This year I discovered rose hips and I have totally fallen for them! They are super packed full of Vitamin C, but not so tasty, so I made an infusion with them to add to my elderberry syrup this year. For those of you that don’t know, rose hips are the fruit that forms at the flower of a rose if you do not cut it, but let it fall off. I have found the wild roses to have bigger, redder hips than those cultivated for flowering. But as Mark and I were out freezing our fingertips off and barely feeling the multitude of cuts from the wild rose thorns (the kids had enough after about 3 minutes and watched from the car), I thought how beautiful this fruit is and there has to be another use for them. A more aesthetic use for them. I immediately thought they would be a great substitute for cranberry garlands. Each year all the “green” blogs, magazines, news, etc. suggest making cranberry garlands as a green alternative for decorations. I never could get myself to do this because 1) it’s rather expensive if you have to buy them and 2) cranberries are so go to eat, it seems a shame to waste them. But harvesting wild rose hips for a garland, now that I can get behind. Unfortunately I will have to wait until next year because I already used all my rosehips for elderberry syrup and the freezing temperatures  have ruined the rest here in Idaho. But for those of you who live in milder climates, you probably can still get some beautiful red rose hips for your garlands. If you try it, let me know what you think! (Note: Rose hips are really tough, so you will need a big embroidery needle.)

Some of our other favorite Natural Decorations include:

• popcorn garlands
• silver twig decorations from What Shall We Do Today?
• felt ornaments (a nice thick wool felt holds it’s shape best)
• pine cuttings and cinnamon sticks used almost frivolously though out the house
• citrus pomanders (here are directions if you want, but we just usually stick cloves into oranges)
• gold tipped pinecones (I like getting those cinnamon pinecones each year, I save them to use as crafts the next year)

Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/

• The average American throws away 1,600 pounds of trash each year. That’s 4.4 pounds every day!
• Americans make enough plastic every year to shrink-wrap Texas.
• 600 plastic bags are thrown away every second in California.
• Each year, more than 1 million sea birds and 100 thousand marine mammals die from plastic materials like bags from the grocery store.
• Composting is nature’s way of recycling leftover food into nutritious soil that saves space in landfills and helps prevent global warming.
• It takes 18 years for one corn cob to decompose in a landfill, but only a couple of months in a compost pile!  When food is composted, it breaks down much faster and recycles itself into new life instead of sitting trapped in the landfill for many, many years.

I am not going to discuss laundry detergents too much because I find that is based almost exclusively on personal preference. I use ECOS Free & Clear Laundry Liquid, 100 oz because I can’t beat the Costco price (210 oz for about $15). A few other good ones are Method Squeaky Green Laundry Detergent Free + Clear, 32 ounces Bottle, Seventh Generation Liquid Laundry 2x Ultra Concentrate – Free and Clear, 150-Ounce, and Clorox Company, The 45Oz Grn Free Detergent 30361 Laundry Detergents. Sometimes you can find coupons on Target.com for the Seventh Generation products and also another manufacturer coupon on the Seventh Generation website getting $1-2 off with the two coupons. But don’t print these coupons until you are going to use them, they do not last long! For more of my recommendations on products you can check out my Good Guide Page. Also, here is a link to a good article on what chemicals to avoid in laundry detergents from Natural News. So now on to some of my favorite tips!

1) Asprin: A few years ago, my mom told me to use a few cheap asprin in with the whites to help brighten them, and it works great! But it got me thinking about what else it could do…Asprin is a great stain remover. If I have a tough stain, I get a little warm water on an asprin and work it into the fabric. It gets almost all organic stains out! It sometimes doesn’t work as well on other stains, like pens, grease, etc., and be careful not to leave it on too long, it can over bleach and turn whites yellowish.

2) Vinegar and Essential Oils: I keep a bottle of white distilled vinegar mixed with Tea Tree and Lemon essential oils (about 20-30 drops total of essential oil to 2 cups vinegar) in the laundry room at all times. I use this vinegar mix as a disinfectant and fabric softener. Underwear and “chicken or guinea pig clothes” always get a vinegar rinse in our house. Also, all the linens get this rinse because it helps to repel insects like moths and spiders. Ross bed was a spider magnet until I started using this rinse, and I really haven’t found one in the house since. Just be careful to make sure you have removes all the stains before using vinegar, as it can set stains. Note: Do not use in the same load as Hydrogen Peroxide. The combination is caustic.

3) Washing Soda: Good old fashioned Church & Dwight Co 03020 Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda is hard to find, but definitely worth it. I use this as a pre-soak or pre-wash for really dirty or stained items, usually all the kids lighter colors. You can also make a concentrated spray for spotting clothes (about 2 Tbsp to one cup water) or paste (about equal part washing soda and water). This is the same stuff in the Oxy Clean products but without the special scent, dies, etc.

4) Hydrogen Peroxide: I use this in place of bleach. It is more like a color-safe bleach and works really well. For spotting on whites you can use it in combination with baking soda or even stronger with asprin. Be careful with the hydrogen peroxide-asprin combo and rinse right away, it can over-bleach easily. I can get out 95% of the stains with any of the above combinations, but I do keep a Clorox Bleach Pen on had for those really touch stains on whites. Note: Do not use in the same load as vinegar. The combination is caustic!

5) Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing 8oz: This is great for keeping whites from yellowing. You have to dilute it before using it, so I keep an old yogurt container (1 quart) to mix up the dilution. It can be a little tricky to add to a front loader. I wait until the clothes are wet and then add it where the detergent would go. For top loaders, just add like you would a fabric softener or other rinse. It’s also helpful for those fruit stains (acid) that tend to yellow.

Now you know most of my secrets, tell me your favorite laundry tip!

We decided: (1) we had to get mattresses. We still need to sleep. But the couches will have to wait. (2) It made no sense to build this Certified Green House with special attention to reducing toxins, and then bring all those toxins in with new furniture, especially mattresses that are slept on all night. (3) And we needed to keep costs down as much as possible. But what is a “non-toxic” mattress? It is easiest to start by identifying the potential toxins in mattresses (especially baby mattresses):

• trichloroanisole (TCA) – foams, mold resistant
• Formaldehyde – glues, petroleum based foams
• Polyester – petroleum based
• polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – fire retardants
• toluene (polyurethane-based mattresses can off-gas toxic VOCs, including toluene) – petroleum based foams)
• benzenes – petroleum based foams
• styrene – petroleum based foams
• xylenes – petroleum bases foams
• phenol – petroleum based foams
• phthalates - petroleum based foams

Once I new what I did NOT want in a mattress, I searched for “natural” mattresses and began to eliminate from there. It is amazing how many manufactures make a “natural” mattress coated with toxic flame retardants and use 85% petroleum based foams. Most often the flame retardants are not listed in the contents, so you have to ask them directly. But 9 times out of 10, if they do not advertise what they use as a flame retardant, it’s toxic. So began my journey of finding non-toxic mattresses for the best price possible. Living in Idaho was the first stumbling block to this plan. There are many, many wonderful things about living here in Boise, but shopping is NOT one of them. I could not find a truly non-toxic mattresses in the greater Boise area, so I began looking into the next closest big city, Portland. There were a few stores in Portland that carried non-toxic, natural mattresses, but Cotton Cloud came in with the cheapest prices. I think it’s because they make their own mattresses. We got the kids the twin size #6 Therapedic – Kids Cloud and decided to get ourselves the 100% Natural Latex. Mark really did the research and decided he wanted a latex mattress. I could have been fine with anything. But I am enjoying our new bed! Now we knew where to get mattresses, we still needed box springs. After much research, I decided that we could compromise a little on the foundations or box springs because you do not sleep on them directly; therefore we did not need a 100% natural foundation.

When I need something inexpensive, yet meets my “natural” or “green” needs I go to IKEA first. Many of their products I would still consider “toxic”, but there are a number of items that can work in a natural home. For example, they also make a 85% natural latex mattress for a very competitive price (Sultan Erfjord) that we considered for our bed (we compromise more for adults than children). But Mark liked the Cotton Cloud one better and it was all natural. IKEA also has many solid pine pieces (instead of pre-engineered boards which usually contain formaldehydes and toxins in the glues) including their mattress foundations (Sultan Aram). The foundation does contain polyester, but of all the possible toxins this is low on my worry list.  IKEA was the cheapest and best choice for us for the following reasons: (1) they have strict requirement for low formaldehyde emissions. Lower then the EU requirements, which are lower than the US requirements. They have eliminated the formaldehydes in most of their glues. (2) They use only water based lacquers. (3) They do not use any PVC, except in electronics. (4) They are careful and deliberate about where they get their lumber. (5) And they use a phosphorous/nitrogen based flame retardant instead of the typical PBDEs. (IKEA-PEOPLE & THE ENVIRONMENT) It is commonly accepted that PBDEs are toxic, but the government considers it an OK risk to take to prevent fires. The research I did on the web indicated that the phosphorous/nitrogen based flame retardant did not bioaccumulate and there was not release of volatiles from finished products; and lower toxicity when submitted to fire. (THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF FLAME RETARDANTS OVER THEIR LIFE CYCLE – A CASE STUDY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE OF NEW PHOSPHORUS BASED FLAME RETARDANTS). 

So now we knew what we wanted, but how do we get it from Portland to Boise? After comparing the costs of shipping, we decided it would be much cheaper to drive there in my dad’s truck and rent a trailer. Also, since we just moved into the house, we needed a lot of little things (and not so little things) that we could get cheaper at IKEA. So Mark and I made the trip in two days, staying at my cousins house one night. My parents watched the kids, so they would not have to attend the marathon of industrial sized shopping in Portland! And now, we all have nice, non-toxic beds to sleep on. I also just ordered these 100% cotton mattress pads from Amazon (unfortunately after Ross has had an accident) which are surprisingly hard to find.

Perfect Fit All Natural Cotton Mattress Pad

T240 Cotton Loft Mattress Pad, White

 Please let me know if you have any questions or comments on your mattresses!

1. Building Green: I always wonder when I make a big decision, like building a home, on whether I made the right choice. In this market, I am sure we could have had a larger house or more land, etc. for the same cost. But as soon as we moved into our new house, the kids could breath better. They were sleeping better. They were living better. And it’s not just because we built a new house. Many new houses blow me over and give me head aches from all the toxins in the air. And while our house still has what some call a “new house smell,” it doesn’t knock you off your feet. It just needs to be lived in, broken in a little more. I am very content with our decision to build a Certified Green Home and I believe it is helping immeasurably with the health of our children!

2. Kitchen Design and Porcelain Slate Styled Tile: I know granite is fashionable, but I am LOVING the porcelain tile we chose for the kitchen. It’s tough, doesn’t show anything, it can take heat, doesn’t stain, and the grey grout is easy to keep. It’s a lot cheaper than granite which is another plus. I also am very happy with the layout we chose and having the prep sink. The kitchen design is what they call a G-shape, but what I love about it is there is plenty of room for multiple people to work at the same time. In addition, we planned it out so that kitchen activities move in a clockwise direction. From the prep sink and to the right is where all the food preparation is completed on the counter all all the tools stored underneath. Then you move to the stove top, or cooking area, with pots, pans, and tools for cooking are stored under the cook top. Turn the right again and you have a large counter for dirty dishes next to the larger sink. And on the right side of the sink is an area for clean dishes which then go into the adjacent cabinets. Now not everything fits perfectly into this clock-wise routing, but almost everything!

3. Lots of Light: The design of the house include lots of large windows in all the living areas. I know it’s still summer, but I hardly ever have to turn on a light in the house. The only rooms that don’t have sufficient light from the windows are the bathrooms. So in the master bathroom I added a solar tube over the vanity, and it was one of the best decisions I made! It provides an amazing about of natural light all day long. And most nights we have to shut the bathroom doors because the moon light keeps me awake!

4. Lots of Work Areas: I was teased a little (maybe a lot) about the size of our laundry/mud room. And it is big, but it’s also very functional with it’s own sink for all those messes! At different times of day you may find all sorts of messes all over the place: dirty shoes, insects, laundry piles, recycling, homework, to do lists, etc. It’s were I do my computer work and where I plan to do a lot of sewing and other crafts. I really couldn’t function without it. Another unique feature of out home is the mechanical closet. We used the area under and behind the stairs to create two closets. One is the pantry and the other is the mechanical closet. This houses the furnace, air purifier, and tankless water heater. But it has enough space left over to house all the cleaning supplies and maintenance supplies: vacuum, brooms, mops, rags, light bulbs, tubs, flashlights, tools, etc. I have found it really helpful in having enough space to store all of these items in an out of the way space.

5. Connecting Garage/Mudroom/Porch: I know most houses now a days have a connected garage, but for us it’s a new luxury.  It helps so much in keeping the floors clean. We have an area for shoes, backpacks, hats, etc. in the garage at the laundry/mud room door. The covered porch connects the garage and laundry/mud room on the backside of the garage. We are really loving the covered porch in the back of the house. It is large enough to have a table, chairs, toy storage, shoe storage, a Bar-B-Q (when we get one), and storage for the chicken supplies. I like it because it is yet another place to check the messes, but Mark likes to sit there in the evenings watching the sun go done on the other side of the hill. And central to all this is the laundry/mud room which provides a place to strip off muddy clothes, dump blue paint brushed in the sink, keep caterpillars and grasshoppers, and the endless adventures of being a kids!

So now you know a few of our favorite things about our house, let me know what you love best about your house!

The first thing we did was interview four different landscape architects. We gave them a copy of the lot site plan with the house on it; a description of where it was (topography, etc.); and key features we wanted for the yard (orchard, garden beds, green house, lawn, play area, etc.). Then we let them make suggestions on how to incorporate the features we wanted and, of course, discussed their fee structure. We ended up choosing Chuck Edwards with Breckon Land Design, Inc. because we felt he had a good blend of form and function. Some of the designers were too invested in design and how it looked, but not as concerned about where the plants would grow best. Then some were overly concerned with soil and grading (don’t get me wrong, they are important, but there are more other things to talk about). Chuck seemed to have a good knowledge of the Hidden Springs area, what grows there, native and HOA approved plants, and a wonderful artistic side. Also, his fee structure is straight forward and you can choose how much or how little he is involved.

Chuck has a method and plan for approaching the design:
1) We met to discuss further what we want (functions) of the lot and went onsite to get a sense of grade and neighborhood.
2) Based on our discussion, he then comes up with four different concept designs and presents then to us.
3) After we took some time to digest the designs, we met again with Chuck to tell him which features we liked best out of all four designs. For example, we may have liked the front yard of the first design, but the garden area of the third, and the outdoor kitchen of the second.
4) He took our comments and created a final design. While he was doing that, Mark and I looked through plant books to decide on the kinds of plants we might want. Chuck also gave us a book to go through the local plant species.
5) Once the final concept design was done, we met with the HOA to get their approval and any comments, before making more changes to the plan.
6) Then Chuck took all final comments combined with the list of plants we like and created the final landscape plan. So here it is…

As you can see (or maybe not) it has everything we could dream of: The apple orchard in the front yard; a large fenced garden bed area in the back; a space for an outdoor kitchen and firepit, a space for play equipment; and a large lawn for the kids to play on. (The front yard is on the right facing east).  One thing we did not do was give Chuck a budget on what the installed yard should cost. I think this was discouraging for Mark (once the final estimates came in), but I actually did not mind it because I wanted a plan for my “dream” yard. And that is what we got. Now, we will not be able to install all of this plan (now or maybe ever), but we can pick and choose how and what we hire landscapers to install, what we want to do ourselves, what we install this year, next year, and what will wait.

So the question is how can landscaping be “green’? I think it starts with design: creating something that is functional for the home owner as well as beautiful. Something that will require only as much maintenance as the homeowners are willing to do. But the plants soil are really key to water, fertilizer, and pest control use. In our case, Mark is really into permaculture (This is based on ecological and biological principles, often using patterns that occur in nature to maximise effect and minimise work. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs, harmoniously integrating the land with its inhabitants.- Wikipedia) and I definitely like the concept, but find it very hard in a climate where the ground freezes in the winter, you have limited land, a HOA, and neighbors close by. Much of the permaculture concept incorporates the use of perennials that you and your family find useful. Many of the crops that would have been perennials in CA are annuals in Idaho, but we still wanted beneficial or useful plants. This doesn’t mean they all have to be edible. For example, I love fresh roses, so we incorporated roses. But I have also read that the fragrant red and pink varieties are the best for culinary use, so we have some Chateau Merlot Shrub Roses in the front yard. There are some pines in the beds for structure (so not everything dies in the winter) and the Idaho State Flower, Wild Mockorange, for show and tribute. There are also many other beneficials mixed in such as St. Johns Wart, White Bee Balm, and strawberries. There are a few other plants that provide color spots and color from March through November. We also chose to use meadow grass in the front and side yard as it is lower in maintenance and more drought tollerant. This mixture of colorful, native, and beneficial plants will provide almost year round color and is just what I wanted. The back yard has the same basic characteristics with even more species we will use, such as several different kinds of berries, apricot trees, echinacea, bee balm, lavendar, thyme, sage ,and rosemary. The rosemary was something I really wanted, but was told will not survive over winter. Chuck was able to find a variety he believes hardy enough to be a perennial. The row of bushes lining the back of the yard are designed to keep the deer and other animals out of our garden area. Sea Buckthorn is used around the garden fence because it is hardy, has large, dense thorns to deter animals and the berries are very high in Vitamin C. I am hoping to find a use for them, maybe like a medicial syrup (like elderberry). Golden Currant are used around the play area because they grow dense and are deer resistant without the thorns. I don’t know how long it will be before we can plant them, and even longer before their big enough to serve their purpose, but we have a wonderful plan!

Once we had a design, we started taking bids for installing it. We ended up asking for only two bids (because they both were so highly recommended) and decided to go with Power Enterprises, Inc. Power has been very helpful and has worked very hard to come up with a plan to install as much of the front yard as necessary to satisfy the HOA and the infrastructure in the back yard in order to avoid bringing large trucks back there in the future. I am very please with their stategy and professional staff. There will be enough of the front yard to satisfy the HOA, enough of the back yard to keep it from becoming a mud hole, and leave plenty for us to work on for the rest of our lives!

I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can. Fingers Crossed for no more rain!

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• Community
• Green Builder
• Floor Plan
• Farmhouse Style
• Structural Materials
• Finish Materials