Cloth Diaper News

So multiple cloth diapering related things have happened in the last few days all of which I am excited to share!

1. My cousin switched to cloth for her little man. He is 5 months old so he still has many happy cloth diapered days ahead of him. He looked so cute in his happy cloth diapered butt. I am going to interview her later on to get the perspective of a Mom who switched from disposables. We used cloth since we brought Bug home from the hospital except for a couple of long distance road trips.. so I don't really know what it is like to go from disposables to cloth. I am super proud of her though.

 2. I am in love with a new cloth diaper company. It is called Mo Dia Diapers. She makes all custom made diapers. I am just in love with these. I love the Dr. Suess themed ones and the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Normally I don't like paying more than 10-12$ a diaper but for these adorable custom themed ones I would easily pay the price tag of 20$.





3. I recently learned that you can use a few drops on dawn dish-washing liquid to strip the stains and odors out of cloth diapers safely. I did this last night after finding out about it, and the diapers have not been this clean since they were new. They smell brand new and are just soooo white! I am sold.. after months and months of trying different products.. this has worked the best so far. I am in love.

4. Last but certainly not least, Bug was in our local online newspaper this morning in a picture I submitted of him helping me hang our cloth diapers on the clothesline in our backyard. I took the picture the other day while we were enjoying our backyard and hanging our pretty cloth diapers on the line. http://northcountrynow.com/hometown-photos/potsdam/hanging-out-potsdam

Garden Update/ Random Stuff

 Well our garden is flourishing.. even in this insane heat wave. 

We have tomatoes...

We have peppers...

We have rosemary, basil, cilantro, and soon we will have sage.

We have strawberries

I also adopted a mix of house plants from my MIL and am attempting to help them come back to life but I don't know what they are. so I took pictures of them all. So if anyone knows what they are could you let me know?

Backyard Edibles 5: Wood Sorrel

 Imagine biting into a crisp clean granny smith apple. You know that taste? What if you could find something growing in your own backyard that was full of vitamin C, was thirst quenching, and tasted like a crisp green apple? Well if you live in the Northeast USA or Europe you have probably mowed down exactly that. This backyard edible is Wood Sorrel, also known as shamrocks or sours. As a child I ate this by the handfuls. My mother taught us a lot about backyard edibles in fact that is where I got most of my herbology and well green knowledge too and that is why most of you know this blog is dedicated to my mother. Wood Sorrel is a small leafy green plant with yellow flowers. It can be used in salads, desserts, or just eaten right out of the ground. Bug and I were working in the garden today and found a whole bunch growing. So I chopped it up and mixed it with some black caps and viola a yummy backyard salad. Bug loved it!!!

Backyard Edibles 4: Black Raspberries

I almost just completely forgot about the most obvious backyard edible of all.. at least if you live in the north east USA. Black Raspberries!!! Black raspberries also known as black caps are wild growing in most parts of the north east. They are related to regular raspberries but smaller and sweeter. They grown on thorny bushes and turn black when ripe. We pick them every summer sometimes by the bag full. Bug looooves them just right off the bush, but they make excellent jam, jellies, and pies! Aside from being delicious though they have been found to possibly cure bowel cancer. An article I found said that freeze dried portions of the black raspberries have reduced bowel cancer in mice. So just another great backyard edible!!!

Backyard Edibles 3: Pineapple Weed

Yes yes yes!!!!! I found some of my favorite backyard edible. This fragrant little flower tends to only grow in cruddy rocky soil, so it is usually found in driveways... but I have not seen it in mine in the four years we have lived here. Then yesterday I just happen to be at my best friend's mother's house and her whole driveway was covered in it. What is it? Pineapple Weed! Pineapple Weed if you don't know is a small flower related to chamomile that smells exactly like pineapple. It is very wild and grows all over. You harvest it in late July when the flowers appear and like chamomile it makes a wonderful tea. So I turned into a giddy greeny and shrieked "Pineapple Weed!" must to the confusion of everyone there. I picked enough of it for several pots of tea and am drying it now. If you have never tried it I really recommend you do.

The Summerfest Craft Fair part II

OK so I actually had access to a camera after all. So you guys get pictures. This year the vendors were all really great but one stood out above the rest. This was a woman who makes gloves, hats, stuffed animals... you name it.. from old wool sweaters and fleece sweaters. She puts a picture on the tag of each items of what it used to be. Everything in her shop is upcycled and they are amazingly done.

All in all we had a great day. Bug got his face painted.

Bounced in the bouncyhouse...

and listened to live concerts. We also got to pet a llama.

All for the low low price of 0.00$! We had a great day!

Summerfest Craft Fair

So it is that time of year again.. and this time sadly I do not have a camera. My camera had a lense error which resulted in me basically taking it completely apart and it still doesn't work. So instead Bug and I will be enjoying the day without pictures and we will describe it for you all later. Have a great day.

Edible Backyard Treats part II: Burdock

Ok so awhile back I posted about dandelions and said I was going to start doing regular posts on things you can eat in your backyard. Since then I got distracted with all sorts of cool topics. A friend with a problem brought me back to it though. As I was chopping down and hacking away at overgrown burdock bushes I thought back to my parents cooking burdock stems and making tea from the roots. So I decided to go use my favorite tool Google. I soon found a ton of information about this "annoying" weed that we all hate including that a tea made from the seeds can help control and even cure gout. Since I have a close friend with this very issue I got very excited. Not only that but the stems can be eaten like artichokes and even the roots can be used for medicine. There are many medicinal uses for burdock.


The leaves can be mashed into a poultice for healing wounds.

The roots are known to be used for:  purifying  the blood by removing toxins that can build up in blood. It can be taken orally or used topically as a remedy for skin disorders. Also, burdock root can be a diuretic or soothe aching joints, colds, measles, throat pain, and tonsillitis, treatment of certain cancers

The seeds of the burdock plants can be used for: cleansing the bloodstream, easing pain from arthritis, and treating gout, rheumatism, ulcers, acne, eczema, and psoriasis, aphrodisiac, barrenness and impotence.



So there you have it! I will be digging up some of our plants and using them in some yummy recipes and making teas and whatnot with them. Both hubby and I suffer from joint pain, ulcers and I have kidney issues, and like I said our friend has gout. So if you live near here then you most likely have burdock in your yard. Next time you go to chop it down... remember this is a powerful wonderful backyard edible!

http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/burdock.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/027521_burdock_root_blood.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdock

First Signs of a Harvest

Our organic garden is flourishing. We are starting to see the first tomatoes and strawberries. Even our zuchinni is blossoming. Here are a few pictures.

August is Breastfeeding Month

August is Breastfeeding Month! In honor of next month being the month to celebrate "what our breasts are for" this video was released. I love it!

I also thought it might be a good idea to link to some of my previous posts about breastfeeding for everyone to enjoy.

Spanish Mother Has Baby Removed For Breastfeeding

A Leaky Boob Post That Caught My Eye

More For Midwives

A Saturday With Mez

Breastfeeding a NO-NO In Some Places?

PCOS and Breastfeeding

Feeding Strike

Another Breastfeeding Post

Breastfeeding Bashers

Facebook VS Breastfeeding

On the Topic of Breastfeeding

Powder Detergents, Bar Shampoo, Rosemary Oil, Teflon and Capsaicin

I know I know.. that is quite the subject heading. I spent the last few days with about 10 subjects that I want to post about rolling around in my head. Five of them were small so I figured I could put them together in one post. So here goes!
First of all I would like to update on my garden. We are completely 100% organic this year. My basil had contracted a fungal disease so I researched all natural fungicides and found out that the plant sitting right next to the basil was an all natural fungicide. The rosemary plant. So I ground up a few sprigs of rosemary with my mortar and pestle to release the natural oils. I then added a bit of water and poured the mixture around the basil plant. I will update on how it works. I am hoping I have cured my basil plant with the next plant over.
Next topic is Capsaicin. Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers which creates the intense heat. It also is a topical all natural pain reliever. I knew that all ready but I had never tried it. For the last few days I have had a second set of wisdom teeth coming in and the pain has been excruciating. Pain kills didn't work, oragel didn't work. So the other day I decided to swish a little redhot just on a whim. It worked!!! My tooth stopped aching. So in a pinch use a hot pepper. :)
Next topic Bar Shampoo and Powder Detergents. These are better for the Earth because you are cutting all the liquid out of them which helps ship more for less and saves both gas and gives yo a product which is more shampoo or detergent for less. We already use all natural Ecos laundry detergent but maybe finding a powder version would be better. As I have been running this blog I have learn almost as much from other Green Mommies as I have been posting from my own knowledge. Like I have said before.. this is my journey to be an even Greener Mom.
The last topic for this post is Teflon. Why is teflon so bad? According to the EPA a chemical used to make teflon has been found in many people. This is a chemical that will stay in your body for years and years even if you stop using teflon, though if you stop no more of it will be built up in you. This chemical PFOA causes cancer, liver damage, growth defects, immune system damage, and death in lab rats and monkeys. Long story short, if you have teflon I would recommend removing it from your kitchen. Especially if cooking for little ones.

A Featured Green Mommy: Adventures in Organic Baby Food

So as you all know my own little prince has been off baby food for quite some time now. I spent most of last summer and fall posting about our adventures in homemade baby food. (For reference the previous entries are here, here, here, here and here) So Bug has had his fun times with Mommy making Organic Homemade Baby Food, but his little cousin just started. Baby Gabe is 5 months now and his Mom Sara just started making their own organic baby food. I am so excited for them because those days stirring pots and blending different kinds together were so memorable. Like breastfeeding, co-sleeping and cloth diapers.... making your own baby food is something you just have to try at least once. I don't know anyone who tried it and didn't want to do it again. This particular Featured Green Mommy also composts, gardens, shops locally, and is thinking about trying cloth diapers. Since Gabe is only 5 months that still gives plenty of time to take a few 1000 diapers out of the landfill before he is potty trained. So without further ado here are the adventures in organic baby food by Mommy Sara and Gabe.

Sara began with locally grown and bought organic veggies and fruit. Apples, pears, carrots, potatoes, zucchini  squash, snap peas, broccoli, and canned organic pumpkin. She then put them all in baking dishes, added water and let them bake. This differed from how I made mine with boiling or steaming in pots on the stove. Both methods work great but with Sara's method you can cook all of it at once. This can be a great time saver.

When the veggies were done cooking she peeled them, blended them and poured the puree into small containers, ice trays, used store bought baby food jars, even plastic baggies. She filled up a whole basket with frozen baby food ready to be just warmed and served. I would say she made enough for Gabe to eat for at least a few weeks. 

So I will finish this off with a sweet picture of Baby Gabe covered in his yummy organic Pumpkin and Rice puree. I think he likes it :)