the amazing power of vinegar

I keep a gallon bottle of white vinegar in the house at all times. Not because I only eat salads all day long (I have balsamic for that). Vinegar has an astonishing array of uses. And of course, the regular household version is non-toxic (it's edible for goodness sake!). It's also really cheap (shouldn't cost more than a couple bucks for a gallon -- in your face Clorox!). Here are just a few ways vinegar works its magic:

Fabric Softener
Add about 1/4 cup of vinegar to your laundry load. Your clothes will be soft and won't smell like a salad.

Deodorizer
I can attest to the power of vinegar as a deodorizer -- I use it to get the stink out of my yoga mat after Bikram class. I just put the mat in a bath of water and about 1/4 cup of vinegar and presto, chango -- no stinko!

Glass Cleaner
Who needs Windex? Just mix 1 part vinegar with 5 parts water and spray. It works on any glass surface.

Multi-surface Grease and Grime Remover
Use vinegar on greasy countertops, stoves, and even walls. It naturally breaks up the nasty mess. You can also use it to clean the floors. Add about 1/4 cup to a bucket of water and clean the whole house.

Mineral Deposit Remover
Wipe vinegar on the sink or bathtub to break up mineral deposits.

Weed Killer
I generally think lawns are a waste of good food growing space, and I actually like crab grass and so-called weeds like dandelion (it makes a yummy salad!) and clover. But if you've got a lawn and hate the sight of invasive plants, vinegar can kill them. The regular 5% acetic you can find in the supermarket should work, but you may have to apply more than once.

Be sure to apply the vinegar only to the unwanted plant, as vinegar is a non-selective herbicide (i.e., it will kill your grass if you're not careful). You can paint the vinegar on with a brush or spray it directly, avoiding the grass around it. Vinegar disturbs the pH balance of the soil, but only temporarily; it should recover in a matter of days. Also, be sure to apply the vinegar to dry grass on a sunny day and reapply if it rains. There are also other household ingredients you can add to make your weed killer more effective like soap and salt (read about Grandma's Weed Killer and this recipe from Thrifty Fun).

Before application of vinegar (5% acetic acid)

After application of vinegar (5% acetic acid)
[Images: Todd in Texas, Garden Web]

[Sources: About.com and Garden Web]

Jellyfish Sting Reducer
Pour some vinegar on the affected area and it will kill the sting. It worked for me when I got stung in St. Lucia (something bit me real bad!).

Check out 1001 uses for vinegar [via Mizkan]

sew for yourself

Making your own duds and stuff for the home is a great way to save money and reduce the use of manufacturing resources. Especially when you're using eco-friendly textiles like organic cotton, peace silk, eco-wool or hemp. Even more so if you use reclaimed fabrics.

There are even sewing patterns that are made sustainably -- like the patterns by Amy Butler. I saw this adorable tunic/top pattern today (at Fiber Notion, you can get it here).

I don't think I'm skilled enough to make this yet, I just sort of dabble infrequently in sewing projects. But I'm going to get some practice, 'cause this pattern is seriously cute. It's also made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper without chlorine bleaching.

I might be able to swing this great handbag:


Ms. Butler's also got some free patterns up on her site, like cool quilts, pillows, and this yoga mat bag:


Be sure to make it with some nice organic canvas or super eco-friendly hemp. Or try one of these organic sateen prints from Harmony Art (via NearSea Naturals):


Check out the top 10 eco-friendly fabric sources on Etsy [by Tiny Decor]

A few more eco textile sources:

• Aurora Silk -- peace silk fabric, thread, and yarn
• Cascade Yarns -- eco wool yarns
• Classic Elite Yarns -- yarn made from bamboo
• Earth Friendly Goods -- hemp fabric and twine
• Furnature -- a range of eco fabrics
• Heart of Vermont -- organic fabrics and batting
• NearSea Naturals -- organic fabrics and notions
• Organic Cotton Plus -- organic cotton fabric, notions, and more
• Wildrose Farm -- eco-friendly overstock fabrics
• Yarn Market -- yarns made from all sorts of eco sources

eco jotting

I came across these adorable pocket-sized "garden" notebooks today by ecojot while at an equally cute little shop in Park Slope called Fiber Notion. The notebooks are made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper in Canada (sweatshop free!) and the covers come in a range of great themes designed by Carolyn Gavin.


The dyes are vegetable based and the recycled paper is chlorine- and acid-free. Plus the mill they're made in is landfill-gas powered. And to top it off, proceeds from the notebooks go to Evergreen, a non-profit group that introduces healthy and sustainable living to outdoor urban environments.

These little puppies are great for throwing in your bag, especially if you do your best thinking on the go. I haven't been able to find these exact notebooks online, but you can get other notebooks by ecojot here. Brick-and-mortar shops that carry them include Anthropologie, The Container Store, and Kate's Paperie.

growing to feed a community

In a city where few people have outdoor space to call their own, NYC community gardens become a gathering place, a sort of communal backyard and more. The gardens feed friendships and nourish bodies. In the Bronx, one particular garden yields collards and callaloo, an example of both urban agriculture and cultural integration (collards are traditional in Southern American cooking while callaloo is more common in West Indian and Latino cuisine). Members of this particular plot, the Tremont Community Garden, gather to garden, barbecue, and organize trips that fund the garden. They also sell any extra produce at a local farmer's market. [Source: New York Times]


[Image, Liz Christy Garden, © Donald Loggins 2007]

Often, the roots of a community garden spring from an abandoned lot. The Tremont garden and the first city garden, Liz Christy Garden on Houston and Bowery, began this way. Liz Christy, for whom the garden is named, and the Green Guerrillas started the urban gardening movement by, among other things, planting seed bombs in vacant lots. When the lot where the current garden stands presented itself in 1973, the Green Guerrillas dug in -- the NYC Community Garden was born.

Want to get involved?

• Find a community garden in your part of the city
• Learn how to make a seed bomb [Path to Freedom]
  

Related links

• Green Guerrillas
• Green Thumb
• NYC Community Garden Coalition

Related reading

• On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries
  by Richard Reynolds
• Avant Gardening: Ecological Struggle in the City & the World
  by Peter Lamborn Wilson & Bill Weinberg (Eds.)
• Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times
  by Steve Solomon

we could all use a good laugh

If laughter is the best medicine, these men in India must be really healthy. As part of a yoga practice, the security workers below get a healthy dose of chuckles.


[Image: Reuters/Jitendra Prakash via Activate]
Indian security personnel practice laughter therapy during an early morning yoga session in a park in the northern Indian city of Allahabad, on August 27, 2008.

Laughter is said to be good for:

• Reducing stress
• Lowering blood pressure
• Elevating mood
• Boosting the immune system
• Improving brain functioning
• Protecting the heart
• Connecting you to others
• Fostering instant relaxation
• Making you feel good

[Source: HelpGuide.org]

Even faking laughter, as many of these guys above are probably doing, has the same health benefits of genuine laughter. [Source: The Laughing Cure, Elizabeth Scott, MS]

Wanna try it?
There are actually laughter clubs across the world, many right here in the states. Find one near you.

up on the roof

Green it!
If I had a house or owned a building, I would green the roof. Why would I want to do such a crazy thing? Well it's actually a very logical thing to do if you want to:

• Save energy by keeping your home warm in winter and cool in summer
• Clean the air around your house
• Clean the rain water that runs off from the roof
  
• Keep out the noise of planes zooming overhead if you live near an airport
• Grow beautiful flowers and even food if you're not worried about attracting little creatures

[Image: Norfolk Botanical Garden]

So how does one go about greening a roof? It seems fairly easy if you're handy and follow these steps from Wired's How-to Wiki:

1. Get a structural engineering report for the live load of the structure. A standard roof is built to take about ten to twenty pounds of pressure per square foot. A three-foot-square garden won't add a significant amount of weight; however, a twenty-foot-square garden, complete with wet soil and plants, can weigh thousands of pounds. After investing time and effort on a beautiful garden, the last thing you want is for it to come crashing down.
2. Shore it up. Reinforcing your intended structure entails more than putting supports under the roof; likely, your structure will require lateral supports as well. Imagine holding a kite string: The wind exerts pressure not only on the kite itself, but your body. Any wind and rain will exert the same force on your rooftop plants.
3. Lay down the liner. You may want to consult a roofer to install a commercial seamless roof. If you're building on top of an uninhabited structure, lay down a standard pond liner. The liner will keep the water from seeping into the building; it will also keep the plant roots from eating into the building structure.
4. Set up the lattice. Skip this step if your roof is flat. Roofs with a slope will need a grid set up over the liner to keep the dirt from sliding off.
5. Consult a look book. How much effort are you willing to invest? Obviously, more ornate plants are going to require more work than minimalist moss. Wildflowers and their seeds will attract birds and butterflies; scattered items like logs will attract small rodents (and give you a place to sit down). Grasses will need to be mowed occasionally, and moss, while low-maintenance, is...moss. Now might also be a good time to consult your engineering report and decide how heavy your plant load can be.
6. Mix and lay down your potting soil. Depending on your choice of plant life, the soil will probably have to be custom-mixed. The separate components usually consist of mineral content, such as sand or dirt; organic matter, such as coconut husk or peat moss; and a water-hoarding material like SoilMoist. The organic matter will decompose, fertilizing your garden; SoilMoist absorbs water and releases it as the soil dries out.
7. Plant your plants! Seedlings, or plugs, are slightly less frustrating than seeds.
8. Enjoy!

[Source: Wired]


Power it!
I would also install solar panels if I had a house. In PopSci's EarthTalk column, a woman from Massachusetts asks what kind of panels she should get to heat the water in her home and maybe do more. Here's the gist of a very practical answer:

1. To generate electricity for your home that might also feed back to the grid, photovoltaics are the way to go

• What's involved: Panels, an inverter, electrical conduit piping, and AC/DC disconnect switches
• Pro: If the sun is shining, power will be generated for the home and the grid without CO2 and other nasty emissions
• Con: Price may be a barrier with a price tag in the tens of thousands of dollars
• Where to get it: At FindSolar.com or the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), you can find reputable installers

2. To heat water for your home, solar thermal is a good choice

• What's involved: A solar collector for a basic hot water system
• Pros: Simpler and less expensive than photovoltaics, a reduced carbon footprint
• Con: Smaller savings in energy bills than photovoltaics, though over the long run the saving add up
• Where to get it: RealGoods Solar Living Sourcebook, a comprehensive guide to renewable energy that also sells related equipment

But wait, there's more! There's a bonus for switching to solar: Tax incentives. Find out if your state has incentives through the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE)

[Source: PopSci]

[Image: Rob Baxter, courtesy Flickr via PopSci]

the techie perspective on urban farming

It seems to be on everyone's radar -- I'm talkin' 'bout urban farming. It's not just for citybillies. Even techies want their veggies homegrown, off the CO2-spewing agricultural grid, so to speak. Here's the cool tech perspective from Wired:

Innovations from NASA and garage tinkerers have made food-growing radically more efficient and compact than the victory gardens of yore. "Aeroponics" planters grow vegetables using mist, slashing water requirements; hackers are building home-suitable "aquaponics" rigs that use fish to create a cradle-to-grave ecosystem, generating its own fertilizer (and delicious tilapia, too). Experts have found that cultivating a mere half-acre of urban land with such techniques can yield more than $50,000 worth of crops annually.

Read the full article here.


Related posts

• urban homesteading: part 1
• urban Homesteading: part 2
• urban Homesteading: part 3
• the urban homestead, revisited

stalking the wild asparagus

This one's for you, Dad!


If you don't know who Euell Gibbons was (I didn't), let's just say he was an expert on wild edibles (he died a year before I was born). Growing up during the Dust Bowl era, his mother taught him how to forage. In the 1960s he was well known for his views on natural, wild eating -- he wrote the book Stalking the Wild Asparagus about the subject.



This seems to be my new favorite subject. Though I remember back in high school, on a sort of outward-bound-lite camping trip, eating clover leaves on my solo night when my tummy was grumbling for lack of food. They didn't fill my belly, but they did plant a seed in my mind for a future passion.

Related post
yesterday's brooklyn foraging tour

gotta love goats

I do at least. They're hysterical. Like these pygmy goats who like to jump on their dog:


Or this kid who likes to jump on the bed:


How about an office goat?


According to the National Pygmy Goat Association (NPGA):

The Pygmy Goat is hardy, alert and animated, good-natured and gregarious; a docile, responsive pet, a cooperative provider of milk, and an ecologically effective browser. The Pygmy goat is an asset in a wide variety of settings, and can adapt to virtually all climates.

Sadly, we can't buy a goat because we live in the city -- their are ordinances against owning them here (and where would we put the little bugger in our apartment?).
But if you're interested in getting your own pygmy goat, as a pet, for milking, or maybe for mowing your lawn, try these NPGA-approved breeders:

• Prairie Wood Ranch
• The 12 Star
• Cutie Pie Acres
• Other NPGA-approved breeders

If you don't want to commit to having your own goat, you can rent one!

Related posts:

• interspecies love, or at least friendship
• dairy air: milk production sources exposed
• love animals, hate sprawl

hittin' the books

If you're a parent, you're probably celebrating. A student, mourning the unofficial end of summer. It's that time of year -- Back to School. And just like other marketed "seasons," there's something to buy. School supplies, accessories, clothes, etc.

But instead of the conventional stuff that was available to me when I was a kid, there's a whole range of eco-friendly options for back to school.



At the The Green Office, they make it easy to get back-to-school supplies with kits for both students and teachers. For example, for kids in 3rd to 5th grade, for $24.99 a kit would include:

• 3 Repocket Recycled Pocket Folders
• 1 Envirotech™ 100% Recycled Wirebound Notebook
• 1 Earth Write® Pencil (12-pack), Made in USA from recycled newspaper
  
• 1 Classic Colors Washable Waterbased (non-toxic) Markers
• 1 Crayola Classic Colors Crayons, 16/box (non-toxic)
• 1 Triggerwood Pen (plus refill)
• 1 Foohy® Colored Pencils (non-toxic)
• 1 Professional Watercolor Set with Brush, 8 Assorted Colors, Half Pans
• 1 KleenEarth® Steel Children's Safety Scissors
• 1 Washable, Nontoxic, Removable, Restickable Glue Stick
• 1 Pack of 7th Generation Facial Tissues

They also sell individual products, from recycled paper notebooks and printing paper to refillable pens and recycled content pencils.




Buy Green also has a range of eco-friendly office and back-to-school supplies.

Like this cool set of recycled newspaper pencils ($6.62 by O'BON)


Or this elephant dung paper notebook (that's right! It's by Ellie Poo, $9)

And this classic composition notebook of recycled paper ($2.79 by New Leaf)


Also...
Check out the back-to-school giveaway at Sustainable Is Good.
They're giving away 2 bags from act2 GreenSmart that are made from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles. Note: You must be a student to enter. Entry deadline: September 2, 2008. Check out their site for details.

the urban homestead, revisited

[Image: Just Food]

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about urban homesteading. While catching up on my back issues of Treehugger emails, I came across this post about the very same subject. In Oakland, California, they've got a place to educate wannabe 'steaders aptly named the Institute for Urban Homesteading.

In their words:

The Institute of Urban Homesteading is a response to current interest in food security, localization and self-determination, We are riding the wave of a massive global movement to change our relationship to food and resources.

Well, sign me up! Oh wait, I live in NYC and don't have a patch of dirt to dig in. Just a minor problem.

[Institute for Urban Homesteading via Treehugger]

Related posts:
Urban Homesteading: Part 1
Urban Homesteading: Part 2
Urban Homesteading: Part 3

yesterday's brooklyn foraging tour

To round out our weekend of enjoying the great outdoors of this fair borough, my boyfriend and I joined a class called "Feasting for Free in Brooklyn" through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (but led mainly through Prospect Park).

Our teacher/guide was Leda Meredith, a forager before she had even heard the term. Having Greek roots -- in Greece, foraging is not some fringe activity -- going after wild edibles is in her blood.

When Leda asked us, before starting the tour, why we decided to attend the class, my brain froze. Maybe because I was the first person to share, but most likely because I had so many reasons.

1. What a great tool to have in case our society collapses
2. If I'm in the park and hungry, I can just start snacking on some foliage
3. Dining on wild edibles is in line with a sustainable lifestyle
4. How cool to be aware of the plants around you, and to be able to identify a poisonous nightshade from a delicious allspice berry?
5. No need to make a trip to the supermarket, there's feasting to be had all around us
   
6. What better way to spend a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon but outdoors searching for food
7. The food is really free
   

Though I only managed to mutter something like, "I like food, I don't want to depend on the food system, bla-dee-bla."

So here are some of the things I learned on the walk. DISCLAIMER: Please consult a reputable field guide before harvesting and eating wild plants (there's a list of books below).

Some generalities about wild edibles (there aren't many):

• Any clover-shaped plant is edible (like wood sorrel, see image below)
  
• All pine trees are edible; in case of emergency you can chew pine needles for vitamin C
• Any plant that smells like onions or garlic is edible
• All fruit with a 5-point crown (like blueberries) are edible
• When identifying plants, always use more than one trait to identify! Sometimes two very different plants can have the same trait (like Elderberries and a look-alike plant, see below)
  

Specific plants that are edible (and tasty!):

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis)
Tender lemony leaf; pretty easy to identify by clover-shaped leaf and tiny yellow flowers.


Elderberries (Sambucus)
The images below highlight the importance of identifying plants by more than one trait. The berries shown in the third photo are not elderberries. How can one tell? Look at the leaves and stem. An elderberry plant has oblong divided leaves and a bumpy, knobby stem. The second plant below has leaves of a different shape and with a toothed edge.
Elderberries are better when you cook 'em -- for pies, jams, and syrup.

Elderberries (Image: Honey Gardens)


NOT Elderberries!
UPDATE: According to Leda, the berries above are a type of Viburnum, and while edible, these are not particularly tasty (even the birds won't eat 'em!).

Peppergrass (Lepidium)
The small green, tender seeds have a great peppery finish (after a bit of chewing). You can use them as you would pepper, just grind 'em first.


Chufa (Cyperus esculentus)
One of the cool characteristics of this plant is its triangular stem. It's also pretty fun looking with it's flowery tufts of yellow/green. At the roots of chufa are tubers that can be eaten cooked or raw and are said to be similar to water chestnuts.



Some plants that are useful for their medicinal purposes:

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
Mugwort can be used as a seasoning in foods and as a remedy to relieve tension or unblock flow (such as stress or delayed menstruation). One of the distinguishing features of the plant is the white/silver underside of the leaf. Though depending on the age of the plant, the leaves can vary from wider and divided (almost like a divided parsley) and narrow (almost like rosemary). The leaves also have a strong herbal scent.


Rose Hips
These babies are high in vitamin C -- you've probably seen them as an ingredient in vitamin supplements. The orange/red flower has a little tuft of stamen on top. The leaves look like those of a rose and the stem has a characteristic thorn. Rose hips can be brewed in a tea, but be sure to filter out the fuzzy bits.


Plaintain (Plantago)
Not to be confused with the banana, plantago major is also known as "white man's footprint" because Native Americans claimed that everywhere a white man went he would leave one of these plants behind. (The plant was thought to have been brought here by early settlers from Europe.) Plantain is a natural anti-microbial and is useful in relieving insect bites and other skin ailments. The seeds in the conical part of the flower are the main ingredient of bulk laxatives like Metamucil.


Goldenrod (Solidago)
Often a mistaken cause of seasonal allergies, goldenrod does not even pollinate via the wind but through insects. The flowers and leaves can be made into a tea which can help alleviate sore throat.


Check out more photos here.

Interested in foraging? Here are some resources (as recommended by Leda):

• A Field Guide to Edible Plants (Peterson Field Guides) by Lee Allen Peterson & Roger Tory Peterson
• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places by Steve Brill
• Forager's Harvest by Samuel Thayer
• Botany, Ballet, and Dinner From Scratch by none other than Leda Meredith

kindle promo

I mentioned the Kindle a few days ago and I've been thinking that the price is probably a big deterrent for a lot of people (me included). So I wanted to let you know that there's a great promo going on. You can get $100 off the price if you sign up for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card. See the details below:

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If you're interested, click here to get one.