It's Easy Being Green

*NOTE – I did not receive any products or services for this blog post*

No question about it, my excitement was far more noticeable as Homestead Hottie opened up a gift box mailed to her. Packed inside, nearly a half-dozen bottles of Martha Stewart’s clean products, everything from glass cleaner, toilet bowl scrub, laundry detergent and dish detergent.

Martha claims her product line if “effective, responsible and safe” with most being 99% plant and mineral based cleaning products. All ingredients in the cleaning products are said to be biodegradable with no artificial ingredients. Even the bottles are fully recyclable. These are all great features and just the type of products we’re always on the lookout to use here at the Half-Acre Homestead.

Using this batch of green cleaning products left me thinking Martha should stick to other things, mainly baking that 12 hour cake or hot gluing the most fantabulous wedding decorations you’ve ever seen this side of the Mississippi. If fact, I found her green cleaning products less than effective at their labeled task.

I like the pump spout on this bottle of laundry detergent but that was about the only thing I liked.

Martha Stewart’s clean Laundry Detergent smelled pleasant enough and had a thick, detergent like cream to it. We used the whole bottle of detergent and as long as your clothes weren’t soiled, they came out smelling and looking clean. Light to moderately soiled clothes often came out with stains and dirt still in place. Heavily soiled clothes didn’t stand a chance of coming clean with Martha’s detergent. Any level of soiling required the clothes be washed with our homemade natural laundry detergent.

Steer clear of Martha's Dish Detergent if you're looking for clean dishes.

Much of the same is to be said for the Martha Stewart clean Dishwasher Detergent. This detergent is fragrance free but I noticed right off the bat that it is extremely runny. While most liquid dish detergents are gels, Martha’s is watery and not very viscous at all. We used most of this bottle and found each and every wash with the detergent to leave our dishes covered in a scummy film. Dried or baked on food debris was never removed by the Martha Stewart clean Dishwasher Detergent and most truly dirty dishes had to be washed by hand following a run through the dishwasher. The results were so bad I quit using the detergent and it has since taken me several washes and hard hand-scrubbing to remove the film that Martha Stewart’s detergent left coating my dishes.

Martha's All-Purpose Cleaner has been effective in quickly cleaning lightly soiled areas of the house.

I have used the other cleaning products off and on, mainly just for convenience factors so I don’t have to sprint to another area of the Half-Acre Homestead when I need to clean. For the most part I’ve found the Toilet Bowl cleaner and the All-Purpose cleaner to be pleasant smelling and effective at cleaning. The Carpet Stain Remover had a “spotty” track record on our carpets, cleaning half of the stains with a bleaching effect noticeable while the other half of the stains were left untouched.

As for now, we will continue buying green cleaning supplies from the likes of Seventh Generation and Dr. Bronner’s. The rest of the cleaners we will make on our own. It was wonderful to receive a box full of green cleaners as a gift but I would recommend not buying them for lack of effectiveness.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Picking up where I left off on my last post:

Pamela checked in about every hour to see how things were going and to give support about what was going on at that time.  Around 6:15 my wife said she was feeling like she should start pushing.

With that announcement, Pamela began to assemble her birth kit in the living room and kitchen of the cabin and called two other midwives to witness and help out with the birthing process.  I helped T labor in the shower on about 5 separate occasions throughout the night.  The hot water helped relax her muscles and a change of position kept her limber and active.  She seemed to be handling the contractions flawlessly and gave no indication of pain.  The hours seemed to drag on and even though I knew how long birth can last, it didn’t seem like we were ever going to get to the end.

Around 10:15pm, the contractions had picked up in length and intensity and T was beginning to feel like she couldn’t hold back from pushing at that point.  Two other midwives had gathered to join Pamela in our cabin.  Stacey, Pamela’s daughter in-law, was a new midwife and was enjoying getting her feet wet with us.  Jenn, a doula and midwife in training was also present and was learning the ropes from one of the best, most seasoned teachers.  The three worked in partnership with each other, never stepping on another’s toes.  They constantly lent encouragement and suggestions to my wife while constantly monitoring the position, activity and heartbeat of our baby.

Around 11pm, the midwives suggested that I sit behind T and let her lean back on my chest while I gave her a bit of a break by pulling her knees up while she pushed.  This gave her an opportunity to relax her muscles a bit and conserve some energy for later.  Just before midnight we took a break from laboring in the bed and I helped her labor a bit in the shower.  That was when things noticeably started moving along much quicker.  Just around that time, our hot and sticky summer night turned into a cool refreshing one as a thunderstorm rolled into the area.

The lightning, rumbles of thunder and rain pattering the canopy of forest around us was undeniably the perfect background for our natural birth.  At 12:15am, the push was really on.  My wife was pushing every two to three minutes and the midwives led her through several different birthing positions during this time.  She tried a birthing stool, squatting while hanging her arms from a doorknob, bent over the end of the bed and finally crouched on all fours on the floor, grabbing the foot of a bed.  This was the position that seemed to work the most amazingly!

Around 12:45am, T got hungry.  She had a light snack of yogurt, a handful of protein-rich cashews and soy nuts and a glass of apple juice.  This nourishment gave her the little added boost she needed to complete pushing our daughter down the birth canal.  She experienced about three insanely intense contractions and made a lot of headway pushing the baby out.  In fact, it only took three minutes from the moment her head crowned until her head was completely out.  That was a record time according to the midwives!

Seeing my daughter’s head appear from my wife’s vagina was the most amazing and awe-inspiring thing ever.  I didn’t think it would be worth seeing and would probably do more to horrify me than anything else but once again, I was so wrong.  Seeing that little smooshed face, for the very first time after 9 long months of waiting and anticipation was just the moment I hoped it would be and yes, it was love at first sight.  One more push and she was completely out and on my wife’s chest at 1:16am!  We were parents!

It was about 45 minutes before the placenta appeared and everyone could be cleaned up, measured and weighed.  Because our little girl crowned so quickly, my wife experienced a fourth-degree tear which the midwives insisted be repaired at the local hospital.  They didn’t want her to be scarred or damaged.  At 4am, very tired and exhausted, we packed up Mom, baby and Pamela and headed off to the labor and delivery ward at the local hospital.  Three hours later, my wife was stitched back together and we headed back to the cabin for some much needed rest just about 24 hours after the whole process began.

The care we received from Pamela, Stacey and Jenn was incredible.  There’s no doubt we made the right choice about birthing at The Farm and would encourage anyone interested in natural childbirth to look to The Farm as a possibility.  You’ll be glad you did!

Popularity: 6% [?]

After several weeks I’m trying to climb back in the saddle when it comes to the blog bandwagon.  I’ve been out of commission for the last several weeks because my wife and I were getting ready to welcome our first child into the world.  She arrived on June 23rd at The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown, Tennessee.

My wife really wanted a natural child birth for her first birthing experience.  When we figured out we were expecting she did a lot of reserach on local hospital birthing options and that’s when we realized that she wasn’t going to get the natural experience she wanted in a hospital.  Intervention rates in our area are high and both hospitals we considered wouldn’t allow us to avoid fetal monitoring, alternative birthing positions, etc.  That’s when we started looked for a midwife in southwestern Indiana.

We didn’t have much luck there either.  We found a midwife in the area but she has a history of lawsuits and told us that 90% of her first time Moms end up being transported to the hospital.  She didn’t have any emergency backup options and since Midwifery is unfortunatley illegal in the state of Indiana, we weren’t real comfortable with local options.  That’s when my wife discovered The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee.

The Farm started off in the early 70’s as a spiritual community leading the way in communal living.  One of the most successful components of The Farm community was their Midwifery Center, led by world-reknowned midwife Ina May Gaskin.  Gaskin has written several books on the subject of Midwifery and natural childbirth and her writing helped to direct my wife to go in that direction as opposed to a medicated, un-natural child birth in a local hospital with high intervention rates.

The beauty of The Farm is that just about everyone who lives there also maintains a cabin that is available for rent on their property.  A few of these cabins are primarily used as birthing cabins, where women can give birth in a quiet and relaxing home-like experience.  To be quite honest, in the beginning I still wasn’t convinced that a birth experience at The Farm was the way to.  I was urging my wife to just go “the easy way” by having a birth at the local hospital, using insurance so we didn’t have to lay out a bunch of money to have a birth.  I’m sorry that’s the attitude I carried.  We scheduled our first visit to The Farm to see if this was what we really wanted to do.

Driving onto The Farm the first time was like stepping into a time capsule.  This experiment in communal living certainly felt and looked like a hippie paradise.  Stepping into the Midwifery Center was like walking into a clinic located in some small, third world country at the far reaches of our globe.  As soon as our midwife greeted us at the front door though, it was all over for me.

The first thing I noticed about our midwife, Pamela Hunt, was her calm and warm demeanor.  As soon as we were in her presence, I felt every worry about a natural birth experience melt away and knew this was the place where we were going to introduce our little one into the world.  In addition to our monthly, insurance covered visits to a local OB/GYN in Indiana, we made a visit to see Pamela at The Farm during at least every trimester and kept in touch with her via email and telephone after every prenatal checkup back home.

Since we live more than 200 miles from Summertown, Tennessee, we knew we weren’t going to be able to hop in the car when my wife’s water broke and head to The Farm.  A rushed, frantic three and a half hour car ride while my wife is in labor just wasn’t going to be option.  That’s where the rental cabins at The Farm came into play.  Just about everyone who lives there also has a cabin available for rental.  Several of the cabins are designated as birthing cabins, giving women and their families a place to relax and enjoy a natural homebirth experience.  We opted to rent Pamela’s cabin which was right next door to her house.  It doesn’t get much more comforting than that!

We headed to The Farm two weeks before my wife’s due date and got her all setup in the cabin.  I stayed weekends and drove back to Evansville during the week to go to work, since I wasn’t going to be allowed to take very much time off.  I had just returned home very late after the second weekend at The Farm when I awoke to the home phone ringing at 7:30 in the morning.  I knew right away what the call was about.  My wife had awoken to her water breaking and was getting ready to sit and have breakfast with her Mom who was staying at the cabin in my absence.  I immediately got our zoo of animals resituated at the house and made my excited trek back down to Tennessee to help welcome my first child into the world.  In the meantime she took a morning stroll to The Farm Store down the road from the cabin and visited with Pamela about the day ahead.

When I arrived at 2pm my wife was obviously excited to see me.  We hung out for a bit and then she laid down to take a nap and rest up for the birth.  It was hot and extremely humid that afternoon but the stickiness seemed to have a certain energy about it.   Early in the evening, she woke up and was beginning to get some strong contractions about every 2 to 3 minutes.  Knowing that the birth process was starting was both daunting and exciting.

To read the rest of our birth story, check in tomorrow!

Popularity: 7% [?]

If you’re like me, your ears perk up anytime you hear that a company is offering you to try their product for free.  That’s why I’ve been impressed with Kashi, every few months rolling out a new product that people can try for free.  I think it’s a great marketing ploy, especially in our current economic troubles.  Just a few weeks ago, Kashi was advertising a coupon to try one of their new frozen dinners for free so I decided to give it a shot.

I haven’t been impressed with the other two Kashi products I’ve tried with their free coupon system.  First it was one of their breakfast/energy bars which I thought was terrible and have never bought another one since.  Second it was their line of granola-like breakfast cereals.  Once again, I thougth I was eating a bowl of nuts, twigs and leaves from the forest floor and couldn’t stand the taste or texture.  So, I was a little hesitant as I popped my Kashi frozen dinner and in the microwave and watched it cook.

I really wanted to try the Lemongrass Chicken dinner but my local grocery store didn’t carry it.  So I ended up going with the all-natural Southwest Style Chicken.  Pulling the dinner out of the microwave left a pleasant southwestern smell which got my mouth watering and excited to try the meal.

The grilled chicken breast was seasoned with lime, cumin and a hint of chipotle and diced into small pieces.  The flavorings were definitely present but not even throughout the chicken.  The chicken was on a bed of fire roasted onions, corn, red and green peppers and Kashi’s 7 whole grains and sesame pilaf.  The mixed in vegetables were very tasty and the whole grain pilaf was actually very good.  I didn sprinkle some salt and pepper over the top of the dish and that made it even better and allowed the flavors to really pop.

The frozen dinner is a bit small and didn’t fill up my “growing boy’s stomach” but was so tasty I scraped the dish it was in to get every last little bit.  Kashi says they use only high quality, natural ingredients with no preservatives or artificial anythings, ever.  The Southwest Style Chicken contained 16 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.  When I have the money, I will probably give Kashi’s other frozen dinners a try.  I’m always looking for something to spice up the humdrum of my leftovers I usually take to work but get tired of running to the corner fast food joint to eat something totally horrible for me.

If you’ve tried the other dinners in Kashi’s new frozen line, let us know what your thought were!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Here’s another timely set of home remedies I pulled from the Reader’s Digest book Homemade.  It’s also cold and flu season and if you’re like me, you hate pouring money into over the counter medicinal products that may or may not work and cost a ton of money.  Try some of these quick fixes to relieve your symptoms.  If you like these recipes then you might want to consider picking up the book for your library.  It’s chock-full of recipes from meals to drinks to desserts to home remedies for whatever may be ailing you.

Homemade Chest Rub – It really is quick and easy to make this rub.  Rub the mixture onto your chest, cover with a piece of flannel and then top off with a hot pad.

Ingredients:  – 30 drops massage oil or carrier oil like almond, jojoba or avocado oil

- 5 to 10 drops eucalyptus or wintergreen essential oil

1)  In a small bowl mix the oil and the essential oil together until combined.  Rub the mixture into your chest.  Cover with the flannel and heating pad and get comfy as the essence opens up your chest.

Cough Suppressant Tea – If you know how to grow any herbs in  your home garden, sage should be one of your first choices.  Not only is it great on chicken and other dishes, it also makes a wonderful cough suppressing tea.

Ingredients:  – 4 fresh sage leaves or 1tsp. dried leaves from your spice cupboard

- boiling water

1)  In a standard sized cup, steep the sage leaves in boiled water for at least 20 minutes.  If you leave it sit longer more of the goodness will release from the leaves.  Strain and drink the tea hot or cold.

Throat Spray – I bet you didn’t know you had a natural throat antiseptic and pain killer sitting in your spice cabinet.  Well, you do and it’s also pretty simple to make.  You’ll wonder why you didn’t know about this before you always bought that awful bottle of throat spray at the drug store.

Ingredients:   – 8 oz. spray bottle

- 1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper

- Enough water to fill the bottle

1)  In a clean spray bottle, combine the cayenne pepper and the water.  Shake the mixture well and spray into the back of your throat.  It will numb your throat and you can also use it as a gargle.  Just make sure not to splash it into your eyes because you migth have another problem to deal with if you do.

Popularity: 8% [?]

A lot of people want to cover up or get rid of odors in their home whether it’s from cooking, pets, smoking or the occasional dead mouse you haven’t been able to locate yet.  But it seems the easiest thing to reach for to improve the smell of our homes are room sprays over loaded with fake fragrances and chemicals.  It’s super easy to freshen the smell of your home while keeping it more natural by using essential oils.

Essential oils are just oil extracted from a particular plant or botanical through distillation.  By buying an essential oil warmer (usually powered by a candle or power outlet) you can scent a room with natural fragrances.  They won’t only make your house smell good they’ll also help your mood too!  Here’s some suggestions:

Would you like to lift your mood and spirits?   Try Almond Extract, Lavender, Orange Blossom, Vanilla or any other scent you like.  If you’d like to reduce anxiety, try Roman Chamomile, Lavender or Orange Blossom.  If you want to reduce agitation, try Lavender or Lemon Balm.  If you want to feel revived, use Rosemary.  It’s easy to find essential oils at local stores and Googling the term “essential oil” will show you a ton of online retailers.  One simple way we freshen up our home is to simmer a small pot of water on the stove with orange slices and a pinch of mulling spices.  The orange spice smell infuses your entire house and I think smells pretty darn good.  While mulling spices can be expensive, one tin has lasted me more than five years for the occasional air freshening.

Do you have a natural tip or trick to keeping your home smelling fresh without the use of chemicals or overpowering room sprays?  Let us know about it and share your tip too.

Popularity: 3% [?]