Vegmom Moments

A Green Foods Day and Some other ramblings

While I tend to have green foods these days with or without minor injury...I had lots and lots of it today, just because I was home and I could...

Of course this!  Actually - 2 of these: (the white froth is coconut.. yum)

Reason # 539 that I love having a Dehydrator (and am home all day to use it):

Kale Crisps... Ooh La La:

 

The start of a salad with raw asparagus by the way... my new favorite thing:

And the lettuce thrown on top...Look at all that green:

These... NOW THESE are not Green... they are supposed to be raw but I didn't have any raw nut-butter, so they are actually not raw, but Soooooooooooooo  Good!!!  Oh my...I didn't even know food could taste so good.  Really!! 

Before going to a mostly Plant based diet, my taste buds were so different.  Things that taste good, really really taste good.  Sensations in my taste buds that I didn't know existed.

The strangest combination of ingredients and NO Machines needed.  Just a bowl, a spoon and some very sticky hands, then a freezer..

Another recipe from Kristen's Raw - Dessert Book.

And this little guy...  The green thing... It is our little compost bin that we keep in the kitchen.  It has a filter on top to keep the smell down.  Veg is the Compost police.."It MUST go out once a week Mom, and we have to clean it every time"....

As much stuff as we put in this thing, we will actually empty more often, especially in the hot summer months coming soon.

We've already noticed a significant difference in that Big Garbage can having less contents.  In Fact, I think we only used two bags in that thing all week and one of them just changed out today.  And the one from today, was because we emptied all the other trash cans in to it for our Sunday clean up.

 

If you need a little compost bin, we found ours at For Small Hands. The site also has extra filters and books all about composting.  We've had it filled with stuff for two weeks (knowing our tumbler was almost in place) and no stench in our kitchen at all.  I was really impressed.  Not even the banana peel smell came through.

So there you go... Some Green and some not so green, but a very Yummy day to say the least!

Home Made Compost Bin Update

Hubby finished the door, with locks, seals and all... He then put some of our leaves, some organic soil, some grass clippings, Coffee grounds and other compost foods from our kitchen scraps....Spun Spin Spun...

Last night, he and the Vegman went off to buy some red worms... (ewwwww)  And they put them in the Barrel to finish our Compost Prep!  Spin spun Spin..... Poor worms... they were probably getting motion sickness..  "What's happening to meeeeeeeeeee"

Since it is off the ground, it won't get worms naturally... or so we were told.. Hence the purchase...

Today the boys went down to check on the worms:

Yup, they are still in there!  Hello Wormies....

And by the way... check out that door..Hinges and all... I'm thinking the Hubs could do this for a living... Anyone want a compost bin??  Or just a door?  *smile*

HomeMade Compost Tumbler

Yay... Its almost done!!  Needs a couple holes for air flow, and finishing touches on the door and handle... But it works... and fits... and Mr. Wheelbarrow can fit right underneath to haul our happy dirt off to the Garden..

Assuming we get some happy dirt... First we have to find some happy worms.  But I'm pretty sure this will save us 80% of our current waste!

He's been working on it all day... and a little yesterday..... And in to the night:

 

Our Compost Tumbler is now in its permanent home:

 

It spins, it has extra rods inside to help the mixing happen and is fastened for life to the posts of our deck.

The Barrel was free as it was an extra from a Farm that Hubby was Volunteering on.  They get these from a Winery and use them on the farm for Rain Barrels...  Hubby had a different plan for our barrel as you can see.

The supplies ended up costing about $50, but only because he needed a couple tools.   PLUS decided on getting bigger pieces of things then he needed, so he would have extra for other projects. 

Extra Time involved, was taken because he had to figure out what to use for all the moving parts... That would be strong and last, and then couplings, to make it look decent. 

But also because our barrel didn't have a LID... So he had to cut that hole in the side and then come up with a good door.  That was functional, but secure.

And of course we had to keep it away from critters, not too close to the house, but close enough that we didn't have to walk through Dog Poo to get to it....  This Composter thing was a MUCH bigger project then Hubby planned.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome.... And guess what.......I HAVE A COMPOST TUMBLER!!!!  Yippppeeee!!!!

Thank you NB and Hubs for the suggestion!!!  And thank you Farm Lady for the Barrel... Of course thanks to the Hubby for all his planning and working....

Oh Happy Composting!!  *smile*