Fast, Cheap, and Good: Sustainability, One Choice at a Time

Companion Planting: Carrots Love Radishes

2013-05-17T11:33:00.001-04:00

Companion planting is more of an art than a science. Take my garden, for instance. Contrary to what a very popular book would tell us, my carrots don't love tomatoes. (Presumably, other people's carrots do -- that's why the book is popular.) My carrots, on the other hand, love radishes.

Carrots can be a pain to grow, especially in the clay-y soil that we have in Ohio. They take so long to sprout, and if that ground gets rained on and solidifies, it is hard for the fragile little carrot seedlings to break through. Plus, carrot seedlings look like grass, and they take a long time to get those characteristic frond-like tops, so it is very hard to weed the carrot bed until it is almost too late.

Enter the radish. Everything carrots lack in speed, the radish has. They sprout quickly and finish quickly, often up and out within a month. Along the way, they provide some shelter to the fragile carrot seeds and loosen the soil while displacing weeds. Plus, you will yank and eat the radishes just when the carrots are needing the room to form their roots. Finally, planting carrots with your radishes lets you start two crops simultaneously in the same space, so less use of your precious garden space and less effort spading or tilling or broadforking up the land.

What companion planting works in your garden?

I Think We Have Apples

2013-05-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

As part of the micro-orchard, we have two dwarf apple trees. I selected these trees because they were recommended as able to pollinate each other, and they are in their second or third year in our care.

Last year, they blossomed at wildly different times, which we attributed to the fact that they wintered in different parts of the sunroom. This year, we were careful to keep them close together, and we trotted them outside to enjoy the attentions of the bees as soon as it was warm enough, bringing them back inside to avoid any frost.

And lo and behold: I think we have baby apples. Certainly, I don't see anything else that could account for these cute little swellings that formed at the base of the blossoms. Some never got much bigger and eventually fell off, but some have continued to grow to grape size. Fingers crossed that they hold on, continue to grow, and ultimately give us some apples.

But what do I know? I'm nervous because last year was a bad fruit tree year in our area, with several tree and orchard owners reporting that their trees never set fruit or never finished gestating a crop. I'm as anxious for these little darlings as I am for every fruit and vegetable from my garden, and I hope everything works out.

Is it wrong that I pray for my garden right alongside my prayers for friends, family, and country?

Broadforking Update

2013-05-09T08:39:00.001-04:00

Three years ago, we bought a broadfork with the intention of discontinuing the annual rental of a rototiller -- we hoped we could leave the soil structure a little more intact while avoiding any petroleum residue in the garden and foregoing the cost of the rental. Three years later, I'm happy to say that it is a real success.

The first couple of years we broadforked instead of tilling, it was not hard, but it was some work to get the soil into a nice consistency. As you can see at right, this year the soil really forked up nicely. I did a significant patch of the garden last night, broadforking in two directions (at right angles), then working the soil over with a warren hoe. The soil looks and feels like we tilled it, but we just used the power of muscle and fuel of body fat instead of relying on a machine.

The Analysis
Fast: Broadforking is not faster than tilling, but as Mr. FC&G always says, it is slower, quieter, more pleasant work.

Cheap: No investment in a tiller either through purchase or rental. At the end of three years, I'd say the broadfork has nearly paid for itself in foregone rental fees.

Good: A little (well, a lot, really) of exercise means the garden is already paying off in better health this year. And I have the peace of mind of knowing I'm not dripping petroleum on my soil.

How Much Does a Garden Grow: April 2013

2013-05-02T15:27:00.001-04:00

Oh my gosh, y'all, I am so excited! The garden is making money!

With $200.44 in initial seed and plant expenses, we probably have a bit more to come in the negative column. I need to get basil plants, a rosemary plant to replace the one I accidentally killed this winter, and no doubt a few other things that I just have to try. But I think the expenditure part of the year is nearly over.

In the positive column, you can see that in April we brought in 2 oz. of potatoes, 3 oz. of leeks, and 5.5 oz. of greens, for a total of 10.5 ounces and a store value of $4.05. Wheee!!! Now we're starting to make some money.

The reality is, I do consider this my summer job. Even though we are currently sitting $196.39 in the hole, I am looking forward to a day very soon that we are in the positive column. I believe that took until mid-Summer last year, but I have my fingers crossed it will be much sooner this year. Early positive indications include a fairly wet spring, so there is a lot of moisture in the ground, and a wonderful compost year, so I am able to put fresh finished humus on all of my garden beds.

What are you harvesting right now?

Top Ten Things I Love About Line Drying

2013-04-30T15:51:00.000-04:00

I have finally gotten to dry a load of laundry outside for the first time this year; this has been a strange year in that regard. We've had a pretty cold spring, and even when it was warm enough to line dry, I wasn't in a position to do laundry. So I'm getting my first load out there about a month late this year. If past experience is any guide, I should have a good five months of line drying yet ahead of me, and I will love every minute of it.

Why do I love line drying? My top ten reasons:

10. The bamboo sheets have a wonderful texture after line drying.
9. I finally get to whiten my whites with sun bleaching after a long winter.
8. I get a chance to walk outside and clear my head during the work day.
7. I don't pump any drier heat into my house to make it harder to sleep at night.
6. I don't use any additional electricity beyond that I used with the washer.
5. I get a smidgen of exercise and burn a few extra calories.
4. Hanging laundry is a good chance to stretch!
3. I can get a fair amount of sun in a couple of 20-minute bursts, so I work on my tan while I get some extra vitamin D.
2. Sunshine wards off depression.
1. Hanging laundry on the line means summer is here!

What are your favorite things about line drying?

The Sock Loom Revisited

2013-04-25T11:45:00.001-04:00

One of the things that is fun about blogging is that you have access to so many analytics. It is really cool to spend some time getting to know which posts are the most popular, where your readers come from, and even what kind of browser they use. (In case you are wondering, my readers come, predictably, largely from English-speaking countries, and they typically use Internet Explorer. You can see the most popular posts in the sidebar to the right.)

Somehow, over time, a post has gained unexpected popularity: my post on my hatred of the sock loom. I'm a little surprised, but I'm also pleased that so many readers have written in to suggest ways that I can knit our socks without jamming this hard, rectangular piece of wood framing into my stomach while I sit watching TV. (Apologies to those of you who love it -- if it works for you, you should absolutely ignore me and keep rocking that sock loom!)

As for me, I am still not using my sock loom (anyone want to buy a gently-used sock loom?). Instead, I have tabled the project because most of my free time for needle arts is now spent crocheting yoga socks for my Etsy store, Carrot Creations. However, I'm thinking it would be easier for me to crochet socks since I'm more comfortable with one needle than with two. I plan to give it a try pretty soon.

So let's hear from you again -- are you knitting your own socks? Crocheting? Using a loom?

Shifting into Spring

2013-04-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

See that scraggly vine? That's what happens when a gardener has a long winter to get through; at one point in January, I shoved a potato in a hanging planter just to see what would happen and maybe add a little green to the sun room. The result is a long, ugly vine. But hey, I hadn't grown a potato vine with no hopes of getting a potato since that awful experiment they have you do in elementary school; you know, the one where you suspend a potato in a cup of water with toothpicks? I still don't know how the teacher could stand that, with the smell of 30 rotting potato pieces filling the room.

But now it is officially spring, and the microfarm is up and running. I have potato and tomato seedlings growing in the greenhouse, and we are eating regular salads out of the greens bed in the sun room. This weekend, I plan to start some of the squash that is ultimately destined for the garden. The dill is started, as are the peas and the container potatoes. We are starting to bring some of the early crops in as harvest, so I will have a true "How Much Does a Garden Grow" column at the end of the month.

I feel so much better being able to get out and work on our property. What are you working on this month?

Not Quite: Winter Potatoes

2013-04-16T16:50:00.002-04:00

Remember the winter potatoes I was growing in the sun room? I had it on pretty good authority that one could grow potatoes in one's garage, so of course I had to try it.

And there you go. When the vines died back and I "harvested" Sunday, I had a whopping two ounces of potatoes. Yippee.

And yet, you know that I'm going to try it again. Given that I only used potatoes that had already sprouted in my potato bin, there were no "seed" costs involved. I think perhaps starting the winter potatoes during the late summer, so they get some growth on them before winter hits, will be the better approach. Also, since we now have grow lights in the sun room, a little extra light and heat are sure to help.

And, as Mr. FC&G points out, anything that preserves my sanity in the winter is worth it.

The Analysis
Fast: The whole winter to get 2 oz. of potatoes? I can do better than that.

Cheap: Thankfully, there were no seed costs, but there is the expense of foregone space in the sun room that potentially could have been used to grow something more successful this winter.

Good: Time to rethink and try again. But I'm sure this is a viable idea, somehow.

Sustainable Pin: Regrowing Romaine

2013-04-12T16:35:00.001-04:00

Normally, I try to link these sustainable pin posts to a particular site or blog that was my original Pinterest inspiration, but I've seen today's idea so many times that I can't pick just one source. I'm glad to see it and to contribute to the flock of people pinning and promoting this idea, because this is a game-changer.

You can regrown romaine lettuce by sticking the unused root end into some dirt.

Now, I know that regrowing some vegetables is not a shocking idea. I've already hoed this ground, so to speak, when I talked about regrowing green onions. But most of the regrowing-from-compost-leavings ideas involve veggies that are typically used in small quantities, like onion tops and celery (I have to try that one...). This, however, is actual food.

Now, I'm excited for myself because I pretty much just jammed a couple of the bottom ends of romaine hearts into some moistened dirt in a pot in the sun room after Easter dinner, and about 10 days later I had some small, but legitimate, leaves. Along with the mustard and spinach that are growing in the sun room, this is going to make for a tasty side salad this weekend. (My romaine is larger than the picture shows, and I'll only take a leaf or two at first.) But I think the implications go much farther.

This is the tip for every person who says they can't garden because they have no land, or they can't bend or reach, or they don't have a green thumb. This is the tip for everyone who lives in a city apartment without any outdoor space who wonders what can ever be done on just a window sill.

This is the tip for every food pantry lucky enough to be able to hand out fresh greens; in fact, I call on someone to find those food pantries, and make sure they are stocked this spring with recycled plastic pots filled with potting mix. Tell your patrons to take that romaine home, make a salad for dinner that night, and then jam that end into the dirt, water it, and put it in a sunny window. Soon it will regrow.

Will it single handedly solve anyone's food or poverty crisis? No. Will it provide enough veggies for a family every day? No. Will it substantially reduce food transportation costs by allowing everyone to grow everything at home? No.

But what it will do is put a leaf or two of lettuce on a sandwich where there is none currently. It will save a few cents off the grocery bill in a kind of living coupon that is easy to cash. It will teach someone that they can grow their own food and be just a little bit more self-sufficient than they were yesterday. It will ignite an interest in botany, an interest in frugality, and an interest in independence.

I tell you, it may look like something for the compost pile, but I promise, this can be a game changer.

The Analysis
Fast: Let me repeat: Cut end off store bought romaine, jam into dirt, water, and leave. Doesn't get much faster than that.

Cheap: Given that the end of the romaine is otherwise headed for the compost, every leaf I harvest is pure, if small, profit.

Good: I love tips like this, because they are a great way to foster the values of sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Can I Take My Own Candy to the Movies? The Ethics of Frugality

2013-04-09T16:40:00.000-04:00

Frugality and sustainability often cross paths, and discussions of frugality sometimes head into questions of ethics. One of the most common of these is whether it is ethical to take your own candy to the movies, and similar questions like what your ethical responsibilities are regarding the complimentary toiletries in hotels, and the like.

I have read some fascinating articles that attempt to address these issues in terms of classical philosophy, but I try to employ the Golden Rule and leave it at that. My ethical guidelines for such situations include:

You must respect the core business of the company or service provider.
We often visit a restaurant/bar that hosts the occasional salsa dance. It is possible to dance at these events all evening, only sipping water and tipping the wait staff a minimal amount. Sounds like a frugal evening, right?

Remember, the core business of this establishment is restaurant/bar; the salsa dancing is just a draw to get you in the door. Dancers are often a difficult group to deal with, because we tend to not want to weigh ourselves down with huge meals or over-imbibe and lose coordination before we hit the dance floor. Nonetheless, Mr. FC&G and I make sure that, at these free salsa events, we at least buy a couple of drinks and split an appetizer or dessert. We also tip the wait staff generously, aiming for at least 25% to compensate for the smaller-than-dinner check we are running up.

You may take what is offered to you, but you can't ask for more unless you need it.
This idea comes into play in hotels, which typically offer trial size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and hand lotion in your room. As you can see above, I have no problem with tucking a partial bottle of hand lotion in my purse and bringing it home from a trip. The same is true for the other toiletries; if I have shampoo left at the end of a visit, I will bring it home.

However, I draw the line at purposely asking the attendants and maids for more of a product unless I run out during my stay. It is not fair to ask for a few extra shampoos to tuck in your luggage, or to help yourself from the maid's cart. It is true, as some say, that the maid may not care, but you will ultimately pay the price for this when the extra expense the hotel incurs from these little nibbles to the bottom line result in rate hikes.

The same is true for the complimentary breakfast buffet, if one is offered. I don't have an ethical problem with smearing peanut butter on a bagel and bringing it back to my room to eat at 10 a.m. rather than 6 a.m., and if this means I get to skip buying lunch, so be it. But it is wrong to eat a full breakfast and then pack yourself a lunch.

You have to play by the rules of the business you are visiting.
So what about taking your own candy into the movies? Surprisingly, this has been a fairly contentious topic among some people, and I can see both sides. On the one hand, the core business of the theater is a movie, so one shouldn't feel compelled to buy food and drinks just to support them. On the other, theaters often make a substantial portion of their money from food sales, so bringing your own harms the business.

For me, if the theater has a sign posted disallowing outside food or drink, then I don't bring any. In fact, I really don't like to eat or drink during a movie anyway. It is perfectly ethical to eat a nice, cheap, healthy meal at home before treating yourself to a movie; the price of the ticket gives you entry into the movie, which is all you want in that situation. No one is requiring you to eat.

And no fair sneaking into another film after yours is over.

What are your frugality ethics guidelines?

How to Make Sustainable Food Choices

2013-04-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

If you pay enough attention to advice on sustainable living (yes, even mine), you may quickly get to the point where you can't eat anything at all, because nothing ticks all the boxes. As an example, the other day I wanted to find something to replace the wheat-based pasta that I have too frequently during the week, and I remembered Japanese buckwheat noodles. The only kind I could get had been produced in Australia and imported here. I bought them anyway.

When I'm trying to make food choices for my family, I tend to think of a hierarchy of priorities. I make selections based on these criteria in order, but if I can't hit them all (and I usually can't), I don't worry so much about the ones I missed.

Did I grow it? This is the top choice. If Mr. FC&G and I actually forked dirt, weeded, and harvested, that effort will not go to waste. When in doubt for dinner, look at the produce basket on the counter, the table in the sunroom, and the garden just outside. Eat everything that's ripe.
What is the nutritional value? Obviously, stuff from the garden is nutritious, but if I'm not in the garden, I have to think first of nutrition. In the extreme, think of the pit stop at the Flying J or other similar truck stop/convenience store you might make on a long road trip. If your choices are down to a candy bar or a box of raisins, take the raisins even if they were imported and grown by questionable means.
Can I avoid unwanted additives? Big things that I don't want to see in my food include HFCS, meat or dairy from animals raised with supplemental hormones and antibiotics given prophylactically, and produce raised with pesticides/herbicides. I also try to avoid GMO soy products (that is to say, most products with soy) and products with multiple types of sugar in the ingredients (like a list that says sugar, fructose, dextrose -- I mean, really?).
Is it local? This is perhaps the first criterion that addresses global sustainability, but I try to buy as local as possible. This means, the bulk of our meat comes from the farmer's market, and the majority of our yearly produce comes from my garden. In some cases, this means I choose US-produced over something produced in a foreign country. However, I don't worry too much about imports that are characteristic of a certain country and that we rarely purchase in any quantity; for example, Mr. FC&G has taken a liking to Digestive Biscuits after our recent orgy of watching British television shows, and I don't feel too bad about picking up a package imported from the U.K. every other shopping trip or so.
Is it organic? Surprised this is the last thing on the list? I turn to the organic certification only as a proxy for some of the items above. Specifically, an organic certification is shorthand for the third item above in the list, in general, in that organic products don't have HFCS, pesticide/herbicide exposure, or GMOs. However, I'll take the word of an Amish baker at the farmer's market over an official certification any day.

And what about price? Well, I'm price sensitive like everyone else, but I generally use price as a tie breaker or as something to tell me where to stop on this list. For example, a gallon of Meijer brand milk (from cows not given growth hormones) is less expensive than Hartzler's milk (which is local, non-homogenized, and from cows raised under sustainable methods) which is less expensive than the boutique brand of organic, grass-fed cow milk in the little quart carafes. Mr. FC&G drinks the Meijer milk; we make sour cream and yogurt from the Hartzler's brand (especially since it seems to have lots of cream). We just chuckle at the boutique grass-fed brand, which, the last I checked, would come in at something like $16 a gallon.

Not Necessarily Fast and Cheap: Peanut Butter Frosting

2013-04-01T08:45:00.001-04:00

This is not necessarily frugal.

This is not necessarily sustainable.

This is some of the best-tasting frosting you will ever put on a boxed chocolate cake.

Inspired by Buckeye Bark:

1 stick organic butter, melted
1 t. organic vanilla
16 oz organic creamy peanut butter
1 c. powdered sugar

Mix with your mixer until fluffy and creamy. Spread on cool cake.

You're welcome.

Epsom Salts for Pain Relief

2013-03-29T10:13:00.001-04:00

Hope springs eternal; no pun intended. With temperatures finally climbing into the 50s this weekend, I'm ready to declare the official beginning of gardening season. And if you are like us, that typically means finding muscles you never knew you had and abusing them in ways you haven't done since last October.

Actually, Mr. FC&G and I are always finding new ways to abuse muscles and joints. As you may know from reading this blog, our hobby is ballroom dancing. It is a wonderful activity to share with your spouse, and it is tremendous exercise, but you can believe what you see on Dancing with the Stars when otherwise healthy middle aged people start sprouting strains and injuries like crocuses popping through the snow. Done correctly, dancing can be strenuous; done incorrectly (like while you are learning a new technique), it can be inadvertently painful.

But you hate to come home from a night of doing something good for your body and pop a handful of pills. It kind of seems counterintuitive, don't you think? So I have been investigating non-medication aides to help with sore joints and muscles.

Epsom salts are a traditional home remedy that is recommended for use in soaking baths and in hot compresses to help with sprains, strains, sore muscles, and bruises. It also has a variety of other uses, as you can see on the bag above, including as a laxative and as a gardening aid. I haven't investigated those.

Somehow, Epsom salts, once a staple of everyone's home, somehow has sunk into oblivion as we reach over the bag at the store and for the OTC pain relievers and for the prescriptions from the doctor. It is too bad. I fully intend to investigate the mechanisms of action of this simple salt, as well as its other uses, but right now let me say that I have tried it a few times in a hot soaking bath for pain relief for my bad knee, and I am pleased with the results.

Two cups in a tubful makes a nice bath and an excuse to read a book for 20 minutes. The times I have tried it, I have had significant pain relief. Now, this is not the kind of dramatic pain relief you get when you pull out the big prescription guns, but it is a slow easing of the pain that seems to last very nicely through the night if you do it right before bedtime. It certainly has allowed me to avoid hitting the OTC pain killers a couple of times.

Two cups sounds like a lot, but the whole 6 pound bag was only $3.29 at the grocery. A bargain for some natural pain relief, I say. I'm definitely going to keep us stocked up and maybe see what other wonders this simple remedy has in store.

The Analysis
Fast: I starting feeling pain relief within about 20 minutes with an Epsom salt bath, which is about the amount of time required for pills to hit your bloodstream.

Cheap: Epsom salts are cheap, but you do use a lot. However, I think the cost is manageable to avoid taking medications when possible.

Good: Anything that soothes those sore joints and muscles is a good idea to me!

Progress on the Money Challenge

2013-03-27T08:57:00.000-04:00

So it's time of year, folks. The time of year when I start to feel I have nothing new to share with you. That's not true, of course. Even if I repeat some topics, I'm still practicing sustainable living techniques.

But mostly I'm kind of bummed because this is the time of year I should be starting to share new developments in the garden with you. Last year, by this time, we were starting to get unseasonably warm days, and I was planting potatoes and peas. The year before, we started broadforking the ground in February. This year, we are watching a 5 inch snowfall melt and I am trapped inside.

So I am doing what I always do when the weather is untenable, and I am saving my pennies for my next trip south. Remember the 52 Week Money Challenge from New Year's? It is still going strong.

For those of you who didn't see this idea around Facebook and the like, the idea of the challenge is to put aside, each week, the number of dollars corresponding to that week's number on the calendar. So, in week one, you save $1; in week 2, $2; and so on until the last week of the year you save $52 and have a total of $1,378 in your account or envelope. Many people are using this to bolster emergency savings, but I'm in the group that is using it to add to the vacation fund. So, in addition to my normal savings into retirement accounts and my main savings (that pays for household improvements and emergencies), I am putting aside money from my weekly cash to do the challenge.

If you follow the plan exactly, we are on week 13 and you should have $91. I have been skipping around a bit, as you can see from my chart, because sometimes I have a $20 bill and slide it in the envelope and then check off whatever week or weeks that corresponds to. I currently am running a little ahead at $113.

Of course, things are going to get more interesting when the weekly amounts are in the $40-50 range, because my weekly cash is usually in the $50-75 range, so I might feel I'm shorting myself a bit. But as of right now, I am on track, and I'm looking forward to taking my cash and making quarterly deposits into the vacation fund.

How are you doing on the 52 Week Money Challenge? If you haven't started yet, please jump in where we are and tell us how you are doing!

Grow Lights

2013-03-21T09:02:00.000-04:00

Years ago, we found this wonderful wooden planting box that was discarded by a neighbor, and we snapped it right up. It is about a foot deep and about four feet long by two and a half feet wide, making it the perfect size for growing greens, both in the sunroom and out. But even though our sunroom is sunny in the winter, we knew we could grow our greens faster with the addition of a little bit of light.

What you see suspended over it is Mr. FC&G's new grow light. It is constructed of two shop lights that each hold two grow lights, making it four lights wide. It is possible to buy a four-light fixture at the hardware stores, but we could not find one of the length we wanted that would hold the grow bulbs we wanted to use. So, Mr. FC&G, with his ultra-detailed craftsmanship, attached the lights with two metal bars and fixed chain to suspend the light from the ceiling. The metal attachment bars, per Mr. FC&G's detailed nature, are filed until all rough edges are smooth and rounded. And, of course, the light hangs perfectly level.

Oh, and that screen you can barely see over the planter box? That is the critter guard that Mr. FC&G constructed last year to protect our greens when they are outside. We really don't need it on there now, but it is as good a place as any to store it. It is constructed of a wood frame and metal screening, and he has tailored the screen edges so they are all rounded and so there are no rough pieces of screen sticking out to hurt hands and bare legs when we remove it.

The Analysis
Fast: It didn't take Mr. FC&G long to construct the grow light to his preferred dimensions and his exacting standards in his shop. He worked on it a couple of hours each of two weekend days.

Cheap: Certainly, it will take a while to recoup the cost of the two relatively-cheap lights just in wintertime greens, but the project in total was probably less than $50. "Anything for more greens," said Mr. FC&G.

Good: I've wanted a large grow light like this for years, but commercial seed-starting racks can be expensive. This was within budget, does the job beautifully, and allows me to enjoy some more of Mr. FC&G's detail-oriented craftsmanship!

Hybrids and Heirlooms

2013-03-19T10:56:00.000-04:00

If you are ordering your garden seeds, you are probably trying to sort out whether you should order hybrids or heirlooms. There is a lot of advice out there. On the one hand, people will tell you that hybrids are more readily available and often more reliable, which can be true. On the other, people will urge you to go for biodiversity by growing some heirlooms, also a valid argument.

There are many beliefs on both sides of the debate, so I thought it would be useful to examine a few.

Hybrids are evil. Well, no, probably not. After all, a "hybrid" is just a cross between two parents; you are a hybrid. In the seed world, a hybrid has been purposely crossed and bred to exhibit certain characteristics, such as disease resistance, cold tolerance, or early fruiting.

Where you get into trouble, just a bit, is the so-called F1 hybrid, which is a first generation hybrid. If you save the seeds from these, they will not "breed true" to the mother plant. So, if you love your F1 hybrid zucchini and save the seeds, the resulting zucchini you get next year will not necessarily have the characteristics you want. In some cases, the seed won't germinate at all, or will do so poorly. But if seed-saving is not your concern, hybrid seed is not a big deal in your own garden.

Hybrids are destroying biologic diversity. It is true that the number of commercially-available varieties of plants has decreased dramatically, and this is partly because of the ubiquity of certain hybrid varieties. On the macro level, this is of concern because the way we adapt to a changing world is to have a big "library" of genetic diversity available. So, if you are concerned about climate change warming your area in the near or far future, it will be useful to know there are tomato plants out there that someone has carefully nurtured for generations to grow in a hotter climate.

This doesn't mean, however, that you should never grow a hybrid. Just make sure you include an heirloom or two; since heirlooms are open-pollinated, they will also cross with other plants in your garden, and soon you will have a variety that is suited to just your little neck of the woods. As I have stated many times, my most robust tomatoes ever year are the volunteers that spring up like weeds from the compost pile.

Heirlooms are fussy: Sometimes. The real issue is that there are so many possibilities that it is easy to pick an heirloom variety that doesn't love your particular garden, while commercial hybrids are generally bred to withstand a wider range of climate differences. For example, last year I grew a beautiful tomato called Ukranian Purple. The fruit was lovely, but the poor plant didn't really love the wave of 100 degree days we got, which I should have expected from a hybrid that came from the Ukraine and was bred for a short season with a cold spring.

You aren't a "real" gardener until you grow heirlooms: Nonsense. Yes, like any hobby or sport, gardeners quickly get into little competitions about who is growing the most arcane variety of the most arcane plant. I have talked to Italian gardeners who won't make sauce from anything but paste tomatoes descended from Italy, and home gardeners who are trying to grow paleo-grains for grinding into their own flour. I'm guilty of doing this, somewhat. But if it isn't your thing, don't let it hold you back from gardening. Sure, I want a bunch of garden nerds who want to spend hours talking to me about their seed choices, but what I really want is for everyone who reads this blog to go out and grow an edible plant or two on their land, whether that is in a pot, a raised bed, or the back 10 acres. If what that takes is you going to the hardware store and picking up a bunch of commercially-grown hybrid seed, then do just that with no guilt whatsoever.

What varieties are you most excited about this year?

Laundry Pre-Sort System

2013-03-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

Some time ago, I mused on the question of Is Organization Frugal? Having determined that sorting through your junk makes you less wasteful (as anyone in the tiny house movement could attest), we have continued on, slowly fighting the encroaching chaos in the house that comes from daily lives.

But, I was surprised a couple of weeks ago when Mr. FC&G suggested we buy some laundry hampers that allow for sorting clothes into loads at the time of consigning them to the dirty clothes pile rather than just before laundering. Am I glad he did!

We had always done a little bit of laundry pre-sorting. Mr. FC&G's work uniforms (which he wears when he will be physically working with wiring or machinery rather than designing and programming) go into a hamper in the closet that holds his clean uniforms, and he takes care of that oily load. Towels, sheets, and table linens go into the laundry room. Delicates (in our case, the black load), go into a hamper in our bathroom that doubles as a bench seat.

But that left a mass of undifferentiated laundry that piled up in a basket on my side of the closet. We would sort and wash that pile every time it started to obstruct my efforts to extract my own clean clothes. System-wide, we did about 5-7 loads of laundry a week. Plus, the laundry chore was impeded by the fact that the sorting went on in the bedroom, the only open space near the baskets of doom. If anyone was sleeping in (and Mr. FC&G and I tend to sleep on slightly different scheduled when he is on a big project), then the other person couldn't do laundry.

With the introduction of this three-bin hamper system, many of these problems have diminished. Either of us can sneak into the bathroom and extract a pre-sorted load; it also makes it very visually clear if we are truly "out" of a certain kind of laundry or if we just are amassing laundry at a consistent but manageable rate. Over the two weeks we have used this system, we have done one fewer load per week, and the sorting time is down to practically nothing.

Right now, these bins hold whites, underwear/socks, and "undifferentiated," a load that still needs to be sorted but which can be dealt with fairly quickly by someone standing over that bin. When things warm up and I am hanging most of my laundry outside again, the bins will become whites, things that can line dry, and "undifferentiated" that needs to go through the dryer. I'm really glad Mr. FC&G made the suggestion to try this system!

The Analysis

Fast: Here's your big benefit. This system cuts a good chunk of time off your laundry tasks for the week, which is always a bonus. Pre-sorting also makes it much easier for either of us to do a quick load of laundry without disturbing the other or being uncertain of sorting protocols.

Cheap: We did buy the bins for $30 at the hardware store, and it will take a lot of foregone water and homemade detergent usage to pay for that. But your savings are in time, in this case.

Good: I don't dislike doing laundry, but I don't want to do it every single day. This system makes it easier to only do laundry when needed and to share the task more equally between us, a very important factor when we both are very busy with our jobs.

What I'm Growing Now

2013-03-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I had a conversation with a novice gardener in about July. I hate to be the know-it-all gardener when I'm talking to a newbie, but sometimes your heart just breaks if there is an obvious mistake.

"So what are you growing?" I asked.

"Well, [blah-blah-blah] and peppers. But my peppers are so small. I don't know if they will ever produce peppers this year," she mused.

"You mean you just have little peppers on your plant? Or did you direct seed?"

"I'm growing them from seed," she said proudly.

With a growing sense of foreboding, I asked, "when did you put them in the ground?"

"Oh, Mother's Day, like you do."

Sigh. I knew this poor newbie was going to have a failure of a pepper year, because there wasn't enough time for the peppers to reach maturity. I tried to gently suggest that she could bring the plants indoors when it got cold, so long as they had set fruit already. Of course, she direct seeded into her garden rather than a container, so she was going to face the "reverse hardening off" process that I find so difficult.

In any case, I always think of my newbie friend whenever I start my peppers -- in February. I usually seed on Groundhog Day (because spring is coming, darn it!), but this year I was about three weeks late due to vacation. Nonetheless, my peppers have sprouted and are catching up under their grow lights.

On my Mom's birthday (March 1), I always plant my tomatoes (her favorite fruit/veg!) I'm growing from seed. This year, I have only seeded the Ox Heart tomatoes, and I'm waiting for them to sprout.

Regardless, it is a wonderful celebration of spring.

What have you started for your garden? What zone are you in?

On Learning to Eat Meat

2013-03-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about writing this post for a week now, but I've been resisting. Part of it is because it deals with personal experience, and I'm not really that kind of blogger. I mean, I admire those who can write freely about their feelings and experiences, but I'm much more of a "how to" kind of girl.

Part of it, too, is because I'm going to talk about eating meat, and on a sustainability blog, that can be a topic that brings out some intense feelings on both sides. And I know that the expected path, with a blog like this, is for my journey to start with embracing sustainable living and practicing yoga (which I do), and end with a full commitment to veganism or at least to vegetarianism. And, indeed, I have been nearly vegetarian -- more, even, than the trendy "flexitarian," -- for at least a quarter of a century. "Meatless Mondays" are more the norm in my world than the exception -- along with mac-n-cheese Tuesdays, PB&J Wednesdays, and leftover potatoes Thursdays.

But I have decided I need to eat more meat, and the transition is not proving an easy one. And I thought it might be useful to share that with you.

First, let me lay out some beliefs for you. I don't typically choose meat because I don't like it. I don't like the flavors, and I really don't like the texture. I like a good piece of fish every now and then, and I really like sausage (where the texture has been altered), but the moment I was allowed to start choosing my foods as a young adult, I started omitting meat whenever possible. I am the cheapest date in the world -- to heck with the surf and turf; I'm happier if you let me order off the side dish menu.

However, I don't really have any philosophical objections to eating meat. Humans evolved as hunter/gatherers, and our systems are designed to derive nutrition from meat. I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with large scale CAFO meat production operations where animals are pumped full of GMO corn, hormones, and antibiotics and crammed into cages or stalls to suffer until they are butchered. But I don't have a problem at all with the concept of hunting a creature in the wild or raising it in relative peace and freedom and then turning it into dinner. Your mileage may vary.

I figure food is kind of like yoga; you should make the choices your body and soul dictate. Some days, you crave a vigorous sun salutation, and other days it is all child's pose and savasana. Some days it is t-bone steak, and other days just the baked potato, thank you very much.

Except I never have those t-bone steak days. I buy grass-fed, organic, and free range meat and wild-caught fish, and I cook it up, and then generally I turn my nose up at it and eat the side dishes.

However, I have come to the conclusion that my body really isn't getting enough protein. Part of it is watching via Facebook the experiences of a friend who has elected bariatric surgery; this friend now has a daily dietary protein goal that I'll bet you anything it takes me four days to eat with my standard diet.

Part of it is my recent vacation, on which, quite without thinking, I ate chicken or fish at every major meal, and I felt terrific. Now, in another post we can sort out all the things that are different about vacation as compared to real life, but certainly the diet for me is one of those differences.

So I've decided to try to have chicken, fish, or sausage at least four to five days a week, just to up my protein intake. And I am finding it a mighty struggle.

Yes, I know I could eat tofu and beans, but I think I hate those things worse than I do meat. (I'm a picky eater of Olympic caliber.) If I don't get some meat in my diet, I will be getting my protein exclusively from peanut butter and cheese, as I have done for 25 years. I don't feel like that is adequate any more, especially as I expect my body to respond to regular dance lessons, some pretty vigorous gardening efforts, and all the other activities of daily life.

Yet, every time I put meat in my mouth I'm disappointed. This weekend, I had some awesome mahi-mahi at a local restaurant, but the times I can tell you I really enjoyed my dinner with meat or fish in it are pretty few and far between (vacations notwithstanding). Generally, I can eat a wonderfully-healthy meal filled with vegetables and chicken or fish, and I get up from the table feeling like I passed time but didn't really consume anything. And I'm not talking about trying to go low- or no-carb here; I'm just changing the proportions a bit and adding a protein source.

So there you go. Most of the people I have talked to about my switch back to meat have been very enthusiastic and supportive, which I appreciate, but most of them also have actual meat cravings in their lives. More than one person has said some version of "Good for you -- I tried to be a vegetarian, but I missed cheeseburgers too much!" I sympathize, but I also have to tell you that the last time I ate a cheeseburger had to have been sometime during the Carter administration (not kidding; and look it up, kids!), and I haven't missed them a bit.

I'm going to continue along this path because the most important thing about sustainable living is that it creates better health and life for each person and family, and I think my body isn't getting the nutrition it really needs to keep dancing and gardening and writing for another 50 years (God willing). But getting used to it ain't easy.

How Much Does a Garden Grow: January and February 2013

2013-02-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

Bet you thought I forgot about this column, eh?

To the contrary, it is just that nothing much has been going on in the old microfarm. As you can see below, the past two months have brought no harvests (although I am eagerly anticipating pulling some leeks that have overwintered in the cold frame), and I have placed my main seed order for the year. So, we are starting out the year as many businesses do: in the red. I'm sure that will change quickly.

Things I'll be doing differently this year:

I've improved the spreadsheet for my own sanity. As you can see below, I finally wised up and will be counting my harvest values in price per ounce. I will also have weight and value columns for each veggie (or each variety, in some cases) so I can track the best performers.
I'm back to some of my old favorites. Namely, it is back to the Burpee Picklers and Straight Eight cucumbers. Bread and butter pickles, here we come!
I am returning to my traditional practice of buying mostly tomato plants, rather than starting them from seed. The past two years I have grown mainly from seed, and I really think that plants would have worked better with the variable weather we've been having. Specifically, I think the plants are generally a bit older and better established at planting time than I can get mine when started from seed, and I need them to be able to set fruit before any late June/early July hot spells make it too hot for them to blossom. The order you see below includes about 12 plants, and I will be buying more at the greenhouse, along with starting a few from seed and nurturing the ever-prolific volunteers.
More squashes! Since we do such a good job with our squashes, and since the winter variety store so well in our lower level, I will be growing more squashes and a wider range of types.

What are you planning for your garden this year?

SodaStream

2013-02-26T16:13:00.001-05:00

Judging by some of the popular press, the go-to gift this Christmas was a SodaStream, a device that lets you carbonate water to make your own soda pop and "fizzy" drinks. I put one on my wish list, and Santa complied. I'm happy to say, I think it has found a home in our sustainable lifestyle!

The device is easy to use. You fill a BPA-free plastic bottle with cold water and screw it onto the front, then depress a button to deliver carbon dioxide into the water. The only part you replace regularly is the CO2 canister, and you are supposed to be able to exchange an empty for a discount on a full one. (I have yet to try this, but we have a local store that participates.) The water can be as fizzy as you like, and I've achieved a satisfying level of carbonation.

The SodaStream is designed to work with custom flavors, which I don't really care for. The SodaStream flavorings include sucralose, which I choose not to consume. However, I have achieved a lot of success with making carbonated fruit juice (at a 50/50 ratio of juice to carbonated water) and with using my own soda mix.

Soda Mix
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1 T. Homebrew Soda Pop Mix

Heat the sugar and water to make simple syrup, then add the flavoring and mix well. Store in the fridge until you want a glass of soda pop. You will use a tablespoon or two of this mix to 12 oz. of carbonated water, depending on your desired sweetness.

Mixing your own soda pop this way allows you to control your flavor and sugar content, which we find nice. We are big fans of a soda brand called "GUS," which stands for "Grown Up Soda." GUS is a bit less sweet and more "dry" than conventional soda pop, and therefore it has fewer calories. With a little experimentation, we have learned how much of the homemade soda mix above we need to put in our glass in order to achieve just the flavor we want. We find we have more success if we mix each glass individually rather than trying to mix a half a gallon of soda pop in a Mason jar and store it in the fridge.

Obviously, the SodaStream brings a lot of advantages. Overall, it should be cheaper to enjoy soda pop and, especially, sparkling fruit juice. There is no cross-country transportation of vast quantities of water in bottles, so less waste, less transportation cost, and less environmental impact. Best of all, you have the control you want over your sparkling beverages.

The Analysis

Fast: The whole process takes a bit more time than popping open a can, but it becomes second nature to carbonate the water and be ready to mix whenever you want a beverage.

Cheap: There will likely be a bit of savings in the soda pop, but the real savings is going to come with the sparkling fruit juice, which is very expensive at Trader Joe's.

Good: The fad of the year is a success in this house!

The Commonplace Book

2013-02-22T16:35:00.001-05:00

More and more, we live in a world of video. People are so accustomed to communicating this way that some days my Facebook feed is filled with nothing but video snippets of favorite songs and home movies -- like I have time to listen to everyone's favorite song for 3 minutes each and try to divine what they are feeling, and then spend a few minutes with each person's home video.

I'm not trying to be misanthropic -- really -- but I just don't have the time to consume my information delivered in video format, especially not when I read and absorb printed material so quickly and completely. That's why, this year, I finally started a commonplace book.

A commonplace book is somewhat akin to a journal, except that it isn't attempting to be a coherent narrative. Rather, it is a collection of bits of information, perhaps newspaper articles, quotes, and facts that don't fit into any other place.

Thomas Jefferson kept a commonplace book, as did many others of his era. If it is good enough for Mr. Jefferson, it is good enough for me.

I am using mine (yes, you see a blank page here, because I'm not nuts enough to show you all of my secrets!) to collect quotes and facts that I want to remember but that I don't want to start an entire file for. For example, we have a favorite room at our favorite destination resort, and I don't want to resign this little reminder to a file that I would have to dig out next year. So, it is one of the first things I wrote in my book.

Or, I've been investigating the ingredients and properties of some OTC remedies. Eventually, I might want to pull all this research together to help me make purchase decisions, but right now I'm just jotting down facts as I learn them and accessing these as I go.

So far, I've been keeping my book for almost two months, and I have about three pages of such information, along with quotes and ideas I've cut out of other sources. I find that it is fun to read through when I'm trying to gain inspiration for the day. And it is a great reminder that not everything has to be organized into discrete little files that are kept on the computer or in a file drawer.

Sustainable Souvenirs

2013-02-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

So we're back from an absolutely wonderful week in Key West, made all the more sweet by the fact that we dodged some cold weather and enjoyed a week of full sun and near-80 temps.

Every time we go away, I struggle with the temptation to bring home souvenirs. Now, in the case of Key West, we are far beyond the need for first-time-visitor memories, so it is easier to buy only one or two things, but every trip regardless of destination brings with it the temptation to shop.

Now, as you know, I'm not really trying to embrace a consumption-free lifestyle here. I do really like my little luxuries and treats, and they are made affordable by my frugal ways. Why buy commercially-made laundry soap when you can make your own and use the difference to buy shoes?

However, I have become taken with the idea of making purchases in my favorite places that I will use regularly, ensuring that I really continue to remember that experience. I have treasured a pair of glass tumblers I purchased at Southernmost Beach Cafe a few years ago, one of my favorite spots in Key West. Using these tumblers at night as water glasses ensures that I go to sleep remembering sipping a perfect mojito while looking out at a beautiful beach.

This time, I found a wonderful little knitting store, and I purchased a couple of crochet hooks -- a size I needed in my collection, and a duplicate of my favorite size. I can already tell that I will think of my favorite destination while I crochet, which will make a pleasant leisure activity even nicer.

Again, don't get me wrong: I do still buy more typical souvenirs on trips. I have my collection of tshirts and tank tops from favorite bars, clubs, and destinations, and I probably won't give that up any time soon. But rather than buy a tshirt everywhere I go on every trip, only to see them ultimately wear out and become dust rags, I'm trying to make purchases that will really enhance my daily life. That makes the experience of a vacation last even longer.

What kinds of things do you bring home from trips? Or do you resist entirely?

A Brief Break

2013-02-08T17:21:00.002-05:00

Fast, Cheap, and Good will be taking a brief hiatus through Sunday, February 17 for some reorganization and regrouping. Blogging will recommence that week.

If you have found your way to this blog via our Etsy store, Carrot Creations, please note that product shipping will recommence on Sunday, February 17.

Until then, please feel free to comment below if there are sustainability topics you would like me to cover this spring!

Jennifer

A Mid-Winter's Supper

2013-02-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

I have read at least one source that suggested that one of the reasons people survived February in the Middle Ages -- a month that spans between starting to run out of stored food in January and being able to harvest early greens and young animals in March -- is because the stored rye used to start going bad about that time. Rye tends to be a great breeding ground for ergot, which, when ingested, apparently produces an LSD-like reaction. So, there is at least some evidence to suggest that our forebears used to unwittingly drug themselves to make it through this cold, dark month.

I'm not advocating eating ergot or taking drugs, but there is something about February that makes me want to curl up under a fleece quilt with a box of snack cakes and just cry until March. That is just one reason why it is so important that I find meals that are very nutrient-dense to help us stave off the cold and depression that can plague all of us in winter.

What you see before you is whipped butternut squash with local, raw honey and applewood-smoked bacon, and dill-encrusted wild-caught cod. It was pretty easy to make, and it loads up on lots of vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and other potentially-beneficial substances in food.

Whipped Butternut Squash with Honey and Bacon
3-4 small butternut squash (I'm down to the little guys from last year's harvest)
1 T. local, raw honey, or to taste
About 1 cup crispy fried applewood-smoked, uncured bacon bits

Place halved and seeded squash cut side down in a pan of water and bake in 350 degree oven until flesh is soft, about 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, chop bacon into bits (choosing uncured will allow you to avoid nitrates) and fry until crisp. Drain bacon and pat to remove excess fat.

Scoop flesh from butternut squash and whip with immersion blender. Add about 1T local, raw honey and whip again. Top with bacon.

Dill-Encrusted Cod
2 large wild-caught cod fillets
About 1T. dill (mine is from the garden)
Fresh-ground salt and pepper to taste
About 2T. local, organic butter

Place cod fillets in a baking dish with butter, dill, salt, and pepper. Be sure to cover the fillets evenly with the dill. Bake at 350 while your squash cooks and you do the final preparation of the squash, about 30 minutes, or until done. Because of all the butter, it will stay moist and nice if you leave it in the oven to stay warm while you do your final squash prep.

The Analysis

Fast: I'd say this meal took about an hour and 15 minutes to prepare, but there was a bit of downtime in the middle there while things baked that I used to clean up the kitchen, etc.

Cheap: Well, cheap wasn't really the point here. I saved some money by growing my own squash and dill, but I spend up on the local, raw honey and local, organic butter, and I splurged on the whole fillets instead of my usual trick of buying the "pieces" package of cod that is usually better-suited for frying. You can play with your costs by making different choices, although you want to stick with really good, healthy ingredients to boost that nutrient load.

Good: Although it didn't make February pass any faster, this recipe was a definite bright spot in our day, and much better than a dose of ergot and a good cry.