Fall Vegetable Gardening

As summer is winding down, it may feel like your garden's best days may be behind you until next year. However, this is not necessarily the case. There are some vegetables that are speedy growers, frost resistant and can extend the life of your garden well into fall. Beets, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, carrots and more are great for a fall garden. You can even implement succession planting by digging up crops that have ended their production and replacing them with some fall beauties! By choosing the right plants and knowing how to protect them when temperatures dip, you can have a productive garden.

We have a collection of a few articles that will help you grow vegetables this fall! For more detailed information on Fall Vegetable Gardens, see:

Fall Vegetable Gardening via Better Homes and Gardens
What to Plant Now for a Fall Vegetable Garden via A Way to Garden.com
Fall Vegetable Gardening via A Tasteful Garden

Be sure to check out our selection of Made in the U.S.A. Gardening items!

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St. Patrick's Day in the United States: A Collection of Interesting Facts

St. Patrick's Day is such a fun and spirited holiday! Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day and we can all join in the festivities!

St. Patrick's Day is such a lively day to look forward to year after year. Here are some interesting facts about St. Patrick's Day in the United States that you may not know:

• The first St. Patrick's Day parade in the United States happened on March 17, 1762. Irish soldiers that had been serving in the British military at the time paraded through New York.
• The number of American residents claiming Irish ancestry--34.7 million--is about 7 times the population of Ireland.
• Towns with names befitting St. Patrick's Day include Mount Gay-Shamrock, WV; Shamrock, TX; Shamrock Lakes, IN; Shamrock, OK; Dublin, OH; Dublin, CA; Emerald Isle, NC and Irishtown, IL.
• Savannah, GA holds the second largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the country and has about 400,000 visitors for the festivities.
• New Orleans combines both St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day to forge a whole week of celebration!
• The Chicago River has been festively dyed green since 1961 for St. Patrick's Day.
• The White House Fountain has also been dyed green since 2009.

What are your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions? Does your community do something pretty unique? Share in the comments!

Our facts are not blarney, check out our sources and learn even more!

Sources: The History Channel
St. Patrick's Day in the United States via About.com
Green Chicago River
White House Goes Green for St. Patrick's Day

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Labor Day Brought More Attention to the Return of Made in America

Labor Day is a day set aside to commemorate the hard work and achievements of American workers. This Labor Day Weekend, we celebrated with new attention to the made in U.S.A. movement. As we learn more about the conditions under which some foreign products are made, develop concerns about the materials used to make these products and realize what an impact buying locally produced products can have, we are learning the importance of purchasing American-made and are having an impact.

This past weekend, there were a number of articles about made in the U.S.A. that are worth the read. What a perfect weekend for these articles to be published! Parade Magazine had a wonderful multimedia feature titled "The Return of Made in the U.S.A." You will find a nice gallery showing images of manufacturing in the U.S. today. Several workers are profiled in different sections of the feature. Often, you hear about the companies behind the products but you do not see the people making those products. You can even take a peek into the Workman Cycles and General Pencil factories. Really a nice feature!

Last week, PlasticsNews published an article about Little Tikes returning some of their manufacturing back to a factory in Hudson, Ohio. The company has seen economic growth in the last several years and credits that to moving some of its manufacturing back to Ohio. With a rise in energy costs, logistical hurdles with transporting items and growing concern about toys made overseas, moving some of the manufacturing back to the U.S. made sense.

In "'Made in USA' on the rise as manufacturing costs drops", CNBC discusses how rising transportation costs and lower electricity and natural gas costs make the U.S.A. an attractive option for manufacturing. An interesting read!

It was so nice to see so much attention on made in America during the Labor Day weekend! With our support of these products, more wonderful products will be produced here.

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Celebrating the Fourth of July with Made in the U.S.A. Style

Summer is in full swing and the Fourth of July is right around the corner. Whether you are getting ready for the big parade or a festive bash, we have items to make your celebration patriotic and stylish! Read on to learn about our suggestions!

If you are trying to spruce up your home for the big day, we have vibrant pleated fans, patriotic bunting, a colonial-style pull down banner, American flag garland and a selection of beautiful American flags (and accoutrements as well). Everything is made here in the U.S.A.! Take a look at our patriotic decor and you will be sure to find that perfect item for your home!

Ready to set the table?  We can fulfill your needs in order to set a truly patriotic table! From American flag coasters and plates to an American flag table cloth and Old Glory napkins, we have it all!

Looking for elegant glassware to take your style up a notch but afraid to break it? We have some acrylic glassware that is both elegant and unbreakable. BPA-free as well!

Baking up a storm for your party? Our beautiful natural stone, deep dish pie pan is ideal. Perfect for baking yet still looks great for serving!

Need utensils? We have you covered with our vast selection of gorgeous wooden utensils like this fork and spatula set ideal for summer salads! We even have a maple pie server to go with your pie pan as well as a host of other wooden utensils ideal for your festivities! Talk about rustic yet elegant Americana!

Don't forget to take a look at our lovely cast iron cookware! Cast iron makes food look and taste so good! Just look at this piece, perfect for cornbread! We also have cast iron perfect for making baked beans, delicious corn on the cob and so much more!

Norton's U.S.A. has so many wonderful treasures to make your Independence Day truly made in America! Make your celebration of America's birth perfect by using some of her bounty! Happy Fourth of July!

Bring apparel production back to the U.S.A.

Recently, there have been a number of victories in the realm of "inshoring" (bringing manufacturing back to the United States). GE and Apple are bringing some production back to the U.S.A. Lenovo began a new production line in North Carolina this year. Walmart has pledged to increase the number of American-made products on its shelves. Great changes are happening!

When it comes to clothing, a disturbing 97% or more is made outside of the U.S.A. We need to turn this around! Americans have become dangerously addicted to cheap clothing. By importing more of our clothing, we have also become separated from how our clothing is produced.

The tragedy in Bangladesh has shed light on the damaging effect our clothes shopping habits have on others working under deplorable conditions. Since these clothes are not produced in our country, we do not witness this firsthand. Additionally, many nations do not have sufficient environmental regulations. Even though we support a cleaner, healthier environment, we still buy cheap clothing without realizing the impact its production has had on the environment. Not only are we are harming others, but we are also harming ourselves. The environment acts globally. Environmental damage affects the world.

As consumers, we can work to make more educated choices about shopping. We can make an effort to research the clothing we buy. We can also make an effort to buy more American-made clothing. With the internet, this is easy. In fact Norton's U.S.A. has easy to find sections for our selections of American-made Women's, Men's and Kids' clothing.

According to an NBC News article, the clothing industry faces hurdles in returning. Many of the components used to craft garments are no longer made in the U.S.A. Talent is also an issue as the clothing industry in the U.S.A. has found it more difficult to find seamstresses. However, as we begin to buy more American-made clothing, the demand will be there providing the incentive to grow the American apparel business.

In a CBS News interview, Bob Bland who heads Manufacture New York (an initiative to bring back the apparel industry) stated of the Bangladesh tragedy: "Those people who died were making clothes for us here in America. And that's important because we owe it to them not to let this happen again. I would like to see Americans take a look at when they are buying that $5 T-shirt, they need to think about that and know that there is a cost. Fashion should never kill."

We can change this. There are so many wonderful designers making clothing right here in the U.S.A. You will definitely be inspired after taking a look at some of the wonderful creations at Norton's U.S.A. (including the dress above.)

Some reading on manufacturing in the U.S.A. and on the clothing industry:
CBS News Apparel advocate: Bring clothing manufacturing back to the US
NBC News Clothing excluded from US manufacturing resurgence
The Washington Post Is US manufacturing making a comeback-or is it just hype
Time How Walmart plans to bring back 'Made in America'
USA Today Shoppers face hurdles finding ethical clothing

Make Mother's Day American Made with Norton's U.S.A.

Mothers are a building block of America. Think about all of those founding mothers who have given so much to this country: Abigail Adams, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley “Molly Pitcher”, Martha Washington, Mercy Otis Warren and many more. These are mothers who spoke up for our freedoms, supported the fight for our freedom, gave their husbands and sons to fight for their freedom and even braved the battlefield for this country. Since the beginning of our nation, mothers have worked to build the U.S.A. Why not reward our mothers with a wonderful Made in the U.S.A. gift? It is the ultimate celebration of what mothers do for our nation!

Norton’s U.S.A. has some many wonderful gifts perfect for Mother’s Day and all made in the U.S.A. Here is a peek at some good gift idea:

We have some beautiful Pearl Peapod Necklaces. You can select one with one, two, three or four pearls to represent your family. Very elegant, yet meaningful.

For the knitters, we have adorable little yarn bowls that help keep yarn in place.

For the chefs, we have a number of cookbooks. Why not pair a cookbook with some beautiful Nordic Ware.

For mothers in need of a little pampering, we have a range of beauty products including lotions, soaps and even bath fizzes.

How about a picnic for mom? You can gift one of our lovely picnic baskets to mom and even prepare a nice picnic lunch for the big day!

There are so many ways to celebrate Mother’s Day with Made in the USA. Will you have an American-Made Mother’s Day?

AND, don’t forget to come to the Cake Auction on May 11^th! Just in time for Mother’s Day! When you buy a cake at the live auction, all proceeds will go to American Cancer Society’s Relay for life. You might just help save a mother’s life!