Pumpkin Flavored Whaaaaat?

As Halloween comes creeping up on us, let's take a look at some interesting and unusual products that have been infused with pumpkin this season!

Lip Balm- This one is earth friendly and not tested on animals. If you are interested in other brands that don't test on animals, PETA keeps a pretty comprehensive list at the Cruelty-Free section of their site.

Dog treats- With a name like "Nummy Tum Tum", how could you resist? This can be used on top of your dog's food as encouragement or as a treat by itself.

Coffee- Whether it's pumpkin, pumpkin spice, or pumpkin cinnamon, the selection of coffees and teas with an autumn flavor infusion is amazing!

Pumpkin Butter- I guess you could use this like peanut butter on bread or maybe on a biscuit or roll? The green color kind of threw me off...

Face Mask- Schmearing pumpkin all over my skin sounds refreshing- but pumpkin latte? Not sure.

Shampoo/Shower Gel/Bubble Bath- I'm a little wary of multi-use products, but this could be an exception if I was dying to really SMELL like fall. 

Even some old favorites (not necessarily organic or green!) have introduced pumpkin-infused versions:










So here's to a flavorful fall!

The worms are still finishing off the garden castoffs and eagerly awaiting their own yearly jack-o-lantern treat. To puree or not to puree? Since the pics are so much cooler when they get them whole, that's an easy decision!

Related Posts & Links
Pumpkin Eaters
Useful Jack-O-Lanterns
How Do the Pumpkins Grow?
Pumpkin Shell Discovery







 

Shhhhh...The Garden is Now Sleeping

The first frost came and went, and my garden looked all used up. Time to put it to bed!

Notice that orange thing in the corner? Yep, that was my mystery plant-turned-pumpkin! At first, I thought it was a watermelon, but after a few weeks, it started turning orange.

Back to the bedtime story!

After reading and asking, I came to the conclusion I would put the garden to sleep pretty much how I do everything else: MY WAY.

My plan was to harvest the funky veggie remains for the worms and chop up the plants to compost right there on the spot.  I got some husbandly help, and here's how it went down:

First, we picked off all the veggies and he used hedge clippers to chop up all the remaining plants.  Then, he used the shovel to get really serious on the harder stems.

He also used the shovel to dig down 4-6 inches, turning over the dirt and mixing in the clip chopped garden remains.  

I left the berry plants in the lower half to die out, and he used the same clip/chop/turn method on the pepper plants. Then I doused it with the water left in my rain barrel.

Organic garden season #1 wrapped up for Lilliworm!

So what became of the funky leftover veggie scraps?

And how did the worms feel about all of this?

We'll see how my sleeping garden method plays out this winter and spring- and of course, during organic growing season #2.

Related Posts & Links:
Stubborn Peppers and Mystery Plants
Lessons from a First Year Organic Gardener
Planting and Fencing and Raining...Oh My!

Featured Products & Supplies

First Frost Fast Check!

Tonight could be the night!

Based on where you live, you may or may not be headed into your first frost of the autumn season. 

What to do? Think and act fast!

• Pick the tomatoes- even the green ones! Use them in some great green tomato recipes (fried green tomatoes or green tomato cake, anyone?) or wrap in newspaper in a dark, dry location and check often for ripening.
  
• Use plant covering if you think the frost is a stand alone event. A light cheesecloth or burlap type material is best (even a light bedsheet will work), and make sure the plants can handle the weight of the cover. Otherwise, you'll need to use some type of prop to help bear some weight so you don't break off or damage the plants underneath.
  
•  Bring in your mums, potted plants, and hanging baskets- if they've made it this far, no need to let the first frost ruin them.
  
• Start to think about winterizing your garden area for the season and draining any standing water- ie rain barrels, water features, etc- and stay tuned...I'll be putting my first organic garden to bed this weekend!

Related Posts & Links:
Worms for All Seasons
Where Oh Where Have My Little Worms Been?

Coffee Motivation & Grounds in the Wigwam

Who can live without a cup of joe in the morning?

Here's even more motivation to grab that first cup:

3 Great Reasons to Drink Coffee:

1.  Coffee will put you in a better mood. 
Even a study found in the Archives of Internal Medicine says so.

2.  If you are a sun bunny, it provides extra protection from common forms of skin cancer.

3.  Coffee may keep you smarter as you get older. 


5 Interesting Coffee Facts:

1.  Coffee beans are not beans! They are actually a type of berry and grow on a tree.

2.  Caffeine is the most commonly used stimulant, and 80% of caffeine is consumed in coffee.

3.  35% of coffee drinkers prefer their coffee black.

4.  The University of Cambridge invented the webcam to keep watch on its coffeepot.

5.  To drink a lethal dose of caffeine, you'd have to have about 100 cups.

5 Things To Do with Coffee Grounds:

1.  Of course, my biggest motivation to drink coffee is to collect the grounds for the Worm Wigwam. I recommend doing the feeding while the grounds are pretty fresh. When saving them for over a week, they can get a little smelly.

2.  Use as an ant repellant- ants completely avoid the scent of coffee grounds.

3.  Dry out the grounds in the oven and place in an open bowl in your fridge to eliminate strong odors.

4.  Seep in water to create a brown dye, which can be used on fabric or paper, or even applied to nicks in brown furniture.

5.  How brave are you? Coffee grounds can be used a skin exfoliant. Even braver? Rub the grounds around in brown hair to improve the shine. I'll admit, I'm not this brave. Let me know how that works out for you if you try.

1 Great Way to Go Green Buying Coffee:
If you are going green, try to buy coffee varieties that have Organic, Fair Trade, Bird Friendly, or Rainforest Alliance seals on the packaging. These are grown on farms practicing sustainable growing methods to protect other ecosystems.

I'm done spilling the beans for now...coming soon, my first organic garden gets put to bed for the winter.

Related Posts & Links:
Live Science Coffee Infographic
Buzzfeed: 22 Facts about Coffee

Featured Products & Supplies:

Pondering on Peppers- 7 Interesting Facts

I've been harvesting peppers like it's going out of style thanks to the worms.  I was led to believe (by the seeds' packaging!)  that the peppers were RED, and I even witnessed one almost turn red....but I give up!

The impatient organic gardener in me is giving in and calling these GREEN peppers.

Peeping around on peppers online, here are 7 interesting tidbits about this green veggie:

1. Low in calories, high in Vitamin C
Nutrition Facts (3/4 cup)
Info courtesy of Univ. of Illinois Ext.
     Calories 19.98
     Protein 0.66 grams
     Carbohydrates 4.76 grams
     Dietary fiber 1.48 grams
     Calcium 6.66 mg
     Potassium 130.98 mg
     Vitamin C 66.08 mg
     Folate 16.28 mcg
     Vitamin A 468 IU

2. There is no world record kept for the largest pepper ever grown.
Although there is no official record I could find recorded by a governing pepper body, my vote is for this random I found on Flickr:


3. Many, many pepper festivals exist worldwide for this much-celebrated veggie.You can view an entire international schedule at Chilliworld, or if you live in North Carolina you can put this one on your calendar.
Kudos to the amazing artist that designs their posters- loved them all!!!


4. Cooks.com lists over 350 recipes for stuffed green peppers. These recipes use everything from the expected (rice, ground meat, tomato paste) to the unexpected (olives, cheddar cheese, beans, tuna). Another delish one from a new friend can be found here.

5. Green peppers can be cut up and frozen for later use. And Traditional Foods provides some simple instructions so they don't get all stuck together in the freezer bag!

6. Green peppers can be picked and eaten at any size.
Important information for the impatient organic gardener in me!

7. Allergies to green peppers are rare, and people with allergies are often treated with capsicum (found in green peppers) to treat their allergies. 
I'm allergic to about a million things, so this was interesting to me.

Related posts & links:Snappy Stake Update
Fruits and Vegetables of My Labor
Red Pepper Update and Pesticides in Produce
USDA Green Pepper Nutritional Information

Featured products & supplies:  

Worm Business as Usual

As I plan my worm empire over at Lilliworm, it's good to have heroes and role models!

Throughout the past few years, I've read up on, tweeted, and emailed successful wormers and composters to see what they were doing right in their business so that I could one day squiggle along in their tracks.

In vermicomposting and composting, generally businesses focus on one or more services:

The Worm Expert- Demonstrate and teach others to start their own bins.
They typically sell bins & worms at their events and classes as well. Urban Worm Girl is a great example. 

Organic Waste Collector- Collect organic waste from individuals and/or businesses & return compost to them later.
Visit Bootstrap Compost to see one in action.

Worms Sales- Sell the worms usually by the pound for bins (yay!) or bait (yikes!).  My originals came from De La Ranch.

Vermicompost/Compost, Compost Tea, or Compost Tea Bag Maker- Package and sell the end product. I'm going to focus on compost tea bags and individual smaller bags of compost that are convenient for those with apartments, town homes, or small gardens who don't have a ton of storage space- meaning, the compost arrives and has to get used right away!

A little compost goes a long way...just like a little planning, attention, and excitement!

Related Posts:
In the Beginning...