This past weekend we added to the backyard craziness by making a worm farm. We figured with the composting and the chickens and our recent interest in backyard aquaponics that a worm farm was the next logical addition. If you look online there are lots of cool worm bins you can buy. But, they can cost serious money. And we’re all about being frugal in our backyard endeavors.

So, if you’re looking to make a backyard worm farm for composting or gardening or feeding chickens or bait, here’s how it’s done.

1. Get the worm bin ready. We used an old kid’s wading pool that we had lying around the backyard collecting mosquitos. No, seriously. It was gross.

2. Fill the worm bin with layers of organic materials. We did a layer of chicken manure, a layer of soil, a layer of pine shavings, a layer of wet newspaper, another layer of chicken manure, and more soil to top it off. After layering it all we wet it down.

3. Find a local place for red wigglers. We found a few places on Craigslist and even tried a local bait shop, but in the end the place we found the best prices on worms was at Farmer D Organics. We picked up 1000 worms (1 lb.) for $25.

4. Bring those fat juicy red wigglers home and introduce them to their new home.

Easy, right? Since we had everything laying around in the backyard the only cost on this was the cost of the worms. Every few days we’re adding everything from egg shells to veggie scraps and coffee grounds and so far the worms seem super fat and happy. They may not be quite so happy when they become chicken food, but in the meantime they’ll get to live it up on delicious kitchen scraps!

This weekend we picked up 12 lbs of blueberries in support of a local American Heritage Girls troop fundraiser. I just can’t say no to kids in uniforms who plead with me to buy them things. I’m a sucker.

But, since blueberries are one of those fruits you can use for everything I felt like I was buying something useful and wholesome.

Still, 12 lbs? There are only so many blueberry pancakes you can make. And since I don’t have a clue how to make jelly or jam I decided to freeze them. In the past, freezing berries hasn’t gone so well. I had a strawberry experience that resulted in a giant iceberg of strawberry. Not good.

Then I read a how-to on freezing berries and I just thought I’d share. Just in case I’m not the only person in the world who has experienced a big clumpy mass of frozen fruit as a result of freezing endeavors.

So, here you go. Get a pen. This could get complicated.

1. Wash berries.

2. Drain berries.

3. Spread berries on towel lined cookie sheet.

4. Put in freezer.

5. Wait.

6. When frozen remove from freezer and put berries nicely in bag or freezer jar!

Can you believe how easy that is? Now, does anyone have any advice for what to do with the 23 cucumbers we harvested from the garden this weekend?

With our raw milk and homemade granola bars, I know we seem like hippies to our friends. Of course, those things are probably cancelled out by the occasional trip to Chick-fil-A or the 2 cases of  Girl Scout cookies sitting in my pantry. But still. We’re trying to make better choices and one of our New Year’s resolutions was to eat “real” food. Because after watching Food, Inc. we discovered that we really weren’t eating much in the way of actual nutritious real food. Even the “healthy” things we were buying were full of…crap.

So, we started reading labels and buying organic. We found a source for organic local grass-fed beef (though we’ve cut red meat out of our weekly diet and only eat it on the weekends now) and we started avoiding everything with high-fructose corn syrup in it. We bought Food Rules and started following as many of them as we could. And for both health and financial reasons we stopped eating out. Almost completely. Which is pretty huge for us since we’re often guilty of just picking up something cheap and easy during the week.

And a funny thing happened. Despite the fact that we’re not cooking flavorless low-fat food we felt healthier. Then the other day I stepped on the scale (for my monthly moment of torture) and I’d lost 10 lbs. Without even trying. I am totally attributing it to the fact that I’ve stopped filling my pantry with garbage and I’m so excited about making this change for me, for my husband, and for my kids.

My reason for not doing this sooner was always the cost. Because real food is expensive. Amazingly, though, our grocery bill has stayed pretty much the same. The only difference is that we’re spending our money on things that are good for us and cutting out all of the extra crappy snacks that we shouldn’t have been eating in the first place. We do have to go to more stores to get everything we need. Whole Foods is our primary source, but when we find something for less at another store we make the trip to pick it up there. And this summer we’ll have a big thriving garden in the backyard to save us on our produce costs. Now if only I can convince Thomas to let us get a goat…

In the interest of sharing some real food sources I thought I’d share my favorite sites for all things whole food related:

- If you’re interested in starting a backyard garden to feed your family The Dinner Garden is a non-profit organization that will provide free seeds to those looking to get started.

- Raw Milk Facts provides answers to all you’re questions about raw milk as well as a directory of where to buy it.

- Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife started her real food journey a while ago and has some great information compiled on her site about prioritizing what changes to make and eating “real” on a budget. There is a wealth of practical information there!

- My friend Georgia Natural Mom has been a big inspiration in this whole journey, too. She’s a great resource for recipes and tips for eating real and making your own healthy food. Plus, she’s a super cool person in real life and you should totally check her out!

So those are my favorite sites that are helping us as we are on a quest for real food. Do you have any to share?

Apparently I’m turning into a crazy chicken lady. Which I’m thinking is worse than being a crazy cat lady. And I’m pretty sure my mom is wondering where she went wrong with me because here I am dedicating a whole Top Ten Tuesday to my backyard chickens. I may have officially lost my mind…

1. “Free” eggs! Okay, so I do have to pay for the feed and care of the chickens so they aren’t totally free, but by selling the extra eggs we offset the cost and get to eat delicious, cage free, free range eggs for cheap. And when they hens are at their best we get 8-10 eggs a day which is all kinds of awesome!

2. Chicken litter. We’re big into composting and chicken litter is one of the best things you can put into your compost bins. It’s awesome for your plants and breaks down pretty quickly and easily.

3. The entertainment value. Whether I’m shushing the rooster or unleashing a hen on a class of preschoolers, I have the craziest adventures thanks to these chickens.

4. Baby chicks! I was reluctantly talked into a rooster last year and it turned out to be a really fun addition to our backyard flock. Thanks to the very busy McLovin we had a dozen baby chicks last July and we’re planning to have more chicks again this spring.

5. They’re easy. Chickens really are about the easiest pet we have ever had. Feed them once a day, check for eggs, and clean their boxes once a week and you’re done. They’re less work than a fish tank and much more productive!

6. Teaching opportunities. The girls learn so much from our chicken experiences. They have a better understanding of where their food comes from, they learn responsibility from taking care of them, they learned about caring for baby chicks, and it provides lots of opportunities for hands-on science lessons.

7. The community. We joined the Atlanta Chicken Meet-up group right after we bought our first chicks and we’ve learned so much from the people in this community. We’ve had the chance to meet some really interesting folks and you might be surprised to find how diverse a group it is. In fact, in a recent tour of backyard chicken coops they had twice as many coops in the city of Atlanta as they had in the suburbs which I think says a lot about the new chicken movement.

8. They’re like a living garbage disposal. Here’s the thing you might not know about chickens. They’re a bit like pigs in that they’ll eat anything. In fact, we feed our chickens all of our leftovers. They love grapes and go crazy for spaghetti. And the better they eat the better (and more frequent) their eggs are!

9. They’re not disruptive. Unless you have a rooster, chickens are pretty much one of the quietest backyard pets you can have. Then make a bit of noise when they lay an egg but certainly not anything as loud as your average dog. And even our rooster is really not much louder than a medium sized dog and all of our neighbors have agreed that he’s a much nicer sound than the 100lb. great dane that used to live in our backyard!

10. Not just free eggs, but better eggs. Here’s the other thing about backyard chickens. Because they are cleaner than commercial chicken farms their eggs are less likely to contain salmonella. Which means they are safer. And since our chickens eat all of our left over fruits, veggies, & leafy greens their eggs are super nutritious and delicious!

For more Top Ten Tuesday about things other than my obsession with poultry, head over to Oh Amanda’s!

If you’re interested in learning more about Georgia’s “Right to Grow” bill check out the information here. And to support the rights of Georgians to grow their own food, contact your local representative.

One of our chickens is quite the trooper. She lays a double yolk egg nearly every single day. Look at that thing. HUGE. That’s gotta hurt…

I’ve tackled my vaccine debate. I’ve admitted to feeding my 5 month-old quinoa baby food that apparently led to a vomit attack. I’ve confessed to going to a respectable social function looking like a no-shoe-wearing hippie because I forgot my shoes at home. (Wait. I haven’t? Remind me to blog that one later.)

And now? This is where I tell you that we’re drinking raw milk. **GASP!!**

Oh yes we are. And not only are we drinking raw milk, we’re drinking illegal raw milk. **DOUBLE GASP!!**

Well, actually, I guess the milk itself isn’t illegal. It’s just how we’re using it. Technically this milk is sold for pets. Because I love my cats enough to spend $7 a gallon on their milk. Yeah right.

I’ve been hearing about the health benefits of raw milk and have been contemplating making the switch for a while now. Because I wasn’t sure if the $7/gallon price tag was worth it. Until Thomas and I saw Food, Inc. the other night. And I read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules. And now? I’m out to find the least processed/most farm fresh food I can find. And raw milk was part of that change.

Now, I don’t drink milk. Ever. I thank blame my mother for that. When I was a kid I hated milk. So my mom wrote a note saying I was terribly allergic and was therefore the only elementary school kid allowed to drink the sweet tea from the teacher’s lounge at lunch. Which, shockingly, did not guarantee my popularity among the other kids. Go figure.

But I make my kids drink milk whenever I get the chance because I think it’s probably better than Diet Coke. And though I’m a southern girl born & raised I stop short of putting Coca-Cola in their baby bottles.

All that is just to say that you’re not going to get a taste review from me on the raw milk. But my husband and kids insist it is so much better than the regular organic milk we’ve been buying. It is, according to them, sweeter, creamier, thicker, and all around more delicious than any other milk they’ve tasted. And apparently raw milk is actually so nutritious you could live on it and it alone for your whole life. Which is pretty stinking cool.

As for the illegal stuff, well, I guess buying “pet” milk and feeding it to my kids is no more illegal than if I went and bought Fancy Feast to serve to my family for dinner. And, really, who hasn’t been there before, right?

Here’s how it happened. Traveler, my dear sweet goofy face making boy, will not let me put him down during the day. So, I wear him in a sling. And carry him on my hip. But my little stowaway makes cleaning the house a bit complicated.

My biggest concern was the fumes. Nearly every product I used caused these awful caustic fumes and I refused to use them with Trav (or the girls) around. And I wanted to buy Shaklee, but I am too stinking impatient to order something and wait to get it. So after a Twitter poll the other day my Twitter/Blog friend Mama Hall recommended Vinegar. Which immediately intrigued me. So I did some research and it turns out (though I may be the only person who didn’t already know this) that Vinegar is a great cleaning product. And cheap.

The next thing I knew I was in the kitchen concocting cleaning solutions to use around the house. And after having used them for the last couple weeks I must say, they are AWESOME! And totally cute in their little mason jars and pretty spray bottles. Very charming. Maybe even a bit Little House on the Prairie.

So, I thought I’d share my recipes (I came up with these spending two days searching on the internet so I don’t really have a source to credit. But, in the interest of full disclosure, just know they aren’t my invention.) and you can use them or Google others or recommend some to me that you’ve used.

All Purpose Cleaner:

Spray Bottle
1 part Vinegar
1 part Water

This All-Purpose Cleaner is awesome. I used it to clean my counters and refrigerator one minute and then turned around and used it on Traveler’s exersaucer the next. I didn’t have to worry about any harmful residue or fumes. Later, I was able to spray it on the girls wet hair to help remove the chlorine residue from swimming before washing it. It’s truly multipurpose!

Disinfectant:

Spray Bottle
1/2 C Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Tea Tree Oil
1/4 C Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Seventh Generation Unscented detergent
10 drops Sweet Orange essential oil
fill remainder of bottle with water

Mix the ingredients together (don’t forget Vinegar + Baking Soda makes fizzy foam so be careful when mixing!) and shake bottle well. Use anywhere you need to clean and disinfect. It works great at cleaning shower stalls and bathroom areas.

Abrasive Scrub:

Medium sized Mason Jar
1/4 Cup Baking Soda
Seventh Generation Unscented detergent

Put the Baking Soda in a bowl and add the detergent until the mixture has the consistency of cake frosting. Then put in a mason jar and seal. You can add a few drops of Olive Oil to keep the mixture moist. Use for cleaning the oven, bathtubs, or anywhere you need a scrub.

Swiffer Hack:

I added a mixture of 1/3 C Vinegar and 2/3 C Water (You can use 2/3 C Vinegar and 1/3 C Olive Oil for more of a polish) and a few drops of Sweet Orange essential oil to my Swiffer WetJet. Here’s how.

Completely use up all of the Swiffer WetJet Cleaning solution. Make small hole in the top of the container. Using a very small funnel (or I use a turkey injector without the needle) add the solution to the bottle. Then apply a small piece of duct tape over the top to keep it sealed. That way you can keep the convenience of the WetJet but have a healthier & less expensive cleaning solution to use with it!

I have dreams of being one of those moms who is prepared for anything. The mom who carries in her diaper bag every item she needs for any situation in which her kids need her. Changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, food, drinks, medicine, emergency sewing kit, etc. You know the type. Heck, you may even be the type. If you’ve spent more than 2 minutes on this blog, though, you know I’m not that type. I just can’t ever seem to get it together that way.

But, I’m trying.

One of the things I’ve decided to keep with me is a “Mom Box.” My goal with this box is to have everything I need for every bump, bruise, teething pain, and episode of colic. And my goal is to do it as naturally as possible.

So, behold the box.

The contents are:

Triaminic Decongestant Spray (for runny noses)
Florastor (for diarrhea and stomach upset)
Band-aids (Because I need those for my kids daily)
Neosporin (see above)
Saline nose drops
Hyland’s Bumps & Bruises Ointment

And then the homeopathic medicines from Hyland’s:

Aconitum Napellus (colds & fevers)
Arnica Montana (bruising & muscle soreness)
Belladonna (fevers & inflammations)
Chamomilla (teething & irritability)
Ferrum Phosphoricum (fevers & inflammations)
Hepar Sulph. C. (cough & runny nose)

And let me say something about these Hyland’s tablets if you’re unfamiliar with them. (I swear this is not a sponsored post!) I have used the teething tablets with all my kids and they work miracles. Seriously.

So, I thought maybe their other remedies would work too. And they really, really do. Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t totally abandoned conventional medicine. But, if I can try a homeopathic remedy first I will. I just feel better about putting something a bit more natural in our bodies as a first choice.

These things are awesome. I’ve used them with all the kids for a variety of problems and I’ve had better success than with more traditional medicines in most cases. The Chamomilla soothes Trav better than Tylenol or Orajel ever has. The Aconite has relieved his colic & gas pains better than Mylicon has been able to. Plus, they can be used by grown-ups, too.

I am in love with this kit. And I love having just one little kit that gets me a step closer to being that mom who is prepared for everything and anything. Even if I do end up forgetting diapers & wipes nearly every time we leave the house.

So, what about you? What tricks do you have to help you stay prepared for the unexpected?

(Oh, and BTW, this Mom Box is in the $1.96 pencil box I bought at Wal-mart. Think it was worth all the trouble?)

Did I mention we hatched a bunch of baby chicks last week? Oh, we did. And they are too cute. Though not cute enough for me to consider keeping them. But, cute nonetheless.

Last week we got home from a birthday party and Thomas went out to collect eggs and ta-da! 12 baby chicks were staring at him from the nesting box. We lost one to an unfortunate water bowl drowning incident but the rest are residing comfortably in their brooder our dining room. (No, I’m not kidding.)

Did you ever know someone who had chickens in their dining room? Well, you do now…

So, this weekend we picked up one of the Ultimate Growing Systems and a plant growing light bulb from Home Depot and we’re getting our garden started in the basement so we can plant it outside once the weather becomes a bit more predictable.

We’ve got room in this kit to get 72 plants growing and since it magically self-waters the plants all we have to do is make sure they get the right amount of light and when our official spring season arrives we’ll have our garden on the right track.

So far, here’s a list of our 2009 garden plans. We’ll be growing:

*Radishes
*Garlic
*Corn
*Onions
*Tomatoes
*Carrots
*Green Beans
*Zucchini
*Peas
*Banana Peppers
*Spinach
*Bell Peppers
*Lettuce
*Squash

To find out what other projects moms across the blogosphere are tackling this week, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom’s Tackle it Tuesday!