Author Archives: Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition

New to us: Shopping Craigslist and garage sales

I grew up with garage sales being a fairly regular Saturday morning activity, but it’s something that’s seldom been part of my adult life.  If I wanted to spend my weekends driving all over the metro area, I’m sure I could score a few good bargains, but if I’m in search of a specific item, it’s easier to turn to Craigslist.

I also strive to limit driving with Craigslist (CL) hunts, usually only looking at ads that list a location within five miles (or a bit more if it’s in a direction that I would be headed by car anyway, like near my MIL’s).  Biking to CL pickups is ideal, of course.

I found myself in just such a situation when I responded to an ad for a booster seat in “South City.”  The term encompasses a rather wide area, so I was delighted to find that the seller lived in my neighborhood, just seven blocks away.  Better yet, when I arrived to pick up the seat, she let me do some early shopping from her selection of toddler boy clothes that she was preparing for the neighborhood garage sale, so, for a very good price, and very little effort on my part, I took care of most of Gabriel’s winter clothing needs.

As an added bonus, I met another mom in the neighborhood, who we’ve since run into at the playground a couple of times, and who offered to contact me as her 4-year-old son continues to outgrow clothes.

While I prefer new to used in almost all areas anyway, used kids’ pajamas are particularly good in my book, since they likely have lower amounts of potentially toxic fire-retardant chemicals remaining.*  As an added bonus, somebody looks absolutely adorable in his “new” footie pajamas, and I rest easier knowing they’ve been through a number of wash cycles.

NOT spontaneously combustible, but possibly in danger of death by cuddles

Though I wasn’t initially planning on it, I took the time to check out some of the neighborhood garage sales that weekend (it was an organized event with over 30 sales on one Saturday).  Instead of lots of driving and in and out of the car, I spent a couple of lovely hours on a fall morning biking around my neighborhood.  For less than $15, I picked up five DVDs, a nice baby gate, and a couple of new toys for little Pookie.

I didn’t find anything that I was REALLY looking for (e.g., nice shoes for Gabriel, a coat rack for our front stairs), and it was money that I would not have spent if I hadn’t gone out, so I think it’s for that best that my garage sale-ing is self-limited.

*”Chemicals used in sleepwear labeled ‘fire resistant’ will remain in the fabric for at least 50 washes.”  Source here — see bottom of page for specifics on pajamas.  It’s not like mattresses or sofas or babies sleeping sweetly in their pajamas are prone to spontaneously bursting into flames.  It’s disgusting that the widespread use of TOXIC fire-retardant chemicals was introduced primarily as a precaution for fires started from another chemical nightmare — cigarettes.

Blogging in a vacuum

Life these days: bike rides with The Dude, warm fall days in the park, making full use of my new gym membership, settling into the one-nap-a-day schedule . . . .

All-in-all, not bad, but I’m a little blah on the blog.  For me, an important part of blogging is interacting with other bloggers: reading, commenting on, and being inspired by what others are writing.  Keeping up with a toddler doesn’t leave much time for me to check email and write my own posts, let alone stay up to date on the numerous blogs that I enjoy[ed].

I have no idea what’s going on over at Simply Bike, or what the Eco Cat Lady has been saying.  While I have plenty of post ideas, I feel disconnected, with little inspiration to take the time to write.   Although virtual interactions are no substitute for face-to-face relationships, they’re still important, and I feel their absence these days.

Sowing garlic or warding off vampires?

As Matthew noted in a previous guest post on growing garlic, recommendations for planting next year’s garlic crop in our region range from August through October (i.e., plant in fall of 2012 for June 2013 harvest).   October feels appropriate, with vampires on the prowl for Halloween.

He planted this past Saturday (October 13th), just a few days after last year’s planting date.  The previous weekend, he prepared the soil and set up a twine grid as a guide — neat and precise.

He saved the biggest cloves from the biggest, healthiest bulbs (we eat the “rejects”).  These, in turn, should generate mores bulbs with large cloves, so that eventually all the garlic we grow will have nice, big cloves.

I peeled the very outer layer of papery skin off of the bulbs and gently separated the cloves.  Matthew and his mom planted over 100 cloves of garlic (which means we should harvest more than 100 bulbs come June), and we still have a nice amount for eating, though I imagine we’ll run out before we harvest the 2013 crop.

The little gardener came out (sans pants) after his nap to make sure they followed proper planting protocol, and he declared the garden a vampire-free zone, adding that we could leave the biting and sucking to him.

Veggie potluck caught on camera (sort-of)

For the past few years, we’ve been part of a vegetarian potluck group that meets once a month.  Up until, oh, July of 2011 or so, we rarely missed one of the monthly gatherings, enjoying both the company and the food, which frequently served as a source of inspiration.

The group includes cooks of all levels (and omnivores as well as vegetarians), but many participants are epicures and foodies like us, and dished often feature local ingredients, either from gardens or CSAs.  Our attendance over the last year could be described as sporadic, at best, but we made it to the October gathering, which had an Asian them.

I remembered to bring the camera, but failed to get a “before” shot of the spread.  Fortunately, after going through the buffet line, Matthew got caught up in a conversation and loaned me his almost untouched plate for a nice photo op.

For our dish, I turned a large quantity of [garden] eggplant into garlic-ginger eggplant with sesame noodles, which seemed to go over well.  Here’s an “after” shot of the buffet, which featured a couple of noodle dishes, coconut rice, two sushi platters, an Asian cabbage salad (which I loved), and tofu-kale dumplings, made by our hostess.

I’ve missed our regular attendance at these gatherings.  We employed our first “real” (i.e., non-family member or friend) babysitter for the outing, which went well, so we hope to make the potlucks a regular occurrence once again.

Cool weather biking with baby

While we’re still in cool fall weather and not cold winter weather mode, yesterday’s morning bike ride prompted an impromptu solution for staying warm on the bicycle.  My balaclava was only a tad big on little Pookie.

He was a good sport about the new head gear.  I missed having my face covered, but I still had my under-the-helmet hat, so we were both fairly cozy.

In fact, he may have found it a bit TOO cozy and comfortable, because he fell asleep on the way home.  We’ve just switched to one nap a day, and fearing that an 11:00am bike seat snooze would be disastrous to the real deal, I fought hard to keep him awake — shaking his shoulder, talking and singing to him, and ringing the bell (right in his ear!).

He was so out of it, he just turned his head a bit and whimpered at my efforts.  I felt like a jerk, but I really didn’t want to jeopardize a good nap later.  Not to mention that it was rather difficult to shift with his head on my hand.

Anyway, Matthew reminded me that we have an extra small adult balaclava somewhere around here.  If we find it, that should work well for brisk days.  For really cold weather, I think the trailer will be the warmest spot, since the rain cover turns it into an almost completely enclosed space (save for the vents).

We’ll probably still have to draw the line somewhere, temperature-wise, to prevent freezing little hands and feet.  We generate internal heat while biking (and even with that and good mittens and boots sometimes have trouble keeping the extremities warm), but he won’t have that advantage when he’s just along for the ride.

Anyone else have a minimum temperature for biking with little ones, or general suggestions for keeping them warm and happy?