Cool Tools

Soon this view from the front porch will be all white, but for at least another 8 weeks (we hope!) we'll be enjoying what Fall has to offer us while we scurry to prepare for winter.  Garden produce is being harvested, sheds are being painted and new food forest plantings are going in the ground.  The pool is dismantled and put away, and soon, the trampoline will come apart.  

Indoors, the garden haul is slowly being processed.  This year, I'm freezing most of it, as it's faster and more energy efficient to store it that way now that I have some room the chest freezer.  They work more efficiently when full, so it's a good choice for us this year. 

The daily pick of tomatoes never disappoints :)  The (Paris Gold) celery isn't quite ready, but I couldn't stop myself from picking some anyway.  The taste is unbelievable!  Nothing like store bought (as most home grown food proves to be).  Tonight I used a good bit of it chopped up in a hearty bean soup and it was a really tasty addition.  

I'm not one to shamelessly promote products on my blog, but I had to share the single most helpful tool that I've added to my kitchen in recent memory.  I can't stop raving about it and my family is now getting tired of my exclamations of satisfaction :) 

 This humble Vegetable Brush does a SPECTACULAR JOB of cleaning dirty garden produce!  It's made of sustainably harvested beechwood and natural bristles, but the very BEST feature has to be the different bristles on each end.  The brown ones are really stiff and course (perfect for filthy carrots), whereas the lighter bristles are more gentle for softer produce.

That dirty carrot pictured above was brushed clean as a whistle (below) in SECONDS.  Literally. No exaggeration.

Not only does this little brush save me time (no more laborious washing and scrubbing the dirt off), but also, it saves water (no hose or tap running for ages while scrubbing and rinsing).  As well, I save even more time because I no longer need to peel the carrots in order to remove the last of the sticky clay that clings in the creases of the carrots.

Because we have approximately 300' feet of carrots still to pull and wash, I 

really LOVE this product!

My second favourite acquisition is the dish brush.  It's also a wood/natural bristle brush and I bought a replacement head to tuck aside for future use.  I love that it's a biodegradable tool, and that I'm not adding to the global plastic waste problem.

Both brushes (as well as some stainless containers for the children's lunches) were purchased from Life Without Plastic.  I'm VERY happy with their service and I highly recommend them.  They even refunded me a discount on 2 of my products a week after I bought them because they went on sale.  Now THAT is good customer service!

I encourage you to check out this online store - not for any benefit of mine, but simply because this company is working really hard to source and sell quality non-plastic products with a genuine concern for the environment and human health. They also gave me outstanding customer service, which in this day and age, is really something.

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Stay tuned...  I've got some really good before and after pictures to show you!