Monday, November 30, 2009

Green Holiday Ornament ideas!

As I said before, we are a family of four who celebrates Hanukkah, Winter Solstice and Christmas, so when I write that we purchased a Holiday Tree, we truly mean a tree that can symbolize all of the good joy and wisdom and light imbued in these traditions. For the last five years, our family has had a few small tree traditions, including red ribbon wishes and simple tree decorations that we have hand made.

In 2004, when Anna was born, I gathered with a woman friend of mine and her baby and we made claydough handprints and footprints of the babies as holiday gifts. I decorated my tree with them and have done the same every year since. We also started our red ribbon wishes in 2003, when we were expecting Anna. In the years that have followed, Anna has begun creating decorations at her Temple school as a tiny girl. It seemed important to me that our tree be a place that is full of wonder and welcoming of little hands and hearts. So I try to make it as safe and interactive a place as possible.

In 2007 and 2008, Anna and I have worked to design and craft star ornaments from self-hardening clay which we painted cobalt blue and silver for Hanukkah. She requested today during our Holiday tree adventure to make more with her little sister, Cora Jane. I will dig out our supplies in hopes of not needing to make any purchases!!

In 2009, we will use our LED lights, which use about 90% less energy than regular Holiday lights and one strand can be re-used for up to 50,000 hours worth of use. We will also make more Hanukkah stars with self-hardening clay, acrylic paints, various sizes of star cookie cutters, and glitter, of course! To add some new life to our tree, we will also gather pine cones and acorns from our backyard to make birds and reindeer with simple glue, paint and again, glitter, of course! I hope to add Cora Jane's hand and foot prints to this year's tree as well. I have some casting supplies from former pregnant belly casting projects so will likely employ that as well!

We will most definitely keep you posted!

We are in love with our Holiday Tree/s!!!

Image of a Southern Redcedar tree
(we'll post ours once uploaded!)


We did it! Anna and I visited the farm we mentioned earlier today and after learning that the trees we chose were not treated with pesticides, we selected two, one tiny and one 5-6 ft, Southern Redcedars, the original, old-fashioned Holiday Tree native to our region in Florida. We are most excited to take good care of these trees and plant them in our backyard. For those who don't know, we lost a beloved 50 plus year-old Laurel Oak earlier this fall that filled our entire backyard with cool shade. We are delighted to have invited two new Southern Redcedars to live in our backyard.

Upon purchasing them, I called our friend Bill Bilodeau of Earthsong Gardens, Florida native plant expert, landscape designer and permaculture guide who has also parented our gardens and planted them with almost entirely Florida natives in November 2007 (More on Bill's good work at http://www.tampabay.com/features/homeandgarden/article622490.ece). Bill came right over to our place to help us receive the Southern Redcedars and also for his yearly visit to our place to plan a garden grooming day. He helped to find a great spot for our New Year's planting of these two sweet trees; and taught me that they will grow in a large, tear drop shape and provide great wind screens as well as being salt tolerant making it a great tree for our seaside city. We will post some photos as soon as I upload them!

Here is some factual info I found on the Southern Redcedar:

The dense growth and attractive foliage make
Southern Redcedar a favorite for windbreaks, screens,
and wildlife-cover for large-scale landscapes. Its high
salt-tolerance makes it ideal for seaside locations.
Redcedar can make a nice Christmas tree, and the
fragrant wood is popular for repelling insects. Cedar
Key, Florida, once had extensive redcedar forests
before the lumber was extensively harvested and the
wood used for chests and pencils. Although not
currently used often as a street tree, its wood is strong,
the foliage is clean, and the fruit is small making it a
suitable candidate. There are some nice examples of
street tree use in southern cities. With proper pruning
to remove lower branches, it should adapt well to
street-scapes.
Forest Service - Dept of Agriculture Fact Sheet - Nov. 1993
(hort.ufl.edu/trees/JUNSILA.pdf)




Well, I have researched some holiday tree options in and around St. Petersburg and I found a farm in Ruskin, FL, about 36 miles from home. I am getting ready to load up the car and head over to see what I can find out about eco-friendly practices and holiday trees. I imagine that I will use extra fuel this year figuring it out, so by next year, I will have a good plan and won't have to do so much leg work. I tried calling to speak to John, the farmer, but he was out on the farm.

I figure the worst that will happen is I will get to pick some fresh strawberries to bring home. I am really on the fence about whether to pick Anna, 5, up from Kindergarten early to ride along...

Will post details of our day later!!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Green Holiday Ideas


Greetings!! I am going to commit to keeping a consistent log of all of my comings and goings from Thanksgiving to the New Year, 2010. I am doing this for several reasons.

#1: My goal in the New Year is to write to be published. So I figure, a blog is a great way to get started with regular writing practice.
#2: I want to hold myself accountable to not making ANY purchases in a retail, big box store from now until January 1, 2010, excluding local grocery purchases.
#3: I want to be practical and reasonable with holiday consumption so that I resume financial and personal health in 2010 without debt or weight gain.
#4: I am 100% committed to learning about, sharing, and practicing sustainable, eco-friendly holiday practices.

Now, as a mom to two little girls, ages 5 and 1, with a family who celebrates Hanukkah, Christmas and Solstice, I can't imagine that this is going to be easy for us. I anticipate overriding many urges to stop in at Target for a quick pick-up. But I am feeling really good about this decision. I want to start my 2010 New Year's resolutions before January 1st and maybe will have gained some great momentum on the way!