I saw this video on Facebook a few weeks back and forgot to post it. I absolutely adore it! I wish something like this would air prime time in the US and make menstrual cups seem more normal and also clue many their into their existence in the first place. Enjoy!

Related Posts: Green Your Period with The DivaCup & Alternative Menstrual Products – Ditch the Disposables

Guest post by Debbie Steinberg Kuntz, founder & editor of Odyssey Outdoors.

If you want to know where your food comes from, there’s no better way than to grow it yourself! That’s just what we did with a group of families last weekend in the outdoor family group we formed about a year ago.  We followed these 10 easy steps.

1.     Gather supplies.

We started with newspaper, some beautiful organic seeds that would grow in early spring in our area, organic potting soil, popsicle sticks and markers for labeling, and shoeboxes for transporting the seedling bundles back home.

The beauty of using newspaper is that we didn’t need to buy pots, and the newspaper can be planted directly in the ground and will quickly biodegrade.

2.     Discuss with kids where our food comes from.

First we talked about how our food is grown. How do we know how many chemicals were used? We explained to the kids that the best way to know is to talk to people at the grocery store, form relationships with farmers and best of all, grow it yourself!

3.     Demonstrate how to create the origami newspaper pot.

Before beginning, a couple of the adults watched this video.  Note that the woman in the video is in Germany and she uses a different size newspaper than in the U.S. In the U.S. you will need to trim about 2 inches from the long side of your newspaper before folding.

Here one of our group moms demonstrates how to make the origami newspaper pot.

4.     Work in adult/child pairs if possible.

Research shows that it’s an asset for kids to have non-parent adults who they can trust in their lives. In our outdoor group we often work in non-parent adult/child pairs to build community long term.

5.      Color popsicle sticks to label each seed pot. 

We used a background color similar to the vegetable, and then spelled the name of the veggie on top.

6.      Fill the origami newspaper pots with organic potting soil. 

7.      Label each pot with the popsicle stick labels.

8.      Put the seed bundles in a shoebox for easy transport and watering.

9.      Time to plant the seeds!

Make sure to use organic seeds that grow well in your area.

10.   Your seedlings are ready to grow!

Bring home the seedlings and water them just enough so that the soil stays damp, but the newspaper doesn’t fall apart.  Wait until sprouts appear and then bring them outside during the day, in a shady spot for a few days.  Then gradually move them into the sunshine.  Then, they’re ready to go in the ground!  Tips on planting them in the garden can be found here.

And that’s how we start growing, and soon eating, our super-local, organic food!

The ebook bundle of the week is right up my alley and I am fairly excited about it. The theme is gluten and grain free and it includes 5 wonderful ebooks. For only $7.40 you get the following: Against the Grain, Beyond Grain & Dairy, The Grain-Free Snacker, Best of the Grain Free Meal Plans, Gluten Free and Good for You.

If you are curious about going grain free or want to try and eat fewer grains and gluten then these books are an excellent resource. I like to download these books to my Dropbox and then read them on my tablet in the evenings. Plus I can take the books with me “virtually” if I have to go sit in a line at the DMV. I didn’t use to be a big ebook person but I am officially converted! Enjoy!

We don’t have any dogs in our home…yet. We badly want one but we are renters and it’s just too much stress to have a pet at this time. To get our fill we have to make regular trips to Nana’s house where there are two furbabies available to love on.

Every year the #1 Christmas gift priority award is bestowed upon those dogs by my kids. Forget everyone else in the family…as long as those doggies have full stockings we are all good.

This means I have to be on the lookout for more planet friendly options and there are many at the Only Natural Pet Store. I recently got an email highlighting their new 2 Ball Toss & Tug Toy. It’s a durable, inventive toy made entirely of reclaimed materials, making it more eco-friendly. The rope is repurposed climbing rope and the balls are reclaimed. Made in Colorado too! I know two someone’s named Zoey and Koko who would love these…

Also Read: Healthy Pets, Green Pets

I’m one of 30 bloggers participating in the 12-week Go Green, Get Fit Challenge as part of the EcoMom Alliance Sustain YourSelf™ Program presented by PlanetShoes.com. This is my week four update, you can read about week three here.

The temperature outside reached scorching last week and that impacted my workouts. I also took time off for the 4th and don’t regret a minute of it. In fact, I had so much fun I am repeating it this week. Also a factor is the fact that my local CrossFit box has fewer available classes because we have a member who qualified to compete in the 2012 CrossFit Games. Woot! Many of the coaches and members are traveling with him to LA to cheer him on and that will effect this week’s schedule and some of next week. I plan to kick back and watch the games on TV.

On Monday the warm up was 2 rounds down and back for each with 5 pushups and ten situps between each exercise… Samson lunges, bear crawl, spidey lunges, plank walks. Skill was 3×3 dips on the bar. Strength was 5 rounds tempo dips and 6 DB bent over row (40 lbs). WOD was 21-15-9 dips, air squats, and DB bent over row.

On Tuesday my hubby went golfing so no gym time for me.

On Wednesday we all drove up to my parent’s house for the holiday. I also had no desire to do any of the insane “Freedom” workouts that many boxes were hosting. I actually saw one that lasted 4 hours! I like exercise but I have no desire to fry myself.

Thursday and Friday were spent sleeping in, taking my son fishing, going out to eat, seeing movies with my folks (Spiderman, Magic Mike), and going to garage sales.

Saturday I returned home but not in time for the Olympic Lifting class so I did a workout at home using Power Body: Kettlebell Bootcamp with Angie Miller. This time I used the 15 pound Kettlebell that the DVD recommends. I sweat up a storm even though I was in the A/C.

Sunday I did a Kettlebell workout using the Body Sculpting with Kettlebells for Women book. I have mentioned before how much I love this book so I think it is time to stop borrowing it from the library and actually buy it. I did two sets of the Gold Program, Week 1, Day 1. Warmup, rack squats, Push Press, Double Arm Overhead Swings, Backward Lunges w/Pass, Bent Over Row, Pushups, and Russian Twists.

I had a question from a Facebook friend when I posted one of my workouts via Daily Mile. She asked what weight kettlebells I use when I workout. Well, it depends on the moves and reps actually. If I am doing two handed exercises with few reps I go for a 25-35 pounder. Two handed with lots of reps I go for a 20 pounder. So if the workout calls for 50 reps then I will go heavy. If I will end up doing 100 reps or more then I go lighter. For workouts where the moves are kind of complex (aka one legged poses and figure eights) and for those that focus on one arm, I will go lighter… say 15-20 pounds and I may have one in each hand.

How did your workouts go this week?