Fifty-Seven - Mattress Upkeep & Cleaning

How do you clean a mattress? I recently found some posts on ReNest about keeping your mattress fresh and lasting a long time--keeping it out of landfills, like I referenced in a previous post.

Besides washing our sheets weekly, here's what we are doing:

1. Spot Clean. Strip it and look for stains. If there are any, us an eco fabric spot cleaner or a little diluted mild soap. Clean and let dry. Even better--let it dry in the sun. The direct sunlight can naturally disinfect the mattress. We live upstairs in the duplex so I'm not dragging that thing outside. Though putting it in front the window will do the trick for a small spot. If you have a mattress cover, wash it. Also, wash and air out your pillows.

2. Flip and/or Rotate. Many mattresses don't let you flip, but if you can, mark the corners so that you can flip it one season, rotate the next so the head becomes the foot, flip the next, then rotate. If you can't do that, just rotate every season. It will help the mattress wear evenly and keep if lasting longer.


3. Freshen Up. Sprinkle baking soda over the mattress and let it sit for 15 minutes (longer if needed!). I've also heard that you can use lavender. Vacuum up the baking soda and the dust bunnies at the same time. 

Do this once per season and your mattress will last longer and you'll breathe easier.


Peace!

Fifty-Six - Garden + Composting Expansion!

Guthrie and I got our seeds from the local food resource hub. For $10, we received more than we needed, so we were able to share with friends. We also received little plants like broccoli and cabbage in the first batch and tomatoes and eggplant in the second.

My first week off, I worked hard to complete the new raised bed with wood recycled from the our old box spring. This year, we are definitely doing something different. The garden is much bigger, and we are expanding what we are growing. We are still trying to keep it simple, using ideas from the Square Foot Gardening method from the book with the same name. I would love a copy of the book, and was only able to have it one hand for three weeks because there were many people waiting to read this book at the library. Still, I learn a lot about when, where, how deep, how far apart, how many plants two people really need, etc.

We are also turning into composting fools. The worms are doing well, but we are no longer composting in the backyard. Honestly, pallet composters or the nice ones you buy work much better and are easier to turn. Instead, we are able to bring anything the worms won't eat to Paradise Community Garden to put into their bins (they have four!). They are able to turn out compost much faster and definitely need it in the garden.

So, many of the seeds are planted (the rest tomorrow when the soil is a little drier), the compost has been added, the beds are weeded, waiting for sprouts (and trying to keep the bunnies away!). Hopefully we will have some wonderful, very local, organic produce in a couple of months. Yum!

Peace!

Shout Out: Beez Kneez!

Check this out: The Beez Kneez. It sure is. Kristy Lynn, cyclists, beekeeper, and Minneapolitan delivers raw honey to your doorstep--dressed as a bee!

This is what she's got for you:

Clover/Basswood Honey

• 12 fl oz jar (1.12 pounds honey): $6
• 32 fl oz jar (3 pounds honey) : $15

Buckwheat Honey

• 12 fl oz jar (1.12 pounds honey): $7
• 32 fl oz jar (3 pounds honey): $18

Both are AMAZING! The bees work at the Bar Bell Bee Ranch in Squaw Lake, MN. The clover/basswood is sweet and smooth and the buckwheat (to quote a friend) is "farmy" and rich. Check out her website for pictures, info, pricing, and an order form. If you live in Minneapolis, she'll come to your door. If you don't, let me know and I can order you some. Our first order we were taking a much needed nap and missed her! I can't wait to see her buzzing by the next time with some more honey. I'm buying big jars next time!

By the way, I am done with the licensure part of grad school :)

Peace!

Laundry Detergent - New Recipe

I don't like the laundry detergent recipe I got from Bonzai Aphrodite that I posted on my Green Cleaning post. It's just too clumpy and too much work for the amount. It worked fine, but I want to experiment. Sadly, we've been buying laundry detergent again because being in grad school eats up all of my free time. Now that I am done (did I mention before that I am done?! :) ), I have more time to try some new ones out. I came across a website with 10 different versions on the same thing -- some liquid, some powder, some large quantities, some small. I am trying recipes 1 and 4. I started with #4. It's way easy, though I will let you know how it works later.

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finished product

Powdered Laundry Detergent

-2 cups soap finely grated (I used Zote, because it's what I had, though any castile soap or something that does not have a lot of perfume)
-1 cup Washing Soda
-1 cup Borax

Mix well. Store in an airtight container. Use 2 tablespoons per full load. Simple.

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melting the soap

Liquid Detergent

-1 quart water (boiling)

-2 cups bar soap (grated)

-2 cups Borax

-2 cups Washing Soda

1. Add the grated soap to the boiling water and stir until melted. Keep on low heat while melting.

2. Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

3. Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

4. Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each full load. Stir/shake the soap before using. 

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getting creative with my containers

I'll let you know how they work! As you can see from the pictures, the powdered version takes up way less space and has the obvious plus of not using water in the recipe. Though I know some washers don't do well with powdered detergents and they also don't work with septic tanks. We'll try them out this weekend. I'll leave you with an interesting post on baking soda from ReNest.

Peace!

PS: It's so nice being done with school! The posts are longer, more details and now photos are back! 

Fifty-Five - Spring Cleaning + Online Resources + a little less paper

This is a hodgepodge week. I don't feel like each one in itself is good for a week, but all of these are things we did not do/utilize last year.

Swaps
The clothing swap was a fabulous event and I am loving my new threads. I also wanted to shout out a couple of resources that we have signed up for accounts online that have helped us to give and get cool secondhand stuff.

Twins Cities Free Market - Powered by Eureka! Recycling. It's a lot like the free section from Craiglists. People giving away a lot of furniture, household items, some bikes, toys, anything! You can also great listings for things in good condition that you want to get rid of. 

Freecycle Network - Guthrie and I just picked up a humidifier on this cite. Something we wanted all winter, but with some patience and timing, we will have one for next winter that was free, in the 'hood, and did not end up in a landfill just because someone didn't need it anymore (they are moving away to better winters). Not only can you search and browse what people are giving away, but you can also request items. 

Connecting with our Community - Online
Guthrie and I are finding some great new ways of being in touch with our community. While living in Atlanta, there was a message board for people who lived in the neighborhood where I worked. I joined the group to help aid in projects for Everyday Leaders, the service-learning after school club I facilitated. Here in Minneapolis there is a very cool online resource called E-Democracy -- a site for local politics and action in Minnesota. It's like an online "town hall". Read more about its mission here. We are in the group dedicated to all things Powderhorn. Like any online group, you can receive messages a little or as much as you want--I get nice email digest once a day at 3 pm and click on the posts that are relevant to mean. Guthrie and I learned about the Take Back the Night Vigil, PoHo events, info related to Powderhorn 365, history about our neighborhood, and general requests. We also recently made a request for compost and a neighborhood who is unable to garden this year due to housework has generously donated to us and Paradise Garden.

Along Chicago -- Main Street Market

Powderhorn 365
I realized last week we have not mentioned this. Guthrie got involved in this project last summer when looking on Flickr for photo groups related to PoHo. The project is awesome. Each day of the week a photographer is assigned to take one photo within the neighborhood and post it to the blog. There are more than one photo per day on the Flickr account, but the blog gives a very nice running history of the blog. It celebrates the people and businesses that are from Lake to 38th, Chicago to Cedar. Guthrie is sometimes featured as a "guest" photographer on the days that the regulars are unable to fulfill their duties. Look at his work for this year here. At the end of the year, a book is created of the 365 photos. They are for purchase online at the website as well. Guthrie has met some cool neighbors through this project and some, including Guthrie, are going to documenting the work at the Paradise Community garden this summer.

Check Register
Guthrie just announced today as he was balancing the check book that we need a new register, but we don't have any more in the drawer. Sadly, my first instinct was to do what we would normally do, order more. But then I said, I'm sure we can do this on the computer. Sure enough, Microsoft Excel has check register workbooks. It's great because we can categorize as we go for budgeting and it does the math for us. I know this is simple and almost silly, but it's a good reminder how there are still so many little changes we can make.

Alright, all of those little things make up our 55th post. Peace!

Fifty-Four - Paradise

Sorry for the delay! Guthrie and I have honestly accidentally found ourselves involved in a community garden. We met a wonderful neighbor through the sustainability community and now I have jumped right into to this wonderful project: Paradise Community Garden / Jardín Paraíso. It is beautiful, bilingual communal garden next to South City Cafe that just started last year. It is democratically run and any and all can come and pitch in. You come, you reap the rewards, you get a say, and you connect in English and in Spanish to some wonderful community members. My sense of community has increased tremendously and I have met some wonderful people. Guthrie is getting involved by working with others from Powderhorn 365 to document the goings-on at the garden through photography. This is also wonderful because we are able to bring our excess compost that the worms can't eat up to the garden as well. This is helping us to learn more about gardening, meet with neighbors, be a part of a community beautification project, and compost more! Please come and join us Tuesday 5-7 and Saturdays 2-4!

Peace!

Happy May Day!

Fifty-Four will be coming later this week (updates on the garden expansion and community resources relating to that that we are tapping into...) but for now -- go enjoy May Day!!! We are having a little get together at our place and are heading to the park a little later. You should, too!

Check it out here!

Peace!