Backyard Bounty

A few years ago, I had blogged (My Black Thumb) about my complete inability to sustain growth of any plant in my custody.

Our current house has some nice planter beds that the previous owners cultivated, and there were some chives, artichokes, and some other green-leaf plant that was actually growing (and continued to grow) after we moved in.

However, three years in, the area had pretty much been overtaken by mint (which I've been told is pretty much an invasive weed). 

Kelvin's mom (when she visits) has tried to plant some green onion bulbs and a few other things.  This spring, my friend Kellie asked if she could come over and use the space to plant some seeds, and she did, putting into the ground some peas, bok choy, radishes, and one other thing I can't remember right now.  She has also been diligently watering the plants twice weekly, letting herself in the back gate when we're at work.

What do you know-- we have thriving snap peas and rooted radishes that seem ready to pick! I insisted that Kellie reap the success of her borrowed garden patch, but she encouraged us to keep the veggies (which my kids actually will eat).

I have heard that root vegetables and greens do grow well in our environment, and I would hope that I would be encouraged enough by the above results to continue cultivating our little patch of soil. However, I don't have high hopes that I'd be able to keep it up.  I think I'll leave the gardening to the real gardeners.

Into Oils

While definitely always an "earthy" type person, I have become even more interested in some "natural" products since living here in Humboldt. In the last couple of years, I have been introduced to using Essential, and other oils, for health, beauty, and to enhance mood and life :)

If you are not familiar with them, here is the low-down: Essential Oils are concentrated, pure liquids distilled from aromatic plants that can be used to treat ailments like anxiety, nausea, insomnia, and more.   They can be a helpful adjunct or natural remedy to traditional medicines. They are usually diluted in a carrier oil such as almond, coconut, jojoba, etc. to be applied to the skin, can be diffused in your room for aromathearpy (my diffuser, which I hope to use in labor as candles are, for obvious reasons, banned on Labor and Delivery in the hospital, is on its way!), but can also, when high quality, be ingested.

 

 Zaq diffuser

There are many companies that manufacture essential oils (NOW, Edens Garden, Aura Cacia, Mountain Rose Herbs, doTERRA, and Young Living are just a few, in approximate order of ascending expense). Some people swear by one brand, but I have a hard time rationalizing spending $30-40 on a 10-ml bottle and so have chosen to sample some different brands, and haven't really noticed a huge difference in their quality although I'm still quite a newbie.

I have acquired some oils already, including the versatile and popular trio of lemon, lavender, and peppermint, as well as Tea Tree oil.
Lavender is great for relaxation/insomnia, as well as for direct application to cuts and scrapes.
Lemon is good for freshening air, and as an additive to cleaners.
Peppermint can be used for cooling fevers, clearing congestion, soothing headaches and sore muscles, energizing the mind, as an appetite suppressant, calming nausea, deterring spiders and mice, and apparently turning breech babies :).
Tea tree oil has a variety of antimicrobial activity, including against MRSA bacteria as well as fungi.
I have a sleep blend that I spray onto my pillow at night.

While I'm no Martha Stewart, nor do I intend to create a cosmetics lab in my house, I've been playing with some homemade concoctions including making deoderizing discs (for future diaper pails!) with baking soda, water, and lemon essential oil after a recipe found here.  Towards the end of my second trimester, I was starting to detest the smell of cocoa butter and so, to avert stretch marks, instead made a body bar including coconut oil (solid at room temperature, but liquid when heated) and lemon oil to rub on my belly [I will report that there are no stretch marks noted to date].

Speaking of coconut oil, here are some other great uses for coconut oil, particularly in the cosmetic and baby department (but you can see 101 uses from Wellness Mama here).

• Eye makeup remover
• Cloth diaper cream (just rub!) or baby lotion
• To avoid stretch marks/ as a  lotion (homemade lotion bars/deoderant/toothpaste), SPF4 sunscreen
• To get rid of cradle cap on baby- just massage in to head, leave on for a few minutes and gently rinse with a warm wash cloth
• anti-frizz for hair, natural conditioner (rub into dry hair, leave for hrs under cap)
• Mix with sugar for a smoothing body scrub (http://wellnessmama.com/3628/sugar-scrub-recipe/)
• Topically to kill yeast or yeast infections, or foot fungus, or thrush on nipple/mouth!
• Nipple cream to soothe sore nipples
• As a delicious tropical massage oil
• Directly on the perineum to help heal after birth
• Use as a cooking oil, coffee creamer, replace butter!
• Nursing moms can take 3-4 tablespoons a day (and Vitamin D) to increase milk supply and nutrients
  
  

A woman in my office swears by "pulling" with coconut oil, which involves swishing it in the mouth for 20 min or so to kill bacteria and whiten teeth [I have not tried this].

I plan to try to make some homemade baby wash and baby wipe solution including some essential oils.

I am hoping to acquire some chamomile for baby soothing, and also some Clary Sage, which can be used to induce or enhance labor when the body is ready (I am sooo hoping to deliver this baby in 2014!) as well as to uplift mood. 

What do you think about Essential Oils?

Pumpkin Patch

With a free Saturday, Kelvin and I, trying to get into the fall spirit, checked out Warren Farms' Pumpkin Patch this past weekend.

They had a corn maze, although not nearly as big as the one (World's Largest Corn Maze) in Dixon, CA which I still rave about.

We ambled around the pumpkin fields but didn't come away with any pumpkins this year (we've had bad pumpkin-smashing experiences and nasty pumpkin curry in our house in recent years).

I liked the (little) white ones. 

I wonder if our baby will weigh more than this pumpkin :)

I also enjoy driving by this display of upside-down legs on my way to the hospital.

Happy fall!!

Compost Happens

I have been a bit stressed out this week. Part of it is my own fault with filling my "day off" (Tuesday) with: an early morning tubal ligation, my own doctor's appt (to which I was a bit late in checking in [embarrassing] due to being in the OR), a mom-and-baby visit including a circumcision, a provider meeting, helping with another circumcision, agreeing to see a walk-in patient since I was there in clinic, catching up on EMR, and lots of doubling back to the hospital and grocery store because I kept forgetting things (yes, I had to dig through the OR laundry to find my ID badge. Luckily everything is within a 10-minute drive).

On Wednesday, I agreed to come in to the hospital to assist with an early morning c-section... which made me late for work and caused me to be behind for the rest of the morning, especially with all the charting. When I just caught up and could breathe again, an asthmatic walked into clinic over the noon hour who could NOT breathe, requiring a bunch of albuterol nebs and a transfer to the ER... And then it was to OB clinic for the afternoon.

Today, I saw 19 patients (lots of them new) in 7 "clinic" hours which was a new daily record for me. However, it left me feeling really worn thin and frazzled. It is really hard to do a good job with a patient (especially with multiple medical issues and some of whom love to talk, talk, talk...) in a 15 minute appointment. And then, after the patients are seen, there are the phone calls to return, labs to review, box coverage for providers out of the office, and lots of incoming paperwork and records to scrutinize to abstract to EMR. I'm not sure I can handle many more days like this one. I came home frustrated and exhausted. Bad days like these happen, but I hope they do not become more frequent.

The good news, however, is that I have a new toy!!
I have always been guilty of being a bit of a tree-hugger. I think I wrote one of my college essays about my "scrap paper drawer" from elementary school and abhorring waste of all kinds. I hate plastic grocery bags and have Trader Joe's reusable bags with me in my car at all times. I feel bad using coffee shops' disposable cups and carry a thermos with me a lot of the time. I think bottled water creates lots of unnecessary waste and should be banned. I drive a Prius. I wish I could bike to work (and wish K would, too!). I wish we had solar heating in our house. I reuse cups (but not dishes-- LOVE the dishwasher :)).

Now having a small yard and space, I had been doing a lot of compost research. I couldn't really warm up to the idea of composting with red wiggler worms...


... or building something out of chicken wire in the back...

... so here is my new toy:

(a 52-gallon, 7 cubic-foot compost tumbler)

I've already had to work on "training" Kelvin to not reflexively throw everything in the trash. We are both fruit lovers and eat many veggies, so I have a cookie jar (thrift store steal) on the kitchen counter to collect our compostable items... and then I transfer them outside and turn, turn, turn.
I was really excited to learn that there are tons of things (besides the obvious organic kitchen waste) that you can put in there.... including coffee grounds/filters, teabags, eggshells, hair, toenail clippings, dryer lint, shredded cardboard, paper towels, and more... Awesome!

I am not quite sure what I plan to do with my finished compost when it happens; however, I just LOVE that I can already see a reduction in our household waste (probably cutting it by 2/3). New to and not that confident in composting, I was told that even without much maintenance, compost happens! Here's to my newest hobby :)