**Cherry Blossoms**

Organic Living

Posted on Jul. 17, 2008 at 8:51 PM in Organic Living

*NOTE: This may seem like a weird post to post, but I have been working on it for a looong time and it's more of to make my stand on Organic living*

I am starting a new monthly category. For the next few months I will be showing you different Oragnic living. Some posts will be mixed with Conservation 101, such as next months. But for this month I will show you some Organic foods that my mom and I bought today. Both of us are now switching over to semi-organic eating. I must say, alot of the organic food is delicious. I am currently drinking some Organic Chocolate milk and it is soooooooooooooooo good :) So here is a list of what we bought and how it is healthier for you.

**O- Grape Juice and Lemondade

**Organic Rice
**O- Cheese Crackers
**Pomergran Oragnic Waffles
**O- Yogurt
**Fiber one-Organic oats and Chocolate bars
**Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk
**Oragnic Cut Green Beans
**All Natural Organic Omega-3 eggs
**Shamrock Farms Organic Milk
**SILK Vanilla and Chocolate Soy Milk (Not really organic)
**O- Orgnaic Roasted Garlic Sauce
**O- Organic Brown Eggs

OK so i am not going to compare each organic item to the commercial one but only common ones so.

In the case for Shamrock Farms Organic Milk products the cows that produce this specific milk are not giving hormones in order to produce the "best tasting" milk. However I personally think this milk is fresher tasting than any "generic" brand at the local market. Also, Shamrock Farms is dedicated to producing the best field for their cows to graze in, which means no sewer-based fertilizers (I mean really think about what fertilizer really is), no pesticides grown on the fields, and definetely no petroleum based fertilizers. Thats a scary thought. You know that funny little saying you hear on TV, "A Happy Cow is a Productive cow!", well thats what Shamrock Farms is aiming for this generation and next.

Another organic product we used was Del Monte's Ogranic Cut Green Beans. *Yes Mackenzie I like green beans ;) * Personally I love these organic green beans. We have a bunch more cans in our pantry. In the words of the Del Monte Company

"They're the same high-quality, great-tasting vegetable & tomato products you've always loved, now grown under strict USDA organic standards, without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Like our non-organic canned products, Del Monte^® canned organic vegetables and tomatoes are preserved through a high-temperature heating process, so there are no preservatives or artificial ingredients. Del Monte^® Organic products are perfectly suited for the way you eat today!"

I really enjoy the fact that this brand of green beans is definetly the healthier brand than the commercial kind.

I guess it just hit me that the Dixon's live organically. I never realized that. Hahah So in my attempt I bought some organically grown vegetable sprouts and planted them in a little "harvest patch" outside my window. We as a family are actually growing quite alot of food for ourselves. Yes, plants survive around here. (Well they have so far!)

This here is our "garden". The big patch of vegetable on the left is our watermelon plant. My brother Brandon got a watermelon seed from Home Depot and he grew it inside in a little pot, when it got to big for the pot my step dad Mike planted it in sand. We are very excited that this is growing so nicely and when I get the chance I will post updated pictures! The vines are starting to grow outside the rock barrier.

We are also growing a cherry plant, and a strawberry plant.

The other day I got an email from Alison aka Alizona on how to grow a simple mango tree. I am soooooo going to try these steps. Thanks Alison!!!!!!!! :)

Grow a Mango Tree

***Step1

Purchase a very ripe mango and eat it.

***Step2

Scrape off the extra fruit from the husk in the middle of the mango, which holds the seed.

***Step3

Pry open the husk very carefully with a butter knife. This is difficult and will require patience and a Little elbow grease.

***Step 4

Find the dried seed inside the husk that is shaped like a huge lima bean with a light-colored area on the top of it (called the eye). Remove the seed from the husk.

***Step5

Use a medium-sized pot with drainage holes for your seed and fill the pot with a good quality potting soil.

***Step6

Dampen the soil and place the seed with its eye up. Cover the seed with about half an inch of the soil. Let the seed germinate for a few weeks.

***Step7

Water the soil with lukewarm water when the surface starts to feel dry, which will be in a few days after planting. Water the soil whenever it starts to look dry.

But here are some warnings and tips:

**Mango trees grow smaller in pots. It is possible that a mango houseplant may never produce fruit. If you live in a warm environment all year, you will have to replant your tree outside once you've got a good sized plant to get the best results.

Feed your mango tree once a week with liquid plant food that you would use for tomato plants.

Mango trees will not grow well outside in cold environments. If you live in a climate that gets cold, you'll have to leave your mango tree indoors.

Be careful not to damage the bean-shaped seed when prying off the husk. It is difficult to pry the husk off the seed, so be patient.

I am going to be trying to grow a Mango tree now ;) Thank you for putting up with my ridiculous organic post but I needed to post something to take the monthly place of my Conservation 101
:)

Next post: My 17th Birthday!

Julia

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