The Green B Garden: Part 1

Here at the hive we are planting our very first organic veggie garden. I emphasize "very first" as I am learning as I go and have no real idea of what I am doing! I spent the winter months researching garden "how tos", talking to those "in the know" (i.e. my parents and grandparents), and finally committing to a plan I felt was doable for a beginner. 

Today was day one. My husband kindly rented a tiller for the day and upon arriving home said, “Do you know how to use this?” "Sure, Sure, of course!!"  ;)

"We've got this Mommy!"

After a brief phone tutorial from my dad and a few YouTube videos, I was up and running!

Today I tilled my 8 X 8 area (we are starting small) again, a  "beginner garden". I am loosely going by a mix of a couple plans I found on the Better Homes and Gardens website. One is a children’s garden and one is a small veggie garden. You can see the plans here.


All American Veggie Garden

Easy Children's Garden



 This is what I accomplished today..

-walked off an 8 x 8 area of an “all day sun” section of our yard
-tilled the area to break up the ground
- raked and shoveled grass and rocks from the area (I used the displaced soil and grass to fill holes in our yard)
-tilled again
-added peat moss and manure
-tilled again
-raked some more to remove remaining grass and rocks
-cleaned up surrounding perimeter

She found a nice collections of worms by the time we were done. (Poor worms!)

Now the garden area will sit for a week. I don’t have a recommendation for the peat moss and manure, I told my husband to get whatever they had organic. Anyway, this is just what he got, I’m not sure what brands etc. are best at this point.

Ready for veggies!!

Stay tuned! Next weekend is Easter and we will be traveling for the weekend but we plan to pick back up on our garden plans once we return! (more info to come as to what we are planting etc.)


Please let me know if you have any specific questions or have any suggestions for me!

Happy gardening!

Buzz!!

Earth Hour 2012

I can’t believe it has been six years since my husband and I sat by candlelight debating whether or not we were cheating by not unplugging the fridge to participate in the very first Earth Hour. We will be participating again this Saturday night for Earth Hour 2012, where millions of people around the world go powerless for one hour to support the need for further awareness for climate change.

The event began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 where World Wildlife Fund, Australia encouraged individuals and businesses to go powerless for one hour.  By 2011, the event had grown to millions of participants across 135 countries.

Earth Hour 2012 will continue the annual event with an added twist. This year you can log onto to YouTube and accept an “If You Will, I Will” challenge. You can also create your own “IYWIW” to challenge others to recycle, use less water, buy local, etc. by offering something of yourself. (i.e. “If you commit to recycling, I will bike to work for two weeks” etc.) See more here: IYWIW Challenge 

This year I am very excited to share this event with my three-year-old daughter. We plan to do something with glow sticks and flashlights; we’ll let her take it from there! To participate, simply turn off and unplug everything in your home (except the fridge! J) for one hour beginning at 8:30 p.m. on March 31^st.

What are you going to do for an hour without power? 

Here are some ideas:

- Plan a romantic, candle lit dinner for your partner

- Tell ghost stories with the kiddos

- Pretend to “camp” inside and set up a tent and use flashlights

- Play flashlight hide and seek

- Be creative and enjoy an hour joining a fantastic movement across the world for the betterment of our planet!

Have Fun!

Buzz!