I've recommended this site before...

...and I'll recommend it again:

The Oil Drum

This site is especially interesting in light of the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Oil Drum goes into a little more depth than most of the news sites: as an example, see today's post: What Caused the Deepwater Horizon Disaster?  Don't forget to read the comments section, where a number of experts in the oil industry (and non-experts too) are engaged in discussion.

Greeeeeeeeen

This spring, I planted a garden for the first time in a dozen years.  I gardened with my Mom as a child and teenager, but since leaving home at 18, I haven't had a spot of earth to call my own.  I did attempt some container gardening a few times, with mixed success.  But this spring, I'm living in my parents' home again, and they have enough of a yard that I can plant a real garden.  The soil here is terrible (they call it "gumbo" and it's a heavy clay, very sticky when wet, and rock-hard when dry) but I added some peat moss, and so far things are growing well.

This morning, I investigated my little garden and discovered that my tomatoes are officially in bloom:

When I was cropping this photo, I noticed the little green bug, just above the flower.  Can you see him?  He's the same color as the leaf.  What kind of bug is he?  A good bug or a bad bug?
EDIT: it's a bad guy!  See the comments section.

My tomatoes are looking happy.  Which makes me happy.  I need to get some cages around these things pretty soon. 

For comparison, here they are a couple of days after planting, on April 2nd.  I got them in the ground kind of late; hopefully I'll get a good crop of tomatoes before it gets too hot.

And my basil is sprouting!  I left the seed packet out in the rain and the seeds got moldy, so I wasn't sure if they would sprout.  But it looks like almost all have sprouted (I planted the basil in pots).  By the way, I ordered my seeds from this company: www.rareseeds.com and I would highly recommend them.  They sell only heirloom seeds, no hybrids or genetically modified stuff.  Their customer service was great and shipping was super fast.

I also have a bed of yellow bell peppers and jalapenos, which are looking great except for one plant which may or may not make it.  I still need to plant my okra and purple-hulled cowpeas.  It's getting pretty late to be planting things, but supposedly okra and cowpeas love the heat, so perhaps they will be okay.

On another "green" note, happy Earth Day. :)  I'm not sure how I feel about Earth Day.  On the one hand, I think it's wise to take a moment to thank the Lord for the resources He has blessed us with, and to think about how we can use those resources most wisely, and not be wasteful.

On the other hand, I know that a lot of people associate Earth Day with the more radical environmentalists--the sort who talk about Gaia and Mother Nature, and view humans as parasites on the earth.  And the people in Washington making a big hoopla about Earth Day, and advocating for environmental issues on a regular basis, are often the same people advocating for abortion rights and gay rights. 

But I worry that many Christians reject the "green" movement entirely because of those associated with it; when really, environmental issues are something that we ought to be concerned with for Biblical reasons.  Here's an excerpt of a statement by the Southern Baptist Convention about environmental issues.  Obligatory disclaimer: I don't support or agree with everything the SBC says or does.  I just thought the points listed below were well said.

• We must care about environmental and climate issues because of our love for God...through whom and for whom the creation was made. This is not our world, it is God’s. Therefore, any damage we do to this world is an offense against God Himself (Gen. 1; Ps. 24; Col. 1:16).

• We must care about environmental issues because of our commitment to God’s Holy and inerrant Word...Within these Scriptures we are reminded that when God made mankind, He commissioned us to exercise stewardship over the earth and its creatures (Gen. 1:26-28). Therefore, our motivation for facing failures to exercise proper stewardship is not primarily political, social or economic—it is primarily biblical.

• We must care about environmental and climate issues because we are called to love our neighbors, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us and to protect and care for the “least of these” (Mt. 22:34-40; Mt. 7:12; Mt. 25:31-46). The consequences of these problems will most likely hit the poor the hardest, in part because those areas likely to be significantly affected are in the world’s poorest regions. Poor nations and individuals have fewer resources available to cope with major challenges and threats. Therefore, “we should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy … [and] the helpless”... through proper stewardship.

If you visit the site, skip down to section 3, though I thought section 2, about the science behind climate change, was also pretty good. 

Another thing that we as Christians ought to have in common with the "environmentalist" movement is the rejection of materialism and consumerism--the "buy more stuff" mentality that seems so prevalent in our culture.  Matthew 6:24-34

Anyway, I might be in the minority here with my wacky "green" ideas, but it's my blog, not yours, and y'all think I'm nuts anyway, right?

Seems like I haven't been getting as many blog comments lately, though the conversation about women's dress continues behind the scenes.  Please feel free to comment even if--or dare I say, especially if--you disagree with me. :)

Amount of energy we consume?

Just read in this interesting post at www.theoildrum.com that Americans in 2004 consumed about 342,700,000 Btu (British thermal units, the standard measure of energy), per capita, per year. That converts to about 230,000 nutritional calories per day. Only two or three thousand of those calories are consumed in the form of food; the rest of the energy--well over 200,000 calories' worth per day--is used to heat and cool our homes, transport us from place to place, etc.

Obviously, that's a lot of energy. I wonder how much of it is used needlessly? I know I use more than I need to just for foolish reasons; for instance, making multiple grocery shopping trips per week, when a minimum of foresight would enable me to get everything in one trip. Each shopping trip uses about a gallon of gas, which contains energy equivalent to about 31,000 calories. Plus it uses other resources, like my time--forty minutes of driving alone, plus the time spent in the store. I think I need to try to be more conservative (with resources). :)

I recommend the www.oildrum.com site--very interesting, especially today's post on windmills. :)

My latest plarn creation

A few months ago I wrote that I was crocheting a reusable bag out of plastic grocery bags, made into plastic yarn, also known as "plarn." Well, I finished that one ages ago and have been using it on a regular basis. Here's another one I just made. As you can see, this is a large bag, rather larger than I had intended, in fact. I am very proud of this one because I came up with a top-secret method to brace the bottom so that it stays square (involves a wire coat hanger--*shhh* don't tell anyone). I also applied my fabulous design skills to come up with an extra-strong reinforcing stitch for the bottom and handles.

This reusable bag was created from over 100 plastic grocery bags. I didn't accumulate them all myself--they were passed on to me by lots of generous people. One nice lady that I barely know dropped two huge black trash bags crammed full of plastic bags on my porch. And other people were quite generous with their plastic bags as well. In fact, I quite quickly reached the point where I had to turn down plastic bag offers. *confession* I have an entire closet full of plastic bags in my basement. I know, crazy, huh? I need to get going and crank out some more of these nifty reusable bags.

I haven't decided if I will keep this one (probably not), or if I will try to sell it (probably). Etsy, here I come! How much do you think I should charge for it? $100? $200? Just kidding.

Yikes, it's bedtime!

I was googling plarn bags for inspiration, and wondered if adding the word "plarn" to this post would cause it to turn up in a search. So plarn plarn plarnity-plarn.

ETA: If you think crocheting with plastic bags is weird, you should see what else I was crocheting with this week (hint: something else recycled). Photos to come as soon as I get my hands on a camera again.

Plastic bags are yucky

Here's a slideshow about plastic bags, and the impact they have on our environment and our economy:

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

I've switched to the reusable bags that you find selling at most stores nowadays for $1, and...they are so much nicer! I love the big handles that I can put over my shoulder. I love that they're strong enough to hold two gallons of milk. I love that they are big enough that three of them hold a week's worth of groceries (well, that's if I don't put the milk in bags). I like the flat bottom that enables them to stand on their own when full of groceries. They're so much nicer, that I wonder why everyone doesn't use them all the time. Oh wait...maybe it's because they are always forgetting their bags at home, like I do. :) Seriously people [Mom], they cost a dollar; you should give them a try.

Note: the ones at Walmart for $1 don't have the hard bottom that makes them so much more supportive--so pick some up at Kroger or another store, where they still cost $1 but have the hard piece in the bottom.

Of course, the bags you find for $1 aren't exactly the ultimate in reusable bags--the best ones are the ones made of heavy-duty canvas, that you can run through the washing machine. But those are significantly more expensive...I've seen them at the farmer's market for $10. Maybe someday I'll be able to afford them. I bet they would last forever.

I hope that in my lifetime, plastic grocery bags will go extinct, so that the bags I crochet out of them will be a novelty item. Someday I'll tell the stories to my grandchildren. "Gather round, kids. Once upon a time, people brought their groceries home in these flimsy, ugly plastic bags. They hardly held anything, and wouldn't stay upright in your trunk, and sometimes they would rip and send your groceries rolling across the parking lot. And they had to put these warning labels on the sides, because sometimes babies would suffocate in them." "Eeeeewwww!" reply the kids. I can just see it, can't you?

Yes, I switched to cloth!

In response to a comment on another blog...

Yes, I finally did make the switch to cloth diapers. I'm keeping it simple with Chinese prefolds (a few bleached and a few unbleached) and I fasten with Snappis. For now I'm using some Gerber vinyl pull-up covers and they actually work really well except that the vinyl rips too easily, so I think I'll try to find some Dappi nylon pull-ups. I do have one Thirsties wrap cover in blue which is sooooo cute, but it's much more expensive, and doesn't work any better than the pull-ups, so not worth the extra $$$ in my opinion.

All right, that's it--I would be happy to discuss further if any of you cloth-diapering fans have any comments or questions. :)

The Story of Stuff

I keep coming across recommendations for the little 20-minute video "The Story of Stuff" but I've never gotten around to watching it, till now. I just watched it and appreciated it enough that I thought I would recommend it here. Check it out:

www.thestoryofstuff.com

If you're not already on the same page as the creator of this video, Ms. Leonard, you might not like everything that she has to say, but it's worth a watch anyway. The most surprising tidbit, to me: only 1% of stuff purchased in the United States is still in use 6 months later. The rest has been consumed or trashed. Yikes!

The older I get, the more of an environmentalist I become (tho the seeds were sown by Mr. Blok, a science teacher from long ago). My latest "eco-nut" project--crocheting a re-usable shopping bag out of strips cut from disposable plastic shopping bags. I get such a kick out of knowing that I'm taking something disposable and petroleum-based, and turning it into something re-useable and not half bad-looking, either. I promise to post a picture when I get it finished--but it might be a while before it's done, because it will take like 50 bags to make it, and I only have a dozen in the house, so I'm collecting them from friends (trying to get all matching bags, LOL).

On a semi-related note, I've decided that my sewing projects from here on out will be made from recycled clothing. I have a chest full of denim cut from old jeans that is designated for rugs and quilts. Denim makes a very heavy and warm quilt, quite nice for cold Indiana winter nights, especially when the mama of the house keeps the temperature quite low (to save on both energy and $$$). If any of my Indiana readers (do I even have any?) have any old/holey/stained jeans to pass my way, I would be happy to recycle them into something useful. :D

Well, three of my children are asleep, and the other has been kidnapped (kidding, kidding) by his dad for a walk, so I should use this rare quiet moment to get some housework done.