Hello, Friends! After a long break due to many changes going on over here, including hiring a team to help keep everything running smoothly and a brand new website, I am ready to jump back into blogging. Thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it – I am very excited for this next chapter at Sweet Greens.
Today is Earth Day! Hooray! We worked feverishly to get the new website up and running in time – and here we are. How are you spending Earth Day? Did you do a special activity over the weekend? Since today is a school day, I have planned a couple of fun laid back projects, so watch for the step-by-step instructions! Also, later today, I will be hosting an Earth Day giveaway with one of our favorite partners, Stubby Pencil Studio – it’s a good one, so check back!
YOUR TURN: What are your Earth Day plans? Please share in the comments section!
Gardening is a fantastic activity that everyone in your family will enjoy, regardless of age. It is the perfect way to spend several days a week working together outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Gardening is also great for instilling a sense of responsibility, cooperative learning and excitement in your child. Not to mention, when all is said and done, you are left with a beautiful bounty of fresh, organic foods that your family grew together – and will consume together. Read on to learn how to create an organic garden with your children this spring, you will reap the rewards all year long.
#1: Garden by Design
The first step to creating an organic garden with your child is to design the garden. You and your child will need to discuss which types of plants you will have in your garden and what type of garden you want to cultivate. You will want to take into account where in your yard is the best place to have a garden and what ways you will deter critters from eating all of your goodies. Then, you must figure out where to plant each of those plants within the garden so they have enough room to grow (if you live in small space, a container garden is a great idea), and receive the correct amounts of water and sunshine.
#2: Prepare the Garden
After you have created a design for your garden, it’s time to prepare the space for new life. It is a good idea to measure the space to make sure that it will be large enough for your goodies to grow. Remember goodies such as pumpkins, zucchinis and cucumbers will need a lot of room to grow. Then, you will want to make a border of some sort – in the past we have used reclaimed decking to make a raised garden bed. Next, grab a wheelbarrow and fill your garden beds with a good mix of high quality topsoil and organic compost. Children will love to help fill the wheelbarrow and then dump the dirt into the garden beds. Once you have filled the beds and leveled the tops, you are ready to begin planting.
#3: Get Planting
Now comes the fun part – children love to get their hands dirty, so planting the garden will delight them. You can provide them with handheld shovels, rakes, and hoes to assist in their gardening. Next, it is time to start planting your seeds. Great seed picks for children include; organic carrots, cucumbers, peppers, peas, melons, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, lettuce and berries. Children especially love plants such as melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers because they can see the vegetables growth every day. However, there is a lot of fun in pulling carrots right out of the ground or eating berries straight from the patch. Just don’t forget to label the different goodies in the garden, so your child will know exactly what is growing.
#4: Maintain the Garden
Children love to help maintain the garden – they can help with the watering of the plants, weeding, organic fertilizing and recording the growth of all of their goodies. A fun way to record the growth of your garden is to allow your child to take photographs of it’s progress and encourage them to record how much each of the plants in the garden has grown throughout the season.
#5: Learn as the Garden Grows
Gardening teaches children much more than simply how to grow their own food. Gardening also teaches children the importance of working with others, proper nutrition, responsibility, life cycles, life skills, and can have a wonderful impact on their mental health and well-being. Not to mention, it is a perfect way to spend warm spring mornings together with your children. Oh yes, and they will also learn about bugs and insects – which delight most children!
#6: It’s Harvest Time!
When it comes time to harvest the goodies from your garden, give your child a large basket to collect the bounty in. Allow your child to pick each of the goodies directly from the plant or pull each carrot from the soil. There is something very satisfying about picking a fresh piece of produce from the earth. Then, prepare a space inside or outside where your child can clean each fruit before storing it, until you use it.
#7: Share the Bounty
A wonderful way to turn gardening into a social activity is by sharing the bounty with others. If you have more cucumbers then your family can consume, consider sharing them with family, friends and neighbors. If you have an insane bounty of zucchini, consider baking zucchini bread with your children and then delivering the goodies to someone you love. And if you have a lot of extra vegetables, consider inviting friends and family over for a lovely dinner that you prepare with your child.
Do you organic garden with your children?
What are your favorite tips for gardening with the kiddos?
The winter Ecocentric Mom Box was full of wonderful goodies perfect for this time of year! If you are considering joining a subscription box service full of eco-friendly goodies, Ecocentric Mom is for you! If you subscribe before February 15th, you can get 10% off with the coupon code ECOMOM10%OFF – Yay!
Here’s a peek inside the January/February box:
1. Heart Bracelet ($12) This was my favorite goody from the eco box – super cute and perfect for February! I found the tiny love charm sweet and it’s made in the USA using reclaimed/recycled materials. 2. The Seaweed Bath Co. Wildly Natural Seaweed Detox Cellulite Soap ($6.99) This bar soap features bladder-wrack seaweed extract, coffee and cinnamon. I found it was great for cleansing and loves that it is paraben, sulfate, dye and gluten-free.
3. pur-Absorb Iron ($19.99) This product couldn’t have come at a better time! I am Iron deficient and I love that pur-Absorb has a clinically proven high absorption rate and it’s all natural too!
4. RESCUE Gum Natural Stress Relief ($5.95) This was another fave from the box, I used the RESCUE gum while working on difficult projects and looming deadlines and did feel more relaxed!
6. LIPS by Healthy Houseful ($3) I have been using the LIPS lip balm and find it healing and conditioning. Each balm is handcrafted using coconut oil, Shea butter and quality essential oils.
Full Disclosure: As an Ecocentric Mom Team Blogger, I receive monthly subscription boxes for review. All of the opinions expressed are completely my own. Affiliate links appear in the post.
When we moved into current home – my favorite part was the open kitchen, dining and living room space. Since our home is tiny (1,000 square feet) this is our main living area that we spend almost all of our time in.
Eben likes to snuggle up on the rug with the dogs and his computer. I like to snuggle in the corner of the sofa during movie time and for coffee on the weekends. And you can most likely find the mister comfy in his favorite chair or cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Since this space is so small we can all be in the area doing different things but still be together. (It’s a good thing we really like each other!)
The problem with the space was the rug we had in it was simply too small and made the whole room look and feel smaller. (I wanted to share a before picture, but the mister surprised me by putting the rug together for me when I wasn’t home! However, you can see the rug that was in the space before here.) Since Olive, our French Bulldog is now potty trained (Hooray!) we decided it was the perfect time to get a new rug. We wanted something large, sustainable, beautiful and that would pull all of the room together – and since FLOR has so many different options available, we were confident that we could find something that would be perfect.
Because FLOR carpet squares can be placed in any configuration, pattern or size we knew we would be perfect in our rectangular shaped space. It took us forever to pick out the perfect rug – seriously, the selection is huge, trying to pick just one almost felt impossible! After a lot of back and forth – the mister and I finally agreed on the Vintage Vibe in cream, it’s a modern take on the traditional Moroccan Beni Ouarain rugs with diamond shaped “starburst” patterning with subtle irregularities that honor the characteristics of ancient weaving techniques. It’s made in the USA out of 100% recycled face fibers too! We felt it was the perfect combination of sophistication and coziness!
The installation is quick and simple, the mister just stuck them together with the stickers that came with the carpet squares and within a few minutes we had a nice, cozy rug that our entire family loves!
What do you think?
Full Disclosure: I received a FLOR carpet tile rug to review – however, we have used FLOR before and really believe in the brand, so I would have told you about them anyway!
I have always loved children’s toys – especially fantastic vintage ones. Believe it or not, I still have a lot of my childhood toys stored away in my cedar chest. Which reminds me, I should really go through it one of these days – it has been years! Anyhow, I came across these reclaimed cardboard robots from Rika and I was a little nostalgic for times past. Aren’t they fun? I love their simplicity, moving joints and they are eco-friendly too!
These cuties are made in Lima, PerĂș by industrial designer Ricardo Geldres and plastic artist Kareen Nishimura. I think a set of these would look amazing on Eben’s bookcase – and then I could go in and admire them everyday. Ha!
Do you have a favorite vintage toy from your childhood? photo credit
