Home sweet home.
One of the frustrating things about some eco-friendly products is the often-high price. Yes, we'd all love to go green, but it's difficult to pay $20 for body lotion when Curel can be had for a small fraction of that cost. Enter Seed, a new line of natural body care that's free of parabens, preservatives, phthalates, artificial colors, and animal ingredients. (Whew.) The three-item lineup Read more
I hope you're already on the whole-grain wagon. Full of protein and fiber, whole grains help keep hunger at bay, so including them in your daily diet can help you maintain a healthy weight. I am here to help you expand your whole-grain horizons, so here are my reasons you should give millet a try. Yes, it's true that millet is the main ingredient in bird seed, but it's great for people, too. It Read more
When sending a hand-written note, it always pays to have cute stationery. But, what about multipurpose stationery? Why just send a card, when you can send a small packet of seeds along with it? The Lizard Press Notes to Grow On Set ($25 for 7) features beautiful green illustrations of seven different herbs reproduced from Albert Schramm’s Der Bilderschmuck der Frühdrucke (Germany 1450-1500AD), Read more
Perhaps taking a note from the Blooming Wrapping Paper I wrote about, the Recycled Ideas Plantable Card Set ($10) is a set of pastel cards embedded with seeds that you can plant to grow your choice of flowers. The cards themselves are simple and blank, so you can personalize them with your own message, and of course, they come with germination instructions. Since they're handmade, they have the Read more
Just like you've got to learn your ABC's before you write a bestseller, or even a discount bin title, you must learn the basics of planting seeds before you attempt to grow a full-fledged vegetable garden. So, to commence Good to Grow month, I'm going to start you off with the foundations of seed growth. Then, you'll be armed and ready to grow your very own hanging Solanum lycopersicums, and Read more
I write about food all the time, about how important it is to eat your fruits and veggies. Recently I got into a culinary conundrum about what it takes to be a fruit. Is a tomato a fruit? Well, here goes a short explanation: true fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Fruits can be fleshy Read more
Here's a post from Casa Community member Lauren from The Girls' Guide to Gardening: My husband and I bought our first house this last year and while the inside is almost finished, we have now started on the backyard! For the last couple of weeks, we have been working on building raised beds on the sunny side of the house. When we started this project, my friend sent me a link to the site Baker Read more
Don't be fooled by the cherimoya: though this fruit resembles a tiny dragon curled up for a nap, it's quite the opposite from a sour-tempered, fire-breathing reptile. With a texture that resembles custard or ice cream, the cherimoya surprises with a sweet flavor that tasters liken to a blend of bananas, pineapple, papaya, and strawberry. And fortunately for us, it's in season for another few Read more
Caudalie was thinking of every woman when releasing its Vinosource range, which includes four different types of moisturizers: very dry, dry, combination, and sensitive. We tried the gel-crème Moisturizing Sorbet ($38) for sensitive skin, which is a lot like putting cucumber-scented whipped cream on your face (and that's a good thing). The lightweight formulation makes it perfect if you have a Read more
Fenugreek, a spice used frequently in Indian cooking, might easily be confused with similar-sounding fennel seeds, but the likeness ends there. Fenugreek actually has a maple scent and a caramel flavor. It's primarily used in curries, but I like to use it to season everything from pickles and chutneys to breads and soups. Recently, I used it to bring out sweetness in a warm-weather salad. In this Read more
