Extra! Extra! Announcing New Series!

We are excited to announce new series coming this week to The Sunshine Grove blog! Hope you enjoy them. We welcome any feedback in the comments or you can send us a message at thesunshinegrove@gmail.com. Thanks for reading. We appreciate every one of you!

 Are you a bookworm? Do you love vintage? Start reading for Victory and for pleasure with Victory Book Club! I’ll be reviewing books about or written in the 1920s through the 1960s. If we can’t live in the eras our hearts love, at least we can live vicariously through book characters for that oh so good, vintage feel.

If you love Mid Century Modern as much as we do then you must dream of your perfect Ranch Home. We’ll share characteristics of a ranch, 1950s and 1960s tips to make your Ranch Home have that authentic feel and while we are at it, we’ll share a bit about the Ranch home we live in that was built over a former orange grove.

Have a drool worthy collection of vintage Pyrex? How about a Mad Men styled office? We are looking for our readers to showcase their vintage collection or one prized collectible. If you are ready to share, send us a message for all of the details. We can’t wait to see your fabulous vintage!

We’ve shared many stories about Anaheim and aren’t done yet! Along with Andy Anaheim, we’ll be your tour guides of our city’s yesteryears and today. We’ll show you there is more to it than just the Magic Kingdom, but a Citrus Empire as well.

Stay Connected

Be sure to keep up with us once Google Reader closes on July 1^st.

Recycle, It’s Earth Day

I don’t think anyone has been as excited about trash as the day that Jeremy and I got to go down to Republic  Services and tour their Eco Center. I’m not kidding. It. Was. Awesome. Anaheim is the largest city in Orange County, so let’s face it, we have a lot of trash. And where does it all go? What happens to our recyclables? How about that green waste? Don’t worry, I’m here to tell you the tale of trash.

Recycling should start off at home. Most cities, including Anaheim, have some sort of recycling program. I think that most people aren’t quite aware how they work so if you don’t live in Anaheim contact your local trash or public utility department for more information. If you are into being green, it’s interesting stuff. Since the 1990s Anaheim has had a 3 container recycling system for residential homes. The black is trash, the green is recycling and the brown is green (yard) waste.

Once picked up, our trash makes its way to Republic Services 35 acre campus in Anaheim. In a nutshell, real trash is taken to the Brea-Olinda Landfill and while our green waste is turned into mulch and used as cover at the landfill. The Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is very important for the future of all recyclables that end up in the green bins. Not only is it unique that Anaheim has its own MRF, but 50 tons of trash is sorted an hour with a daily limit of 600 tons a day.

 

Loaders dump piles of recycling on the floor of the Eco Center creating mountains of trash which are dumped onto conveyor belts that enter the first section of the MRF. Manual sorters pre-sort all material that cannot be recycled or that can damage the machine. This includes food or anything else that can contaminate the recycled material. Next, the recycling enters a machine sorter that uses discs on spinning axles to separate any paper or cardboard from plastic, glass and metal bottles or cans. The paper and cardboard are the first to be bundled into bales. Glass is usually broken into very small pieces at this point and is separated to be resold.

 

The remaining containers than pass through a machine with optical sensors that takes a photo of the items and can almost immediately tell the type of plastic passing through. Using air knives, or quick blasts of high pressure air, plastics 1 through 7 are separated and sorted into three compartments. Magnets help separate aluminum cans from magnetic cans during the same process. It truly is amazing how fast this sorting happens!

After the recycling is properly sorted it is bailed and begins another journey. Most recycling is sold to China and must be loaded into shipping containers and then journey from the port of Long Beach to China via cargo ship to be used to make new products.

Contamination of recycled bales can divert its journey to the landfill. This happens when food is mixed in with recyclables. Wash out bottles and cans, and if there is noticeable food on a container, throw it in the trash. Lisa Robles who showed us around Republic Services suggested tearing off the tops of pizza boxes for recycling (as long as it is still clean) and leaving the grease stained bottoms in the trash bin to avoid any contamination.

I might be slightly biased since I live in Anaheim, but I think they deserve a gold star for their recycling. Currently California law requires cities to keep 50% of their trash out of the landfill, and Anaheim is at a solid 63%. That’s the diversion rate. Due to new laws, cities are going to be required to keep 75% of trash out of landfills which is going to require more recycling than just at home. Lisa suggested that people who live in multifamily locations keep their trash bagged and place any recyclables loose in the dumpster. This helps the commercial sorter in the Eco Center go more smoothly and meet that higher recovery rate.

Don’t put hazardous material, electronic waste or bulky items into any of the trash bins. Orange County has 4 household hazardous waste collection centers, including one in Anaheim. They even have a material exchange program where you can choose 5 items that have been turned in for free. We’ve used this service before for small paint projects so it comes in handy. E-waste can also be dropped off at these collection centers. If you have some larger items to throw away like a couch, contact Anaheim Disposal to schedule a pick up. Bulky item pickups are free up to 3 times a year for up to 20 items during each visit.

While Spring cleaning I noticed I had some expired medication. While Republic Services doesn’t offer medication recycling at this time, there are many places that do offer it and can be found HERE.

If you are as interested in recycling as we are and live in Anaheim, contact Republic Services for your own tour of their Eco Center.

 Celebrate Earth Day in Anaheim!

 

Earth Day Event with Habitat for Humanity: Wood Pallet to Garden Planter Demo

We are excited to announce that we’ve teamed up with Habitat for Humanity for their Earth Day Celebration! Come join us as we demonstrate how to turn a wood pallet into a garden planter on April 21^st from 1 to 3 PM at the Garden Grove ReStore location.

Not the hands on type but still want a fantastic wood pallet for your garden? We'll be adding wood planters to our wood design line very soon!

 

GIVEAWAY! Bee Free Apple Honee (closed)

I’m not a huge fan of honey. I think the taste is too strong and usually over powers whatever I may be sweetening. While walking the aisles at the Natural Products Expo West I saw a booth with a banner showcasing BeeFree Honee made from apples. I do like apples, so I had to go see what apple honee was all about.

I met creator of Bee Free Honee, Katie Sanchez, and had my first taste of apple honee. It was good. She explained how she cooked up her apple honee by accident while trying to make apple jelly. Her accident turned out to be a good alternative to honey for vegans and people with food allergies. Katie also showcases recipes on her website where Bee Free Honee can be used as a substitute for honey when cooking.

Now, for the important stuff: the taste! Bee Free Honee is sweet, but also a little tart. It tastes like apple cider bottled up as syrup. I like that it isn’t as sticky as traditional honey and seems to mix well when sweetening drinks. Maybe it has something to do with the organic and US grown apples? So far I’ve used it to sweeten up iced tea and lemonade.

 

Katie was kind enough to offer a giveaway for our readers so you can taste Bee Free Honee for yourself. The giveaway is open to anyone with a US address and ends 4/19/2013. We’ll pick a winner at random.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Orange County Great Park

 

I got to visit the Orange County Great Park this past weekend and had a great time! The park is huge and there are big plans for the space that used to be the El Toro Marine Air Station in Irvine. The Base was built in 1942 and served as a training base for World War II pilots before flying overseas. One of the larger structures near the most developed area of the park is an air plane hangar from 1944. The city of Irvine aims to use the land to create “America’s greatest metropolitan park.”

 

The biggest attractions are the carrousel and the big orange balloon. Up until recently both were free, but will have admission come this weekend. The carousel has great artwork that is inspired by Orange County’s history like the California Poppy, Orange groves and planes flying overhead. I was most excited about riding the Great Park Balloon. The balloon is tethered and rises 400 feet above the park for some amazing views. It was pretty cloudy last Saturday but I imagine you’d be able to see much farther than we did on a clear day. I thought it was a hot air balloon but found out that it is actually a helium balloon, and can hold up to 30 people in its donut shaped gondola.

 

 

 

 

 

I highly recommend checking out the Farm and Food Lab. It is run by Orange County Master Gardener volunteers and they have a huge variety of plants and trees to take a look at. If you are lucky, they might choose you as a volunteer to step inside the chicken coop and collect the freshly laid eggs. They are hosting a variety of educational Spring gardening lectures in the next month so if you like gardening, check it out.

 

I was pretty bummed that the Palm Court Art Complex was closed since they had a World War II and Mid Century Orange County exhibit. I have yet to visit the Aviation Museum, Farmer’s Market or the Vintage Flea Market but are going on the to visit list!

Orange County Baseball History

I come from a bat swinging, ball throwing, mitt catching kind of family. I’ve had family members who have played little league, minor league and all in between. I wasn’t the best, but I did like the game, while my younger sister was one of the best catchers in her league. No matter how great we were at the game, we love watching a League of Their Own.

I personally am not a fan of a team, but to the sport. Growing up in Anaheim, I cheered for the Angels, when I went to college I cheered for the Padres, and since I married into a Northeast family I cheer on the Bo Sox at Fenway. There’s something about the hotdogs, peanuts, ice cream, doing the wave, and the 7^th inning stretch that are just so good. Summer wouldn’t really feel like summer without a good old fashion ball game.

In honor of opening day, I thought I would share some Orange County baseball history. A few months ago I was sitting on a friend’s porch eating beignets for breakfast when they brought out the newly published Baseball in Orange County book, by Chris Epting (part of the Images of America series). It has lots of great vintage photos of baseball throughout Orange County with a wealth of information about teams, players and memorable games including our very own hometown of Anaheim.

One of my favorite photos is early on in the book, and is the oldest photography in it from 1888. The Fairview Club baseball team from Costa Mesa sported mustaches and one player even wore a bow tie. That is exactly what I would picture baseball before the turn of the century.



Courtesy Anaheim Public Library

Into the 1900s many of the teams in Orange County existed because of sponsors. The oil companies that owned the oil fields sponsored Oil Well teams that were played by the strong men that worked their oil fields. Merchant teams also existed, where a player was sponsored by a merchant in the city so their uniform would have the sponsor’s name across the front of the uniform shirt. Some of these teams even travelled to Anaheim, where a park had just been built to hold 1,000 fans and became one of the most popular places to play a game or two. Unfortunately this park no longer exists and is now a neighborhood.



Courtesy Anaheim Public Library

October 31^st 1924 marked a significant day in Orange County baseball when Babe Ruth pitched for the Ruth All Stars, a team made up of Major League players against Walter Johnson who pitched for the Anaheim Elks. The book has plenty of great photos of this event. The game was held at the Brea Bowl, which is now another neighborhood. The upside is the Brea Museum and Heritage Center has a baseball from this game signed by Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson and other players.

Anaheim’s Pearson Park, then known as Anaheim City Park, had a grandstand built in 1927 for baseball fans viewing pleasure. Although the grandstand has been rebuilt, it remains in the original location and was renovated to look like the original structure.

La Palma Park in Anaheim also holds quite the baseball history. It served as the Spring training camp for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1940 and 1941. Joe DiMaggio even played at La Palma Park during WWII when he was part of the Santa Ana Air Base team. La Palma Park even saw the likes of Jackie Robinson when his life movie was filmed on the field in the 1950s. The field is now called Dee Field and is outside of Glover Stadium.

Did you know that citrus growers sponsored baseball teams? What if I told you they were ladies playin’ ball? The Orange Lionettes made it to the Southern California championships in the 1930s and won their first National Championship in 1950. I would love to see a color photo of their 1950s uniform – I imagine it was a nice bright orange since it looks so shiny in their team photo. Dorothy “Snookie” Harrell Doyle, a short stop for the Rockford Peaches during WWII later played for the Orange Lionettes from 1956 to 1960. Her jacket and photos are on display at the Newport Sports Museum.



Courtesy of the Local History Collection, Orange Public Library, Orange, CA. Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply

 Due to segregation, Mexicans who lived in Orange County were not allowed to play on the white teams. Both men and women teams were created in different cities and played each other. The ladies’ team from Orange was called the Tomboys. Their team photo shows them wearing a stark white uniform of shorts and a collared top with rolled sleeves. They look absolutely glamorous for such Tomboys.



Courtesy Anaheim Public Library

 

In 1966 Orange County finally entered the Major Leagues after playing baseball in the fields for over 100 years. In fact, the Angels still play in the very same stadium albeit many remodels and upgrades over the years.

Next time you are at a ball game and stand up to sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”, thank Jack Norworth, who was an Orange County resident.

* All facts from Baseball in Orange County
** Amazon is an affiliate of The Sunshine Grove.
If you buy the book we get a little something to help keep our blog running.