BTC Elements Blog

The hub worked on the new Ludo album that just came out… last week we stopped by the Roxy in West Hollywood to say hey and check them out on tour. These guys always put on a phenomenal show… so I put together this little eco-fashion outfit for occasion:

Exhibit A: Gold and silver earrings made from old tin cans - long, shiny, and fabulous… I love them because they match my gold and silver accessories…

Exhibit B: My fave leather purse that I got at a garage sale. The nice big zipper makes for good rocking out (especially after your future sis-in-law (right) talks you into having a Long Island Iced Tea, resulting in that simultaneous jump/dance/give the rock signal/headbang thing that can happen ocassionally).

Exhibit C: My organic wool jacket by Kelly B. Light and warm, like only wool can be.

Exhibit D: Organic cotton leggings. Can’t live without them.

And the boots? I’ve written about them before

Below the band at the show:

It’s tomato planting time in Santa Monica! And I’m moving up in the world - the patio garden has gone vertical!

This weekend I drilled a couple holes in the top of my patio and experimented with hanging tomatoes.

The positives of flipped tomatoes for urban gardeners?

-More room!
-No need for staking
-Greater yield due to less stress on the branches
-Better air circulation
-And the biggest green plus - when I water my hanging tomato, the extra runneth over onto my pepper plant. Water reclamation, baby!

There are a couple of options for hanging tomatoes in smaller spaces - it can be done with a regular old bucket or this Topsy Turvy planter thing. For aesthetic and reuse reasons, I chose door number three: a hanging wire basket planter with a coconut liner.

It was easy enough, I drilled the hole to hang the planter from a hook (make sure this is secure, I tested my hook out by pulling as hard as could using my bodyweight and had the hub test it out too…. even an organic ruined tomato plant is not earth friendly!) As for the tomato, I cut a little X pattern in the bottom of the planter liner and weaved the tomato plant through. I added soil to the top and then hung that puppy up.

It’s been three days and so far so good! Will update on tomato progress.

I’ve had some coffee, here are the articles I’m liking this week

Episode 6:rock, paper, easter eggs

Music sounds better when it’s good for the planet. Check out this Les Paul made from Rainforest Alliance certified tropical wood.

The Good Human gives 10 ways to reduce paper in your office.

Doing the easter egg thing this year? Check out this Natural Food Dyes post by Green is Sexy.

The mom-in-law emailed me this Risotto recipe a couple weeks ago and I finally tried it out today on the hub and BTC Elements’ lovely Customer Care rep, Hannah (below). I served it for lunch with a side of baked tofu and a spinach salad.

Reviews? Hannah thought it was great. The hub loved it too, cept’ for all the garlic. He went back for seconds sans gremolata.

Risotto
2 quarts water
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
2 bay leaves
1 tea. olive oil
1 1/2 cup pearl barley
3 T. unsalted butter
salt & pepper

In a large casserole pan
bring the water, carrots, onions, celery, bay
leaves & olive oil to boil. Stir in the barley and
cook until tender but still firm, about 20 min. or
until water is absorbed. Add butter
to finish. Serve with gremolata.

Gremolata
zest of 2 lemons, finely chopped (from my lemon tree!)
1/4 cup parsley leaves, finely chopped (from my windowsill garden!)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Combine.

I’m back from vacay, here are the articles I enjoyed catching up on..

Episode 5: Down the drain

I’ll do a lot for the environment, but the buck stops at composting on my small (yet fruitful) porch. Check out what Malmo, Sweden is doing to turn garbage disposal food waste into power.

Yay! Los Angeles has prize winning tap water. Ditch the bottle and drink up

Got leftover meds? Don’t flush them! Pharmaceutical pollution ain’t pretty. Ask your pharmacist for a take-back program.

You’d think it’d be hard to lose track of plants when urban gardening on a porch the size of a dingi…. but I’m here to prove: It Happens. I guess I’ve been so worried about nursing my new lettuces, and juicing up my old strawberries… that I forgot about an entire bin in the corner. Oops.

I scoped it out today and lo n’ behold! Not only was the plant dripping with snap peas, but there was also a wayward cilantro and mysterious mache that had sprouted up from crops long forgotten. Hooray for the comeback kids!!

Me: Hey dude.

My buddy Siel: Hey, thanks for picking me up.

Me: Sure. I’m loving your new bag.

Siel: Thanks. The turtleneck again, huh?

Me: I know, I wore it last time. It’s very Diane Keaton.

Siel: Diane Keaton looks great for her age.

Me: Yeah, I saw her at Shutters awhile back… wearing a black turtleneck.

Siel: Ha.

Me: It’s becoming my uniform.

Siel: It’s not your uniform, it’s your “signature style”

Me: Ah yes, my signature style.

Yes, I admit that I have a fall back outfit that is worn quite a bit. While it’s certainly uncouth to wear the same thing out all the time, it is absolutely eco-fashionable to have a couple classic pieces in your wardrobe that will last season to season. After all, creating a long-lasting, wearable wardrobe helps put the ‘eco’ in eco-fashion. Below, the origins of my wear-at-the-drop-of-a-hat signature style uni, as well as some great thrifted pieces that Siel wore at our monthly pilgrimage to Green Drinks yesterday.

Exhibit A: Long silver earrings that ma-in-law made for me

Exhibit B: Organic cotton turtleneck by Perfectly Imperfect

Exhibit C: Rockstar handbag acquired at garage sale

Exhibit D: Hand-me-down jeans from my mom. She didn’t like the fit. I swooped in for the kill. Score.

Exhibit E: Cute sparkly blue cowl neck sweater that Siel picked up at used clothing store Crossroads Trading Company

Exhibit F: Marc Jacobs bag that she purchased used at the designer resale shop. The magenta lining is incredible.

Exhibit G: Shoes - mine were a pair of knee high boots that are four years old and going strong. Siel has a pair of used black high heels she got off ebay that are H-o-t.

After five days of pelting down rain, there was lil break Saturday morning. And we took advantage… above, a shot I took at the vista of a great hike in Temescal canyon that the hub, me, and our bud PB went on. It’s not often that you get blue skies, snow on the mountains and a clear view of downtown Los Angeles - woo hoo!

A little over a year and a half ago, I started a porch garden. It’s been sort of a trial and error extravaganza. I’ve learned that plastic containers are not so good for plants and that dill gets covered in bugs faster than I can say, “organic”…. and that if you play your cards right you can get one heck of a yield out of an urban balcony garden in Southern California.

So knowing that I still know nothing, I like to try out little tricks here and there. I came across this article today at Treehugger called Booze as Pesticide: The Latest in Organic Farming. Well shucks, I have a bottle of Southern Comfort that hasn’t been touched in years and is taking up some serious real estate on our shelves. And I have a half dead crop of neglected strawberries (above) that has been chewed on by pests.

I’m a little skeptical, because the article mentioned red wine, but didn’t actually specify what type of alcohol to use. Will it kill the plants? Will it be bad for the soil? Will the strawberries get up on the planters and dance?

There’s only one way to find out. I mixed the So Co with one part water in a spray bottle and gave a couple shots to the strawberry plants (none for me, thanks). Oh, and I made a cute label cuz last time I had an unidentified gardening concoction in the cupboard (worm casting fertilizer), the hub accidentally started washing the bathroom with it and was thoroughly traumatized.

Hopefully, I can revitalize the plants and rid my home of this liquor. Will experiment and update.

I’m stuck inside icing my fat face. Here are the articles I’ve enjoyed. All written by buds of mine (what can I say, I like them!).

Episode 4: Sundance movies, green cleaning, and beautifying your face the natural way

My bud Michael gives an overview of the Green Films at Sundance.

My bud Siel talks clean and green. Check out what you can get in stores, how you can DIY.

My bud Jasmin gives the beautiful skin secrets we’ve all been waiting for: get moving, eat right, and drink some water already. Or…. buy that $500 cream.