Posts Tagged ‘questions’

Dear T&M: The Mysterious Case of the Stinky Seedlings

Posted on September 21st, 2011 by Tonia 2 Comments

I am sorry, Rachel, that it took me so long to research and respond!! I think this problem is caused by a mixture of your hot and humid climate and the fact that you’re using a biodegradable material {egg carton} for your containers. The containers are actually beginning to rot slowly, which we all know does NOT smell nice {and why we all keep our compost piles outside!}

Do you have a sunny spot outside that you could move these little stinky guys? Get them out of the house if you can, so they get fresh air and you get relief from their smell. They should outgrow the egg containers pretty quickly, and at that point should be transplanted into larger plastic planter cups {gasp! Yes, plastic!}

Plastic planters is the way to go for several reasons: They don’t decompose, which means no foul smell and less chance that bacteria and disease can fester and possibly infect your seedlings. Also, you can buy them once and then re-use them year after year. The ones with little holes in the bottom will allow enough drainage to minimize the chance of over-watering.

I hope we’re not too late on getting this advice to you. Good for you for planting fall crops! Hope it works out and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors this winter in the form of delicious potato and leek soup, kale and apple salad, and gnocchi with spinach and pancetta. Mmmmm! Good luck!

-T&M

If you would like to air your dirty secret or ask a question, email us with “Dear T&M” in the subject line. Please indicate if you wish to remain anonymous.
toniasimeone {at} gmail {dot} com

Dear T&M: I can’t use all-natural hair products.

Posted on August 31st, 2011 by Tonia 8 Comments

Awesome Dirty Harry poster found here.

You are not alone, GreenMom! I had a really hard time finding an all-natural shampoo and conditioner that I was happy with, too. I even blogged about how I cut my hair short because I was sick of how the biodegradable shampoo made my long hair look stringy.

HOWEVER! A few months ago a friend suggested the Desert Essence brand. I tried it and have stuck with it ever since. It lathers great, cleans without totally stripping my hair dry, and the Coconut Conditioner is thick and creamy and smells like a vacation. I love that I can get it at our local organic food co-op, it isn’t crazy expensive, and it’s biodegradable.

There is another option, too. One of our readers, Shana, makes her own shampoo and conditioner and was kind enough to share her recipes {so awesome. Thank you, lady!}

I gave the shampoo and vinegar-conditioner a try today and took pictures so you could see how nicely it lathers and rinses out {I washed outside, because I was filthy dirty from laying seed and raking our green-manure pasture}. Honestly, I l-o-v-e-d them. They were quick and easy to make, too.

From Shana:

Hi Tonia, Here are my basic shampoo and conditioner recipes. I hope these work for you! Don’t feel like you have stick to the recipe – you can experiment!

Shampoo
1 cup boiling water
1 green tea bag
A few sage leaves, torn up
1 cup liquid castille soap (I use unscented Dr. Bronners)
6 tsp. jojoba oil
1/4 tsp. peppermint essential oil
1/4 tsp tea tree essential oil

Steep tea and sage in boiling water for 30 min. Strain.

Add soap, jojoba oil, and essential oils to water. Mix well, and shake before each use. Apply just as you would normal shampoo.

This shampoo works well for my hair, which is dark brown, thick, and fairly normal (not too dry or oily). For the shampoo that I make for my husband, who is blond, I omit the sage and steep the tea for a little less time. Sage is supposed to be good for dark hair, but can discolor lighter hair.

The essential oils can easily be omitted or substituted. They might have some value, but I like them mostly for their refreshing scent.

The most expensive item on the list is jojoba oil, which is kind of expensive. I’ve been thinking of substituting grapeseed oil, but I haven’t tried it yet. It’s constant experimentation!

Conditioner
2 cups boiling water
1 sprig rosemary
2 Tbls. apple cider vinegar

Pour boiling water over rosemary and let steep for 30 min. Strain.

Add apple cider vinegar and mix well. Shake before each use.

Apply to hair after shampoo, trying to cover as much hair as possible. Leave on for two minutes and rinse out, preferably with cool water.

I know. Vinegar on your hair? This seems like a really bad idea, right? I was skeptical too. But it really works! It leaves my hair smooth and shiny, and relatively tangle free!

You do have to dump kind of a lot of the mixture on your hair – I have very long hair, and I use about half a cup of conditioner per application. It is also important to actually leave it in your hair for a full two minutes or longer, so if you are trying to save water you might want to turn off the shower while you’re conditioning.

Your hair may smell slightly of vinegar when you’re done, but the smell will disappear as your hair dries (and it’s never a very strong smell anyway).

The rosemary can easily be omitted. It’s supposed to be good for your hair, but the vinegar is doing most of the work in this concoction.

If you use the vinegar rinse too often, it can dry out your hair. I wash my hair every other day, and every third or forth wash I try to do a “deep conditioner” instead of the vinegar wash. I apply the conditioner before shampooing because I’m worried that I won’t get all the egg out of my hair with just a rinse.


Deep Conditioner
1 egg
1 Tbls. olive oil
3/4 cup lukewarm water

Beat egg until it turns frothy. Add olive oil and beat some more. Slowly add water and beat until well combined.

Apply to damp hair. Leave in for 15 min.

Rinse out with COOL water (hot water can cook the egg, leading to an unfortunate, albeit retrospectively funny, situation)

Shampoo and rinse as normal.

If you would like to air your dirty secret, email us with “Dear T&M” in the subject line. Please indicate if you wish to remain anonymous.
toniasimeone {at} gmail {dot} com

Dear T&M

Posted on August 11th, 2011 by Tonia 7 Comments

Awesome cardboard mailboxes found on this stellar blog.

As self-proclaimed environmentally conscious people, there is a lot of pressure to perform, isn’t there? And when we fall short, there is a lot of guilt, is there not?

Living simply and greenly {spell-check says greenly is a word, so it must be} is a process. None of us arrive at perfect-harmony-with-nature-and-God-and-humanity-and-rainbows-and-ice-cream {huh?} overnight. Or ever. And that’s ok.

I want to remind us all of something: We do what we can. We strive forward. We find a balance that works for us. That works our unique family. We’re all different. Different comfort zones, different dreams and ambitions, different outlooks.

It’s great to draw inspiration from others {friends, blogs, etc.} and to learn from others, but at the end of the day you need to settle into a rhythm of life that works for you.

Don’t mistake what I’m saying as a get-out-of-jail-free card on all things eco-friendly. I think that it’s really important to hold each other accountable, especially when it comes to the easy things that we should all be doing like recycling. But please, please don’t get hung up on a small challenge and let your frustration spoil your goal.

I struggled for almost a year to get rid of my need for paper towel around the house. It bothered me so much that here I was writing a blog about green living, and I still washed my whole kitchen with paper towel every day. I kind of wanted to quit on the whole deal and just “live like a normal person” who doesn’t worry about this stuff. Finally, one day, it just happened for me. I haven’t bought the stuff since.

Grant yourself some patience and understanding when you come to a road block like that, and don’t give up.

And if you’re really struggling with something, please write to us. Chances are that we have, or we are, struggling with the same thing. We’ll talk it through here on the blog {write in as “anonymous” if it makes you feel more comfortable}, allow commentators to weigh in, and offer encouragement. We’ll point you towards helpful resources like books, blogs, and tools.

For example, cheese-cloths helped me kick my paper-towel habit because they are super absorbent like PT, they come in packs of like 40 and are cheap. If you’re a chronic paper-towel user, get yourself a pack of cheese-cloth. Wash them a couple times and they will soak up any mess better than PT. You’ll never look back. I keep my clean ones in a bag in my pantry for easy access.

Dear T&M could potentially be a new category on the blog, and I’m really excited about it. I would love to work through things together. From your comments I can tell I’m dealing with an insightful bunch of folks, and I think that taking our conversations on Itty Bitty Impact a little deeper than homemaking and gardening once in a while could result in something pretty brilliant.

I’m imagining some cool follow-up letters, too, like “I confronted my family about our ATVing, and we all decided to sell them and get a few canoes instead!”

Let’s do this. Write your questions, challenges, and dirty secrets with “dear t&m” in the subject line: toniasimeone {at} gmail {dot} com