The Community Garden

Our friends Heidi and Noah petitioned to their HOA to build a community garden. It passed and they/we built one. Not many people were interested in it so we were granted a generous amount of space. The sides of the raised beds and the door are made of old fencing that their HOA replaced, the soil and rebar came from Heidi and her connections with the Broadway construction project (she had a buddy dump the dirt over the fence, and some of the fencing was donated too. Noah and another guy along with Jim’s help did most of the work. Then, between Noah and Heidi and Jim and I, we got a bunch of bags of top soil and compost and Noah got some llama manure. Before adding all those goodies to the dirt, we sifted all the large rock out of the dirt with a giant sift Noah made. The soil is awesome!

The Boulder Community Gardens had a plant sale a few weekends in a row and Noah, Heidi, Jim and I went wild and purchased a ton of plants and seeds. It was way too cold for a couple weeks after getting the plants so they had to stay inside. (It has snowed 6 times since we got back at the end of April!) When it got warm enough we planted. Most of our plants and seeds went to the community garden, but the herbs and edible flowers were planted in pots at our place. We’ve also planted some more seeds at out place. I see the whole thing as being a massive science experiment on growing and sustainability. I planted a tea garden at the preschool I used to work at, have had potted flowers, tended to the preschool’s garden, and planted lilies last year at our old house (which have grown back this year!) but other than that I haven’t had a proper garden since I was a kid (and that was really my mom’s garden). I’ve been so impressed by the generosity and hard work of our friends. It’s fun to be apart of something you do as a group, each of us checking on the garden to see if things need to be watered, pruning, weeding, and replanting when critters have dug things up. It really turned out to be an awesome garden.

These first photos were taken a few days after planting. Jim and I love riding our bikes there when it’s warm.

Two weeks after planting we stopped by the same time our friends Noah and Heidi did. They had planted a week earlier but our seeds had started to sprout too!

Three and a half weeks after planting we were delighted to find that our tomato plants were bearing fruit and our cucumber and yellow squash seeds were sprouting (which we had only planted a week before)! The rest of the plants really burst with life.

Jim and I went again today to check on them and even with cold temperatures and 3 days of rain everything looks great. I’ve been educating myself on how to care for plants, esp. pruning and harvesting. It’s quite fun. One of our spinach plants is ready for it’s first harvest!

Harvesting Plantains

Remember when I posted about the banana’s growing in our backyard? Well we were wrong. They were plantains. They grew quite steadily too. One morning I noticed that one of the trees had fallen over, so Jim went out and hacked it with our machete, dumping it behind our house to return to the earth and the river. While he was at it he hacked off the massive plantains.

The girls were so fascinated with what Jim was doing, they watched attentively. Aren’t they the cutest?!

Then they got some morning love from me before I headed to yoga. Jim wanted to know if I wanted the plantains to cook with but I suggested that we throw them behind our house so that the monkeys would come back. We ate plenty plantains anyway. My idea actually worked and our friends Brad, Chandler, and Baby O got to see them while they were visiting.

But back to bananas. While BCO (Brad, Chandler, and Baby O) stayed with us Chandler got some of those tiny bananas for Owen. He loved them and I just think they are the cutest things ever. They are a little sweeter than regular banana in my opinion, but otherwise just smaller. I see them in the grocery stores here in the US too. Do any of you prefer them or use them in particular dishes or dessert?

Jamie Oliver’s Food Flash Mob

Jamie Oliver taught 1000 people to cook a stir-fry dish in 5 days! This is only one of the ways he achieved it. I’ve been a mega-fan of Jamie’s for years and I’m so thrilled about his mission to help change the way people eat by teaching them how to cook.

Baby O & his parents (Brad and Chandler)

I won’t wake up at 3am and drive 2 hours to the airport for just anyone. Luckily Brad, Chandler, and Baby Owen are a few I would.

Our last visitors have arrived and we’re thrilled to have them. After grabbing some breakfast we all headed back to the house to be greeted by the girls (who remembered them and gave Owen a few drive by kisses) and then crashed for a few hours.

After waking Jim and I found that Brad and Owen had already walked to the beach and back and had showered a few times already to stay cool. (It is hot as all get out here. I mean, seriously, HOT.) Jim and I headed into town to grab groceries for dinner. We either missed the farmer’s market or it didn’t happen today (as it is Good Friday) but we picked up some goods from the store and the fish guy.

Came back to Chandler and Baby O in the hammock and soon we headed to the beach were Jim surfed while the rest of us (including Sasha and Lita) walked and played in the waves.

After washing up, Baby O went to bed and the rest of us ate Corvina (Sea Bass), Broccoli, and Potatoes followed by some of Jim’s Birthday Passion Fruit Pie with Vegan, Refined Sugar Free Coconut Lime Ice Cream.

Brad joined Owen and after a game of rummikards Jim and Chandler headed to bed. Even though I was exhausted, I stayed up. Why do I do this? I don’t know, but I wanted to catch up on some of my favorite blogs.

I’m thoroughly impressed by how cheerful Baby O is. At 11 months this is not only his first trip to a different country, but his first where we took a plane. We adore him. (His folks are alright too.) It’s awesome to have them here and I’m excited that moving back to Boulder on the 22nd will allow us to have them be more a part of our life again.

Ecological Intelligence

“Ecological intelligence lets us apply what we learn about how human activity impinges on ecosystems so as to do less harm and once again to live sustainably in our niche — these days the entire planet.” – Daniel Goleman

The night we arrived in Nosara back in February we got to attend a free talk at The Yoga House featuring Daniel Goleman (author of the book Emotional Intelligence). He and his wife Tara (author of the book Emotional Alchemy) were in town leading a portion of a week long retreat at Blue Spirit Retreat Center. David Goleman is best known for coining the term “Emotional Intelligence” and bringing our attention to the importance of it. I’ve used much of what he covers in his book not only in my own life but also while working with children when I was teaching at Alaya Preschool. (I think I read it originally while attending Naropa.) The focus of his talk that evening was on his newest book Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. I’ve got to get my hands on it, as the topic is not only groundbreaking, but also infinitely fascinating and crucial for us today.

Basically we’ve become unskilled. Do you grow all you consume? Do you have your own farm? Do you make your own beauty products from natural ingredients that you buy locally? And the shirt you’re wearing; what is it made of? What kind of dyes were used? What kind of waste was created to make your shirt? Where was your shirt made? Who made it? What is the D.A.L.Y. (disability-adjusted life year) of the people in the area where your shirt was created? How did it get to the store where you bought it? Do you know the effects your purchases have on the earth, your health, and society?

There are companies made up of scientists, mathematicians, and loads of other people who care about these questions and are finding the answers. Some of them are even making it easy for you to access the answers. Here are a few great resources:

• If you haven’t seen the film or read the book The Story of Stuff get on it. Annie Leonard is doing great things and continues to research the story behind other things, including water. Check out The Story of Stuff.
• If you want to find safe, healthy, and green products head over to Good Guide to browse product ratings on what you use on a daily basis. Ask your kids what their favorite things to eat are and look them up!
• Want to know how safe your cosmetics are? Visit Skin Deep.
• If you want to be able to check the effects of what you’re buying easily with an application for your mobile device check out 3rd Whale.

A few other interesting things: BMW in the UK recycles all their parts. Also, Walmart has committed to dropping products that don’t meet a certain requirements (with help from Good Guide) and will list their rating in their stores by the fall of 2014. (This one, I’ll believe it when I see it.)

3 Things We All Can Do

1. Know the impact of what you’re buying.
2. Choose better.
3. Tell all your friends.

« Previous Page — Next Page »