Baby Must Have #1

You need muslin wraps. I bought my first set when Levi was 6 months or so, and I have rued the fact that I never acquired them earlier ever since. They are indispensable, and their uses cannot be replicated by those tiny, receiving blankets.

They are about twice the size, and three times the price. Yes, the tag is rather staggering, four flimsy pieces of muslin for forty dollars? I suppose if you’re the handy type, you could buy muslin, dye it yourself and cut it into squares, but with a six month old on my hands, I preferred to fork over the cash. And anyways, the patterns are just so sweet.

I’ve used them for everything, a changing pad, a swaddler (perfect for bigger babies who don’t fit in the little blankets anymore, or for summer because they are so light) a stroller cover, a head cover (once again, thanks to the breathable fabric), a nursing cover, a thin summer blanket, a play mat and even a sling in a pinch.

On top of their amazing versatility, because they are so thing, they can roll up or fold up perfectly to fit down in the bottom of any diaper bag. Despite the thinness of the fabric, they are amazingly strong, and I have used them for the purpose of a makeshift hip sling to run into the grocery store more than once.

My son loves the bright colors and the softness of the fabric, which - like a good prefold diaper - just gets softer and softer every time you wash it. It holds up to being drug around, dropped in the mud, wiping a snotty nose (or filling in for an empty package of diaper wipes) and even getting slept on by the odd cat and stepped on by the husband if forgotten on the floor.

Muslin isn’t a new concept; we have just rediscovered it in the last 5 years. It has been used for hundreds of years, all around the globe in association with babies. I’m sure when Jesus himself was lifted from his dusty cradle; they wrapped him in natural organic cotton muslin.

I can only imagine how much easier those first six months would have been if I had received them as a shower gift. Personally, it’s my new gift of choice.

A Quick One

I had a good friend of mine move into her and her hubbys new home this last weekend. Very excited for them, yet envious. I love our home, but if I could move in again, I would do it all diffrently. We can't live in the past though.

The Dhalias in the front lawn are still blooming, I take cutting almost every day. I have several vases around the house full of them. I wish the red dhalias were too, but thanks to my mommy brain, I nearly killed the poor bugger during the last hot spell. And from what reading I've done about dhalias lately, it's time to split their bulbs. I figure this out, AFTER replanting them! Of course!

I tore down everything in the garden. The tomatos I allowed an extra week after pulling out the eggplant and the cucumbers, just to give the fruit a little more time to swell. I must have plucked two dozen unripened fruit from those bushes. Next year, I will plant the tomatos up a lattice on the side of the house, where they will get much more heat. Excited for that!

I layed down three rows of spinach, one row of kale, one row of brocoli raab and four rows of mini carrots in plot B. Plot A is resting this season, so I tilled the soil and scattered buckwheat. This si my first experiment with buckwheat, and I am anxious for it to start taking root.

Levi has started giving BIG hugs! He will see that Brendan is coming to take him from me, and he will squeeze me tight and bury his head in my neck as if to say "Nooo! Mommy!" It warms my heart.

I've been neglecting you, blogsot. I've been neglecting you too, garden.
Wasps and hornets and yellow jackets have taken up residence in my garden... not so much residence as daily visits to the huge tomato bush jungle we have towering over everything else. I dare not go out there unless it's early in the morning (yeah right) or after the suns gone down. It makes watering a pain, and I can't truly admire the beauty.

Little tomato plant, with it's only two fruit that have survived protect with netting

Next summer, I'm going to do EVERYTHING differently. It breaks my heart to see my tomato plant put out all of those flowers, only to have them wilt and die. And the few that are pollinated on hot days can't reach full size, and never ripen because of the cold weather... or they are eaten by caterpillars because their on the vine too long.

Cucumbers in front, butterfly shrubs, tomato jungle in back

It's funny; a garden is the ultimate euphemism for life, isn't it? You plant certain seeds; see which take, and which just aren't meant to be. You tend to your seedlings, some get cut down by the weather, taken out by pesky insects, but the few strong grow and thrive. You build them up, water them tenderly, and give them every thought and consideration. You pluck their fruits with the utmost care and then at the end of the season, you cut them all down, only to fertilize next season with the last season’s cherished vines.

A friend of mine, someone I wish I knew better, recently went home to her family in Texas... I must say, it tears my heart out to think of all my family back home in the big great state. I would give anything to visit and have them see Levi, and for him to see everything I see in them. To witness the awesome power the Lord has worked in all of their lives, and what our family feels like.

My chest aches when I see all her happy photos, the precious moments.

I just won’t think about it then, because it drives me crazy.

Swiss chard seedlings are tricky! All but two died here, I had to re-sow

I've torn out the eggplant, and sown kale, brocoli rab, Swiss chard, spinach and pear tomatoes for the fall. I think I'll scrub the tomatoes, because if it didn't get warm enough here in the summer, I think we are in for a more than chilly fall/winter.

I hope I have better luck with the greens, you don’t need bees for that.

Cat mint in front

Swiss chard is suprisingly hard to keep, you can see the aten away bitsof others that have died off here. Also, what is irritaitingly prolific in my garden? Cat mint! I'll have to dig it out and give it it's own corner. It trippled in size within the first week of being in the ground!

But the bean bushes are doing nicely! They are so resiliant! Both were snapped in two by the cat, and I mended them with a bit of nylon hose and two sticks to support them. I've got tons of flowers on one and a bean on another.

And just for fun? My zombie baby! He loves his finger foods, and will not STAND a spoon. On the occasion, he will alow you to give him food off your finger.

eating blackberries here!

Projects and Diapers

Latest projects.....

Edible alphabet

Chicken-scape on the windows with contact paper... Levi is in love

People always remark upon my son never having a diaper rash, "He's so clear!" The reason is simple, we are cloth diaper enthusiasts. We have even made the leap when going out and cut out disposables and have been using Flip diapers (one of the ONLY products by Cotton Babies that I will endorse, but that's a different post) They are just so dang easy and quick, and very compact.

Levi wears a disposable at bedtime because we have tried every method in the world to get him through in a cloth, but to no avail. This kid pees like a race horse. But even those leak most nights.

• The cloth diaper allows your child's rear to breathe. Even when wet, your child still has oxygen filtering through the diaper as he or she moves. 
• Synthetic diapers do not have this ability. 
• Cloth diapers are made of all natural fibers, are washed with low sudsing, non toxic soaps and are NEVER bleached (riiiight?) 
• Synthetic diapers are filled with a harmful chemicals including; Dioxin - at the top of the EPA's list of most toxic, cancer related chemicals; Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a chemical known to disrupt hormones;  Sodium Polyacrylate - this chemical was removed from tampons in relation to toxic shock syndrome. Also, the fumes released from all these potent chemicals bonding together has been linked to respiratory problems in young children. These chemicals and more are very common for children to be allergic to, thus causing a never ending stream of diaper rashes. 
• Cloth diapers are generally changed more often, such is the nature of beast.

• I've known many mothers who leave the house at 8am and go all the way until their Starbucks run at lunchtime before changing their child's diaper. Lo and behold, the child has a stubborn diaper rash that 'just wont go away!'. ("I just don't have the time!" Sure you do! When you change your perception on diapers, a lot of things change with it.) 

Many have the false idea that cloth diapers promote a rash. But thankfully, we've come a long way since our grandparents did it. The fibers used on covers, inserts and the like can stop your child bum from getting moist most days, and on other days, well ... you need to change to diaper more often!

I've been waiting for Crooked Neck, when all along it was you, Pattypan.

We have been having the coldest, wettest summer the shores of California has seen since 1924. And my garden can be the first to tell you.

We had about four warm days this last week, and my cucumber plant seized the moment and set a nice little cucumber, about the length of my hand. It started to get cold and wet again, so I harvested it early. It was so sweet and soft, the taste was amazing. I cut it up and made a delicious cucumber water with it, the only thing that truly refreshes me on a hot day. The rest was put to good use on a sandwich.

Also, because of the weather and the proximity in which my crook neck zuchini was planted, everything in garden B kept getting powdery mildew. I took a daring step and pulled the crookneck up and placed it in a pot. She was pretty shocked and droped all her fruit... but I think the worst is over.

While sitting and watching my garden I wondered, "Why does that zucchini plant keep dropping it's fruit after that whole 'funny butt' phase?" dozens of 'funny butts' as I like to call them, had come and gone, none of which had given me a full sized crookneck. "I baby it and baby it, and still nothing to show for it!" Then it hit me. It was a Pattypan! When going to the nursery for transplants, I asked Brendan if he thought I should get the showy pattypan, or the utilitarian crookneck. He said to forget the pattypan, we'd never eat it.


There must have been a mix up!

My eggplant set several flowers during the heat wave, and what I belive to be the Green Zebra tomato got a start on a nice little tomato if its own... I read a really interesting blog where a woman suggest self pollination with an electric toothbrush to simulate bee wings. What a fantastic idea! I am eager to try it, as besides that one tomato, I've seen nothing else.

The mustard seed all took and is going strong.

Also, the swiss chard is doing well, as well as the two beans I planted there.

The snap peas that I took a gamble on are actually setting out flowers. Wow, if that doesn't let you know how gloomy its beeen here, I don't know what will!

What should I do if things continue the way they are? Black plastic? Weed tarp? Giant domes of plastic over the entire garden? As it stands, I am not getting much return on my investment, and it would be a shame to come away with nothing. Of course, money cannot buy the utter fulfillment and joy I've found in gardening

suspension

Dealing with this June gloom. I am used to blazing heat and corn fields that tower over me by this time of year. I see southern gardeners posts about their slowing harvests of zucchinis, tomatoes and the like, and I have yet to get one, and I grow rather jealous.

It's like my garden has slowed down in the last few weeks. All the overcast days, I wish it would rain at least - my garden loves it when it rains.

I've sown mustard seeds with the tomatoes. I also created a bricked off area and filled it with rich soil and sown it with swiss chard. The sparrows tried to steal my seeds, so I left Strummer in the back yard for the rest of the afternoon.

My yellow neck squash keeps threatening to bear fruit, but they just shrivel and die. Should I be hand pollinating? We have tons of flying insects in the garden, so I'm not sure its the pollination. The zucchini plant is still trying to recover from the powdery mildew. I had to prune it almost entirely back, and then spray it with a neem oil fungicide which did the trick, but I am afraid I really scarred her. She's all week, and rather wiry.

After moving the tomato patch around, all the plants dropped their flowers, as I predicted. But in the last few days, have set new ones, as well as growing several inches and putting on a few sets of leaves. I am eager to find a little green tomato there one of these days.

My bell pepper is in suspended animation. It's strange. It doesn't really seem to be growing. Maybe it's the cold?

The eggplants are still setting leaves. As with the zucchini, the leaves are getting huge, so I fear there may be too much nitrogen in the soil. 

 cucumber

 

watermelon

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 Strangely enough, the plant I thought was going to suffer the most has done rather well.The cucumber had a bit of a growth spurt, and I had to add another level of twine for it to climb up. I believe it has set a few fruit.  Also, I lay down composted manure around the watermelon, and it had a bit of a growth spurt as well, and is looking much better after a few weeks of looking rather spindly itself.

The potato is growing like some kind of beautiful, mad weed! at least twelve inches tall now. The method seems to be working as planned. It's exciting! Nothing seems to stop it. I moved it away from the strawberries, as I recently read that they retard each other. The strawberries immediately set out fruit.

Also, I planted my chives near the tomatoes, and it is looking good again! They are companion plants

As a bit of a joke, my mom went out and bought me a chamomile plant which is now growing happily betwixt two giant eggplants. I smile every time I see it, and I fear when they leave it will make me very sad.

Laundry Woes

My seven month old son has been in dutifully white cloth diapers since he was born. Cloth diapers are better for our environment, and less expensive down the  line. Yet, initially it is a large purchase to make. Costing anywhere from 200-$1000 to get a good "stash"

Not taking this ticket lightly, I decided to do all the research I could to discover how to keep my precious purchase looking its best, and lasting the longest.

Along the way, I discovered something amazing... My god, we have all been using WAY too much laundry soap all these years!


Stepping out of the shower, I pull a towel off the rack and put it to my face, instinctively taking a deep breath. After getting dressed and presentable, I go to my mother in the kitchen and say, "Mom, these towels stink!" She continues what she's doing, not bothering to look up "Ok, well I'll use more soap next time."


Little did I know then, the more detergent you use, the dirtier your clothing remains. The object of washing your clothes is not to make them smell good (If you insist on that, use some kind of stinky fabric softener) the object is so that they smell of nothing.

My mother in law told me once, "Grandma isn't happy unless she can see suds." I use that as a signal that I have used too much soap, and need to adjust my method. An excess of soap in the wash leads to soap build up, so each time you wash your clothes, your machine works harder and harder, trying to remove that soap, not the dirt or residue of day to day life.



"Method found that 53% of people don't use the recommended amount of detergent per washload, preferring instead to guess or, worse, to simply fill the cap up to the top—a practice that wastes more than half the loads a detergent bottle could wash, Method executives say."

When I tell people they are using too much soap, they look at me like a mad man. "Too much soap? surely, there is no such thing." but washing clothes is not like washing your hands - and  machines break down after too much abuse. This is a particularly tricky subject as more and more of us buy HE or "High Efficiency" machines that need even less, sometimes half the recommended dose.


So, here is a recipe I use on my diapers regularly for a good, hard cleaning, and on my towels when my parents come into town...


For a FULL load of laundry in a non HE machine

• Run a "soak" cycle... I bet you never even knew your machine had one
• 1/2 tsp Palmolive dish soap
• 1/2 cup borax
• Run a cycle per usual

After one - maybe two applications, your clothing, towels and diapers should be back to smelling like nothing.

Why use more than we need? You are essentially throwing money down the gutter. Read your labels and begin to develop an intimate relationship with your washing machine. Come check on the load every once in a while. See suds? Use less!

Your skin will feel softer, your towels will not offend and you will save money.


Take the test HERE