I don’t know if you caught wind of the storm brewing lately in regards to those who embrace homesteading. I saw it myself last week and was absolutely flabbergasted. A well known family in California (The Dervaes) have decided to claim ownership of the term Urban Homestead(ing) and had it trademarked. Then they proceeded to send out letters to bloggers and even companies who used these terms or had them as part of their business name asking them to remove these references. Facebook pages for homestead groups and informational non-profits had their pages turned in for infringement and they were erased. This family insists that they are being vilified unfairly, yes several major newspapers and a myriad of homesteading bloggers have lambasted them, but in my opinion they are not. I myself was on the receiving end of one of their letters once and it was VERY clear that wanted me to stop using a term coined during war time America or credit them as the inspiration for my work OR face lawsuit. The response to crediting them was HELL NO. Urban Homesteading is a movement and it existed long before the Dervaes. That is why I am participating in the Urban Homesteaders Day of Action where we speak out about the fact that we ARE Urban Homesteaders and no other family, even if they do think they are the cat’s meow, gets to take credit for that.

In addition to talking about homesteading for years I would classify my husband and myself as urban homesteaders. We don’t butcher our own hogs or grow 7000 pounds of food in our backyard but we do what we can and what we can do increases with each year.

- We grow as much food as we can in the space we have. Last year that was tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers. This year we hope to increase that x3 even though we technically have a smaller space to work with.

- We buy local. We support local growers and homesteaders by purchasing local grains, pastured eggs, milk, grass fed meat, honey, and other seasonal offerings. The farmer’s market is our second home!

- We make our own. I sew things for the home and my husband is also quite crafty. This year we plan to invest in wood working machinery so we can increase our self sufficiency. We also make our own yogurt, dairy and water kefir, sourdough, dried fruit, and bread. This year we plan to add more foods we have preserved, and make our own butter and buttermilk.

- We cook and we rarely eat out. Our weekly produce box is the basis of our meals for the entire week. This morning hubby is making breakfast while I prep dinner and throw it in the slow cooker.

- We compost indoors with worms so that we have no food waste.

- We use green cleaners (of our own making) for our home and we use natural body care products (sometimes making our own as well). We hope to make our own bar soap this year.

- We don’t have much land to call our own but we take care of it and try our best to live off of it.

I am an Urban Homesteader. How about you?

After my post about our Worm Factory I got an email from a reader that asked if we put all our scraps from the table immediately into the worm condo AND if we microwave them first. I guess microwaving kitchen scraps to soften them up is a common practice.

The answer to both is no. We collect our kitchen scraps in a smaller compost collector because we don’t want to overwhelm our worms and we will very likely be generating more waste than they will be able to handle anyway, at least until we start having generations of worms babies. We also want to soften up our scraps and start the decomp process so that it will be faster and easier for the worms to tackle but we do not have a microwave. Nor do we want one, microwaves are not good for your health.

To that end we first collect food waste in a kitchen compost collector. This allows us to collect any excess food waste that can’t go in the worm bin yet and it gets the compost brewing in the meantime. We chose the Exaco Trading ECO-2000 2.4 Gallon Kitchen Compost Waste Collector for a couple reasons. Firstly because it was one of the biggest ones for the money (less than $20). Yes, I would have preferred a stainless steel or ceramic collector but we are a family of five… the rinky dink one gallon size on those models would be filled in a week… or less. Larger ones cost more than we wanted to invest. And of course any plastic that helps us in our greener living journey overall gets a pass from me.

Right now it sits on top of the worm bin but it could easily go under the sink as well. Our old collector was a big mixing bowl that was open and visible every time you passed by… yuck. I like this system much better. We mix it occasionally with a wooden mixing spoon or I dump it into a bowl and then dump it back in the composter to reverse the top/bottom.

Another aspect of our composting system is the fact that I collect a lot of scraps and freeze them. When I get a nice large bunch I will make my homemade vegetable broth and this is even better than microwaving. The scraps are super soft and I have broth to boot. Easy peasy!

Can you believe how old my son looks?? Egads… he is getting this wide, strong jaw like his Dad and he is looking like a teenager!!! But… I am getting off track…

A couple weeks ago we welcomed some new “pets” into the house… Red Wrigglers (worms). They even have a posh new condo in the kitchen so they are getting royal treatment. They are of course expected to pay their way in the form of wonderfully rich and dark compost for our garden this spring/summer.

When we moved into this house it came with no composting area and we had other things on our mind prior to winter so we gave up composting for awhile. But I started to feel guilty about that as I saw scraps sitting in the garbage so I decided to try my hand at indoor composting for winter months. I started researching it and was intent to just rig up some sort of worm bin using plastic storage tubs we have in the garage but I saw there were some issues with doing it this way as well as it being really ugly.. and our worm bin was going to be in the kitchen, visible to all. So I decided that if this was something I was really going to pursue passionately I needed to go with an efficient and easy system. A commercial worm bin seemed the better option and after reading up the various ones and scouring reviews, I chose… The Worm Factory, specifically the Worm Factory DS5TT 5-Tray Worm Composter – Terra Cotta.

It came in only a few days (free shipping too) and I ordered my worms a few days after that. I tried to get them locally but the only source I could find wasn’t answering any calls so I ended up ordering from the go-to place for composting worms, Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm (via Amazon) where you can get a about 1000 Red Wriggler Worms for $15. They came from Pennsylvania, so almost local. We got them in a couple days and they moved into their new digs. I read several places that worms often try to escape and you should leave the lights on in the room where the bin is for a few nights so they choose to stay but my husband works second shift and gets in late and always turned off the lights. They chose to stay anyway… I guess they like it here.

Anyway the Worm factory we bought has 5 trays. You start by laying a few layers of moist newspaper down on the bottom of the first tray and then cover with the included coir (coconut husk fiber) and some sand or crushed eggshells. We didn’t have any sand so we went with pastured eggshells. Then we filled the remaining space with shredded newspaper (also included) and a couple whole layers of moist newspaper. At one corner we put some food scraps… onion skin, grated carrots, lettuce, etc. It sat like that for a few days before we welcomed our worms. They came in dry soil so we added them and used a spray bottle to moisten things up and after a few days I took this photo which shows they gravitated to the corner with the food (top right). I went ahead and added some more scraps to the lower corner as well.

When I add more scraps I do so in the corners, going in order. After about a month or so I will add the next tray and repeat the whole process. Gradually the worms will seek out new food and will move up to the higher tray (there are little holes for them in the tray bottoms). Or you can take the bottom tray and put in on top and the light will make them move to the lower tray. Repeat until all trays are full. By the time the top tray is being worked, the bottom tray is likely ready for adding to your garden or potted plants.

At the very bottom of the unit is a slanted collection tray for the compost tea. This was another reason I wanted this particular composter. I read several reviews from people who tried using storage tubs and they claim the amount of compost tea they got from the Worm Factory was double. It has a nifty spigot on the bottom so you can collect the tea easily.

We are still early in the game but so far there is no odor whatsoever. It looks good sitting in the kitchen (IMO) and it is soooo easy to use. I am glad we went with this system. There is also no need for guilt about buying new plastic because the Worm Factory is made from post consumer recycled plastic. Yeah! Plus it is also helping us compost and encouraging us to grow our own food.. which we plan to do on our backyard deck this year, since we have so little space. I am also collecting and using newspaper instead of sending it to the recycling center. We seem to have enough for composting and for my son’s Bearded Dragons (yes we have two now) just with the little junk papers and community news that gets put on our mailboxes.

If you want to compost but live in an apartment or a small space or you just want to keep winter compost going strong by doing it indoors I recommend this system highly. I will post regularly about issues we may have… like potential fruit flies and the like. We may even move this unit outdoors as the weather warms because it can go inside or out if left in a shady, cooler, spot. Either way I cannot wait to get my hands on some of that black gold this spring!

Also another recommendation is this wonderful book on composting with worm bins, Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System. I read it YEARS ago and never acted on it. Lucky for me I kept it in storage until I needed it!

Are you composting yet?

I have always been more than a little interested in self sufficiency. And I do mean always. When I was little I used to empty my closet of its considerable toy and clothing stash and put empty cardboard boxes in it so I could pretend I was homeless and living off the land. When I was older I used to pour over books like The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It. Then I got a dose of reality when I did in fact move to a farm and it was MUCH tougher than I ever bargained for. Yeah, a horse getting out of the barn in the middle of the night, in winter, when you are 8 months pregnant is not fun. It wasn’t long before I moved back to the city. But the longing for a self sufficient life never went away and I began to wonder if things could have been different if I weren’t so far away from town, if I weren’t pregnant and suffering from cancer at the same time, if my husband was actually home and not on the road 25 days a month as he used to be. I still read those self sufficiency books and memoires. Heck I read The Hunger Games (an awesome book BTW) this week and even it reminded me of that long held dream. Reading inspirational stories of small scale and urban homesteaders gives me incentive to one day try again.

A couple weeks ago I asked about self sufficiency skills on the Natural Family Living Facebook page and got lots of great answers from moms who are practicing a variety of these skills at home. Angela was one of those moms and she generously put up with my barrage of questions. All photos in this post are hers.

Tiffany: So tell us a bit about yourself… how many are in your family, where do you live, how much land do you have, etc.

Angela: My name is Angela, and I’m a 31-year old homemaker. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, who is 3.5 years old, and a baby due in June 2011. We moved from Arizona to Oregon five years ago and just two years ago we moved to our current home on 0.38 acres. Our property backs up to 9 acres of semi-secluded green space, so we have the feeling of having much more land than we actually do.

Tiffany: Did you fall into homesteading because you wanted to be self sufficient, was it finances that motivated you, how did you end up living this lifestyle?

Angela: Homesteading and self-sufficiency sort of found us, I suppose. We always had a desire to have our own garden, and that is how it all started. I began learning more about food, our food supply, health, household chemicals, etc., and the more I learned, the more self-sufficient I’ve wanted to become. My husband has always wanted to “live off the grid” but for slightly different reasons. He enjoys the independence and freedom it provides. Once we got the ball rolling, the snowball effect took hold, and now we want to do as much for ourselves as we can. What we can’t grow, we buy from local farmers. We find supporting our small, local farms and our community nearly as rewarding as being self-
sufficient. I have made so many wonderful friends and contacts that way, too.

As of late, finances have played a role in the growth of our homestead. We foresaw some tough times coming, so we decided to expand the garden and add chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. It has really come in handy, too. One month we only had $50 in our grocery budget, and we were still able to eat like kings.

Tiffany: What do you grow on your land? Do you preserve foods?

Angela: We grow organic vegetables, herbs, and mushrooms. We also have a mini orchard consisting of several varieties of apples, two varieties of Asian pear, Italian prune, almonds, olives, Meyer lemons, naval oranges, figs, persimmons, peaches, nectarines, three varieties of pears, and three varieties of cherries. All but two of our orchard trees are grafted on dwarf rootstock and pruning will help to keep them, and their fruit, at manageable heights. Additionally, we grow six varieties of grapes, goji berries, kiwis, elderberries, huckleberries, lignon berries, red currant, green currant, strawberries, 21 blueberry bushes, gooseberries, tayberries, several varieties of raspberries, boysenberries, and blackberries grow wild in the green space. To pollinate the orchard trees and early-blooming fruits, we keep mason bees.

Our orchard is still young (planted just two years ago), so we haven’t had much fruit yet, and my daughter devours all the ripe fruit. She’s so voracious, we feel lucky if we get even a half dozen blueberries each. I’m hopeful that next year we will have enough fruit to preserve…though, like the trees, my daughter (and her appetite) is growing, so we’ll see.

This year we had 28 tomato plants, and despite the cool, wet summer weather, we were able to put up several gallons of tomatoes for sauce and about a gallon of salsa (the rest was devoured the day it was made or given away to friends). The fruit from the Principe Borghese tomatoes was dehydrated, so we have about two gallons of sun-dried tomatoes. Extra veggies get fermented or frozen, though I do hope to do more canning next year. Last year we had so many potatoes we gave away bags of them AND still had enough to get us through till summer. We planted half as many this year (we’ll still have enough to get us through spring) and used the extra space for onions and garlic. The onions were a flop because we didn’t harvest and cure them correctly, but the garlic is delicious and we have enough to last us for another couple months. Since neither my husband nor I have much prior experience, we find that every year is a learning experience and there is always something we don’t grow or cure quite right.

Tiffany: Do you raise animals for food?

Angela: Currently we have 18 layer hens that have 1/8 acre to forage on. We feed them a corn- and soy-free locally-grown organic whole grain mix with fish meal that I blend together myself, and they get oyster shells on a free-feed basis. During this past summer, they were allowed to free range throughout the green space and the neighbors’ yards (they loved their two-legged visitors), but after one neighbor found a gift of nine eggs in his backyard, we decided to clip their wings. They also did quite a number on our garden beds and the seedlings, making it nearly impossible to grow a fall garden. This year we raised three ducks for meat…well, they were meant to be layers, but all of them turned out to be male, so we sent our feathered friends off to the processors. In the spring, we are going to try our hands at raising heritage breed turkeys for meat and (depending on how much time and money we have) we may raise a batch of red broiler meat chickens in a chicken tractor. We are also planning on building honeybee hives on the property either this spring or the next.

Tiffany: What other things do you do yourself? (aka bread, yogurt, etc.)

Angela: In an effort to avoid unnecessary chemicals, sugars and preservatives, I make raw milk yogurt, kefir and the occasional batch of butter, kombucha tea, ginger beer, wild-yeasted sourdough bread, fermented vegetables, toothpaste, laundry detergent, cleaning products (which are actually just baking soda and vinegar), body lotion (olive oil or coconut oil with the occasional essential oil added). I’d like to start taking up cheese making again…my previous attempts at mozzarella ended up as some tasty ricotta. In the past, we brewed and bottled our own beer. Currently, I’m looking into making my own bar soap and dishwasher soap, too.

Tiffany: Do you try to stay local with things you cannot provide yourself?

Angela: Absolutely. Every year we buy ¼ of a grass-fed, antibiotic-free cow for a local farmer. All our other pasture-raised meats come from Harmony J.A.C.K. farms in Scio, Oregon. I also buy raw milk from a friend in a neighboring town. During the fall and winter months, we order our fruits and veggies from Azure Standard. They either grow the food themselves in greenhouses on their farm in Dufur, Oregon or bring it in from Washington. Azure is also our supplier of organic whole grains for our hens.

Tiffany: What has been the most rewarding thing about this lifestyle?

Angela: The pride of knowing we can do it ourselves has been our greatest reward. We are not reliant on big companies anymore and we spend a fraction of what we used to at the store. It is also a wonderful feeling knowing that we are living more in line with nature instead of in opposition to it. Mother Nature is amazing and it feels wonderful to know that we are being good stewards of the earth.

Tiffany: What do you hope your children will learn along the way?

Angela: I hope they learn self-sufficiency, independence and interdependence, and I hope they will have a deep respect for and connection to this beautiful earth we live on. My children will grow up knowing that our sort of lifestyle is very doable and highly rewarding. I also feel that living this lifestyle is the greatest antidote to consumerism and the marketing tactics of large corporations. They will know what is truly important in life, and it’s not the latest technology gadget, the latest fashions or fancy cars. I also sincerely hope they learn how to respect their bodies by eating nutrient-dense, organically-grown and humanely-raised food. Their health is their greatest asset in life.

Many thanks Angela for sharing with us and being an inspiration for wanna-be homesteaders!

This book is a practical guide about self sufficiency in a modern society. As the author stated stated, imagine American Gothic and replace the pitchfork with a computer mouse. LOVE that. But in all honesty I think the introduction slightly misrepresented the life of the author, Jenna Woginrich. I imagined she was living in an inner city apartment, striving to be more self sufficient in the heart of a downtown metropolis. But alas I read on to find she was actually renting a farm and she owns sled dogs she uses in winter for mushing. While I was 100% enchanted by her story and her life… it isn’t exactly modern living for the majority ya know?

But even though I don’t live in the wilds of a mountain region in Idaho I still found much of the information useful. I also put down the book with a burning desire to learn to play the fiddle. The book covers chickens, growing your own food, beekeeping, cooking the old fashioned way, using old and vintage stuff instead of new, making your own clothes, owning working dogs, and livestock.

The chapter on raising chickens was so inspirational. I have always wanted to own chickens and have my own source of eggs. It is on my someday list. My favorite chapters were on buying used and classic items. Products made 50 years ago or more were made to last and if they broke they were made to be repaired. Nowadays products are designed to have a short useful  life. That is how corporations can count on your repeat business. They know the product you buy will only last a short amount of time and many make it difficult or impossible to repair so that buying new is the easiest option. I am all over buying used and buying vintage. I love my hand crank nut grinder and my vintage refrigerator dishes. Some of the dishes we eat our scrambled eggs on are over 100 years old. They don’t make stuff like they used to.

The author enjoyed drinking her home brewed coffee from green jadeite mugs (my grandmother had those!) and I love my Pyrex and Fire King. I just scored some of both at an auction this weekend. I got some beautiful lime green and pink gooseberry bowls and casserole dishes that are still vibrant in color. The little things make me happy. ;)

Other chapters on raising rabbits or keeping bees were interesting but not on my wish list. I think a part of modern self sufficiency is finding people in your community to provide the things you can’t provide yourself. Sewing clothing is on my wish list though. I have made stuff for the kids and for our home but I haven’t sewn anything for myself since I was 16. I need to start sewing more. I walked away from this book with a big to-do list. Each month I want to learn some new skill or way to become just a bit more self sufficient and less reliant on society to meet my needs. As the author mentioned, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride like nothing else can.

Book: Made From Scratch – Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

I have boxes of stuff in my basement that I never opened and went through. I have an unorganized laundry room (read: clothes all over floor), my bed linen closet is a horror, I have many walls that need a coat of zero VOC paint, a light on a vaulted ceiling has been burnt out since we moved in, my kitchen cupboards are so stuffed they won’t close, and dagnabbit I can’t find my darn sewing machine and I want to sew some stuff! This is the tip of the iceberg.

So…I am putting my feet to the flame here. I am starting a big green spring clean and I will chronicle the journey here and yes I will be posting BEFORE pictures so you can know my shame. :(

What I plan to accomplish:

1. A clean home using green and natural cleaning products.

2. An organized home with less clutter.

3. A more simplistic home with less stuff I don’t need.

4. A clear idea and list of stuff I DO need. Then I plan to shop at yard sales, estate sales, and thrift stores as much as I possibly can and not buy new.

5. More organized play/fun/crafting/art areas set up for myself and the kids so we won’t be constantly running out of supplies or making such a mess. And of course more fun is good too. :) We also need areas for homeschool projects.

Want to join me? Blog along with me and document your own “Big Green Spring Clean!”. Feel free to grab the banner at the top of this post if you want to. I have a smaller one too. Let’s see what we can accomplish together…

Sign Mr. Linky below if you are blogging about spring cleaning:

[tags]spring cleaning, organized, laundry, green cleaning[/tags]

Trust me I get it. I always like to spend my dollars with the most reputable and ethical companies. As more huge corporations buy up our beloved products though this will become increasingly hard to do (remember Clorox just bought Burt’s Bees too)…but not impossible. Buying a green cleaner from a company that primarily produces chemical cleaners might be likened to buying a hybrid from GM, whose VP just went on record as saying that global warming is a crock of sh*t.

So what is my verdict? I like Clorox Green Works.

I have been using several Green Works products for the last few weeks and they do a great job cleaning. And while they seem to be only 99% natural (Clorox claims that they are listing all ingredients on the labels of the Green Works products, something they do not do with their conventional cleaning products) I think this is an awesome accomplishment for mainstream, highly affordable, and highly available cleaner. According to the San Francisco Chronicle the remaining non-natural 1% contains the preservative Kathon (derived from petrochemicals) and a couple dyes to tint the cleaners those lovely shades of green.

My opinion? Not bad. You see when I go to my local Kroger store I don’t see any Dr. Bronners, or Seventh Generation, or Method, etc. If they did have them I am guessing that most mainstream people would scoff at the price tag compared to a bottle of 409. But along comes Clorox Green Works…a MUCH safer cleaner in comparison and priced just as affordably as other cleaners. Now all the consumer has to do is decide between the regular cleaner they always get or this new cleaner from a company they recognize as being efficient, and it says “natural”. How many people might now be motivated to buy the safer product? How many mainstream people will be converted and end up ditching the majority of the chemicals they were using? The potential to convert is a powerful one and one big reason I support this product. I live in a VERY economically depressed area and I think moms here deserve safer products too and they won’t care a lick about greenwashing or supporting the most ethical companies. They will care about feeding their families and if they can now afford to buy safer, conventional cleaners….they are happy and I am happy for them. You won’t see me slapping that Green Works out of their hand to lecture them about not supporting Clorox and their other “toxic” products. A safer home is a safer home…anyway you slice it.

Green Works products worked extremely well for me and did not cause me to break out in hives…which I will certainly do if I pick up a bottle of Windex or 409. I also adore the scrumptious smell and that surprised me because I am very sensitive to fragrance. Green Works smells very lightly of limes…yum.

These products are made from renewable resources, they are biodegradeable, sustainable, and 99% petrochecmical free. They are also not tested on animals. It is not the “perfect” natural cleaner but hey that’s okay…baby steps. I hope that more moms will make the switch to a more natural cleaner thanks to Green Works.

As for me, I will probably stick with what I already use. Why fix what isn’t broken? But I will enjoy using up what I have left of my GW products.

[tags]Clorox, green works, natural, cleaners, greenwashing[/tags]

First off the Holistic Moms Network, of which I am a fan, has released a new cookbook. It is called “Growing Healthy Families”. The cookbook is comprised of recipes submitted by holistic and health conscious moms and compiled to make an awesome resource for other moms wanting to cook healthy meals for their family.

Growing Healthy Families showcases a variety of nutritional philosophies and flavors, from vegetarian, vegan, raw food, and gluten-free (for those with ethical or dietary sensitivities), to ethnic and meat-centered dishes. “We don’t all agree on what we should eat,” says Nancy Massotto, HMN’s Executive Director, “but we find common ground in the value of eating simply and eating unprocessed whole foods,” Massotto says.

Indeed, many of the recipes in Growing Healthy Families emphasize the use of wholesome ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables, brown rice, whole wheat pastry flour for baking, and flax seeds which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. But more importantly, this cookbook contains mom and kid-tested recipes which prove that healthy doesn’t mean bland or boring.

Hearty recipes such as Red Lentil Roast or Fennel-Crusted Salmon on White Beans to Gluten-Free Fudge Brownies and Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookies are sure to please every palate and dietary need.

What makes Growing Healthy Families truly unique, however, is the last section called This & That. Readers will find recipes for homemade baby wipes, play dough, non-toxic household cleaners, body care products, and holistic remedies for everything from sore throat and chest congestion to insect bites and allergy relief. Growing Healthy Families is reasonably priced at $15 and can be ordered from the HMN website.  

Second, I recently joined a new membership site called The Homemaker’s Mentor. It is really an awesome concept. The membership price is $5 a month and for that price you get 2 lessons a month in the lost art of homemaking as taught by a wife of thirty years and a mother to 11 children! If you have ever wished for a friend or older woman to hold your hand and teach you skills you have always wanted to learn, The Homemaker’s Mentor is for you.

Right now the down-loadable lesson is all about baking pies from scratch….regular pies and mini-pies or turnovers. It has pie crust recipes, filling recipes, full color picture instructions, and even video about making pie crusts in bulk and freezing them. The recipe for strawberry pie has my mouth watering. Last month there was a huge lesson on beans and all the ways you can prepare and cook them. Members also get to chat in the private homemaker’s forum. It is really one awesome resources for moms and for $5 a month it is a steal too. Check it out!

And lastly, I want to send a shout to all my readers…Thank you!!! You all rock and you are the reason I maintain this blog. Much love! – Tiffany

[tags]homemaker, holistic moms, cookbook, healthy eating[/tags]

What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

You may have heard of farm sharing programs or Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) before. They are gaining popularity and getting a lot of media exposure in recent years for their ability to help bring real and local food back to the table every night and support local economies. They are instrumental in helping people to eat their meals from farm to plate.

All those small scale farmers in your area are at a serious disadvantage these days. They simply cannot compete with large agri farm operations that sell to major grocery markets. Small farmers usually have to sell to their neighbors, at roadside stands, and at farmer’s markets. They have had to work hard to find a loyal customer base and unlike large agribusiness operations, small farmers might find themselves out of business the very first time their crops are destroyed or fail to thrive. It is such a sad state of affairs. So….realizing that smaller farms serving the locals might soon be gone with the wind some of them have gotten creative and decided to extend an invitation to their local communities in the form of CSAs.

I am happy to see that many have answered that call.

So how does it work? CSAs work when the farmers sell a portion or a share of their harvest to their neighbors. For a seasonal fee they get a box of fresh farm fruits and veggies every week. I remember being giddy on delivery days each week…just waiting for my box of farm fresh goodies. The CSA that I belonged to in Arizona was run by a gal named Kelly and she included pertinent recipes every week so I was in culinary heaven each week. It was that first year that got me hooked on Kale…because I was swimming in it, LOL. Before that I had never even tried it so being a CSA member also exposes you to new and exciting foods. I did an interview with my local CSA farmer in Arizona at Desert Roots Farm if you want to read about it.

Here was Kelly’s definition of a CSA:

Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

As Kelly touched on, the farmers have more freedom, security, and flexibility when their costs and products are paid for up front. The consumer benefits by having continuous access to local and healthy foods that don’t have to cause planetary destruction on their way to you. The consumer also absorbs some of the risk involved in farm management because if the crops fail for whatever reason the farmer has already been paid and he or she will not be forced out of business. The consumer, although unhappy to see no food that season, is satisfied in supporting his local community and protecting his or her local food sources.

There are some CSAs that allow you to pay for your farm share or a portion of it in trade for labor. You might be put to work weeding, harvesting, packaging CSA boxes, or delivering the food. This arrangement keeps costs down for both the farmer and the consumer. In my area (Ohio) a whole share from May to October costs about $650 and that pays for a box of farm fresh goodies every week. You can also do a half share for a smaller family. In Arizona it was a bit more expensive.

You may also be able to find CSAs that raise livestock and thus offer shares of beef, raw milk, chicken, eggs etc. There was nothing like that in my area but I get fresh eggs from the local Amish farms and hoorah….I found a herdshare program nearby that offers a share in a dairy cow and I will be getting 2 gallons of raw, organic milk every week. For the first year the price works out to be $3.65 a gallon and every year thereafter it is $2.65 a gallon. I have to pinch myself that is such a steal….I was paying $8.00 a gallon in Arizona.

Other benefits of joining a CSA include the fact that the whole family starts eating healthy veggies and leafy greens more frequently. It also makes eating raw easier. Joining a CSA in your area might be one of the best things you can do to support your local economy and make a commitment to healthy eating.

So where do you find one? Try Local Harvest for a listing in your area. And if there aren’t any don’t worry, you might be able to do what I am doing which is take a blended approach with a little grow-your-own, farmer’s marketing, shopping with the Amish, pick-your-own day trips, and herd sharing. You would still be eating healthier, eating local, and supporting your community by keeping your dollars local.

Other important links:

Real Milk – To help you find raw milk, raw cheese, and herd share programs.

Pick Your Own – A farm directory where you can visit local farms and pick your own food.

Here is a video I did last summer of our berry picking adventure. Doesn’t it make you long for spring????!

[tags]CSA, community supported agriculture, local food, farms[/tags]

I have not been a fan of conventional laundry detergents for a long time. My general fondness of natural detergents and laundering methods was cemented when I did the research for a cloth diaper detergent chart on one of my other sites. You should check out the chart…it was meant for cloth diapers in particular but it is a good resource for detergents for ANY kind of laundry. I have basically taken a ton of different detergents and rated them based upon their use of enzymes, optical brighteners, dyes, fragrance, and fabric softeners….which are pretty much all bad news and I explain why at the bottom of the page.

Something always bothered me about even the most natural detergents though…..the packaging. It is very wasteful…especially the big plastic bottles of liquid detergent.

So I was jazzed recently to get to try Dropps Liquid Laundry Pacs finally. They are tiny little packs of natural liquid detergent with no enzymes, optical brighteners, or fabric softeners. The scented version has dyes and fragrance but the unscented has neither. So the detergent is healthier for humans and for the planet right off the bat but the packaging is also very cool.

A regular plastic jug of liquid detergent is only 2 times concentrated. That means it is 75% water. What a waste! The Dropps on the other hand are 6 times concentrated…so you aren’t paying for a teeny bit of detergent and a bunch of water. Also only 75% of that plastic jug is made from recycled plastic and the cap is not recyclable so 100% of those end up in the landfill.

The Dropps are tiny little baggies of detergent and you throw the whole thing in the wash. The plasticy film completely dissolves like those Listereen breath strips so there is no waste. The Dropps do come in  a larger plastic bag but I hear they are changing that aspect of the packaging so I am excited to see what they come up with. Overall this detergent means far less waste and after a few weeks I find that they clean just as effectively as my other detergents and without residue build-up, so Dropps are a big winner in my book. They are good for people with sensitive skin in my opinion too, because that is me for sure…I get hives when things irritate my skin.

I have a bag of unscented and dye free Dropps to give away! Just leave a comment and you are entered to win.

[tags]Dropps, liquid detergent, eco friendly, recycle, natural[/tags]

But I have two objections. First is the massive amount of work involved in keeping a pool clean and second is the chemicals required to keep the water clean and clear. I am not keen on either. I remember all to well the chlorine and acid my dad poured into our pool on a regular basis and how it stung your eyes and irritated the skin. Kids don’t want to hear about these things though.

So….I have been looking around a bit for alternatives to chemicals to clean pools and and I encouraged. I recently found this chemical free pool company called Eco Smart Pool. They offer a 100% chemical free pool and spa treatment that uses natural oxygen technology and a pool ionizer. It is kind of fascinating the way it works with a safe low voltage DC current being applied to copper electrodes.  Copper ions have the ability to pierce the protective outer membrane of a cell and disrupt enzyme balance which then kills algae. Although lethal to bacteria and algae, pool ionizers are completely safe for humans and much more effective and safe then a chlorine and acid cocktail.

These types of systems are credited with eliminating:

Toxic chemicals  
Health hazards  
Offensive chemical odors  
Damage to our environment  
Damage to pool equipment

I remember reading something similar and blogging about it….the water quality sounds heavenly. This same company also has info about salt water pools and how they are a bad idea. They also donate 5% of their profits to environmental charities.

I am looking into pricing now but objection number one remains unaddressed…having a pool is a lot of work! And of course drowning is no small concern! I pretty much let my kids run wild in our back yard and those carefree days would be long gone if we had a pool.  Ugh…anyone else have to face this recently?

[tags]chemical free pool, pool ionizer, pool safety[/tags]

Right away I can see I will not be a homeschooler with strict schedules and heavily organized curriculum. It just isn’t me and it isn’t my son. We are both pretty independent and stubborn. We want things the way we want them period…and we don’t like being told what to do. So right away I can see that buying a bunch of workbooks, textbooks, and sticking to a scheduled curriculum will NOT be the best course of action for us. So what is the opposite end of the spectrum…unschooling. It is touted as being the most natural way to learn and as I investigate it more, I see the inherent value.

What IS unschooling? Basically, as I understand it….unschooling is allowing children to learn from life and not from a structured school setting. According to Wikipedia, Unschooling (also sometimes referred to as “natural learning”, “child-led learning”, “discovery learning”, or “child-directed learning”) is the term given to an increasingly popular method of homeschooling. Under unschooling education, parents act as “facilitators” and are responsible for having a wide-range of resources available to provide their children with a quality education. – zen-mother.com

Right away I see the value in a directing your own learning…that is the way I have always liked to learn and I still love to learn and pursue education on my own terms. Case in point…right now I am reading a book called The Case for Faith. It basically discusses the 8 main objections to Christianity and objection number 7 discusses the atrocities committed in the name of Christ…ie the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem with trials, the Holocaust, etc. I pause for a minute and realize I do know quite a bit about the Holocaust but not so much about the other three. So I decide right then and there to research these, either on the Internet or via a trip to the library. I decide I need to know more about these historical times and although at some point I am sure they were discussed in school history classes they made virtually no impact on me…I didn’t want to learn about them for whatever reason. Now I do….and as I direct the learning I am sure that what I learn will remain with me this time.

So will this work for a 7 year old? Can I trust him to want to learn about history and lead himself to history or other similar school subjects without directing him there myself or allowing a teacher to do it?

I say yes. Another case in point…a few weeks back my son was painting in his room. He was painting the New York City skyline and using a postcard sent to him by a classmate that visited the city over the winter break as a guide. When he came to show me his work I was very impressed and I expressed that to him. He looked perturbed though and I asked him what he was thinking. He wanted to know what were these two vertical lights shining up into the sky. Wow…what a great question. So I sat and explained to him about the World Trade Center Towers and what happened to them on 9/11 and how these two lights now shine their place. I told him about his Uncle worked in at the World Trade Center and how by mere chance he was late to work that day or he would have been there when they fell. As it was he was a 1/2 mile away watching from the street. I also showed him pictures of the aftermath ( I was at ground zero only a few weeks after they fell). And thanks to the amazing Internet I pulled up a YouTube video of the actual footage of the planes hitting the towers and towers falling.

We had an impromptu history lesson and he instigated it. His natural love for learning caused him to seek out answers and this runs contrary to the idea that unschooled children will be lazy and unmotivated. This week he asked me for a math workbook to work on during the weekends AND he asked that in lieu of presents for his birthday we take him to Pittsburgh…to see the Children’s Musuem. Come late August that is where we will be.

So does this mean I have settled on unschooling? No…but I think I can’t ignore the benefits of allowing a child to learn and develop on their own terms. I think a happy balance is where I am heading. My son has been using a Phonics system I bought for him and he LOVES it and is is doing great with it. So I see the benefit of structure but then again I see the benefit of the unschooling “natural” approach of learning from life and allowing natural interests to take root and grow. And as brought out in the book Homeschooling Our Children Unschooling Ourselves…unschooling creates an opportunity to learn as a family.

So what are your thoughts? Learn by the book or toss the book and learn from life…that is the question…

[tags]unschool, homeschool, natural learning, phonics, school[/tags]

First he used this phrase on his Dad…who then suggested they bring up a Playstation from the basement (sitting unused in a box) and put it in his room. His response was priceless, “Daaaad…I don’t play video games…what am I going to do with a Playstation?”

He realizes Dad is no help at all so he turns to me and says, “I sure do wish I had some clay so I can make some animals and then paint them.” My son is an artist for sure. Some nearly 8 year old boys would be obsessed with video games by now but not him. His room is a mini art studio with a painting easel, a whiteboard, a chalkboard, a crafts table, etc. And much of his artwork incorparates recycled garbage. He doesn’t get it from me…I can’t draw or paint to save my life. His Dad is a pretty good artist though and his grandmother  (my mom) is a great painter…we have her oil paintings and watercolors all over the house.

Silly moms first response was to say okay…just let me shower and we’ll go buy some clay. “Moooom…why don’t you just use one of your play dough recipes.” Doh!  So we made a simple salt/flour dough so that it would dry fast and create a grainy surface for paint to adhere to after it dries. He made a Shamu and my daughter made something unrecognizable, LOL.

Next up we played bean bag toss with homemade bean bags made from scrap fabric and buckwheat. The goal was to get them in a laundry basket. That quickly adapted into basement soccer with the laundry basket serving as a soccer goal.

If we need any other ideas I might have to consult my Unplugged Play book. :) I just love rainy days don’t you?

[tags]kids, rainy day, unplugged play, activities, crafts[/tags]

So here is a run down of what I generally use to clean:

Furniture Polish - 1 cup olive oil, 1/2 lemon juice. Mix in a spray bottle and shake before every use. Spray on rag and then rub furniture.

Window Cleaner – Put 1/4 cup vinegar in a spray bottle along with several lemon peels and then fill to the top with water. Spray all surfaces and use a lint free rag to wipe off. Crumpled newspaper works well to wipe up after too.

Scented Soda Scrub – Mix several cups of baking soda with several drops of peppermint or Candy Cane blend essential oils. It smells heavenly and can be used as a deodorizer too. Often times I sprinkle it on carpet and then vacuum to make the whole house smell yummy. I use this along with my window cleaner to clean tubs and sinks.

Floor Cleaner- For floors I use a small amount of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap diluted in water and a 1/2 cup vinegar. Plain vinegar and water works too. I use a broom and dustpan to sweep them first (no vacuum) and I wash them by putting two cloth rags on the floor and sliding around on them with my feet…no mops. It is a good workout. Just put on some music…The Hustle…and away we go.

Natural Dishwasher Soap Recipes – Follow that link to 2 homemade recipes I use.

Natural Carpet Cleaner Recipe- I also use soap nuts on occasion but I am using BabyGanics now. I have white carpet…these natural cleaners DO work.

I also use lemons to clean my garbage disposal, bleach cloth diapers in the sun, and boiled in enamel pots to remove stains. Also, because I have white Corian sinks (and counters) I will throw some cut up lemons in the sink and them seep in boiling water to remove stains…which I find that Corian is prone to get. They come right out.

For rags I use old towels cut into squares and I have some microfiber towels as well.

So…as you see my cleaning regimen is pretty simple and no fuss. I hope you enjoy trying some of these recipes in your home!

For additional info I really like the book Clean House, Clean Planet.

I ‘ve got Spring on the brain so I thought I might share some of the stuff I am doing to get ready for planting season.

There are actually many things around the house that can be used to get seedlings started and it makes use of garbage you have around the house, effectively recycling things to give them another use.

First off…to start seedlings you need some little pots. There is no need to buy them…you may already have them. You can make little planters from toilet paper rolls, newspaper, and eggshells.

To make planters from toilet paper rolls:

• Cut each roll in half and press it flat.
• Make four, half-inch to three-quarter-inch slices on one end of the roll to create four equal-sized flaps.
• Open up the roll and fold in the four little flaps like a box bottom.
• Fill with soil and plant your seeds!

You can grow these indoors next to windows (for light) or under grow lights and then when it comes time to plant them in the garden just unwrap the bottom and stick it in the ground. The paperboard of the toilet paper roll will disintegrate over time.

Egg shells can also be used for smallish seedlings and be put directly in the ground for planting. It is easier to manage them if you keep them in an egg container so if you get egg containers from the grocery make sure to save them AND the egg shells. If you get fresh eggs (like I do part of the year) then ask a friend to save their egg containers for you. Freecycle is also a good place to ask people for their garbage, LOL. :)

Newspaper is another super easy planter. Just take a piece of newspaper and fold it in half once or twice lengthwise. Then roll it around a can or a glass to make the basic “tube” shape. Pull the can or glass out and then fold one half in to make a bottom. Now you are ready to add soil and seeds and these planters can also go directly in the ground and you don’t need to unravel the bottom as newspaper will disintegrate pretty fast.

If you want to get a jump on your outdoor planting but worry about an unexpected frost I have a solution for that too. Save your plastic juice or milk jugs … or ask neighbors for theirs if you don’t use them… and then cut the bottom 2-3 inches off so that you have the perfect cloche to put over your seedlings in the garden. You need transparent milk jugs though not the white or yellow ones that won’t let light through. Also, the 2-3 inch section you cut off can now be used as a tray to start more seeds.

This cloche will protect your seeds from cold, frost, and bugs while allowing them to grow still. Using cloches for bug management also helps you keep to your organic intentions too. :)

I hope these ideas help you get motivated to start that dream garden this year. For more inspiration you may want to check out the book The Revolutionary Yardscape: Ideas for Repurposing Local Materials to Create Containers, Pathways, Lighting, and More. It’s full of ideas!

It is important to me that I only clean my home with products that are safe, natural, and green. Conventional cleaners might be effective in cutting through dirt and grime but they do so at the expense of our health and the environment. While many might use cleaning products like Windex or 409 with very little prior thought or concern….I actually like to know what I am spraying all over my home. These cleaners contain many chemicals that can be toxic, reactive, corrosive, or flammable. There is also the potential that they can cause serious health issues and environmental damage. Technological advances allow us to do things faster, easier and more efficient than ever before but those advances and products have to be safe!

Remember my story awhile back about how my son reacted to chemicals in toilet cleaner? All he did was sit down at a toilet that had toilet cleaning chemicals in it and I ended up calling 911. I don’t want my children to be exposed to harmful chemicals day in day out and I get hives at the drop of a hat so I avoid conventional cleaners all together.

Usually this means I make my own with simple and natural ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, pure castile soap, vegetable oil, lemons. etc. They work so well and they are so easy to make I usually won’t bother with buying any of the green cleaners on the market. I have tried many of them and they just don’t live up to the hype or they won’t disclose their ingredients like a certain company that Oprah endorses…ahem.

That said though, I was REALLY impressed with the BabyGanics line of cleaners. So much so that a few of these products are going to have a permanent home in my cleaning cabinet. These products are specifically formulated for the safety of children, pets and growing families, and they are environmentally safe. The BabyGanics line of cleaners is:

And a big plus for mommy…they work! Below I have given my thoughts on each of the BabyGanics products. I tried the unscented and the lavender scent versions alike.

BabyGanics All Purpose Household Cleaner - You just can’t beat and all purpose cleaner that cleans a multitude of surfaces through out the house. Instead of petroleum-based ingredients, or added dyes that are common triggers for respiratory and skin irritation, BabyGanics created an all-natural cleaning blend that is based upon natural soybean and palm kernel oils. I used it on kitchen and bathroom counters, on my stove and range, on my hardwood dining table, on walls decorated with crayon, and probably dozens of other places. I LOVE this cleaner and the lavender scented version is scrumptious. I am not big on fragrance so my kids noticed the yummy scent immediately and they liked it.

BabyGanics Tub & Tile Cleaner - Normally I use baking soda and vinegar to clean my tubs and showers. It works well but it I have to admit that the BabyGanics tub and tile cleaner is more more simple and just as effective. And of course it has none of the harsh chemicals and harsh acids in conventional tub cleaners that can be corrosive and toxic. The BabyGanics version is a special formula that is based upon a naturally derived urea salt which provides tremendously effective cleaning without the negative corrosive aspects many other products can leave behind. I used it extensively in my home recently and it works pretty darn good. I have been keeping a bottle in the shower to do a quick clean-up every week…otherwise it might be a once a month job in my house. ;)

BabyGanics Glass and Surface Cleaner - This product contains a unique, naturally derived biodegradable surfactant system that eliminates the need for solvents, glycol ethers and ammonia. I usually use a vinegar and water solution but I have to admit the BabyGanic glass cleaner is less streaky. It did a good job getting my car windows clean too and they were pretty grimy from all the salt spray on the roads this winter. I will likely just stick to plain old vinegar and water for indoor jobs but if you don’t like to make your cleaners or you hate the smell of vinegar this could be what you are looking for. I might keep some of this on hand for outdoor windows on my home and car.

BabyGanics Floor Cleaner Concentrate - This was my favorite BabyGanics product and I think it deserves a permanent place in my home cleaning repertoire. Its unique formula includes a combination of all-natural soybean and palm kernel oils and it is designed for use on tiles, laminates, and hard floors. I used it on the tile in my bathrooms, the linoleum in my kitchen and hall, the stone in my dining and foyer areas, the wood laminate in my family room, and get this…my carpet! When I was reading the back of the bottle I was super surprised to see a mention that it could also be used on carpet in addition to hard floor surfaces. So I diluted it according to the instructions and put it in my carpet cleaner and I cleaned some carpet in the bedrooms and in my kids play room. In the playroom the white carpet was starting to look gray and it had some stains from strawberry smoothie. The BabyGanics floor cleaner worked wonders. In fact I think it is one of the best carpet cleaners I have ever used. I have always tried to use soap nuts for my carpet but I find that harsh chemical cleaners are the only ones that can usually lift stains. Well not anymore…I will be using BabyGanics exclusively. Woot! I was very pleased. :)

So overall I REALLY like these cleaning products. They are safe and natural and they work good…a winning combo. I know I will definitely be keeping some of the All Purpose Cleaner and the Floor Cleaner on hand in my own home.

[tags]BabyGanics, organic, natural cleaning, green cleaning[/tags]

It is just a variation of Freecycling which I like much more than donating to charitable organizations that will turn around and charge people for the goods….plus you get something out of the deal to. Clothing swaps are a brilliant idea and so I was happy to find an online clothing swap called Swango. Their tag line is “Swapping As Easy as Shopping”. It works pretty much the same as other popular online swap sites, you upload things you have to give away and send them when requested. By sending your clothing to other people you accumulate credits to use toward the “purchase” of clothing you need. You also get credits (up to 10) just for uploading clothing too. You pay part of the shipping and a .99 cent fee to Swango and a portion of that fee is donated to charity. Even with the fees it is very reasonable…especially since I see a lot of Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Gymboree, and The Children’s Place.

Clothing swaps are awesome because:

1. You reduce post consumer waste and you recycle

2. You save money

3. You are not as likely to support cheap clothing sources like Wal-Mart where slave labor might be behind the scenes 

4. You are getting clothing that has already proven to be durable. 

[tags]clothing swap, book swap, Swango, recycle, consumer waste[/tags]

I just finished reading The Self-Sufficiency Handbook – A Complete Guide to Greener Living by Alan and Gill Bridgwater who began their own self  sufficient life in the 1960s. Being self sufficient and living off the grid was once considered something pursued by “hairy hippies”. Now though, self sufficiency is trendy and cool. If you can unplug from the energy grid then you are envied. If you can feed your family all year with nary a trip to the grocery store you are model of frugality and practicality. To me self sufficiency means something very simple…it means being able to care for yourself and your family and this is an admirable goal. How many of us can say that we would be just peachy if tomorrow we didn’t have the option to run to Wal-Mart or Kroger? Could we grow our food if we had to? Could we make our own clothes? What would we do if we didn’t have garbage pickup? I think a great number of people in society today would be peeing in their pants if they suddenly had to take care of themselves.  Personally I like to pursue self sufficiency because I like to know that if I needed to…I could take care of my own. I imagine that doing so must bring a great sense of freedom.

The book starts off by addressing how you can choose the right plot of land for your self sufficient life. How much space you need, how to pick the right location, making sure you have access to water, etc. It is great information for those that are in the planning stages.

The next section addresses the self sufficient house which was of greater interest to me than the land part because I am pretty settled…for now anyway. ;) You can learn to be more self sufficient in the house or space you already have. Four different house types of varying degrees of self sufficiency were discussed at length. One of the houses had me chuckling a bit with solar powered, motorized drapes and an intercom system. I guess it just shows that self sufficiency doesn’t mean you have to give up creature comforts.

The book also addresses heating and cooking options, wood-burning stoves, lighting, water, toilets (loved the gray water flushing info), solar power, wind power, geothermal heating, recycling, and insulation. I have so many ideas for ways to increase my own self sufficiency in these areas it is exciting.

The second half of the book discusses feeding yourself with an organic garden….how much space you need, how to care for your soil, how to compost, how to rotate crops, how to control weeds, and how to grow just about every fruit and veggie common to your area. This book will be totally dog eared come spring. ;)

It also goes into raising animals for food or their byproducts…cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, bees, etc. And going a step further it gives instructions for things like curing your own bacon, making butter, canning and preserving, making beer and cider, and making soap and candles. It is a very helpful book.

For anyone that wants a great intro into self sufficiency and how to incorporate bits and pieces of it into their existing life and home this is the book for you. If you want to go for broke and go completely off grid and be 100% self sufficient I would chase this book with a few others from my personal library:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour

Just the Greatest Life by David Schafer

[tags]self sufficient, homestead, solar power, gardening, organic, hippie, off grid, farm[/tags]

Janelle, who asked about what I use to store food in besides plastic last week, emailed again to know what I use in my freezer instead of plastic containers or plastic baggies. She was primarily concerned about storing leftovers in the freezer. That is a great question Janelle, unfortunately the answer is not as easy as the first one. ;)

I do not usually store leftovers in the freezer. In fact I “almost” never do. If I have leftovers from dinner time they go in glass containers in the regular frig to be used as lunch for the next day. I am not big on making huge dinners to spread out through the week or month as some moms are. I think it is great that some moms do that…it is just not something I do. On rare occasions when I do have something leftover I want to store I will use a plastic storage container. This is what I use for garden produce like loose berries, that I want to freeze. If I can get away with it, I will wrap stuff in paper (like the brown kind you wrap packages in) and then compost the paper afterwards. You have to be willing to accept freezer burn though. I have also put Wrap-N-Mats in the freezer with food wrapped in it.

Jennifer also submitted a good question. She asked me if I buy foods packaged in plastic. I try to avoid buying processed or packaged foods but there will always be times when there just isn’t an alternative. Milk, as Jennifer mentioned, is one of those items that has few alternatives. There is no milk, organic or otherwise, sold in glass containers where I live. They are sold in plastic jugs or plastic/paper cartons. Even the raw milk I have bought comes in a plastic jug and the company wasn’t willing to to use glass or even reuse jugs due to contamination issues. With all the hysteria around raw milk I can’t say that I blame them. So what do I do? I buy organic milk in less than favorable containers because my youngest likes milk. However, I don’t drink milk and neither do my other two kids so when my youngest child decides to give up his milk we just won’t buy it anymore. I would make an exception for raw milk though, because I love that stuff.

As for other foods packaged in plastic….

I usually buy cheese from Whole Foods wrapped in plastic but cheese lasts a long while in our house. I do buy frozen fruit for smoothies and they come in big plastic bags. Sometimes I buy cereal that is wrapped in plastic. So I guess the answer is that I try to avoid plastic if I can but I have not eliminated it completely. The more raw I go with my diet the less plastic I seem to use and of course packaging should always be considered when making any purchase. I would love to hear how other people have tackled this tough issue!

Jennifer also asked me about big gatherings in the home and what I use if I don’t have enough plates and glasses for everyone.  Do I use plastic, Styrofoam?

Actually I don’t have a problem in this regard. I could invite 100 people to my house and easily be able to scrounge up enough plates and glasses….seriously. I think I even have enough eating utensils. Family china sets, yard sales finds, boxes of inherited flatware, etc mean I would have more than enough plates and glasses. The picture of our china cabinet in the dining room (below) gives a small sampling. ;) There is an absolute ton of Currier & Ives dishware (above).

What I suggest Jennifer, if you do not have enough dinnerware is to pick some up at yard sales, garage sales, and estate sales. Estate sales especially are a good place to pick up complete sets of China, flatware, and linen napkins for low prices. Even mismatched dinnerware would look better than paper or Styrofoam and it would be much more eco friendly. If this is not feasible either you may consider asking your guests to bring their own tableware. There is a green parents meetup in my area that does this.

I “hope” I have answered these questions sufficiently but I would LOVE to hear from others about how they would answer these questions…so speak up and share the knowledge!

[tags]food storage, green family, tableware, flatware, china, yards sales, garage sales, plastic[/tags]

. Read part one

Chapter 19 discusses Avian Influenza and chapter 20 talks about bioterrorism. They are closely related because they both work to taint our food and the USDA without fail will always try to claim that small family farmers are the ones propagating diseased food and/or are the ones most likely to be the source of a bioterrorism outbreak with their unsecured facilities.

Several years ago there was big scare about local chickens having the bird flu and Salatin shares some stories and theories. He even shares a widely held theory that the chicken industry “planted” the bird flu and accidentally let it get out of control. I buy that theory 100%. In fact I have a similar theory about almond growers and a salmonella outbreak. It was conventional almonds and not raw ones that were the source but somehow…miraculously raw almonds were the ones that got banned. Funny how things just work out like that for big agricorp? They get to stick it to their competitors when they should have been grabbing their ankles. ;)

Even when it is the large, industrial chicken farmers that are spreading disease it is the small family farmer that takes the heat. The USDA certainly won’t tell you Tyson did this to you….they want you to think that birds raised outside that can come into contact with air and other birds are the ones getting infected, when that could not be farther from the truth. They simply will not allow the media to portray their benefactors in a bad light. The local food chain is the fall guy.  I guess some people really are dense enough to believe that 100 chickens crammed into a small cage that eat manure and never see the light of day are safer to eat than a bird that gets fresh air, sunlight, and grass to eat.

Salatin goes on to compare small, local farms with that of industrial ones as far as access for bioterrorists goes. The USDA wants us to believe that industrial farms are immaculate, stainless steel wonder worlds that are guarded ferociously to protect all the wonderful people of this country. Small local farmers are dirty, careless, and certain to let any old terrorist on their property to taint food. Does this sound logical to you?

Industrial farms are almost devoid of people. Machines feed and water them, computers monitor temperature, and there is hardly anyone around. They are prime for terrorist infiltration. The actual processing facilities however, where they slaughter and process all that raw product is crawling with people, many of whom have no legal status to be in this country and do not even speak English. How hard would it be for a foreigner (because terrorists are always foreign don’t ya know) to get a job there and taint up to 10 tons of food? I don’t think it would be to hard….at all.

A smaller, local farmer would be much less likely to be targeted. It is also unlikely that they ever would be considered a viable target because they do not do the same volume and a terrorist will want maximum impact. The USDA is trying to make us fear the local food system when it would likely be the safest thing for us in the event of a bird flu outbreak or a bioterrorism event.

Chapter 21 addresses the NAIS or National Animal Identification System that the government wants to impose on us by 2011. Basically it would require microchips be implanted in all cows, pigs, chickens, horses, sheep, and goats. I think the program sounds crazy but supposedly it would make our food much safer if we tag all the animals. The fines you can rack up for stupid things, like forgetting to declare and animal dead or for having an extra chicken are outrageous. Also, the smaller farmers will have to tag each and every animal but industrial farms can have one tag per 10,000 animals. How fair is that??

Chapter 22 is about Mad Cow disease and how it became a problem. Also discussed is the disgusting practice of industrial farms to grind up animal remnants and manure (even from sick and diseased animals), mix it up with some grain and molasses, and feed it back to the living animals. It is practices like this that make mad cow disease possible but the USDA is not about to change things. They don’t really care about food safety.

If you recall a couple years back a company in Missouri called Creekstone Farms was upset because the mad cow scare in the US was causing foreign buyers to ban US meat products. Creekstone managed to secure a deal with a Japanese buyer that they could still do business if the farm tested every piece of meat they sold. Well, the USDA sued them! Why? The USDA said that if this farm tested every product then that would make all other meat processors who choose NOT to test look suspect in the consumer’s mind. So here the USDA is suing a company because that company is testing for mad cow disease. Creekstone eventually won that case but the USDA plans to appeal. If they really cared about food safety why would they sue companies testing for diseased meat?

Chapter 23 was not a favorite of mine. It talked of animal welfare and how farmer’s get vilified for buying chicks via mail order or using farrowing crates for sows. Salatin explains that when he orders 2000 chicks in the mail and the post office accidentally suffocates them or leaves them out in cold temperatures and they freeze to death this is the post office’s fault. Hence the farmer should not be vilified for a practice that would have been harmless to the chicks if not for careless post office workers. But I don’t buy that. The post office shouldn’t need to baby-sit your mail. If you elect to ship a living thing in the mail then deal with the backlash when it dies and people get mad.

The final chapter just sums thing up for us and tells us where we need to go from here. I particularly like this quote:

The political rationale for food safety ultimately rests in the notion that we are wards of the state. Not a free people.

I for one do not want the government telling me what I can and cannot eat. This is a basic freedom that I don’t think anyone should give up. The crack down on food is just getting worse everyday. Anything raw, even vegetables are getting the evil eye these days. Are we ready to throw ourselves under the bus of government protection because we are too stupid to know what is good for us? Are we ready to start eating sterilized, irradiated, processed, antibiotic laden “clean” foods for the rest of our lives?

Make your voice heard that this won’t be tolerated, find back door methods to get illegal foods such as raw dairy through cow share programs or donation based markets. Withhold your compliance from the tyrant that seeks to take our food freedom away…

[tags]Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal, book, review, Joel Salatin[/tags]