Living Green: Fun for the whole family!

“Healthy families create the appropriate environment for sustainable physical, emotional and social development. It is within the family structure that the culture of caring is instituted and valuable norms and values are taught”.

                            

Crabtree Farm is a non-profit organization connecting Chattanoogans to our local food shed. Programs at Crabtree Farms include an urban farm, outreach training series, a CSA program, and educational opportunities including internships & volunteering. We offer field trips and farm tours for individuals, schools & organizations. From late June through July, we offer "U-Pick": blackberries & blueberries. Anyone is welcome to visit the farm and pick their own fruits!

In 1998, Thomas O'Neal founded Signal Mountain Farm with a quarter acre garden and home deliveries to family and friends. His goal was to cultivate the highest quality Certified Organic produce in the region. Signal Mountain Farm now grows over 60 varieties of fruits and vegetables—from specialty lettuces, sweet peppers, and blueberries to their prized heirloom tomatoes

The Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center at Reflection Riding has been living and teaching the principles of conservation, even before “being green” in the Tennessee Valley was the popular thing to do. Over thirty years ago, a group of far-sighted individuals had a dream to bring nature into the lives of every Chattanooga citizen—from school children, to families, to senior citizens. This committed group, under the direction of the Junior League of Chattanooga and with the help of generous donors, built a nature center using the most innovative, sustainable design available at that time. Their goal was to inspire people, not only with wonders of the natural world, but also with the knowledge necessary to preserve nature for future generations.

Mountain Bikers Rejoice!

This may not come as a surprise, or it might come as a surprise (I really have no idea how you'll react) but Chattanooga is a really good area to go mountain biking.

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, reporting for mountain biking blog Singletracks, the Chattanooga, TN area made the Top 10 list of their best places to go mountain biking in the US.

There's a trail up there...somewhere.

Keep in mind that this list was not necessarily based on which area had the largest mountains or anything like that. Rather, it was compiled based on the biking culture and infrastructure already present in each entry. And though it was number 10 on the list, also keep in mind that the entries were chosen from the 100 largest metro areas in the US. So though that excluded some smaller towns with lots of trails and enthusiasts, that is still a lot of areas to rank. So the be included at all really does put Chattanooga ahead of a lot of other places. 

Click here to see the Times Free Press article, and here to see the original article from Singletracks.

Prepping Your Home for ALL the Seasons

I don't think anyone would argue that one of the simplest (and least expensive in the long run) ways to live a greener life is to make sure that your home is as efficient as possible when it comes to fulfilling its primary purpose: providing a climate controlled shelter for you and/or your family.

Though #Snowpocalypse2014 may be behind us here in Chattanooga (maybe), that simply means that Spring and Summer are on their way, followed by plenty of heat and humidity.

Appropriate slogan is appropriate.

To find out tips about how you can prep your home for ALL seasonal conditions, take a look at this article over at The Real Estate Book, a forum for discussion about real estate.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hello everyone!

Just wanting to let everyone know that we have a new website dedicated to Green Living! Click here to see it! The new site will continue to change a bit as we edit and add more features and functions, along with migrating information from the old site.

But fear not! The old site, greenlivingwithgrace.com, will still be active for awhile yet.

In addition, there are now blogs tied to this website, among others (as you may have noticed). These are also in the process of being set up, so please bear with us as we work our way towards functionality!