For $10, Guthrie and I have joined and registered our garden through the South Minneapolis Hub. I pilot program through the City of Minneapolis and Gardening Matters -- a local non-profit community to strengthen community gardening in the Twin Cities. The mission of the Hub is to support "Minneapolis residents to grow, preserve, and cook their own fresh produce." For $10, we get seeds, seedlings, classes at a discount, and are connected with other gardeners in our area. It sounded like a great way for Guthrie and I take our garden to a new level, and really get ready for a full season of planting, weeding, and harvesting (I hope!). There are currently three Hubs you can join in Mpls - Powderhorn-Central (woohoo!), Philips-Ventura Village, or Northside. To learn more, and download the order form here. We'll keep you updated with pictures of seeds and sprouts as we get back to gardening. Tough to think about with the new snow fall that has re-covered our garden, but we are very excited for spring!
Peace!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Forty-Eight - Bike Maintenance (and a side note on good rain gear)
Bike Maintenance Class at Sibley Bike Depot
Laura and I are currently taking a 4 week bike maintenance class at the Sibley Bike Depot. It's a nonprofit, volunteer-run bike co-op that offers various classes for those looking to be more independent bike owners. The course covers how to fix a flat and adjust derailers, brakes, gears and rims. The lovely thing about the class is that there are 9 mounts so you are welcome to bring you bike in (on Wednesdays as well for open bike repair night) and work on it while learning about bike mechanics. Laura and I are making 2011 the year we bike often, not just some of the time.
Our goal is to replace the car as much as possible and prove that we can get rid of our old bikes next year and get some decent ones. Laura and I got more involved in maintaining our bikes last summer but this class is solidifying our desire to truly understand how our bikes work. The wonderful thing about having a couple of old road bikes is that it provides us with ample opportunity to tinker with all the bike components without the fear of ruining the bike.
Safe travels!
Umbrellas and Rain Gear
Guthrie and I are using our REI dividend to get new rain gear -- jackets and umbrellas. Why am I posting it here? I read once a blog--TreeHugger? that having good rain gear makes you more green. You are more likely to bike and walk and take the bus if you are ready to face the elements. I also think that it will mean more hiking trips for the two of us since we often face rain when we try to go camping. :) I'm excited about our new umbrellas because they have the extra flap for wind to escape so you don't have the flipping-inside-out problem. Want options for eco-friendly umbrellas (though sans flap)? Click here.
Laura and I are currently taking a 4 week bike maintenance class at the Sibley Bike Depot. It's a nonprofit, volunteer-run bike co-op that offers various classes for those looking to be more independent bike owners. The course covers how to fix a flat and adjust derailers, brakes, gears and rims. The lovely thing about the class is that there are 9 mounts so you are welcome to bring you bike in (on Wednesdays as well for open bike repair night) and work on it while learning about bike mechanics. Laura and I are making 2011 the year we bike often, not just some of the time.
Our goal is to replace the car as much as possible and prove that we can get rid of our old bikes next year and get some decent ones. Laura and I got more involved in maintaining our bikes last summer but this class is solidifying our desire to truly understand how our bikes work. The wonderful thing about having a couple of old road bikes is that it provides us with ample opportunity to tinker with all the bike components without the fear of ruining the bike.
Safe travels!
Umbrellas and Rain Gear
Guthrie and I are using our REI dividend to get new rain gear -- jackets and umbrellas. Why am I posting it here? I read once a blog--TreeHugger? that having good rain gear makes you more green. You are more likely to bike and walk and take the bus if you are ready to face the elements. I also think that it will mean more hiking trips for the two of us since we often face rain when we try to go camping. :) I'm excited about our new umbrellas because they have the extra flap for wind to escape so you don't have the flipping-inside-out problem. Want options for eco-friendly umbrellas (though sans flap)? Click here.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Forty-Seven - Eye Glasses Donation
I have been wearing glasses since I was 2 years old and have gone through at least 10 pairs since then (maybe more if what my mother says about my abhorrence of glasses as a child is really true). And now that Laura has gotten into the eyeglass wearing business, we know that we will each be accumulating pairs of old glasses in the closet with nothing for them to do. Well, Laura and I love to donate. We donate our time to BBBS and our Little, we donate many household items to Goodwill, Savers and Salvation Army every turn of the season and we donate our time time to community activities. Laura had the wonderful idea that we should donate one of the two pairs of my glasses that have been in the closet with nothing to do for a long time (leaving one pair as backup). I was on board. Now, I have some thick glasses for those of you who know me so I really hope my pair will find their way into the hands and on the face of someone with a similar affliction as mine. Don't believe me? See the picture below!
Laura did some searching and found out that most any eyeglass retailers including as LensCrafters, Pearle, Target Optical and many local optometrists have contracted with One Sight, a family of charitable vision care programs dedicated to improving vision through outreach, research and education since 1988, to offer lightly used glasses to those in need around the world. In fact, they have provided free vision care and eyewear to over 7 million folks worldwide through their global and regional clinics (various U.S. locations including Mpls and ATL) since their inception. They even accept and give away non-prescription sunglasses, so all you ladies sick of those big-ass sunglasses or all you men sick of those Top Gun look-alikes, give 'em away to a good cause.
Laura and I have decided to go to a nearby Pearle Vision retailer next week to donate a pair of my glasses. We feel good knowing that we can donate yet another thing of ours that someone else needs more us. We hope you do the same! Click here for participating retailers in your area. Remember, they have to be lightly used!
Best!
Guthrie (& Laura)
Laura did some searching and found out that most any eyeglass retailers including as LensCrafters, Pearle, Target Optical and many local optometrists have contracted with One Sight, a family of charitable vision care programs dedicated to improving vision through outreach, research and education since 1988, to offer lightly used glasses to those in need around the world. In fact, they have provided free vision care and eyewear to over 7 million folks worldwide through their global and regional clinics (various U.S. locations including Mpls and ATL) since their inception. They even accept and give away non-prescription sunglasses, so all you ladies sick of those big-ass sunglasses or all you men sick of those Top Gun look-alikes, give 'em away to a good cause.
Laura and I have decided to go to a nearby Pearle Vision retailer next week to donate a pair of my glasses. We feel good knowing that we can donate yet another thing of ours that someone else needs more us. We hope you do the same! Click here for participating retailers in your area. Remember, they have to be lightly used!
Best!
Guthrie (& Laura)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Good news -- the CSA is on!
Just thought I would follow up. The deposit is going in the mail tomorrow :) Peace!
Forty-Six - Minnesota Wines
This a bit of a cop out, but Guthrie and I are going to blog on our experience going to a wine tasting at a local Minnesota winery. We have a had a crazy week: my last week of student teaching and we have just hit a wall. We decided to hit the road, leave the kitties at home, and head to Winona for a night of relaxation at the Village House Inn.
The winery we visited was the Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN, about an hour southeast of the Twin Cities. For $7, we were able to try all of their wines they had available from grapes grown in Minnesota at their vineyard in Sogn Valley, 10 miles southwest of their store, which is located in downtown Cannon Falls. The staff is knowledgeable and the atmosphere is welcoming. They use hybrid Minnesota grape varsities like the St. Pepin, LaCrosse, and the Frontenac. They even have an apple wine made from honeycrisp apples and a honey mead made from 100% Minnesota honey. They are a part of the Three Rivers Wine Trail -- something we would like to explore more as we expand our palate for Minnesota (and Wisconsin) wines. For a listing of where to buy these wines in town, click here. You can also order wines online here. Our favorites were the soft, crisp Sogn Blanc and the smokey Minnesota Meritage. Cheers!
The winery we visited was the Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN, about an hour southeast of the Twin Cities. For $7, we were able to try all of their wines they had available from grapes grown in Minnesota at their vineyard in Sogn Valley, 10 miles southwest of their store, which is located in downtown Cannon Falls. The staff is knowledgeable and the atmosphere is welcoming. They use hybrid Minnesota grape varsities like the St. Pepin, LaCrosse, and the Frontenac. They even have an apple wine made from honeycrisp apples and a honey mead made from 100% Minnesota honey. They are a part of the Three Rivers Wine Trail -- something we would like to explore more as we expand our palate for Minnesota (and Wisconsin) wines. For a listing of where to buy these wines in town, click here. You can also order wines online here. Our favorites were the soft, crisp Sogn Blanc and the smokey Minnesota Meritage. Cheers!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Fourty-Five - CSA!
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| Farmer Kate -- from her website |
Community Support Agriculture (CSA) is growing in popularity as people are realizing the importance of knowing where our food comes from and supporting local farmers. What is a CSA? Here's the deal (from Local Harvest): a farmer offers a number of "shares" to the public. It's usually a box of produce, but some farms offer cheeses and meat and dried meals for over the winter. Consumers buy a membership or a subscription in order to receive these boxes of happiness each week throughout the farming season. Of course, paying a farmer is not a guarantee. You are making an investment in the farm, and what you receive sometimes depends more on the weather than on what the farmer has planned. Generally it's 15-18 weeks of produce in Minnesota. Most farmers deliver to multiple drop off sites--sometimes a store, sometimes someone's house. Our site is three blocks from our house--perfect. For more information or for starting your search on a CSA, take a look at the Local Harvest website.
What's included in our CSA? Tons!
- weekly fresh, organic vegetables
- a variety of fresh herbs
- bouquets of fresh flowers
- Weekly newsletter with seasonal recipes and tips
- invites to the farm and its seasonal festivals
I used the awesome list serve for connecting neighborhoods called e-democracy to put out an "ad" for a CSA buddy. We have connected with a family who live in PoHo and they are willing to share the share with us. This is also working out well because we will be able to to connect and meet another family in our neighborhood. It is not 100% official, still waiting for the deposit from the neighbor, but I wanted to post this. If it falls through, I promise, we have a back up. I'll keep you posted. Until then, we are optimistic and can't wait for the first drop off!
Peace!
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