Flock | Itty Bitty Impact

Urban vs. Rural

Posted on28. Jul, 2010 by Tonia.

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Urban vs. Rural: Which is the better way to live? Silly question, in my opinion. In fact, I’m going to go ahead and say that one is not “better” than the other. We need both. There are too many different kinds of people in this world for a one-size-fits-all lifestyle or environment. But. But, no matter where you live- in the suburbs, or the big city, or the boonies- there are ways to be a good steward to the Earth and ways to not. And I do believe that some environments lend themselves to good stewardship a little easier than others.

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Featured on Going Home to Roost

Posted on23. Jul, 2010 by Tonia.

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What a nice surprise to wake up today and find out that one of the blogs I read dailyhas featured Itty Bitty Impact! Going Home to Roost is such a beautiful blog about all things handmade (diy projects, seasonal recipes, organic gardening, and ways to live a simpler life). The first time I stumbled upon it, I couldn’t help feeling like Bonnie was my long-lost-soul-sister. A big huge thank-you to Bonnie for sharing my blog with her readers! Keep up the great work over there in North Carolina!

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Interviewed by Simpler Living

Posted on23. Jun, 2010 by Tonia.

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Have you seen this blog? If not, hurry on over there! Naomi Seldin is a terrific writer who focuses on “living well with less” in her articles for timesunion.com. I have been a regular reader of hers for months now, ever since I found her on Twitter {follow her}…so I am beyond honored to be interviewed by her! Thank you, Naomi!

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Interviewed on We Live Simply

Posted on04. May, 2010 by Tonia.

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I am really excited and honored to share this with you all! Jonathan at We Live Simply interviewed me for his Five Questions With series the other day. It was so nice of him to share my blog with his readers and followers. As a newbie, I am extremely grateful for his interest in what I’m doing, and the exposure he gave me. Make sure you check out his blog– it is a daily read for me now. His posts are always original, thought-provoking and inspiring.

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Cheri’s List

Posted on29. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

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I received a really nice letter from a friend and reader, Cheri. She shared with me some of the things her family does to decrease their daily impact on the environment. All of the items on her list are easy to implement into our lives– there’s really no reason not to. But because I know, from experience, that unless green lifestyle changes are easy as pie to implement, we ain’t gonna follow through with them, folks! So, I have decided to not only share her list of great ideas, but to also do the things on the list. Check back soon for a video series of me demonstrating the items on Cheri’s list, so that you can see how it’s all done, and hopefully also try it yourself. I will begin to post the videos next week!

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Making Maple Syrup IV: Canning

Posted on09. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

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Maple Moon Sugarbush is starting to wrap up its 2010 sugaring season this week. My family and I will be pulling the taps out of the trees and washing up all the equipment soon. We made about 25 gallons this year, which means we have plenty for our Sunday pancakes and to replenish our friends and [...]

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Making Maple Syrup III: Boiling

Posted on07. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

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Boiling is my favorite part of the syrup making process. It is also the most tedious of all the steps. My dad is the boiling master, but Mike has been slowly aquiring the skills from him over the past couple seasons {we plan to carry on the tradition someday with our own kids.}

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Making Maple Syrup II: Collecting

Posted on06. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

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When all the trees are tapped, we wait for the buckets to fill with sap. Some years, when the weather is right, we’ll need to collect twice a day, because the sap is flowing so fast. The ideal weather for a good sap run only happens during a small window of time every spring {usually lasting a week}. It needs to freeze at night, and then warm up to about 50 degrees during the day. This is a tricky weather combination, but the best syrup is made during this window- a beautiful amber color and buttery taste.

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Making Maple Syrup: Tapping

Posted on04. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

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Sweet, buttery, sticky, wonderful maple syrup has been made in my family for 23 years now. Back in the day, we used to tap 1,100 trees on our land, pouring what we collected into a big tank on a sleigh, pulled by a draft horse. It was a lot of work, but we were never short on help {all we had to tell people was that they could take home some syrup, and they’d show up to help all season long.} Even though we have scaled the operation back in recent years {we no longer have our horses, so we do all the collection on foot now}, syruping is still a beloved family “chore” that brings us together every spring.

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The No Impact Project: They Did It, And So Can We!

Posted on16. Mar, 2010 by Tonia.

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Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!! Have you heard of the No Impact Project? It’s genius. I couldn’t wait to share it with ya’ll as soon as I found out about it.
In a nut shell, one family decided to make small changes every day in their lives to reduce their impact on the environment…and [...]