I posted once before about BPA in bottles and pacifiers. The debate, however, has continued to gain momentum. The latest news is that Walmart is pulling BPA bottles from their shelves, replacing them with BPA-free alternatives. If this trend continues it will force manufacturers to start using different plastics or glass. For all the “We THINK it’s perfectly safe,” if BPA is possibly not safe why not switch to a known alternative? There are many bottle products already that don’t have BPA, but it would certainly would be very nice to have more to choose from.

I think I am going to be purchasing some stainless steel water bottles for myself. I did some browsing online and found things like this article:

The Canadian Government is now going to ban all baby bottles made with BPA – quite a radical move! It’s interesting for me to see how much is changing just recently.

Here’s an article about the different types of plastic and which to stay away from. Of course I’ve been using just plastic water bottles that are labeled number 1, not good. I want to buy a Sigg bottle… I just have to decide which one!

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Today I planted peas.

Those of you who know me may realize that this is a radical event. I do not like dirt. I am not entirely a girly-girl – I mean, I work at a cat sanctuary and pick up poop and puke and such all day – however I have definite leanings. It is not unusual to see me holding my hands out in front of me while running for the sink and soap. (I have issues.)

Beyond that, there has never seemed any sense in working outside. You get things looking nice and it all goes to hell again. I have enough work trying to keep the inside of the house from doing the same, I was perfectly happy to let Den take care of any landscaping. I don’t even mow the lawn. Nope. So what if the grass hits a foot tall. It just adds a little flavor… and hey, the dogs like it.

So I was a little confused when I caught myself eyeing the packaged vegetable seeds at the store. Peas – I kept looking at the peas, remembering the way I would pick fresh pods from my dad’s vegetable garden and eat them. I don’t even like peas, not cooked; only fresh-picked, straight from the pod are tasty. But that was a long time ago. So I’d force myself to leave the seeds behind in the store, reminding myself that I do not garden. It involves being outside… and dirt… and sweat… and actual physical work. All things I greatly dislike. Why on earth would I want a garden?

But this urge, it won’t let go. Every time I went shopping I’d linger at that rack of seeds. Finally last time I grabbed one of the pea packages and tossed it in my cart with a shrug. It’s cheap; if the idea totally flunks out, so be it. But something was telling me to plant some peas.

Today Den got me out of bed and we wandered outside. He immediately set to tackling the hugely overgrown side yard, pulling out the thorny vines that had choked off everything else an co-mingled with the large bush-tree that sits at the corner of our foundation. I avoided the prickle bushes, so I set to clearing out debris from around the rose bush and the one lone tulip that is starting to bloom. (I don’t even recall my husband planting a tulip. Where the hell did it come from??) And then I just continued along the back of the house, clearing out the grass that likes to grow around the foundation, pulling up weeds and turning the soil. I decided that’s where I was going to plant my peas. After I had an area for them along the house I ventured into the woods at the back of our yard to find some fallen branches. I stuck them in the ground to mark my two rows. I planted my peas.

When I was done I had dirt under my fingernails (that drove me CRAZY… and I admit, when that happened I immediately had to run inside and wash my hands), dirt on my knees (my calves were killing me with the crouching, so I finally just knelt in the dirt), and I was sweaty. But I was very pleased.

I spent the rest of the day researching vegetable gardens and trying to decide what else I could plant. Den wants pepperoncinis. I’m also thinking a couple of tomato plants and an herb or two. There are others that might be nice, but I just want to start small. I was looking at methods of building vegetable gardens and tools and such and of course, as with anything, the urge is to go out and buy some pressure-treated wood to make a raised bed, some good soil and fertilizer, a bunch of fancy tools, a bunch of plants. But I stop myself and think, this isn’t about spending money. It’s ridiculous how dependent we are as a society on “things” – you can’t have any kind of hobby without the “things.” Well tough! I don’t want them! Tomorrow I am going to buy some cheap pots (Ocean State Job Lot) for the herbs, some twine to string along the peas so they can grow, and some seeds for more plants. And that’s it. Den has the basic gardening tools. One site mentioned how you can use old plastic containers (like yogurt containers) to make markers out of so you know what’s growing where – no need to buy some fancy things.

I can’t help but think that it’s no fluke that I am suddenly drawn to gardening. It’s a need to grow something. It is not up to me whether or not I have a baby to grow, and I can’t just sit around waiting for that to happen. So maybe tending to some plants will be nice. Devin’s tree started it, really. I’m watching it bud, green leaves opening right before my very eyes, and I am just so thrilled by it. I’m so very very glad we chose a tree to honor Devin.

And hey, Dad reminded me that gardening is in my genes. So maybe there’s a chance I won’t kill everything. Remembering to weed and water everything, however… that’s going to be a tough one. I have the attention span of a gnat. Den and I are both just waiting for me to find something new and shiny and forget all about the gardening thing.