Hoosier Wordsmith

Mushroom Hunting in an Undisclosed Location

No, we didn't see Dick Cheney there.

We didn't see many mushrooms, either. But we had fun!

My friend Julie, aka Trufflehunter, showed up on my doorstep yesterday morning with a glint in her eye and an invitation to seek the mysterious morel. How could we turn that down? Tim and I donned our jeans, long-sleeved shirts, boots, hats, and I grabbed a basket, and off we went.

Of course I can't tell you where we went. That's the first rule of mushroom-hunting. Top secret. I'd have to kill you.

We found lots of what Marshall County people call "Andy Gumps," and Julie calls "snakeheads." Hmmm. I'm not sure which name sounds more appetizing. She assured me that they are quite edible and her mother's favorite, in fact. I found one black morel, which was reassuring.

More than that, though, we found wildflowers, fox dens, skunk cabbage, a robin scolding a blue jay, and lots of little toads. It reminded me of my childhood, when I had a woods to wander in. What a treat.

I need to bring my girls back--who knows, maybe we'll find more mushrooms. I'll have to blindfold them first, though--I can't have them blabbing about our hunting spot to the neighbors, who have been known to poach yellow morels from our yard!

Tomatoes for Small Spaces

    Today's the day to plant my garden tomatoes. I'm yearning for that home-grown taste!     

    You say you have no room for a garden? No problem. With six hours of sunlight, you can grow tomatoes on a balcony or patio with ease.

    Home-grown just makes sense:

    It's cheaper. One patio tomato plant produces dozens of fruit.

    It's safer. Commercially-grown tomatoes contain pesticides. When you grow your own, there are no mystery substances.

    It's convenient. A back door salad bar!

    It's good for you. Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant with proven cancer-fighting properties. They are also loaded with potassium and vitamin C.

    It's easy to freeze them. Wash them with water, freeze them raw, whole or cut-up, on a cookie sheet, then plop them in a freezer bag, no peeling or blanching necessary. Or freeze them as juice or a sauce. Imagine fresh tomatoes in the wintertime! They're a little mushier once they've been frozen, but they taste as fresh as the day they were picked. (Check out http://lancaster.unl.edu/food for a great article on freezing tomatoes).

    The right plant. A few rules apply to growing container tomatoes. Choose a small, compact variety to fit your space; often the label will tell you if the plant is appropriate for container-growing. Determinate or dwarf tomato varieties are a better choice than indeterminate: Celebrity, Carnival, Daybreak, Mountain Fresh, Sun Leaper, and Sun Master are good hybrids for the Midwest. Cherry and grape tomatoes work especially well in small spaces. If you prefer old-fashioned, heirloom, and/or organic patio varieties, your best bet is the World Wide Web: search under "heirloom patio tomatoes."

    The right container. No matter what the variety, all tomatoes need root-space. Choose a container that's at least 10 gallons in size with drainage holes in the bottom. In late May, your plant might look tiny in such a big container, but in late August you'll be glad you planted it in plenty of soil. Speaking of soil, use a potting mix, not regular garden soil; it's too heavy to drain effectively. Any mix designated for flowers or vegetables will suffice.

    There are lots of interesting tomato containers on the market. Add a bit of whimsy to your patio—plant your tomatoes in a barrel or basket (lined with plastic to keep the soil intact). What about an old washtub? Or add elegance with a beautiful terra cotta urn. Don't forget that tomatoes need support, too—a small trellis, cage or stake will help prop up the plant when all that fruit comes along.

    The right conditions. To do their best, container-grown tomatoes need lots of sun. Water them frequently; don't soak them, but make sure they stay moist. Regular fertilizing, either granular or liquid, helps keep the plant nourished, but follow directions carefully. Over-fertilizing results in lots of leaves, but not many tomatoes. If the plant gets bushy, stake it, but don't prune it. The leaves soak up energy from the sun to make more fruit and shield the fruit from sunscale.

    Tomatoes aren't the only plants that do well in containers. Herbs, greens, and peppers also thrive on a sunny porch or patio. These days, the newest trend in gardening is mixing ornamentals with edibles. Try under-planting your tomatoes with edible trailing nasturtiums or curly parsley.

    Give container-gardening a try, and see how satisfying it is to grow (and eat!) your own food, even in a tiny space.

      

      

      

      

      

      

    

I Hate Rabbits

 

I learned a lot when I was a Girl Scout--chiefly that I would never make a great cookie salesman.

One thing that I did learn was how to deflect campfire smoke. (You know--you've just settled into a comfy lawn chair and suddenly you have a mouthful of smog instead of s'more.) Here's what they taught us in the Scouts: as soon as the smoke blows in your face, you say in an authoritative voice, "I hate rabbits!" I can tell you that it works like a charm at least 40% of the time.

I thought about that little incantation when I was surveying the ruins of my romaine lettuce this weekend--the work of bunnies.  We have rabbits all over the place; one year, when the populace seemed to have exploded, I groused that we lived in Teletubby land.

It doesn't help that my vegetable garden is situated next to the brush pile, which is a rabbit condominium. I can imagine my tenants all rubbing their little paws together with glee when they see me in the spring--here comes the nice lettuce lady!

I can tell you that verbal threats have no effect on rabbits. They won't listen to lectures on the nutritional value of dandelions, and while yelling and waving my rake entertains the neighbors, it doesn't do much to chase away the bunnies.

There's always force: I heard the story once of a rabbit caught in the act of eating a vegetable. The gardener shot it in the leg with a BB gun. The rabbit paused, gave the gardener a long look, then went right back to its dinner.

This year I'm saving my breath. I'm going to mix up some cayenne pepper spray to spray on my baby plants. I have commercial rabbit repellent, which has worked in the past, but the warning label is so scary that I'm afraid to spray it on something I plan to consume. So far the repellent approach has worked for me.

1000 Gardening Questions & Answers, published by Workman Press, has great ideas on pest control. They suggest using rabbit fencing; it's available at local lumberyards. It should be buried 8 inches deep and the gate shouldn't leave a rabbit-sized gap underneath.

Rabbit fencing? Who knew? I may have to resort to that. Or a BB gun. 

My Muse Has Left the Building

That's because she's in the garden. I can see her out there now, rubbing her chin, contemplating which weed to pull first. The dandelions have been popping up all week. I think I'm going to add them to a salad. Lord knows there's plenty of them!

dandelion n. A well-known plant, Taraxacum officinale (Compositae), with 1 large, bright yellow flower, and a tapering, milky perennial root. It is found under several forms throughout North America. The root has been dried and roasted as a substitute for coffee. (from the Dictionary of Horticulture, published by the National Gardening Association).

My garden goal this year is to remove as many invasive and alien plants as possible and replace them with Indiana natives. Barberries, English ivy--you must go! Even my pathetic hydrangea tree is a goner (but it's been a goner for years). Why fuss with plants that don't like it here--or that like it so much that they take over?

I'm intrigued by creating an Indiana landscape that looks like, well--Indiana! Yesterday I watched a cold spring rain fall outside my bay window while I thumbed through Douglas Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens. It was a good reminder that my yard could be so much more than just curb-appeal for people. It can also be a wildlife sanctuary, a place to watch birds and butterflies and bugs in action.

Tallemy pointed out that so many yards in suburbia, while neat and clean, are as sterile an environment as you can get. My goal is to create a beautiful yard, but to do it using plants that also provide food and shelter for living things.

Meanwhile, I need to call my muse back in the house. I long to garden . . . but I've got some deadlines to meet today, and she's gotta get to work!

  These old crab apple trees are native to IN. They make amazing architecture in a garden. Photo: Marianne Peters, 2006.

        

                                

Spring Has Sprung in the Peters Garden

After rain and cold, we've had some nice days! Claire and I planted the spring garden yesterday (and practiced her spelling words at the same time--I'm a multitasking mom, okay?). It's fun to welcome back the cardinals, chipping sparrows, song sparrows, cedar waxwings, robins, and wrens--and of course the grackles. They scold me up and down, left and right, when I'm outside working in the yard these days. I'm going to research grackles and find out if they are really serving some purpose besides annoying me with their antics. Enjoy some pictures!

My Revival Garden

 

    Yesterday I snapped off my TV: more bad news about the economy. Ditching the dirge, I turned my attention to something positive—planting my spring garden.

    Remember the Victory Gardens of World War II? The term nowadays is "Recession Garden," as more people are gardening to supplement their food sources. Our circumstances are remarkably similar to the 1940's: we're at war, we're self-rationing because of job loss and rising costs, and we're trying to stay hopeful despite bad news about Wall Street, climate change, and corporate corruption. Could planting a garden make a difference? It did a generation ago.

    During WWII, the government rationed staples like eggs, milk, butter, sugar, meat and canned goods. Labor and transportation shortages made fresh fruits and vegetables hard to come by. Americans grew their own food to ensure plentiful supplies for themselves and the soldiers—gardening was practical and patriotic.

    During those times, 20 million people planted gardens in backyards, alleys, empty lots, and rooftops. Urban dwellers as well as rural folk got involved. People formed food cooperatives and community gardens. They learned how to home-can their own food so that commercially canned goods could be sent to the troops—for example, 315,000 pressure cookers were sold in 1943 compared to 66,000 in 1942.

    The U. S. Department of Agriculture reported that Americans harvested 9 to 10 million tons of food during the Victory Garden campaign, which ended in 1946. People also harvested faith, hope and a healthy dose of community support—just what we all need when circumstances seem beyond our control.

    Gardening does make a difference. So I'm planting a Revival Garden this year—any name has to be better than Recession Garden. I have a small raised bed and some patio containers; I can't feed the whole town, but I can take a chunk out of my grocery bills, I can share some zucchini and tomatoes with the neighbors, and I can thumb my nose at pessimistic news pundits.

    I've spent the last few weeks planning my garden—that's half the fun. This week the work starts; I'll turn over the soil in my garden bed. I try to dig the garden early, then dig it again in a few weeks when the inevitable weeds spring up, so I can nip them before they get out of hand. I'll add compost as I dig—to bless the soil with active organic material.

     After digging and a final raking, I'll plant my seeds for an early crop of spinach, lettuce, peas, kale, and onions. With planting come the other rituals: keeping the soil moist, keeping an eye out for rabbits and other pests, and weeding, weeding and weeding. As the weather warms, I'll plant tomatoes, peppers, herbs, squash, and cucumbers.

    I'm always surprised when my garden grows—how could it be this simple? That's the beauty of it—with good soil, good seeds and at least six hours of sunlight, anybody can grow food just about anywhere. Americans certainly discovered that in the '40s. They're growing veggies at the White House this year, thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama.

    This spring, plant your own garden. Give it a name. And give yourself a pat on the back for sowing hope as well as vegetables.    

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My Energy Audit

        Last week I asked John Vialard of REMC to do an energy audit of my house. It’s an inventory of a home’s energy output, followed by some energy-saving solutions—usually a free service to utility customers. I learned that while some energy innovations are great, simply cutting back makes the most sense—especially if we all do it.

            Conserve. John Vialard pointed out that while it might seem smart to install a new wind turbine, reducing my current energy use is wiser. Turning off lights and gadgets, using less water, programming my thermostat, correctly maintaining appliances, air-drying my clothes, insulating my water heater—all add up to savings for little cost.    

            Seal the cracks. Air infiltration happens when outside air sneaks in uninvited through cracks or gaps. “Make sure your house is as energy-efficient as possible,” John advised me. “That will automatically reduce your carbon foot-print and your costs.”A “tight” house is an efficient one. Homes like mine that were built around 1980 and earlier are not as snug as more recent construction. John suggested taking advantage of a cold, windy day and feeling along windows, doors, walls, and visible ductwork with my hands. Holding a candle or a feather next to possible cracks can also indicate air movement. Cheap solutions such as applying caulk or adding insulation usually does the trick.

            Buy efficient appliances. Tightening up the house saves energy; so does buying energy-saving appliances like the ones with an Energy Star label. According to John Vialard, appliances are the biggest contributors to energy use in a typical home.

            However, don’t rush out to replace your current appliances with new ones. “Unless you know that refrigerator is really working hard,” said John, “it doesn’t make sense to get rid of it in favor of a newer, more efficient one. Someone else will end up using it anyway, which will still consume energy.”

            Invest in an efficient HVAC system. When our aged air conditioner finally wears out, John suggested replacing it with a geothermal heat pump, a newer technology that offers radical energy and cost savings. Though installing a heat pump has a hefty price tag (as high as $10,000), if you can afford it, it is exponentially more efficient than a furnace and readily pays for itself in just a few years.

            More than light bulbs. I think compact fluorescent light bulbs are the greatest thing since sliced (organic whole grain) bread. However, John told me that lighting is not a significant energy cost for most people. He pointed out that the energy-saving benefits of CFLs won’t be realized until most households are using them—it has to be a collective effort. That reminded me that saving energy should not be a pursuit for obsessed greenies; keeping energy costs low releases funds that can be used elsewhere.

            What if our local schools had energy audits? How much money could we save just by taking steps to conserve energy, and how many dollars could be released for education? What about using energy audits to help cash-strapped libraries, non-profits or churches find ways to save energy?

            Start in your own home, and let’s see where our collective energy savings takes us!

Kilowatt Conundrum

    Wake up and smell the burning coal, Peters, I thought, after eyeing my whopping electric bill.

    So far my family's efforts to cut our energy usage resemble chopping down a mighty redwood with a herring. Not that we haven't been trying.

    I programmed my thermostat, keeping daytime temperatures at a balmy 68 degrees. My thin-skinned youngest daughter won't shed her coat after school. I suggested that she do more housework. Hmmmm—no response.

    We turn off lights religiously. My office on the east side of the house takes advantage of morning light. The girls have learned to turn off lamps in their bedrooms when they leave. They've really learned. On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, their mission was to turn off every display lamp in the store.

    "Stop!" I commanded, glancing around for store security. "Besides, there are thousands of lamps!"

    "I know, right?" said Kate, my logical seventh-grader. "They're wasting energy!"

    "Hey!" hollered Claire from the next aisle. "There's more over here, Kate!"

    Kate scurried off, and I pondered the consequences of raising young environmental activists.

    I've been hanging most of my clothes to dry inside, eschewing the energy-gulping clothes dryer. On cold, dry days, my clothes racks give off a pleasantly scented humidity that's a relief to my nose.

    Despite these efforts, our kilowatt usage surged during frigid January. I'm determined to find other ways to cut our energy use and save money.

    Incandescent bulbs lurk around the house. Those curly fluorescent bulbs cost more, but use a fraction of the energy and last years longer than incandescents. This week I'm going to switch out as many bulbs as I can.

    Just a note on CFLs: CFL bulbs do contain small amounts of mercury. They can be disposed of through most community recycling facilities, along with other hazardous materials. Like regular light bulbs, they should be stowed away safely until needed and handled carefully when they have run their course.

    Phantom power also lurks in my house. Leaving devices plugged in, even if they are turned off, still uses energy. I will plug more appliances into power strips that I can turn off when they are not in use. For instance, with three females in the house, we have our share of styling tools. I can plug all of those into one strip, then turn it off until we need them. A friend of mine plugs his electric toothbrush in all night to charge, then unplugs it during the day.

    If my house were a boat, it would sink. Another task this week: seek out and seal drafts along my windows and doors with caulk and weather-stripping. I will also search for drafts around air ducts.

    Saving energy pays. Are you aware that tax credits are available for people who buy energy efficient equipment or use renewable energy like solar or wind? Check out the Energy Star website (www.energystar.gov). Or contact your local utility for more information. Some utilities even offer free replacement programs—you can trade out your old gas water heater (an energy hog) for a more efficient electric one.

    You probably have other ideas for saving energy. Would you like to share them? A new group called Watt-Watchers is beginning this month. We'll meet in the library on March 26 at 7 p.m. in the Jim Neu room to discuss ways of living more sustainably in Marshall County. It's open to anyone! For more information, contact me at marianne-peters@comcast.net.

      

      

      

      

      

    

Homemade Housekeeping

A friend once told me, "I want to live a simple life, but it's so complicated!"

 

Learning new habits takes time, because it's not just doing something a new way, it's thinking differently as well. A mundane task—like cleaning house—suddenly requires more brainpower.

 

Speaking of new habits, recently I switched to milder, less-toxic household cleaning products to reduce my family's exposure to scary chemicals. Marketing messages for today's commercial products shout that the only good germ is a dead germ! But average American homes don't need to be as sterilized as the Centers For Disease Control. Some commercial cleaners disinfect with the use of hazardous chemical irritants that require warning labels and safe disposal instructions. Popular antibacterial formulas cost more and kill normally-occurring bacteria indiscriminately; even the beneficial bacteria that help prevent disease. Might they be doing more harm than good?

 

Homemade cleaning products are gentler and, in most cases, just as effective as using the store brands; they use cheap and natural ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, borax, rubbing alcohol and olive oil. Some are so mild they can be eaten.

 

Mixing up my own cleaners seemed cumbersome at first. However, most homemade solutions require only a few ingredients. Some ingredients go solo: for instance, I can use undiluted white vinegar as a fabric softener, to clean the toilet bowl, to remove scale from my shower head and to remove mildew. I can use baking soda to scour sinks, unclog slow drains and absorb odors in the refrigerator. Tried and true tips for homemade cleaners have been around for years and are widely available in books, magazines, and on the Web. The newspaper column "Hints from Heloise" has always featured thrifty homemade cleaning solutions.

 

Starting a new habit takes time and a little work up front. For convenience and to help me remember what to use when, I wrote recipes and tips on 3x5 cards and pinned them to a bulletin board above my utility sink. I carefully disposed my leftover commercial cleaners. Since some commercial products do contain toxic materials, I didn't want to pitch them. Landfills and local watersheds are no place for these substances. My local solid waste management program's website has a convenient guide to safe disposal of household chemicals (www.recycleyourtrash.org). I rinsed out my left-over plastic spray bottles to refill with my new homemade solutions—but I checked those labels, too, to make sure it was safe to re-use them.

 

Some big brands have responded to customer preferences for gentler cleaners and now make plant-based formulas such as Clorox's Green Works line. Not all "natural" brands list all their ingredients, though. Brands such Ecover and Seventh Generation offer a wide array of products and they are completely transparent about their ingredients (they are available on the web and at some big box stores, such as Target and Walmart).

 

It feels empowering to say "no" to cleaning products that come with a heavy cost for my family and for the planet. Here are a few recipes if you'd like to make your own solutions:

 

Recipe for an All-Purpose Cleaner

Mix in a spray bottle: ½ cup of white vinegar and ¼ cup of baking soda (or 2 teaspoons borax) plus a ½ gallon of water. Use for showers, chrome, windows, mirrors, and other surfaces. (Source: www.eartheasy.com)

 

Recipe for a Homemade Glass Cleaner

Mix in a spray bottle: 1 cup of rubbing alcohol, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. (Source: http://organizedhome.com).

 

©Marianne Peters 2009

      

      

    

 

E-Waste: Don’t Trash It!

    My husband and I score high on compatibility quizzes. Our ideal vacation is a beach, a book, and peering up from the page only long enough to discuss our next meal. We relish silly British sitcoms and ballroom dancing.

    We disagree on one thing, though: I'm a Tosser and he's a Keeper. I would recycle anything not nailed down—even important household documents. (I admit I'm a little hasty at times!) He keeps the envelopes of bills long paid and old ticket stubs. What can I say? I married a sentimental guy.

    I've decided to toss the old electronics cluttering the house. The ancient VCR gathering dust. The radio/cassette player that went kaput. The electric pencil sharpener that refused to sharpen a crayon and perished shortly thereafter.

And I'm tossing the cell phones that we finally replaced after years of use. At the phone store, the curious sales representative inspected Tim's old device and mused, "Yeah, they used to make them that way." He looked at my phone and just shook his head. We felt as if we were appearing on "Antiques Roadshow."

We now own new phones, but what do we do with the old ones? Millions of people throw them away in regular trash, destined for landfills. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, we Americans toss 130 million cell phones every year. In one five-year period, we also trashed 250 million computers.

We've invented a new term for this: e-waste. Electronic waste now represents 5% of our trash; it even tops beverage containers and disposable diapers! And no wonder. As technology continues to advance at a faster and faster rate, new upgrades tempt us—who doesn't want that sexy new iPod or flat-screen TV?

The problem: e-waste is often loaded with heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium that could leach from landfills into our groundwater. Tossing it into a Dumpster is not the answer.

Here are some strategies for handling these gadgets:

Don't upgrade right away. Resist the urge to possess the latest and greatest. I hung on to my old cell phone for years; it took me that long to figure out the functions! We own a Bose CD player as old as our marriage of 16 years. The music still sounds great. Why upgrade when what you've got still works?

Use local waste management services. If you do decide to throw out the old stereo, remember that it doesn't go in regular trash; I keep a box in my garage just for e-waste. Drop off your old electronics off at your local solid waste management district office for recycling and safe disposal. Usually it's free; a nominal fee may be charged .

Donate your old electronics. Local charities will accept your electronics as long as they are still in good working condition. If your computer still works, don't just toss it: there are non-profit organizations that refurbish old computers and give them to people who can't afford a new one. Contact the Recycle Depot for more information on electronics donation in your area.

Tosser v. Keeper controversies continue at our house. I wanted to replace our 20-year-old Sony TV; the color gave out long before the set did. I whined. My children watched "Clifford, the Big Blue Dog." My husband just couldn't part with it. Finally, one day, it emitted a loud "pop" and went dead.

I poked the "on" switch. Nothing.

Yippee! Time for an upgrade at last!

Copyright Marianne Peters, 2008.