Off the Urban Grid

Appreciate Living Off the Grid

Toward the end of wintertime, some regions are blessed with incredibly sunshiny days and warmer temperatures. It might be windy and a chill is still felt in the air, but it’s a nice preview to what spring has to offer. These are days to appreciate, because you never know when nature will retreat to a wintry mix of snow, sleet and hail. Taking these moments to relish in the sun and warmer temperatures is a must when you’re living off the grid — it’s to remind you of why you’re living off the grid.

Instead of wasting electricity and consuming gasoline as if it’s a renewable resource, you’re going above and beyond to choose alternatives and make green installations in your home. Monitoring your electricity consumption and lumping errands into one trip aren’t that inconvenient, but some eco-friendly changes require a significant lifestyle change or a dive into your piggy bank. It’s beneficial to take time out and enjoy the great outdoors so you remember why you’re working hard to make these changes.

When there’s a beautiful day, you have to enjoy it while it’s there. This year make an attempt to get outside for fresh air and admire the space around you. Even just taking a walk up and down your street will breath life into a stale mindset. Too often we’re restricted to a sedentary lifestyle, especially if you work behind a desk and/or computer.

Or, try new things that involve nature. For example, see if your local park offers kayaking or other types of manual boating where you can rent paddle boats. Go hiking on a nearby walking trail or campsite. Getting your family and friends to come with you will help put everyone in a good spirit and remind them of how precious and fragile the environment is.

Tags: living off the grid

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Dry Herbs…in the Microwave

Living off the grid doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t enjoy some every day luxuries like the microwave. It just means you need to be more innovative in powering these luxury devices. So as long as you have created a way to power your home via solar panels or hydropower, you can utilize your microwave to make even the slowest going tasks quicker.

For instance, drying herbs requires patience. You have to clean them, hang them up to dry properly and make sure the environment stays cool and dry. After they have dried, you can start using them in your soups, stews, salads, etc. Although it’s worth waiting for, sometimes you don’t have time to wait, like when you have unexpected guests coming over for a homemade meal.

In these cases, you can dry your herbs with the microwave and skip a few steps. When using the microwave to do your drying, it’s important to dry small batches of herbs at once — maybe 10 to 15 leaves at once. You will need to arrange the leaves off of the stem onto a piece of paper towel. Then layer another piece of paper towel on top — although you will want to use paper products with recycled materials, these post-consumers products can contain bits of metal that will ignite in the microwave. Begin microwaving the leaves for about one minute and stop to check the process. You might need to repeat the heating, but only do increments of 30 seconds.

Within a few minutes, you will have freshly dried herbs! This is one way to cut corners when you’re in a jam, but don’t try to dry other foods in the microwave like berries or tomatoes, because it just won’t work the same.

Tags: dry herbs in the microwave, drying herbs

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Forage for Food Indoors

During camping and hiking trips, you might have learned how to forage through the woods for sustenance, but have you ever thought about foraging indoors for food? Between your garden and grocery shopping, canned and boxed goods can pile up quickly on your lazy Susan and in your pantry. Instead of continuing to buy more, you need to learn how to work with the food you already own. Challenge yourself to forage indoors.

Take an afternoon to reorganize your pantry. This is the first step to foraging indoors — by know what you have, you can better use it. Pull out everything from bagged and boxed foods to homemade canned vegetables and fruits. Put like items together and keep multiples together too. The key is to have items in view so you can prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner more efficiently.

This same organizing can be applied to your refrigerator and freezer. How often does food go to waste in your home? Although it might go into the compost bin, you’re still losing money that you spent to feed your household. It’s easy for fresh produce to get lost among the cartons of milk and gallons of orange juice. One way to ensure that your fruits and veggies are eaten before they go bad is to wash and cut them up right away. Then you can reach into the refrigerator and start munching away on your carrots, celery, grapes, etc.

Even placing labels on your canned vegetables is a good idea. Then you can arrange the canned fruits and vegetables in chronological order and eat your way to the most recent ones.

There are so many places to store food in our homes. You probably have a refrigerator, freezer, pantry, lazy Susan and maybe an extra freezer in the basement. It’s easy to forget about food until you go foraging and find it.

Tags: foraging for food, foraging indoors

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Have Compassion for the Planet on Valentine’s Day

Any ideas on what you’re going to get your sweetie for Valentine’s Day? Although there’s always the candy and flowers route, try to challenge yourself to put more thought into it this year to include the planet. For instance, flowers are nice but only last a few days, so why not treat your Valentine to a plant instead? Making little adjustments like this can turn this holiday into a day of love for everyone and the earth.

Flowers are most commonly given on Valentine’s Day, but you can switch things up a bit by treating your loved one to plants with staying power. Depending on your relationship with the person, you surprise them with a selection of seeds so you can start a garden together. You can choose a wide range of seeds from vegetables to flowers. Or, another option is to simply surprise that person with his/her favorite plant. This option is better than cut flowers, because they have the potential to last longer if cared for properly, and the vegetables can provide beauty and sustenance.

If you want something really special, treat your loved one to a picnic in the park or backyard. With basic things from your home, you can turn the outdoors into a romantic experience.

For animal lovers, adopt a wild animal from a respectable organization. Whether your Valentine is into astrology, animals, plants, etc., there are quality conservation and preservation organizations out there that you can make donations to.

Thinking past the cut flowers and chocolate can make this day more special, and you can connect your love with sustainability in a wide variety of ways.

Tags: eco-friendly Valetine's Day gifts, Valentine's Day

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Use Forecasting Tools to Keep Your Eyes on the Skys

Within 24 hours, there’s not telling what types of weather you might experience. From warm to cold and from rain to hail, it’s sometimes challenging to forecast what Mother Nature has in store for us on a day to day basis. Planning a garden let alone working outside can be a hassle when the weather isn’t cooperating. However, there are many invaluable forecasting tools available to help you be more mindful of changing weather.

Weathervanes have been a traditional tool used for centuries. While it doesn’t have any technological aspects to tell you the temperature, it can at least provide a decorative feature that shows you which way the wind is blowing. Adding a weathervane to your shed or garden is nice to have so you can see how bad the wind is kicking up when you’re indoors.

If you want to know more than the wind’s direction, a full weather station might be what you’re looking for. There are gadgets out there that are eco-friendly and high-tech. Consider a weather station or weather forecaster with a built-in solar panel and rechargeable battery. These devices can inform you with the minimum and maximum temperature, chance of precipitation, UV index, time and date. Some even go a step further and calculate the wind speed, pollen count and air quality.

Being mindful of the barometric pressure, windchill and other weather indicators are important when tending to a garden. If the UV index is going to be high on a particular day, you might want to shield your plants with a shade cloth. But on days when there is 80% chance of rain, you probably can set your watering chore aside and let Mother Nature do it for you.

Tags: forecasting tools, weather forecasters, weathervanes

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Create a Seasonal Garden Based on Winter’s Quiet Beauty

During the wintertime, there is a quiet beauty that that covers the land. After the first snowfall, it can be challenging to appreciate the simple, quiet landscape, but if you’re able to see the potential, you will be able to create a garden space that is beautiful from season to season.

What looks the most striking in winter? Of course, it’s those textured objects like shrubs, trees and fences that stand out against the snow. Adding texture to your yard is one way to improve the look of your garden all year round. For example, a stone wall will enhance your outdoor space in the spring and summer when perennials and ivy are growing on it, and it will also look amazing in the winter when a few inches of snow are piled on it. Some other structures you might want to include would be a fence, pergola and large, colorful pots.

Evergreen plants like deerproof boxwoods, pine trees, spruce and dwarf conifers add green to your backyard throughout the year. When the deciduous trees lose their leaves and appear dead, the coniferous trees will fill in those empty spaces with dark green, silvery blue, chartreuse or bronze depending on the species you choose.

Other elements that will improve the aesthetics of your garden include structures and ornaments that support wildlife. For example, bird feeders and birdbaths are great ways to accent your garden, and the local wildlife will appreciate these things too. In addition, sundials, urns and plaques are nice garnishings, and you can probably reuse items around your house to create these ornamental pieces.

The next time you try planning out your landscaping and garden, think about what it will look like in winter. Let winter be your starting point, because once you have the basics, your garden will look incredible throughout all of the seasons.

Tags: all season garden, winter garden

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Part 2: Air Pollution & Your Health

Our air may now be cleaner, but we also know more about the effects that even moderate amounts of pollution can have on our bodies.

Ozone pollution can cause respiratory problems and aggravated asthma in children, people with respiratory diseases and even healthy adults who are working or exercising outside on days with high pollution. Particle pollution can cause quite a range of health effects similar to the effects of ozone pollution. Also, particles can cause problems for people with heart disease since the particles are so small that they can penetrate deep into the lungs and even get into the bloodstream. Allowable amounts of this form of pollution will decrease significantly in the future.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed cutting the daily standard of allowed pollution in half due to current research regarding negative health effects. There are some preventative measures to take to protect your health.

If the air is polluted, take it easier when you are active outside. For example, walk instead of jog or limit the amount of time you exercise. Another option is to change when or where you exercise. On an Advisory Day, plan your outdoor activities when ozone levels are lower, usually in the morning or evening.

When particle pollution is in the air, try to exercise away from busy roads. Mainly, pay attention to your body for signals as to whether or not the pollution is affecting your ability to breathe or function properly.

Below are some other voluntary things that anyone can do to help prevent pollution:

• Combine errands or reduce the number of trips you make.

• Get fuel when it is cool. Refueling during cooler periods of the day or in the evening can prevent gas fumes from heating up and creating ozone.

• Do not top off the gasoline tank, because topping off releases fumes into the air that can mix with the sun and heat to form ozone.

• Mow your lawn less often or use other gasoline-powered lawn equipment after 7 pm. This type of equipment is often highly inefficient.

• Take public transit if it is available in the area.

Decreasing pollution is a feasible goal if the community works together, and the list above shows how easy it is to start doing your part and become a role model.

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Part 1: The Basics of Air Pollution

The air we breathe is cleaner today than it was years ago; however, we also know more about the health effects. It is kind of like how we know more today about the safety of using seat belts or smoke alarms in our homes. We have more technology today to help keep us safer.

The two main air pollutants are ozone and particle pollution. Ozone is usually the primary pollutant in the summer months, because ozone does not occur naturally on its own. Ozone is formed when certain chemicals mix with sunlight and heat. It is formed by these chemicals, because they “cook” in the summer sun.

Alternatively, particle pollution can occur at any time of the year, but it can be especially bad in the winter when the weather is calm, allowing particles to build up. This type of pollution consists of tiny, microscopic particles of dust, dirt, smoke and liquid droplets containing any number of chemicals. It is often referred to as “haze.”

Particle pollution is caused by many human activities and some natural sources. It is formed directly from sources such as power plants, factories, vehicles and smoke from forest fires. This type of pollution can be higher near busy roads and factories, and it can also be formed indirectly by weather-related conditions or events.

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Garden Pests: Good Bugs vs. Bad Bugs

Gardens contain the good, bad and the ugly…bugs that is. When you’re pruning your prized bushes and nourishing your precious heirloom vegetables, the last thing you want to see are bugs destroying the leaves and quality of the plants. There are many types of larva that you will also notice in your garden — before a ladybug is an adult, it’s a larva, but it doesn’t mean that it’s harmful to your crops. So how do you know which larva are bad and which ones are good?

Ladybugs are actually good for your garden, because they eat smaller pests and insect eggs as they move around the plants all day. Ladybug larvae look quite different from their adult forms. The majority of their bodies are black with some red, orange or yellow markings, and they have three pairs of legs set behind the head.

A couple other good bugs for your garden are green lacewings and syrphid flies. Green lacewings are brown in color and have a pair of curved mandibles that allow them to eat aphids, lace bugs and small caterpillars. Syrphid flies are easier to locate, because they are yellow in color with black markings. These flies eat nectar and pollen.

Now for the bad ones that you have to watch out for — these include but are not limited to sawflies, the Colorado potato beetle and the asparagus beetle. These three species of insects devour the plants’ leaves and even leave dead spots, which prevents your garden from flourishing. Sawflies look similar to caterpillars, and they have yellow and black markings — it’s common to see many of them feeding together. The potato beetle is pretty easy to see, because they’re so round with several black dots along their sides. The asparagus beetle is slimmer in shape and looks similar to a grub but with a black head.

Regular monitoring of your garden is important so the bugs don’t get to your crops before you get to enjoy them. However, it’s unhealthy to eradicate all of the insects from your garden — not all of them are bad even though they might be ugly.

Tags: bad garden bugs, good garden bugs

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Sustainable Gardener Dilemma: Should You Use Peat Moss?

Peat moss has been a gardener’s friend, because it contains many nutrients. However, how sustainable is it to use peat moss in your garden? If it’s too costly or environmentally harmful to use this material in the garden, eco-conscious gardeners might want to think twice before using it.

Peat moss is made up of decomposed remains of plants, in particular sphagnum moss. It’s commonly found in swamps, bogs and marshes, but the growth process is slow — about less than a millimeter annually. These peatlands or peat bogs have been studied, and it was found that peat moss stores a significant amount of carbon — even more than trees. In order to mine peat moss, companies have to go to the most remote and untouched areas, and the entire bog has to be drained of its water. At this point, the bog has no other choice but to release the stored carbon. So on many levels, peat moss is eco-friendly — when untouched, that is.

Peat moss is effective in gardening for many reasons. It’s capable of aerating the soil and binding the soil. Since it contains a large amount of nutrients due to is high rate of absorption, peat moss also strengthens and protects the soil from insects, weeds and chemicals. In addition, it decomposes slowly and releases nutrients on an as needed basis so the plants aren’t overwhelmed. Along with gardening with peat moss, people commonly use it to improve their compost.

Although this material has so many advantageous qualities for gardeners, peat moss might be better left alone where it resides. It might help you grow strong crops, but in the remote blogs, it’s consuming carbon at astounding rates and creating a habitat for marsh wildlife.

Tags: gardening with peat moss, peat moss

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