Hybrid UPS

So my lovely husband found this article on CNN about UPS. Apparently they are in the works converting the big delivery vans to hybrid. However in isn't a hybrid like the prius, they aren't using battery storage. Here is a video that explains it.



Here is the link to the article if you are intrigued.


Brown... gone green!

Pumpkins are good eating!

Pumpkin mix is SO easy to make why did I never do this before? From what I've found out canning just pumpkin guts is bad. I haven't done too much digging but what I have found out is it freezes really well if it is protected correctly. I purchased a few pumpkins from a local grower and decided to give it a shot.

Opened but not seeded pumpkin.


Guts taken out seeds saved for later roasting.


I cut the pumpkin into quarters to fit on the baking sheet better.


After roasting them for about an hour I took it out and checked to see if it was done. The test fork should slide into the pumpkin flesh like warm butter and a hot knife. Then take the pumpkins out and I ran mine through the food processor so that it isn't stringy.


I measured out the pumpkin mush into 2 cup containers to freeze. This way I can take out 2 cups at a time to make pumpkin bread/pie... or whatever. Add seasonings and go.

Garlic Planting and raised bed prep

So we got stuck in the idea of "raised" beds for the garden.The Vegetable Gardner's Bible, by Edward C. Smith has such wonderful suggestions that we couldn't resist. So I am uploading some pictures of the garden just to give you the idea of what I am talking about. In his book he suggests mounding the dirt up and planting your garden in the "mounds" thus providing better protection and more control of the PH levels in the soil, thus yielding more food per square foot.

This is mom planting garlic.


Our garlic cloves all broken up and ready for planting. This lovely garlic is Lorz Itialian.


The garlic must be heavily mulched or it will get "winter kill" so this layer of stuff will protect the ground from freezing. This is 2+ inches of shredded paper followed buy about 4 inches of hay. We wanted to do leaves but have yet to get any.


The girls in the garden.


This is the final product. Two beautiful rows of planted and mulched garlic. See what I mean about mounding the soil up to create raised beds. I am sure it will make more sense when we have the whole garden finished. However that is ALOT of soil to move and we love our backs, so we're taking it slowly.


I found this little guy/girl when I was getting the hay out to cover the garlic. Aren't praying mantis's cool?

Fuzzy Blue bugs

Every fall in Spokane we get the explosion of little blue bugs. You can't go outside at all! Usually it happens during an autumn heat wave so the temps are in the upper 60's, nice enough that you would want to open the windows. But if you do the house will be crawling with these little guys. Not sure what they are but here is a video so you can get the sheer numbers of them.

Working on Garden Design

I thought this garden picture I found online looked lovely! So I had to include it in my garden design update. We need to get our garlic in the ground and our raspberry moved, but the garden is still "just dirt". Not sure where to put things it becomes a daunting task of designing the best location for the few things that get planted in the fall.

We have to level out the soil because right now it is lumpy from driving the car and trailer on it! Our fence is almost complete, we cemented the last gate post yesterday, and should be able to finish that today. Ok I know that isn't much but with things being as crazy as they are with the "tucking the garden in before winter" this is all the time I have to write.

License plate message

Jacob and I used to have the license plate Dog Mum. That was carried over from when we had 2 vehicles and went down to one, we of course put the personalized plate on our car. Well that plate doesn't send out a message for the both of us anymore, since we both drive the car around I just kept thinking it is bad that Jacob has to drive Dog Mum. We looked into getting a different personalized plate, and it is $16 more than just renewing. So we went for it... we talked over many ideas, some were taken but most were available and we settled on EcoLife.



So now we get to drive around and proclaim what we are all about. How fun!