Shade in Ink - A quest for a more natural life

Fruit Leather update

This time - it was a success! And it's really really good. Couldn't tell you how much of what I used - maybe a quart of blueberries and three quarts mulberries, give or take, plus 1/3c water to rinse out the blender and get ALL the juicy bits. Sweetened to taste with honey and sugar (both organic) and 14 hours later at 150 degrees - mmmm yummy. Hubster likes it too. Depending on what's going on tomorrow - I might make another batch - this time, raspberry, black berry, black raspberry. As I do believe I have about four quarts. If we lived in a place where we happened to have a huge abundance of berries - I'd make this stuff once a week. It's really really yummy. Better than fruit roll-ups anyway.

Fruit Leather

The first batch I tried to make was one giant fail. I didn't use enough fruit (was trying to start small in case I messed it up) and it fuzed to the waxed paper. It tasted really great. If you don't mind eating paper. Which I do.

So, today I'm trying again. Definately used enough fruit this time and nixed the paper for the third option of nonstick spray (did you know they make an organic cooking spray?? They do.) So - in about 6-12 hours, I'll know if it is going to come out this time or not.

Today's mix: Blueberry, Mulberry, organic honey, and organic sugar. The berries came from Hubster's grandmother's house so -- not only are they fresh and local but not covered in pesticides or anything else. Works for me!

I'll let you know how it works out.

It's such a nice dream

Hubster went to look at a piece of property. It's in the wrong school district but everything else about it is just what we want. There's no way we can do it right now- not if we're being realistic but it's nice to go look, to keep that dream-fire hot and bright so we don't lose sight of our goals...

And a bit of a funny...

CrazyHorse and I were talking about animals. We've been really talking about raising some livestock - pretty much about what would feed just us really, we have NO desire to make this a business - the livestock anyway. And we want CrazyHorse to understand that cows and pigs and chickens and ducks are not pets. So we've been discussing that a lot. The other day CrazyHorse and I were talking about our Someday Farm and I happened to mention that I want a piece of land big enough for a horse or four. He asked me why. I told him that I've always wanted one (though it's been 18 years since I was last on one). And he gets this very concerned look, almost a horrified look, on his face and very quietly says: "But Daddy will want to eat it!"

I guess we took the livestock not pets too far! I do know that there are places where it is common to eat horse. Grocery stores in France carry it in their meat section. There is just something in me that is slightly repulsed by that idea. Like the idea of eating cats or dogs. That's just not something I can do. But it was really funny. He understands now that horses fall in a different realm of livestock. One that doesn't get eaten.

And we continue to talk of our Someday...

In the grocery store

I wish we had a better local grocery store! Our store's organic section is tiny. I should be happy they have one at all I suppose but gah! how am I supposed to change the way we eat when I'm so limited to one little section + produce? the center aisles are nearly completely useless to us now. What I wouldn't give for a local wild oats or a store like the one my husband used to manage - but alas - I live in the middle of the junk food and pretend foods section of the country. I miss connecticut again! I did find some stuff for him though - and in some cases, we'll be trying some of the vegetarian stuff even though we're NOT going veggie - that stuff has less junk in it. I did find a little cookie Wolverine can have - it's got a lot of sugar in it but at least it's natural sugars and not hydrogenated corn syrups and dextrose it's listed as: Sugar and Molasses. It also has no pretend color or flavor and those are the things I'm focusing on for this round. Cut out the pretend stuff and the chemicals (that aren't big fancy names for vitamins and minerals anyway). That's all I'm trying to do. (and make sure that our animal products are manufactured in a humane and decent way.)

It shouldn't be so hard! It really shouldn't be so hard to find companies that are willing to part with their chemicals.

On the plus side - my grocery store DOES carry some of the mrs. meyers products and some burt's bees products. I LOVE burt's bees. Especially their chapstick - it's like blistex but so so much better.

Support can be hard to come by

I think the biggest struggle with the transition into a better diet for Wolverine will not be the added prep time or the increased work load for me in the kitchen and grocery story but will come from our families. Not so much my Dad - I think he will be quite taken with this idea unfortunately, he's also the one living furthest away. We went to the Hubster's parents' house to visit with his relatives who were in town.We left Wolverine with them for an hour or so and went with CrazyHorse to play in a creek. I guess I should have said something to someone about not giving Wolverine stuff he's not supposed to have. But then, it never occured to me that anyone would give him jelly beans or chocolates. He's not even two. Even before we looked into this new diet, I had sugar restrictions well in place. And I can't even be too mad because the woman is a virtual stranger and I don't think my motherinlaw saw her giving him chocolate. But it still irritates me. What I need to do is get a food mill - something to make sausage like things. Wolverine will eat anything that looks like a hotdog. Maybe if I make them at home, stuffing them with good meats and veggies - maybe he can still eat what he likes and be eating all the stuff that's good for him too. I'll be very interested to see what my grandmother thinks. She's a snackbuyer. She loves plying my kids with everything they like to eat (even if it's not good for them). But I think she'll go out of her way to try to find alternatives too. So, we'll see. Today, CrazyHorse and I are going to make fruit leather. Trying to replace the gerber fruit strips he loves so much. If it goes well, I'll post the recipe.

Oh the Things I am Learning

And all I can say is - eeewwww....

Carmine, a food coloring used in yogurt, juice drinks, and who knows where else - comes from beetles. Sure, maybe bugs are good for you, deep down, but eeewww. that's just gross. Though I will say this - if we have to have artificial coloring, better it comes from a source like this then say, petroleum, where most of the artificial colors appear to come from.

Yes. A very good thing I'm looking into this now. I may never eat processed foods again - beetles and crude oil and who knows what other crap I've been swallowing without a second thought. And we ALL do this every day.

What's in your cupboard? Really? go look.

Wow

My youngest has had a myriad of problems from the start. First, we had the reflux - which was miserable. Then we had the skin irritations. He's allergic to most everything. Dreft, certain styles of Pampers, Aveeno, Johnson & Johnson soaps and lotions, and about a billion other things. If it's meant to touch his skin, he'll probably react to it. Apart from his overly sensative skin, he has eczema. Mild and probably controlable but definately there. We recently had a scare with a swollen lymph node and the doctor walked around the subject of modifying his diet to perhaps a whole food sort of diet. I've been looking into it tonight between thunder storms and really - it fits in to the changes my family has been making so far this summer. Yes. It takes it to a new level but, it IS the ideal we want to strive for! It certainly won't be easy and will definately take some doing but it's so worth it if it makes my baby feel better. We're going to try and find his triggers this summer - see what it is that makes him itchy and miserable and see if we can't do better by him. The hope is that he grows out of it - but even if he does, the lesson is a good one to learn - that the food we eat effects us in ways we aren't always aware of. I'm going to follow our progress here - Maybe, maybe, another mother who is going through the same kind of thing with her little ones will find this blog and find something about it that is useful.

~S

Oh So Jealous

I'm trying really hard NOT to be jealous of her - but it is really hard when she's living my ideal life!

Her black heels to tractor wheels story is a pretty nice read to boot but overall - she has it right. Big farm, good people, family, critters, and wild mustangs in her pasture.

The Pioneer Woman

Found Pictures

I found a few pictures of the farm I lived on as a little girl. I'm fairly certain there are more of them but I haven't found them yet. Someday!

The pigs there are Pork Chop (the red) and Pork Loin (the spotted). Mom wanted me to know exactly what was going to happen. I'm glad I knew going in but they were fun to raise. And damn it but that red one was as smart as they come.

Publications

I have two new publications to point people to!!

My story, Moronar's Chosen, is appearing now in Flashing Swords Summer Special Edition!

and

My story, The Tomb of Setankan, is appearing now in Hadley Rille Books' Ruins Metropolis!

Farmer's Markets

When I was little, my mom and I used to go to farmer's markets. They were great fun as I recall and I've been looking for ones near us. I found a few finder sites that were useful that I thought I'd share.

Fruit Stands
Eat Local

Once upon a time

I come by this push to return to my roots quite honestly. Apart from ancestry which is so minimal it wouldn't qualify me for school loans - even if I could document it - but the native american way of life has always rung true for me. Black Elk's philosophies, the guy who wrote Indian Givers and the one who's title I cannot remember at the moment - always struck a chord in my soul. Apart from that though, there was the year my Mom got to live her dream (now my dream too really). We had a farm house on about ten acres. No stream but lots of woods. We raised pigs and chickens and rabbits and ducks. I was 8 and my brother was just 1. barely. It was great fun. Except for plucking chickens - i hated that part. But really - of all the places I've lived - that was my favorite of them all. If I'd been older - enough to really help - maybe we wouldn't have had to leave our farm. I liked it there - a lot but there's only so much one woman can do when her husband won't help. That's where I lucked out - my Hubster rocks. He's with me all the way without question. My mom would have loved him. And this makes me quite happy. I think I have some pictures somewhere of our run-down little farm - I may have to go searching. See if I can't put an image on my dream here. Because I would love nothing more in the world than to go back to that simple way of life. We even had fresh milk delivered when we lived there (Mom hadn't gotten far enough into the process for cows but she would have eventually if we'd been able to stay). I remember her making butter and her attempt at cheese (not so good the first time around). This is what I want for me, for my kids, a simple and maybe oldfashioned way of life. One that doesn't take more than it gives. One that focuses on the good we can do, the fruit that comes from our own labor. That praises and rewards hard work in a way so little does now. I think I was born in the wrong century - by a long ways. Granted - I like my indoor plumbing a lot - but otherwise... so the wrong century!

The Easy Stuff

We've gotten a bit of a start on the easy stuff... We already had a water-saver shower head and a lights off policy (not that CrazyHorse much abides by it yet but he's learning). We've changed about half our lightbulbs out for CFLs and we're steadily working on the other half. We've got the base of the compost bin built and a bag full of stuff to go into the recycle bins when we get them done. But there's a list of other easy stuff we hope to do soon.

As we can afford to change out our appliances with energy efficient ones.
Eliminate paper towel and paper napkin use entirely (but I need to get more cloth napkins and towels to do this)
Buy new towels - preferably organic in some form or another and cut up the old ones to use as dish/wash rags (we would need to do this step regardless - our towels are getting old)
finish planting the garden with veggies that we like to eat and that store or can or freeze well.
Put the herb garden in for cooking and aromatherapy and crafty stuff I want to do.
Set aside a paper only bin so CrazyHorse and I can make some good, heavy stationary this year.
phase out my cleaning products to natural based cleaning products (which I'll review here)
Find a local farmer's market and a place that does the you-pick for some of the stuff we'll not be able to grow on our little piece of land (and I mean itty bitty in comparison to what I want)

It's a start anyway - we've got a long way to go but at least it's the right direction!

The Dream

The ultimate goal for us, the ideal as it were, won't be possible for another ten years or so, but it's something to work towards. We'd like to find ten to fifteen acres with trees and a stream. We want to build from scratch - an eco-friendly house with solar panels and whole house heating via sustainable methods - meaning, a stove house outside that is kept burning to heat the house and the water (a friend of ours has this), a greenhouse for wintertime veggies and more delicate plants (and anoles), a pump house at the stream to collect water power, a barn for livestock and a chicken coup. The dream is to be completely self-sufficient for most things. At least, food and energy wise. I'm not the best at making clothes and with two boys, we'll still need to buy that sort of thing but - it's a nice dream. I can make soap and candles and that kind of thing. But, like I said, it's going to be a few years before that's possible. We want a fruit orchard, grape vines, berry bushes, a massive garden.... I'm fortunate enough to have married someone with the same ideals as me. Now we just have to work our butts off to get there. I'm working on clearing out our basement on ebay, getting rid of stuff we don't need anymore - and there's a surprising amount of stuff we don't need anymore. Really. Between ebay and this years yard sale - whatever doesn't get bought and sold will likely go to the salvation army or some such organization. We just need to unclutter a bit. Strange coming from me - the clutter queen!

I have a few things I'd like to do this year too - I want to learn how to make baskets and build myself a loom. Maybe do some fun sorts of crafty things and open an etsy shop. I want to do what I can to make the dream come to fruition faster. Anything I can do to make that happen is a good thing. I just have to keep focused. It'll get there but I'd like for someday to be a lot closer than it looks right now...

The first step

So, the Hubs got the bulk of the compost bin built yesterday but he won't let me post pictures until he finishes the lid. Something about not wanting it online until it's right. Perfectionist - just a little...

We've talked a lot about this stuff, when the little one isn't feeling clingy or fussy (he's been under the weather for a few days and is just starting to perk up). When the compost bin is done, we'll get to work on setting up a recycling system. We discussed the big grande overall someday dream too but that deserves its own post sometime later - it'll probably be ten years before we can do that anyway. But - in the meantime, there is so much little stuff we could and should be doing.

So - we're starting. It'll be a slow start and probably a bit inconsistent at first but we'll get there. I'm just hoping we can pull off the big dream before the kids are too old to have fun with it.

First thing we need to find: a decent local farmer's market. We have a farm where we can get fresh eggs, and one where we are on the waiting list (yes, waiting list) for a side of organic beef. (We know the farmer and his meat is superb) There is absolutely NO way I could ever be a veggitarian. Hubster either. But we can do better about where we get our meat, what it's fed on. We can do better about where we get our coffee and what kind of packaging the rest of our food comes in. We can do better about so very much so I guess it's about time we tried to.

We're hoping to plant a little garden (acording to the Almanac it's not too late to start) but that will depend on several factors- including me not forgetting to water it...

We'll see how it goes. But it's a start.

My question for today: why aren't more people doing this? It's all so simple, so logical, so why is it so hard to do? Regardless of what side of the political aisle you stand on - we should still be doing our best to ensure that the earth that we leave our children is as good, or hopefully better, than when we started. No matter what your stance is on global warming or climate change, the fact is, we should be doing more to help keep our house clean.

Changes and various stuff

I haven't used this blog much for mom stuff - I guess I tend to keep all that stuff mixed in with the rest of my life's ranting over at the LJ. But - hubster and I are working on some changes to the way we do things. I'm not an environmentalist, there are parts of the green movement I think are off base, BUT a large majority of the rest of it - is not only logical and beneficial but fits into the grand picture I have of the way I want to raise my kids. So - in an effort to keep myself on track with these changes - I think I'm going to start documenting them.

Husband will (hopefully) be building us a compost box this week and I'll take a picture of it. We've got a lot of veggies started and we've probably missed the boat on putting in a real garden this year but we are going to start relandscaping the backyard to fit in a nice sized garden for us for next year. If we can keep the deer and rabbits out - maybe even a garden that can produce enough stuff to do some canning and freezing. So, the recycle bins and compost box are step one. Phasing into natural, biodegradable cleaning products is step two. Step three will come in time. We don't have the land to be self-sufficient (I so wish that we did!!) but we can start. Maybe someday, we'll be able to move to a ten acre lot somewhere and do even better. Of course this means that I will no longer be able to forget to water the plants but that's maybe doable. So - I'm going to start keeping track of what we're doing to be less a part of the problem. I'm hoping to do reviews on certain products when I get the chance to try them too. Maybe even post fun, natural crafts and projects to do with kids too!

~S