Our family has been utilizing homeopathy for common ailments since we were introduced to them during my first pregnancy by our midwives. Our knowledge has been somewhat limited as my internet research has turned up misleading news and contradictory information. The medical model of care was heavily relied on with our second son due to respiratory problems as a newborn and my lack of education regarding how homeopathy can treat long-term ailments like asthma, among other things. There is even some words written on how homeopathics can tame tantrums in young children. Our first daughter, Jaden has been very healthy and we hadn’t had a reason to learn about how homeopathy works.

I won’t pretend to be an expert when it comes to homeopathy, actually I find that it can be hard to understand but I do know enough to want to use them. And there is plenty to be learned by the beginner so that common ailments can be treated at home simply by taking note of the symptoms and behavior of the person to be diagnosed. When home diagnosis can not be done or one is uncomfortable with diagnosing at home, a naturopath can be called on.

But you can get a homeopathic kit for your home. They come in handy and are very affordable.

And so our real trust in homeopathy sprouted when we called on a naturopath with our third child, Annie, when we couldn’t calm her or her cough. We had tried a few different homeopathic remedies. With one, Allium cepa, we did see some hopeful results but those were short-lived. I just didn’t know enough about homeopathy to feel like I could just give her the next best remedy that fit her symptoms because we didn’t want superficial relief…she needed attention. At this point I usually would have called the pediatrician as we had done so many times before with Nathanael. But now we lived in a different place where the community demanded a more holistic approach to health care. We made our first visit ever to a Naturopathic Physician in over four-and-a-half years of parenting.

We found Dr. Borg is Eugene, Oregon just down the way from our house. We got in quick for an acute visit and it was great. She really cared about what was going on with Annie. She wanted to know everything that she had been doing that might be related to her sickness.  It was a great to have someone genuinely listen; I had so many times before told a pediatrician all of the things that we, as parents, would make mental notes about regarding changes in our little babies that we knew weren’t normal only to be dismissed with a prescription for some ‘blanket’ antibiotic or other prescription.

So we got our recommendation from the Eugene, OR Naturopath. Surprisingly enough it was common Chamomilia. I would have never guessed myself that Chamomilia could have been the remedy. She recommended it in a strength that probably only a professional or someone very versed in homeopathy should recommend and it did the job. Annie was shortly back to her old self. She still had the cough and the Naturopath followed up by calling us and letting me know she wanted me to come back in for a no-cost visit just so she could listen to Annie’s lungs again. Now I know that some pediatricians can be this attentive but I also know that kind of genuine interest is hard to come by in the modern world of western medicine.

Currently I am on a mission to teach myself as much as I can about homeopathic remedies that I can use at home. To help me collect the information I need I have chosen a couple of books to reference: Encyclopedia of Homeopathy
and The Complete Homeopathy Handbook: Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Food Poisoning, Flu, and a Wide Range of Everyday Complaints
and of course I will have my trusty Naturopathic Physician. And in the meanwhile, here are some links to information about homeopathy and homeopathic remedies that you might find educational.

What is Homeopathy? (This page explains homeopathy in a clear, organized manner.

And of course there is Wikipedia’s Homeopathy 101 (can’t leave them out)

I have found that having a homeopathic kit is the best idea since one really needs a small aresenal of remedies at their fingertips. Boiron makes the HomeoFamily Kit. It’s the best deal I have found for a kit. It is sugar pellets that need to be crushed between two spoons when giving to an infant which is not a big deal. They are the ones I use.

Update 8.2.09

Nathanael has taken well to the last remedy that Dr. Borg of Eugene, Oregon prescribed. Nathanael has also been dairy free for the last 8 weeks also which was recommended by our naturopath because when remedies appear to work and then fail it can sometimes be caused by underlying immune responses to allergens. Now that Nathanael’s immune system has been freed from the allergen it has the energy to correct his constitutional health.  This is the first 8 week spanse of time that Nathanael hasn’t had a breathing problem.

Every spring or fall there are tons of people who break out a huge machine that processes the earth into tiny crumbles of dirt. They do this so they can add fertilizer, amend the soil and plant vegetables. The funny thing is that blending garden soil with a rototiller is doing the opposite of what each of us who use a rototiller are trying to achieve; loamy, fertile soil.

We nearly ruined our garden this year with the thought of using a rototiller. We looked upon the earth we had available for vegetable gardening and felt overwhelmed by the amount of weeds and the time it would take to clean the space by hand. Thankfully we used our good gardening instincts and started weeding by hand. As we dove into the project, each shovel overturned a handful of earthworms. I’m sure we lost a few worms to our hand-tilling with a shovel but had we opted for the rototiller, we would have had mass casualties.

At this point in gardening education, most people know that earthworms have a very beneficial purpose. They aerate the soil which is sort of like a natural tilling process, they break down organic matter and they leave behind fertile worm castings.

There is even more organic matter in your soil that you may not be aware of. Mychorrizae or beneficial fungi that live near and on the roots of plants. These symbiotic fungi allow the plant to increase nutrient uptake.

When a gardener plows the earth with a rototiller, these two very beneficial organisms; earthworms and mychorrizae, are destroyed…all in the name of adding organic matter. Is that irony or what?

Some tips for hand-tilling:

Get a good pair of gloves with rubber lining.
Have a good spade shovel on hand.
Give yourself the time you need. (Hand tilling will take longer but will save you money and give you richer soil)
Shake off the soil from the weeds you are pulling.
Get yourself one of the handy-dandy hand ‘rakes’ I have in this picture. It really helps separate the roots from the soil so you keep more soil in the garden.

Hand-tilling can be so rewarding when you are all done. It really gets you close to the earth you will be using to grow your food in. I think it’s also more effective in eradicating more weeds than rototilling with a machine.

Remember that sometimes organic gardening means not spending money on organic soil supplements but spending time doing things by hand in your garden. Also keep in mind that using chemical fertilizers and pesticides damages the delicate balance of garden soil also. Always use organic fertilizers that support healthy soil.

We are finally in a spot where we have a sunny backyard and vegetables will grow. Fortunately we have an area at our new house that is sort of a raised bed. It isn’t the prettiest thing considering it is built with cinder blocks but hey, I won’t be complaining come harvest of some fresh vegetables. And since we are making an effort to live more sustainably, we consider growing our own food to eat a great opportunity to practice sustainable living.

We spent 2 solid days weeding this garden bed which is about 7 ft. x 20 ft. Originally we were going to rototill it. Since we don’t own a rototiller we offered to trade some heirloom vegetable starts for use of someone elses rototiller. Once we got in the garden though we realized how important it would be for the health of the soil to till by hand and pull weeds. So we set on a weeding weekend extravaganza. Let me tell you, we had a lot of weeds. All sorts of dandelions, cousins of dandelions and lots of crabby grass. If you have even the slightest area of soil that isn’t rock hard you can hand till that section and you will save yourself a lot of money by not having to recondition your soil.

The kids were all around and we had to stop to help them, feed them and play with them several times during the day so I guess someone else could have weeded the garden even faster but after we were done weeding we made our pathways. Since our garden is 7 ft. x 20 ft. I made the row along the fence about 18 inches wide and it goes the entire length of the fence. We obviously won’t have a problem reaching for weeds with the planting row only 18 inches wide. We will use this space for small plants like lettuce, strawberries and cucumbers that will be trellised on the fence.

The walkway is about another 12-18 inches. Then there are 4 more garden beds that make up the rest of the area. Each one is about 4×4 ft. This means we will be able to reach 2 ft. into the garden area from each side so that weeding and planting will be easy.

Once I plotted the garden and had the walkways in now I could walk around in the garden without compacting my nice, loose, fertile soil. Well, at least I hope it’s fertile. Just in case it’s not, I added soil sweetener to it. Soil sweetener is very appealing because it actually smells really sweet. It’s derived from volcanic ash and remineralizes your garden soil. Next I added some really nice compost to the top of the soil. I spread it out, gently raking it into the surface layer of the garden. Then I got the soil all nice and wet so I could activate the soil sweetener since it comes in a granular form. (This photo is pre-compost and soil sweetener)

We are using what our garden has to offer by putting some dirt in the cinder blocks and adding some seeds of flowers that will bring beneficial insects to our garden. We will also be stringing some twine onto the fence to grow the vining cucumbers up. This will save garden space and give them the afternoon shade they prefer. This year we will also be trellising our tomatoes in the effort to save space.

The first items that have been planted in the garden are strawberries. We put in about 15 plants, courtesy of our nice neighbors who work for the University of Oregon Landscape Department. Lettuce makes a good border around strawberries so I will be companion planting lettuce seeds tomorrow.

I’ll share more pictures as things get interesting.

I’m part of a discussion board with a group of women that I became close with during my third pregnancy. For the most part, all of us are interested in things that have to do with natural family living. This discussion board is how I learned about this cheap, inexpensive, organic facial cleansing method called Oil Cleanse Method (OCM).

I guess the cleansing method isn’t necessarily organic unless you buy organic materials but at the very least it is as pure and natural as you can get. And it won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

When I tell people about this Oil Cleanse Method their reaction is one of surprise. Honestly, it was slightly out of my comfort zone when I heard about it. Not because I didn’t believe it would work and live up to all the rave reviews my internet buddies were giving it, but because I like to buy face care products and I really love the spendy ones. Recently though I have made a commitment to spend less and save more so I had to give the Oil Cleanse Method a try. If you don’t have any of the products on hand then you may need to spend about $25 to obtain them but I can’t even tell you how long that product will last you.

Here is what I use:

Recycled container (I have a small trial size container with a ‘pop’ lid that I use)
Organic Jojoba Oil
Castor Oil
Essential Oil of Lavender

Optional ingredients: Grapeseed Oil or Olive Oil

I mix 20% Castor Oil to 80% Organic Jojoba Oil and then I add about 5-8 drops of lavender oil to approximately 3 oz. of mix. Grapeseed oil is known to reduce the signs of aging so if you want to mix some of that in you can. But, I highly recommend using Jojoba oil as the larger base because the oil of Jojoba is what is closest to our skin’s natural occurring sebum.

Now, here’s how to cleanse with this oil. Have a clean washcloth on hand. Splash your face with warm water and pat dry. Place a small amount of oil (maybe a quarter’s size) in the palm of your hand and apply to your face rubbing in a circular motion. Do this until it feels like your skin has absorbed some of the oils. Wet the clean washcloth with hot water, ring it out to be just damp and lay over your face while pressing on the cloth firmly. Once the cloth isn’t hot anymore use it to gently remove any excess oil.

That’s it. You are done.

After cleansing with this inexpensive organic cleansing method your face will feel so soft. And in the morning you most likely won’t feel overly oily which will prevent you from having to cleanse again, stripping away your skin’s precious oils. I recommend using just this Oil Cleanse Method for at least one week. You may notice some blemishes or pimples but just wait and see how fast they clear up. These are caused by your skin pushing out hardened sebum from overproduction because it now has a healthy supply of oils.

This Oil Cleanse Method is so easy I’ve actually done it in bed while nursing my baby. My husband simply brought me a hot washcloth. I prefer to do it at night because that is when I tend to have a little bit more time to pamper myself. Give this inexpensive organic facial cleanser a try and tell us what you think.

We’re a big baby wearing family and our new favorite baby carrier is the ERGO.

Having three children, one of them a baby… you have to have baby carrier. For a long time we  used simple slings or wraps. I remember carrying Jaden all around San Francisco for 4 days in a Maya Wrap when she was 27 months old.  After long, Carrie started to dislike using slings because it hurt her neck and shoulder too bad and wraps can sometimes feel overwhelming to wrap.  Once we got to Eugene, Carrie introduced me to the ERGO Baby Carrier.

The ERGO Baby Carrier is like a Baby Bjorn except the ERGO is much more versatile because it has multiple carrying positions. You can wear your baby in front of you, in a cradle position for a new born (additional Infant Insert sold separately), on your back, and on the hip. I think it is so much more comfortable to wear than a sling… especially for long periods of time.  I think what I like most is they are so versatile. They are somewhat outdoorsy looking but we also keep a hand made Mei Tai on hand for our special occasions.

We  bought our Organic Cotton ERGO Baby Carrier in Cranberry from Bambini, a local baby store here in Eugene, OR.