Composting and Vegetable Garden Classes

I've talked about composting before, as in, I want to take a composting class and here are some being offered in the valley. Well, tis the season again...here are some upcoming classes for both composting and gardening in the desert. Check your particular city for other options as these are just a sampling.

Parks and Rec Classes
GLENDALE
Organic Gardening
Learn to prepare soil, make compost and use organic fertilizers and soil amendments.
Fee: $34 (Non-resident $41)
Oct. 6, 10 AM (4 hours)

TEMPE
Gardening; Vegetable Gardens
Learn how to plant, fertilize and care for your vegetable garden - naturally.
Fee: $14.
Sept. 27, 6:30-7:30 p.m.


City Classes
GLENDALE
Landscape/Gardening Classes
Saturday, Oct. 16, Glendale Main Library
1 to 2:15 p.m. Vegetable Gardening – Learn how, when, and what to plant.
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Composting – Several methods of composting and soil building will be presented.
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Care of lawns - Will include how to install, water and care for winter and summer lawns.

MESA
Backyard Composting: Breaking it Down to the Basics
Saturday, Oct. 9, 1:30 – 4 P.M., Mesa Main Library


Others
Winter Vegetable Gardening
Saturday, October 2, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Southwest Gardener, Phoenix
Local grower Gregory Ware of Dos Arbolitos Nursery will share his considerable knowledge on growing veggies in the desert. Each participant takes home two six-packs of starter plants to get their garden growing. Cost $35.

Backyard Composting Basics with Doreen Pollack
Saturday, October 2,  1pm to 2:30pm – Central Slope Design Center, Phoenix
Turn your kitchen scraps and certain waste materials into nutrient-rich fertilzer! Compost not only provides a source of slow-release organic fertilizer, it also boosts the community of microorganism… $10 suggested donation

Vegan Etsy

I did a little surfing on Vegan Etsy and found some cool goodies. Check 'em out. (Just click the image for the shop and more product info).

Vegan Bacon Chocolate Bar at Chocoagogo

Nautical Pinwheel Ruffle Headband at Monkey and Squirrel

Pistachio Green Scarf at Knits by Nat

Apple Cinnamon Beastie Biscuits at Uber Duper Creations

Adenture Begins Notebook from Vegancraftastic

Magic Unicorn- Original Vinyl Painting by My ZoeTrope

Seahorse Fan Pull by Starrlight Jewelry

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies at Panda with Cookie Bakes

Bondage Bunny at Goth Cupcake

Rico & Diego Clay Figures at Veganosaurus

Gourmet White Chocolates at Sweet Fritsy

Daryl Hannah Love Life

Thanks to The Streets I Know vegan fashion blog, I learned about Daryl Hannah vlog series, dh love life. Daryl Hannah is a vegan and eco-activist, and I read somewhere that she is actually quite shy. Anyway, she's covered quite a lot of topics in her vlog series, and I recommend you check them out.

Below are two episodes, the Girlie Green one (green and vegan beauty products) and the Live Food one (aka raw vegan food).

And here's a fairly recent interview with Daryl Hannah in Vegetarian Times.

Storing Fruits and Vegetables

I have trouble balancing my fruit and vegetable purchases with the rate in which I use them. I'm lazy about getting to the store so I try to buy enough produce for a week or so, but sometimes I don't eat it fast enough. This dilemma drives me insane, because I want fresh fruit and veggies handy at all times, and yet, I don't want to waste them either. I've been trying to compromise by attempting the grocery store more often, buying fewer pieces of produce at a time, and buying more frozen ones as insurance that I'll always have what I need. I still don't have it quite right, but I'm doing a better job. There are still days where something I buy rots in 36 hours and I want to go on a rampage.

I'm hoping the below tools will make me an even better 'gatherer'.

STORAGE TIPS
I recently found this awesome list of how to store the most common fruits and veggies so they last longer...without plastic...from Berkeley Farmers' Market via Fake Plastic Fish. I think this is going to be very helpful to me.




BLUAPPLE
I also saw this neat little product at Whole Foods, the BluApple. You're supposed to be able to put it in your fruit and vegetable compartments in the fridge and it absorbs the ethylene gas that produce gives off. Since these compartments are enclosed the ethylene gas builds up and the fruits ripen faster and rot. BluApple is supposed to help prolong the life of your produce. Ok, so they're not plastic-free, but the blue apples are reusable for-like-ever and just require non-plastic inserts.

Found at The Daily Grommet:

REUSABLE PRODUCE BAGS
Also, since we're on the topic, you might consider getting some reusable produce bags. Sure many of us have canvas bags for our groceries, but how about smaller bags for produce? My pea brain took a while to catch on to the need for these bags too, instead of all those produce plastic bags, but I made the switch awhile back. Whole Foods has some for sale, that's where I got mine, which are nothing fancy, just natural cotton mesh. But if you want something a little more fashionable, do a quick search on etsy.com for "produce bag" and you'll find plenty of fun, reusable bags like these cute little owl-stamped bags from MissMotley's Etsy.

Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation products are completely vegan and FREE of animal testing. They offer a complete line of non-toxic household products.

Seventh Generation brand-name products include: non-chlorine bleached, 100% recycled paper towels, bathroom and facial tissues, and napkins; non-toxic, phosphate-free cleaning, dish and laundry products; plastic trash bags made from recycled plastic; chlorine-free baby diapers, training pants, and baby wipes; and chlorine-free feminine care products, including organic cotton tampons.

I use a ton of their products Some of my faves:

~Natural Laundry Detergent White Flower & Bergamot Citrus HE
~Natural Fabric Softener Free and Clear
~Toilet Bowl Cleaner Emerald Cypress & Fir
~Natural Dish Liquid Lemongrass & Clementine Zest

I particularly love the smell of the Lemongrass & Clementine and the Emerald Cypress & Fir. But I think my absolute favorite is the Wild Orange and Cedar Spice Kitchen Cleaner. Sadly, it's been a few months since I have seen it on the shelves, and I am a little worried it has been discontinued. In the meantime, I've been settling for the Lemongrass & Thyme Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner. The only thing wrong with the Lemongrass and Thyme is that the scent makes me want to eat something because I love both lemongrass and thyme.

Here are some of their product scents. About the only one I avoid is lavendar, as I am not that fond of the scent.

White Flower & Bergamot Citrus

Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender

Wild Orange & Cedar Spice

Lemongrass & Clementine Zest

Lavender Floral & Mint

Emerald Cypress & Fir

Green Mandarin & Leaf

Ruby Grapefruit & Herb

Overall Ranking: *****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[Seventh Generation can be found at Sprouts, Whole Foods, Frys Marketplace, Walgreens, and Target.]