Crunchier by the Day

The word 'crunchy' gets tossed around a lot these days.  Especially in this little town we live in, people seem to gravitate towards healthier lifestyles, more natural diets, and living green.  It's nice to see the effort the whole community puts into these endeavours.  In the big city sure there are crunchy people, but there are just as many non-crunchy people so it's easy to blend in with the pack and get away with not trying so hard.  It doesn't make you feel so bad to not live healthier and greener when so many people around you aren't doing it either.  Here on the other hand, there's almost like a bit of 'pressure' to live a crunchy lifestyle.  It's not a bad thing in many ways, though I'm not a big fan of being pressured into anything.  Still, seeing the people around us make positive changes has helped us get on the bandwagon as well, and make more positive changes in our own lives.

 

When I look back to how I have lived my life over these past 31 years, I can see a definite upwards slope in the right direction.  It has been gradual though, the change has not happened overnight.  I think back to how much fast food we used to eat, and how much we used to eat at restaurants.  Then I think back to how much processed food we used to buy, and I would tell myself that we were 'eating healthy' because we were eating at home and not out at a restaurant, but the truth is all that boxed and packaged stuff was just as bad. 

 

It's hard to pinpoint such changes when they happen gradually, and only looking back can I really see how far we've come.  I know the first thing many people think of when they're faced with making  huge lifestyle and diet changes for the better, is that it is too overwhelming.  And so they do nothing at all.  I have felt that way too, I have felt that it is easier to stay on the path I'm already on than to tackle all these changes.

 

The thing is, you don't have to change everything at once.  Start small with just one thing, whether it is changing your household cleaners from chemical to natural ones, or cutting out one item of junk from your diet.  Then when that becomes second nature, make another change.  You'd be astonished to realize how much change can happen in a short period of time if you just take it one step at a time.

 

For quite awhile now I have been wary of calling ourselves 'crunchy'.  There are so many variations and levels of crunchiness out there, and it seems that the extreme people who run the pack set very high standards.  While we had done so many things to improve our life and try and leave the world a little greener, it always seemed like we still could not match those who went all out.  It can be a little discouraging to be trying as hard as *you* can and yet someone else is still doing so much more.  I have learned to use those people as a motivation to keep striving to be a better, healthier, greener family but not be setback because I'm not doing all the same things as them.  I am also happy and comfortable with all the positive changes we have made as a family, and I know there are still lots more to be made but like I said we are making them one step at a time.  Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say.

 

So I am going to do it, I'm going to officially say we are a 'crunchy' family.  And I'm proud of it.  We may not be able to tick off every single checkbox yet, but we can tick off more than most.  I'd put us on a 7 out of 10 on the crunchy scale.  Hey, that's not half bad!

 

I don't really believe in living in extremes, so we may never be there 100%, but I'm ok with that.  Extreme diets, extreme opinions, that kind of stuff isn't for me.  I just want to do what's right for my family.  And we'll continue to do more.  Like I said, when I look back at how our lives used to be, even just a few years ago, I can't believe how far we've come. 

 

We use cloth diapers, which I wish I had done from the start because I now cringe at the thought of all those disposibles lying in a landfill.  I try to hang all my laundry year round to reduce the amount I have to use the dryer.  I am very conscious of energy and water use.  We're working on buying more locally, and buying healthier food.  The amount of food that we buy organic has increased a lot over the years.  Most recently we have cut out about 95% of packaged and processed foods we were buying.  We have been doing well with avoiding junk food in general but were still buying a lot of packaged snacks like cereal bars, granola, crackers, and chips (sticking to natural and organic brands, but the bottom line is organic junk food is still junk food).  Now we are making much of this stuff our own.  The only thing I am still really buying in a box is cereal, just to have something on hand.  But I am ok with that. 

 

Next step is I want to look into the Collingwood Food Co-op that has been in the works here for a few months.  I've kept an eye on it with interest and I think it's something we will join in the not too distant future so that we can continue to buy locally.

 

And of course we have been growing a lot of our own food, and continue to do so with winter crops in our hoop house.

 

Let's not forget my ongoing mission to lead a more active lifestyle through daily fitness.  I want to be a role model for my kids so that they see how important exercise is to overall health.  I want them to grow up enjoying being active, and not being couch potatoes. 

 

Another aspect that has really brought us around to this whole crunchy lifestyle, is taking a very holistic approach when it comes to our overall health.  Over the past few years we have started using more natural health practitioners like chiropractors, osteopaths, and naturopathic doctors to help us with our goals of becoming healthier individuals.  We have learned so much about what it means to be healthy from the inside out, and now I am such a firm believer in taking care of your body and treating it with respect.  Too often we see the situation of people going to their doctors with problems and the doctors are treating the symptoms and not the causes, and therefore people's health issues are never really resolved.  This is what happened to Tyler with his digestive issues, for years doctors dismissed him and treated the symptoms, when the solution really came from within:  a better diet and taking better care of himself altogether.  And too often still I see people who suffer from multiple issues that they treat as separate problems, when really it is one big problem, for example a food allergy or intolerance.  But they refuse to believe that the problem could be the very food they are eating, and still seek medical advice and then are given medication after medication to treat the problems.  It actually makes me quite sad.

 

We love our chiropractor.  We really believe it is part of helping our bodies be healthy.  A healthy body doesn't need medicine to heal itself, it is perfectly capable as long as we take care of it and let it do it's job.

 

I'm so happy to say that since we have started living this way we have had far less sickness in our house, and when a bug does pass through it passes quickly and without much issue.  My kids get the sniffles and that's about it.  None of them have every had a vomiting or gastro bug.  I know kids that are sick all the time, and even Tristan's teachers have commented on how he is rarely sick compared to other children.  Some people may say we are lucky, I say luck has nothing to do with it.

 

When it comes to products in the home, whether they are cleaning products or health and beauty ones, I used to feel so overwhelmed at the thought of changing over to more natural brands, especially because of the cost.  But again, we started changing one thing at a time and now we pretty much exclusively use natural products in our home.  When it comes to cleaning, I am far more afraid of chemicals in cleaning products than I am of germs.  When it comes to beauty, I believe less is more.  I used to buy and wear so much makeup, and buy so many skin care products.  Now I have hardly any.  I have stopped using nail polish because I can't see how having that toxic stuff around is any good.  I use very few skincare products compared to the past, and rarely wear makeup anymore.  And I'm ok with all of this, I'm comfortable in my own skin.  Even for my children, I put very little on their skin.

 

I think I could sit and think of lots of little changes we have made that I am proud of but I'm just about out of time for now.

 

Obviously I've had a lot to say on this topic, and I say it not with the intention of trying to change other people's minds (I actually don't care for people who go on and on about their healthier choices with the obvious intent of guilting others into doing the same), but because I am proud of what we have done for ourselves.  And I look forward to more 'crunchy' choices that we will make in the future.

Just Call Me Mrs Greenthumb!

There is a very good reason why I took a horticulture related program in college.  I love it.  I love plants, I love gardening, I love being outside working on even the hottest of days.  I even love hard labour (seriously I love shovelling, digging, and hauling wheelbarrows full of dirt).  The only I thing I don't love, or even like for that matter, is bugs.  But it's something I'm willing to deal with to do what I enjoy.

I have been out of the garden for many years now since getting pregnant with Tristan and had almost forgotten how much I love it.  A few weeks ago my dad asked us to clean up his backyard which Tyler had landscaped last year.  It didn't take me long before I was back into it and happily spent hours there weeding, cultivating, pruning and mulching.

The fact that I am currently 7.5 months pregnant has not stopped me from getting my hands dirty.  Ever since our family has embarked on this hops farming adventure I have been longing to jump in and help out.  But being a full-time mom has meant I couldn't do that.  I was actually jealous of Tyler and his parents being able to get out there and do some hard labour, but whenever I would go with the boys I would have to spend pretty much every second watching their every move.

Over the winter I was able to stay involved by helping plan our vegetable garden.  I was responsible for researching and picking out what plants we were going to grow, and for setting up a gardening, sowing, seeding, and transplanting plan.  I had no idea what I was doing, but figured I'd be learning in the process. 

In March we started sowing our seeds and I finally got to put my hands in the dirt a little bit.  We would sow them on nice afternoons in the backyard into cell packs, and then transfer them into the basement where Tyler had set up an area for them to grow and germinate.  It wasn't long before all our little seedlings were emerging, and we were on our way.

The past few months have been an experiment in starting seeds indoors for us.  While we had a very high success rate for germination, we were always struggling to figure out what each of our individual types of plants needed.  And as they got bigger we struggled to find room for them since we were constantly sowing new seeds.  At first we were certain we'd have such a warm, early spring that they could go outside earlier than usual, but it turned cold on us and we had to keep them inside.  We even had some that got stunted from the cold when we tried to harden them off.  We kept juggling all our plants, moving them around as they got bigger and trying to get some of the hardier ones outside into the hoop house at the farm or even in the backyard.

Finally we were able to start transplanting some into the garden, and eventually we were able to start direct seeding as well.  Now we are in business, and our garden is filling up nicely.

Filling up!

For awhile I was still more of a passive player in this gardening game, but in the last few weeks I have stepped up and gotten involved.  The weather has officially turned hot which has made it more comfortable for me to be out there with the boys.  They are now familiar enough with the property that they are willing to hang out near me while I work, and I just have to keep an eye on them but not worry about them wandering off.  Usually a few toy trucks are enough to keep them happy!

My little gardening helper with his tractor and wearing his favourite John Deere shirt

I have been spending most mornings recently working in the vegetable garden, especially since Tyler has been so busy helping his parents plant the hops.  It's go time at the farm and there are always a million things that need to be done.  Last weekend we went as a family and planted some of our tomatoes in the hoop house.  This past week I have been going with Finn and planting some more seedlings, as well as working on keeping the weeds in check.

We sowed so many tomatoes and peppers that we're having trouble finding homes for them all!  Those two types of vegetables where the ones we knew we'd want a lot of, and we chose several different varieties of each.  I think we have 7 or 8 different kinds of tomatoes, and 5 different kinds of peppers.  We've put some of each into the garden, but have also decided to plant some in the hoop house too to see how they do.  We're hoping to have enough vegetables that we could even sell some.  I'm sure we will!

The hoop house

First row of tomatoes planted and mulched inside

So many tomatoes!

Both boys love coming to the farm and hanging out with me while I work.  I have gone a few afternoons this past week with both of them, but I have gone most mornings with just Finn.  He is my little gardening buddy and is so great about hanging out with me.  I think he is a little farmer in the making!  He will often play in the dirt with his toy digger or tractor, or he will just wander around the garden area.  But he never gets upset or whiny, or asks to leave.  Tristan will hang out too, and sometimes he will help me pull weeds or lay mulch.  He really loves hanging out with Tyler though and will jump at the chance to 'work' with Daddy.

At the moment in our garden we've got a variety of leafy vegetables like lettuces, swiss chard and cabbage, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, onions, and artichokes.  Our strawberry plants are still in pots and are thriving, but we really need to get them into the ground asap.  We won't get a harvest from them this year as the advice is to pinch off the flowers in the first year to encourage stronger plants, but we are willing to be patient to get a good crop next year.  I have sowed some greenhouse variety cucumbers which are just sprouting, and will direct sow some more next week along with some other things like squash, corn, melon, pumpkins, and subsequent crops of carrots.  There is so much going on in our garden right now!  And we still have no idea what we are doing or what is going to work out, but boy are we having fun.  We have to learn somehow and it is all trial and error.

Red cabbage

Peppers

Lettuces

Strawberries, carrots and onions in pots

Tomatoes and beans growing up the poles

I am remembering what it is like to be out in the sunshine with my hands in the dirt, and I am loving it so much.  It means I have been spending less time at the gym, but I don't care because it's so good to be out there in the fresh air.  I also love that the boys are enjoying being out there and are learning about gardening and farming along with us.  I hope it won't be too long until they're actively involved in the process and hopefully gaining a strong work ethic from it.  I can see them spending summers working there and I hope they enjoy doing it as much as Tyler and I do.

I look forward to the future and getting to do more of this.  With a new baby soon to be here, my involvement will still be limited, but I hope that I can still get out there and keep tabs on my garden.  When I look into my future I see myself being more and more involved with the farm and all that is going on.  I love being at home with my children and do not wish that time away, but I look forward to when they are older and start school, and I will be able to play a more active roll on the farm growing my vegetables, and helping with the hops as well.

It truly is a dream come true!

Mommy and her little sidekick!

It's almost planting season!

A few weeks ago the seeds we had ordered for our vegetable garden arrived and for the past few weeks we've been busy thinking about and planning how we are going to sow and plant them.  We have about 70 varieties of vegetables and some fruits that we will be sowing from seed.  Tyler went out and bought a large binder with plastic sleeves and calendar sheets so that we can organize them all and keep track of the sowing/transplanting/harvesting schedule.  It's taken a lot of thought to organize it all but we're in pretty good shape.

I've been spending lots of time familiarizing myself with all the different seeds and their needs.  I've categorized them and come up with a sowing plan so we know what seeds need to be started and transplanted when.  We'll be starting our first bunch this week.  March will actually be very busy with the majority of seeds needing to be started indoors, but there are plenty that will be started in April, May, and even throughout the summer as well.  We will pretty much constantly be sowing, transplanting or harvesting our fruits and vegetables from March through to September.

This week construction of the hoop houses began and they will be ready to go soon, however we will be starting the seeds in the basement since they will need warmer temperatures than the hoop houses can provide.  Once they are seedlings most of them can be moved into the hoop houses until they are ready to go into the ground in May.  Tyler has build a light table to go in the basement for starting the seeds. 

I am so excited for this adventure.  When I read through my books I do feel a little overwhelmed as it just all seems so complicated on paper, especially since we are ambitious and starting quite big.  But I think we'll just going to jump in and see what works, and I think between the two of us we will have enough knowledge and experience to be successful.

Some of the varieties of plants we will be growing include: onions, beets, celery, broccoli and rapini, artichokes (Tristan's favourite vegetable!), corn, cabbage, beans, peas, many types of lettuces and leafy greens, several varieties of carrot, tomatoes, and cucumber, and of course an extensive selection of herbs.  We're also going to grow melons and strawberries, as well as squash and pumpkins.  Tyler really wants to try and grow a giant pumpkin!  I've also got some sunflower seeds to plant as well just because I thought it would be nice to have some on the property, and maybe we will be able to get some more seeds out of them as well.  We're going to try growing peanuts as well.  I'm sure there are a few more vegetables I missed, we ordered a lot!  All this in addition to the hops.

Ultimately it is my goal to be able to grow almost all of our vegetables and as much fruit as we can as well (we already have apple trees on the property, as well as other berry and currant bushes).  I would like to learn how to successfully preserve our harvest through canning, drying and freezing so that we can eat our own produce year round.  We should be able to grow some stuff year round in the hoop houses as well.  It's a little scary to take all this on knowing that we will be having a new baby in the family right in the middle of the season, but hopefully together we can pull it off.

I know I'm going to be hugely pregnant soon, but it is still my hope to play as active a roll in the creation and maintenance of our vegetable gardens as I can.  Me and my belly will be out there planting and weeding as long as I can still manage it.  I'm also hoping that getting the boys involved from a young age will teach them the value of the land and what it means to grow our own food.  Maybe if I'm really lucky they will start to eat more vegetables too!

Getting back my green thumb!

My background is in horticulture.  After Tyler had started his own landscaping business many years ago, I took an interest in the planting aspect of the industry and decided to go back to school to learn more.  From 2005-2007 I attended Seneca College in King City in the Environmental Landscape Management program, and I loved every minute of it.  We took courses in horticulture, arboriculture, landscape design, and greenhouse operations (among many other things).  I always loved being in the greenhouse and thought that working in one would be my dream job.

Well, not only will I get a chance to work in one, I'm going to have one!  Tyler's parents have just bought two hoop style greenhouses for the property!  One will be needed to keep the hops rhizomes in prior to planting, but hopefully the other one can be used for growing vegetables year round.

I am already going to have a wonderful sized vegetable garden to tend to which I am so excited about.  I have been reading up on growing vegetables and have ordered several seed catalogues so I can start deciding what varieties I want to start growing.  It looks like we might also have a local source for organic seedlings as well.

I would absolutely love to be able to grow as much of our own vegetables and maybe even fruits as possible, and not only that I want to learn about the different ways to preserve our produce so that we can eat our own fruits and vegetables year round and have less need to buy them.

The problem I'm finding right now is that my horticulture knowledge is rusty!  Not to mention I have never dabbled in vegetables.  The short stint I did working in the industry after graduating and before having a family involved landscaping gardens, not growing vegetables.  So I have a lot to learn and re-learn!  I'm also not sure how active I can be with a new baby, though I want to make sure I am still playing a role in all of this.

I know that a lot of this is going to be hands on experience and trial and error.  And I have a great team of people to help and support me.  Tyler is getting my garden ready for me and will help me plan and plant it.  He is so great at this kind of stuff.  We will all have a lot to learn when it comes to running a greenhouse, but I'm sure that we will figure it out as we go.

Have I mentioned how excited I am?  I am feeling a bit nervous and overwhelmed at the thought of it, but I know that we'll learn as we go and in a few years we'll be expert fruit and vegetable growers, all year round.

I can't wait to see all this happen.  I also can't wait to involve the kids in this, and hopefully instill in them a love for nature, plants, the environment, and taking care of the land.  I think they will learn a lot from helping us on the farm, and maybe if I'm lucky they will eat more vegetables in the process!

My dreams really are coming true!

Becoming an Ecoholic

I am currently reading Ecoholic by Adria Vasil.  Actually I had been eyeing it for awhile, but was reluctant to pick it up because in a way I wanted to stay ignorant.  Not that I want to be horrible to the environment, just that I was worried if I read it I would feel so guilty and hopeless to do much about it.  I couldn't avoid it anymore though as it was staring me in the face, sitting on the shelf in my chiropractor's lending library, so finally I brought it home.

The book is definitely an eye opener to the ways in which everyday products and services are destroying our world.  I'm not going to give you the run down here, if you really want to know go read the book (and I suggest you do).

But actually what I was most surprised about was how our lifestyle, with minimal effort, is actually not that bad when it comes to our ecological footprint.  Ok, it's not nearly as good as it should be, but I think compared to most people we are actually living fairly green without even trying.  We tend to be minimalists by nature, not really spending that much time or money on products in general.  We're not huge consumers, usually accepting used items from friends and family members and only really buying new clothes when absolutely necessary.  Granted a lot of this is because we've never had enough money to justify spending it on material items.  Still, we're not overly fussed about decorating our house or buying all the latest technology.

Since starting reading Ecoholic, I have never been so happy to be, well, me!  In the past I would feel kind of sad that it seemed everyone else had nicer things than me.  It felt like everyone I knew had fancy decor and furniture, the newest gadgets including iPhones, iPads, Nintendo Wii, big screen tvs, fancy computers, nice cars, designer clothes.  Everything shiny and new, and expensive. 

Now, knowing what I know from the book I am so thankful we are how we are.  It means that we've spent substantially less money supporting companies who are ruining the earth. 

After reading the first section on beauty products and how harmful they are not only to the environment, but also ourselves, I realized how few I use.  I almost never wear makeup, maybe a bit of powder if my skin looks like crap and the whole get up I do maybe once a month, if that.  I'm not a sucker for fancy creams, I don't use deodorant (and I'm pretty sure I don't stink), and I pretty much use the bare minimum of everything else.  I do like to use nice skin care, but have realized that it doesn't have to be expensive and have been trying to use only natural products.  I'm slowly changing all our beauty care products over to only all natural stuff.

One big department though that I know I have to make changes in is clothing.  It's easy to ignore the terrible practices involved in the making of cheap clothing.  Unfortunately my thoughts when needing new clothes have always been "How much cheap stuff can I get for x amount of money?".  Now I know I should be spending it more wisely, maybe only buying one or two quality fair-trade items at a time rather than as much crappy stuff as I can afford.  And it makes sense really, because every time I buy cheap clothes  realize they are so poorly made they don't fit right anyway, and they just fall apart quicker.  For the boys thankfully we have relied almost entirely on second hand clothes from my cousins who have two boys, so I know at least the clothes are getting good use and we're not spending money buying more of them.

I've only read about beauty products and clothes so far, and am currently in the health care section (and again happy that we are not pill poppers who rely on medications, prescription or OTC, rather we focus on making our bodies healthy so they can fight off illness on their own).  There are still many sections to cover still, and I know I will learn much more about how to live green, especially in other areas like cleaning (I already don't use commercial cleaners, just water and vinegar, but am looking forward to more tips), technology, and of course food.

Ok, so if we had ever been in the position to spend a lot of money on nice things, I'm sure we would have.  But now at least, if we ever can afford more 'stuff', I will know what to look for and which companies I should be supporting.

Now I feel proud that we don't have nice things or care about the newest trends!

I'm really glad I've picked up this book.  I've only made a dent in it so far, but I'm learning so much already and feel not only more enlightened, but proud of ourselves for have already making good headway in the living green department.  Of course, there is always room for improvement!