A few months ago I got deep into using baking soda, vinegar and essential oils to clean everything. There are some really good books on this subject but the one I found most appealing was Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home by Linda Mason Hunter.
It started with vinegar. Both of our bathrooms have ventilation issues and mold on the shower grout is a battle we constantly wage. Somewhere I heard that a few drops of tea tree oil in white vinegar was a mold cleaner and suppressant. Then I heard vinegar mixed with water was a great window/mirror/chrome cleaner. Sure enough, on both accounts I was impressed with the results. Then came the deluge of books. I checked out most every book the library had on the subject and the primary ingredients for clean cleaning are baking soda, vinegar and essential oils.
Essential Oils can be expensive but considering that you only use a few drops at a time they last forever. White vinegar is what, .80/gal and baking soda something like .80/big box. This is a cheap way of cleaning and cleaning well. There are two other ubiquitous ingredients for green cleaning and Tara introduced me to one of them when we were dating...Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap (the guy was nuts...you have to read a label - .pdf file - on one of the bottles to see what I'm talking about but he made a great product). This is another one of those expensive upfront but lasts forever kind of things. A gallon is about $50 but this stuff can 1) be diluted indefinitely 2) be used in every soap application you can think of. The last ingredient, borax, I haven't tried yet.
Tara and I are very fond of Ecover products as well as 7th Generation but I think we will limit those name brands to a couple of applications only. I can approximate a lot of household cleaners with the soap, vinegar, oil & baking soda but I am not going to do the cooking and blending that some of the applications require.
11 April 2008
10 April 2008
Obsession
We have had a crapload of rain since winter and the plants are loving in. Late last spring I plants some new plants (alumroot, ninebark, and eco-lacquered spider) and they struggled through the summer drought and didn't impress during fall but this spring they are going nuts, especially the goldenstar/eco-lacquered spider. I bought four or five and one didn't make it through the summer at all, another struggled and is still a drawf but it is green and healthy. The other 2 or 3 are spreading like mad and yesterday their gold flowers started to pop. These things have, at least double, if not tripled in size. They are creepers, or as some website called them, leapers. They spread out and some of the new feelers root down and so on. Its fun to watch. Last weekend I weeded and put down some mulch which makes them pop that much more.
Near them I have some alumroots (one green and 2 purple). The green one is in front and it has exploded in size. Some of its leaves are the size of my hand and, of course, this is making it difficult for the ones behind it to get the sunshine they need but they are getting there. Tonight I will trim the hedge behind them to give room for more light.
The ninebarks are moving slowly. A couple of years ago I tore down the wood fence on one side of the yard and we replaced it with some shrubs. I went to Home Depot and picked up some butterfly bushes, crape myrtles and burning bushes...OOPS. I didn't know all three are considered no-no plants. We went to Growild and were told - if memory serves me right - that the butterfly bush is in the same category as japanese honeysuckle which is a step below kudzu on the "we hate this plant" list. Burning bush was a step below that and crapes weren't invasive they were non-native. They suggested ninebarks. We bought 3 and one did not survive. The other two are popping with leaves. I like these shrubs, they are bold and unique. We are going to Growild in a couple of weeks and I plan on getting at least one more.
Because of all this plant life I have become obsessed with native plants. I don't know where I first heard about native plant gardening but now that I have some I don't know why this isn't more popular. This is no brainer gardening, especially in the South. You buy plants native to the area and you don't have to do much more than put them in the ground. They are made to grow in our climate, they react naturally to the problems like drought and cold.
So what does this mean environmentally? It means no pesticides. It means less weeds, native plants used properly will win the competition with weeds. It means natural predators and prey (insects, mammals, birds, and reptiles). It means supporting local businesses (you shouldn't have to mailorder plants native to your area, you should be able to drive no more than an hour or so). Its cool to be able to say everything you grow is from your area.
Please check out your local nurseries. If you live in the Southeast I know there are some great books but please go to a nursery instead of Home Depot and Lowes, who rarely have any decent selection of native plants.
Near them I have some alumroots (one green and 2 purple). The green one is in front and it has exploded in size. Some of its leaves are the size of my hand and, of course, this is making it difficult for the ones behind it to get the sunshine they need but they are getting there. Tonight I will trim the hedge behind them to give room for more light.
The ninebarks are moving slowly. A couple of years ago I tore down the wood fence on one side of the yard and we replaced it with some shrubs. I went to Home Depot and picked up some butterfly bushes, crape myrtles and burning bushes...OOPS. I didn't know all three are considered no-no plants. We went to Growild and were told - if memory serves me right - that the butterfly bush is in the same category as japanese honeysuckle which is a step below kudzu on the "we hate this plant" list. Burning bush was a step below that and crapes weren't invasive they were non-native. They suggested ninebarks. We bought 3 and one did not survive. The other two are popping with leaves. I like these shrubs, they are bold and unique. We are going to Growild in a couple of weeks and I plan on getting at least one more.
Because of all this plant life I have become obsessed with native plants. I don't know where I first heard about native plant gardening but now that I have some I don't know why this isn't more popular. This is no brainer gardening, especially in the South. You buy plants native to the area and you don't have to do much more than put them in the ground. They are made to grow in our climate, they react naturally to the problems like drought and cold.
So what does this mean environmentally? It means no pesticides. It means less weeds, native plants used properly will win the competition with weeds. It means natural predators and prey (insects, mammals, birds, and reptiles). It means supporting local businesses (you shouldn't have to mailorder plants native to your area, you should be able to drive no more than an hour or so). Its cool to be able to say everything you grow is from your area.
Please check out your local nurseries. If you live in the Southeast I know there are some great books but please go to a nursery instead of Home Depot and Lowes, who rarely have any decent selection of native plants.
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