Summer Blog Challenge: Day 29

The Day's Challenge: Write a how-to post.

I am not the most creative person, so I totally panicked when I read this challenge. Then my power went out for a few days, giving me a chance to think about it. I also had a chance to do lots of reading, since I had no TV, no computer, and no way to charge my phone byt teetered on the brink of a dead battery for days. The two ended up working together unexpectedly. I read in a Mother Earth News editorial about a great little how-to that I can share with you! Oddly enough, the person who submitted the idea is one town over from me!

It's really simple! When you have a small amount of kitchen scraps, you can make instant "compost" for your garden! Drop the scraps in your food processor and a little water. Puree and pour near the roots of one or more plants in the garden. Instant fertilizer!

Summer Blog Challenge: Day 31

The day's challenge: Talk about something you already do that is eco-friendly.

The one thing I am most proud of my family for starting and sticking with....composting! Not only does composting mean fewer bags of garbage going to landfills, but I love that items that can rot and return to the soil are getting a chance to do just that. If my food scraps go in a trash bag, they end up sitting in a landfill for many years underneath other bags of garbage, unable to decompose because of a lack of oxygen. Now, instead, I have endless fertilizer for my garden!

Check out this post I did a while back about composting. It's one of my favorite posts on Mama Making Changes. http://www.mamamakingchanges.com/2012/04/compost-101.html

Cash Mob

Cash Mob n. A group of people organized via social media and word of mouth that patronize a locally owned small business at a planned date and time in order to support the local economy. 


I am completely intrigued by this idea! This is a way to be proactive in supporting your local economy, whether you are the organizer or the consumer who participates. From what I have gathered, here's basically how a cash mob works:

1. The organizer sends out the date and time of the cash mob via facebook, twitter, and/or other social media outlets over a period of days or weeks leading up to the event. 
2. On the day of the event, the organizer sends messages naming the actual business that everyone is going to be patronizing, as well as a meeting place for after the shopping. 
3. Everyone shows up to the local business and makes a purchase. 
4. After shopping, everyone meets at the designated meeting place for food and/or drinks to discuss and celebrate the success of the day's cash mob. This is a great time to suggest ideas for the next location to be "mobbed."

Expect to hear more from me on this! I am getting in contact with someone who would be great at organizing this in my hometown. Then, if we can get this going, I will post information here and on the Mama Making Changes Facebook fan page. Like the page by clicking here to make sure you get updates. You can also follow Mama Making Changes on Twitter, Pinterest, Google, or via email, by clicking the appropriate button in the sidebar at right. If you are in Florence, SC, you don't want to miss this! If you aren't, you can start one in your area!

Summer Blog Challenge: Day 34

I am behind on my challenge posts but I am determined to catch up! Luckily, tonight's challenge, in honor of Independence Day, is an anti-challenge. I am free to post whatever I like. I have already posted tonight, but I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone Happy 4th of July! I hope you enjoyed great food and fireworks, but most of all I hope you have taken a moment to remember what today is intended to celebrate: our many freedoms that we owe to our forefathers who had the courage to stand up for our rights and fight for them.

I'm Back!!!

Wow! 48 hours without power is enough to make me seriously re-assess how good we have it and how spoiled we are! It's on now, finally! But, while it was off, I also realized that we are not prepared if unforeseen circumstances were to cause us to be without power for an extended period of time.

This time we were blessed to have help in the form of somewhere air conditioned for my children and pets to stay while I was at work during the hottest part of the day. The same person had room in her chest freezer for all of my frozen food. I HAVE TO START CANNING AND STOP FREEZING! I was able to store the essentials from my refrigerator in a cooler, but I couldn't cook anything. We were dependent on that cooler, even for produce from the garden. I couldn't cook it (or freeze it) without power, so I used the cooler to extend the life of my tomatoes, okra, peaches, and more. I HAVE TO GET A WOOD STOVE!  If we had a wood stove for heat, it could be used for cooking in an emergency. I have a friend who has a wood stove in addition to central heat. She uses the stove usually, and only occasionally the electric heat. Any time the power goes out, she just cooks a huge meal so that she can minimize how much frozen and refrigerated food goes to waste. But in the event of a long-term power outage, she would still run out of food and so would I. Which is why...I HAVE TO GET CHICKENS! I keep talking about it, and so does my husband, but we still haven't done it. There was a good reason to wait at first, but now there is no reason except that we will have to put up a coop and section off part of the backyard for them. And speaking of the backyard, I HAVE TO GET A CLOTHESLINE! We were forced during this power outage to hand wash a few items that just couldn't wait. I had to put my son's pants on a hanger and hang them from a flower hook on the front porch. I didn't have anywhere else to put them because I haven't had a clothesline since we moved here 5 years ago. I have (foolishly) been totally dependent on my dryer. 


I guess I have my newest to-do list, my next green goals. Mama just keeps making changes 'round here! Hope they can keep up!

Storms

No power means no blogging. Posted this from my phone but cannot recharge it so I can't do much. Try to catch up soon. Pray we ha e power by morning!