technology is sometimes baffling

I just had to become a follower of my own blog to respond in the comment section. Strange but true.
As with my green attempts, my techno-self is a little slow to emerge! But I am making progress on both fronts.

The anticipation

It's coming, it's coming!
Thankfully spring is working the very magic we look forward to every year. And for me that means farmer's markets. In my neck of the woods, we are very lucky to be in the middle of multiple options of deliciousness. The markets are as varied as the reasons one might grab their cloth market bag, wipe the sleep outta their eyes & bike on over. Some (like me) believe in buying local produce from the very farmers who harvested the colorful delights. Others (like me) might like the live music. Still others (like me) enjoy the culinary delights to be found & enjoyed with a good cup of coffee.
Whatever your reasons, I hope this links help you find just the right market for you.

www.localharvest.org
http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/
http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/farmers.market.program.php


In the meantime, while we wait for these gems to all open, head to the fair food farmstand in the reading terminal for a quick fix.

The First Garden

So I am a big fan of Michelle Obama. There I said it. If she's not your cup of tea, I hope you'll hang in for my point.
I like that she wears clothes from J.Crew. Adores her husband but isn't afraid of bringing him back to center. A beautiful woman with a seemingly good mix of traditionalism & powerful ideas of what it means to be a woman in today's world.

Mostly though, I love that she has created an amazing, edible garden (with help, a lot of help). When I first saw pictures in the paper of The First Lady braking ground on what is now a 1,100 square foot plot, my heart did a little happy dance. It still does actually.
It seems Michelle & I have more in common than mommyhood, cardi sweaters & love of mexican food. We both believe in teachable moments.

Did you know her garden, from the start to fall harvest, produced 740 lbs of produce? Pretty impressive, right? And she has recruited school children to help with planting, weeding & the fun part, harvesting. A portion of the produce goes to a local social service's agency, Miriam's Kitchen. Now before you start going on about how she has "people" like Sam Kass (a little eye candy NEVER hurt a political agenda) or Jim Adams, Chief Horticulturist, just think about the fact that the garden was started with just $175. A highly published number, but come on, it's still impressive.

So, finally, to my point. If you are like me or Michelle, you just want to help your kids live long, healthy, enriched lives, right? A garden seems to me a good jumping off point to taking care of the earth, your family & possibly leave you with some leftover cash for an new cardi. Gotta go, my blackberry is dinging with a J.Crew sale update! Chow.

FYI...to read more about Michelle Obama's health & nutrition initiative go to
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/

Grid

Have you seen this magazine? If you want to get your green groove on, grab a copy & savor with a nice cup of joe. I pick my copy up at the Grind house in haddonfield but you could also visit them at www.gridphilly.com to view a digital edition.

This month's edition was the catalyst for sowing my garden seeds inside. I mean look at that cover, how can you not??

And the inside is even better. Lots of intelligently written articles about, well, everything green. From breaking news like philly peco's cap ( hold onto your hats philadelphian's your electric bill may increase 29.7 percent on average.) to recycling projects ( wanna know what to do with old chinese take out containers?) and even recipes (rhubarb, yum)

Another benefit of these inspired pages is the advertisements...all green.

The clever, green hipsters at Grid have also started a blog (hey, everybody's doing it). The GRIDDLE is a self described "short stack of news & notes from the Grid".
It is a more up to the minute place to go for all things sustainable.

Happy clicking!

Where to begin?

I'm a mom on a journey to find better ways to live a "green" life. And this blog is really just going to be an extension of the discoveries, triumphs & fumblings along the way. At least I hope so.

First fumbling...

I was inspired & motivated to start a "grown up" garden this year. Not a lonely tomato plant haphazardly slapped into a container & left to it's own devices. This was to be a patch of earth tilled with a raised bed & trellis brimming with all things edible. Yes! I have been daydreaming about it through all the record breaking blizzards this year. 78.9 inches of snow, it felt like more! Didn't it?

So, what better way to bring some green & sunshine into our house then starting the seeds indoors? Can't be that hard. I went online, read some books & asked around. My kids were as excited as I was, each morning running into our makeshift greenhouse (read laundry room here) & checkin the progress of our seedlings. Side note: Those button looking cardboard plugs of dirt used to start seeds, Do Not Overwater. Just letting you know.

The drowning of the tomatoes was not the fumbling, just a small detour. Our enthusiasm was not deter. We still had an amazing amount of sprouts pushing up. We were farmers. Or so it seemed.

The green thumb high was bought to a screeching halt this past sunday when a trusted gardener asked about my foray into suburban gardening. Well, I said beaming, we have peas, green beans, mesclun greens, carrots, beets, radishes, etc & so forth. The look on her face said it all. I braced for it. "Root vegetable can't be transplanted, you know." And there went my mojo.