Well, it seems yesterday wasn’t punishment enough, so I went back for more!  I didn’t dig deep, but I did turn over the entire top layer today.  It makes me feel accomplished, lol, but there’s a heck of a lot of digging left to be done.  I need to spend more time reading and researching, so that when I’m ready to move past just digging, I won’t go about it all the wrong way.  Remember, this gardening thing is all new to me.  My thoughts are after I get it dug to the depth I want, I’ll put down shredded newspaper, bits of lint I just started collectecting from the dryer, possibly some egg shells, dirt, and a nice large family of earthworms.  Then add the other dirt back in (that I dug out), wel turned of course.  That’s as far ahead as I’ve thought it out.  Even here in Florida, we are still having nights at the freezing level, so not sure when it’ll be safe to start actual planting or even what I want to plant.  Wonder if I should plant a banana tree nearby? 

I did it.  I bit the bullet, jumped in with both feet and did it.  I’m starting a garden!!  This afternoon I marked off an area and started digging!  I dug around the perimeter as a start.  This is hard work, folks.  I had a helper though!  I’ll continue to post my progress… feel free to jump in anytime with advce or suggestions.  I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m going to fake my way through so don’t tell anyone, mmmmmkay?  It is fun to know I’m not going at this alone, though. 

I’M COMPOSTING!  Last night I started my composting pile…. it is a plastic container on my dryer consisting of LINT, but it is a start! 

  (If you are starting your garden, or having any gardening or composting posts, I welcome a full onslaught of linky goodness, heehee.)  

The “before” pic…. 

I’ve been thinking about starting a garden.  I was reading a friend’s blog about her garden prep and talking to her and another friend (who is promising some composting instruction on her blog soon) and the more we talked, the more excited I am about this possibility.  Understand though that I have a black thumb.  There’s nothing green about it, LOL!  Guess one of my first steps would be dealing with the soil.  I have a spot in the yard in mind, and I’m thinking the shovel and I may spend some quality time out together there tomorrow! 

Ideas for the soil…..

Shredded newspaper
Lint
Egg shells
Store bought fertilizer
Coffee grounds (I don’t have these, but still great to know, lol)
Earth worms!

Do you garden? Got any advice for me?? What’s the easiest thing to grow / maintain?

 UPDATE: Added link to composting info above.

Seventh Generation sent over a variety of their cleaning products for me to test out as part of an “under the kitchen sink makeover” promotion and after using their products I have to say I am pleased with the quality and eco-friendliness of their products. I especially love the reusable bag that was sent with the products, because I am now trying to use these as much as possible instead of plastic shopping bags.  I sometimes forget, but I’m getting better. 

 Seventh Generation has a broad selection of green cleaning products… Carpet Spot & Stain Remover¸ Kitchen Cleaner, Natural All Purpose Cleaner, Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner, Shower Cleaner, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Tub & Tile Cleaner as well as laundry and dishwashing products. 

 Some further information for you…

More than 50% of human poison exposure victims are children younger than six years (American Association of Poison Control Centers) and with 63 hazardous chemical products in the average American household (Consumer Product Safety Commission), it’s no wonder that kids are coming into contact with harmful chemicals on a daily basis at home. 

 

According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Seventh Generation, 70% of parents with kids under six years old store their household cleaning products/solutions under the sink, but 47% cannot name one ingredient in the cleaners that they are using and storing within reach of their children! 

 

Seventh Generation created Health eHome in collaboration with WebMD and Healthy Child Healthy World to provide a personalized educational platform that helps uncover potential dangers and hazards identified as “hot spots in a virtual home. The tool also has an expert blog that provides trusted information on creating a cleaner, greener lifestyle and parents can test the safety of their home by doing a “Health eHome Check,” where they can get personalized results and an action plan for their home.

 Plus some Seventh Generation Survey Findings…

Cleaning Your Home or Harboring Hidden Dangers?

 

More than half of U.S. adults (58%) don’t always check the labels of cleaning products to determine if they contain ingredients that are harmful to their health.

 

Nearly three in five adults (58%) clean their home by wiping the surfaces with a cleaning solution/product at least once per week, nearly half (47%) can’t name at least one ingredient in those cleaning products.

 

The majority of people (75%) store their household cleaning products/solutions under the sink, followed by 37% that store their products in the bathroom and 33% in the laundry room.

 

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of adults believe that companies are required to disclose all of the chemical ingredients contained in their products, which isn’t true.

 

While more than half of adults believe that household cleaning products (e.g., window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, kitchen cleaner) cause substantial damage to the environment (53%) and think that if used daily products that contain dyes or fragrances can be harmful to their health (59%), only 21 percent of parents opt for cleaning products with natural ingredients.

 

 

Keeping the family safe from harm?

 

Parents with children under the age of six years clean their home by wiping the surfaces with a cleaning solution/product several times per week (33%) and 27% clean once per day or more, yet 67% inaccurately believe that companies are required to disclose all of the chemical ingredients contained in their products.

 

One third (33%) of parents believe the kitchen is potentially the most harmful area to their children, while some did not believe any room in their home is harmful to children (16%).

 

Surprisingly, 70 percent of adults with kids under the age of six years that live in their household store their household cleaning products/solutions under the sink.

 

Eighteen percent (18%) of parents have not taken steps to safeguard their family from toxic ingredients in some household cleaners.

 

For those parents who choose to safeguard, opening windows to release toxic fumes is the most popular, with 50% deferring to that method.

 

While 78% of parents admit that their children know where the cleaning products are stored in the house, only 32% acknowledge they always check the labels to determine if they contain ingredients that are harmful to their families’ health.

  Seventh Generation Coupons

 Seventh Generation is offering one lucky Shake The Salt reader their own goodie bag of Seventh Generation Cleaning products!  Interested? Read on for ways to enter!

U.S. only

Deadline to enter: Monday, June 22, 2009 @ 11:59 PM EST

WAYS TO ENTER:

Visit the Seventh Generation online store then leave a comment here stating which of their products you would most like to try. (3 entries)

Join the Seventh Generation Nation (you’ll get monthly coupons & a great newsletter) then come back here and let us know.  (3 entries)

Visit the Seventh Generation blog & subscribe to the RSS feed. (3 entries)

Join the Seventh Generation forum then come back here and leave a comment with your forum username. (3 entries)

Tell us about your experience with any Seventh Generation product.  (5 entries per product)

Take the Shake The Salt button (left sidebar) & place it on your sidebar (3 entries)

Twitter this giveaway (ex: Win a 7^th Generation Goodie Bag via @shakethesalt http://bit.ly/Win7thGen) & include the link to your tweet in your comment (1 entry per tweet per day)

Stumble, Buzz Up, Share on Facebook, etc – Comment which site you shared this post with. (1 entry for each)

Write a blog post about this giveaway (5 entries)

Follow Shake The Salt on Twitter (1 entry)

Subscribe to Shake The Salt’s RSS feed using the Feedburner button or this link (you can get the feed through a reader or by email) (2 entries)

Follow Shake The Salt (“join this site”) using Google Friend Connect (see footer of blog) (2 entries)

Comment on any other non-giveaway posts on Shake The Salt, then comment here with the link or name of the post you left a comment on. (2 entries per other post commented on)

Your entries will ONLY be counted if left individually in comments. One comment = one entry.  If you are getting 2 entries for one thing, leave 2 comments about it (ex: Placed button on sidebar #1, place button on sidebar #2, etc). 

I did it. 

Now, you need to understand a couple of things first.  One, I’m not at all green. It is a great idea & all that stuff, but I’ve just never done the green thing. Second, I am serious procrastinator. To somewhat battle that in this, I made today day one, even though I wasn’t “prepared” and didn’t have a system in place (or quite frankly have much clue about what I was doing!).  But all that said…

I did it.

I started a compost!

I am beside myself with excitement and honestly think something must be wrong me with me. I mean, who gets excited about something so gross? And after I mixed (ahem, shook a little bit) and watered, it is most certainly GROSS. 

I took pictures – yes, I actually have before and after pictures for Tackle it Tuesday, woo hoo! – and I plan to blog my little composting journey, so please come back and help me if you have any clue about how to do such a thing, ‘cause I surely don’t. 

I staked out and claimed the back right corner of the fenced in portion of the back yard. Here it is:

I put newspapers down, spread out a little so not in a thick stack.  Next I placed the smallish cardboard box I had been using the past couple of days to put scraps of paper in (I tore up non-glossy junk mail and envelopes) on top of the papers. After the box was in place, I dumped a couple bowls of something that used to be leftovers (from when I leaned out the fridge a couple of nights ago) into the box. After the bowls of “something”, I gathered some already decomposing leaves and straw and put in the box. 

I shook the box up to sorta mix it, then I filled up the 2 bowls with water and poured the water into the box on top of the “mixture”.  Water started escaping, so I scrunched up the papers around the box to help hold it in / absorb it. 

And this is what we have:

Oh! I don’t want to forget to mention my “helpers”:

“B” was off with his daddy during this process. When they came home, hubs mentioned I could toss the old jar of pickles – which is awesome b/c the jar will be perfect for tossing small stuff in throughout the day.  I took the jar out and invited “B” to come help. He refused. When does my kid refuse to go outside anyway? I’ll give you that it is super hot, but still. 

I added the pickles and juice, then tossed on a few more decomposing leaves.

And that, folks, makes up day one of my composting adventure.

Oh! I added protein. Before the lectures begin, (a) it wasn’t much, and (b) I didn’t know ahead of time (did I mention the gross part? Yeah, not picking it out).

I haven’t really researched the systems, but I’m thinking we might go with the stall looking system. 

So… I would truly adore you if you left me words of wisdom and links to fabulous information about composting. And I would also adore you if you come back now and then to check on me.

OK, that really isn’t the question.  The questions are more along the lines of:

 
How do I create a compost pile?

What system would work best for me (there are systems?)

What can I compost?

Where do I put it? (Ahem, does it smell???)

How long does it take before a pile is composted?

Do YOU compost? Load me up me links, advice, your experiences, etc.  I am so not green. I’m not overly proud of this, but I’m not so good at change either.  It has to be easy & not time consuming or I’ll just end up not doing it.  And to be perfectly honest with you, I’m not even entirely sure what green is all about – I know some things, but not extensively, not all the way you can be green. That may be another post. For now, help a girl out with this composting thing. If you wanna just come over and do it for me, by all means you are welcome. Or just point me in the right direction.

Don’t you just LOVE when your post disappears??  Ugh! Not sure why only the first line stayed and the rest vanished, but it is back now.  I think.

UPDATE: I’ll add related links here as I start my search!!

Gardening 101: Compost Doesn’t Happen {BlogHer}

Compost Guide (dot com)

I’ve purchased re-useable shopping bags.  Once in awhile I actually remember to use them.  It helps when I actually remember to take them with me.  {Rolling eyes}  I’m definitely not a tree-hugger, but I wouldn’t mind finding small ways to incorporate “green” into my everyday life.  In our small town, we don’t have recycling pickup, so I don’t recycle.  {GASP!}  Add this to the fact that I buy MULTIPLE newspapers every week.  I need to check if the local vet can use them for the kennels.  I also need to find out if there is a local place that will take recyclable stuff.  Isn’t there a website for that?  I thought I had it but must have misplaced it.  If I start recycling, I’ll need to get creative with the “how” because our space is kind of limited.

I got an email from Amazon about their new Going Green division, which got me thinking a little bit more on this topic.  Couple that with a “green” review I may be featuring (different products weekly?) that I was responding to last night. 

Are you “green”?  How did you get started on your green path?  What other small steps can I take now, to help me get started?