Spring has Sprung!

I guess I'm a grownup now, so maybe I should do some grownup things. I've gotten into gardening of all things. First it was cooking, now gardening. Who wudda thunk?

When we first moved into the house, the outside was a bit of a mess. Overgrown bushes, that awful river rock, and a deck that we thought would collapse every time we walked on it. In Spring of 2007, my mom and stepdad graciously offered to help us totally revamp the gardens on the front and side of the house and tear down the old deck.

(Pics to come when I remember where they are!).

Wow, what a change, right? Apparently, not enough change to satisfy me. This past fall, I decided to plant bulbs. Now, a normal person would maybe plant 40, 50 or even 100, but I decided to plant.... wait for it... 681. I wanted a kickass garden that would blow people away. I envisioned tulips in various colors blooming while my daffodils were growing, then the daffodils would be in bloom while the tulips died off. Quite the vision, huh. Unfortunately my vision wasn't so great and didn't come out exactly as planned. For one thing, you can't see the driveway side of the garden from the street. Another thing was that the tulips ended up shorter than they were supposed to, and the daffodils taller than they were advertised to be.

Lesson learned, I guess. Now, here's the list of what was planted.

Side yard:


Allium

• Gladiator 4 50" tall, May/June Purple
  

Tulips

• Passionale 40 18" tall April/May Purple
• Purple Prince 16 14" tall March/April Purple
• White Emperor 16 14" tall March/April White

Deck Area:

Allium

• Purple Sensation 35 32" tall May/June Purple
• Christophi 15 24" tall May/June Purple

Hyacinths

• Mixed 30 18" tall March/April Mixed Pastel

Muscari

• Mixed 24 8" tall March/April Purple/White

Chionodoxa

• Luciliae Mixed 60 4" tall March/April Mixed Pastel

Front Yard:

Tulips

• Dancing Lady 135 22" tall April/May Mixed Primary
• Ile de France/Bastogne 60 18" tall April/May Red
• Yokohama 84 16" tall March/April Yellow

Daffodils

• Yellow Cheerfulness 36 18" tall April/May Yellow
• White Cheerfulness 30 18" tall April/May White
• Mt. Hood 60 16" tall March/April White
• Geranium 36 8" tall April/May White w/ Yellow center

Phew that was a long list! Here are some pictures now :)

April 11, 2008

April 16, 2008

It's Not Easy Being Green

Ahh, yes. Kermit. His simple little line translates into today's sudden need to be "green". It's definitely not easy being green, that's for sure.

Now, in this sense, being "green" refers to being environmentally friendly. Old habits are the toughest to break. How often do we just throw away the plastic bags we get from grocery shopping? What about throwing everything into the trash can instead of recycling? It takes effort. For some reason, people have recently had this epiphany that Earth is not in very good shape; the reports are saddening. The green movement crashed and burned about 10 years ago, especially in the housing industry, since people didn't really see it as that big of a deal. Now that we're running out of room to put trash, parts of the world are now in severe drought conditions, and glaciers are melting, there's this big push to be green.

Not that this is a bad thing...

One question I often have is whether or not people are making changes because it's the cool thing to do or if it's because they're truly concerned about the environment. I know, I know... that shouldn't be an issue, right? A change is a change... but aren't you more likely to stick with it if it's for the true reason of being more environmentally friendly instead of being cool?

Now, on to what simple changes can be done to help out the environment a bit:

-Limit driving to necessary trips.
-Change light bulbs to CFLs.
-Change from plastic bags at the store to reusable bags.
-Switch to vinegar-based home made cleaning solutions.
-Line dry your clothes.
-Use a rain barrel to collect water, which is then used for watering flowers and gardens.
-Reuse bags whenever possible.
-Turn off water while brushing your teeth, shaving, etc.
-Use low-flow toilets and showerheads/faucets.
-If replacing a toilet isn't feasible at this time, put in a 20 oz. bottle filled with sand or another heavy substance to limit the water usage of the toilet.
-Use ceiling fans to your advantage.
-Use Energy Star appliances.
-Compost yard clippings, kitchen waste, and leaves.

The list goes on for miles, but here are a few links for those who are interested:

http://lowimpactliving.com/

http://www.ecocycle.org/hazwaste/recipes.cfm

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/annies-top-10-vinegar-uses.html

http://futuremakers.com.au/category/all/