Do you see the world through green colored glasses? We do! And we love to share. Visit iseengreen.tv every day for the latest green living, environmental and earth friendly web videos and learn how to help make this planet a better place to live.
If you're looking to lighten up a dark outdoor walkway, you don't need to hire an electrician. Why not? Because there are a bunch of new eco-friendly solar garden lights that even a novice can install. And the only tool you'll need - a rubber mallet!
If you're looking for a community where your kids can run around free, have lots of fun, and feel safe, you might want to check out co-housing. We take you to a community where kids don't have to worry about cars and everyone is fed from a common garden.
I came across Seed Savers Exchange at the Green Festival, they are perfect for anyone who has a garden or is thinking of having one. Here you can either exchange seeds that you have too many of or, if you don't have any to exchange, you can buy seeds from others! What a great idea. They started this non-profit organization about 35 years ago in order to help farmers grow and save seeds, so they started a group of people who would grow each others seeds as a back up system. The organization grew so much that they got into a point where they needed to keep the seeds in one place, so they started a seed bank and began releasing a catalog to support the seed exchange. Today they have over 13,000 members across the country and every year they release a new catalog with a listing of all varieties their members want to share with people. You can also find the list and buy seeds on their website.
They have several kinds of seeds in their catalog, including vegetables, herbs and flowers.
I also came across a very cool program they launched called "Sell seeds instead of candy bars!". Here's a quick intro to it: Seed Savers has developed a new fundraising program as a healthy, sustainable alternative to other school fundraising programs. Benefit your school, your students, and the gardening public. Give children seeds to sell and they will grow, too, in the process. Seeds to Grow is a project of Seed Savers Exchange that promotes heirloom gardening.
A little story about them, from their site: Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations.
Our mission is to save North America's diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.
At the heart of Seed Savers Exchange are the dedicated members who have distributed hundreds of thousands of heirloom and open pollinated garden seeds since our founding 35 years ago. Those seeds now are widely used by seed companies, small farmers supplying local and regional markets, chefs and home gardeners and cooks, alike.
Seed Savers Exchange was founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy to honor this tradition of preserving and sharing. Their collection started when Diane's terminally-ill grandfather gave them the seeds of two garden plants, Grandpa Ott's morning glory and German Pink tomato. Grandpa Ott's parents brought the seeds from Bavaria when they immigrated to St. Lucas, Iowa in the 1870s.
Today, the 890-acre Heritage Farm, near Decorah, Iowa, is our home. We maintain many thousands of heirloom garden varieties, most having been brought to North America by members' ancestors who emigrated from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world.
Unlike Fort Knox, Heritage Farm is not surrounded by security fences and guards. Our perimeter is patrolled by bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, deer, raccoons and other wildlife. The farm is ringed by hiking trails that take visitors through majestic scenery, past our certified organic preservation gardens, historic orchard and ancient White Park Cattle.
They even give tours of their farm. Way to go Seed Savers Exchange!
If leg warmers could make a comeback, then so can the eco-friendly ways of our forefathers. See if you have what it takes to turn back the clock and rock the less-is-more trend.
Today in Sustainable Living, reducing waste and recycling are great ways to live greener and we can also do recycling in our own backyard with composting. ecoTope joins The Rhode Show to show viewers how easy it can be to start composting on your own.
Do you want sustainability explained? Life Around Home's William Moss provides a definition and some urban sustainable gardening tips that you can use in your own backyard. First off, William defines the term sustainable as any practice that doesn't cause long term harm to the environment. He also points out that many sustainable techniques are also more cost effective and help us to save money. Ways to practice sustainability in regards to home gardening include composting our own food scraps as well as using OMRI (Organic Materials Research Institute) certified organic pesticides and fertilizers.
The New York Botanical Rose Garden is developing unique hybrid roses that will bloom all summer long. And best of all, the flowers don't need pesticides.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 6:00PM 