Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Unwitting Plant Killer

Posted on by

1

Our front porch is currently home to a sad cluster of dead potted plants. Their shriveled, lifeless, little souls cry out to me whenever I see them; as if to remind me that I am a neglectful, amateur parent. I am racked with guilt whenever I glance out the window and see those dried out masses. It makes me wonder how I can love nature so much, and yet be so inept at maintaining it.

Just last week I wrote about our adventures planting the seed paper from one of Little Man’s books. Already I have forgotten that very pot outside overnight as the temperature dipped dangerously towards zero.

Is Little Man’s plant to suffer the same fate as those on the front porch? I hope not. I have to believe that I am capable of figuring out how to not only grow a plant, but also keep it alive as long as possible. I have figured out how to do this with Little Man, so one would assume that plants would be a tad easier.

I’m sure it just comes down to knowing what a plant does and doesn’t need to thrive.

Needs: sunlight and water.

Doesn’t need: being left outside in temperatures cold enough to turn it into a plantsicle.

So I am making it a goal to not only plant herbs this spring in small pots, but to grow them outside throughout the summer and inside this winter. Surely Chives won’t get the best of me.

If any of you have any tips for beginning gardeners like myself, I would love to hear them. At least for the sake of Little Man’s plant!

20120429-001605.jpg

Cloth Diapers Part 1: The “Ew” Factor

Posted on by

9

A friend of mine requested a post on cloth diapers.  Because disposable diapers are still the norm, there is a lot of misinformation out there about using cloth diapers.  So I thought instead of doing one post about cloth diapering, that I would do a series on the topic.

For the next few Fridays I will post about different aspects of cloth diapering.  Today’s post is on the “ew” factor.  Cloth diapers are not gross, but Continue reading →

Learning to Grow

Posted on by

0

Happy Earth Day!

At the moment we have remnants of the snow that fell on Friday.  I am still hopeful that it will be completely gone by this afternoon so that we can get outside and enjoy Earth Day in a drier setting.

Yesterday, along with being wet the wind was pretty fierce, so we ended up planting Little Man’s seed paper inside (from Little Man’s copy of the awesome book “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle).

This was LM’s first time planting anything, and it ended up being a huge hit.  I can’t say that he knew what was  going on exactly, but he definitely figured out that dirt is just as fun to play with as to eat. Continue reading →

The Tiny Seed (Children’s Book Review)

Posted on by

0

This Sunday is Earth Day.  Even though they are calling for snow this weekend in our area, I am still hoping to get  some quality time outside with Little Man and the Dreamboat.  Little Man is still a tad young to understand what gardening is about, but I still want to introduce him to the wonderful world of flowers, compost, bugs and dirt.  He did eat dirt out of a potted plant recently, but that is not exactly what I have in mind. Continue reading →

If You Ate Today, Thank A Farmer

Posted on by

3

Now that we are into spring, barbecuing season is back.  Sure, you can barbecue in the winter, but it is not something one generally thinks of doing in a snowstorm.  With the last of the snow gone, April’s sun shining, and relatively warm weather in our area, the Dreamboat has emerged from his bbq hibernation.  Now you will find our grill often fired up with burgers, ribs and, my favourite of all, roasting veggies.

I have always enjoyed veggies, but ever since we joined a CSA, my appreciated has developed into full-out love.  What is a CSA, you ask?  It stands for community supported agriculture (or sometimes community shared agriculture).  It is a program in which you pay for a seasonal “share” from a local farmer in the spring, and in turn that farmer provides you with a weekly supply of veggies throughout the growing season (June to October in our region).  The produce is all organic, and it tastes amazing!

The farm we have the privilege of buying veggies from is Dalew Farms, located in Lavigne, ON.  The owners Dave and Chantal are incredibly nice and very hard-working people.  They believe in organic farming, and produce incredible fruit, veggies, eggs and meat.  I had a friend in university who had a sign in her kitchen that said “If you ate today, thank a farmer.”  How many of us can say that we have met the farmers that feed us? Continue reading →

Wee Urban Modern Organic Baby (Baby Product Review)

Posted on by

2

There is a craft show in Sudbury twice a year.  I have gone three times now with Grandma N and while there are always beautiful things for sale, I rarely find anything really amazing.  Because the craft show fell on the weekend before Little Man’s first birthday party, I decided to skip the show in favour of some good old fashioned home cleaning.

When Grandma N stopped by after the show to give me the business card for Wee Urban, I was so excited that I went to the craft show an hour before closing just to talk to the owner.  I’m glad I went.  I was provided with an organic onesie to review, and was so impressed that the following day I returned to the craft show to purchase two rompers and a sleep sac.  As for the organic onesie that I was asked to review Continue reading →

Curing the Sniffles Naturally

Posted on by

0

Last week was the birthday bash for Little Man, and we had a full house for the festivities.  Of course this meant that he spent most of the time in the arms of a loving friend or relative.  And invariably, this lead to Little Man developing the sniffles.

There was no high fever, but he was warm to the touch, with a runny nose and a mean case of the grumps.  On top of this, he had been teething very slowly since January.

When I saw my son sick and in pain, my first reaction was to Continue reading →