Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?

Interesting that this prompt came up today.

Just this morning, Eric and I were discussing solar panels for the house. He suggested them on the roof, I suggested them on aluminum frames outside by the pool. He felt they would stick out like a sore thumb, until we got outside to visualize the idea. I showed him that they would be shorter than the fence and also provide privacy from the south and trenching the lines to the garage would be easy with our backhoe. The initial outlay would be about $7300 but the savings would pay for it in less than 2 years.

A couple years ago, I bought some containers to do raised bed gardening, but never got them put together at my house. We drove over and grabbed them today. When it cools down a wee bit, I’ll put them together and we’ll determine where they go on the north side of the house. We’ll start with two this year and see how they do and expand next year with additional raised beds. I was happy to see the former Mrs. had purchased several bags of compost and manure and potting soil. Not being one to waste my resources, I’ll use those bags to fill in the beds on top of untreated cardboard. We’ll probably plant tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos in one with broccoli, cabbage and green beans in the other.

Imagine our surprise last night when we stepped out on the front verandah and found what appeared to be blackberries growing wild amongst the bushes. After investigating, they are wild dewberries which are in the raspberry family. Fresh berries for us as well as jam or jelly this fall. These wild berry vines are running one half of the length of the verandah with multiple berries already visible.

We also chose to start planting two rosebushes each year in honor of our anniversary and create a rose garden. This has a two-fold effect. We get to enjoy the blooms while creating an area of beauty, and after the first frost I’ll be able to collect the rose hips and dry them for use in tea later in the fall and winter. I also found an Eastern White Pine growing along the fenceline in the back pasture. This will come in handy for making pine needle tea to be used in cough syrup – having expectorant and soothing qualities.

Everyone can take small steps wherever they are to create a more sustainable environment.