One of the many reasons that Spring is such a great time of the year is that it is asparagus time. Asparagus is one of those vegetables that Recycla only eats in season – a period of time that is far too short in her humble opinion. For the past month, she has been serving her family those distinctive green spears often, much to her husband’s delight and her children’s disgust.
Recycla lives in Virginia and one of the many great things about early May in her area is that it’s strawberry season.
Strawberries might just be one of Nature’s most perfect foods. They’re at their best when they are eaten right after they’ve been picked. Strawberries grown in California (or further afield) and then shipped to your grocery store in January just can’t compare.
This has been a challenging week so far. On Monday morning, Recycla was sad to read this article about the summer ice melt in Antarctica being at its worst in 1,000 years. On Monday afternoon, well… we all know what happened Monday afternoon. Bombs in Boston pushed thoughts of Antarctica from Recycla’s mind.
Recycla and her family have just returned from spring break, during which they went out west and visited several national parks and national monuments. One thing Recycla noticed at every place they visited was an emphasis on the environment and easy ways that visitors could make a different. One would think that national parks would naturally be eco-friendly but that hasn’t always been the case.
Now that Easter is over, it’s time to deal with all those plastic eggs. In Recycla’s house, they get washed and are then stored until the next year when they’re used again. They’ve been using the same eggs for a decade now.
Here are some other ideas for you:
Eating seasonally is something Americans are largely unaware of. We go to the grocery store and find rows and rows of fresh produce from all over the world. Strawberries, asparagus, and tomatoes are available year ’round, instead of only in the spring. While this seems normal, in the larger history of humans and food, this is actually abnormal. For centuries, people ate locally-grown foods in season and preserved as much as they could for the cold months.
Are you ready to go dark? This Saturday is Earth Hour 2013.
Earth Hour is the World Wildlife Fund’s project in which people, businesses, and governments all over the world turn off their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change. Earth Hour is a symbolic event designed to engage people from all walks of life in the climate change discussion in order to send a strong message to our political leaders that we want them to take meaningful action on climate change.
Since Enviro Girl had a great post on Easter baskets on Monday, Recycla thought she would continue the Easter discussion by talking about different ways to dye eggs without using those dye kits that we all grew up with. Why spend money on a kit when you probably have everything you need right at home?
If you’re planning to plant peas this spring, go buy your seeds now. Depending on the type, peas take around 60 days to go from seed to your dinner table. This is a cool weather plant that does not like the warm days of June, so plant now to get a May crop.
On Monday, Enviro Girl posted some terrific tips on eating healthy meals on a budget. Recycla’s family shops, cooks, and eats the same way and they eat very well without a lot of hassle.
One little thing that Recycla does is make breadcrumbs instead of buying them. Buying breadcrumbs at the store appears to be mostly an American thing, as Recycla’s friends in Europe have told her that they don’t have breadcrumbs in stores there.
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