I was asked to contribute to this blog mainly because I think Samson wanted to get me involved in this project in some way. Don’t get me wrong, I have contributed many ideas that have been implemented into the show—say the garden, for instance. Back in March of 2008 I innocently told Samson that I wanted to get a little garden going. I took him to the area that I wanted it and told him my idea about making the garden so that little critters couldn’t get to it. I wanted a simple summer garden with tomatoes and fresh herbs and maybe some melons and cucumbers….what I got was Hole in the Fence. My little garden became a behemoth and I just threw up my hands and said, “I am done! You take over and if I get veggies this year I will be very thankful.”
Well I did get my vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, green beans and more cucumbers than I knew what to do with. (If you have any good recipes for cucumbers, I would love to hear them). I also got introduced to composting, and I really do love composting. I have watched our weekly trash diminish from 2 full bins to maybe one and most of that was recycling. However, I have not yet found an efficient way of collecting it before we take it out to the composting pile. Just a note, DO NOT leave it open on the kitchen counter: not only is it really gross, but it also attracts ants and little fruit flies—not very pleasant. I need to find a way to collect it that is not only pleasing to my cleanly self, but also bug free…..again suggestions would be appreciated.
Okay so here is the real reason Samson wanted me to blog. I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday and, as an earth conscious person, I take my own bags. I got my first bag ten years ago and my collection is now adequate. However, it has taken me at least a year to remember my bags on a regular basis—and if I remembered them I would leave them in the car (I can not tell you how many times I have bagged my paid for groceries in the parking lot). That being said, I have made it a habit to get my bags now and I have to say they are so convenient and easy. I can pack my groceries in them nice and heavy and not be afraid of the bags tearing, and I can get a weeks worth of groceries in four to five bags as opposed to the ten to fifteen they try to give me with regular bags. I also personally bag my own groceries, mostly because I like tetris and it is really challenging to get everything square, but also because I just do it in a way that I understand, for example, one bag for freezer, one for the pantry, one for the fridge, it just streamlines putting away my groceries.
I am done monopolising your time, hope I did not bore you to tears. I am sure I will contribute more as the mood comes. Again recipes and ideas for countertop compost storing would be so appreciated.
Deni
Mom
Izik
Denette
samsonblackwell
Hole in the Fence 
Hope,
One of my Trader Joe’s bags broke last week while I was packing it at Trader Joes. The cashier gave me 2 new bags and a box of Stollenmusen! I love this!
Deni
Rog,
If it helps any more I forgot them again today. I just made Samson carry the groceries out of the car bagless. I think by trip 3 he decided to bring the bags out of the car and pack the rest to carry them in. lol!
Denette
Lisa,
I have already put a bug in Samson’s ear about what a great local resource you guys are and I am sure you will be hearing from him.
Thank you so much regarding the counter top compost bin, it is exactly what I was looking for. I did do the plastic on the counter with a lid and it just looked wrong! So now I just have to decide on either a pail or a crock, lol! As the kids take the compost out, I think I may go for the pail.
Deni,
I have the answer to your question about how to keep the compostable items until you get it to the compost pile. A compost bin! I found mine at Gardeners.com for $20ish. They look nice on the kitchen counter. You can also use my mom’s metod — an old plastic container with a lid that you no longer want due to leaching issues.
Congratulations on your project. If you need help pruning or composting or anything…let us know! We are doing all of it here at Wind Dance Farm, too! Scott is at the Ecological Farming Conference as we speak and that, I’m sure, Samson could spout on about for many a blog!
Lisa
Wow Rog!!! We were your First! That is special. I promise you this is like eating chocolate. You can’t eat just one piece. Welcome aboard. Look forward to more insights. Stayed tuned.
Plucked out of the forest prime evil and deposited on Brooklyn bridge, I feel like an internet aborigine…This is my first whatever it is called, blog, and a blog reply to boot…Ain’t I a man…
The playing to children theme/audience is point on…aren’t children, even the one inside, the most creative, receptive and important audience…so why not plant a garden just for the critters to eat and record whatever you can of the unfolding drama, incidentally learning from what one is supposedly teaching…This stage may invite a load of unintended opportunities for constructive family interaction which is just one positive thing you guys are fostering….It could also finds children at the center of an unrushed, adult attention loop, (is there such a thing??), for once doing something which is nothing more than spontaneous observation…. which turns out is everything…sort of a Carl Sagan of bugs and such, peopled by the little people…
Denette, your year-long dither with remembering the reusable shopping bags helped my sagging self esteem which for most of us is under constant siege.
hey, i have an idea. you can just buy a few more and always keep them in your glove compartment. i used to have the same problem, so every time i’d forget to bring my bags to whole foods, i would just purchase another from whole foods. they’re olnly 79cents and now they have these cute small ones which are really strong and they always have a cute graphic…but i think the size of these was key because they fit in your purse so easily whereas the bigger ones are admittedly rather bulky…especially in ny where you practlcaly hike around all day and have to carry all that you’ll need for the day since getting to and fro is not as quickly accomplished as it is on the west coast, and you’re not in your car where you can just dump your bags in the passenger seat…a lot of the times you’ll be carrying them or placing them on the floor of the subway train which is okay but only if it’s not wet from rain or snow during the winter season…you get my point. yeah, i literally have like 15 of those bags…but it’s fine, i give them away to people all the time, we use them at work now too…and when i send care packages i put one in there as a little gift…
bags bags bags…love reusable bags…
and love the site…
hope
brooklyn
hey, i have an idea. you can just buy a few more and always keep them in your glove compartment. i used to have the same problem, so every time i’d forget to bring my bags to whole foods, i would just purchase another from whole foods. they’re olnly 79cents and now they have these cute small ones which are really strong and they always have a cute graphic…but i think the size of these was key because they fit in your purse so easily whereas the bigger ones are admittedly rather bulky…especially in ny where you practlcaly hike around all day and have to carry all that you’ll need for the day since getting to and fro is not as quickly accomplished as it is on the west coast, and you’re not in your car where you can just dump your bags in the passenger seat…a lot of the times you’ll be carrying them or placing them on the floor of the subway train which is okay but only if it’s not wet from rain or snow during the winter season…you get my point. yeah, i literally have like 15 of those bags…but it’s fine, i give them away to people all the time, we use them at work now too…and when i send care packages i put one in there as a little gift…
bags bags bags…love reusable bags…
and love the site…
hope
Aunt Peggy,
I wish I had a magic answer to that one. Jeanne and I were talking last night about it, we came up with a hook in the car that holds them in plain sight (perhaps hanging them in the back seat on that little hook made for hanging clothes) does that thing even have a name?
I think I just got so tired of broken bags and realized I could eliminate that frustration by remembering my bags. If I know I am going shopping I usually hang them on the front door, or as a foolproof way of getting them, I have also been known to put my grocery list in them right after I make the list….then when I go for the list I don’t forget the bags.
Good luck finding your trick for remembering and if I hear any other great ideas I will be sure to pass them along.
When are we seeing you again?
Denette
Hiya kids! Did you come up with a way to remember those dumb bags (no bad jokes allowed) or did it just worm it’s way into your memory with time? In my case, if they’re not in the car being forgotten, they’re sitting in the kitchen being forgotten! I think I forgot what I was talking about!
Congratulations on a great site, I’ll try to come back often.