Mother's going GREEN Day 49 - Strawberry Fields Forever

Today was strawberry picking day. The whole family set out to a local farm to pick strawberries. The children ate as they picked, hubby picked a great deal and I picked off and on while I looked after the baby.

It was nice to be out in the sun and surrounded by beautiful mountains. We picked a total of 20 pounds of strawberries.

Going out to pick strawberries taught the children that the food we eat is not just purchased in a store - but there are farmers who plant them and grow them. It was fun for our children to be out on the farm - "look mom a real barnyard and look horses"

The strawberries are grown without pesticides (good) but they do use fertilizer which was not organic. But we buy local organic first and if that is not available local. So we are supporting our local farmer.

In our excitement to get going and picking we forgot to bring our own container to bring the berries home so unfortunately we had to purchase some cardboard boxes - but at least we can recycle them.

Stay tuned to this blog to find out what we do with our 20 pounds of strawberries!!!

Mental Note: Next time we pick strawberries we will bring our own container.

Mother's going GREEN Day 19 - Garden Pests: in particular a Squirrel

We have our rooftop garden underway - but the last few mornings we have woken up to see that some little animal has dug up our seeds - we suspect a squirrel. Now we are trying to grow our own vegetables in order to be sustainable - but we did not figure we would have to sustain a squirrel as well.

When I 'googled' garden pest deterrents I came up with some scary facts in regards to pesticides:

• Pesticides not only kill the pests but all of the good bugs too like Lady Bugs, Honey Bees and Wasps.


• Collect in the tissues of animals and humans, causing disease and possible death.


• Each year 43 000 children under the age of 6 are exposed to pesticide in concentrations high enough to cause damage to their developing bodies.


• Many of the common pesticides have been linked to an increased occurrence of allergies, asthma and cancer.

Since we are growing an Organic Garden using pesticides was never an option but the information on them very informative.... But I still had a squirrel to deal with.

One website suggested that we feed the squirrel - squirrel food. Set up it's own little eating area away from our garden and then he would not bother our seeds. While this would be ideal, quite honestly I do not want the squirrel to become reliant on me for providing its food.

Finally, I found a website that suggested hot pepper flakes. Currently, we have none on hand but I thought regular coarsely milled peppercorns might do the trick too.

My search on pest deterrents also lead me to a website where you can make your own Pest Control Spray right in your kitchen. Should we ever get those unwanted bugs we will be sure to try the recipes. Most of them involve a combination of Water, Oil, Biodegradable Dishwashing Soap, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder - all non toxic and chemical free.

For some information on the dangers of pesticides visit: http://www.noahsnotes.com/naturalpest.html

And for the recipes for the "Pest Control Spays - you can make in your kitchen!" visit:http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/health-environment/pesticides/non-commercial-pest-spray.pdf