Our Green Garden - Past, Present, and Future

We used to have a HUGE vegetable garden behind our backyard fence. It is a land parcel of EPA easement, belonging to another county. We cleared away the thick thorny bushes little by little over nine years ago, and I had an ambition to have a even bigger native garden surrounding the vegetable garden.

Then the backyard neighborhood was finished the development and some of those backyard neighbors called in their Home Ownership Association and claimed back that land in 2007. Our neighbors and we had to move the fence and plants back in a month. Lots of work, HARD work. A positive way to view this: it gave me an opportunity to redesign our flower and vegetable gardens, even though I had to discard some of the trees, flowers, and structures.

Now we have a self-made tool shed, a self-made two-bin wooden compost box, a self-made wooden picnic table, and flowers/vegetables everywhere, in the backyard along the fence, in the front yard beside the entrance, and on both eastern and western sides of the house. Lots of green, continuous blooming of colorful flowers. Everyday when I watch out to the window, I see flowers smiling back to me. What a joyful life!

And the future of our garden? Faithful comeback of all my perennials year after year, even greener and more colorful!

Worthington Farmers' Market

The Worthington Farmers' Market was probably the first farmers' market we had ever been to about nine years ago. We also visited other farmers' markets, and this turns out to be the one we like the most.

The Market is open from May to October on Saturdays from 9-noon. This year we went to the market first time on Saturday of May 29, 2010, which was already the fourth week of the summer season, even though the summer was not yet officially here. The market is conveniently located one block south of route 161 on High Street (RT. 23) in the downtown Worthington, Ohio business section.

They are an all Ohio Grown Produce market, featuring certified organic farmers and organically grown products. The Market is diversified with many kinds of products: vegetables, meats, fruits, large landscape plants, free-range chickens and eggs, cut flowers, herbs and perennials, and baked goods.

I bought eight plants of sweet basil, hoping they would grow better than last year. I also found the garlic scapes (from hard neck variety of garlic), and bought one bag for $3. Hmmm, I have to wait until tomorrow to stir-fry them with chicken breast meat. Yummy!

When our local supermarkets (Meijer's, Kroger) advertised their locally grown produce and labeled their exotic fruits with the country names, I didn't quite get it. I thought it was nice to show the kids that our foods were from all over the world. After reading the green books, I finally realized the labels are for the people to estimate the food mileage.

The average supermarket item is transported hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. The further the food travels, the greater the associated carbon emissions. To go green, you can buy local produce at the supermarket and the local farmers' market to reduce your food miles. Check labels to see how far the food has come, and choose seasonal fruits and vegetables that aren't from half a world away.

Produce Safety Guide

Organic food often comes at a premium price, thus hardly anyone can afford to buy all organic produces all the time. We have to limit organic purchases to the most important items for our family, such as milk, or buy the produce with least pesticide contamination more often.

Apples, cherries, peaches / nectarines, pears, strawberries and grapes are among the most likely fruits to be contaminated with pesticide residues, so buy organic as often as you can. Bell pepper, carrot, celery, kale, and lettuce are among the most likely vegetables to contain pesticides. Buy them less often or buy organic ones.

Kiwi, mango, papaya, pineapple, and watermelon are the fruits with lowest pesticide residues, so you can buy them more often with less concern. Same for the following vegetables such as asparagus, avocado, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, onion, sweet corn, sweet peas, sweet potato, and tomato. GREAT! All except papaya and tomato are my favorites. I wish I would take this list with me to the grocery shopping as a reminder.

In between the above mentioned produce with medium pesticide residues are banana, cantaloupe, cranberries, grapefruit, honeydew melon, orange, plum, raspberries, and tangerine for fruits, and cauliflower, cucumber, green beans, pepper, potato, mushrooms, spinach, summer/winter squash for vegetables.

Plastics Guide

One useful thing I learned from Micaela Preston’s Practically Green is the Plastics Guide, which decodes the recycling numbers and makes them sense to me in my decision-making choices. #1 PET or PETE, #2 HDPE, #4 LDPE, and #5 PP are considered safest for food and drink; while #3 PVC, #6 PS, and #7 other are better avoided due to toxic chemical leaching. A note to the catchall #7 plastics: if it says BPA-free, it is OK to use.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastic, which is found in many water bottles, baby bottles, and in the linings of metal cans for soup, juice, and baby formula. Small amounts of BPA can leach out of the containers and into the food or drink inside. The problem is magnified when items are heated, which is commonly done in microwave ovens. Numerous studies have indicated that very low dose of BPA can lead to heart disease, diabetes, reproductive effects and even cancer. Look for BPA-free on the label when you buy plastic containers.

Rag Rugs - New Green Meaning

In America, rag rugs have always been the specialty of women living in the country or on the frontier. Rag rug methods were brought to the shores of North America with immigrants to the new world, and the hooked, 3-strand braided, loom woven and crocheted rugs are among the most popular ones. Rag rugs are mostly produced by recycling worn clothing or vintage sheeting, which is GREEN and fits well in the modern green movement. Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

I started crocheting a few years ago, making little things for my daughter and home decor. At the end of last year, this idea of rag rug crocheting hit me right there when we were completing new floors for the rest of the house. I have tons of old bed sheets, every one has its story to share with my kids. I keep buying new sheet sets and duvet covers. Still it is hard to give away those old memories. You can imagine how excited I was to put those vintage sheets to a new meaning in my green commitment.

I have done two rag rug projects up to date, one in stripes, one in oval shape (sort of), both used in the main bathroom. The third and ongoing project will be a mosaic 3x5 rag rug for my home office.

Green Rugs - Authentic Oriental Rugs

Now that we have the new floor, it had been urgent for me to search green rugs to match the floor, because it was really cold in winter morning when I stepped down from my warm goose down bed.

At last not long after New Year 2010, I went to Polaris and shop at a local store Azia Oriental Rugs, which has been specializing in Persian, Chinese, Indian, and more oriental rugs for over 45 years. In particular, Sonia, the owner's daughter and the Oriental Rug Specialist, had been quite helpful, patient, and knowledgeable. We ended up having two room size handmade Persian rugs from Azia, one is 9x11-9, and the other is 8x10.

Interesting enough, both rugs are of Kerman Persian Rugs. Persia used to be a huge empire, and had its unique culture and art. Nowadays, Iran is the name for the Persian country. Persian carpets are the finest in the world and the carpet dealers have developed a classification for Persian carpets based on design, type of fabric, and weaving technique. The categories are named for cities and areas associated with each design, and Kerman rug is one of the popular designs.

Why is the Persian rug green?

• made of natural fiber - wool and cotton
• hand-knotting or hand-weaving (handmade)
• dyed in natural plant-based dye
• last longer and appreciate over time

Go Native in the Garden

The watering of U.S. landscapes, gardens, and lawns consumes billions of gallons of water every day. Nationally, 32 percent of residential outdoor water consumption is due to lawn care. To go native in the garden means not only growing indigenous plants but also following nature in care of the garden.

• Apply NO herbicide
• Plant groundcover in the shady area
• Grow our own organic fruit and veggies
• Recycle food scrapes and yard clippings by composting

2010 New Year's Resolution

My commitment to become greener or more environmentally responsible started from my New Year’s Resolution in 2010: eat less meat, exercise more. I have seen about 5 lbs to 10 lbs weight loss within two months. Well, not much, but it is a promising start.

The meat industry is a notorious environmental polluter, most of us don’t want to know about the details of the factory farms where the majority of the meat comes from. But it is important to understand the impacts meat production has on our Earth and our health. Being practically green, buy Certified Organic meat at least half the time. Being even greener, eat less or no red meat (beef, pork, lamb). Go vegetarian once or twice a week, use less meat in your meals.

It works for me and my family.

Green Flooring

Eight Reasons To Choose

Green Flooring...

1... is recycled and reduces dependency on oil.
2... meets government regulations for recycling.
3... can last longer than conventional flooring.
4... creates pride in ownership and contributes to a better world.
5... is safe for you, your family and the environment..
6... is recyclable to prevent needlessly filling up our landfills.
7... can save you time and money and makes you look and feel good.
8... ensures a healthy environment for future generations.

We chose the laminate floors instead of hardwood or bamboo floors for most of our house, though the kids' rooms retain the wall to wall carpet for the sake of warm feeling in winter. The laminate floor is much easier to clean, no odor problem which I had been worried for the kids’ rooms.

Green Kids - To be, or not to be

This spring the kids are taking the beginning golf lessons every Tuesday from SkyHawks. It is a two-hour lesson with lots of running besides learning driving, putting, and chipping.

One Tuesday after we came home from the lesson, I told Nosaj to take a shower and Einnob to have the ice cream drumstick first before taking shower, because she was the last person to have the sweet treat. Jason said: “I want to take a bath today.” When I pushed on, Nosaj declared: “I don’t want to be green today. I want to take a bath!” I was amused by his response and realized my going green attitude does have an impact on my kids. Therefore, Nosaj took a bath, and Einnob took a shower, though longer than five minutes – our goal, because she had to wash her hair today.

The first day my blog went green was also Einnob’s first day taking a five-minute morning shower. I wonder which way is greener in saving water and energy, getting her into the American way of taking daily shower, or taking showers when it is necessary, say every other day or less. There is also concerns of washing away human skin’s natural oil if showering too often. Same effect could happen to the hair making it drier and easy to break.

We used to take a one-hour shower once a week during the college time over twenty years ago. It is one of the best schools in China, has the best resources the government can provide for educational institutions, and is located in China’s capital city, Beijing. Can you believe that? I survived and still memorized those old good times… I tried to spread this way of shower to my southern hometown folks. They thought the northerners were barbarians!

It is said that every two minutes you save on your shower can conserve more than ten gallons of water. The average bathtub faucet flows between three and five gallons of water per minute. Thus, taking shower is not necessary to be greener than taking a bath. It all depends on how much time you spend in the shower room or bathtub and how much water you use. Jason, it is fine for taking a bath and being still green.

Jennifer Aniston said she takes a three-minute shower because she found out that every two minutes in shower uses as much water as a person in Africa uses for everything in their life for a whole day – drinking, bathing, cooking, and cleaning … everything! When you become aware of all the things you do, and the effect those things have, you want to make a small changes. Like with water. It is very interesting to me though it might not work to Einnob and Nosaj. Therefore, my practically green ideas of shower/bath for the green kids are:

Take a five-minute shower.

Plug the drain in the bathtub before turning on the water.

Use less shampoo and conditioner.

Use less body wash liquid soap.

Pause the water while soaping.

Lazy Days, Itchy Days

I have been lazy these days...

I like to pull weeds from our yards in the front and in the back, every morning after I am done with my daily walking. The weed used to be dandelions, however, this year it is the weedy green ash seedlings. Lots of green ash seedlings are clustering in the grass, the offspring left from a dead green ash we cut down last fall.

The lawn is now becoming greener with less weed, then I saw some three-leaflet POISON IVY creeping here and there. Sometimes my hand is getting to touch or has already touched one of those tiny leaflets! Oh, my bad dream of those itchy days... is finally HERE!

How do I treat the poison ivy itches? Basically, I don't want to take any prescribed medicine. I apply herbal essence oil or ointment to the itching spots. I washed with hot salty water. I pinch and punch, I jump and stump... (just kidding!) Time heals my itching problem eventually. Usually it takes ten days to two weeks. So I am still itching, and it is getting better.

Bad news: Nosaj has itching rash starting from his neck. Poor baby!

Plant a Tree - Tree of Graduation, Tree of Birth

Planting trees is a wonderful way to help the environment since trees produce oxygen which everyone on earth breathes to stay alive. Planting trees also help stop the effects of global warming and save energy. It is the way to go green.

There are other more exciting reasons to plant trees. Twenty years ago, our class planted a tree of magnolia in celebration of our graduation. Memories of four-year college lives together slide slowly down the hill and past the place where other tress will dwell. Twenty years later and in less than two months, we are going to have our first class reunion. I am getting excited to see the tree of graduation again! What story is she going to tell us about her life on campus along the little pond?

Planting a tree is also a great way to commemorate the birth of your new son or daughter. If you have older children, don't leave them out. Plant a tree in honor of their kindergarten graduation and later perhaps their wedding. Make it a family tradition of planting a tree for all memorable family occasions. It is never too late to start planting trees.

My daughter's tree is a Japanese Maple from Dawes Arboretum on an Arbor Day, and my son's tree is Gingko biloba from the court yard of the old Botany Building in the Buckeye Country. The trees are growing in our backyard year after year, just like my kids, healthy, strong, and elegant.

Earth Day - Celebration of 40th Anniversary

April 22^nd, 2010 was the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day has come and gone, Year 2012 is looming. If the doomsday is real, what are the most important things I can do within these two years? I asked this question to myself and my kids. I looked back and thought that going green is the right one I have been doing and will continue doing.

This is a blog of my everyday effort to go as green as possible and in a practical approach.

iGoGreen 2010

Today, I thought of this name iGoGreen2010. Luckily, it is available in both Yahoo and Google by adding the Year 2010, which is quite appropriate for now.

Hooray! Now I have more things to do. A bit overwhelming, though.