Suburban Sustainability: What is Sustainability?

I am so so excited to introduce our new feature, Suburban Sustainability to everyone! A take on growing  movements such as Urban Farming , Permaculture, and Homesteading; Suburban Sustainability will focus on bringing self-sufficiency to communities like the ones we live in {suburbs of Phoenix, AZ}.

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Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? What exactly is Sustainability?

Ideally, an entirely self sustainable community or "family" is one that "attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and his/her own resources"{source}


Sustainability is an incredibly broad term, that can be used to describe a number of practices. ASU has an entire Sustainability School that is focused on global sustainability on a wide range level. Here on our little blog, we are going to focus on what we can do personally and within our own neighborhoods to promote sustainability. 


Therefore, our definition of Sustainability will be steps that we can take to reduce our need to consume other people's resources, therefore saving our own resources. 


What are some small steps we can take to develop sustainability within our own homes?

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In our house, we decided to keep chickens. We go through a ridiculous amount of eggs in our house, and if we are able to produce those eggs we eliminate the money we spend on those eggs at the grocery store, we eliminate the waste from the cartons we would be buying. We also get eggs without any chemicals or hormones that commercial eggs are usually laden with, and we know our chickens are happy and not crammed into sad confinement. We also get the added bonus of chicken manure, which we further our sustainability by using as a fertilizer for our grass & gardens.  Chickens are relatively easy animals to care for and you can further the self-sufficiency by growing your own grain for their feed! So, their manure and the shells from their eggs can go into the compost you use for the soil that their food is growing in! It's just a fraction of the different cycles you can use in your own home! It's a fascinating concept and there is SO MUCH you can experiment with. 


Sustainability can be combined with countless other disciplines {such as organic farming!} and we are going to delve even further into the partners of sustainability to create a solid "guide" for our readers to join the movement and become more self sufficient! 

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If you are looking for a great starter resource for sustainability, The City of Mesa has a web page on Sustainability local efforts and how to take some baby steps.

Treasure Hunting // Craigslist Finds

For today's Treasure Hunting post we are going to our local Craigslist postings. I don't know about you, but I am a mom stuck at home with two toddlers. As much as I would love to hit up the neighborhood Goodwill it's just not a reality for me right now. But you can still hunt for those fabulous finds via the internet! Here are some treasures found recently on Craigslist. Links are provided. So if you are local go get this stuff!

I am in love with this natural wood grain! Throw some painted eclectic chairs along side this baby and you have the style we are seeing everywhere these days.

1//rustic dining table made in mexico $250

 Now, if the cottage feel is more your things then you are going to love this dining set. It's so quaint. I picture the table painted white or a light gray and the chairs in a light blue color.

2//cottage dining set $150

 Picture this vintage magazine rack propped up against that wall in your kitchen filled with recipe books or your organized chaos. Love it.

3//vintage magazine rack $45

 This pair of 1950's chairs are in the most perfect neutral colors. Not to mention in great shape! I love the design too.

4//pair of 1950's chairs $150

 A perfect black glass cabinet to display all your pretties. Or store your prettiest high heels. Have you seen that picture?

5//black glass cabinet $55

 So if the magazine rack isn't the perfect thing for that left-over wall space in your kitchen, then maybe this door chalkboard is! Weekly menu on display!

6//black chalkboard door $135

 How adorable is this corner shelf? Small enough to put anywhere and the perfect shade of yellow for an extra pop of color.

7//mustard corner shelf $35

 I have one of these long vintage dressers under my flat screen tv. It's painted the prettiest blue. The details on this french dresser are gorgeous.

8//vintage dresser $165

 I wish the picture was a little better of this next one. Even through the poor quality you can see how darling this little hutch could be in any room in the house! Just throw a coat of paint, wall paper the inside and you have a statement piece.

9//Hutch $40

 This listing has three desks for sale that are similar but different. This is the smallest one. Talk about a perfect desk for the industrial home office with a touch of charm!

10//industrial desks $150-250

 I am loving this rustic and modern coffee table. The picture speaks for itself.

11//industrial coffee table $195

 These little nesting tables could look amazing in the right setting. They look awesome all nested together. If mid-century modern is what your family room is craving then get these!

12//mid-century modern nesting tables $60

 Paint these stools white and recover with a graphic fabric and you have bar stool heaven.

13//high bar stools $20

 This one is a little pricier but I am sure you can see why. A wrought iron queen size canopy bed. Yes, please.

14//queen size canopy bed $875

Phew. I hope you all enjoyed the hunt, especially you locals. Don't be afraid to dig for what you want! All of these amazing things are out there! They just might need some TLC, but that's the fun part!

Color Your Fancy: Tangerine Tango

Today's color happens to be the Pantone Color of the Year for 2012.

I love the versatility of a seemingly bold accent color. Mix it with neutrals, neons, or metallics for lots of different looks! I love it with the pretty pinks and glittery golds for my Valentine palette this year.

How do you fancy your tangerine?

1// Tangerine Tango Dining Room Accent Wall 2// Contemporary Modern Living Area 3// Eclectic Living Space  4// HGTV Transitional Dining Room 5// Martha Stewart Dining Nook

Organize Your Life: Weekly Cleaning Schedule

Remember at the beginning of the year when I went through my deep cleaning frenzy? Well only a few weeks later my cleaning has waned and it almost looked worse than before I started. That's when I knew I needed to get organized with my cleaning and keep my house looking good for all that hard work to pay off. 

I found this cleaning schedule via Pinterest, which was good, but not enough for my house that is stuffed with kids, dogs, and a man all day long. So, here is my revised version. 

And here is a blank free printable cleaning schedule for you to adjust a cleaning schedule to fit your own life. 

I needed a full mop day because most of my house is tile. And I didn't need to vacuume twice a week because we only have carpet in the bedrooms, which we don't spend a whole lot of time in. And with seven people, my laundry STACKS up, so I need to do 3 days of laundry. You may not need to make the changes I did, so see what works in your home and create a schedule you can live with. It will make your life so much easier and you will be amazed at how many people compliment your clean house. 

The Green Guide- Recycling Basics

I will be the first to admit that I am not the expert on anything eco-friendly. After scouring a bunch of green blogs and websites, I figured the best place to start is at Recycling. Recycling is something that everyone can do on a large or small scale right in their own homes without very much effort.

Each City's recycling initiatives are different. We live in Mesa, who's City Waste Management Department not only collects recyclables weekly from our bins, but holds various events such as Shred-a-thons for all that paper you've been hoarding to Hazardous Household Waste Collection. Be sure to check your local Waste Management Department's websites to find out their guidelines for recycling.

The easiest way to recycle in your own home is using the city recycling barrel. City of Mesa accepts all paper, cardboard, metal, glass, and plastics numbers 1-7. Just look on the bottom of the plastic containers and you will see a little triangle with arrows with a number in the center. Visit the Recycling Program page for a list of items not accepted in the blue barrels.

City of Mesa offers a 28 quart home recycling bins for FREE for all residents! Hurrah! Just stop by the Solid Waste Management Department at 730 N. Mesa Dr. in Mesa to pick one up.

If you live in an area that requires you to separate your recyclables, a simple organizer can make your task much easier.

Source: bhg.com via mysweetiepiepie on Pinterest

There are so many other recycling programs that every city in the valley offers- visit their websites for more info. We'll be revisiting City programs next time on The Green Guide to learn about how to recycle green yard waste and what they offer for composting. 

Local Loveliness: Singh Farm

Welcome to our first Local Loveliness post featuring the most fabulous home, garden, and urban farms hot spots in Arizona.

I made my first visit to Singh Farms last Saturday, and my mind was completely blown away. I first heard about the farm while visiting the Agritopia Community Farm the previous weekend, where I accosted a resident harvesting her abundant winter crops. Her broccoli? Humongous. Her rainbow chard? Gigantic. Her Romaine lettuce? Literally ten times the size of my humble little plants sitting in my garden boxes.

I walked around her plot for a while before I got the nerve to ask her why in the heck her plants were so giant, and she swore my the compost she picked up from Singh Farms. Her garden was enough proof for me and me, my mother, and friend Kathie ventured out to Thomas & the 101 to visit the farm.

Upon walking up from the parking lot, I was completely smitten with the place. No boxes, dividers- the only "order" and "organization" they used were little walls of dirt walled up around their plots filled with all kinds of different combinations of herbs, veggies, flowers, trees, and even succulents. It was a little natural wonderland teetering on the edge of the freeway.

The shabby little shack that greets you at the entrance holds one of the most fresh, unique, and entirely local "farmers markets" I've seen. As I meandered about, taking it all in- farm workers would come in with a freshly washed bunch of turnips or spinach and set them in the fast-dwindling piles in from of their handwritten price signs. I passed a barrel with 5 cartons of farm fresh eggs {there are chickens, roosters, peacocks, and turkeys on the property that you can view} and by the time I came back around to them only 5 minutes later, they were all snatched up! You have to come early and move quickly at this place because they sell out FAST.

 Realizing I need to make my move, I squeezed over to the bread corner and grabbed two of the biggest baguettes I could get my hands on. They were fresh, beautiful, and smelled of wheat and sourdough. I was basically in Bread Heaven. The very knowledgeable farm staff member who was selling the bread and answering all kinds of questions informed me the bread was baked locally by his good friend MJ Coe {husband of Tammie Coe, where you can buy his bread and her cakes- can you just imagine a meal at their house?} bakes the bread and delivers it to the market every Saturday. I also snagged up some AMAZING soft pretzels that blow any other soft pretzel I've ever had it my life out of the water.

Of course to go with this amazing bread/pretzels, I had throw in the Good Ol' Pesto, Spicy Grainy Mustard, and "Salsa Verde" which had spinach, arugula, and basically anything green that was ready to harvest seasoned with the traditional southwestern flavors. In one day my pesto was gone. That's how good it was. Pretzels gone that night, and I made dinner with the breads I bought- 3 different kinds of bruschetta: Olive, caprese, & arugula/mushroom/lemon. Best dinner I've had in a while.

We then took a tour around the farm to spy all the amazing produce grown randomly throughout the property, peeked at the chickens & turkeys, then came back for an amazing Muffaletta sandwich made with the artisan bread they sold in the market, which was stuffed with all the best veggies the farm had to offer. It was the most amazing sandwich I've ever had people- and there was NO meat in it!

I couldn't leave without grabbing a big giant bag of compost- one heaping bag was only $12 and was at least twice as big as the bags of Miracle grow you can buy at the store.

I'm definitely going back this Saturday to snap some photos of the Farm to share here with you- come join me next Saturday, you don't want to miss it!

**all photos from the Singh Farms Facebook page! {I forgot my camera!}

Garden Seeds: Garden Visitors

While picking produce in the garden at my kids’ school this week, I noticed the bok choy plant was infested with aphids.  Rats!  Our first pest in the garden this year. 

What are aphids?  Aphids are tiny insects with sucking mouthparts that extract the juice from plants.  They are green or gray/black and are attracted to various plants including annual flowers, roses, beans and members of the cabbage family.   They can be harmful!  Look for damage to your plant in the form of curled or yellowed leaves or a sooty mold on the plant leaves.

*Source: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/fasulo/woodypest/aphids.htm

Here is a photo of the aphids on our bok choy plant as well as a generic close-up of an aphid:

We are committed to a pesticide-free youth garden at the school.  Here are some natural solutions and/or deterrents you can use for aphids in your garden in place of a pesticide:

Plants for Pest Control:  certain plants exude an odor that deter pests.  I've tried the following: marigolds, garlic, basil, catnip and nasturtiums.  Plant them in your vegetable beds next to plants you find attract pests easily.  Here are some marigolds I planted next to my broccoli in my square foot garden at home:

Homemade Pest Spray:  Mix one tablespoon canola oil and a few drops of Ivory soap into a quart of water. Shake well and pour into a spray bottle. Spray plant from above down, and from below up to get the underside of the leaves. The oil will smother the insects.  I have used this spray on aphids on my roses and it works well.  Mostly likely, you will have to apply it multiple times (good activity for kids.)

Remove decaying plants and weeds:  Pests are drawn to weedy gardens and dying plants.  In our school garden, the bok choy plant I mentioned had flowered and gone to seed.  This decaying plant attracted the aphids, and they then spread to nearby kale.  I removed the bok choy to eliminate the initial food for the aphids, and then sprayed my kale with the above solution.

Introduce Good Bugs:  Another option is to introduce a bug that will eat the aphids such as ladybugs or preying mantis.  Ladybugs are available for purchase in some nurseries and via catalogs.  

 Remember, bugs are not all bad and won’t necessarily kill your plant.  They all serve a purpose and can often be removed or controlled without the use of a chemical.  Experiment with the ideas above and observe their effectiveness!