change the way you shop – for good.  watch this video and make the pledge to use fewer plastic bags.  together we can keep one billion plastic bags from polluting our streets this year.

today, nugget and i made these awesome cork trivets from marthastewart.com’s collection of earth-friendly crafts as this week’s craft an earth day project!

now speaking of earth day, sure, posting “happy earth day” as your facebook status is great, but you could go to http://savejapandolphins.org and make a real impact.  so go on, what are you waiting for?!

50 years from now what will they say about us here?  did we care for the water and the fragile atmosphere?  there are only two kinds of folk and the difference they make, the ones that give and the ones that take.

dear readers, i know you are just bubbling with excitement at the prospect of a new mysetery melon.  behold!

what will she be?  a watermelon, perhaps?

mystery solved.  those are pumpkins growing from the compost pile!  more specifically, those are last thanksgiving’s floral arrangements.  i’m hoping they are at least the white pumpkins we used.  so, there’s still a little mystery left.

it’s a good thing that these are doing well, because all of the organic, heirloom varieties i planted in the garden-with-crappy-soil are floundering and being attacked by squash bugs.  i think i might try more hot pepper wax spray on those pests.

the neighbors are of course full of helpful chemical poison suggestions, but as you know, that’s not how we roll.  any non-toxic ideas?  and nothing involving soapy water buckets and early morning bug drowning, please.  that is definitely not how we roll.

one of the greatest things about organic gardening + toddlers is that some nights you find a d’avignon radish in nuggetdaddy’s bathroom drawer.

today i set up our geobin compost system.  it does not look like this:

i suppose it could, with some serious wrangling, but for now it’s more of a lopsided oval shape.  and you know what, it works just fine that way because it gets the job done.  plus, it holds compost better than a cardboard box.

before the builder laid down the sod for our front lawn, nugget daddy spread out 450 crocus bulbs.  they’re a naturalizing variety, so they should become more dense over the years.  it sort of looks like we’ve stuck a bunch of artificial flowers in our lawn.  still, they’re fun to see poking up, and a nice way to welcome spring.

i also started my first tray of seedlings today.  it includes:

big rainbow tomatoes

radish d’avignon

chioggia beets

bloody butcher tomatoes

marglobe tomatoes

super italian paste tomatoes

vesuvius nasturtium

rainbow heirloom tomato mix
mix consists of equal parts omars lebanese (red), dutchman(pink), golden sunburst (yellow), black russian (purple), aunt ruby’s german green (green) and djena lee’s golden girl (orange)

yikes! i almost completely forgot to write about the gardensoxx! (i actually had to drag myself out of bed and go back to my desk after catching my mistake on my crackberry.) anyhow, once the seedlings are ready for transplant, they’ll pop right into these cute little tubes of landscape fabric that come prefilled with organic growing medium. we have really heavy clay soil here and tilling a temporary garden is such a pain. i hope these work out well. they look so promising!

here’s a look at a really cool stream bank restoration project using filtrexx products. it shows the gardensoxx being made on-site.

my sister’s one-day sister-in-law (i just know it!) tagged me in a facebook note, “end of year meme.”  it would have been sooo easy to use the majority of her answers because, dude, it’s like she wrote them just for me!  but, alas, she did not, so i’ve crafted my own responses just for you.

1. what did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
   was diagnosed with and treated for cancer

 

2. did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
   i don’t make them

 

3. did anyone close to you give birth?
   most recently, the greenes welcomed their twin girls

 

4. did anyone close to you die?
   i lost an old friend.  he was a great man.

 

5. what countries did you visit?
   chemoland.  it sucked.
   walt disney world

 

6. what would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
   energy and hair

 

7. what date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
   june 12^th, it was the last time i nursed my daughter before i started chemo

 

8. what was your biggest achievement of the year?
   resuming nursing after battling cancer

 

9. what was your biggest failure?
   having to stop nursing
   yes,  i realize that was beyond my control, but to me it felt like failure.

 

10. did you suffer illness or injury?
    yes

 

11. what was the best thing you bought?
    our new house

 

12. whose behavior merited celebration?
    my mother’s
    my husband’s
    my daughter’s

 

13. whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
    northern virginia’s drivers

 

14. where did most of your money go?
    our new house

 

15. what did you get really, really, really excited about?
    taking my daughter to disney for the first time

 

16. what song will always remind you of 2008?
    the hot dog song

 

17. compared to this time last year, are you:
    happier or sadder?  happier
    thinner or fatter?  fatter
    richer or poorer?  poorer

 

18. what do you wish you’d done more of?
    crafted more homemade gifts
    visited more friends
    blogged more
    taken more photos and video of my family and friends

 

19. what do you wish you’d done less of?
    had less cancer
    gained less weight

 

20. how did you spend christmas?
    at our new house with my husband’s parents, brother, sister-in-law, and my parents, grandparents, aunt & her family and her godparents & their family

 

21. did you fall in love in 2008?
    every day

 

22. how many one-night stands?
    (seriously?  this one i have to change to something more mommy blog- friendly)

 
what changes did you make to “green up” your lifestyle?
collected more reusable shopping bags and got my mom in the habit of using them, too
started a compost pile
chose a tankless hot water heater for the new house
 

23. what was your favorite tv show?
    lost

 

24. do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    hate?  that’s much too strong of a word.

 

25. what was the best book you read?
    did i read any books?  i know i started reading anthony bourdain’s the nasty bits, but i can’t even remember if i’ve finished it. 

 

26. what was your greatest musical discovery?
    steve burns’ and the flaming lips’ steven drozd’s ” i hog the ground”
     

 

27. what did you want and get?
    to nurse my daughter again

 

28. what did you want and not get?
    skinnier faster

 

29. what was your favorite film of this year?
    this is the last question i answered because, honestly, i can’t remember watching any movie in its entirety aside from charlie wilson’s war. so i guess that’s it.  though if i’d had opportunity to watch the x-files: i want to believe, i’m sure that would have beat out charlie wilson.

 

30. what did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    went to my birthday party, 35

 

31. what one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    having more energy and less nausea after chemo

 

32. how would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
    chemo casual

 

33. what kept you sane?
    prozac and ativan

 

34. which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
    oh, how i love me some brit-brit.  girl is a spectacular disaster!

 

35. what political issue stirred you the most?
    the presidential election, though that was more of a circus then an issue

 

36. whom did you miss?
    my friends from orlando

 

37. who was the best new person you met?
    my chemo nurse, danna

 

38. tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
    this is your life, right now.  this is what you get.  stop preparing for “someday” and start living it the way you want to now.

 

39. quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
    “it’s a brand new day,  whatcha  waitin’ for?”

 

40. tag five people to post their answers to this 2008 wrap-up meme. please link back to this blog from yours.
    non-lucid drivel
    the twinkies
    motherhood and cancer
    life with the moonhils
    returnjourney

i just love isabooties‘ new ballet criss-crossers.  nugget already has a pair of classic style isabooties which we call her slippers.  i think these would make a perfect addition to her gymboree class wardrobe since going barefoot at gymbo is never going to happen.  to celebrate earth day 2008, isabooties are offering a 15% discount!

all isabooties:

• are 100% animal-free
• are formaldehyde free
• are made in the usa with fair labor
• use fabrics that far exceed the standard consumer safety specification for toy safety (astm f963-07)
• come in packaging that is 100% recycled/100% recyclable and printed with soy ink
• 100% machine-washable/machine-dryable just like socks offering a clean, healthy choice in footwear

use coupon code happyearth08 to save 15% on all purchases through april 22nd!

endosulfan is acutely toxic and easily absorbed by the human body.  low levels of exposure in the womb have been linked to autism, male reproductive harm and other birth defects.  the lethal chemical has been linked to dozens of accidental deaths.  it is an organochlorine–which means it persists in our environment long after it has killed the target pests–thus leaving a deadly legacy for people and wildlife.  in the u.s., this toxic pesticide is used on tomatoes, cotton and other crops.

the european union and several other countries have already banned endosulfan.  less dangerous alternatives are available.  it’s time the u.s. does its part to protect communities and the environment at home and around the world from this persistent organic pollutant.

there is a short opportunity to make a difference.  the epa is currently looking for public comment, so please act immediately and let them know continued use of this dangerous pesticide is unacceptable.  demand an end to endosulfan by adding your name to the petition today.  please forward this petition to your friends and family and encourage them to sign no later than february 15th.

to sign the petition go to:
http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/endosulfan?rk=A7xv3gs1OlyNE