by Jennifer Lance on February 22, 2010 · 2 comments
Editor’s Note: We are honored to publish the following guest post by Zoe Weil. Zoe is the President of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE),www.HumaneEducation.org and author of Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times and Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life.
In her recent Atlantic Monthly article, “Cultivating Failure”, Caitlin Flanagan critiques the current educational movement to bring the cultivation of gardens into schools and curriculum. Because Flanagan makes her argument so well, I don’t want to try to paraphrase her, except to summarize her position: Taking time away from book-learning for gardening, especially for Hispanic children whose families have worked to escape poverty and to provide their children with an education that will enable them to do things with their lives other than farming, limits precious studying time, thereby reducing the acquisition of essential knowledge. As with many well-thought-out critiques, the criticism is compelling, but suggestions for solutions are weak, if non-existent.
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After years of experimentation, I have come up with the perfect recipe for easy, hearty, healthy, stick-to-the-ribs tasty chili, right in the slow cooker. And I’m going to share it with you.
But first, let’s talk about what you can do to make your chili — and all your cooking, really — more “green.”
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by Derek Markham on April 16, 2009 · 1 comment
Two things my girls have enjoyed doing this Spring: playing in the rain and helping me start the garden. The perfect activity for combining these twoo things is collecting rainwater! With how dry it can be here in Utah we need to save all the water we can. Rainwater can reduce the reliance on city water and save resources, especially as water ordinances and restrictions tighten and water becomes more scarce. Collecting rainwater for your spring/summer garden is the perfect solution and a fun experience for your kids. It is also a great way to teach your children water conservation–and you’ll enjoy the lower water bills!
If you have a small garden like mine (we just have an herb and salsa garden) you can have the children place their buckets and pails outside when you know a rainstorm is coming. This will ensure you have enough water for a couple of weeks.
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by Derek Markham on March 30, 2009 · 1 comment
As a family we are always looking for ways to cut down on our grocery bills. We like to cook with fresh herbs and use a lot of them, which starts to add up! So for at least half of the year we grow our own herbs on our windowsill. When you grow your own produce it tastes fresher, minimizes pesticide exposure, you don’t have to worry about recalls on tainted produce and you can have fun doing it as a family! Although, sometimes I have bad luck with growing certain herbs from seedlings which is why we are huge fans of Bonnie Plants.
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by Jennifer Lance on March 18, 2009 · 1 comment
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!” 
There is nothing like getting dirty and finding things in nature. Children learn when they see, do, touch, and experience. To be a green mom, I have to let my kids just get dirty. They have to dig for worms, feel the soil, sometimes taste it and figure out what those worms are doing. It means scrubbing finger nails and taking long baths to soak but it helps the children understand for themselves what a worm is, how nature works and exactly what it feels like to figure something out. From all of my children’s exploring they have figured out, without me teaching them, that worms like dark, moist places to live. They know where the slugs are and which rocks to turn over. I did not teach them any of this but through exploration they have learned. [read the full article...]
It took awhile before I became okay with the idea of drinking wheatgrass juice. In realizing the benefits of wheatgrass it was something I didn’t want to miss out on. Wheatgrass shots at your local health food store can be very pricey. So, last spring we started to grow our own wheatgrass for it’s health benefits.
Currently, I take wheatgrass shots about once a week to boost the Vitamin K in my system (did this w first pregnancy, too). This way we can opt out of our son receiving the Vitamin K shot after birth -unless there are visible signs of bruising. Be sure to consult your midwife or physician if your are pregnant or nursing before consuming wheatgrass. In any case, we set up a seed starter tray with soil and planted wheatgrass.
Growing wheatgrass, otherwise known as, “Liquid Sunshine” is very easy to do. Wheatgrass grows quickly. It only takes 3-5 days to emerge in soil 1/8 of inch deep. You can grow it all year round but the preferred temps for wheatgrass to grow is between 50-80 degrees. In warmer climates where I live it will grow too fast and turn yellow quickly and wilt. Therefore, wheatgrass is great to grow in a window box which is what we did after a few attempts in the high heat. Wheatgrass is a uniform green foliage that it gives off a beautiful look when planted into a small pot or tray. It’s vibrant green color is the beholder of it’s many advantages.
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by Derek Markham on March 3, 2009 · 1 comment
1. Begin by downloading this Center for Ecoliteracy free visual guide which promotes nature as our teacher. The guide teaches that sustainable living is rooted in a deep knowledge of our natural world and that it is a community practice which can start with the family in the backyard. Feel free to share these lessons in natural systems with your child’s teachers too.
2. If your child is still to young for reading, make gardening a part of playtime. Think of gardening like playing with toys, make a dollhouse garden, or a mini field for action figurines. The wee garden kit comes with a variety of little goodies to make your own enchanted miniature garden:
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