Community Supported Agriculture

My husband and I have talked a number of times about subscribing to a CSA for produce and fruit. CSA stands for community supported agriculture and involves buying boxes usually monthly but receiving goods weekly that are grown on farms in your area. To find a farm we first googled: CSA, Santa Rosa and were led to this page: http://find.mapmuse.com/re1/map_brand_mm2.php?brandID=CSA&init=38.4377708487303,-122.712411778317,11&tlist=CSA,
This gave us choices for CSA-participating farms, where they were located and links to more information.
We signed up for one small box per week from Valley End Farm here in Santa Rosa. Baby girl and I went and picked up our first box on Tuesday. There was quite a bounty inside: eggplant, zukes, roma and cherry tomatoes, chard, purple bell peppers, crane melon, wax beans, radishes, sage..I think that was it. I was making a beef stew and added quite a few things right from the box. As the seasons change we will have what's growing in sonoma county which is cool for several reasons:
1) It will help me be more of a creative cook, using produce that I have tried before and some that are totally new to me.
2) I will be buying from a completely organic and sustainable farm and only have to make one short car trip to get a whole box of food there.
3) Our daughter will be able to see where our food comes from as she gets older.
4) Lots of veggies are GREAT for a healthy diet.
I am really looking forward to next week's box.
*The free-range,frisky resident chickens and roosters were pretty entertaining, too.

Making homemade baby food with lots of love

I love making food for my baby girl. With the exception of grains, tofu and yogurt, I make all of my girl's food. I love going to: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and getting ideas for really nutritious, organic purees and finger foods. This website has given me the confidence to whip up creations for our baby.
Something that I am really excited about that jarred baby food doesn't seem to provide much of is eating seasonal foods. I think that it helps create a bank of memories and sensory experiences to eat the fruits and veggies that are growing locally. It also is better for the environment as the foods are grown nearby and not shipped from Exotic places. We have had lots of pumpkin sweet potato with cinnamon and ginger, yams, zucchini and squashes boiling on the stove lately and it is just heaven. The leaves are falling outside and we are inside with our baby eating delicious comfort foods. Pureed apples and pears have been a big favorite mixed with yogurt and wheat germ.
Since our baby girl is still under 10 months we haven't had a chance to try spinach and chard in her food (too high in nitrites for under 10 months) but hopefully she will have some pureed soon.
As we are trying a lot of new finger foods our girl is eating chopped banana dusted in wheat germ, sauteed tofu dusted in wheat germ, slightly cooled hard-boiled egg yolk, cottage cheese, Oatios (organic version of cheerios plus more protein) and vanilla teething biscuits: http://www.healthytimes.com/htbabybiscuits.htm.
With lots of new foods comes a little more gas as our girl is prone to it already. I am making her weak teas of fresh ginger and chamomile to ease the tummy ache.
It feels really good to know that in addition to breast milk, the food I make for Maya is clean, healthy and organic.

Awesome consignment sale!!

I just went to the Wee Three store's "Wee Peats" consignment sale at the LBC in Santa Rosa. There are sooo many awesome gently used clothes, costumes, shoes, and outerwear items for real cheap! I was on the hunt for used sleep sacks since my little one still uses one. I ended up finding some great gender-neutral jammies, some great pants and some cute hats for my baby girl and her baby cousin. This is a yearly event so if you missed it this year go next year!! It is worth the sifting and the crowds for sure!!!

It's not easy being green (money-wise)

I just wanted to dream aloud about organic clothes and organic clothing being so widely made (but not exploiting those who make them or distribute them) that one would be able to afford more of them. The organic food is much more affordable in my household b/c we mostly buy product and grains and not much meat. BUT, being a stay-at-home-mom and affording baby organic clothing and eco-friendly, non-toxic toys with one income is tricky. I just wanted to vent a bit! I look at the Old Navy sites and the clothing is cute and affordable and really accessible. BUT it goes against my goals. So as I am trying to be a green mama I am doing the best I can to buy organic but to also not go broke. Can anyone else relate?

Homemade wipe solution

As I mentioned in earlier posts, my baby girl has had some baaaaaad diaper rash. It makes sense as I have pretty sensitive skin, too. When we were travelling in August it reached an all time nastiness and I had to make a solution on the road with some help from an herbalist in Kaua'i. It was originally just aloe vera juice and bottled water chilled before and after use. No double-dipping and being very careful not to get the solution dirty with my hands was a must.
As I continued to use this solution over the past two months I noticed the baby girl's diaper area wasn't smelling too fresh in between changings so I decided to amp up the cleansing agents in the wipe solution. Here is the new wipe solution:
equal parts: aloe vera juice (lily of the desert brand) and witch hazel (Humphrey's)
the rest-chilled, bottled water
I have used cut-up cloth diapers but most recently ordered some great hemp and organic cotton cloth wipes.
The kinds I am using are: Babykicks and Happy Heiny from http://bananapeelsdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=170
This has been working great!

Home remedy for clogged tear ducts??

So, my baby girl has had a clogged tear duct in her left eye since she came home from the hospital. I am pretty sure that it was from the eye ointment they apply the first day baby is born to prevent infections and disease transmission through the eye. Although our girl was not in danger of this, really, we had them do it anyway. First hours of parenthood to blame, I guess? Anyway..poor Maya has had the clogged duct consistently since then. We've done the antibiotic drops when the built up tear/mocuous has gotten real crusty and yellow but that was once. Mostly it just looks like Maya has been crying. Her eyes are extremely gooky in the morning,too.
Well, it is supposed to clear up by 9 months and we're getting close to that time and it hadn't cleared up at all. So, I looked into home remedies to avoid having the duct manually opened by a wire with baby under light anesthesia. That freaks me out! To avoid this I started doing research online and talked to my pediatrician to let him know I wanted one month to try to clear this on my own.
So, here is what I have been doing:
Warm compresses soaked in loose, simmered, chamomile tea (new cloths each time)
Wiping the eye off with the chamomile tea (with washed hands and new cloths)
Massaging in a semi-circle from the inner eye area to the nose (kind of like a sinus massage)
Putting breastmilk on the duct area (Yes, that's right)
I started this on Sunday and now it is Wednesday and for the first time in many months, I did not have to clean Maya's eyes upon waking. Yessssss!!! I do have to resort to very silly faces and animal noises during the compress so that baby girl doesn't lose it but it's well worth it!

Better for the body, better for the environment

When I went to skin care school in 2003 I gained a world of information about product ingredients, food's effect on the body's largest organ and natural skin care lines. Since then, I have "cherry-picked" from brands and tried different things depending on what my skin needed. I have become very discriminating as far as mainstream brands go. I usually go to Whole Foods for my skin care or our local market Oliver's. Here are my favorite skin care brands:
Desert Essence Organics Facial Care--they make an incredible "Age Reversal Pomegranate Face Serum." It is really hydrating and regenerative.
Mychelle Fruit Enzyme Cleanser--it is sulfate free and uses organic essential oils and ingredients. I used this on some hormonal acne on my chin and it exfoliated it and helped it heal pronto.
Alba botanica-- I have loved EVERYTHING I have tried from them. I love their emollient body lotion called Daily Shade with spf 16 and alpha hydroxy. I have used almost their entire Hawaiian line including the aloe and green tea oil-free moisturizer, the hibiscus toner and pineapple face wash. Alba is owned by Avalon organics and they have an incredible line of Lavender products.
Better Botanicals--I love their sandalwood moisturizer and rose tulsi toner.
Earth Science-- I have sensitive eyes and I really like their chamomile and green tea eye makeup remover.
JASON pure, natural, organic--their Healthy Mouth gel tooth paste with tea tree and CoQ10 is very nice and really does make your mouth feel clean.
So..on to baby products..BTW I have tried all of these baby products. If it didn't bother my sensitive skin I would pass it on to baby.
On the bottom of a babe and all that dewey baby skin I will only put organic products--hands down. Here are some of the products that I have used on my little gal:
Avalon organics Baby Weightless Nourishing body lotion--I have used this on baby girl since her first week home. I love it for her skin as well as mine.
Avalon organics Baby Protective A, D, E ointment with chamomile--love this for protecting those chubby thigh folds from chafing.
Avalon organics Baby cornstarch powder--Talc is found to be a contributor to respiratory problems (asthma) so it uses baking soda, cornstarch, calendula and chamomile to soothe, cool and keep dry. My baby girl coos whenever I put this on her.
California Baby Calming hair and bodywash--perfect for evening baths.
California Baby Bubble bath--this stuff is incredible. It does not contain any chemical sudsing agent but coconut-derived sudsers. To get it to really bubble it you have to work the water a little but it is well worth it. We have tried: Overtired and Cranky, Light and Happy, Chamomile and Herbs, and my favorite..I Love You. The I Love You bubble bath has my favorite essential oils in it, ylang ylang and sweet orange.
California Baby warming Massage oil--in I Love You. You just rub it between your palms and the friction warms the oil. Baby loovves this massage oil.
California Baby diaper area wash/spray--Excellent wipe solution alternative. Also a great boo-boo spray.
I have used California Baby the most often because I totally believe in their products and their philosophy. All of their essential oils are grown sustainably and without any pesticide use. Also, none of their products contain synthetic fragrances. Even though it is pricier than some other products you might find the product line is concentrated so you get a lot for your money. It just smells so good, too!!!
I have found that my skin, my body and my baby's skin has responded really positively to organic products. It makes me feel good to know that the ingredients have been grown without leaving a footprint on the earth and that the bottles are made of the easiest type of plastic that can be recycled: HDPE #2
Avalon organics was the first organic line of skin care products that I researched for my own use years back. I have a soft spot for this company. They are committed to using sustainable agriculture to grow their ingredients, using recycled materials for their marketing and literature and providing their client with organic plant-based emollients and essential oils.
So, enjoy delicious-smelling, organic products and feel good about them.