Seasoned Eats - Learning to Garden and Grow in Ohio

The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland has been featured by Bon Appetite Magazine as one of 2009's top ten new restaurants IN AMERICA What did all of the top ten have in common? " They represent the new standard: simple, satisfying local food—all served with zero pretense. They support local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and regional cuisine. For a taste of our ten favorite new restaurants, cook these delicious recipes." Go local food and go Cleveland! I haven't been there yet, but it's now going on the top of my to do list! Photo source and more photos here ! Where do you eat for great flavor from local food?

Two posts in a row about Gaiam and you are probably thinking that I'm starting a Gaiam site or something...rest assured I'm not. This site is about my process in learning about how to reduce my waste and get more out of life naturally. However, I do think it's in good practice to give back to the companies that give to us...and with a sale of 20 - 80% off of great products with a focus on health and healthy lifestyle this share seems worth it. Visit this page to see the sale. And on an important green note - water bottles are all being shipped for free. So, today you can get a stylish bottle that will help you decrease your plastic consumption - and you can get it cheap! Drink Up!

It's all lining up for me! I started writing in this blog yesterday. Decided to make today the start of my composting project. And then about an hour ago I learned that I won a Spinning Composter from Gaiam through Twitter . What an exciting beginning to this composting adventure. I'll let you know how it works and everything I do to get started once it arrives. Meanwhile...for those of you who are interested in getting a composter, but aren't sure where to start...let's do a $1 a day promise. Put $1 aside every day and by next summer (even if you miss a couple dollar days) you'll be ready to purchase any of these composters and get your garden healthy with me! Cheers to Gaiam for picking me. This just completely made my summer!

After doing some research - I want a tumbling composter. However, at around $200 it's not in the budget for me right now. But I'm not willing to give up on my quest to learn to compost this year so that when garden season next year comes around I'm ready to put my expertly decomposing scraps to my garden. If you are in the same position that I am in - you might want to consider doing this with me. We'll build a composting hole in the ground and cover it with a tarp. I'm not going to go big this year...just start learning. "The easiest way to make compost is to start a pile of yard and kitchen waste in a hole in the ground. Dig a hole approximately three feet in diameter and two feet deep. Pile the dirt next to the hole, as the dirt will be used during the decomposition period. Alternate layers of waste and dirt. The dirt dug from the compost hole is beneficial as it already contains microbes, earthworms, and other beneficial critters. Within a f...

This morning was bittersweet. I just finished Animal. Vegetable. Mineral. by Barbara Kingsolver. I've been listening to the 11 CDs over the course of the past 2 weeks, with no drive time interruption from music or even NPR. I fell obsessed with the information. I started and titled this blog before starting the book, only knowing that I wanted to write about eating seasonally... But now I have an idea. I'm going to use this blog to take you through a completely NOVICE start to a gardening, eating locally, thinking organically, and just igniting a general consciousness about the environment. We each have such a significant impact on the earth and most of us, myself included, don't know how to make personal changes that will in fact make a big difference. I'll be doing the learning and sharing it with you. I'll try to give you the best summary of information that I can pull together. All I ask is that you forgive any mistakes I make along the way, I promise to alway...