Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and it’s a great day to reflect on ways we can be more environmentally-conscious.  Being conscious of my actions on the environment is a daily part of my life.   Ways that I maintain this consciousness on a regular basis include recycling and being a vegetarian.

I have been a vegetarian my entire life.  My diet and lifestyle began as a result of being from a vegetarian Indian family.  I’m glad I was raised that way as it seems much easier to just remain in the lifestyle rather than switching.  I chose to give my kids that gift by raising them vegetarian.

As a teenager, I researched vegetarianism and decided the lifestyle made sense to me at numerous levels, including environmental.  I was interviewed by the Vegetarian Times regarding my thoughts and beliefs.  I chose vegetarianism as my topic for Original Oratory in debate class competitions in high school.  I memorized the speech overnight and competed the next day with veterans.  I ended up being a quarter-finalist in the state of NC.  Judges told me that the speech opened their eyes and they would consider the diet.  I think the part of my speech that stood out the most for them was regarding the composition of hot dogs.

As an adult, I’m devoted to recycling.  My husband might call me somewhat of a hoarder at times because I don’t like to waste anything.  I was the first in my neighborhood to request an extra green bin from my town to hold my recycling and had my second regular black bin picked up (never need it).  In my family, we are trained to evaluate every piece of trash and determine if it goes into our recycling bin or regular trash bin.  This includes my preteen son.

I rarely use paper towels, preferring dish cloths for wiping up spills.  We regularly use cloth napkins at meals.  We use energy-efficient bulbs throughout the house along with any appliance purchases.  Left-over food is stored for future meals or given to our dogs.  Dogs can help a lot with recycling and preventing waste.  We make sure our dishwasher and washing machine is completely full before running it.  I remind my husband at least a few times a week to stop idling when I’m in the car with him.

We also compost.  We have a compost bin in our yard and are trying to perfect the art and science of composting.  Next to our trash and recycling containers in my kitchen pantry, we also have a compost container.  In there we put our vegetable scraps and anything else that can be composted, like dryer lint.  My husband and I debate somewhat the ingredients that will result in perfect compost.  It is a shared interest and goes perfectly with my gardening interest.  I like that not only am I not wasting and creating more junk for landfills, but helping my yard and garden out at the same time.

At my boutique, I offer environmentally-conscious fabric gift bags.  They are reusable, affordable, and save trees by replacing paper.

Fabric gift bags at Komal Style Boutique

What are ways that you honor the Earth in your life?

Mint in March

It’s been exciting seeing signs of Spring and being able to get started on the gardening season.  I was hopeful when I saw a few new mint leaves and my bulbs start to peek out.   My crocuses have been showing off their lovely purple colors in the sun.  How uplifting!  Only in Colorado can you have snow on the ground in the morning and be able to garden in the afternoon as I have been able to do last month.

Crocus in March

Here in Denver, we’ve been blessed to have a few days since March from the 50s to even 70.  We were even able to bathe our dogs.  One day, the temperature would be in the high 60s and then we would have a storm coming in the following day dumping about 7 inches of snow.  That means Denverites have been desperately trying to make use of any pleasant weather to get out and perhaps tend to their yards as I have tried to do.

I have also been fortunate that my 1 year-old has been cooperating with me by peacefully playing on a blanket near me outside while I squeezed in some gardening.   I was able to plant spinach and Asian radish.  We’ll see how it goes!  Last year, I was some-what successful with the spinach.  I was able to use some before the insects got to it.

My beloved irisis that beckon Spring

Gardening has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been fascinated by things growing and nurturing them. It must have to do with having a nurturing quality that maybe all gardening enthusiasts share.

Gardening Joys

It’s exciting and rewarding to nurture something to its full potential and enjoy the results, whether in appearance and aroma as with flowers or by enjoying its taste with vegetables. There is the added sense of productivity one gets with successfully growing something edible that they can enjoy and share with family and friends. It may even be a cost-saving measure, particularly in today’s economic climate. We are reminded of victory gardens and feel a sense of empowerment in being able to grow our own food. We not only save money (not always!); we can also appreciate knowing that our family is eating something fresh and possibly pesticide-free.

My Gardening Experience

I am not quite an expert gardener. I just enjoy getting my hands dirty and am very interested in learning all I can and continuously improving my gardening experience and harvest. My family can attest to my many successes and failures. Last year, I wanted to get in sunflowers before my daughter was born. They are symbolic to the meaning of her middle name and I just thought they would be colorful.

Maya enjoying her first Spring May 2009

Gardening Maintenance

Well, having a child doesn’t allow a whole lot of time to get out there and maintain one’s garden. So there were times I probably needed to pull and transfer some rogue sunflower seedlings before they got overgrown. I wasn’t able to do it and at times it seemed we were being invaded by sunflowers. Birds ate some sunflower seeds which they excreted and planted sunflowers in areas I had not intended.

By August, many were too big (over six feet) to try to move. By Fall, some had to be hacked down. I wanted my husband to at least try to cut some so they could be used as cut flowers. So I made a note to self for this year; to not allow an invasion of sunflowers.

Maya and Me August 8, 2009 - when she turned 6 months

Successes and Failures

The sunflowers from last year were a success and failure. My attempt to grow tomatoes were a failure. I bought a few plants that grew but didn’t yield much or ***gasp***I didn’t get to in time and they got over-ripe and fell. The spinach was kind of successful – got some to use, but a lot was enjoyed by insects.

I got ambitious with some vegetables. A broccoli plant turned into a big flowering weed. Cauliflower plants got out of control, where I didn’t even see some heads, which got over-ripe and had to be composted. An artichoke plant grew and promptly died at the first sign of drought in July. The pepper plants produced a little but didn’t quite make it. All of these experiments were on a side plot (behind me in the picture below) that I newly created by removing lawn and rock. I used a little amendment, but could probably use a lot more.

This year, I am excited about the beginning of gardening season and am starting to dream about what I want to plant. Probably the big lesson from last year I should keep in mind is to not get too ambitious, so I don’t end up with a jungle that overwhelms me! Still, I will allow for some sense of gardening adventure.

I look forward to sharing my gardening adventures, large and small. Maybe there will be lessons for all of us. Hopefully, you will learn from my mistakes so you can enjoy more gardening successes in your gardening adventure.  Good luck, and happy gardening!

In the back of our suburban home 8.09

It has been my husband who has been their advocate. He noticed when some areas looked like they were dying off and determined that a trimming was needed. He called in some professionals, got different opinions and estimates. It was confirmed that they needed to be trimmed or they would die within about seven years. Although we don’t plan on living in the house that long, we decided it needed to be done and the trimmers finally arrived two days ago. Two men spent about eight hours trimming them. It was mesmerizing watching them scale the trunks and go at them with their chain saws and axes.

Now we are enjoying looking out and seeing our well-groomed trees. I think I may have even become a little bit of a “tree snob” as I look to my neighbors’ trees and realize that perhaps they could use some trimming.

As an additional unexpected treat, I ended up with all the mulch from the branches. Using the mulch from our trees in the yard has been a great way to recycle the trimming. During Maya’s naps the past few days, I have been out in my yard spreading the mulch. It has been meditative, a good work-out, and productive at the same time as I see my yard looking better and know that I am making some gardening improvements since the soil will be better and the trees and other plants will be protected.

Porter admiring a papaya tree in front of a relative's home in my Indian village.