Catching You Up...

The past month has been a busy one chez EcoMeg, which accounts for the sparse posts here on the blog.  Here's what I've been up to...

In mid-January, I started potty training my toddler.  This turned out to be remarkably easy.  He got the hang of it within 3 days and we were done.  Within three weeks, he no longer wanted to wear diapers at night, either, so we are officially completely done with diapers.

Around that same time, my toddler and I battled sinus infections.  Mine didn't respond to the first antibiotic, so I had to go on a double dose of amoxicillin.  Big, elephant pills.  Unpleasant all the way around.

I had a visit from my Dad in late January, which was super.  I wish he lived closer.  My kids ask about him every day.  He is their favorite person!

My toddler started Montessori the first week of February, 3 mornings a week.  He lasted one week before sinking into a huge case of separation anxiety - despite being in the same class as my older son, who adores his teacher.  He also started swim classes and gymnastics classes, which, given the aforementioned separation anxiety, have not been as fun as they should be.  But we are taking it slowly and I'm not pushing the Montessori.  I know if I take a gentle approach he'll come back around to the idea.  He really enjoyed the first week and attending there was his motivation for potty training.

My older son is thriving at school, in gymnastics and has a renewed interest in reading and writing.  He is 5 and a half and we've been plowing through the Beast Quest series.  Great books for a boy his age!  He also started faith education this past Sunday afternoon, which of course means we actually have to go to church every Sunday - something we've avoided since the toddler just runs wild through the service.  But the little guy needs to learn to sit nicely, so we're committed now to attending each Sunday.

Meanwhile, I've been planning springtime for my garden:

For my organic lawn, I've sprayed all of the existing weeds with 20% vinegar to eliminate them (kills them dead in 4 hours - be careful where you spray because it will kill whatever vegetation it touches!).  Then I bought bags of corn meal gluten (to prevent future weeds) and dry molasses (encourages beneficial microbes), which I'll distribute with my spreader once we get past the precipitation later this week.  I'll water them in to make sure they get into the soil.  Then, I'm done with that for a little while.  Once the Bermuda grass emerges from hibernation in a month or two, I'll put down some organic fertilizer.

I've been mulling an organic vegetable container garden for some time and I'll launch seedlings indoors in the next two weeks.  I plan to grow zucchini, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, onion and peppers.  My boys are very excited about this (I'm hoping this excitement translates into more veggie consumption!).  I'll keep you posted on how I go about it.  I decided to go with a container garden since my neighbors use chemicals on their lawns and I don't want my veggies contaminated by runoff, despite my own efforts in maintaining an organic yard.

As for fruits, I will plant two different apple trees and a pear tree up on a slope that will minimize neighbors' runoff.  I would love to try growing bananas since we consume so many of them.  We will grow strawberries indoors in a pretty planter.

To support all of this activity, I'll start composting in the next two weeks.  More on that later!

So that's what we've been up to lately.  When things calm down around here and I get some more quiet time, I'll post more often.

Stay warm!