APRIL 2012 - HARVEST TALLY

Luckily, the birds kept producing.

Whow, what a month! Our little girl has been taking all of our attention. Needless to say, that not much got done. As a result, many many MANY seedlings (!) died due to not being water at all or not enough.

Roberto said, he is working on the watering system to avoid this for any other seedlings that I am sowing these days, if ever.

Luckily, last years rotten tomatoes were hoed into the soil and produced enormous offspring. Hallelujah for self-seeding!

So, what DID we harvest in April?

7 lbs of chard
37 duck eggs
40 chicken eggs


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Of course you realise, this means war!

We have been having all sorts of vermine visitors. Some long eared and somewhat more tolerated due to incredible cuteness, while others more light evasive and omnivorous and extensively disliked due to incredible distructiveness. And I should mention, we equally dislike the bald tails and the fluffy tails, just as Carrie in SATC famously said, "Squirrels are just rats with cuter outfits."

Watch the Carrie and the Squirrel clip here.

Typically, we believe in sharing. Yes, even the labour of our hard gardening work with those dang critters. But, sharing means, that we too, get some of the food. This is the part of the sharing concept that they don't seem to quite fathom.

When our donut peaches - not quite ripe I should mention - were showing obvious vermine traces, my man decided

Of course you realise, THIS MEANS WAR!

more Bugs war declaration.
And off he went to put out traps....


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

The Moby Wrap - Tutorial

I am into Attachment or Natural Parenting, so baby wearing is a must.

Ms. D sound asleep in her new wrap

Today, I am going to make a moby wrap. These are these cotton wraps that always make me think of India. Ahhh, India! Now, I am thinking curries and get hungry.

OK, back to the wrap: Target sells them for $39.99  Moby Wrap at Target

Amazon sells it for $44.95.   Moby Wrap at Amazon.com

And elsewhere they charge you up to $60 for it, while it is plain simple cotton jersey in these dimensions: 197 x 24 x 0.8 inches.

I decided to make my own in a better material: that is hemp because it blocks the sun out better than anything else, which is crucial, considering you cannot put sunscreen on little ones before the age of 6 months. More on that in a later post about my all natural sunscreen.

Anywho, Moby Wrap:

So, you need 197 x 24 inches of a cotton jersey fabric.
I ordered mine here   Hemp with free shipping for orders over $35. I ordered it at $5.49 per yard and ordered simply an extra yard to get free shipping; gonna make a few onesies out of it. Halleluja.

You need about 5.5 yards.

Now, how to do it?
Nothing easier than that: You cut it in half lengthwise and TADAA!!! you are done.

Yes, you get two wraps out of it for about $35 and you can gift the second one. So, my wrap cost me really less than $18 with better material.

And EVEN better: when you outgrow the baby-phase, you still have 5.5 yards of fabric that you can create something out of.

Since it is a knit it won't fray. If you are concerned about it, though, you can serge around or use fray-check (I would not since it is for baby) but it is not necessary.

Now, how to wrap that Moby Wrap? Check out the link :-) or this one.. It takes some practise but it is really easy. Enjoy your baby!

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Special Home Delivery

The due date for our highly anticipated special delivery was getting closer. Friends and family members were sending wishes for a smooth delivery the week prior and then on Sunday morning, March 11, 2012, the baby herself, Demetra, started sending signals that she was indeed arriving that very day. 


But let's start at the beginning. Roberto and I had been talking about another baby for years and then two Christmasses ago, we decided that we would look into it more seriously. Well, first attempt, I got pregnant.


Since we had just moved to the Conejo Valley from West LA and as a result I didn't feel comfortable driving over an hour each way to Cedars Sinai for my prenatal visits with my former OB, let alone for delivery, we looked into other options.


Interviewing many new moms in our new neighborhood, we relatively quickly decided that we were not willing to see any of the OB's, even though some mothers highly recommended them because we did not like the high intervention rate. For my first daughter, I had an almost zero intervention birth at the high intervention Cedar Sinai. I had an IV with saline and the OB raptured the membranes. That was it. Everything else was just good old nature.


For Miss D, I envisioned a zero intervention, all natural birth. No needles in my body, no rushing the process. Knowing how traumatic birth with medical intervention can be for both, mother and child, we started talking about homebirth with a midwife. 


Jeanne Anderson at Whole Hearts Midwifery was recommended to us and after my first meeting with her, I decided I didn't even want to interview anyone else. Her warm and caring energy immediately made me feel comfortable, when discussing our 'ideal' birth as well as other prenatal topics. 


During all my visits, Jeanne spent a lot of time with me, explaining everything and making sure that I was well. It felt more like spending time with a friend as opposed to a care provider and especially with giving birth, I want a person, who I can trust.


We had a few scares along the way, such as a potential placenta previa, a glucose test that came out bad, the legally required OB visit ended with him telling me that I could not have a home birth, and last but not least baby facing the wrong way. 


Needless to say, that we as expecting parents - although feeling confident in nature - had a moment or two, when we worried, whether indeed we could have the envisioned delivery sans c-section. 


During all of this, Jeanne remained calm and ensured us that it was going to be fine, that we could have a homebirth and would not have to go to a hospital. 


Then, on our special day came. 


As I said, the baby was not in the ideal position and during labour had to turn. And she did thanks to the manouvres that Jeanne directed me to do. When I got weak towards the end, I was allowed to eat and drink. Then, baby's shoulder got stuck behind her back and Jeanne again had to use midwife magic to get it out. 


Roberto was amazing, compressing my pelvis during the entire painful back labour. Since I labored and delivered standing up, my man also was in charge of catching baby.  


And there she was: Demetra Rafaela. Roberto passed her to me immediately and I sat down with her. It is one of the most magical moments in life, when you see that little person that you seem to know already for the first time. She cried, nursed and we waited until her cord stopped pulsing before Roberto cut her umbilical cord. 


It was amazing: There was no rushing around by nurses or doctors; there was also no taking baby to the nursery to weigh, measure and wash her. Everything was peaceful and happy. Demetra remained with me the entire time. The vernix remained on her skin to protect and moisten her skin.


Vernix - It's amazing stuff


My baby has APGAR scores of 9 and 10, she is developing beautifully (only ten days after birth, she already gained 1 lbs!) and I have no tears, was able to give birth naturally without any intervention while in the comfort of our own home.


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Plant Terrarium - Tutorial

I have been seeing them everywhere but could not get myself to buy them because they are pretty and expensive.

Anywho, I decided to try making one for my friend Allin and myself:

What I used:

• 1/2 gallon Ball canning jar or a glass bowl that you deem pretty
• a hand full of pretty pebbles
• some moss
• a couple hands full of potting soil
• plants 
• optional: decoration (pebbles, statues of fairies or gnomes, etc..)

Some advise on choosing plants:
As always in gardening, one should group plants together that like the same climate, i.e. don't mix fern with cacti. Also, when planting these, bare in mind that succulents prefer dry climates while a terrarium tends to hold moisture, i.e. shoot for tropical plants.

Here's how I did it:



So, start with a clean glass container.

I used a canning jar. I love their homegrown look.

The pretty cognac glass on top is for my friend Allin, who is napping on my couch; a little thank you for her helping me with the two girlies while my man is traveling. 

There are multiple ways to create a drainage barrier but I preferred the pebble-moss combo for aesthetic reasons.

Then, fill pebbles in; about an inch high.

Next, spread out the moss and layer it on top of the pebbles.

Now, add planting soil.

Then plant and water the little guys. Using a watering can with a long nose is a good idea.

I only wanted to create a small centerpiece and so stayed with one plant; I used a polka dot plant which are supposed to work really great for this kind of planting. 

Finally, decorate (which I didn't). DONE!


Keep  caring for your new plant(s) with trimming and watering.


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Making Gifts - The Resolution

One thing that I wanted to do for this year's Christmas, is giving more handmade gifts.

However, I was thinking that I cannot start doing so inDecember, so I will be sharing some of my gift ideas and the how-to's over the next months.

Here are some gift ideas:

• Fingerless mittens 
• Kid's clothes
• Tic Tac Toe game for kids
• Memory game for kids
• Busy book for kids
• Shirts with reverse applique 
• Poncho Wrap
• Purse

Stay tuned....

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

March 2012 - Harvest Tally

It is spring and nature truely has returned and with it all animals are in love. On most days, our girlies now get visited by a ferrel mallard duck boy, who swims in our pond and eats our food. We assume he is feeding his broody girl. It is said that waterfowl and in particular ducks breed for life. Isn't that soo cute?!

And all sorts of other feathered friends have decided that our garden is a fun place to hang out in and we love watching them. 

While I believe they are coming because we created this habitat for them (where debris is allowed to compost with lots of straw to sneak for nest building, not to mention all that free food), Roberto believes that they come because the goddess of nature has arrived. 

Yes, a few weeks ago, our little girlie, Demetra, was born at our home, scoring a 10 on the APGAR with no interventions and no tears for mom. Thanks to Jeanne and Nerissa with Whole Hearts Midwifery, who were wonderful during the whole process! Needless to say, that all eyes are on her these day and not much gets done. BTW: Demetra is an ancient Greek name of the goddess of agriculture, crops and motherly love. While the name is not much known in the US, it is not an uncommon name in Europe.

As for the garden: Slow beginning of the year but it is sprouting everywhere and small little seedlings have been transplanted already. Our peach trees and the blueberry bushes already are full with fruit. Ahh, cannot wait...!

Anywho, here is the harvest tally for March 2012:

1 lbs of carrots

5 lbs of chard

3 lbs of spinach

A total 9 lbs of produce and 59 duck and 61 chicken eggs. 

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis