The Miraculous, Solar Powered, Laundry Drying Apparatus!

When I first married my husband, we lived in an apartment. When we moved overseas, still, apartment living. While I have always used a clothes horse for my clothing as an adult, we didn't have a clothes line until we bought this house and installed one. I grew up however, with all of our clothes being dried on a line, and remember the smell of freshly dried sheets. You can see our umbrella line to the left there surrounded by our container potatoes. I am able to dry all of our clothing for a family of six on this. Cost me $30 for the stand and $5 for some concrete mix to sink it into.

As I've gotten older, our country has moved from things like line drying, all in the name of convenience. I mean, you can even get your liquor through a drive thru. Really? So things like line drying are becoming obsolete cause apparently ain't nobody got time for dat. Really though let me tell you what's so awesome about drying your clothing without a dryer. I do realize that not everyone has their own property, but you can even dry on a balcony or patio if you buy a $20 clothing horse or two. We use them in the winter to dry things that I don't want to put in the dryer.

The bennies:

1) Your clothes will last longer. seriously. This isn't just a ploy. They really will. Every time I dry something, I have to clean out the lint trap. Know why? That damned dryer is slowly breaking down my clothes. When your clothing doesn't break down like that, producing lint, it not only lasts longer (which saves you money) but will look better for longer too.

2) Your clothes don't shrink. Cause don't tell me you haven't smalled up your clothes in the dryer. We've all done it. You have that great shirt. Perfect color, perfect fit, you put it in the dryer and suddenly the tunic that hit you perfectly at your hips is now making you look like you're trying to bring the 80's cropped shirts back. And somehow that mother got four inches wider to boot. It defies science for real.

3) No wrinkles. I love when I make my bed and there's no wrinkles. And I'm telling you I am NOT about to iron my damned sheets. I'm just not that OCD. But I love it when I crawl into bed, the sheets are nice and crisp, they have that great sun dried smell and there are NO wrinkles. I sleep so much better! The rest of your clothes won't' need ironing either. And I know what you're thinking. "Yeah, but my towels are all crunchy, and scratchy and who wants to be lacerated by their laundry after a shower?" Well throw them in the dryer with a wet washcloth for 10 minutes and they'll be fine. I promise. :) Still cheaper than using your dryer all the time.

4) Your socks won't stick to the back of your pants making you look like a fool. Ok, so maybe I've not had that happen in real life, at least, I've caught the sock before putting on the pants, but I have had my skirts stick with static to my pantyhose. Thankfully these days, I'm lucky if I put on shoes and socks and not just my hippy sandals, but for real, for those of you that still wear real people clothing and not stay at home mom clothing, this will work much better than smelly ass hairspray. Cause only the cheap stuff works on static cling and it stinks.

5). Free bleach. Dood, your whites will never be whiter. I can bleach our cloth nappies in just one day in the sun. Socks? White as can be. Some things like the washcloths my hubby uses after spending 12 hours climbing around and in those big ass locomotives he fixes at work, yeah, those might take a few times in the sun, but you can even get those white again (or at least a dull gray).

6). Its free. And we all love free right? I mean, if there's a free sample at the store, it doesn't matter if it's something you won't use, people still take them. This is a gift that just keeps on giving. According to science, most of us use about 10% of the electric we use just on our clothes dryer.

7) You're loving on Mother Nature more, and really we need more love on this planet don't we? So cuddle right up to Mother Nature and line dry your clothing.

Raising Healthy Children

Raising Healthy Children

The number one mistake we're making as parents is to let the food industry tell us we're doing a Job Well Done when we feed our kids crap. They tell us it's Whole Grain! or that something is "baked not fried" or my favorite "all natural". Lead is all natural too, but you don't want to eat it do you? Do not let the food industry tell you that you're doing a great job with feeding your children. They are in it to make money! This problem goes so far beyond the "obesity epidemic" we're hearing so much about.

When I turned 26, I had my first child. From that day on, things changed for me. I spent my early 20's like most college students do. Cheap food, fast food, and fattening and unhealthy foods. My concern was simple sustenance and how cheaply I could achieve that. Having children made me realize that what you put into your body is so much more important than simply not starving. For the first time, I was actually caring about what I ate, and what my children ate. So much so, that I lost over 100lbs. But even then, I didn't realize I still wasn't eating healthy enough.

I think one mistake too many parents are making, is that they think there is a difference in "adult food" vs. "children's food". As adults our palates have taken on a more cultured taste, and we expect that children are only going to want chicken nuggets, french fries, soda, and sugary snacks like cakes and cookies. When feeding them a snack we don't reach for apples, but instead reach for something boxed, promising "goodness" within it's cardboard flaps. Features like "whole grain", "all natural" and "good for you!" abound down the center aisles of the grocery store.

I come across daily, so many blogs of "real moms" making claims of "eating healthy on a budget" and "quick and healthy" meals, and yet they contain high sugar, high sodium and high crap. So here's some rules to live by with regards to raising healthy children.

1. Don't reward with food. Likewise don't punish with food. No telling your child to "eat everything and then you'll get a dessert". Also, do not take away your child's food or dessert as punishment. In our house, I serve dinner. Then I serve dessert. The children can eat what they like, or not eat what they don't like. Some nights, my 4yo might only get the dessert. Other nights, he doesn't like the dessert and eats double portions of my famous vegetarian lasagna. I know that both my dinners and the desserts are going to be the best possible food I can make for them, and therefore don't worry about if they finish their plates. Over time, they have shifted to having a more "adult" palate than their peers, so I know this method is working.


2. Feeding each of your children different depending on their ages. Aside from infants and toddlers that need their foods chopped or pureed, there is absolutely no reason your 2 yo and your 8 yo cannot have the same baby carrots for a snack. Do not fall prey to the infant food aisle that's chock full of gmo crap that you wouldn't want to eat yourself, let alone feed to your children. No one needs to eat "snack puffs". Just....no. Walk away from the special foods aisle and back to the produce section. Even cubed cheese or a hardboiled egg (my 2yo and my 4yo love these) is a good snack. Start literally thinking outside the box when you feed your children.

3. Thinking that all sugary goodies are "bad for you". I fix a dessert about two times a week. It might be a cake, or brownies, or strawberry shortcake. The difference is that I know where our food comes from, and we use dairy that is organic/no hormones/no antibiotics and we use non-gmo foods for things like wheat flour etc. Instead of buying a box of cookies at the store which contain ingredients you cannot even pronounce, let alone want to eat, make your own, and source your ingredients! They are more satisfying and it's a great way to get your children involved in their foods.



4. Raise a garden. It doesn't even have to be fancy. Just a small kitchen garden on your backyard patio would be enough to get the children involved in their foods. Children are fascinated by growing food. My 2 yo actually picks off shell peas and eats them by opening the pod with his teeth and then taking out the peas inside. I know what you're thinking. "My children won't eat that.....they just....won't." I promise you, they will. Maybe not right at first. If they're used to boxed foods, they're going to balk, because they don't have the knowledge you and I have with regards to health. They also have little self control. But slowly, and surely, just cut out the crap and add in the goodies, they will eat, they will not starve. I promise.

5. Don't let them drink their food. Most parents, myself included at one time, thought juice was a perfectly healthy solution to soda and other bad for you drinks. However, we're finding out, that juices can raise your blood sugar the same way a Coke can, and they just aren't as good for you as water, or eating the actual fruit. Try to avoid juices altogether, and if your child needs some flavoring, add in some natural lemon, lime or other fruit juices.



Just by  making some changes, a little at a time, we can begin feeding our children what their bodies actually crave, instead of what their minds crave.

Grow a Revolution

Revolution comes in many forms. Revolution quite simply put means "a sudden and complete marked changed in something". Many times, revolution comes from a simple idea, taking root, developing and blossoming. In my quest for more self-sustaining knowledge (how ironic, I know), I come across many many "prepper" sites. Sites dedicated to guns, God and some growing of food. It's not really about taking what you have, and making something from it, more about Extreme Couponing 10 years worth of can goods and toilet paper, and shooting anyone that asks you for any.

Prepping shouldn't be about bunkers, stockpiles of ammo, and canned good. Prepping should be about preparing for the future.What's better? To have things? Or to know how to make those things? If I have knowledge of gardening, then when the zombies arrive, not only will I be able to survive on my stores from my garden that we preserve, but I will be able to grow more, and then preserve more. Not only will I be able to take care of my family, I'll know the best way to collect rainwater and make it drinkable. I will know that my sewing machine and some extra fabric lying around can make blankets for when it gets really cold.

There is more to survival than killing. This is what the revolution is about. But who are we revolting against you ask? Well, though it's not a revolution in the sense we're used to, as we're a bloody violent species, it's a revolution nonetheless. We are saying to Big Ag, and Big Corporations "NO!" We will not take it sitting down. We will not stand for it, while Big Ag turns our great land into a monoculture that's spreading like wildfire. We grow more soybeans, corn and wheat than anything else in the country, and most of it is GMO bullshit. We have two main types of cows we breed, one for food, one for dairy. Chicken farms are a disgrace to the name of farming. (If you dont know what a chicken or beef/dairy farm look like for real, go watch some free documentaries on Netflix, I'll give links below) We give them hormones, antibiotics and stick them in horrid conditions not fit for any living thing, and then consume those "products", all while being told its safe.

This is the kicker. That we listen when they speak. Why? Because it stands to reason, that they're the big whigs right? They know more than we do, right? Well, usually I would agree. However, in this case, they've destroyed the way we eat, the way we grow food and the way we slaughter food. We no longer eat real food, we're told to eat "food products" that might have 40% or less of actual food in the ingredients list. Why you ask? All in the name of a flipping dollar. To make more money.

So what do we do about it? Well that's where the revolution comes in. If no one is buying the products, then the businesses will fail. And who will be selling foods? Your local farmers. You neighbors. Perhaps even you. You would be amazed what you could do if you turned your lawn into a garden. I don't mean a measly little 10x10 plot with some tomatoes. I mean a diverse ecosystem filled with fruits, veggies, legumes, and all grown with your own two hands. Just think, if everyone that could, grew food, how many people wouldn't go hungry? How many more would learn the long lost art of farming?

So what do you do to keep the revolution going? 

• Plant your land. If you live in the burbs like most of us, plant every square inch of space. We live on a corner lot and cannot obstruct traffic, so we haven't planted there yet, but every year we expand our garden, and I will keep expanding until we have no lawn left. Use cold frame and greenhouses, or even mini-greenhouses to extend the growing season well into the winter, and get a head start on summer. People further south could even grow tomatoes  year round in a cheap greenhouse. Compost your kitchen scraps, and if you have farm animals, their bedding makes for good compost too. Use it in your gardens so nothing has to lay fallow. 
• For the urbanites, look to your windows and balconies to help you grow food. Hanging baskets, container gardening on a balcony/porch or even window boxes are all great options and with the right soil you can grow just about anything. 
• For those in the country with some land, by all means, set your acres to wheat if you like :) The country folk are the ones I encourage to plant everything they can and then take what they have to the market for sale. 
• For what you cannot grow yourself (like I do not have the room yet to grow winter wheat like I would like to), buy locally if you can find it. The more you ask for it locally, the more people will plant and the more you can buy. It's a nice cycle that begins with you. 
• Save your seeds. This part is important. By growing heirloom varieties  you will be able to not only save your seeds for following years, but we will keep varieties going that would otherwise die off. 
• Garden organically  This helps on many levels. Number one, the food is better for you. Number two you don't have to worry about ruining the land for future use. Number three, it's completely sustainable. If you till your garden by hand, then use your own homemade compost to amend the soil, plant companion crops along with pollinator attracting plants and practice crop rotation, then you will be on your way, well on your way to food sustainability. 
• Raise some chickens. Or rabbits. Or a goat. Or hell, all three. Rabbits provide meat and manure  and if you get angora, you can even spin your own yarn from the fur. Goats will provide milk and manure. and chickens can provide meat, eggs, manure. Having these things in your farm can help complete the ecosystem thats needed for sustainability. If you have a good amount of land, I would suggest getting a rooster too, and selling some of your chicks to local suburbanites that would love the meat and egg portion of having chickens. 
• Know your laws. Here's the thing. When you outright, knowingly break the laws regarding say, zoning in your town, you're not going to get anyway, and you're likely to make it worse for everyone else. Your town won't allow chickens in backyards? WORK to change it. Don't just get chickens anyway. Go to town meetings, get petitions signed, get it on the voting ballot for town meetings. Do everything you can, and when laws say you can't, work to change those laws. 
• Last but not least, learn  how to dehydrate, preserve and can your foods. I really like freezing my foods, but I know that should there be a reason to not have the freezer space (either lack of actual freezer space, or lack of electricity to run that freezer, or even lack of money to run the electricity to run the freezer), then canning and dehydrating are going to be primary. If you can dehydrate, root cellar and can your foods, they can last all year through the winter. Don't forget, you dont have to can just your own foods. Every September I drive 60 miles to a great apple orchard and buy dozens of bags each weighing at least 8lbs, of apples. I then make apple butter, apple sauce and canned apples. You ca really widen your eating patterns if you can preserve not only food you grow, but food you find locally.
  
  

Every time I look around, I see more and more documentaries about Big Ag, or Big Corporations, or Big Pharm and what they're doing to our  health. I refuse to let me and my family fall prey to these companies that are only out to make a few bucks, even if it kills species of plants and animals and makes us humans sick and dying as well. We will not tolerate this. We will stand up to this. We will say NO!  We will learn the old ways, and teach them to others. We will plants seeds of both foods and knowledge that will fuel the revolution of change.


All of the following films are available on Netflix instant streaming: 

Hungry for Change

Food Matters

Food Fight

Food Inc

River of Waste

Frankensteer

Growing your own Strawberries

One of my favorite Beatles songs is Strawberry Fields. It brings to mind vast acres of strawberries, bursting with juicy ripe red fruits just waiting to be picked and eaten. Then there's the strawberry shortcakes, the strawberry jams and the strawberries we can and freeze for later use as well. When I was younger, my mother would take us to a pick your own place in town and we'd spend a couple of hours there picking our strawberries, looking for the biggest and reddest ones. We'd leave a short time later with red stained hands and mouths, and quarts and quarts of strawberries. I'm not sure how big that field was, but as a child, it seemed to stretch on forever, and the strawberries seemed never ending.

I would absolutely love to have acres of strawberry plants. I would love, in the middle of town to have a pick -your-own where kids and their parents could visit and leave with yummy ripe organic strawberries that I've grown, but alas, I don't have that option, at least not until Hubby lets me dig up the entire side yard. For now,I have to settle for the 50 strawberry plants that I purchased from a nursery.

There are two types of strawberries. Everbearing (like Fort Laramies and Ozark Beauties) and then Junebearers (like Chandler and Honeoye). The difference between the two is simple. The everbearing start producing fruit on 10 hours of light a day and the Junebearers produce fruit only when there is 14+ hours of sunlight a day. With everbearing, you'll get a slow steady crop of fruit, and with Junebearers you'll get a large harvest all at once. I chose the everbearing for two reasons. Number one, I have four kids. Finding time to harvest and then process all those strawberries within a couple of weeks during the summer is going to be tough. With everbearing I can pick as they come ripe, and what we don't eat can be jammed and canned a couple of jars at a time. Secondly, my children, save the oldest, absolutely love strawberries and the idea of having strawberries in their own yard all summer long has them more excited than I've seen in a  long time.

Strawberries will come as dormant roots from the nursery, if you order online, or you can pick up some plants at your local nursery that you'll need to plant quite soon unless you have a green house or a growlight set up in your house or another place that doesn't get too cold. I ordered dormant plants because our weather has been insane lately (its May 1, and it's snowing and 32º. REALLY). And because I could get a bundle of 25 a bit cheaper than in my local nursery.

If you do order online, you'll want to make sure to keep the roots in a place that doesn't get too warm, but that doesn't get too cold either. A garage ( that doesn't get below freezing) or a basement are two great places.

When you bring the roots out to plant, you'll need to prepare the soil accordingly. Having a slightly acidic  pH is essential (about 6.0 - 6.2) and make sure the site is free of weed and that veggies and fruits like eggplant tomatoes and peppers and the like or raspberries have grown before. These veggies/fruits could have contaminated the soil with verticillium wilt. The Hill System is the most common system used for everbearing plants and is what we will be using in our garden. You'll start with a hill of soil about 8 inches high off the ground and about 24 inches across. We have our hills to be about 20-25 feet long in our garden. You can set two rows of plants per hill and have each plant about 12 inches from other plants. Rows are around 4 ft apart usually but we practice intense gardening therefore, we will have a 2 ft walkway between each row. You'll also need to make sure you pay attention to your weather pattern, as you don't want freezing weather with your roots, but you want your plants well established in the garden before it gets too hot.

Using the picture above as a guide, you can simply place your roots in the ground making sure to create a small hill of soil in the hole you dig for the roots to spread out on. Fill the hole with dirt ensuring proper root placement and then press firmly on the soil and water thoroughly.

Now, strawberry plants will produce runners just like blackberries and the like. You can train the runners where you like or let them have free reign, but no more than 5 plants per square foot is essential for the healthiest plants. With everbearing plants, you should remove all runners and blossoms until July 1 to ensure healthy plants.

The great thing about strawberries? You plant once and enjoy them year after year. However, this means when winter comes, you'll need to ensure proper care of the plants so they don't die. In colder climates, you'll need to wait until the plants go dormant, which is usually around December when the temps drop into the teens or twenties and then mulch the plants with 2-3 inches of organic material like straw (not hay!) or pine needles. When spring comes, you simply need to make sure you cover the plants if a frost or freeze is expected. That second spring you should have great yields, which I hope you will enjoy!