A work colleague asked me the other day if our site had any articles about delivery of fresh local produce to homes or businesses from local farms, my answer was;

I don’t know how to get fresh produce delivered yet, but I will make it my green mission to find out more about locally delivered fresh fruit and vegetables!

Completely by chance, after a conversation with Carter, I learned that such programs are collectively known as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA’s for short.

Community Supported Agriculture - Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly

Community Supported Agriculture is becoming a more and more popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers.
The idea is that a local farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included such as fresh eggs, goats cheese etc. Local residents purchase a “share” and in return receive a healthy crate of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season which varies depending on your location.

CSA’s have lots of benefits for all involved…
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Home & Garden community supported agriculture, CSA, fruit and vegetables, local produce

Once again, looking towards warmer weather and getting outdoors, I thought about this spring and what we could do around the yard to be more eco-friendly, I came across a list of tips to help:

1. Reel Lawn Mowers: What is that? Well reel lawn mowers are muscle-powered, no engine required. Using them not only conserves energy but also helps keep the air cleaner!

2. Cut Back on Lawn Space: If you have a large front or back yard, you might consider filling the space with more areas that do not require mowing, wildflower beds, rock gardens, native ornamental grass beds or a even a fish pond. Lawns require more watering than planting beds. In watering planting beds comprised of individual plants, you can target the watering better (using drip irrigation, for instance), thereby promoting water conservation.

3. Reducing Chemical Herbicides: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ” What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered” Indeed, one of the best chemical-free approaches to weed control may simply be to control our intolerance toward weeds. If we re-evaluate the weeds in our yards, seeing if maybe we might have overlooked the “virtue” here or there.

4. Edible Landscaping: Blueberry bushes, fruit trees, edible “weeds”. From berry bushes to Apple trees and even in the case of some weeds, incorporating edible plants in your yard can be one of the simplest and practical ways to be eco-friendly with your landscaping.

With just a little bit of work and some of these tips, I bet I could start making my yard and landscape even “Greener” than it was last spring. If you have some tips for a “Greener” yard, let us know.

General Posts

Organic in the City

I am beginning a new painting called “Zebra Longwings” which I will be donating to the Texas Discovery Gardens for their Charity event Organic in the City Fashion Show and Auction. This event is one of the major fund raisers for the Texas Discovery Gardens. Texas Discovery Gardens is an educational organic garden facility in North Central Texas, that advances the knowledge and skill set of the community to restore, conserve and preserve nature in the urban environment. They accomplish this using their conservatory, greenhouse and 7.5 acre outdoor gardens in urban Dallas along with a full array of teaching programs developed for children and adults.  Their reach begins with small children and adults new to gardening and continues up to and through the Master Gardener level.  Texas Discovery Gardens serves thousands of inner-city students each year.  With the opening of the new Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium and the new indoor children’s classroom, Texas Discovery Gardens is now able to offer its EarthKeeper’s® Children’s Education Programs year round.  These programs are educational and fun and they promote excitement and interest in learning math and science via the natural world, they expand student knowledge and understanding of living sustainably, and help youth appreciate and embrace nature. The Organic in the City Fashion Show and Auction is an exciting, fun event eagerly anticipated by fashion, gardening and green living advocates.  Through this event Texas Discovery Gardens will raise thousands of dollars for the expansion of the children’s EarthKeeper’s programs and to bring Butterfly Gardens to schools across Dallas. For more information on Texas Discovery Gardens and this event, click on the link below.

http://www.texasdiscoverygardens.org

"Zebra Longwings" the beginning

To see more of my work, click on the links below.

www.sharenchatterton.com

www.lunaazulstudio.com

Conservation, Gardening, Green Education butterflies, Conservation, Organic in the City, Texas Discovery Gardens

I stumbled across a wonderfully intriguing image on Flickr.com and it turned out to be an eco friendly coat made from reused plastic shopping bags. The green fashionista responsible for the wonderful creation is UrbanWoodsWalker and her creations are truly inspiring.
This post will show you how to turn your used plastic bags into “plastic fabric” and make your own eco clothing. (Warning: The plastic fabric requires the use of an iron. Please be very careful whenever using a hot iron and ensure your work area is well ventilated)

1/ Collect a bunch of brightly colored plastic bags (The super thin ones work best such as the type newspapers are delivered in), most shoppers have eliminated plastic bags from their homes by using reusable totes but you can probably still find some plastic to use;

Step 1: Gather up Your Used Plastic Bags

2/ You will need the following, an iron, an ironing board, a pair of scissors, some paper (wax paper or parchment paper works best).
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Green Clothing, Reuse eco clothing, plastic bag clothing, reused plastic bags

Since it is oh so cold but it is almost February and warmer weather will be just around the corner in March (hopefully), I thought I would do some sprucing up around our house. Touching up the paint on walls and trim or better yet, painting a wall an entirely different color, can gives your home a whole new feel.

I ran across some ways to be planet friendly and preserve the paints I use. Here are some of those ideas:

1. Keep paints stored in moderate temperatures in the home, a closet or pantry. Temperature lows and highs can cause the ingredients in paint to separate. Extended exposure to extremes can make the separation so severe that no amount of shaking and stirring will restore the paint’s texture.

2. Don’t paint from the can. Pour paint into an open bucket or a roller pan and dip your brush or roller in that. The fewer items you stick into the paint can, the less likely the paint is to become contaminated.

3. Keep paint cans closed as much as possible while you’re working. at the end of the day, put a piece of plastic wrap over the top before securing the lid to help create an airtight seal.

4.When saving leftover paint, make sure the can lid is on tight, then turn the can upside down to create an airtight seal and to avoid the formation of a “skin” of thickened paint on top.

5. Keep some paint in a baby food jar or canning jar for touch ups. It saves opening a gallon of paint each time you need to use just a little.

General Posts, Home & Garden, Reuse conserve paint, Planet friendly

Green Kids Game by Play Green

Our gifts at Christmas this year had a distinctively green theme and one particular fun gift was this spinning top game by “ImagiPlay Play Green Spinning Tops“. This toys is made with all natural sustainable rubberwoods and managed-forest pines which are fast growing. Even the packaging is green, it is made from the same sustainable farming wood and doubles up as the “arena” for the spinning tops.

Play Green Spinning Tops - All Natural Eco Game

The top of the packaging slides out and can be reversed and slotted back into the box to create a battle field for the duelling spinning tops!
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Green Education, green toys eco games, green kids products, spinning tops

My wife and I often browse our local Central Market store for new eco friendly products and on one our recent visits I found a great green alternative for my morning shave!

The first green shaving product that we found was an organic fair trade shaving gel by the Dr. Bronner’s company. It is labeled as the “Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One Organic Fair Trade Shaving Soap Gel” which is quite a mouthful but I was impressed with the eco-friendly claims and was willing to give it a try.

Green Shaving with Dr Bronners Shaving Gel

This wonderful shaving gel is USDA organic certified and is also certified by the IMO as a Fair Trade product. This shaving gel is available in different blends but I chose the Spearmint Peppermint blend. The main ingredient in the shaving gel is organic Shikakai which comes from the seed pods of the small South Asian tree the “Acacia Concinna”. The Shikakai is mixed with organic sucrose and grape juice to produce a soothing and moisturizing shave gel.

All the organic ingredients have been certified by the same national organic program that certifies food so I was confident in the eco-friendliness of my choice!

This green shaving gel is also certified as fair trade which guarantees that the farmers who produced the ingredients and their families receive fair prices, wages and community funding.

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Green Product Reviews, Personal Products dr bronners shaving gel, Green shaving products, mens grooming, recycline razors