sharing the ladies

 

Names (all French accent, please) include Cheri, Merci, Ami, Cosette, Camille & Mirielle. Somebody layed her first egg yesterday. We were too excited to get a picture. It was delicious.

Other details: the coop is a chicken tractor so we can move it every couple weeks. But they free range when we're playing outside or doing yard work. They do a great job of eating veggie/fruit scraps & love chasing crickets. Right now we're sharing them with a friend who has a larger yard, but once our fence it tall enough & the city of Richmond formalizes the law... hopefully by next spring, summer 3-4 can come home to our yard!

for the sake of a picnic

Garlicky Greens Pasta Salad

ingredients

• 1 lb garden arugula
• 4 oz garden basil
• 4 cloves garlic
• .25 cup olive oil
• pumpkin or sunflower seeds, toasted
• sea salt
• 1.75 c homemade chicken broth
• Harvest Grains Blend (Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo, red quinoa)
• feta, parm or romano to taste

prep

• warm oil on med-low & add crushed garlic cloves for 3-5 min
• wilt greens in garlic-laden oil 2 min or so & remove from heat
• boil chicken broth, add half the package of grains blend (according to package directions), remove from heat & let sit covered 20 min
• pour garlic greens oil mixture over grains, stir in toasted seeds & cheese to get it creamy
• chill or serve immediately
• offer flatbread (to soak up excess garlic oil, yum) & hummus on the side

healing salve

(eucalyptus) image via GrainnePhotography


Summer = exposed skin = boo boos. This topical salve is perfect for diaper rash, scrapes, cuts, burns, bites & stings to speed healing & prevent infection. More creamy than sleepy balm, the amount of tea tree oil makes it smell somewhat medicinal so avoid close contact with mucous membranes on sensitive little ones.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1.5 tsp beeswax
• 15 drops tea tree oil
• 15 drops calendula
• 5 drops peppermint essential oil
• 5 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Prep

• In small saucepan over low heat or in a double boiler, combine oils with wax & gently warm until wax has just melted. 
• Remove from heat, allow to cool 5 min & add essential oils. Stir to blend.
• Pour into storage container(s). Allow to cool 20 min before capping containers.
• No refrigeration required, but freshest when used within 6 months.

Apply
Smear as needed.

sleepy balm

At baby bedtime, it's still pretty bright outside. So mama concocted a batch of sleepy balm to rub on the temples & chest for dreamy wafting smells all night. A bit flowery, perfectly delightful & soothing, very gentle on the skin. I used less wax than other recipes to account for coconut oil being solid at room temp.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 4 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp beeswax (.5 oz)
• 20 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops chamomile or geranium essential oil
• 5 drops peppermint essential oil
• 5 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Prep

• In small saucepan over low heat or in a double boiler, combine oils with wax & gently warm until wax has just melted. 
• Remove from heat, allow to cool 5 min & add essential oils. Stir to blend.
• Pour into storage container(s). Allow to cool 20 min before capping containers.
• No refrigeration required, but freshest when used within 6 months.

Apply
A little salve goes a long way when applied under the nose, on the throat, temples, hands, &/or chest just before bedtime.  Also relaxing when suffering from a headache, nervous tension or anxiety (like when babe's molars are cutting).

*Edit*
I find coconut oil to be great for cradle cap, so after coating my hands in this balm I sometimes rub it all over baby's head. Immensely helpful with a touchy/fussy one like Os in the afternoons.

agenda

image, via so wabi sabi.

Today must:

• dry herbs, some hanging & some spread on a screen
• brew sun tea
• pick mulberries before the birds eat them all
• let Elijah get purple-faced with berry-eating

grow.eat.repeat.

images via cubits, & underwood gardens

There are many tasks that elude me. Some are from a lack of knowledge/discipline, others a lack of interest/will to follow through or persevere. Garden planning is one of those where I have great interest, no knowledge or will to persevere. Thus we only ever grow herbs, dreaming of following handbooks like The Winter Harvest. I was convincing myself that this spring would be the year: when the babe would have turned into a boy who loves digging in the dirt with mama, when we would become urban homesteaders. Thwarted by the reality of an early spring arrival (whose bump is growing at an alarming rate), this will not be the year. Maybe I will finally commit to a CSA.

a bottomless pit: food philosophy

 photo of our table compliments of Maya Lee

Before I get too carried away with recipes, I'd like to give you a little background on our kitchen. We take great strides to eat local, fresh, and in season. We use non-toxic (and usually homemade) cleaners to take care of spills and bring our own bags to carry things home in. We grow, can, pickle and try to only eat out when we can't make it better at home. We believe in eating well, not simply to decrease our impact on the environment, but primarily to fuel our bodies with the highest possible quality of food.

What we choose to eat is often considered an unusually organic, traditional foods diet. Rather than try to convince or take sides about food, I like to offer the resources that led me to the diet we embrace. Initially I read The Maker's Diet in tandem with looking up Old Testament references about the food & cleanliness customs of the ancient Hebrew people. From there, Nourishing Traditions has been very helpful in deciding how to prepare foods in a deliberate manner while looking to include as many varieties as are in-season & reasonable for our lifestyle. To give you an idea of the philosophy, this link is a helpful introduction.

We drink raw milk from a local farm that we trust, unpasteurized-unhomogenized-

full fat. In VA you have to own a share in a herd to legally obtain raw milk (so it's from your own cow, on paper). A Campaign for Real Milk has a list of farms you can contact, state-by-state. From raw milk I make kefir (strong yogurt that's great for the digestive system) & ricotta to put in quiche (with farm eggs, spinach, etc) or lasagna (with farm beef). I freeze the whey in ice cube trays to add to smoothies or baby food as needed. I also add whey instead of water to the sourdough bread we make from a liquid starter someone gave me a while back. 

In terms of online recipes & natural food recommendations, we often reference 101 Cookbooks for vegetarian & gluten-free recipes (anyone whose friend or relative has Celiac disease, show your love by doing research) & My New Roots, a holistic nutritionist & CNM who posts amazing recipes full of really healthy ingredients that almost feels like cheating. I totally changed my shopping list after reading a few of her suggestions, & the Smooth Criminal Chocolate Mousse Tart is next as far as I'm concerned.

wild edibles & herbal cleansing

I love foraging wild edibles near home. There's an amazing woman named Riana living in France who blogs & Flickrs about eating wild... she's a great resource for edible & medicinal herbs/flowers, but to give a fair heads-up she narrates in a rather "Mother Earth/Fertility goddess" way.

Her link is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81951381@N00/ &

For those of us who love turning well-worn pages more than clicking through links, try thumbing through

via abbytrysagain.typepad.com

For natural cleaners that are affordable, I make a lot of our supplies using basic ingredients like Castile soap, vinegar, borax, baking soda, etc. Make Your Place is a treasure trove of recipes for household cleaners, body care & gardening in a toxin-free way. The author has organized her narratives with cute illustrations, straight-forward directions & the book is small enough to keep in your bag for waiting-room-reading. For laundry, I've stopped making our own & have started using Charlie's soap, particularly for washing cloth diapers.

I'm also looking into a variety of whole foods based vitamins... what do you do for supplements?