What Being Green Means to Me

Day 7 of the April Blog Challenge from Green Moms Network:

I really should have read all the prompts before I jumped in with both feet on this blog writing challenge.  I don't even know what to say about what being green means to me.  I do not really consider myself a "green person."  I recycle because I have a box to put recyclables in, and all I have to do is carry it (or, now that I'm pregnant, drag it) to the curb each week, and someone comes and takes it away.

Being green is not a focus of mine.  I do try not to be wasteful, and I do things like composting and home gardening, but that is because I just enjoy doing those things, and it's really not driven by the overwhelming desire to care for the earth that seems to consume some people.  I even plan to cloth diaper my son, and I encourage other people to cloth diaper, too.  Again, though, what motivated me to look into cloth diapering was the desire to save money, and what kept me dedicated to cloth diapering was the desire to add those awesome diapers to my stash.  (You can ask my husband; I have a serious fluff addiction.)

As a Christian, too, I have become alarmed by the "green movement" in this country.  I do believe that we should all be good stewards of the earth.  It is our home, and it is a beautiful, incredibly well-organized gift from God.  It is our duty to maintain it and care for it.  What concerns me is how being green has, for some people, become almost like a religion in itself.  Children who will never hear Jesus' name mentioned in their classrooms come home singing praise songs to "Mother Earth."  As Michael Crichton notes in his article "Environmentalism is a religion:"

If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.  

Now, I'm not talking about people who are out there doing their part to keep our planet in good shape for our enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.  I think that, if anything, I could really stand to work on my own dedication in these areas.  No, what I am talking about are the people who approach environmentalism as a sacred and holy way to live and give more importance to a somewhat vague notion of saving the earth than they do even to helping others and living life with love towards others.  The people who are perfectly willing to say horrible, nasty, and destructive things to other human beings in defense of their cause.  They tear others down in the name of their love for the earth, and to that, I have to object.

Because the idea of "being green" evokes these images in me, I will describe instead the things that I do to take care of this beautiful home that God created and gave to us for our use.  I enjoy gardening and learning about new plants.  I plan to take my son on nature walks and show him the different kinds of plants, animals, and trees in our world.  I will teach my children about the amazing ways in which all these organisms work together to maintain each other.  And I will use cloth diapers on my little babies and occasionally allow someone to think I am good enough to be sacrificing my time to do something good for the planet instead of just feeding an unnatural addiction to adorable prints.

The Great Celery Experiment

I was browsing something the other day and happened upon a blog post about how to grow celery from the base.  It was one of the very rare occasions when we actually had celery in the house, so of course I had to try it.

I took a mason jar and filled it with water and wedged the celery stalk into the opening so that only the base was covered.  Then I left it by the window and waited.  After 3 days, it had already started to regrow, and after 11 days, it was getting crazy!

March 12 - Day 3                                    March 20 - Day 11

On Day 11, I decided it was time to move this puppy into the ground, so I took the whole thing and planted it outside, where it would have some room to really grow and thrive.  Hopefully, it will continue to grow and in a few months, I will have my very own homegrown celery stalk.  Since we don't eat celery very often, I could probably do this about two more times and have enough celery for the year.  I could not believe how quickly it grew, which was super exciting because it means it will make an awesome indoor project for the kids someday!  

Blueberry Plants are Here!

Of all the fruit I love to eat, blueberries are probably my very favorite.  I love them plain, on cereal, in muffins and pancakes, and as part of my favorite jam recipe.  So, now that I have my own gardening area for the first time, of course I had to add some blueberry bushes to the mix.

I chose Gurney's Ka-Bluey Blueberry plants.  From the description, and the fact that they bear a registered name symbol, I assume there has been some kind of genetic engineering to help make these plants strong and delicious.  I am fine with that.  I am not, nor will I ever be, one of those people who balks at purchasing fruit from plants that have been genetically altered.  If you're telling me that scientists have worked diligently to make it harder for me to kill this plant, I'm buying.

When the plants arrived, I could hardly wait to get them in the ground.  It is a little chilly today, but there is a ton of sun and spring is almost here, so I think they will do all right.  Plus, Gurney's only ships plants at certain times of year to certain geographical locations.  It's their way of idiot-proofing against their customers, especially people like me who would otherwise plant an orange tree in my yard in the middle of a Virginia winter.

Before I could plant, I had to prep the ground, which in my case, was no easy task.  When we moved in to the house we are currently renting, the yard had been largely let go.  I can tell someone did work with it at one point because there are blocked off areas for gardening, and there are flowers and mint planted.  But there are also weeds everywhere, and the mint is taking over a huge area.

Today, I spent about an hour hacking away at the mint and trying to clear an area.  When digging up mint, you have to be very careful, because the roots expand underground and push up new shoots.  If you don't really look for all of the roots, you may have some that just have not yet surfaced and are waiting for you to plant something else so they can spring up and choke it.

As hard as it was to clear the mint, it probably would have only taken about half the time if I wasn't being plagued by a little beagle who had no interest in soaking up the beautiful sun and instead wanted to go back inside and get back in her bed.  She kept coming by and jumping over the little fence into the garden and sitting down right where I was trying to work.

Stella the Beagle exploring the garden

When I cleared enough space and hauled all the uprooted mint, weeds, and grass over to the compost pile, it was finally time to get ready for planting the blueberry bushes.  I removed them from the package and placed them in water to allow the roots to get well-saturated.  After letting them soak for about 3 hours, I dug holes and put them in the ground.  I am so excited to have blueberry bushes in my yard at long last, even though I know I will have to wait until at least next summer to get any fruit from them.

Getting Started in the Garden

Last September, I got to see a dream come true when we moved from an apartment to an actual house with a fenced yard and room for a garden.  We still rent, so I had to specifically ask for a clause to be inserted into the lease to allow me to do whatever I wanted with the yard.  I did some preliminary work in the fall, but I knew most of it would have to wait for spring.

I started by identifying which portions of the yard I planned to use for gardening.  Then, I took grass clippings and spread them over the areas where I wanted to garden.  Grass clippings are very effective as a mulch of sorts because the clippings give off gases that warm the ground underneath and eventually kill whatever is under them.  I used the clippings to kill weeds and overgrown grass in my garden area.

A few days ago, I took advantage of a beautiful day in Virginia to do some gardening at long last.  I started with the area where I plan to do most of our vegetable garden.  Even after lying under grass clippings all winter long, some of the grass was still going strong.  I had to really hack away at the roots to get it cleared properly, so I started with a small area.

 Future Vegetable Garden in State of Disaster

After I had enough room cleared, I started some peas in the back and spinach in the front, then added a thin layer of plant food to help kickstart growth.  I was thrilled to discover a big, beautiful trellis wrapped around a pre-existing rose bush.  Jesse managed to wrestle it free from the rose bush so we could use it for the peas instead.  (Peas do best if they have something to climb as they grow.)

A little progress: Peas and spinach have been planted!

There is A LOT of work to do, and being pregnant means I have to be more careful to not overly exert myself, but I am just so excited to finally be working on my very own garden.  I ordered some blueberry bushes, which should arrive some time this week, and I started eggplant, broccoli, and brussels sprouts inside to give them a good start before moving them out.  I can hardly wait until little shoots start springing out of the ground!