I'm back from outerspace.

Goodness it has been a stressful and exhausting few months.  I'm glad that my family is healthy, happy, and all around boring again.I am especially glad because it lets me get back to my routine - blogging being a large part of that routine.

So, it is HOT here in New Jersey. I think all of July was one giant heat wave.  I have been a slacking Greenie because I have had our air conditioners running non-stop for about a month now.  Luckily, they are new models which have energy saving settings and automatic shut off.  I haven't seen much difference in the electric bill, so I think we found a decent solution to beating the heat.

The plus side of all this heat is that my veggie garden is exploding with fresh produce.  I have tomatoes and cucumbers filling up my kitchen.  I am actually going to pickle some cucumbers this year!  I'm very excited to try it and see how they turn out.  The tomatoes barely make it past the front door before they are gone.  I rinse them off, slice them and eat them right off the cutting board.  Fresh tomatoes may be my favorite food in the world. 

So, I am working on ideas to change an area of my home into the designated daycare area.  I am trying to find eco products to do this.  If you see anything adorable, green, and available, let me know!

It's so nice to be back, I hope to "see" you all around again!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I am so looking forward to getting out in the warm spring air and playing in the dirt.  I have big plans this year for a raised organic fruit and veggie garden bed in the yard.  We will see if this actually happens, husband and I tend to make big plans and are not always the best at following through when it comes to home improvements.

I am also hoping to save a patch of dirt for my kids and my daycare kids so they can plant their own fruits or veggies and snack on them.  I think it could be a great learning activity and also a very simple way to introduce organic gardening.  I plan on having them start their seedlings in egg carton cutouts and we will transfer them into the ground once it is warm enough.

I am also starting to learn about composting.  I have just started my research for what system will work best for us.  It has to be very sanitary because we often have our children and my daycare children in the yard in the nice weather.  It also has to be pretty tough because we have an 80 pound lab mix who loves to dig in the trash.  I hope to buy a compost tumbler this spring and get to it.  We have a fairly large amount of lawn, so we gets lots of clippings and leaves that would be perfect for composting.

Any composting tips would be GREATLY appreciated!