To wrap up…local food in an open air market (cold air is good for you right?), a selection of pillows in an eco friendly hotel, walking & subway riding instead of cabs...I think I have myself a downright green getaway! Now if I could just get over my fear of buses (another story for another time!)...

Mucking about

The best part of going green is the learning process. Really, it is for me anyway. Sometimes the trial & error can be downright demoralizing but most often the rewards are rich with the knowledge of muddling through by myself.
I have experienced this in so many ways since embarking on my green adventure. From starting seeds indoors (I had no idea root vegetables couldn’t be transplanted!) to learning more about food labels (“natural” is a marketing tool & not to be confused with organic). And it seems like every day I glean a new piece of advice or information to layer on my basic building blocks. They are small but hard won blocks, people!
Take this morning, for example. I now receive an email from Organic Gardening once a week. I LOVE this. Not only does it save paper, but I don’t have to page through numerous advertisements just to procure the tip about cold weather composting I am interested in. So, with a couple clicks I learned to NOT run out back & turn my compost pile. I was itching to do just that as I started to read about the fact that my compost heap should be warm inside, despite the cold. Thankfully my ADD (self diagnosed, of course) didn’t hit high gear & I was able to stay put & read all the way to the end. If I had run out there & started mucking about, I would have messed with the balance of my precious blend of kitchen scraps & shredded newspaper disturbing the microorganisms working hard to turn it into “gardener’s gold”. Crisis averted. I am still totally intrigued to see if I did this whole thing right. But I guess I will have to wait for warmer weather to see the proof in the pudding.

Here's the link to learn more about composting.

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/cold-weather-compost?cm_mmc=OGNews-_-2011_02_16-_-learnandgrow-_-cold_weather_compost

luxury or necessity?

I start my day with a cup of coffee. And I have been known as a coffee snob, here & again. But for me it’s not just the jolt I look forward to, it’s about the ritual, the anticipation. From the first few beans hitting the grinder to wrapping my hands around my favorite mug, warmed almost too hot to be comforting (it is though). And that is just my stay at home coffee.

My absolute favorite way to enjoy a cup of joe is surrounded by lively conversation. And I am lucky enough to be able to do just that about three, sometimes four mornings a week. I get ribbed by the walkers, joggers & commuters idling in their cars, who spy me behind the wall of windows in my local coffee shop. But mixing in with the coffee crowd has become part of my ritual. I always learn something new & laugh, a lot. In short, it fills me up & wakes me up much like my favorite drink.

After braving the ice this morning & arriving to many smiles, I grabbed a cup o’ cuppa & dove right in. A conversation about Obama’s state of the union address got going & we were soon off to the races; talking about the problems with the food supply chain, local grassroots movements & the dreaded reliance America has on oil. One comment has stuck with me all day; just “turning off the tap”. Wow, wouldn’t that be great?

As the discussion rambled on & each new facet of the issue came to light, it is hard to agree on where or how to start. Especially when our nation’s unemployment rates are so high & social programs are being cut left, right & center. My one friend gave me a look with raised eyebrow & reminded me of these and other issues which make my organic loving, green- blogging, recycling, garden growing, haughty-taughty self seem really out of touch. And I do love that she gives me a swift kick in the pants now & again, but I am still left wondering when we, as a nation, will start making better decisions for ourselves & the land that nourishes us.

I would like to say I am coming up with a plan now as I sit under a pendant light fixture with a corkscrew light bulb in the Haddonfield library reading Organic Gardening. I did, however, come across an article in the back of this beauty of a magazine about ways to avoid petroleum based products in the garden. It’s a start, right?