Autism One: Organic Gardening - Get Growing This Season!

I am currently at the Autism One conference in Lombard – yay driving distance from my house! – and I again amazed by the amount of information available here.  There is absolutely no way that I can digest it all, but I’m doing my best to grab bits and pieces that I think can help me – and others – and trying to synthesize them into something that makes sense.  One of the things I love about the sessions I attend at Autism One is that they aren’t all specific to those who are interacting with others who have autism.  Many of the sessions are just generally applicable, which I think is awesome.  The first session I attended yesterday is exactly in that vein.  It’s all about creating an organic garden.

Now, I don’t know if you remember the garden that I attempted to create last year.  Let’s just say that it ended in epic failure.  I had two issues.  The first is that I was overwhelmed by the weeds currently existing (and still existing) in the area where I want to have my garden grow.  The second is that once my seedlings were large enough to transplant, I couldn’t get them out of the berry containers and egg cartons where I’d panted them.  Now?  I have a plan for the first one and the most awesome solution ever (in my not-so-humble opinion) for the second.

The presentation was given by Seneca Kern of We Farm America, an organization based in Illinois that creates organic gardens in homes, schools, and empty lots.  I love the concept, and I learned a ton from this.  My favorite quote came late in the presentation, and it really sums up the problems we face today.  “If the only animals that want to live near us are rats, pigeons, and squirrels, something is wrong.”  Sorta eye-opening, isn’t it?

From Seneca:
The power that lies in a garden.  Most society is based off the fact that we can grow food.  Now only a tiny fraction of people are growing food, and we're disconnected with it and do not know where our food comes from.  We can drive in the suburbs and see miles of corn and soy and think it's all good, but it's not.  Many people have heightened sensitivity to all sorts of things, especially chemicals. Growing our own organic gardens can help with this, plus it saves a ton of money and helps teach others of the value of this gardening.  It is the ultimate conversation starter.  Food is something we can sit down and talk about.

Kids come into the farm and have never seen a tomato or an eggplant or arugula.  Arugula isn't expensive - it's like a penny to grow.  It isn't elitist, so Seneca tries to teach people at the farm that there is no difference in what you can grow and what is at the fancy, expensive grocery stores.  You get to vote with your food.  It is a great way to build community and a foundation for economic sustainability.

He started an organization called We Farm America.  It is basically a way to get people to grow food in the easiest way.  We take a simple formula like a raised bed - get some lumber, some organic soil and some organic seeds and grow.  Permaculture is the idea that we can observe nature and then build systems that don't try to outsmart it but instead understand how to work together.  The main challenge is people - they are the hardest part in the city of Chicago.  Humans want their things in boxes; we want to make things this way even though in reality they aren't.

In order for us to get started in basics to get connected to the land, we have to accept that we need boxes, which is why we start with the raised beds.  The important thing is that the garden takes care of itself - we have busy lives, so they will put in an automatic irrigation system for the garden.  They also use organic compost to help avoid weeds and get really lush harvests.

If you’re starting a garden, a raised bed is the best way to start.  You can put a weed barrier at the base that stops the weed seeds - they can stay for 40 years.  If you don’t, as soon as you start to water your lush spot you will get "volunteers" in your garden, so the fabric barrier with stop that.  Put it down before you build the bed.  Start with a 4x8 foot bed.  Four feet is important to start because you have to be able to reach the middle of your bed.  You don't want to step on your soil or the bed.  You can reach the middle from each side with a four foot wide bed.  You have to protect your bed.  Put the wood around your bed to keep it separate from where you step.  When you step, it compacts the soil, and it makes it harder for roots to develop.

Thirty-two square feet will grow you two portions of vegetables per square foot per day in the peak season.  You square it off in one foot by one foot squares.  Most plants take only 30 percent of the water and sun in the spot.  Plant on tomato plant then lettuce around it - the lettuce helps keep the soil moist because it stops evaporation, while the tomato provides some of the shade that the lettuce is looking for.  It’s all about those symbiotic relationships.  In a square, you can plane one broccoli and 16 carrots.  Having the squares also allows you to do rotation. 

Be mindful of the systems that work.  Some plants like other plants around them, others don't.  Tomatoes and broccoli don’t like each other - it has to do with the chemicals they release, etc.  Generally, you don't want them next to each other, but you can skip a foot and plant it there.  Look up companion plants to see what to plant together.  You can look this up in the handbook at We Farm America's website.  You have to rotate – crops don't do well in the same spot each time; they deplete the soil or have predators that go after them.  Using a grid helps you track your rotations.  If you put in beans next season, the bugs attacking your potatoes will die and go away.  If you keep planting the same thing in the same place, you will have a degradation in your harvest as you go.  On that note, marigolds are a must in your garden.  They attract pollinators and also help keep away pests.  Think about perennials - strawberries and blueberries grow back every year. Try serviceberries that taste just like blueberries. You can definitely grow these in Chicago.

When building the beds, he uses wood from the Rebuilding Exchange.  It's wood that's being repurposed.  They haven't been painted or have chemicals, and they've been tempered, which hardens them and helps them resist rot.  Don't use pine or you will replace it every 2 years because it degrades too fast.  Don't use treated wood. Cedar works.  Fir may work, but he's never used it.  If you have to use pine, line it with plastic so the water can drain out - you need drainage.

You put down a weed barrier that is semipermeable - water goes down but not up.  Get a soil test before you start.  There is so much lead and arsenic and other things because of all the cars and planes and factories, even paint chips, etc. that infect your soil.  Go to University of Massachusetts, Amherst - for $10 they give you a kit for testing that results in a great set of info and recommendations of what to do with it.  Plant fava beans and sunflowers to get rid of heavy metals in your soil.

Watering is one of the most difficult things about gardening.  They put in a timer, which is great for those who have a busy schedule.  Set one in the morning and at night.  Watering in the morning is best because it's not hot.  If you're going to do it, water one hour after sunrise and one hour after sunset.  Doing it in the middle of the day is a huge waste of water because of evaporation.  There are 2 types of irrigation - poly tubing and a soaker hose or use a dripline.  He recommends using irrigation like this because it is easier on you and also because it provides a better way of watering for the plants.

If you have a rodent problem, put dog hair in the bed and around the perimeter.  It works really well.  Go to a groomer and ask for it.  It doesn't affect your plants, but the chipmunks, etc. have highly developed olfactory senses and don't like it.  You can also use pepper or chili flakes.

So many people never get to pull the vegetables out of the ground.  It's a great connection to your food when you see it right there.  Only three percent of food consumed in Illinois is actually grown in Illinois.  We have amazing soil, but it's because we grow for commodities here, for ethanol and partially hydrogenated soybean oil, etc.  We grow vegetables for industrial uses and not for consumption.  It's very inefficient, but it's easy to mechanize so we do it.  Other states around us grow substantially more food that they consume, but our food tends to travel very far.  You'll see Mexico, China, South Africa, California, etc.  How does it travel so far and still stay competitive in cost?  It comes from someone's wages and environment.  Traveling is gas and wages, the pollution and all the waste.

For rain barrels, go to delis or factories or car washes.  They get product in huge barrels.  They will give it to you for free.  You just have to get a biodegradable rinse to clean it.  It's much cheaper than the $70 barrels.

Putting your hands in soil releases endorphins.  It has the same effect as Prozac.  It makes a real difference - and so cheap.  Get your kids playing in the dirt.  There are also so many great microbes that you want to be exposed to for your overall health.  The electromagnetic fields from the gravitational pull is also very healing.  It's like walking on the beach with your bare feet.  It makes you feel exhilarated and calmed.  It helps to ground you.

I don't know about you, but I'm inspired.  This has solved my first issue - especially since I've discovered that We Farm America will actually come to my house to build my raised bed for me.  Ahem.  The second issue with the seedlings?  Well, I learned a pretty awesome trick for that, too, but that's another post.

I Believe

I believe.  I believe in right and wrong.  I believe that hard work matters in the end.  I believe that it's important to know what we're putting in our bodies.  I believe it's important to stand up for what I believe in.  I believe in treating people the way I want to be treated.  I believe in telling the truth.  I believe spending time with family and friends is important.  I believe in the value of education.  I believe in sports superstitions.  I believe in saving money where I can, in being frugal without being cheap - and that there is a difference.

And I want the wee ones to believe, too.  I want them to believe in this and in so much more.

As a parent, this is one of our toughest jobs.  How do we pass on our beliefs to our children such that they become ingrained in them, something that they simply know.  We can't just lecture them, as that quickly gets old.  Talk is cheap, anyway.  I know we need to model what we believe, live it and breathe it, but that doesn't guarantee that our children will absorb those beliefs automatically.  There isn't a magic wand or a simple booklet that lays out steps one through twenty-seven for how to get our children to grow up with our beliefs.

Part of growing up is learning to think independently and decide what you will reject from your upbringing and what you will incorporate going forward.  And that fits in nicely with my belief in standing up for what you believe in.  Except that I hope and pray that the wee ones end up believing what I want them to believe.

And so I talk about things that are yucky - about how I really hope they never smoke because it smells so bad and is gross and costs a lot of money and will make you old before your time and you'll get sick from it and all the other arguments I can possibly marshal.  And they will never see me smoke, not because I hide it from them like some of my friends, but because I simply don't smoke.  And then I cross my fingers and make a wish on the first star I see at night and then just hope and pray that something sticks.

I do the same with hard work.  We talk about how hard something was but then how awesome it felt once they finished it or figured it out.  I let them see me working hard and how I deal with my frustration in those situations.  I talk about other people I see who have had to work hard in life to get where they are and how happy they are because of it.  This is an important lesson for me to impart because so much of my life was too was too easy.  I had too much handed to me, and when I finally had to work hard, I didn't know how.  And I didn't want to.  It was a hard lesson to learn, and I do all I can to ensure that the wee ones learn it early.

And so it goes.  My list is fluid and never-ending, and the how's and why's are always changing, too.  There's something I want from you, though.  I want to know:

What do you believe in?

In the interest of full disclosure, this post was inspired by the book "Julia's Child" by Sarah Pinneo as part of the From Left to Write book club where we write posts inspired by books rather than actual book reviews.  I received a copy of the book for review purposes but was not compensated.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.

CousCous Salad - Tasty Tuesday!

Memorial Day is next Monday, and I can't wait.  Around here, that always have plenty of food and family and friends - and of course, fun.  My focus right now is on the food.  While I have some favorites that I know we'll pull out, Mister Man's bacon cheddar stuffed burgers for example, I always like to try to find something new and different just for fun.

As I scrolled mentally through the possibilities, I decided I wanted to do something with tomatoes and avocadoes, but I didn’t want to do a straight avocado salad. I’ve done that before As I strolled through the grocery store picking up ingredients – tomatoes, avocado, onions, garlic, and the like, I decided I wanted to make it with couscous, not the least of which because I have a huge bag of couscous at home and hadn’t used it in awhile.

It was a good call. I got creative with the ingredients and the cooking, and oh did the salad turn out delicious. It’s literally making my mouth water just looking at it. When I make it on Monday for our Memorial Day barbecue, I’ll add a little queso fresco to it (which I left out so dairy free Little Miss could eat it), but aside from that I am satisfied with attempt one. So what are you making for Memorial Day?

CousCous Salad

Ingredients:
1 c couscous (I used the Israeli pearl couscous, but feel free to use what you have)
1 1/2 c chicken stock (or vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian/vegan)
1/2 c chopped onion
2 T olive oil
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (please don't use the nasty bottled stuff)
2 T dried parsley (or 1/4 c fresh, chopped)
2 t salt
2 avocadoes
2 limes, juiced
1 t sugar or honey
1 c corn kernals (frozen or fresh and roasted)
1/2 c queso fresco

Directions:
Heat the stock to the point of steaming but not boiling in a saucepan.  While this is heating, add the olive oil to a different hot pan - not a nonstick one, but a good cast iron or heavy aluminum one.  Once it starts to shimmer, add the onion and let it cook for a couple minutes while you chop your tomatoes.  Add the tomatoes and then chop the garlic and add it.  Add the couscous, as well, and stir for a couple minutes while it toasts.

Pour the hot stock atop the couscous.  Add the salt and parsley (only if you're doing dried - if you're using fresh, add it at the very end when you add the lime juice),  and cover the pot to simmer the mixture for 8-10 minutes.

While the mixture is simmering, cut the avocado into cubes and crumble the queso fresco.  Once the couscous is cooked, stir in the corn and lime juice (and parsley if you're using fresh), along with the sugar.  Once this is mixed, add the avocado and gently mix it.  Sprinkle the queso fresco atop the salad and serve while still warm or chill and serve the next day.  This will keep for just a day or so because of the avocado, but I doubt it will last that long!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

Someone Didn't Want Me To Get a Pedicure

I had a wedding to attend on Saturday, so trust me, there was a mani/pedi in my future.  It had been a long time, and they needed the attention, especially since I was wearing open toe shoes.  I had the perfect color chosen for my toes, but my fingers were flexible.  I wanted a deep, rich, true silver.  And I know that the metallics are out there, so I was ready.

As I walked into the salon, I noticed all the workers were engaged, but I wasn't worried.  It was 1:15pm, and even allowing myself two hours, I had plenty of time.  They waved me to choose a color, which I proceeded to do.  And I discovered that finding that true silver wasn't as easy as I'd thought.  Fortunately, I had time to paint little swatches on my fingers to find the perfect shade.  And I did.  Yay!  I even found a nail color that worked for what I wanted.  After amusing myself choosing colors for fifteen minutes or so, they waved me to a chair that had the water running.  Yay, I got the last empty chair.

That's when I saw the other people waiting for service, somewhat hidden around the corner of the door.  I wasn't too worried, though - it was only two people sitting there.  Plus, I was already in a chair soaking my feet.  I picked up my requisite trashy magazine that I never read anywhere but at the salon and started to relax.

And I continued to read.  Things I learned while reading that magazine?  A) I read too fast.  I finished the magazine before they were ready for me.  B) It's prom season, so all the girls not only want mani/pedis, but they want the flowers and other decorations painted on their nails and toes.  Oh, and they also want to be waxed - all of which means they need more time.  C) Apparently for prom, either parents now no longer require that their children go to school the day before prom or schools no longer have afternoon classes the day before prom.  I sort of don't want to know which.  D) I'm not the only one waiting in the feet soaking stage.  Two of the five chair - in addition to my own - were also awaiting pedicures.

Oops.  I should have called for an appointment, but who knew?

When the guy was finally ready for me, he was hugely apologetic.  It wasn't his fault, but yikes!  I would have appreciated the heads up.  Although, I might not have gone home and come back later, since I walked there from my house... in my shoes that are oh so cute and perfect for a pedicure because they don't even come close to touching my toes.  The only issue is that they sort of rub in the wrong place on one ankle.  And I wasn't up for another walk at that point.

As he finished buffing and polishing my poor piggies, he pulled out the gorgeous polish I'd chosen and commenced work.  After the second or third toe, he looked up at me apologetically.  I'm so sorry.  This polish is almost gone.  There isn't enough here to do your nails.  Seriously?  Well, yeah.  Of course.  I begged to see if we could do one coat with this polish and then a second coat with another polish to at least give most of the effect I was looking for.  Nope.  He tried finding another silver polish, but none of them were opaque enough, so I went back searching for my previous second choice.  It took us awhile to find the right one, but eventually we found it.  Phew.

When we got to my manicure, my polish had somehow disappeared.  Apparently someone was a little too vigilant in the cleanup while we were figuring out what replacement toe polish to use.  When my guy had first started working and apologized for the delay, I had joked that it was fine as I had until 4:15 before I had to be home for the bus.  My final top coat went one at 3:55.

I did manage to get home before the bus by about five minutes, but so much for my doing my hair nicely for the rehearsal dinner.  And my makeup was the quick regular day makeup, as we raced back out the door once the wee ones got home.  The other things I'd planned to do after completing my mani/pedi?  Yeah, they didn't happen either.  Forces were conspiring against me.  Someone didn't want me to get a pedicure.  But I did anyway... and they do look pretty cool.

What is your summer foot routine?  What colors are you into right now?

When It's Your Child Acting Out On The Bus

The bus is a scary place for me.  I hear more horror stories from friends of mine about things that go on during the bus ride to and from school.  I have heard about the red marks on children from others hitting or punching them.  I've heard about the fifth graders initiating kindergartners and first graders into the realm of adulthood with information they quite simply shouldn't know.  And you don't want to know what I've just heard about what happens on the middle school bus.

The bus that goes to our neighborhood school is a big problem.  With 69 students on the route now, there are three to four students in every single seat, which helps to explain - but not excuse - some of the chaos.  It's part of the reason I'm so grateful that Little Miss attends another school and so rides a small bus with just a couple other children.

That bus ride hasn't always been smooth, as there is a child on the bus who picks on Little Miss by opening her backpack or taking our her ponytail or something similar.  It's annoying, but we're working with the school on it and giving Little Miss strategies to deal with it (we know the boy fairly well and know that he has many social issues and has an IEP for several reasons, so we're much more forgiving than were it someone who is simply malicious rather than not knowing yet how to interact appropriately with others).

Mister Man is now also riding her bus as of Monday, and that's another post entirely.  Needless to say, with Mister Man and Little Miss riding together now and interacting like the good friends they are, the other boy has been acting out more to get Little Miss's attention for himself.  He's been pinching Mister Man, getting other children to dump cardboard pieces over his head, and calling him names.  Again, we've been working with the school on this,  and it's starting to calm down.

While I find this frustrating, I understand where it's coming from to some degree.  It's the children who ride the bus who know better and yet still do the inappropriate things that drive me batty.  So this morning when the bus driver beckoned me towards her after the wee ones got on the bus, I sighed and asked her how things were going on the bus, figuring there were more issues with this boy.

I was wrong.  She actually wanted to talk to me about my children who yesterday on the bus were apparently talking and singing about inappropriate body parts, using the anatomically correct language.  I was mortified.  My children?  But.... but they don't talk like that.  They don't use that language.  Yet they did.  And I was appalled because my home training apparently hasn't sunk in.

I quickly pulled them off the bus and gave them a tongue lashing over what is and is not appropriate behavior not just on the bus but in general.  And the mention of consequences was mentioned, though aside from explaining that I would take away things they care about and privileges they treasure, I was too flabbergasted to come up with something specific.  Thinking now, they will be writing an apology letter to the bus driver this weekend. 

I've asked that she let me know immediately if there are any recurrences of this, but I'm still appalled.  My children know better - or should - but that already wasn't enough to stop them.  Do you face similar issues on the bus with your children?  How do you keep your children safe?  And what would you do were you to find that your children were part of the problem?

BlogHer Book Club: Where She Went

I'm loving this time of year.  It's spring, and the gala at Mister Man's school is finally starting to wind down (it happens on Saturday, so my role of tracking donations and writing descriptions for the brochure is near an end) so I have been spending some time sitting outside reading.  It's awesome, and I love the most recent book I finished, Where She Went by Gayle Forman.  It is the sequel to her novel If I Stay, though it isn't necessary to have read that first.  I haven't read it - yet - and had no issues jumping into the story.  As much as I loved Where She Went, though, I might suggest getting both books and reading them in order.

Where She Went is about Mia and Adam and how they've reconnected via a one night stay Adam has in New York when he - the rock star about to leave for a European tour - goes to see Mia perform a cello concert at Carnegie Hall where he goes backstage to meet her again.

They were once very close, as they grew up together in Oregon and both were music whizzes there.  Unfortunately, there was a horrible car accident that killed Mia's parents and brother, leaving her in a coma.  By the time she's recovered, he made a promise to give her up and she heads to Julliard on a scholarship.  The book deals with them working their way through the minefield that is their previous relationship and asking all the questions they never did in high school.  And then, of course... there's figuring out if they have a future.

This is a beautifully written story that drew me in.  I didn't want to put the book down, which is always the sign of a good book to me.  The characters are well-developed, although Adam and his rock star attitude kept him from being a favorite of mine.  I don't have to like all the characters to like a book, and this is one I definitely enjoyed.

We'll be discussing this book over at the BlogHer Book Club over the next few weeks.  Come join us.  This week's topic is on your brain and music.  Come join us!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a copy of "Where She Went" for review purposes.  I was also compensated for participating in this campaign.  However, all opinions remain my own.

What I Learned While Under A Boil Order

Unfortunately, there's been an issue with the water where I live.  I received an email letting me know - thank goodness for citywide email alerts - and our life without constantly available hot and cold running water began.  It's amazing to me how much we rely on having clean, safe water available at our fingertips.

When the wee one went upstairs after breakfast to brush their teeth, I quickly realized that oh wait... we can't just wet our toothbrushes with the water from the sink, nor can we wash them off afterwards.  Sending them their lunches meant that I had to pour bottled water (thank goodness I just hosted a First Communion party and had some!) into their water bottles for school.  I couldn't cook anymore because washing dishes then letting them soak in a bleach solution to make them safe sort of grossed me out - and unfortunately our dishwasher does not have a functioning sanitizer cycle.

Needless to say, putting on water to boil was the first thing on my to do list; the recommendation for us was to boil water for five minutes for it to be safe, adding a little pinch of salt if it tastes off.  Needless to say, I poured the boiled water over  the toothbrushes to clean them, and I used this same water for many of the other functions we routinely take for granted.  Fortunately, we were still able to take showers, flush toilets, and wash our hands.

But I learned something completely useless during this boil order.  Did you know that there's a max fill line on your teapot?  I didn't.  I do now.  And I know why there is one.

If you fill your teapot too full, when it boils, it will start to sputter.  If you make the mistake - and I did - of opening the spout portion where it whistles to help let more steam escape, that isn't all that escapes.  The pressure and everything else instead forces gushes of boiling water out the spout and onto the stove, way more than enough to douse the flames on the burner.

Yeah.  Oops.  Fortunately, it is mostly safe to remove the top lid of the teapot to release some of that excess pressure.  So did you not know why teapots have a max fill line, or is it just me?  Either way... learn from my folly.