Bean teepees from yard waste

Garden problem #1: Man, these shoots are growing out of nowhere. I'll have to cut them and haul them away. Sigh.

Garden problem #2: Hmm, are we out of stakes in the shed? I guess I'll have to go buy some before I can make the bean teepee. Ugh, another errand.


DING, DING, DING!

Are you quicker than I am?

Yep, it took me a minute, but I finally clued in that problem #1 was the solution for problem #2.

The 6-foot long shoots I cut were about a half-inch in diameter. My garden helper (I use the term loosely) and I cut away the small side branches and made five poles to use as a teepee for beans. I gathered the poles at the top and then spread them out in a circle with the bases of most poles about 18 inches apart. Two poles are farther apart, like a door, to allow my son to enter the teepee.

I pushed the poles in the ground a few inches and wrapped the tops with some twine to keep them connected. The whole assembly probably took three minutes. (My brain wave took much longer!)

I have made teepees from man-made garden stakes before, but definitely prefer the natural approach. I like the look, it used materials on hand, and the flexibility of the branches made installation easier. The notches from cut twigs also make the poles interlock.

Simple garden teepees can accommodate cucumbers, melons and squashes. They are great space-saving measures in a garden. Just be sure to carefully consider placement in your garden, such as at the north end where their height won't block sun to surrounding plants.

For a bean teepee use pole beans, not bush (which are perfectly tasty but don't climb). We planted five seeds around each pole. That was the funnest part. My 7-year-old son said, "Hey, these seeds look like candy!" "Yeah, you're right, they do kind of look like Tictacs," I replied.

"And old people candy!" he declared.

I'm still scratching my head about that one. Happy planting!

A Garden in your Apartment

Check out the video below from Ted.com. It combines a few of my favorite topics: gardening, self sufficiency, and open source collaboration. Britta Riley was inspired by an article she read by Michael Pollan in which he said that growing even a small amount of our own food is one of the best things we can do for our environment. She decided to learn how to use hydroponics to grow food in her apartment window. 

She created an open source website http://our.windowfarms.org/ where people can invent and test each others ideas in order to find the best methods for window farming. The website provides free instructions on how to create window farms. You can test the systems others invent and play a role in developing window farms. Those that don't want to create their own systems can buy equipment from http://www.windowfarms.com/about-the-company/. The funds are used to fund the open source process. Just another example of how anyone can become more self sufficient.

Have any of you done window or hydroponic gardening? We would love to hear about your experiences.

~Michael~

Chicken Poo Power

I once lived in a town that was run by hydroelectric power. I've seen cars that run on electric power. My friend at work has a charger for his Iphone that runs on solar power. My kids watch a cartoon that has lots of puppy power. I have done seen a lot of things but I've never seen a town that is run on chicken poo power.....until today.

Take a look at this article from the BBC website about a city in the UK that is run on chicken poo power. According to the article two farmers invested in a biogas plant will take chicken litter, pig manure, wheat and corn and generate enough electricity to power 350 homes.

I am a big fan of chickens and I am pleased with how much the chickens we have had reduce our waste. However, I have never thought about using their waste to produce electricity. I like the idea though. Let us raise our glasses to chicken poop, may it continue to warm our homes, and our lives.

A Simple Plan

Michael Johnson

As I was watching Food Inc this past week they talked about an organic Dairy Company called Stonyfield Farms. They signed a contract with Wal Mart and it brought up some interesting topics. Some people considered them hypocrites for signing on with a big box store, but the CEO argued that they were doing more good than harm by offering organic food to people that would never otherwise have it.

So I ask you all, are they hypocrites or are they doing something good? Is it possible for a company to try to make money and be profitable while at the same time doing what is right for people and the environment. My argument is that it is possible to do and be both, but only if consumers demand and buy things that are good for the world. If I am not willing to buy organic earth friendly shoes, then no one will make them. This might be a cynical view but I believe that ALMOST all companies care almost exclusively about the bottom line profits. At the same time I think that MOST companies can be profitable and still be socially responsible.

That leads me to one of my favorite socially responsible companies that I enjoy. Simple shoes make shoes that attempt to be better for the environment. They use organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, recycled rubber, cork, and recycled tires in their products. In addition to being socially responsible, their shoes are cool and comfortable. I don’t consider myself naïve in believing that they only make shoes to help the world. They make shoes to make money. However, they have found that there are people that want what they offer so they provide it.



We are a simple family. I have three pairs of Simple shoes. Marisa has two pair and our daughter has two pairs as well. They are comfortable and they are durable. They also look cool in my opinion. I am not trying to get you to buy these shoes. I am just trying to start a discussion about earth friendly companies and if they really exist.

I have hesitated to write this article for a while for a few reasons. First, it doesn’t have a lot to do with Backyard Farming, and second I don’t want to make it look like our blog does commercials. Third, usually when I think a company is socially responsible I end up finding out that it is just an image and they are doing more bad than good. In the end I just really like my Simple shoes and wanted to write about them. What companies do you consider to be environmentally responsible?  What companies do you think portray themselves as such, but fail? Is Simple just pulling the wool or hemp over my eyes?

Save Energy and Money

So my husband was browsing websites looking for some ways that we could save energy, thus save some money. He stumbled across one website that suggested you not open your fridge until you have a few things to get out as opposed to opening the fridge for each item. By doing this you could save a whopping 50 cents per week!!! Hmmm.....we have a long way to go to get to that point. Kids are just drawn to that fridge, as soon as it is opened, they are mesmerize, and could gaze into it for hours if allowed.
Even worse than the fridge is the front door. It was 19 degrees here today, you would think that my kids would remember to shut the door, nope. You know how they have cards that sing a song or give you a message each time it is opened? I'm thinking I need some sort of device like that installed on my front door. Each time it is opened, a recording of my voice saying "Please shut the door!" would play. Now that is a money saving tip right there.

(Image from Christy's Thrifty Decorating)

So, what are your REALISTIC energy saving/money saving tips?

~marisa

Deodorant, To Use or Not to Use, That is the Question

Last year, in my baby step attempts to keep chemicals out of my home, out of my body, as well as off of my body, I bought a "rock" or "crystal" type deodorant. Otherwise known as "imaginary deodorant" by my husband.It seems to work really well if applied right after a shower, but isn't good for slathering on after a run or workout so you don't stink while you run to the store. I have great phobias of stinking, so I chose not to use it over the summer, just in case. Now that the weather has cooled off, my "imaginary deodorant" has re-emerged. Like I said...baby steps. Maybe next year I will use it through the summer as well.

Why do you ask, would one use this type of deodorant?

Recently I was looking around for some other options to a "rock" or "crystal" type deodorant and found, Simple Mom's blog has a homemade deodorant recipe.

She lists some reasons she has made the switch, which include:

Store bought antiperspirants contain aluminum which may cause:

1. Aluminum may impact breast cancer risks.
2. Antiperspirants block sweat glands. Is that a good idea?
3. Aluminum mimics estrogen. (technical term: “hormone disruptor”)
4. Aluminum is linked to Alzheimer’s.

Check out her blog for more reasons to make the switch.

Leave a comment on what you think. Store bought vs. all natural vs. homemade.

The Munchies

So this must be who is eating my basil...

We found this enormous snail in our driveway a few days ago. He certainly solves the mystery of why my seedlings keep getting mowed to the ground and why my basil has seen better days. The kids thought he was wonderful. We took him for show and tell, and he was a big hit. But at the end of the day I LIKE MY BASIL BETTER! He was shown mercy and released a day later in the schoolyard, but his compadres will not be so lucky.

Attempting to grow organic, I researched my options (asked my mom) and chose to use diatomaceous earth . It is a microscopic one-celled organism and successfully kills slugs, and insects by dehydration. It's much cheaper than other organic and non-organic options. So far I have seen a major improvement! I sprinkled it around the plants that have been under slug and snail "siege", and only a few days later they are standing up straight and have no new damage.

Waste Not Want Not

One of the great things about having a backyard farm is that it allows you to waste much less than you would otherwise. In our house, our food scraps, vegetable cuttings, and uneaten leftovers are all used. We feed the vegetables to our Rabbit who then makes that food into good garden fertilizer. We give most of the other food, (including vegetables that the rabbit doesn't eat) to our chickens. Did you know that chickens will almost eat anything? Well they do, and all of that food energy goes into making eggs or more fertilizer. Everything that our chickens don't eat goes into our compost bin with the chicken waste and rabbit poop so we can add rich organic material to our garden. We also shred our newspapers and junk mail and add them to our compost bin instead of recycling all of our paper.

Here is how we made a simple compost bin for less than $20. We bought a sturdy plastic garbage can at our local store.

For the organic material to break down it needs oxygen. We drilled holes in the can at regular intervals.

You will want to add what are called green and brown materials to your bin to get a good ratio of carbon rich and nitrogen rich matter in the compost. Brown materials are high in carbon and they include ash or wood material, shredded cardboard boxes and newspaper, leaves, pine needles, and fruit waste. Green materials are high in nitrogen and include grass clippings, coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, manure, most food waste, seaweed, hay, and other green leaves from plants. It is suggested that you layer these materials. The smaller the material is the better as well. On a daily basis we have more green waste than brown so we throw everything in the compost bin and then add our browns periodically by shredding paper and scooping up some hay from the chicken coop.

Once you have a good mix of greens and browns you want to mix them together. In this picture we are rolling the compost bin to mix the compost. We have found that adding a bungee cord from handle to handle over the lid helps to keep the lid on as we roll it. You also want to keep your compost relatively moist so you might need to sprinkle it with water periodically.

It normally takes 1 to 2 months for your compost to form. For this reason it might be a good idea to have a few separate bins. If you don't want to make a bin like this or you are on a larger property, you can just pile your compost in an area of your property that is preferably far away from your home as it tends to stink. You can also just form a fenced in compost area with fencing, bricks, or cinderblocks if you want to keep it more contained.

I find a lot of satisfaction in taking what most consider garbage and making it into something that helps my garden grow.

Saving the Earth, One Bag at a Time

Isn't she lovely?

This is my husband Michael's grandmother Doris, this is also Dale's mother. She is so kind, generous, sweet, loving, witty, and crafty on top of all that. At a recent family reunion I saw her crocheting what looked like strips of tissue paper. I then asked her what she was doing and she explained that she was crocheting strips of old plastic shopping bags together to make a sturdy waterproof bag. Wow, what an idea!

Here is how you do it:

Lay a plastic shopping bag flat(the type you get from the grocery store). OK, it doesn't have to be perfectly flat, because I am nowhere close to a perfectionist and it worked for me.

Cut the handles off as well as the bottom.

Now cut the bag into about 1 inch strips, again, no need to be a perfectionist on this!

You should end up with a bunch of loops like this...

To make the "yarn" you link them together. I don't know what type of knot this is....any boy scouts out there know what this is? I just remember linking my jelly bracelets together like this.

I spread out the loops so you could see what it looks like, but you would just crochet as if it was a piece of yarn, you don't really spread it out like that.

Now, here is the part that hopefully you crochet masters will understand because I'm not great at explaining things.....

To make the bag.... You will chain until you get the length you want the bag. Then start your rows. You will continue doing rows until you get the base of the bag as wide as you would like. So you might chain 30 and do 8 rows to get the base. Once you get the base the size you want, you will start going around and around the base in a circle, as you start doing this, it will make the sides of the bag. You will keep going in circles making the sides until it is as deep as you want. To make the straps, you can braid the bag strips or you could double crochet them.

Leave a comment if you have questions about it. If you try it, send us your pictures so we can post your creations.

Tip: if you use bags with different colored logos on them, you will get a speckles of all different colors, which can be fun.

Now go out there and save the earth one bag at a time!

~marisa

Green Cleaning

My sister-in-law, Mary, just moved to a new house. While moving she threw out all her harsh chemical cleansers, and now Mary is "going green". She wants to be more eco-friendly and Detox her home.

If you are made of money, there are supermarket shelf options to purchase. I'm a fan of Method, Mrs. Meyers, Simple Green, and Seventh Generation. These are companies who use plant derived ingredients and/or "safe" synthetics as well as run their companies eco-responsibly.

Since genuinely green alternatives can be pricey and hard to find, I put together a list of simple and inexpensive ingredients readily available that can get the job(s) done.

Vinegar

Mild acid cuts through grease, disinfects and discourages mold. It's effective in cleaning glass and tile, and removing odors.

Baking Soda

Highly versatile, mild abrasive that can disinfect, eliminate odors, and will not scratch surfaces.

Borax

Useful and powerful cleaning agent. It is effective in removing mold and mildew and acts as an anti fungal. It is helpful in laundry cleaning as well.

Soap

Environmentally friendly dish washing liquid, or bar soap made from vegetable oils and animal fats.

Kitchen

~Multipurpose Cleanser

For cleaning glass, stainless steel, and plastic laminate surfaces fill a spray bottle with 2 parts water, 1 part distilled white vinegar.

~Microwave: place a glass bowl filled with 1/4 cup of vinegar in 1 cup of water. Place inside and microwave for 5 minutes. When finished dip a rag into the mixture (be careful--hot) and wipe off splatters.

Bathroom

~Toilet: pour a mixture of 1/2cup borax in 1 gallon of water into your toilet bowl, scrub with a toilet brush, then flush. Once a month, pour half a box of baking soda into the toilet tank. Let it sit overnight, then flush a few times the next morning. This will help to clean the tank and the bowl.

~Tough tile and porcelain stains: 1 cup of borax and 1/4 cup of lemon juice turned into a paste. Apply the paste to the problem area, rub it in with a sponge or rag and then wash away with warm water.

~Tile grout: use an old toothbrush and straight vinegar to restore the white grout.

~Mold and Mildew: mix 3 TBS of white vinegar, 1 tsp borax and 2 cups of hot water in a spray bottle. Work over the mildew areas, let it soak and then wash away.

General

~Windows: Use multipurpose cleanser and wipe dry with newspaper.

~Stain Remover: For carpet stains use Borax. Dissolve 1/2 cup of borax in a pint of water. Sponge the solution, wait 1/2 hour, shampoo, let dry, and vacuum.

Laundry

~Adding 1/2 cup of borax to load with regular amount of laundry detergent is an effective stain remover and laundry deodorizer.

~Adding 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to your washer's rinse cycle can kill bacteria in your wash, make clothes soft and smell fresh, brighten whites, keep clothes static free, and set the color of newly dyed fabrics.

The Dirt Doctor

I recently checked out Herbs for Texas by Howard Garrett. It's a fabulous book. It's full of wonderful herb info, but I was pleasantly surprised by Garret's very simple break down of "going green" into a Basic Organic Program for homeowners.

Howard Garrett aka The Dirt Doctor gives a very informative and persuasive argument for eliminating toxic poisons in our landscapes and gardens. He provides ample resources including a radio talk show, an organic forum, numerous books , as well as a weekly column in the Dallas Morning News.

"Organic" is such a buzz word these days, it makes you wonder how many people are trying to be "green" and don't even know what it means. Garret very simply states, "The Basic Organic Program is about making good decisions." When making decisions about your garden ask these questions:

1. Will this product help or hurt the earthworms?



2. Will it stimulate life and health?

When we use synthetic fertilizers and toxic chemicals we deplete the soil of helpful organisms and hummus. The soil in turn becomes less productive, and more prone to insects and disease. In contrast, every time organic fertilizers are applied the soil grows better and better, healthier and healthier - forever. Healthy soil produces healthy plants, and healthy plants resist disease and don't attract insect pests.

Up until I read this book I added miracle grow to just about anything. But I am a changed woman! Unable to see the error in his ways, my husband happens to be the "ortho-max diazinon" king. (Not really but he loves his synthetic fertilizers and pesticides because of the instant results.) Eeek! but I think this book will make a convert out of him.

I can't re-write his book (even though it would be my pleasure) but here are some fantastic highlights:

• Before WWII manure was the primary fertilizer and sulfur, tobacco, and good bugs were the primary pest controls.



• With more money spent today on pesticides than ever before, about one-third of all food crops are still lost to pest insects. That's the same percentage as before the pesticides became available.



• For his recipes of organic concoctions and compost follow these links.

Read Garrett's work, and you will be so fully educated on the organic way it will feel like common sense.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways...

I absolutely adore my chickens. Honestly, one of the best feelings in the world is when I open up my back door and three fat hens coming running toward me. I know they are only hoping I'm bringing them something to eat but still, the way they run is so cute that I just don't care! And I no longer complain that my children turn their noses up at bread crusts - my hens think they're best thing ever. But before you start dismissing me as some weird chicken lady, know that I only got chickens about 9 months ago and before that knew absolutely nothing about them and could count on one hand how many times I'd seen one in person.

But I guess it shouldn't surprise me too much. I am a bird lady. My husband has made me aware that every time we see birds I try to talk to them. I'm actually pretty good at it too, at least in my mind. I've thought of taking up bird watching but then you only get to watch and not talk. I just like to talk to the birds running around my car at the grocery store or hopping around my backyard in the evening.
Last fall on a particularly bad day, I went out back and put a blanket down and watched my hens peck around in the grass and chase after bugs. I felt so happy - like all was well with the world. I think all animals have this calming affect but in particular I love watching my birds. If you haven't had the chance to see a beautiful hen in her element, you are really missing out. A chubby little hen with her shiny feathers - so soft to the touch - waddling around and softly clucking as she nibbles on the grass is a sight to see. It'll lower your blood pressure but more than that it'll make you smile and remember the simple pleasures of grass and sky and soft afternoons with a cool breeze.

From Scratch.

The greatest things start with the smallest steps.


It is never too early to start planning your backyard farm. One of the most important things is finding out what exactly you want to grow. If you truly want to have a "kitchen garden", you need to be ready to use what you grow.


A good place to start is to look in your kitchen cabinet or refrigerator & see what you can replace with a homemade version. Our family made a goal this year to replace one item a month with an alternative made entirely from scratch. It has actually been easier than we imagined it would be & we are so far exceeding our goal & adding multiple homemade items to our kitchen every month. We started with salad dressings. We looked at the different types we most frequently ate & either found a recipe for it online or made one up! We then bottled them in leftover cooking wine bottles we had saved. We then moved on to breads, ketchup, frozen pizzas, ice cream, tomato sauces, corn tortillas & cereal! !


The one thing that everything we made had in common was that they were all way more delicious & much healthier than the store bought alternatives. The main rule of thumb when we make something is that we have to use all fresh, whole ingredients. No canned soups or mixes. The main advantage this has is eliminating the additives & preservatives found in pre-packaged foods. This has been quite liberating for our family. The boundaries have been broken as to what can be done in our home with food. Starting every thing from scratch allows you to explore combinations of flavors & to get to know ingredients in their true form. Your imagination is sparked by the smells & textures & your palette becomes accustomed to the challenge. You are freed from the limits of preservative laden & additive heavy seasoning & sauce packets

Once you get comfortable cooking from scratch you will begin to get an idea where to start with your backyard farm or garden. What ingredients do you use most that would be better replaced by a homegrown version? Curious about something you've seen in a seed catalog? Test it out by buying that ingredient from your local market & testing out a few recipes with it. It is always fun to add a new fruit or vegetable to your menu. Remember not to overwhelm yourself. It may even be best for you to start with a simple herb garden or even some trash can potatoes! The funnest part for us is removing an item from our grocery list! Our pantry is filled with less boxes each month but our dinner table has more variety than ever! Don't forget that backyard farming doesn't have to stay within your own backyard. Branch out in your community & find out what local farms are growing or even plan to swap with a neighbor!

Whatever your motivation is for the homegrown/homemade revolution, the benefits far outweigh the extra effort it takes. We started from necessity due to my severe son's MSG allergy & have been rewarded not only with his good health, but in his diverse palette & love for creativity in the kitchen. It has become a family habit that we grow to love more &more as we reach greater strides in our little kitchen. Once you take the first step & get started, your eyes will be opened to a whole new world of eating & a brand new appetite for diversity in the kitchen!

~meghan s.

My backyard chickens

We talk about having chickens a lot on this blog but I know to some of you chickens seem strange and difficult animals to have. So I decided to share the story of how I got chickens to take some of the mystery out of it.

Last September I got four little chicks at the feed store - they were one week old and cute. At the feed store they told us exactly what kind of food to get, which waterer, and told us what temperature they needed to be at over the next few weeks. I got the supplies but of course I forgot everything else. That's ok though since there are sooo many sites which explain everything you need to know in complete detail. We put them in a box in our pantry and watched them grow. I was a little worried - I had no idea how to take care of chickens. I'd think, "Who am I kidding? I'm a suburbanite! "An old neighbor of ours offered us an tattered doghouse and then I spent the next few weeks drawing and designing our coop. Ever since I was a kid I've loved drawing and making plans but usually they never materialized so this was like a dream come true! Since at about 5 weeks the chicks are ready to be outside my husband Mike took my amateur plans and turned them into a real live coop. I was ecstatic!Here's our simple coop. It's nothing fancy but the chickens love it. We were able to free our 5 week old pullets(or adolescent hens) into our backyard. I was glad to get them out there - they were getting stinky. And they loved it - roaming around our backyard, scratching at bugs and munching on grass. Much to our dismay though, within a few weeks we had lost two pullets to a hawk. And then on Christmas morning two months later we lost a third to a raccoon. I was devastated. I wondered if perhaps I wasn't cut out for this whole farming thing - something I had dreamed of since childhood. I kept going though because we still had one hen left and I didn't want her to be alone. But I also didn't want to start with chicks and have to wait five weeks before I could get them outside. I had recently joined a group supporting "pet chicken" owners and at the first meeting I attended I found out about a local poultry auction that just might have some older hens for sale. We went to that auction and got her some friends. Most of the hens we got only cost us around 3 or 4 dollars. We put in extra measures for security and we were finally able to just enjoy our birds and wait for our first egg. I waited very impatiently and was finally awarded our first egg in February of this year. Hens typically start laying around 20-22 weeks. Since then we have gotten over a dozen a week from three hens. Much more than my small family could ever eat! Like Marisa said, it's a fun thing to be able to share with friends and neighbors.

I always wanted chickens but I never knew how satisfying it would be. And I certainly never expected them to be such a low maintenance pet with such great rewards. I love being able to walk by the eggs at the grocery store with a sort of snootiness because I have my own free range chicken eggs coming from my own backyard.

So in the end what I know now is that:

One - chickens are cheap. Chicks cost about from a dollar or two and their starter feed, which lasts for months if you only have a few chicks, is about six dollars. The feed, especially if you are letting them also free range on bugs, lasts forever and is much less expensive than cat or dog food.

Two - They are low maintenance animals. I kind of hate having animals underfoot - needy and smelly. Chickens are independent animals. Thought they may like you they won't stare at you with needy eyes as you finish your lunch. And they don't make much noise at all - I'd be surprised if any of my neighbors ever heard them at all. Their waste degrades very quickly and can actually be a really good addition to a compost pile.

Three - They have big personalities and are a lot of fun to watch. People say that fish are relaxing to watch but in my mind - they've got nothing on hens. I love to sit out back and watch the hens peck around, take dirt baths, or sun themselves lazily in the grass. I also think it's funny to watch them get broody and moody and get into little squabbles with each other.

Four - They're beautiful animals and a sort of pride comes in owning pretty birds. I had a friend who told me that her brother got a pet chicken and on a whim entered it into a local contest and eventually took state for such a being such a nice looking hen! If you're not careful you can start to look at all of the rare and beautiful breeds and pine over them!

Five - There are great support groups out there for chicken owners. From websites to forums to local clubs. Even the local feed store can be a lot of help answering any questions you may have. Not to mention this site...

So, if you thought chickens might be too far from your reality you may want to consider it again. It's the easy, fun, and cheap way to get out of buying eggs from those terrible factories full of chickens. Your kids will have a lot of fun and learn quite a bit about where our food comes from and the life cycle. Not to mention that your neighbors and friends will all think you're so cool!

~Megan

*Something I forgot to mention is about how sanitary chickens are or are not. It's not the chickens you need to worry about but the person who is taking care of them. Large factories where thousands of birds are housed together in confined spaces are disease spreaders - not backyards. If one of my chickens were acting funny I'd notice it immediately and take action. Chickens are clean animals and if they were starting to get really dirty that would be a sign that something is wrong - which a backyard chicken owner would notice when a factory worker might not. They aren't complicated animals and they don't come into contact with other chickens so they are pretty safe and healthy. Also, when I first got chickens I was worried about the bird flu until I read an article on whether or not backyard chicken owners should worry about bird flu. It's an informative and actually pretty funny read. Click here to go to that article. And as for other sanitary conditions - my birds are clean - there are only three of them with plenty of space to roam around. I think you'll find that cleaning out the hen house when it starts to smell - maybe every few weeks around here - is all you'll need to worry about.

Line Drying your Laundry

If you've never had the chance to hang your laundry on a line outdoors you are really missing out. Line drying your clothes is just as romantic an activity as it seems to be in pictures. It is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Surrounding myself in the smell of clean laundry invigorates me while the sound of sheets billowing in the wind seems to cleanse my over stimulated ears. And my hanging laundry creates an artistic installment in my boring backyard. There are many other reasons to line dry your clothes. Here are a few*:

• Electric dryers use five to ten percent of residential electricity in the United States!(Some say it cuts their electricity bill in half!)
• Save money (more than $100/year on electric bill for most households).
• Conserve energy and the environment.
• Clothes and sheets smell better.
• Clothes last longer. Where do you think lint comes from?
• It is physical activity which almost anyone can do.
• Sunlight bleaches and disinfects

There are a few options for line drying your clothes outside. Many older homes already have a line installed and ready to go. These lines are pretty but do take up a good amount of space. This year I purchased a space saving model from Amazon because it fit my needs in more ways than one. What I like about it is that it easy to put up and to take down. We are renting right now and so I didn't know if the Landlord would like me to put up anything permanent - and I wanted something I could take along to our next place. I also love that it is so compact. I have memories of walking up and down the clothesline and dragging my basket behind. With this compact and rotating clothesline, I can pretty much stay right in the same place for the whole thing. Here is an image of the clothesline in it's three stages. I took it down because the lawn was getting mowed. It's really light and easy to take up or put down. The pole in the first image is also removable leaving only a small green sleeve that has a cap to close it so it doesn't fill with water.

As with any of these images - click to see larger

Now that Spring has finally arrived down south, I can put my new clothesline to work. This morning I started with a huge load of laundry as you can see. You really could easily fit two to three extra large loads of laundry on this clothesline. I am using wood clothespins because I like the feel and look of them but plastic ones will work as well - they may even make less marks on your things. I have about 200 of them in this handy hanging holder I got. That's probably way more than I'll ever need but I hate running out and like having an abundance of these so I can use them without thought. They also get stolen and used in the kitchen to hold bags closed!

My first encounter with hanging laundry in the real world was at a neighbor's home down the street. I was only about 7 or 8 and I thought that they must be so poor if they needed to hang their laundry! This stigma is changing and line drying laundry is quickly become the chic thing to do for those who care about the planet. That day, I also went and felt some of the clothes expecting to feel something akin to that commercial with the fabric softener bear. I was surprised when it felt stiff and hard. I have now learned tricks for overcoming that stiffness. Right before hanging the clothes snap them a few times by shaking them hard. Do it again when removing them. And hanging them so that the wind can continue to wave and snap will increase the softness. If it still isn't quite soft enough - especially on those towels you can throw them in the dryer for a couple minutes. I've never felt the need to do this but maybe if guests were coming in town I might make an exception!

Something I hate about laundry is the mountain of clothes it makes after I dump them all out on my bed or sofa. In fact, sometimes this mountain is so overwhelming we start just dressing ourselves out of the laundry basket for a few days until we finally break down and fold the laundry. With line drying that step is completely eliminated because I fold each item as I take it down so that it's ready to go straight to it's proper place once I go inside.

Once you've started putting up your laundry you'll start to develop some tricks for quicker drying or more discreet placement. I, for one, like to put my underwear towards the inside behind my other laundry so that neighbors get to enjoy billowing sheets not bras!

In the end, hanging laundry is a spring and summer activity that I look forward to and enjoy. It gets me outside and enjoying the weather and it makes me feel happy knowing that this enjoyable activity is helping save resources that are really in need of saving. So whether you rig up your own clothesline, use an existing one, or buy a new one - I'm sure you'll find that it fast becomes a treasured quiet time to reflect and enjoy mother nature's best resources!
~Megan

*List of items comes from Project Laundry Website.