Harvesting Rainwater

Here in the Sacramento area, we really only get rain from October or November through about May and when it does rain, it seems like we only get an inch or so at a time. However, in my yard it seems like it takes only a bit of rain to make a huge mess since the house gutters drop right into the lowest part of my yard making a winter long muddy bog. I'd love to get rid of the lawn altogether, but Dennis and I haven't agreed on that yet. So what to do to not only save the "free" water that hits my roof in a storm and try to save the lawn from its annual winter drowning?? Rain barrels! Rain barrels are large containers that sit underneath your gutters to collect rainwater. They have a spigot at the bottom of the container to attach a hose and water whatever you want from rainwater collected from your roof.

Considering that one inch of rain on a 1,000 square foot area yields 623 gallons of water, I'm sending a whole lot of water right down the drain every winter! I've looked at buying rain barrels, but they can run around $200 - ack! However, this morning I think I found the solution while browsing the Fine Gardening website - a video on how to build my own rain barrel for about $50 - perfect! I know they aren't that pretty, but since we don't get rain year-round, I can move them to a less obnoxious location during the summer when we spend so much more time outside.

Here's the video if you're interested in doing the same:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid4130888001?bctid=1906795648

Natural Sunblock

Over the past month or so, I've been experimenting with "natural" or "chemical free" sunscreen products to find the best product for the most reasonable price - not the easy task I originally thought it would be! I've compiled my completely unscientific findings for you here.

Experiment #1: Browse the options at Whole Foods. This is where I thought I would find the largest selection, which was true, but the prices were all over the board and an average consumer would have trouble determining what the difference is from one brand to another. I finally settled on JASON Family Sunblock with an SPF of 36. The label says that it is Water Resistant and Paraben Free. 4 ounces cost about $7.00.

I took my new purchase to a backyard pool party with friends and liberally applied it. Everyone commented on the pleasant smell although we all poked fun at the marketing of it as "Family" sunblock - what makes that so?? Who knows.... Bottom line - the cream was easily absorbed into my skin and I didn't burn. However, when I dipped my legs into the pool, the sunblock came right off in the water - I guess it would cost a fortune to reapply as needed if you and your family were in and out of the water, but this was the best one I found for general sun protection. As for the active ingredients, the three main sunscreens are rated from a 4 to an 8 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being worst) by the Skin Deep database so it's not that "natural" of a choice. www.cosmeticsdatabase.com


Experiment #2: Find the best sunscreen on the Skin Deep database. I thought this would be simple. Search "sunscreen" and buy the first one rated "0" or "1" in terms of dangerous ingredients. My search results gave me one "0" rating - Soleo Organics Sunscreen. It is $20 for 2.8 ounces. Considering that it takes an ounce to properly cover your skin, I find this way too expensive. Numbers 2-4 on the list, with a "1" rating, were similarly priced. Finally, I decided on #5, rated a "3" called Mexitan with an SPF of 30. It's label proclaimed that it is all natural, water resistant with no harsh chemicals. It was $16.95 for 8 ounces - more than I'd like to spend, but better priced that the most organic choices.

I took this purchase to a family weekend in Sonora where we lounged by the pool as the temp hit 108. As I rubbed it in, I noticed two issues - first, if you rub just a bit too much, the lotion starts pilling and rubbing off your skin and second, it never completely rubs into your skin leaving a whitish cast on my already translucent skin! This product however, kept me from burning and didn't come off as easily in the water.

Experiment #3: Ask friends. After asking around to my friends, the only recommendation I got for a natural sunscreen was to try Burt's Bees. The nice thing about Burt's is that you can find it everywhere for about $7.00 for 3.5 ounces. The label claims that it is a chemical-free sunscreen, non-whitening and 100% natural. Well, I'll have to disagree with the non-whitening claim as the SPF 30 formula left me ghostly white! As with the others, I didn't burn, but it wasn't pretty as I lounged by the lake for days on vacation. The Skin Deep database gives this formula an overall rating of "4", but that is because of it's superior sun protection. The health hazard is rated a "6" out of 10.

After all this, I don't think I've found a great sunscreen in the natural category yet. The JASON was the only one that didn't leave a thick, white layer on my skin, but I'm sure that's due to the additional chemicals. The Mexitan and Burt's didn't come off as easily in water but went on heavy and didn't absorb into my skin. In the end, I will probably rotate through the three depending on the activity I'm planning knowing that I won't burn in the sun and all of them are a better choice in terms of chemicals than the current popular brands on the market.

If you've found a favorite - let me know and I'll try it out!

Bees & Trees

I apologize for the long absence of posts. Other than the typical "wow, I've been busy", I was having all kinds of login issues with blogger and was finally able to login again! That being said - it is the height of summer and the trees in my yard are all blooming! I have two large trees in the middle of my backyard that shade everything. I find this to be a really good thing as my yard is considerably cooler on a hot day than you might expect - combine that with a covered patio with a ceiling fan and I can enjoy my yard on even the hottest days - like today!

Since we moved here just over two years ago, I have been trying to figure out what these trees actually are. I've searched online, in my Western Garden Book, asked everyone who has come to my house and nobody knew. I see these trees all over Roseville so it was surprising that I couldn't figure it out. Finally, my mom and I were on a garden tour back in May where I cornered a Master Gardener to figure out the mystery and she groaned when I described it to her (never good!) It turns out I have two Chinese Tallow Trees - messy (I already knew that) and incredibly invasive (what!?!)

Upon returning home, I googled this tree and immediately learned why I couldn't find it in any of my landscape tree research - it is on the Red Alert List for the Invasive Plant Council of California. Great. Why would these trees even be available for homeowners to buy? And why would they have been planted in parks around the city?

Now that I know what I'm dealing with, I'm sure these trees will have to go at some point, but in the meanwhile, is it so bad to enjoy the benefits the trees do provide? First of all, I love the shade and second, in the middle of summer, the bees LOVE the (messy) flowers. For weeks every summer, bees descend on these trees and cover them so completely that the entire yard has one big BUZZ you can hear all over the yard - even in the garage! Seeing as how everyone is worried about the disappearance of the honey bee - I feel like I'm doing my part to keep them alive. If anyone is looking for them, there are thousands hanging out here on Lathwell. Furthermore, the leaves put on a brilliant show of color in the fall and the seed pods are enjoyed by the birds all winter. We do have to deal with the mess of the seed pods in the grass, but I get to enjoy watching the birds out my upstairs bedroom window all winter when the leaves are gone.

I wouldn't want to say so many nice things about these trees that someone would be convinced to plant one - the root system is shallow, the flowers and seed pods are messy and you do find new little trees everywhere that need to be pulled, but at this point, the benefits outweigh the grief. My only worry is what I will replace them with when they do eventually have to go.....

Looking back and forward for Earth Day

While I didn't get my Earth Day post done on Earth Day, I still wanted to share my thoughts about what's going on in my world. When reflecting on what I've done to lessen my impact on the earth in the last year, I realized that I had made some real changes:

1. Began purchasing my home's energy from renewable (solar and wind) sources. One phone call and an extra few bucks per month - easy!

2. Planted an herb garden in my yard.

3. Joined Terra Firma Farms, a CSA that provides us with a weekly box of fresh, local, organic fruits and veggies for less than it would cost to buy the same items at the grocery store.

4. Started carpooling whenever possible. Since I live about 20 miles from work, riding my bike isn't an option and light rail doesn't come out here so the best option for me is carpooling. I have a friend that lives a mile from me and works three blocks from me - perfect! And coordinating our work schedules wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.

5. Began going organic - food, beauty routine, cleaning products - wherever I have the option, I've switched and it's amazing all of the great organic products out there now.

So what do I have planned for this year? Continuing to make small changes that have an impact on our health, our environment and the earth:

1. I've gone from a few herbs in one raised bed to three raised beds of vegetables, a barrel of herbs and a basket of strawberries. Hopefully we'll get to eat REALLY local this summer!

2. Canning - I haven't done this since I was a kid, but I'm hoping to can some of my own bounty this summer including making pickles!

3. Water Conservation - This is a major issue here in the west. I'm hoping to get some rain barrels this year and maybe even a rain garden.

4. My bicycle - I admit, I'm not a very confident bike rider. But with the extensive bike path network in my neighborhood, I've begun to venture out some for coffee runs or to the park, but in the next year, I hope to get much better with the bike so we can go to dinner, small grocery runs and more - all on our bikes!

5. Who knows?? It's getting easier and easier to be "green" so what new opportunities will come about in the next year could surprise me.

So - what tips do you have for me? What are you doing in your world? I'd love to hear from you - and happy Earth Day!

Blooms!

Here's what's blooming in my yard at this moment!

Roses! I have lots of buds (and lots of aphids due to be assasinated tomorrow!). But this is the first *almost* rose.

When we moved into this house, there were three hot pink camellias already here...and then there is this unusual one...my favorite which blooms much later than the pink ones!

The apple blossoms. As referenced before - something bores holes into the apples each summer although I never see an actual bug or worm. Maybe I will take the time to figure it out this summer. Thoughts anyone??

Skin Care - Part 2

The next victim to get the axe in my B.O. (Before Organic) products was my proactiv cleanser. I've so far been very happy with the Dr. Alkaitis line of skin care, but this time I used a different source, but lucky for me - still local! Bella Floria is a local Sacramento company that finds brands who use natural and organic ingredients and sells them on one, convenient website. I've been doing a ton of research and can understand why people don't take the time to buy "greener" products. Once you start researching and reading, the amount of information is overwhelming, but also conflicting.

Is a paraben actually bad or just not completly confirmed as bad? Even though mica is a naturally occuring element, will it still irritate my skin?? The more research I do, the more of these questions I find. Regardless - Bella Floria makes it a little easier.

In the end, I ordered the Dr. Alkaitis cleanser on a Saturday and it arrived on Monday (wow!) and I continue to be a satisfied customer. The best part?? The packaging from Bella Floria was minimal and it arrived with a hand written note from the owner along with free samples of the Alkaitis eye cream and toner - BONUS!

The List - Summer 2009

I have spent the last few months contemplating my raised bed plantings for the spring and summer. Last year I only did one of the beds and filled it with herbs with limited success. It dawned on me after doing all of the planting that the one bed I picked would be in a fair amount of shade during the day once my trees leafed out...OOPS!

So, this year I have done quite a bit more soil prep (see composting story below!) and have decided to move into some fruit and veggie plantings as well. I think I'll move my herbs that lived into half wine barrels into sunnier spots (plus the barrel will better corral things like spearmint which can take over). That being said, here is my planned planting list:

HERBS:
Basil - I'm waiting for the Farmer's Market at Casesar Chavez park to start next month because there is a guy that brings tons of different varieties of basil plants to sell and I want a big variety this year since none of mine made it through last summer.
Spearmint
Lavender
Thyme
Chives
Dill

VEGGIES: I know - in Sac, everyone grows tomatoes...but I'm not a big tomato eater and we get tons from the CSA all summer to satisfy my husband.
Green beans
Cucumber - I want to make pickles this year which is why I'm also planting the dill weed
Zucchini

FRUIT: I have an apple tree in the yard, but the fruit suffers from some kind of bug damage that I have to figure out how to control.
Watermelon - I understand you can train them up a trellis to save space, but you have to put the melons in "slings" once they get heavy. Not sure what my plan is yet on that.
Strawberries - I'll probably put these in a hanging basket to keep them off the ground
Pumpkins - is this a fruit?? I guess it's a gourd so maybe it should be on the veggie list :-)

CITRUS: I already have a very large orange tree in the yard and since I'm limited on sunny locations in my yard, I'm going to add the following in large pots that I can move around:
Seedless Mandarin
Meyer Lemon

JUST BECAUSE: Sweet peas on a teepee of branches from my winter pruning!

Okay - that seems like quite a bit for my two little raised beds, but with the supplimenting pots, I think I can get everything in. Let me know what you're planning for the summer and what I've forgotten on my list that I'll have to sqeeze in!