closing, I will give you a few of my top tips to help you utilize the “Use Little, Live Big” lifestyle. One of my favorite aspects of going green is that it often is cost-free and involves nearly zero effort. For example, growing organic potatoes beets, potatoes and other root veggies need not involve even tilling the soil. You throw a bunch of straw or shredded, wet newspapers on top of the seeds and forget about it until it is harvest time. I love it when you can be really lazy and save the planet in the process!
Zen and the Extremely Easy Art of Organic Potato Farming
Potatoes and beets are a high return for your labor. To me, the best way to grow both is the world’s laziest way to garden; I remember reading about it when I was ten in a book by Thalassa Crusoe, a pioneering organic gardener. I was fascinated that you could grow root vegetables without even needing to turn any soil. You can grow potatoes, yams, etc., under straw! Simply cut up mature potatoes that have “eyes” or the fleshy tubers sprouting out of the flesh of the potato, making sure each piece has an eye. This will yield a new potato. After you “plant” or place the seed potatoes chunks on the ground, put loose straw over the pieces and between all the rows at least 4–6 inches deep. When the seed pieces start growing, your potato sprouts will emerge through the straw cover. How easy was that? Crusoe also said you could do the same under wet, shredded newspaper but straw is more organic.
Serve Your Garden Tea: How to Make Compost Tea
Compost tea is a marvelous way to feed your plant and give them extra nutrients in a wholly natural way that is free of chemicals. You want to feed your friends and family only the cleanest and pesticide-free produce, so start out organic and you will have a garden that produces healthy food. You will need a big bucket and the following to make compost tea:
Add the water and the soil to a gallon bucket and keep in a place out of direct heat or cold, I use my outdoor shed but a garage will also do nicely. Let your compost tea “brew” for a week and give it a stir every other day. Watering cans are the perfect teapot for your garden. Strain out the dirt and pour the liquid into your watering can where it is ready to serve up some serious nutrients to your garden.
Ditch the Lawn and Grow Cabbages and Cabbage Roses
Lawns are very high maintenance and, unless constantly mowed and manicured, can greatly reduce your curb appeal. Besides wasting water and taking up a lot of time, your grass doesn’t offer you anything back for all the demands on your time and pocketbook. They also tempt many lawn keepers to use chemicals which are bad for all of us, especially the birds and the bees. Get creative and go at least a little wild. My next door neighbor overturned and tilled their front lawn and planted potatoes, beets, asparagus, and squash. They love going into the front yard and harvesting fresh veggies for their daily meals. The squash and pumpkins actually have beautiful foliage and the flowers are stunning and edible, as well. Needless to say, they had the best jack-o’-lantern on the block and some fantastic pies to boot. I am heartened to see the new gardening philosophy of growing veggies, roots stocks, herbs, and berries right beside the roses and lilies. It is gorgeous and supports the bee populations to whom we owe so much.
I hope the ideas in this book bring you much happiness and a greater sense of wellbeing. Going Green is always a much healthier option, not just for you and your loved ones but also for our one and only home, Planet Earth.
We would also love to your great ideas for Going Green so please share them with us!
Alice Mary Alvrez
One of the simplest places to start going green is to buy more organic goods, and getting to know what “organic” even means.
The rules for organic labeling are very specific, and aren’t just a marketing ploy to possibly misrepresent a product. There are particular standards maintained at a national level by the United States Department of Agriculture (for American products at least). And these requirements must be followed, along with proof and paperwork, for a minimum of 3 years.
There is a fair bit of red tape involved in the standards, but a quick and suitable layman’s summary is:
Organic crops must be raised without conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers or sewage-based fertilizer. Animals raised as organic must be fed only organic feed and have regular access to the outdoors. They are not to be given any antibiotics or growth hormones.
Basically, nothing toxic or artificial can be used in the growing of crops or the raising of animals.
Not Just Produce
Packaged and processed foods can be part of the organic world too, though it’s a bit more complicated because there can be a dozen or more ingredients at hand in any one product.
Here’s where you need to understand the labeling lingo. There are really 3 levels of organicness recognized by the USDA for legal labeling:
Anything with less than 69% organic content doesn’t get an official label. Labels like “all natural” or “eco-friendly” have no real meaning, so look for the official organic designation. Everything else is just marketing.
Not Just Food
Actually, you can find organic products outside the food industry altogether, which sometimes takes people by surprise. Many fabrics can also fall into this field, and you can get organic cotton and other fibers in clothes and bedding.
Thought about cleaning greener, but got lost with all the various cleaners on the market? Not sure how environmentally-friendly they are, or not happy with the higher price tags? Well, with a few handy recipes, you can make some excellent non-toxic cleaning products for around the house that are much cheaper than anything you can buy.
General Surface Cleaner
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