Inner Peace

A very cute eco friendly science experiment is listed over at Heathen Homeschoolers.  It is creating a landfill in a two liter bottle.  What a great way to illustrate the importance of recycling.

Be sure to go check it out.

No I didn’t forget about this blog before it even really got started.  I just kept thinking that I had to wait until I could post more outdoor projects to blog.  Silly me, I forgot I live in Missouri.  Land of crazy weather - one day I’m in shorts working on getting raised beds ready and the next I need a coat.

Now I have decided that I don’t need to wait to show the outdoor projects.  There is a variety of eco issues that I can discuss on those yucky cold days, lol!

I will write new posts on a regular basis starting today.  Join me on my journey towards being more eco friendly.

Today I took my first step toward volunteering locally.  I have been searching for like-minded people in my local area to work with on eco projects and education.  I made contact with a person today who is organizing an Eco Fest this fall about forty minutes from where I live.  She is also being the contact person who is trying to connect like-minded people in the area with each other.  I am going to be meeting with some people locally to explore the idea of starting a community garden in our area.  I’m so excited!  Stay tuned for updates.

In one of the sideyards there is what i refer to as the MESS.  It is a stump of a tree that fell years ago before our house was even built.  It just is a mess with all of the growth in and around it.  I am not sure what I will do to make this area look better.  I might try clearing out everything except for the stump.

The MESS

Our house has a bigger backyard compared to the front.  The frontyard is divided by our driveway.  We haven’t done anything in the frontyard since we have lived here either.  So another BIG project awaits me.

View from the deck

The other side of the yard

From the side of the deck

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the front yard yet.  I’m currently reading about edible landscaping.  Maybe something like that would work in the front.

There are many projects I hope to start this year.  Some will be more complete than others by the end of 2009.  I think having a visual record of what I’m beginning with will help me to see the progress.  So here we go…..

Our backyard is not level.  There is a slope that extends the length of our yard.  Here are a couple of “Before” pictures.

The view from the back porch

Different angle from back porch

As you can see, nothing has been done to our backyard in the two years we have lived here.  I will be starting from scratch this year.  This is going to be a BIG project!

I am the hippie mama of two wonderful children.  I am married to a computer geek who likes to geek up our house, lol!  I love him despite the cords and geek projects.

Before staying at home, I worked as a school counselor.  I began staying at home shortly before the birth of our youngest child.

I have always been interested in eco issues.  I have not been as involved as I would like in organizations that help promote eco issues.  I am hoping to change that this year.  There are a few local projects in the near future that I have volunteered to help with.  I am excited to have a chance to be more involved.

I have slowly tried to make our house more eco friendly.  My mission for 2009 is to be able to say that I made some major changes in our home and lifestyle.

After having a blog on homeschooling issues for a few months, I have decided to start another blog.  This blog is going to focus on eco issues and sustainability education.  It will also tell the story of how I help our family become even greener in 2009.

Join me as I fumble through designing a garden, constructing raised beds and trying to maintain the garden during my first growing season in years.  The last time I had a garden of any size, my dad was around to give me much needed advice.    It should be an interesting adventure doing it without his help.