csa day & I'm moving!

The blog is moving homes. Come visit my new blog and change your bookmarks!

Here's what we got today:
lettuce
sungold tomatoes (I think they're gone already, they were sooooo good)
Romano beans
basil
walla walla onion (we traded it for an extra bunch of basil)
broccoli
garlic
summer squash
strawberries

yay & yum

photo by DavidDennis

yay: The Senate (finally) passed a bill to ban toxins in our kids' toys. It will make the US have the strictest policy on lead in toys and also bans phthalates, which cause early puberty, birth defects and are linked to higher rates of cancer. Also, W said he'll sign the bill. At least he's going to do something right! (Couldn't resist)


photo stolen from marthastewart.com
yum: I made these cookies this week, which were so delicious. I used nutella in the middle instead of chocolate. This was even better, I think.

picnic in the park

Its August now and I'm starting to feel like summer is coming to a close before we know it and we have to hurry up and take advantage of the nice, sunny, warm weather while we have it. Last weekend, we hiked a bit and had a picnic at the top of the little hill. I'm hoping to picnic again at a different park this weekend.

Ruby is wearing our favorite sun hat. Brianne & Eddie gave it to her and it stays on! There's a toggle strap, so we can cinch it up close to her chin. And its cute and has great sun protection with the big brim.

Leave everything as it is in fundamental simplicity, and clarity will arise by itself. Only by doing nothing will you do all there is to be done.
(I'm not sure who said this - sorry!)

How do you celebrate summer?

csa day

photo by 427

Yesterday was our CSA day. (Which is also a green tip - buy local, organic food!)
We got:
grape tomatoes
leeks
German butterball potatoes
green romano beans
swiss chard
strawberries
blueberries

I'm making a berry smoothie today and tonight for dinner, we'll saute the beans with some tomatoes to eat with our fish. I've never eaten Romano beans before. Have you? Any tips for them or any of the other foods?

Thanks for all the comments about your green tips - keep them coming!

summer

Our city offers free concerts 2 nights a week at a park on the river. When my mom was here, John & I went out to see part of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy play. I love outdoor concerts, and love watching everyone dance. John & I hung out on our blanket & he drank a margarita that he made & brought with him.

Last week, Ruby took a late nap, so we took her to the beginning of Tower of Power's show. She LOVED it. There were little girls dancing near us that Ruby clapped for, babies to chase around, snacks on a blanket & music for her to dance to.

The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things...the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.

Barbara Pym

green McQueen

Lately I've been getting quite a few emails from friends and family who are looking for some ideas about conserving more resources/living more simply/becoming "greener". I thought I'd post some of the things we do on the blog in the hopes that we can all share more ideas about these things. John and I are feeling a bit stuck in some areas. It seems that some of the changes we can make in our lives cost quite a bit of money and we know eventually it will pay off (money-wise) and its important for the planet, we have to sustain our family financially as well. (No replacing our washing machine that works well with a front-loader.) Anyway, we can get some new ideas from your comments, and maybe you can get some new ideas as well.


It seems odd in wet western Oregon that we need to think about conserving water outdoors, but we get little to no rain in the summers - just when we're trying to raise veggies in the garden. One way we're trying to conserve water is by installing a drip line that we got from dripworks.

Also, we try to gather as much water as we can that would normally go down the drain and water our plants with that. It's not much, (until we can legally collect our gray water) but its something. For example, we eat oatmeal almost every morning and we fill the empty pot with water to soak until we can wash the dishes. That water gets dumped on the apple tree. The water that our tofu swims in until we eat it gets dumped as well.