Green Gift Guide

Everyone else is doing a holiday gift guide, so I figured I might as well throw my suggestions into the mix.

MixedBagDesigns
These bags are super cute, durable and hold just about anything you need to cart around. I use mine for trips to the grocery store,  the library and just about anywhere else.

LightMyFire's All-In-One Utensil
It's a spoon. It's a fork. It's a knife. It's all three in one! This utensil is extremely lightweight and easy to wash. It can be used when camping or it can camp out in your purse for unexpected food adventures. If you don't want to order online, I've often seen these at the checkout stations in Eddie Bauer.

Zip-It Drain Cleaner
I know it seems a bit unromantic, but this thing would make a great stocking stuffer for a new home owner. It works, I swear. You could also pair it with a universal coil brush that can clean out from under your fridge, as I blogged about a while back.

Wind-Up LED Flashlight
I'm terrible about remembering to buy batteries. Plus, batteries aren't so good for the old environment. So this flashlight makes me happy. It even provides a bit of much-needed exercise.

Candles from The Candle Lab

I've made two different candles at The Candle Lab this year: Dark chocolate and fig was one and campfire, pine needles and dirt was the other. I love them both. All candles are made with soy, which burns much slower than traditional candles.

The Wilds 
I heart The Wilds. For me, it is so much more magical than a zoo, because the animals get to roam over 9,000 acres of land. I've given gift certificates for tours a couple of times now and I haven't heard any complaints. 

Keepsake Solutions
Old home videos are a treasured asset that cannot be replaced. Why not convert your old home videos on VHS tapes into DVDs for your family members? I just recently did this and I am excited to finally see what I've been missing sans VCR for the last 10 years.

Bluebell Giving
For the person who has everything, this is a wonderful idea. When you buy a card from Bluebell Giving, you can pledge a certain amount of money to charity. But the fun part is that your card's recipient gets to choose which of the 180+ supported charity will receive the donation.

Can you think of other eco-friendly products or services that would make green gifts this season?

Tune In: The Search for an Eco-Friendly TV

Okay, I am finally going to jump on the new flat-screen LCD TV bandwagon.

Why I'm Getting a New TV

I have had the same dinosaur television for 8 years, which I bought used from a friend when moving to my current place. I was waiting for the TV to die before I bought a replacement, but within the last year three things happened:

1. I received a Blu-ray player as a present that I have been unable to use because it is not compatible with the dinosaur television. 
2. More and more shows are being shot in wide-screen, which means that I am missing out on a lot of key plot points that get cut off on my current square screen. Though this doesn't really matter, in the grand scheme of things, it is quite annoying. 
3. The appeal of watching Netflix streaming through the TV without hooking up a computer has become almost impossible to ignore. 

Here's a picture of the old monster TV, courtesy of Photo Kitchen:

Things to Consider When Shopping for a New TV

So, I went searching for a new TV.  I thought about getting one during the after-Christmas sales in 2010, but the one that I had chosen was out of stock and I missed out on the deep holiday discounts, so I waited until this season to try again.

To choose a television, I relied heavily on the Westerville Library's online subscription to Consumer Reports. In addition to rating specific models and brands, they also provide a guide to tell you what types of things you should be looking for when buying a new TV.

The one thing that stood out to me was their explanation of LED backlighting for LCD TVs:

LCD displays use lights in the back of the display to illuminate the screen. These have typically been fluorescent bulbs, but many new sets use LED (light-emitting diode) backlights instead...In general, LEDs can reduce power consumption. Some of the edge-lit LCD models we've tested have been among the most energy-efficient sets we've seen...LED backlights, especially if edge-lit, can allow the TV to have a very slim profile -- panel thickness of well under 2 inches.

Consumer Reports also includes an estimated energy cost per year for rated TVs. Between that and the LED backlight option that offers more energy efficiency and a smaller physical footprint, I knew where to start looking in regard to picking out a new television that would be eco-friendly.

Of course, I also looked at the other rating options to make sure the TV would meet my other needs, such as sound quality, HD & SD picture quality, viewing angle, etc. I eliminated any set that gave only a fair or poor rating for any of the features. I also placed emphasis on Netflix integration. I was also interested in Internet-connectivity available on the new Google TVs, but this feature is cost-prohibitive at the moment and it doesn't seem like the capability has hit the mainstream yet.

Once I narrowed down my choices, I looked at the brand reliability table through Consumer Reports to find out how the brand measured up regarding repair history.

Lastly, I checked for user ratings & reviews on sites such as CNET and Amazon.com. This helped me to narrow my choices further.

Based on all of these factors, I have chosen the Vizio M420SV. It has LED edge backlighting, a wide viewing angle, excellent picture quality, good sound quality, average energy costs of $26 per year, good brand quality, an excellent average user rating on Amazon.com and it is Internet-enabled, allowing for the ability to connect to a Netflix streaming account.

Here's what the new TV will look like, according to Amazon.com:

How to Get Rid of an Old TV  

So, what should you do with an old dinosaur TV? Don't throw it the dumpster. Old televisions contain hazardous materials such as lead. To avoid the possibility of these materials leaching out, donate your old TV to the Ohio Thrift store at Cleveland Ave and 161 in the Columbus Square shopping center. They will accept any working television for free.

Or, if your TV is no longer in working condition, try recycling it. Ohio Drop Off near the intersection of Morse Road and Westerville Road will recycle TVs, though they charge $1 per inch.

More options are available within the Columbus area. Read this SWACO article or this EPA article for more recycling, donating or disposal options.


Stay Tuned

The TV is now set up. The Netflix integration is decadent. But did all of my hard research pay off? Stay tuned to find out.

Grow What You Eat: Tomatoes

I actually started some tomato plants from seed, which I had done in 2010 with great success.

Not so much this time around. I think I started the seeds in early April in an egg carton inside for close to six weeks. I then spent about a week getting them acclimated to the weather by setting them outside for a couple of hours at the time.

May 20, 2011

Though they were still quite tiny, I went ahead and planted them. With a few days, the spring rains had all but decimated them. 

So....I bought a 4-pack of roma tomato plants at Westerville Farmer's Market on May 25, 2011 for $4. This broke my rule regarding 4-inch pots, but I've grown tomatoes before and figured I could make these work without much trouble.

May 25, 2011

They grew large fairly quickly, so I bought a tomato cage to help keep them upright.

June 9, 2011

They started to produce green tomatoes in late June.

June 29, 2011

Then the tomatoes turned red.

July 29, 2011

But a lot of them were rotted on the bottoms. I asked my co-worker, Susan, what that meant and she said that it was a sign of them being over-watered. It was an unusually wet spring and summer, so that made sense.

July 29, 2011

Once I stopped watering them as often, the tomatoes stopped rotting and I was able to get a couple of handfuls from the plant.

August 11, 2011

Oddly, I had a volunteer tomato plant sprout up out of the wooden box that I had used to grow the peas and beans.

August 27, 2011

Unfortunately, this one had too late of a start and the cherry tomatoes never ripened.

The same happened for many of the roma tomatoes. I think they just didn't get enough sun throughout September and October.

September 5, 2011

Thing I'll Do Differently Next Year:

I'll use a wooden box just for the tomato plants, instead of making the peppers and tomatoes share a box.

I'll also make sure to cut down on the watering, and I may try to find a slightly sunnier location for them so that they get enough light to ripen. 

Grow What You Eat: Peppers

I bought a green pepper plant & a jalapeno pepper plant from Raisin Rack on May 18, 2011 for approximately $4 each. Both came in 4-inch pots.

I planted both in the same wooden planter as two tomato plants.

June 9, 2011

The green pepper plant was totally overshadowed by the tomato plants and never got enough sunlight or space to grow. The jalapeno pepper plant fared better. By the beginning of July, I could see baby peppers.

July 9, 2011

Since it didn't require as much space and got a bit more sunlight, it ended up producing a handful of spicy peppers that I used to make salsa.

July 23, 2011

They were all about the size of a pinky finger.

July 29, 2011

The green pepper plant actually started producing miniature peppers after the tomato plant had died off and left it some room to grow, but it was too late in the season for the peppers to fully develop. In any case, the baby green peppers were super cute, and at least I'll know what to look for next year.

October 22, 2011

The jalapeno pepper plant also lasted until the end of October, even putting out a few wicked-looking attempts in the last inning.

Things I'll Do Differently Next Year:

I will probably end up planting both pepper plants in a separate wooden box or pot in order to give them enough space and sunlight to grow and produce. 

Grow What You Eat: Rosemary

I love rosemary. The problem is that I don't know what to do with it.

My staple recipe for rosemary is to add it to a skillet of sauteed onions, green peppers and feta cheese, then serve it with pita bread. Besides that, I've been at a loss this year for what to do with this beautiful herb.

I bought a rosemary plant in a 4-inch pot from the Franklin Park Conservatory on May 14, 2011 for approximately $3. I potted it in a medium-sized clay pot and ignored everything I read about using sandy soil because of laziness.

June 9, 2011

It didn't seem to mind.

August 27, 2011

I don't think I harvested anything from it until mid-September.

September 5, 2011

Since it seemed to be doing well and I checked to make sure it wasn't on the ASPCA's list of plants that are toxic to cats, I brought it inside for the winter.

October 24, 2011

Things I'll do differently next year: Find more recipes that call for rosemary.

Grow What You Eat: Basil

I bought two basil plants at Westerville Farmer's Market for approximately $2.50 for a 4-inch potted plant.

Note: All of the books I read suggested buying 4-inch plants because they will be less scrawny and will bush out better over time.

May 25, 2011

I potted each plant in a separate plastic hanging plant container that I'd saved from previous summers.

The plants started out fairly small and compact, but they grew quickly.

June 9, 2011

I started harvesting basil within a month, though I could have probably done so sooner.

A large batch of basil, harvested on June 23, 2011

I ended up making several huge batches of pesto over the course of the summer, using lemon juice, garlic cloves, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and slivered almonds, all of which I mixed together in a mini food processor.

Basil in mini food processor

Frozen in an ice cube tray then placed in freezer bags, ready to use

After a while, I found that I got lazy and stopped harvesting the basil on a regular basis. It started to lose some of its vibrant green color and when I researched the problem, I found that it was due to my lack of constant pruning.

July 9, 2011

So I tried to harvest on bi-weekly basis, and though the leaves at the bottom of the plants never bounced back, the plants started to slowly regain their color.

July 29, 2011

By the end of August the plants were looking a bit worse for the ware...

August 27, 2011

And by the beginning of September, they were all but done for the season.

September 5, 2011

Things I'll do differently next year:

Really, I think the only thing I would change for next year is to harvest more often to prevent the plant from losing its color, a la Bunnicula style.

Everything else, including the soil, pot, location and frequency of watering seemed to work well.

Grow What You Eat: The Dirt

It seems that container gardening, especially, requires good dirt. So just like a new mom, I read all of the plant parenting books to make sure that I made the best possible home for my plant babies.

Ingredients for good container gardening soil include:

• Vermiculite or perlite
• A bit of coco peat or "coir" (to help retain moisture)
• Oyster shells
• Dolonitic or cacitic limestone
• Equal parts N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium)
• pH between 6.0 and 7.0
  
• A top layer of compost and peat moss or humus

And, as with most new parents, creating this perfect home became way too much work and I chucked it all for the following:

MiracleGro's Organic Choice Potting Mix...



And a top layer of compost from my composter.



Things I'll do differently next year:

• I might try looking in a specialty garden store for soil ingredients, as all of the convenient haunts, i.e. Lowes', Home Depot and Meijer, had not one of these items. The choices were potting soil or top soil. At least I knew enough not to get top soil...
• I will probably put the compost in a middle layer rather than the top layer. I had a lot of seeds in the composter that decided to sprout and I couldn't figure out which seedlings I had purposefully planted and which ones were impostors. On a happy note, I did get a volunteer tomato plant out of the deal.
  

Grow What You Eat: Cucumbers

I heart cucumbers. They are one of the easiest, most refreshing vegetables of the summer.


(Note: This picture was taken by my sis, of Photo Kitchen fame. You will easily be able to tell the difference between her pics and mine throughout this blog, as mine are very matter-of-fact and hers are magical.)

I picked up a cucumber plant at Raisin Rack on May 18 for approximately $4. It came with only a hand-written tag that said "AC Picking Cucumber", which, after a half-hearted Google search, I assume means this?



By June 9, I could see tiny cucumbers beginning to grow. Though there were 3 or 4 babies on the plant at a time, usually only one of them grew into a full-fledged cucumber. According to this article, the shriveled baby cucumbers are due to lack of pollination. Oops.



I harvested the first cucumber on June 23. It was beautiful.



Some of the cucumbers were a bit misshapen, but still just as tasty.

I realized a bit too late that the plant was yellowing because there was a cucumber hanging out of sight over the edge of the deck. I think if I would have noticed it and picked it sooner, the plant would have started to send its nutrients to the rest of its limbs.



But the real death of the plant came with a raccoon attack. The roots were dug up and exposed. Though I tried to replant it, it soon shriveled and died.



In the end, I was able to harvest 5 cucumbers throughout the summer.

Though this variety is meant for pickling, I was too lazy to learn how, so I just ate them in my staple summer salad consisting of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, red wine vinegar, olive oil and feta cheese.

Things I'll Do Differently Next Year:

• Try to keep the raccoons from digging up the plant (though I'm not quite sure how yet.)
• Buy more than one plant.
  
• Actually attempt to pollinate the plant by following these instructions.
  
• Try pickling?
  

Grow What You Eat: Cilantro Fail

I bought my cilantro plant on May 14 from Franklin Park Conservatory when I was there making my rain barrel.



I planted it in a bit of potting soil topped off with some compost. It was thriving.



I planned to use it in salsa all summer, but there was not much chance of that. I was able to harvest one bunch in mid-June before this happened:



And then this happened:



R.I.P. May 14, 2011 - July 20, 2011

Thing I'll do differently next year:

• Maybe try a clay pot, as this is not a rain lover.
  
• Maybe try sandy soil. I read that it would be a good idea, but I promptly ignored the advice due to laziness.
  

Next up...cucumber!