Planting Peas

By on May 17, 2013 in Gardening

If there is one thing I’ve learned is to never doubt you can inspire someone. When I feel like there is no possible way other people don’t already know the information I’m writing about, I’m always proven wrong by a lovely email or comment thanking me for the article. So while I feel like many of you probably already know how to plant peas – I’m very proud of this gardening project we’ve just completed with my sweet nine year old son and thought I’d share it. I find gardening tutorials a lot like cooking – sometimes pictures are a lot more helpful than words. So I’ve been snapping pictures through the process and the final image ending with pea shoots that are starting to come through the soil. I didn’t know that growing food was going to be this fun. At every new corner with our garden, the excitement builds and I’ve never loved my yard or house more! Here is our project with the peas and since the seeds go right into the ground (don’t have to be grown indoors first), you still have time to start your own with these easy steps!

Since peas or beans like to climb, we decided to grow our peas along the walkway of our house because it gets the most sun. We also replaced the dirt. We haven’t planted anything new since moving in and I knew the quality of the soil wasn’t great. We used potting soil with a little sea soil and refilled this area:

After the new soil was laid, we decided to soak the peas overnight to give them a little head start with germinating. We put the heirloom seeds we purchased from West Coast Seeds between paper towels and watered them. This process softened the peas before we put them into the ground.

We purchased bamboo and plastic rods and made teepees. You just tie the top with hemp string and then separate the bottom of the sticks to accommodate the space you have. We used four sticks per bundle because our walkway is narrow.

Around each of the poles we dug little holes (up to my knuckle) and placed a pea or two in each hole.

We planted these peas last week and they are already shooting up giving our walkway a beautiful contrast of green against the new, rich soil. Who knew that soil could be so beautiful? I love to see the fresh soil with only the tops of something WE grew coming through. People always told me that peas and beans are easy to grow. It’s really one of those things that until you try you just don’t know. And yes, it’s very easy to do. But more than easy it’s been really relaxing, fun, and the excitement I’ve been sharing with my younger children has been awesome!

We just planted the carrots tonight and there is more planting coming. We don’t know what we are doing – but asking questions and trying new things is always a good thing. And if there is food at the end of this rainbow – mission accomplished. And if there isn’t? Mission accomplished too because I have tried something I’ve wanted to do with my kids for years. And if I didn’t have to replace all my soil – this would have been a very budget friendly Spring project! Super excited to figure out how to plant the tomatoes we’ve been germinating inside for months! My front room is starting to look like a grow-op! Stay tuned, I hear tomato planting for this region is supposed to be this weekend.  I’ve got some grass to remove and then some of these plants can go in . . I mean really, who needs a lawn when you can grow food?

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State Of The World’s Mother’s 2013

By on May 12, 2013 in Just for mom

This Mother’s Day I was searching for an article with deeper meaning to me personally. I’ve really gotten to that place in life that for my birthday, Mother’s Day, and celebrations for me – I feel nothing but blessed to have my healthy children surrounding me. So when Jeremy from Save The Children Canada shared with me some of the amazing work they do with the challenges facing mothers and newborns worldwide, I knew I wanted to share them with you. Each year, Save the Children release this index of the challenges facing mothers and newborns worldwide, from Canada to the Congo.  This review looks at key indicators such as maternal mortality, child mortality, educational attainment, political status of women and country economic strength to “rank” the best and worst places for mothers and babies.  This year, we also have a special focus on the first day of a baby’s life, highlighting  how the birth day represents the most dangerous day for mothers and newborns alike, especially in developing countries.

Thank you for sharing these beautiful Global mamas and their stories. Here are two and the difference Save The Children has brought to their lives.

Photo credit: Michael Tsegaye/Save the Children A mother with her newborn child at Dessie Referral Hospital in Afar region, Ethiopia.  Save the Children staff refer girls and women with health problems from rural Amhara to the hospital and assist them in their journey there.

Photo credit: Alfonso Daniels/Save the Children.  In Sierra Leone, one of the worst places in the world to be a mother: Fatmara, 21,  lost a baby a few years ago after giving birth in the floor of her shack.  She recently gave birth successfully at the clinic opened by Save the Children in Susan’s Bay slum in April 2012.  She also benefits from free healthcare for mothers and children under 5 introduced by the government two years ago, thanks in part to lobbying from Save the Children and other organizations.


It’s an incredibly powerful campaign Surviving The First Day. Imagine becoming a Mother and this is your greatest worry – your child surviving the first day and then month of life because of low cost solutions . Click here to find out what Save The Children is doing to help – even Canada (ranked 22) and the US (ranked 30) could be doing better. Find out how.

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Factory Clothing Tragedy in Bangladesh

By on May 3, 2013 in Eco Apparel, Local and Organic, Personal Development

There are times when my passion for wanting to write about global problems shouldn’t happen immediately, without research first and the recent tragedy involving factory workers in Bangladesh is the perfect example. Like so many people, I was very upset to learn that more than 300 factory employees making brand name clothing died in a building collapse in Bangladesh. My immediate reaction was not to boycott Bangladesh clothing, but I must admit to wanting to scream “only support locally made clothing” to anyone that would listen. I was steaming mad. All I could think of was the people being paid $38 month to make the big name labels that for all these years I’ve avoided because I get so frustrated knowing the huge profits these companies make. What else could be the driving force for sub-letting the American clothing industry overseas for all these years? I also wonder why we can’t pay people in 3rd world countries more money to make our products? Are we really that greedy? Well, if you are paying someone just over $1 a day to make clothing for 10 hours, I’d say profit margins are pretty high and maybe we’ve become too far removed as North Americans from what it actually costs to make something.

I’m different from a lot of people. When I hear people talking about how cheap they just picked up items a, b, and c, I actually cringe. I feel like there is something very wrong with our world when I can go to a big box store that is having a clothing sale, and buy clothing for less than I can find it 2nd hand or make it myself. When I close my eyes, this isn’t the kind of world I want for myself. And so I try hard to vote with my consumer dollars. Because we are not wealthy and it really does cost a lot more to only purchase locally made clothing, I’ve really embraced shopping 2nd hand in the last few years. My kids really like the feel of already worn clothing and I love the recycled aspect to buying clothing this way.

So shopping local and 2nd hand is really my thing. But I would enjoy the freedom of knowing which big brands are doing their part to support factory employees in other countries by paying them a fair wage and giving them safe working conditions. Why don’t we know this? A wonderful blogger who has actually visited Bangladesh with Save The Children Canada has been able to share her experiences from understanding what kind of impact the factory clothing industry has in Bangladesh.  Her points about why your shouldn’t boycott Bangladesh made clothing really made me think and realize this isn’t going to help people suffering in countries that experience such poverty. I learned from PhD In Parenting’s article that some larger brands have been working to try and improve safety in their factories.  And brands that made a decision to opt out of any improvement to garment factory safety in 2011? Walmart, The Gap, Old Navy to name a few. Large brands that are proactively trying to help? Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. I still find the issue of what large brands opting in for safety regulations confusing and if I did all my shopping solely at big box stores this information would only help me so far navigating within a Mall. So it comes down to asking questions. And after recently listening to one of Michael Pollan speeches to university students, he said something that I think is relevant to this issue of clothing and wanting to know more behind how it’s made. He said that if a question is asked more than 25 times at McDonalds, they have to raise the question with superiors. (I can’t remember the exact quote but it might be board of directors or shareholders). So if McDonalds has this policy – maybe the clothing stores do too? If I walk into Old Navy and ask the Manager if they support safety agreements for the factory workers that make their clothing – will it lead to change? If the clothes are made in Bangladesh, quoting this safety agreement might be helpful. If a retailers clothing is manufactured in China, India, etc. the question is still relative. “Does your clothing support safe working conditions and pay for factory workers?”

And maybe as a society we need to really understand the true cost of cheap things. Our focus needs to go back to knowing where the origin of clothing, food, and housewares comes from. Our grandparents knew. And along the way we stopped caring and listening to where the products that enter our lives come from or how they were made. It’s a problem that can be fixed. The true cost of that pair of jeans for $4.99 on sale at Walmart is much, much greater. The environmental toll and human face needs to reemerge before I want to buy them. If I know there is human cost behind a product I’m good to pass until I can trust another big name is caring about the woman sitting behind a machine in the garment factory for 12 hours a day. I want her to work, be a leader in her family with income, but I also want to know she’s not locked in a building with cracks in the foundation making me that pair of pants. So no, definitely not boycotting Bangladesh, but yes, wanting to know a safety agreement has been signed to protect these worker. Yes.

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Triple Flip – Locally Made Active Apparel

By on April 18, 2013 in Eco Apparel, Girls Favorite Things, Local Events/Happenings

So it’s not a huge surprise to you that I really don’t like Malls. When I’m inside them I’m always heading to one store with a direct purpose to get in and out as quickly as possible. I stare into the bright lights and don’t understand the allure of spending hours in a place that does little to support my consumer values; supporting locally manufactured items made with earth friendly materials. The majority of my sons’ clothing is purchased 2nd hand but having growing daughters has put a slight dent in my master plan to buy the majority of their clothes already recycled.  Although, to their credit, my girls are very practical like their mom! <grin>  This practicality recently got traded in when we discovered Triple Flip. Do you want to see the faces of my normally very reluctant shoppers?

    

I laugh every time I look at these pictures because they had SO much fun picking out an outfit. And there was a small part of me that actually felt relief that I could experience this mother/daughter ritual and feel good that I was shopping in a Mall without ignoring my core values trying to support locally made clothing. Because if I haven’t mentioned it – Triple Flip’s stretch wear line is manufactured in Canada! So if this is important to you as a consumer, check out a Triple Flip store or shop online. If visiting a store you’ll need to ask where the stretch line is and let Triple Flip know that you LOVE the fact they are manufacturing their house line in Alberta. I think parents know that Triple Flip clothing is high quality and cute designs…but it’s more than that. For me, it’s a commitment to something that makes me feel good and bridges an outing with my girls that we can all enjoy. My girls also got to experience the ultra fab dressing rooms  – talk about all star treatment. I’m not sure another changing room will ever hold a candle to these again.

I look at this picture and again smile. It’s so outside of our norm to be excited about a shopping experience but that is what our day at Triple Flip became – an experience. And although the girls made their choices very quickly, the day was special and I thank Triple Flip for producing clothing that I’m happy to purchase. In. A. Mall.  Life is just full of surprises.

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Earth Day Projects For Schools

By on April 12, 2013 in Creative teaching, Eco Kids Projects

Do you have a really cool idea that promotes environmental stewardship within a school but haven’t been able to get approval to implement it? This is usually a good time to pop your head into the principle’s office and ask “what’s happening at our school for Earth Day?” If they look at you momentarily stunned – you are in luck! Your awesome idea stands a good chance at getting passed because school administrators often needs help coming up with Earth Day projects. Here are 3 ideas that can be organized quickly and with little cost.

DIY Bike Racks & Bike Challenge

I will be trying this idea with my own family for Earth Day week. I was hoping to have the school’s support but I might be biking solo with my clan on April 22nd. I can only hope that my children understand the importance of celebrating Earth Day by challenging ourselves to try new things that reduce waste, fuel, or consumerism. Here is where the inspiration for this idea came from – picture credit Punyx Tumblr:

If your school already has bike racks this Earth Day project is already easy. If not, I love the idea of using up-cycled tires to make them and how much easier can it be to build a bike rack? Our school doesn’t have bike racks so I thought this project of building them teaches the importance of up-cycling materials already available. The other half of this project is to post a challenge sheet in each classroom and kids can record the number of miles or Kms that they walk or bike ride to school during Earth week (April 22-26). At the end of the week, classes or Grades can tally their totals for the number of carbon emissions or greenhouse gas emissions saved by the act of walking or biking instead of kids being driven to school. There are conversion calculators on the web that can transcribe these numbers. The school could post the total number and I think kids that don’t normally bike or walk to school would feel very proud!

Neighborhood Beautification

Working with your city’s environmental department is a great way to get ideas for helping the community on Earth Day. Does the school’s neighborhood have any invasive species or plants that kids can help the city identify and control? Is there a section of forest or river/stream close-by that can be swept for litter? And if it’s okay with the city – have kids make seed bombs in school and then throw into an approved area of the woods. David Suzuki’s Queen Of Green has a link on how to make DIY seed bombs. What could be better than unleashing children into nature with something to throw? They would love it!

Another way to beautiful your school’s neighborhood is to mark storm drains with fish decals to show they lead to waterways and should be protected from chemicals, paint, etc. We marked the storm drains along our street a few years ago – it was a great activity that my kids are still proud of! Again – getting the kids outside with an activity seems like a win/win. Many storm drain marking kits come with literature to hand out so they children become the educators with this project.

Earth Day Festival

This last project will take more time and energy to plan – but the results would be awesome. The key to keeping children engaged about learning how to help the environment is to let them speak to the issue. Kids know better than anyone little ways to help the environment. Not just for one day – little things that can be incorporated into our daily routine that just might inspire permanent change in our households.  One station of the Earth Day festival could have kids talking about how to pack a litterless lunch and why that is important. Maybe this idea could catch on and become a routine day of the week where students bring littler-ess lunch every Monday. Another station could be a game with a sorting station. There would be one large bin with 10 items that need to be sorted into compost, recycle or garbage. Fun! Another station could have a planting station where each child plants a seed into an empty egg carton cup or empty paper milk carton they’ve brought from home.  Having the children in charge of stations where learning is ‘hands-on’ has a larger impact than adults simply talking about it.

Good luck and be sure to post your experiences with Earth day projects within your school on our Fan Page – keep the inspiration flowing!

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