Although I haven't been very active on permies lately (super busy summer on the homestead), I wanted to share a little blog post I wrote about natural beauty. I think natural, organic beauty is so important in this day and age with lots of young women using toxic products on their largest organ, the skin. Enjoy and let me know what organic/natural beauty products you like! I would love to learn more about any undiscovered small-cottage businesses making pure products.
I used to be a make-up consultant when I was very young and naive. After a few years of selling products that I realized were full of toxic chemicals I had an awakening. I couldn’t sell them anymore. I wanted to give the gift of confidence and natural beauty, not the gift of future cancer. So I took a financial hit and threw all of my inventory away. And I started looking up every ingredient that was listed on beauty products. It was an education in complex sounding ingredients like parabens, and I’m happy that nowadays most educated women are very wary of mainstream beauty products and their toxic ingredients. It’s not worth the risk of long-term health damage to have the latest beauty product on your skin.
Glowing, Colorful Natural Look
In my opinion, the most beautiful women have a clean, fresh face that glows with health and a bright smile. My mother also believes that wearing lots of color helps your natural beauty shine through, and I have to agree with her. After looking at my closet, I find that I own a lot of brown, grey, and black clothes. Now that I am in my mid-thirties, I think that beautiful colors and patterns in clothing are a nice addition to my natural beauty routine. Luckily, there are also lots of lovely patterns out there even in eco-friendly clothing and organic fabrics.
I’ve made a short video showing my simple daily beauty routine. Let me know what you think!
Which Skincare Brands Are Pure & Natural?
How does someone learn which companies make pure healthy beauty products? It can be daunting and confusing, especially with an already busy life.
Start simple and buy only 100% Certified Organic products. Beyond that, try to get to know the beauty company, where the products are made, and what standards they have. There are many local make-up and beauty small businesses popping up. Even Amazon sells some handmade products. But it’s best to check in your local health food store and ask if there are any local beauty companies selling there.
In my e-book, Rosemary's All-Natural Cosmetics Guide, I share with readers all of the natural beauty products that meet my high purity standards. I am not an affiliate of any of the companies. I also used EWG’s (Environmental Working Group) rating system as a reference point. EWG is a non-profit organization that tests thousands of products for all types of chemicals and ranks them in terms of toxicity. Use their database to look up the products that you normally use, if you're curious. My beauty guide is complete and simple, and will take all of the guesswork out of which products are pure and which are not. As an added bonus, I tried to pick products that were in the mid price range, so that it can be affordable for most people. Most people cannot afford to spend $50 on a daily moisturizer or cleanser! Some of my tips that are spread throughout the guide are intended for you to simplify your beauty routine. It will also lower your risk of overloading your body with toxins and cancer-causing chemicals.
I've got a lovely Homemade Lip Balm Recipe here at MOTHER EARTH NEWS. Enjoy!
Although this might be sort of off-topic, I really would appreciate anyone and everyone's opinion about my newest book.
It is a healthy living, exercise diary, and soul searching journal for anyone who wants to get healthier, lose weight, and get in touch with their goals and purpose in life. I originally made it for myself as I'm trying to get in better shape after having twins. And I'm also feeling a deep desire to align my life goals with my everyday actions.
I've made a survey so that people can give their honest opinions and comments about it.
Please help me finish this book by giving me your wise opinions!
What do you think of the title? Should it be more whimsical/enticing?
I would especially love r ranson's opinion and also Tracy's!! I really look up to both of you and the beautiful creations you've both done recently.
Is the design of the cover too plain, does it need more flowery-ness, prettiness, etc.? What would appeal to you?
If anyone wants, I can send you a 20 page sample of the book so you can comment on the content...I would LOVE LOVE LOVE your advice! I only had 1 person respond to my plea via email out of my mailing list...so that made me a bit sad :-( But I know everyone is mighty busy, so no hard feelings. Go to my website to email me and I will send you the sample super fast! www.rosemarypureliving.com
And thank you in advance for your help! I love you all Permies friends!
Darn, I'm in the same "weird pledge" section! Sorry to cause more work for y'all. I would love a physical book but if the shipping is more than $20 to Canada I'll just take e-books. Thanks!
I'm coming into this conversation a bit late, but I wanted to say one important thing:
Jocelyn, you are a truly unique and wonderful person and thousands on Permies love your quiet wisdom and kindness...so I think you should do a retreat on whatever topic inspires you and makes your heart sing. The people will follow you because YOU are YOU and I don't think you should do a workshop on anything that you're not super interested in. You deserve to have a lovely experience running a women's (or mixed gender) retreat, so just design it for yourself.
What are your favorite things to do?
What would you love for someone to do for YOU in a retreat?
What would you appreciate having set up for you? Amenities, quiet time, etc.
Roll out the red carpet for yourself and then if it is feasible to do so, design the retreat around that.
Is this making sense?
I just had to say this because no matter how much people say "I want to learn building techniques or RMH stuff", if it's no fun for you then what's the point?
A lot of what I'm saying comes from reading that glorious book "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert...she really pushes the reader to do what inspires them (assuming that you can afford to do so!). Sooo worth a read by the way.
Glad to hear that Coco is giving you a helping hand, Jocelyn! Blessings to you and hope your retreat (or whatever it turns out to be) is fun and relaxing for you as well as the participants.
Where we are there are no clothing stores other than a Walmart 6 hours away!! So I have to plan my supply runs really well or get it shipped for a minimum of $25-50 in shipping alone. I never even thought about clothing and such before moving out here. When a person lives in the city, you totally take it for granted.
I've found that you need these items for a homestead:
- thick flannel shirts or really tough sweaters for those early morning chores
- good rubber boots
- lots of extra kids clothes (my kids get holes in their knees so fast from all the outdoor playing and working)
- extra kids shoes (sorry but I really like Crocs - I know someone is out there cringing...however Crocs wear out really fast)
- Carhardt or Dickie pants for everyone in the family
Have you looked at making your own mosquito spray with essential oils? Using a base of witch hazel + Geranium oil is proven to keep mosquitos away, almost as effectively as DEET. But use caution with babies and don't over-apply it. I think also lemon oil and lemongrass oil are good. The mosquitos are really fierce here too and very large!! I'm not sure how we're going to protect my toddlers this year. Let me know if you get any good ideas about that!
Thank you! I would dearly love to make my own mosquito spray! I will try the witch hazel + Geranium oil on myself and see how it goes. The lemon oil and the lemongrass oil i have had limited success, maybe i wasn't using enough?
For the witch hazel and geranium, is toxicity the reason for not over-applying? How much is too much? I googled geranium oil and it suggested not for use by pregnant or nursing moms due to it influencing hormone secretions. That makes me nervous for applying to my young one on a regular basis. My lack of knowledge / confidence in the essential oils / medical realm has kept me from using any kind of bug spray or sunscreen on her so far. (Except a handful of occasions for the sunscreen when we had to be out in full sun at the wrong time of day.) I'm glad to start learning more.
Here is Wellness Mama's mosquito spray recipe, hope it helps you make your own.
30 drops geranium essential oil
30 drops citronella essential oil
20 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
20 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
1 TBSP vodka or rubbing alcohol
½ cup natural witch hazel
½ cup water (or vinegar)
1 tsp vegetable glycerin (optional)
Good question about over-applying. I would say every 30 minutes is fine but probably no more than 4 or 5 times? That's about the amount of times I do for my kids, but I'm not an expert on essential oils. But if you're spraying on clothes (like long-sleeved shirts and pants), then it's probably fine to spray all day as long as the child can hold their breath and not breathe it in each time. And always spot test on your kid first before spraying all over, just in case they're allergic. Hope that helps!
Oh, I love all of your suggestions Kay and Adrienne!
My toddler-age kid loved having a kid sized wheellbarrow to fill with dirt, dump, drive, repeat.
And water was always a loved activity with a dripping hose or a shallow-filled kiddie pool. And when he got older, water guns! Give them pots, bowls, cups, spoons and clean paint brushes and they will go to town with the water play!
Babies are trickier to entertain in the garden, I never found the perfect way to do it. Some days were easier than others. If you have a shady tree and short grass, they love looking up at the tree on their backs and pulling out grass (and eating it..not so good!). But the time frame is a lots horter for when they're tired of being by themselves. I used a playpen out in the garden, but my babies used to get mad about being penned up after getting bored of toys...so it's not the best solution.
Have you looked at making your own mosquito spray with essential oils? Using a base of witch hazel + Geranium oil is proven to keep mosquitos away, almost as effectively as DEET. But use caution with babies and don't over-apply it. I think also lemon oil and lemongrass oil are good. The mosquitos are really fierce here too and very large!! I'm not sure how we're going to protect my toddlers this year. Let me know if you get any good ideas about that!
Adrienne, great tips! Thanks for contributing to this discussion. Oh man, a sandbox is really a lifesaver, eh? And my favorite is playdough in wintertime. Even my older kid loves playdough, haha!
MOTHER EARTH NEWS has published my book review of Paul and Shawn's book. Here are some highlights since I'm not allowed to publish the whole article here.
It’s purpose is to help the average person transform the world, one truly ecological act at a time. That means that instead of writing angry letters to politicians and protesting, you can do things in your everyday life to help the Earth. Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop offer easy-to-implement, simple solutions for anyone looking to reduce your energy/petroleum usage and clear toxins from your life. They briefly cover how to save money and make passive income so that you don’t have to participate in the rat race and commute to work (thereby polluting the environment). The theme of luxurious living is in the forefront of the book throughout reading it. So it is not a book about sacrifice in the name of environmentalism. The main goal of the book is to direct your current anger at how messed up we’ve made the world and put it towards doing simple practical things to lessen your carbon footprint and give yourself a better more fulfilled life.
Paul & Shawn’s Eco-Poser Test
Do you spend less than $83/month on energy (electricity & heat)? They say that even if you have five kids, you still have to spend less than that to be a real environmentalist. Not a poser.
It’s a very interesting, thought-provoking argument. Heating and electricity account for a large amount of fossil fuels that we use. However, transportation takes the cake for the highest fossil fuel use : 33% in 2017. Electricity & heating use was 28% of total fossil fuel consumption. So, together, all three total over 60% of overall fossil fuel use in the United States. Next time you book a flight to Mexico or order something Next Day from Amazon, give that a thought!
Back to the book. I love the anecdote about the protester driving to protest fracking and he’s driving his car 1500 miles to do so, thereby using lots of petroleum! Most people don’t think about their iPad use (plus the mining to make the iPad), driving in their car, and taking yearly vacations on cruises or airplanes. The majority of us use either coal, natural gas, or hydroelectric power (still not always environmentally friendly) for our daily addiction to electricity. These are big problems but Wheaton has some good answers that we can all do in our daily lives. In the subsequent chapters, he makes some great points for how to do this without giving up a lot of “luxury”.
Radically Deviant Financial Strategies
One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 10: Radically Deviant Financial Strategies. In this chapter, Wheaton covers some very smart strategies for saving up money to get your own land, or own your own tiny house/shack that you build onto. These practices are critical for anyone who is drowning in debt and wanting to escape the rat race. Wheaton has a great list of passive income stream ideas, which will likely get the creative juices flowing for most readers.
What if many of us could find a way to live free from debt and the “slavery” of working in a big city with long commutes? I know there are many people out there hoping to figure out this puzzle. For a lot of Millenials, it can be easy to save money while living at home with Mom and Dad, with the goal of renting or buying land. It will require a person to give up eating out as well as exercising at home instead of driving to the gym and paying monthly fees.
Permaculture to Grow Your Own Food
The most important part of the book is about permaculture. Paul Wheaton has been lovingly dubbed “The Duke of Permaculture” by Geoff Lawton, (arguably the most famous permaculture teacher in the world, trained by the founder, Bill Mollison) for his contributions in spreading the ideas of permaculture. So it makes sense that Wheaton would give this as a solution to a lot of the world’s problems. Like he points out, petroleum is used to prepare the ground for growing food, to grow food (fertilizer), to transport food to the store, and the customer uses petroleum to go buy it. Growing your own food is a very critical part of environmentalism. Wheaton gives a good overview of some basic permaculture concepts, and tantilizes the reader to learn more outside of the book. Permaculture is a symbiotic way to live with Nature, and it also includes surrounding yourself with perennial plants and trees with lots of diversity throughout.
This year we are planting a long list of perennials in hopes that I and my grandchildren can benefit from the bountiful harvests in the future. We will be planting hazelnuts, nitrogen-fixing trees (called Princess Trees), paw paws, persimmons, walnuts, buartnuts, oak trees, grape vines, and lots more herbs and perennial greens. I hope that Paul’s chapter on permaculture, berms, tree-planting, and lazy gardening will inspire readers to dive into growing their own food.
Paul and Shawn’s book has a lot of chapters and the reader will need to take time to go down a few rabbit-holes of juicy information before finishing the book! They have provided lots of links to Paul’s online forum www.permies.com as there are in-depth discussions about all the topics in the book. So, while reading you can join in discussions about related topics.
Overall, this book is simply a brilliant way of looking at the problems that our world faces in 2019. Although some may not want to try the more extreme ideas out, it can get readers thinking about ways they can dig deeper to help combat climate change and widespread pollution. It goes far beyond simply recycling, and places the responsibility on our everyday actions and choices.
Side Note: The illustrations are really lovely and are done by the amazing and wonderful Tracy Wandling who some of you may have seen on Permies. She is a genius with art! I don't want to leave out her huge contribution to the book.
Hi all! Not sure if this should be tacked onto the Better World thread or have it's own or be in the media kit...totally up to you moderators!
MOTHER EARTH NEWS has published my book review of Paul and Shawn's book this morning. So sorry for them not publishing it sooner, I was persistent about it but they were pretty busy the last few days. Here are some highlights since I'm not allowed to publish the whole article here:
It’s purpose is to help the average person transform the world, one truly ecological act at a time. That means that instead of writing angry letters to politicians and protesting, you can do things in your everyday life to help the Earth. Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop offer easy-to-implement, simple solutions for anyone looking to reduce your energy/petroleum usage and clear toxins from your life. They briefly cover how to save money and make passive income so that you don’t have to participate in the rat race and commute to work (thereby polluting the environment). The theme of luxurious living is in the forefront of the book throughout reading it. So it is not a book about sacrifice in the name of environmentalism. The main goal of the book is to direct your current anger at how messed up we’ve made the world and put it towards doing simple practical things to lessen your carbon footprint and give yourself a better more fulfilled life.
Paul & Shawn’s Eco-Poser Test
Do you spend less than $83/month on energy (electricity & heat)? They say that even if you have five kids, you still have to spend less than that to be a real environmentalist. Not a poser.
It’s a very interesting, thought-provoking argument. Heating and electricity account for a large amount of fossil fuels that we use. However, transportation takes the cake for the highest fossil fuel use : 33% in 2017. Electricity & heating use was 28% of total fossil fuel consumption. So, together, all three total over 60% of overall fossil fuel use in the United States. Next time you book a flight to Mexico or order something Next Day from Amazon, give that a thought!
Back to the book. I love the anecdote about the protester driving to protest fracking and he’s driving his car 1500 miles to do so, thereby using lots of petroleum! Most people don’t think about their iPad use (plus the mining to make the iPad), driving in their car, and taking yearly vacations on cruises or airplanes. The majority of us use either coal, natural gas, or hydroelectric power (still not always environmentally friendly) for our daily addiction to electricity. These are big problems but Wheaton has some good answers that we can all do in our daily lives. In the subsequent chapters, he makes some great points for how to do this without giving up a lot of “luxury”.
Radically Deviant Financial Strategies
One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 10: Radically Deviant Financial Strategies. In this chapter, Wheaton covers some very smart strategies for saving up money to get your own land, or own your own tiny house/shack that you build onto. These practices are critical for anyone who is drowning in debt and wanting to escape the rat race. Wheaton has a great list of passive income stream ideas, which will likely get the creative juices flowing for most readers.
What if many of us could find a way to live free from debt and the “slavery” of working in a big city with long commutes? I know there are many people out there hoping to figure out this puzzle. For a lot of Millenials, it can be easy to save money while living at home with Mom and Dad, with the goal of renting or buying land. It will require a person to give up eating out as well as exercising at home instead of driving to the gym and paying monthly fees.
Permaculture to Grow Your Own Food
The most important part of the book is about permaculture. Paul Wheaton has been lovingly dubbed “The Duke of Permaculture” by Geoff Lawton, (arguably the most “famous” permaculture teacher in the world, trained by the founder, Bill Mollison) for his contributions in spreading the ideas of permaculture. So it makes sense that Wheaton would give this as a solution to a lot of the world’s problems. Like he points out, petroleum is used to prepare the ground for growing food, to grow food (fertilizer), to transport food to the store, and the customer uses petroleum to go buy it. Growing your own food is a very critical part of environmentalism. Wheaton gives a good overview of some basic permaculture concepts, and tantilizes the reader to learn more outside of the book. Permaculture is a symbiotic way to live with Nature, and it also includes surrounding yourself with perennial plants and trees with lots of diversity throughout.
This year we are planting a long list of perennials in hopes that I and my grandchildren can benefit from the bountiful harvests in the future. We will be planting hazelnuts, nitrogen-fixing trees (called Princess Trees), paw paws, persimmons, walnuts, buartnuts, oak trees, grape vines, and lots more herbs and perennial greens. I hope that Paul’s chapter on permaculture, berms, tree-planting, and lazy gardening will inspire readers to dive into growing their own food.
Paul and Shawn’s book has a lot of chapters and the reader will need to take time to go down a few rabbit-holes of juicy information before finishing the book! They have provided lots of links to Paul’s online forum www.permies.com as there are in-depth discussions about all the topics in the book. So, while reading you can join in discussions about related topics.
Overall, this book is simply a brilliant way of looking at the problems that our world faces in 2019. Although some may not want to try the more extreme ideas out, it can get readers thinking about ways they can dig deeper to help combat climate change and widespread pollution. It goes far beyond simply recycling, and places the responsibility on our everyday actions and choices.
Haha, I was watching the $$s go up to $4k and wondering what Paul's reaction was. Now I know! So glad you guys are getting support for this awesome book!
Crossing my fingers that MOTHER EARTH NEWS will publish my review of the book today...we'll see! I'll post it here once they publish it.
Rosemary – that is great! Thanks for sharing! If you want to share any info about how you cook with them I’m sure a lot of us would be very interested 😊
Sweet potatoes will be new to me. I have not grown them yet and I still need to get an area prepared for them. Perhaps next year.
Thanks for the reply, Daron! I have to say, you always have very nice, kind things to say to people who reply to your threads. And you clearly take the extra time to read everyone's thoughts in detail. So thanks for that :-)
I would love to share some recipes, once we get our roots producing! Thanks for the idea! Cheers
I love the apology, but I also love all of the varied responses. This is my favorite quote from Holmgren's letter:
After having played with the privilege of free tertiary education, most of us fell for the propaganda and sent our children off to accumulate debts and doubtful benefits in the corporatised businesses that universities became. We convinced our children they needed more specialised knowledge poured down their throats rather than using their best years to build the skills and resilience for the challenges our generation was bequeathing to them. For this we must be truly sorry. - David Holmgren
I am a millenial (on the older side) but I cannot identify with any of the typical "characteristics" of millienials, so I sympathize with you, Judith. But I did grow up when there was an enormous pressure to go to University and specialize in something that made money. I have many peers who unfortunately are still deeply in debt from that push to conform. Through a series of fortunate/unfortunate events in my own life, I never signed up for the high-debt University education and ended up at community college. So I lucked out, and am daily grateful for that. At the time, though, I remember feeling like such a failure that I wasn't being brilliantly educated by a top-tier University.
Anyway, my point is that although my generation inherited these problems, it is really what we MAKE of them that matters. We know the predicament that we are in, so what are we going to do now? I try to shy away from focusing too much on world events, politics, etc. It makes me too angry and frustrated. Instead, I like to focus on my own life, my friends around me, my family, and try my best to cultivate a beautiful life that involves being frugal and considerate for the earth, plants, and animals. I am NOT perfect, but it feels easy to handle all of the stuff in my life, instead of trying to solve EVERYTHING like world hunger, poverty, etc. If I can make a difference there then I've won the battle and hopefully it contributes to winning the war. Perhaps you hear this as "sticking my head in the sand", but I see it differently.
Oh and since others have mentioned sweet potatoes, I'm going to try them this year too (using organic store-bought tubers and sprouting them). Does anyone in Canada have good experiences with growing Sweet potatoes? What have been your failures, lesssons?
Don't worry, I don't have any illusions about making them perennial in Canada, haha! But I love the taste and would like to grow them annually as a high-calorie crop for my family.
1. Arrowhead—Sagittaria latifolia
2. Egyptian Walking Onion—Allium x proliferum
3. Skirret—Sium sisarum
4. Sunchokes—Helianthus tuberosus
5. American Groundnut—Apios americana
6. Hog Peanut
7. Chinese Artichoke—Stachys affinis
8. Common Camas—Camassia quamash
9. Yacon
10. Garlic
11. Chinese Yam/Cinnamon Yam
It's a big list, but I wanted to focus on high-calorie perennial tubers, so these made the cut (other than the garlic, which is more for staying healthy, not high-calorie). I wish I could grow some of those gorgeous Andean tubers like Oca and I'm still going to dip my toe in that by growing Yacon...but I'm not overly optimistic about Yacon since it's a more mild climate plant.
Jay Angler wrote:Mini tomatoes are the one type I can manage to get to ripen in my climate. (I'm short on both sun and heat.) I know people who grow a variety of colours (red, yellow, orange) and shape (round and grape) and have an instant special treat to put out for guests. I try to grow a mini tomato plant in a 1/2 barrel by the front door so people can snack while waiting for me to answer - some of them look sooo... guilty when I get there and they've clearly been munching. They don't realize that's exactly why I plant them there. They are also great for drying. I cut them in half and put the cut side up on a tray and being small they dry faster than a full-sized tomato would.
Jay, I love this idea! That is hysterical that they look guilty :-) I'm going to steal this and put a cherry tom right outside my front door too!
FYI I am offering this book for FREE as part of Paul's Kickstarter Early Bird Bonus! I too want to infect more brains with permaculture and gardening :-)
Oh Pearl, I can't believe this happened to such a sweet kind lady like yourself.
I know this thread is old and people have made lots of great suggestions. So I just wanted to extend my good wishes for your house-building project. I hope you can make your dream happen. And you NEED to sell those feather shirts online! Digital market on permies maybe? They're beautiful!!
I've been robbed before too, it is so scary and takes months/years to recover emotionally from it. One cheap idea that I like is a combination of motion-detection flood lights and a radio blasting talk programs 24/7 inside the building. It might make someone wary that someone is working inside the barn and they'll go somewhere else. It's a cheap idea that is easy to try, anyway. I used it in a rental house that was empty for almost a year and never had a break-in. I also left the lights on in that house even in the middle of the night. But I'm not sure if that is feasible in your barn (and also that's a fire hazard, so maybe not the best idea).
I have lots of respect for you as a wiser woman who is working so hard to make your dream come true.
I love your response, Nicole! Thank you for sharing your tips :-) I was hoping you would weigh in.
You're right, a good farm cat would solve the mouse issue. But I've had cats that weren't good mousers, so we didn't want to risk getting overrun with mice. But farm cats are a definite asset and can be hard workers! Oh, and my son had eczema as a baby which was made worse by cat dander, so we're hesistant to add cats if it brings up his eczema issues again.
I totally agree about waiting to get animals. We're tenatively planning to get rabbits this year, but we will definitely wait for any bigger animals. I feel like it's irresponsible to take on animals if I'm not ready to go with shelters, water system, and lots of food and bedding stocked up for them.
It's funny, I actually have a pair of pruners in my purse, haha! I love my pruners. I always have them on hand in case I find some cool wild edibles on my walks. But I love your idea for bringing them out to the garden with the kids. I'm gonna start doing that, along with your wheelbarrow-stroller idea!
Love the tip about tools that you can use while standing and not bending. It's true that once a baby sleeps in the carrier or sling, they will wake up with one little bend-over or wrong move.
- Being in total wilderness, no noises from neighbors or gas mowers running at all hours
- Wild animals boldly walking up to my home, looking as if they've never seen a human in their life!
- Sharing this experience with my kids and watching them enjoy the wilds of nature
Are you interested in homesteading with young kids? Not sure if you can do it safely and without wearing yourself to the ground? Here are my tips and real life experiences homesteading with my young kids and husband. In my video, I talk a lot about how I cope with the lack of sleep and the all-consuming attention that it requires to parent young children. They are adorable and fun, but also exhausting at times. It's been a learning curve for me and I think there are those folks out there that have a similar experience. Hopefully my tips will help you accomplish as much as possible while still having little kids running around (or sleeping in a sling!). I've also written an article in MOTHER EARTH NEWS detailing some of the Health and Safety issues (hint: mice!) you can run into with homesteading + kids. I would love to post the whole article, but the magazine asks that we don't publish articles in two different places. Please comment and enjoy!
Anyone older and wiser who has some advice for what it was like growing up on a farm? What worked, what didn't work?
In this article, I want to cover some of the additional key things that a family needs to watch out for with young children. My husband is a total expert in keeping safety at the forefront of our minds at all times, so I try to take a page from his book as often as I can.
We like to take things slowly as a family. That means focusing on the super important critical projects and leaving everything else to sort itself out in time. So, the first projects we tackled when we moved to our farm included: fixing up the bathroom and setting up a really basic, functional kitchen (without running water). We left out projects that were more about prettiness, like putting laminate on the floors instead of the old carpet, or replacing a door that was damaged leading to the balcony (we simply screwed plywood over the opening).
How does all this relate to having young kids on the farm? Simply that when you go fast, you are more likely get injured or injure someone around you and make mistakes that cost more time and money. With young kids in your family, you have to have patience and take it slow so that everyone is safe and only the essential things are handled.
I know there are quite a few Moms on Permies that are homesteading and raising young children, some of them all by themselves (picture me bowing down to you right now!). What are your thoughts/advice?
I had to get caught up with this thread, but wanted to offer my comments/praise:
Wow, you guys have accomplished a LOT and the book looks so interesting! I can't wait to read it. And give it away :-)
The video is neat, first of all. But I think it would really amp it up if there were intermingled clips of Paul doing talks or making faces at the camera, haha. Also any footage of Wheaton Labs would be cool too. The paper messages start to get a little old after about 3min, but it still gives the message well, and it's very clear and concise. I just wanted to see someone in real life, deomonstrating some of what y'all are talking about, while it's being narrated. Now, I know that making a pro video like that is really time consuming and hard to change up so leave the video the way it is if that keeps things simple. Just my 2 cents!
Also, you might want to think about doing a video of Shawn or Paul explaining the different levels and showing to the camera all of the goodies? Not sure if that's feasible, but it certainly would make it seem really tangible and AMAZING to the average person who is saying to themselves: "Wow, I get ALL of that if I just give this guy $x?", Maybe that would only work for the higher levels, not sure.
I also really like the #2 graphic with the hammock. I know it's not the most popular, but it reminds me of a lot of gardening book covers, permaculture books, like the hand-drawn graphics done inside those books like Jean-Martin's etc. Maybe add some color to different parts of the "hammock" picture, then it pops more. Sorry, not a big fan of the chosen graphic, the apple seems to overwhelm the pic.
I am planning on growing 4 trays that are standard nursery size: 11" x 22" and are only $2.49 each or if you buy 6 or more they are $2.24 each! The microgreen trays are sturdier than standard nursery trays and have optional holes in the bottom for drainage.
I've done microgreens before in pots and they are so easy to do. It's nice to hear that lots of people are trying this out, especially up in Canada where fresh produce comes from so far away in Winter!
I am sprouting seeds in jars (until my potting soil comes in at the local store- for my new microgreens "factory"), and I really love how fast bean and pea seeds sprout. They are second to none with speed and give you big sweet sprouts within 2-3 days depending on the temperature in your home.
I buy in massive bulk quantities from Mumms seeds and they ship both to Canada and US: https://sprouting.com/ You can buy 5kg, 25kg bags, etc. Super cheap and really beats the nutrition-less lettuce from the store shipped from Mexico and California!
If anyone wants an instructional video for sprouting in jars, check out my Youtube video here:
Summary of my sprouting (in jars) tips:
Don't use cheesecloth with jars = MOLD
Clean your jars with diluted apple cider vinegar every time you are done with a jar
Soak your seeds for between 4-8 hrs on the first "watering" (depending on seed type)
Smell your sprouts everytime you open the jar to water them your nose can tell if there is something funky growing
Also, I made a video of my favorite salad with sprouts:
How lucky you are to get it as a gift! I've had lots of compliments on how pretty it is. But the best part is that it works really well and I've never had any issues with it. Really easy to use.
Someone asked about grains and grinding your own flour. I've done this and still do it!
I don't experience my freshly milled flour turned into bread as "heavy whole wheat" bread, but it's hard to say since I haven't had a slice of pure white bread in many years. But the FLAVOR is out of this world. It is very complex, nutty, and sour (since I do sourdough with my flour)I would encourage anyone who is curious to try it out and don't be afraid of a heavy whole wheat bread. If you really hate it, you can always sift your flour to get most of the bran out of it, and maybe over time sift it less as you get used to the bran taste. But my bread is usually very moist, dark-colored but still smooth and delicious. It usually won't rise super high unless I ferment it for a miniumum of 24 hours, so if you're looking for that really high loaf, you might want to stick with 100% white flour from the store. Here's a picture of my breads:
Okay, I have to weigh in here as well since I wrote a book for beginner gardeners! But I'm not an expert (I hate that term and all of the associated ego-mania that goes along with it), just someone who has gardened for 8+ years and learned some things the hard way.
Here's my list of easy plants for beginners:
Cherry tomatoes - produce in spades and are so delicious to pop in!
Early Tomato varieties - they might be labeled “Early Girl”, or some such other name with Early in it. These will fruit sooner, just in case you get an early frost or plant too late.
Kale & Chard - can harvest in a month some baby greens
Fennel Arugula Lettuce (my favorite varieties are Pirat & Black Seeded Simpson, both heirlooms)
Mixed greens (sometimes called Mesclun Mix)
Dandelions (these are usually considered a weed but are super nutritious! Bulletproof plants)
Chicory, Sorrel, Radicchio, Frisee (all gourmet greens, but easy)
Nasturtium - this plant has gorgeous bright colored edible flowers and is a fast grower
Calendula (an edible flower, that you can also make salve from for cuts and wounds)
Parsley Chives (for a garlic-flavored salad dressing)
Strawberries (you can easily grow these in hanging planters or pots)
Dill Potatoes (very easy and grow well in deep containers)
Basil Runner Beans
This list is predicated on buying plants from a nursery...starting from seed is more for intermediate gardeners as there can be lots of loss and problems with leggy plants if growing indoors without lights. However, lettuce and other greens are really easy to grow from seed and you don't need to buy the plants. Same for chives and potatoes (using potato starts). It is also very rewarding for a beginner to have some plants from the nursery and they start producing almost immediately with very little assistance. In my first year of gardening I started from seed (with everything) and was disappointed when I didn't get as much reward and had a lot of loss.
One tip for beginner gardeners who have a slug infestation: start plants indoors and your slugs will be less likely to eat bigger, more established plants. I've had slugs eat every plant you can imagine when the seeds were put directly in the ground outside. But when I started those same plants inside or bought them from a nursery, the plants were probably too "tough" tasting for the slugs to eat. It seems like the plants need a bit of a head start before being put out into the garden. This tip is really for folks who have a VERY heavy slug infestation. Just wanted to share that since I went through a whole season being very frustrated about not being able to grow anything due to "slug predation", haha.
I'm re-reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable Miracle, which has some nice simple recipes in it + good local food discussions.
My newest favorite fiction book I just finished is The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Beautiful prose, gorgeous imagery, just a delicious book.
And if you read LONG books, I simply adore Circe by Madeline Miller, which I just finished (and also The Song of Achilles by the same author). Her characters will stay with me forever and I read an enormous amount of fiction!
Thanks for sharing your favorite books, I'm excited to try out The Stranger in the Woods!
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