Steps Toward Sustainability: Cloth Diapering

If you know me at all, then you probably know that I've mastered the art of sticking my foot in my mouth over the past 30 years. Or maybe it's more that I quickly proclaim I will NEVER... only to find myself doing that very thing I just swore never to do. {Tail between legs kind of moment} So while I'm sure I'll find myself in this position again at one point or another, I've really taken extra caution to avoid such comments since I've become a mama. {I hope I never hear myself say My kid would never... Seriously. Maim me if I do.}

Growing up as the oldest of 7 kids in a home parented by a rather old-fashioned perspective, I begrudged each diaper change since they involved those blasted diaper pins! My fingers were always the sacrificial pin cushion. I figured I'd probably get in trouble for pricking one sibling or another as I tried to get the diaper tight enough to do its job without getting it so tight that I couldn't fit the pin between the skin and the diaper, so I was better off just sucking it up and dealing with a few drops of selflessly-spilled blood. {I'm pretty sure I earned a LOT of jewels for my crown in heaven!} Needless to say, I confidently proclaimed quite a few times that I would NEVER use cloth diapers on my kids! Disposable diapers were much more civilized. And afterall, aren't we supposed to be making forward progress?

But there I was, expecting my first child and proudly announcing {like it had been my idea all along} that I would be using cloth diapers on my baby. And just as quickly, I also pointed out that I would not be using the dinosaurs of the past. No weapon-like hateful-looking diaper pins in my future, much to my husband's relief. No ugly rubber pants either! After a few months of researching cloth diapering options, we went with the Fuzzi Bunz all-in-one one-size diapers. Snaps instead of pins. Adjustable elastic around the legs and back to allow the diaper to fit 5 pounds all the way up to 35 pounds. And the best part was that they came in all sorts of brilliant colors with the colorful outer part acting as the "rubber pants" of old. 

Bonus: They double as a swim diaper!

We have had such a great experience with our Fuzzi Bunz and have made every skeptic a convert in the process. {My MIL's fear about having to change a cloth diaper when she watched our baby was slightly enjoyable. But even she now sings their praises.} Not only have we saved hundreds of dollars by not having to buy disposable diapers every week or month, but we feel good about the fact that we're not contributing bags full of stinky diapers to the landfill each week. On the rare occasions that we use disposable diapers, we have found that {contrary to our initial thinking} they end up stinking up our house so much more than the cloth. And, our son has not had a diaper rash even once in his 14 months. Our diapers don't look like they've been soiled after a good wash and the more they're washed, the softer they get.

Back in April, we participated in the the Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012 to see if we could beat the world record for the most simultaneous cloth diaper changes. Our local Fuzzi Bunz retailer, Heather Klinefelter at Growing Up Green, organized our local event which turned out approximately 30 participants. Overall, the world record was broken by 8,251 participants in 189 locations on 4 continents...over 3,000 more diaper changes than 2011. While the participants were all levels of crunchy {I mean this endearingly}--from way crunchy to not-so-crunchy {I thought I was pretty crunchy, but apparently I still have a way to go on my crunchiness}--it was nice to see that there are other mamas {and dads!} out there who have fallen in love with cloth diapering just as much as I have.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or experiences on cloth diapering!

Steps Toward Sustainability: Raising our own chickens

In May, I wrote that we are trying to be intentional about creating a sustainable lifestyle. Even before that though, we have been talking, praying and dreaming about what life might eventually look like for us. And about how all of these pieces fit together into the big picture that is our destiny.

One of the big things on our heart is food. Not just any food. But food that has been sustainably and ethically raised and harvested. This is, however, not the easiest to find in our local community. I love being within walking distance to two different markets from which I stock my kitchen with raw milk and fresh, organic produce, but I have yet to find a butcher who sells pastured chicken. It’s too expensive. No one would buy it. These chickens are local, that’s all I can tell you.
 
But I beg to differ. I believe that there is a growing community of people who want to know where their food is coming from, what it’s been fed, what chemicals have been sprayed on it, and the conditions in which the animals have been raised. Ben and I are just two people in this group, but we have decided to do something about it. We’ve been called to do something about it.

So in April, our first batch of 2-day-old chickens arrived. Twenty-five laying hens—an even mixture of Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock.

 A week later, we received another shipment. Twenty-five Freedom Ranger broilers which would—in a mere 9 weeks—grow to be our meat chickens. After a few weeks under a heat lamp, our chickens were ready for the pasture.

There were just a few minor hiccups: 1) chickens are illegal in York City; 2) even if chickens were legal, our postage stamp “yard” does not even come close to resembling a pasture—we don’t own even one blade of grass.

Fortunately, my parents live on a farm with some extra pasture that was perfect for our chickens. So Ben rigged up some {temporary} moveable pens and we sent our chickens to do their thing.

 Our Freedom Rangers at 9 Weeks

Fast forward nine weeks and our broilers have fulfilled their purpose in this life. After immersing himself in literature and watching a few YouTube videos, Ben has successfully butchered all 22 of our broilers {we had two casualties within the first week or so and a few recently due to the high summertime heat}. I want to note that we have a great respect for these birds and Ben has expressed to me his juxtaposed feelings of remorse and reward. It is never something to take lightly or irreverently. He still has some work to do perfecting his technique, but I am very proud of him for providing beautiful and tasty chicken for our family.

The very next day, we decided to taste our product. With the heat, we opted for grilling a whole chicken rather than heating our home with the oven. I rubbed the bird in olive oil and some freshly dried herbs from our CSA and plopped the bird on the grill over indirect heat for about 75 minutes, turning it only once halfway through. The result was the juiciest, tastiest chicken I have ever had! And the skin! We hate skin and this skin was to die for. Perfectly seasoned and crispy without being charred or crunchy… Yeah, it was a whopping success!

Grilled chicken paired with parsley milk potatoes... DELISH!

And it was so immensely rewarding to know that we raised this chicken from start to finish. We knew exactly what we were eating, which perhaps added even more flavor for us. Above all, we were so relieved to know that there is a difference in taste, texture and peace of mind between an industrially produced bird and a sustainably-raised and pastured bird.

Aren't they gorgeous? Our Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock laying hens.

 As for our layers, they won’t begin producing eggs for at least another 10 weeks, as egg production usually begins around 20 weeks. However, they are so fun to watch as they freely range about the pasture. In the meantime, we enjoy fresh eggs from my parents’ chickens and look forward to reaping the bounty from our own in the upcoming months.

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Welcome

Hi, I'm Tabitha. This is my husband, Ben and my baby boy dog, Rutherford. We will soon be welcoming our very first child into this world, but I'll leave that for another post.

Welcome to my blog. This isn't a blog about our garden, although I will share about that from time to time. And to be truthful, I am not much of the hands or heart behind our garden (unless you count the tasty food that flows from the bounty). That would be the hubster.

Rather, this is my our journey to discover life as it was intended. In other words, to discover what life was like in The Garden. You know...Eden. The perfect place created just for us in which everything we could ever want, need and imagine was right at our fingertips. Ours to enjoy. We have come a long way from that paradise. From a natural and organic approach to life. Many advances I applaud, so do not get me wrong. This isn't a blog about hating modernity. Quite the opposite. It is about finding the place within our society where we can live in the magical collision of two worlds--the simplistic, holistic, natural and organic approach to living in harmony with the advances of modern science, technology and resources. It has beautiful potential.

Like I said, this is a journey. But I am ready to embark. So why don't you join me.