Green

I just finished this cute little drawstring lettuce keeper, copying unabashedly from Thimbleanna's project here. You might notice the red mesh bag laying underneath it and wonder, "What on Earth Day is that about?" Well, my DIL thinks I'm a little bit wacko with my idea, but again, it was not entirely MY idea, but some other smart lady's idea whom I cannot recall nor give the credit. This red mesh sack that once held ice pops, is my Salad Spinner. You probably only know salad spinners similar to this one, but I have to tell you, my Red Mesh Spinner beats them all for efficiency, storage, and for practicality. And since it's Earth Day, you might as well go find your onion bag, neatly fold it and drop it into the drawer for a spinner-of-your-own rather than dumping it into the trash.

My salad spinner really does work fabulously! All you have to do is take your freshly picked (or bought) greens and throw them into a sinkful of cold water. Allow the greens to soak and sort out the bad leaves. Rinse again. Then gently put the greens by the handful into your mesh bag. When loaded, take the whole thing out to the front lawn (so God and everybody can see you spin). Grip the end of the bag closed and twirl your arm or wrist round and round until no more water spins out of the bag. Now your greens are nice and dry. Bring them in and dump into a cute lettuce bag like mine, a clean container with a lid, or another storage bag and stow in the veggie bin in your frig. This also works with herbs and any other vegetable that you might consider spinning.

Addendum: the cotton storage bag should be used short-term, perhaps one or two days, although I have had spinich in mine for 3 days and it's still crisp.

For another article with my thoughts on living green, or practically as I call it, click here. For my latest 2 cents on the topic of "being green," just keep on reading........

I do not succumb to making cupboards out of recycled cans, bamboo, and sea kelp to prove that I am earth conscience. But my family and I do things that we feel not only help us in our ranching industry, but which also help habitat and the wildlife who depend on it. We usually plant new shelter belts (tree belts) yearly or replace trees that have died out in old tree rows. The shelter belts not only block the wind and the elements for our livestock, but also provide much habitat and food for birds. We take good care of our pastures, rotating livestock around so that the grasses are never "eaten down" to the bare earth. This is good, practical management for ranching and good for the land. We dig new stock ponds to catch water, but which also provide waterfowl habitat and water sources for wildlife.

At home, I recycle everything I can -- refinishing an old dresser rather than buying a new one, planting gardens that provide natural, good foods for my family, I preserve foods in canning jars which are reused again and again. I've been cleaning with more natural cleaners and am using less laundry detergent (measuring carefully). I'm not trying to get carbon points from big factories or industries, I'm not doing things that are WAY out of the ordinary for me, but I am conscious of the world that God placed me in and I know He expects me to be a good steward of it. Some reasons why I do the things I do are because of practicality, frugality, and simple resourcefulness, not because I am an ultra-green awareness geek. That's my story. Nothing flashy, just simple living that has worked for me for longer than the Green Movement has been in existence.