4:48 a.m. Wake up to a snuggle and kiss from my 18-month-old daughter, Maggie. We just moved into a small (by Alabama standards) home in Florence, a little town at the foothills of the Appalachians, where I grew up.
5:05 a.m. Fair-trade Pura Vida Sumatra coffee for me, organic milk for Maggie. Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar about 23 times.
5:53 a.m. Head out to the garden. This is our favorite time of day, when the sun is just coming up over the trees. Maggie plays while I hoe around the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers (seedsavers.org). I promised my family I'd make my grandfather's pickles for the holidays, so this is a long project—I planted the cucumbers in April!
7:20 a.m. Quick shower. I'm planning to install a solar shower in the backyard. All that's required are a hose and a spout; the sun heats the water.
7:26 a.m. Put on an "Eagle" stencil tee. At my company, Alabama Chanin (as well as my first couture line, Project Alabama), we use a cottage-industry style of production, in which artisans craft pieces by hand in their own homes. Because of this, our line can be cost-prohibitive for many people, so we offer DIY kits, like to make your own shirt.
8:00 a.m. Take out garbage and compost. The Biostack composter is easy to work with and processes stuff quickly (smithandhawken.com). Stroll with Maggie to play-school.
8:55 a.m. At the office, prepare organic-cotton "Alabama Builds" shirts—profits go to Architecture for Humanity, for rebuilding the Gulf Coast with sustainable materials.
10:00 a.m. Talk to my editor at Stewart, Tabori & Chang about Alabama Stitch Book, due out March 2008.
10:30 a.m. Send fabric to Earth Creations, a company that uses clay to dye textiles.
11:10 a.m. Hang fabric for our spring collection on the clothesline. We dry it 90 percent outside, then throw it in the dryer for the last bit to soften and preshrink. This saves electricity and avoids heating up our offices.
12:00 p.m. Call suppliers to cancel catalog subscriptions, and ask to be added to e-mail lists instead. Once, I collected a month's worth of junk mail, and it filled four 55-gallon garbage bags!
