Gone GREEN and a few other things!

I recently became addicted to this blog.  I found it while clicking on the "next blog" button up at the top of the page.  (I warn you though if you try it....it gets addicting...very, very addicting.)  I think I am in love with that women.  I feel we are very similar in many aspects.  Well, minus our sewing skills.  She is several notches above what I hope to be one day.  Anyways, I highly recommend that you check out the blog. 

As you see the title of this blog is "Gone GREEN and a few other things!"  I was sparked to write this blog because of "crunchy girl".  I have actually wanted to write this posting and several others similar to this because I feel it so much of who we are and how we are raising LB but I have always decided against it because it wasn't something that was 100% about LB and this is what this blog is about.  After finding and really enjoying reading about someone with similar thoughts, views and plans I figured that maybe one of you might enjoy hearing more about the life we are creating.  To quote the great philosopher, Daddy, "I can't change the world but I can change mine" and that is exactly what we are doing. 

We actually started to make a change to the green side while I was pregnant.  I was mopping the floors one day with Mr. Clean and I thought to myself "wow, one day my baby is going to be crawling all over this floor, put his hands in his mouth and then ingest some of this product".  Essentially, my baby would be licking the floors and would I do the same?  NO!  So that started the search on the Internet for green ways to clean.  To this day I always mop the floors with a mixture of 2 gallons of hot water to 2 cups of vinegar and a long squirt of dish soap and it works like a charm every time. There are several sites on the Internet that are devoted to cleaning with vinegar, like, like and like.  My use for vinegar to mop the floors has spread.  I now keep several spray bottles around the house that hold just vinegar for windows and mirrors and another bottle that is a mixture of water, vinegar and dish soap for everything else.  The one complaint I always hear from most people is the SMELL of vinegar!  Well my friends, you could add the lovely scent of lavender or some other essential oil to your mop water or spray bottles and that will take care of the smell or you could give it 10 minutes and the smell will dissipate naturally. 

In the past I would buy 409, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, Clorox and so on all to clean the house with at probably $20 per month.  Now, I buy one big bottle of vinegar at Costco for $3.24 that lasts me a month if not longer.  The savings alone is worth the change.  I actually could go on for days on all the benefits of my green cleaning ways but that will have to wait for another entry.

So not only are we clean greener's or green cleaners--you decide--but we also love to garden or garden lovers--again you decide!  Here are some photos from our ever growing and ever expanding garden!

 Strawberries hanging from a converted hot water tank.  Below is our blueberry bushes, blackberry bush and the temporary grape vine home.

Our new standing planters with watermelon, acorn squash, zucchini, and pumpkin

Our Tomatoes

The Corn

Spinach, celery, carrots, onions, garlic and the list goes on...

We can't have a garden on this scale and not have a compost pile.  It ain't pretty yet but it will be soon!

And last but not least....LB enjoying the labor of our garden!

Of course the garden and back yard wouldn't be possible without all of the back breaking, intense, sweaty labor that Daddy has poured into our little world over the last two plus years and continues to pour into our sanctuary.  We are truly thankful to be blessed with this little compound for LB to grow and nurture in and I hope one day he realizes just how lucky he is!  Okay, that sort of felt a little brag-ish but we truly believe in being as green as possible for the sake of our little man and for his future siblings. 

I know this update was a little choppy going from vinegar to gardening but there is just so much I want to share and my mind is racing trying decide what I want to talk about this time.  Well, and because I don't have any pictures of LB cleaning even though lately that is something he has come to enjoy.  

Can't wait to tell you more!  

~SL