I'll be heading over to Whole Foods after work today to pick up our Memorial Day grub. Nothing fancy, really. Just some ground beef (free-range, grass-fed, of course), a few packs of veggie burgers (for our vegetarian friends), and all the fixings for potato salad, macaroni salad, and deviled eggs.

I'll also be swinging by the farmers market tomorrow morning, scouring the booths for anything that's come bursting out of the ground this past week. There really is nothing better than fresh, local produce on a rare, temperate Baltimore afternoon.

Of course, the best is when you can grow it yourself. And for us, we like to keep it organic. That means a little more time tending to the tomatoes and peppers, but it's all worth it. And I don't think we're the only folks who feel that way. The truth is, over the past few years we've started to see more and more natural and organic gardening options at both our local gardening stores and the Big Box retailers. The most popular is probably TerraCycle, which is essentially nothing more than worm castings. This natural fertilizer is not only effective, but it's actually good for the environment, and doesn't require any heavy energy inputs to produce. We're big fans, and actually give this worm goodness to our friends as gifts. I do believe only those who have gardens can fully appreciate the comedic factor there.

I also read an article this week about a company that has just released a new, organic insecticide. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say how good it is. But I did include the article in this week's Green Chip Living. If any of you try this stuff, let me know how it works.

And here are a few more stories you might want to check out from this week...

• How To Boat Greener
• Organic Burger Chain Coming to Philly
• UK Solar Investment to be Boosted by Feed-in Tariff
• Coca-Cola, Toyota, France Telecom Among Top-Scoring CSR Reporters
• Promoting Renewable Energy is Focus of New International Agency
• Despite Recession, Green Building Continues Apace

You can view all these and more, right here.

Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

And please remember, while we look forward to spending an extended weekend with our loved ones, Memorial Day is really about honoring the U.S. men and women who have died while in military service. Their ultimate sacrifices should never be forgotten or trivialized. Regardless of your politics, these soldiers paid the ultimate price so that we can continue to live the very fortunate lives we live today. And for that, we remain eternally grateful.

To a new way of life, my friends...and a new generation of wealth,

Jeff