Foraging Friday

 

Autumn is here.  My instinct to gather wild food is strong:

Now is time to get outside, in nature before the winter comes,
To collect the sun's rays and saturate my body with vitamin D.

To build and straighten my immunity.

Now is the time to forage, identify and collect medicinal plants.



 

 

With Julien in the stroller, my dog on a leash, I explore my neighborhood.  In the stroller I carry gardening gloves, plastic bags, and a hand shovel. 

I have brought home apples, rose hips, thistle leaves (made a lovely tea), mullein  and blackberries.  I discovered this Mullein plant in a parking lot.
  

 

 

Mullein leaves can be prepared as a tea for bronchial congestion, colds and coughs. The perfect herb to have on hand for the winter cold season. I look forward to working with this herb.

I am also infusing olive oil with the mullein flowers.  Mullein oil is recommended for earaches.

I discovered a rose bush covered with rose hips. Rose hips have a high vitamin C content.  Rose hips can be prepared as tea or a concentrated syrup. Rose hip syrup sweetens our hot tea and even our picky eater Eva will happily swallow a teaspoon daily.

Wishing you abundance on this fall Equinox.

 

 

 

 

 

Waste Stream Wednesday - What I Learned

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am stopping my household weekly waste stream analysis. A weeks waste analysis, preformed once or twice a year,  is good method  to become aware of a households waste stream. For example, I used up to three rice milk cartons a week.  I now make my own almond milk, which generates no cartons, great for my budget and super yummy, oh and I use the crushed almond meal for baked goods! 



What I  Learned

Choose products least damaging to the earth. For example I choose paper and glass over plastic.   Little decisions here and there add up in a lifetime.

Bring your own bags grocery shopping. Refuse single use plastic bags.

Letter writing  success?
Yesterday at Costco, to my delight I discovered that  my favorite wine is no longer wrapped in plastic.  I happily purchased the wine, voting with my dollar.  A few months ago, I wrote a letter to Costco and Folie a Deux, criticizing the additional plastic wrapping on the Menage a Trois bottled wine.

Eat organic vegetables, compost the scraps, and use the compost on raised beds to grow more veggies.

Filter tap water and carry a stainless steel water bottle.

Feel good about waste reduction activities,  actions are commitments to earth and its people.

My Goal

Attempt to make my own beauty products, including toothpaste and deodorant, using herbs oils and other easy to come by ingredients. The process of crafting skin products is enjoyable. Homemade is a lost art these days.

Make my own reusable cloth produce bags.  Maybe this winter when the rains come.

What I Could Not Implement

Toilet paper has received complaints in this family. The unbleached recycled one-ply, non absorbent, scratchy and down right unpleasant TP, has prompted me to purchase cheap, non-eco groovy, soft TP.

The food budget currently is more of a priority than avoiding plastic wrapping. Bulk items will be forgone if a better priced item is wrapped in plastic.  For example I am omitting grains and replacing them with nuts, Costco has cheap nuts, cheaper than bulk at the health food store.

Gratitude

I welcome

The awareness
Of the abundance
That surrounds me

Today I sold my extra gas stove, which sat unused, in a corner of my small home.

I had the strong sense to clean it, and list it on Craiglist.

It sold in two hours, to folks who were cooking on a hot plate.

The buyer exclaimed how the timing was perfect.

Love, love, love , the universe shuffling goods around, taking care of our needs.

Tips - Traveling with an infant

Before

Packing

Start to pack two days before at the latest

Pack light, you will be carrying the full load plus the infant

In the morning recheck your packing, remove items
 

Equipment

Slings, carriers- The more back support the better

Carryon bag - my has wheels.
Car seat or stroller, someplace safe to place baby when you need to.

Messenger bag

Small purse

 

Strategy

Eat well the morning from home, protein, greens, a salad with turkey, broth, hydrate, - this will ensure optimum health , and good mood and energy for the task ahead.

Nurse baby right before leaving, nurse him while you relax, eat, check emails, read a blog, etc.

The main objective is relax, even if you have to give yourself a fake departing time.

I always start my trips in a mad frenzy of last minute packing, stress, and anxiety. I will now pack completely the night before.

Prayer

Visualize protection, ask for guidance, bless your trip.

 

 During

Choose a centrally located hotel with kitchenette near restaurants and food stores.
The hotel will serve as a home base to come to every few hours, to nurse, change diapers, let baby nap, relax.
Easy meals are fresh veggie juices , whole fruit, and cooked meat (protein). Bring plenty of snacks to munch on, water bottle, especially if you are nursing and travelling with others, you may not be able to find food.
Do not expect to do much, make it easy, enjoy window shopping, and walking around, and down time at the hotel.

After

Unpack quickly, in one session

What I found to be essential:

A moby wrap - I could nurse baby discreetly within the moby.
Snacks- raw food bars, chocolate, apples, etc easy reach within my messenger bag.
My Chico bag- my Chico bag fit within my little purse and was used to transport purchases bag to the hotel.  Staying near my home base meant I only needed to take my small purse with me.
Patio- My hotel had a patio where I spent many hours holding baby and watching people.

A trip allows for a change in perspective, and appreciation of home.


 

10 Minute Paleo -Swiss Chard Sardine Wraps

Ingredients:

3 young  whole swiss chard leaves

1 can of skinless, boneless sardines

handful of greens: spinach, kale, parsley etc

raw goat feta (optional)

tomato, radishes or any other veggie from the garden

Place sardines on clean swiss chard leaves

top with feta and  chopped greens

add tomatoes and radishes as a side dish.

My Home Is

My Home Is

old redwoods nestled in the hillside

a backyard offering blueberries, radishes and tomatoes

a chair in a sun drenched corner window

a voice carrying the rhythm of a guitar

falling leaves at the end of  summer