Most of us have something keeping us from reaching our green ideals. Maybe it’s psychological: You just don’t like the idea of worms eating up your food scraps or you just don’t believe vinegar can clean as well as bleach. Or maybe it’s financial: It’s difficult to shell out extra money for organic sheets when the regular ones cost half as much. Over the years I’ve jumped over several of my own green hurdles, but I still can’t bring myself to buy organic when it costs over twice as much as conventional. So I’ll buy the organic apples at $1.29 a pound–but no way will I buy $6.00/pound organic butter when I can get it for $2.00/pound on sale.

So what obstacles lie in the way of your perfect eco-existence? And how do you plan to jump right over them?

If you haven’t joined the grassroots home garden movement, it’s nice to know you still can–and without spending a load of cash.  Last week’s post featured several ways to get your hands on free materials. Today we interview a family who has managed to set up six raised beds while parenting two children under three years old.  Whew!

Instead of letting a pile of old cedar fence boards go to waste,  JD and Kara used them to fashion a garden in their front yard.  The results are pretty impressive and extremely cheap.  They also used other recycled materials to keep their beds safe from birds, animals.. and pesky toddlers!

GBG: How have you child-proofed/bird-proofed your beds?

JD made a “cage” for one bed that we’d planted with seeds instead of starts – the cage is made out of some weld wire fencing we had left over from our fence.  He made a sort of box shape out of the wire, about 6 inches tall to keep little hands from easliy reaching the dirt… this may have also helped for the birds… but did not help with slugs, as they ate our first round of beans entirely.

We are trying various ideas to keep the slugs away, including beer to attract them elsewhere, coffee grounds to hop them up on caffeine and keep them busy and crushed egg shells, which are supposed to be unpleasant for slugs to crawl along.

 We had birds eat our first batch of baby pumpkin buds as they emerged from the soil before we knew what was happening, so we replanted after planting sunflowers all around our fence – giving the birds something they’ll enjoy WAY more than baby pumpkin leaves, hopefully. Oh – and we have a giant bamboo teepee to help support some tomato plants.  It also seems to help deter the toddler people some. Mostly… we just have to talk a LOT about plants and how the dirt is their home and we need to be gentle and careful and soon we can eat yummy things.

GBG: What would you tell people about your experience of raising plants from seeds? 

This year we tried to start a few things from seed in the house… the only things that have made it through so far are the spring mix. 

 I think with more experience and time and space we could do more from seed – it’s definitely a LOT cheaper… but with our lifestyle and inquisitive kids, etc. I would highly recommend buying starts.

 We might be brave next year again and try a few things… but starts have a huge advantage because they’re already so much bigger and more likely to thrive AND they take less time and energy (which we obviously don’t have an excess of).  I would recommend seeds to people who are more patient and have the space to get it done.

GBG: What did you use to fasten the recycled fence boards for your raised beds?

The fence boards are old cedar 1X8′s (which are actually 1″X8″ as opposed to modern boards which are only 3/4″X7 1/4″). The corners are just butt joints with 3 evenly spaced 2 1/2″ #8 deck screws.  I may need to eventually repair or reinforce the corners with pipe strap. 

The beds are 6′ by 3′ and the center brace is to keep the soil from bowing out the sides (which usually isn’t an issue on a bed this size if you are using 2X8 lumber). 

Thanks for adding your Thrifty Green Thursday links below so that all of our readers can learn from your simple tips on how to save a bit of money and the planet.  Everyone’s welcome, but if you don’t know where to start, click here for directions.  Thanks for joining us this week!

When Joy and I started working on our book two and a half years ago, we thought we had the most original idea ever. We searched Amazon.com and couldn’t find any green baby books on the market. We rushed the idea off to publishers, sure we’d have a bidding war on our hands. Imagine our shock when no one seemed to jump at the chance to publish our unwritten masterpiece.

Okay, so we were a little naïve. Eventually we did get a publishing contract, and we’re proud to announce that our creation will hit bookstore shelves next spring.  And we’ll have company! Since we’ve started the project, other eco-minded writers have published some green baby books of their own:

• The Complete Organic Pregnancy by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
• Eco Baby: A Guide to Green Parenting by Sally J. Hall
• Green Babies, Sage Moms: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Baby by Lynda Fassa (I reviewed that one here.)

• Green Baby by Susannah Marriott
• The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Environmentally-Friendly Living by Jenn Savedge
• Growing Up Green: Baby and Childcare by Deirdre Imus
• Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home by Christopher Gavigan

• Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby by Jennifer Lo Prete and Melissa Moog
• Organic Baby: Simple Steps for Healthy Living by Kimberly Rider
• Raising Baby Green: The Earth-friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care by Dr. Alan Greene

We’ve read most of these titles and are thrilled to see that there’s just so much to say about raising babies with the environment in mind. Each book has a different slant. Green Babies, Sage Moms, for example, focuses on finding nontoxic alternatives to mainstream lotions and potions used during pregnancy and baby’s first year. Healthy Child, Healthy World contains useful information about avoiding toxins–and shows how some celebrities went green with their babies. Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby is packed full of green gear recommendations, from sustainable cribs to organic clothing. Organic Baby is a beautifully photographed book that illustrates how to create a tranquil nursery and make appetizing baby food. Raising Baby Green takes the reader on a tour through the house (and garden), showing how to rid these spaces of harmful environmental toxins.

Our book won’t contain eco-tips from Julia Roberts–but we will have down-to-earth ideas for bringing up baby. You just have to wait until next spring to read all about it!

Green baby books work for us! For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, head on over to We are THAT Family. (This week’s WFMW is a themed edition: “Mom, I’m Bored!” Needless to say, I was not aware of that theme until too late.)

Let me start by saying that I am immensely grateful to be carrying our second child.

Also, I’m tired! This time around my body seems to be struggle with the whole process. My hips feel like they’re going to come unhinged at any point and I have to wear medical compression hose each and every day to manage the veins bulging from my achy legs. 

The first time around I remember coming home from work and putting my feet up without a care for a few hours every night.  Now those same feet need to chase my toddler son around the house for regular games of hide and go seek. 

What I’ve learned the hard way this time is that the word “sustainability” applies to much more than the environment.  When I’ve chosen not to care for myself during this pregnancy, I’ve been unable to maintain the energy I need to teach a room full of teenagers and entertain a busy two-year-old. After a few meltdowns it occurred to me that taking the time to sit with my feet up isn’t lazy, but rather is good parenting for our unborn baby. 

So many of us mothers, whether we are pregnant or not, get caught up in trying to be the best mom, spouse, worker, domestic engineer, and planet saver, that we often neglect to take the time to renew our energy and refocus on our goals.  Many of us have invested in “energy efficient” appliances but haven’t been as effective with our own output. 

Here are the lessons I’ve been learning this time that I seem to have to keep relearning:

• Sharpen the saw: This phrase has been used a million times in self-help books, but when we don’t take breaks to regain our energy, we end up being unable to cope well with basic issues—which deplete more energy than needed—which make it even more difficult to problem solve… and the downward cycle continues.
• Sleep, sleep, sleep: In a few short weeks I’ll be learning this lesson more dramatically but it’s been so true for my pregnancy.  When I skimp out on sleep, I’m amazed how my emotional state shifts.  After just a few nights of going to bed earlier, life seems so much more possible!  I wrote a post on this very topic here long ago.
• Ask for help:  Somewhere in our minds I think we all want to be able to handle all of motherhood’s challenges effortlessly—to smile when our kids dump their pureed pears on the floor and laugh when the laundry piles up.  The reality is, we sometimes need to call in the troops to give us the break we need.  While it’s tough for me to ask, I’m always amazed by how delighted my friends and family are to lend a hand. 

Of course, in just a few weeks I’ll need to reread this post because life as the mother of a newborn is far more challenging than pregnancy.  Still, with a bit of help and lots of naps, I hope to be able to handle it!