CSA update and Planet Green

Here's a picture of yesterday's share from the CSA that a few of us belong to (here's a link to an entry about our first visit).  Included goodies are:  summer squash, carrots, lettuce, celery, swiss chard, corn, cucumbers, green beans, peaches, asian pears, sweet and hot peppers, new potatoes, baby beets, onions, tomatoes, basil and edamame.  Most weeks there are pick-your-own opportunities as well (including flowers), and there are cut herbs available.  Having had my own veggie patch in the past, I've always appreciated that fresh produce has so much more flavor than store-bought, so that was no surprise.  I am amazed at the variety of vegetables that have been available and my friends and I have had more than a few how-do-you-prepare-this phone calls when a new-to-us veggie has appeared in the week's harvest.  I do find myself planning my meals around what's available and that has helped me to expand my culinary skills (which my husband really appreciates!)

After supper last night (which included one of those wonderful tomatoes!), I took a break from my marathon Olympics viewing to catch up on a couple of episodes of my favorite shows that I DVRd from Planet Green.  The first show I'd like to recommend is Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff (produced by ABC news) which is a weekly news show that digs deeper into environmental topics.  The other show I'm really enjoying is Supper Club where a "green" chef cooks for celebrities and authors who discuss environmental issues (both pros and cons) over their meal.  Here are two interesting but random items from the show I viewed last night:  

• Author Tom Kostigan offered a tip he'd just learned.  If you are at the grocery fish counter and you can't remember which fish is a healthier and/or sustainable choice, you can text "30644 fish X", with the X being the name of the fish you are wondering about, and you'll get a text right back with the pertinent information.
  
• Author Sophie Uliano (Gorgeously Green) while debating whether the individual can truly make a difference or only governments can solve global warming stated, "You vote with your dollar."  This just struck me to be very true.

Give your clothes a vacation

....from the dryer!  Summer is the perfect time to reduce your carbon footprint by using solar power to dry your clothes.  According to the State of California, the use of a clothesline can save 1,000 mw/day of electricity and they are encouraging residents to use clotheslines to help prevent brownouts there.  They estimated that by hanging out just 1/4 of your laundry, you'll save $30 per year.  The EPW Blog states, " There were more than 88 million dryers in the US in 2005. 'If all Americans line-dried for just half a year, it would save 3.3% of the country’s total residential output of carbon dioxide, experts say.' 3.3%! That’s huge if you think about how much CO2 all the households in the US emit. As for the impact on the wallet, the average clothes dryer costs about $160/yr to run. "

Other benefits of hanging out:  clothes smell great, less shrinkage, the sun kills germs, and clothes last longer (all that lint is worn-away fabric).  I like it because I'm more aware of the outdoors--I have to be aware of the pollen count and plan for rain, although I do have lines strung in my basement for winter use.

I use an umbrella style clothesline which doesn't sag the way a line stretched from tree to tree does.   Generally, I hang clothes upside down to prevent clothespin marks on my shoulders and things I don't want to fade get turned inside-out.  I fold right off the line to smooth out any wrinkles but dressier clothes might need 2 to 3 minutes in the dryer on the "wrinkle release" setting.  More tips can be found on the GardenWeb which has forums on all sorts of interesting topics!