My Mason jar love!

As many of you have probably figured out, I hate Mason jars.

Okay, not really.

I absolutely adore them!

I've been given so many by amazing friends

(Thank you, Darlene and Carol, in particular!)

in hopes that I will be able to preserve tons of fruits and veggies this year!

Here is a top shelf photo of only two kitchen cabinets-

full of potential.

This is a lid that I won't be able to use to can,

so this one was chosen to receive a makeover!

Thanks to Carol for this particularly awesome honey jar!

I chose this one because of the measurements indicated on the side.

I read a tutorial on Easie Peasie for Mason jar soap dispensers.

You know I had to try to make one!

It will perfectly match the little Mason Jar Light that was just purchased, but hasn't arrived yet!

(Messing with electrical stuff is a little beyond my capacity at this moment in time!)

I cut a hole in the lid big enough to put a pump through.

I cut it a little small so that it would fit snugly.

Apparently, some people glue theirs down-

I didn't, since it wasn't budging once it was in there!

I filled the mason jar with my lemon Trader Joe's soap from Beatrice of Sew Bea!

(thank you, thank you!)

The pump top for the jar is from this bottle.

The original soap container was recycled!

I can refill it any time!

And this particular jar, since it was my trial run, will be put in the kid's bathroom.

I'll use a smaller Mason jar to make one that will fit easily behind my kitchen sink.

I thinned the soap out to make it easier for small hands to scrub up!

And here it is!

Please pardon the lighting on the photos- my husband was packing for a business trip, I was feeling crafty, and it was about midnight!

Thanks again to Tiffany of Easie Peasie for the great idea!

Thanks to Beatrice of Sew Bea for the fantastic giveaway that provided the soap!

Thanks to my sweet friends who pass on their canning jars!

:)

Green Backpack- fantastic new store AND a giveaway!

Well, as many of you know, I have a PRECIOUS 4 year old daughter that will be turning 5 next month! That means we are about to hit K-5 head on! We are in a great school district, but I've been homeschooling her since she was 3 with a mixture of Montessori/Waldorf/Unschooling business... my own special blend that seems to have really been enjoyable for her! We decided that there was no way on this green earth that we were paying $900/month for private kindergarten at a local Montessori school, even though it is really well spoken of.

So, we applied for her to go to a Montessori magnet in our city that is a few years old. The scores look fine, but when we visited, I was super impressed! The teachers were absolutely delightful, they look like they're making great efforts to provide an environment that Dr. Maria Montessori would have been proud of, and Keelin felt at home. That was the big thing!

When we got Keelin's acceptance letter, I cried. Not only was she going to get to continue her education in an environment that we desperately wanted for her, but it all started to feel VERY real. My teeny little 7 pound 15 ounce mini-me was going to elementary school.

My next thought was- YES!!!! We get to buy school supplies!

Because, let's face it, I have a slight addiction to cool writing impliments and fresh paper in packages.

I'm an office supply junkie.

The only thing I am weirder about than office supplies is Mason jars.

We all have our things.

I started looking around online and was SO disappointed in what I found. Petroleum-based crayons are the norm, but we prefer soy. Trashy book-bags that I'd never let in my house, much less let my child carry to school. Pencils covered in bright yellow paint, loaded with who knows what.

Then...

I found Green Backpack!

I emailed them to tell them how much I appreciated the options they were making available to moms that wanted different for their kids than Big Oil provided crayons and bleached paper from virgin trees.

They responded warmly and through back and forth emails, it was decided that I would introduce them to you. I received absolutely nothing for doing this- I just want you all to be aware of a top notch company that is just starting out. I believe whole-heartedly in little companies that make a big impact through good customer service, eco-responsible actions, and a social conscience.

Their mission:

Our goal is to provide an option for people who care about how their purchases affect the world, by providing an affordable, eco-friendly choice when shopping for school supplies.

All the products at Green Backpack are made from recycled or sustainable material. For instance, our folders, notebooks and even our pencils are made from recycled paper. We have a binder made of recycled milk jugs. Wooden pencils come from managed, sustainable forests.


We know there are less expensive options at the big box stores. As a small business, we do our best to balance environmental impact, quality and affordability for our customers.


We hope that when you buy our eco-smart school supplies, it’s a choice you feel good about.

 

Here are a few of their products- all of which are made from recycled or sustainable materials.

It's their promise to us and our children.

The name-sake backpack!

It is made with 65% recycled materials!

A bright, happy binder made from recycled chipboard!

Fantastic colored pencils, the barrel of which is made from recycled paper!

Keelin has already ninja-ed into the pack I purchased for her and she says that they are really easy to sharpen compared to the wooden ones!

Fiskars brand scissors, made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials!

We got a pair of the light blue for Keelin and they are super cute!

Non-toxic, washable markers made from reused or recycled materials!

The packaging is made from 100% recycled material.

Pencils with barrels made from recycled paper, just like the colored pencils!

What I love? They come in packs of a dozen pencils.

Prang crayons!

24 pack made from soybean oil- totally sustainable!

NO petroleum in this product, which makes them smooth to color with and beautifully colored.

Such a cool product!

An individual pencil sharpener made from PLA, a renewable plastic made from sugarcane, not petroleum!

Only the blade is new, but the casing is biodegradable!

For Keelin's 4th birthday, we had PLA cups and bowls.

It might be biodegradable, but they sure hold up to regular use because we still have them!

 So don't be afraid of the quality- it's a good product!

These black, ballpoint ink pens have barrels made from 30% recycled car tires!

Very cool!

Aside from the nifty products that I've mentioned above, we also snagged some of their big erasers and recycled paper! The quality of their product line is really on point and the cost is only slightly more, but not unreasonable, than standard school supplies at any local office supply store. We're really satisfied with Green Backpack and wanted to let you know that this company is here and available to you- with reasonable shipping costs, minimal packaging, and incredible customer service!

EDIT: My friend Dana reminded me- we also bought a tube of the glue. And yes, for those of you that are curious, it absolutely does smell like almonds! ;-)

And just because they're super awesome, Green Backpack will supply one lucky winner with a package of their amazing colored pencils and a pencil sharpener!

Mandatory entry:

1. Follow my blog publicly- comment WITH your email address and tell me!

(if I don't have your email, I can't message you when you win)

Extra entry:

2. Check out the Green Backpack website and tell me your favorite product!

You have two ways to enter to win the gift pack!

I will close the giveaway on Saturday, May 28th at 9pm EST.

Winner will be announced on the blog and sent an email!

Jelly

I am so excited to show you my first EVER canning efforts!

We went out in the yard and foraged some dandelion greens (wilted and served with vinegar = delicious!),

some dandelion blossoms,

some of our borderline invasive mint.

We soaked the dandelion blossoms in water overnight to extract as much of the dandelion goodness as possible!

Keelin was very helpful with washing the mint! Smelled so fresh.

Mint in the jar before we filled it with water!

I can smell it just looking at this picture.

Spicy tomato jelly,

dandelion jelly,

mint jelly!

All perfectly set, all delicious, all properly sealed in the jars!

I can't believe how easy it was to can my own jelly!

If this first timer can experience success, anyone can!

My favorite of the jellies, the "lively" tomato jelly on a slice of my homemade bread!

Recipes :

Dandelion Jelly

Boil 1 quart  of fresh dandelion blossoms (no stems) in 1 quart water for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir juice. Measure out 3 cups of the dandelion juice, add a teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 package of pectin, powdered works best for this recipe. Add 4.5 cups of sugar and boil until gelled. Pour into sterilized canning jars and leave 1/8" of headspace. Wipe the rims well, add lids and rings. 5 minute water bath and you're done! Just wait for the tops to pop!

Note: I cut this recipe in half and it made four 4oz. jelly jars full of jelly! Thanks to Jill at Domestic Reformation for inspiring me!

Tomato Jelly

(makes 6 medium glasses full)

Combine 1 3/4 cups of organic canned or jarred tomato juice, 1/2 cup of fresh strained lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce , 4 cups of sugar in a pot  over high heat until it reaches a full boil. Stir in one 3oz. package of liquid fruit pectin and bring to a full boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir, and skim off any foam for about 3 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars, leaving about 1/8" of headspace. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids and rings. Water bath for 5 minutes, then remove and wait for the lids to pop, signaling a good seal!

Note: I used more Tabasco sauce that the recipe called for and it was delicious. I just seasoned to taste and we enjoyed it pretty spicy!

Mint Jelly

Crush 1 1/2 cups of firmly packed mint leaves, fresh. Add 2 1/4 cups of water into saucepan with mint leaves and boil of medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes to extract the minty goodness! Strain through a cheesecloth. Measure out 2 cups of the infusion into a large saucepan. Add 3 1/2 cups of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Boil at full, rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately add in one 3oz. package of liquid pectin. Stir and skim for about 5 minutes. Pour immediately into warm, sterilized jars leaving about 1/4" of headspace. Seal with hot lids and rings, waterbath for 5 minutes, then let set!

Note: I let my mint soak for a whole afternoon after it was cleaned, crushed, and boiled. Most recipes I read also said to add a couple of drops of green food coloring, but I opted to leave it out. I didn't feel any need to add color to something already so yummy- it wouldn't have enhanced anything but the look.

Do you have any delicious jelly recipes or fruit preserve recipes to share? I'd love to hear them!

Just a quick coop update!

Just a quick update on the chicken coop-

Otherwise known as the soap opera,

"As the Coop Turns"

;)

The bottom of the chicken wire wasn't quite as safe as I wanted it, since the ground is uneven and there were a few places that a determined snake or something could get under.

Tim remedied the issue by cutting trees that fell in the storm and putting them around the entire length of the chicken fence. He stuck a chair our there for me and we now jokingly refer to it as "the Observation Deck."

The other new thing is the left side of the fence. It all used to be super low to the ground, but Tim wanted me to be able to get in there easily even when my belly gets ginormous, so he built a frame and lifted it up! He's pretty awesome! I was just going to squat down and hope for the best, but thanks to my hubby, I don't have to worry about it anymore!

It did require the purchase of some chicken wire, but all of the wood was leftover from other projects, found in the woods/yard, or recycled!

Everyone, meet Hugh Heffner. He's our new Silver-Laced Wyandotte rooster! Isn't he handsome? Tim named him, saying it was only appropriate for the only rooster in the hen house! And so far, he seems to be quite the ladies man! He's been pretty polite with the crowing and he's got lovely manners, so hopefully it stays that way!

In other news, only a few more things need to happen to the yard before we are ready to let the chickens roam free some during the day! I am looking forward to seeing them go nuts in the yard after Tim mows and the bugs are out! They're going to be in hen heaven!

Garden update!

Just a few pictures, because there is nothing terribly impressive happening quite yet-

The garden update, as promised!

I had no luck with my rosemary plants from seeds, so I bought this great plant (bottom left) from Lowe's.

On the right, you can see a few tomato plants.

The markers are all root veggies, like horseradish, garlic, shallots, and taters!

One of our little strawberry plants!

I know you're supposed to pinch them back the first year, but I just can't bring myself to pinch them all back. I pinched off the blossoms of all but a few, so the kids could have a few strawberries this year (that we grew.)

A teeny "practice" peach on one of our trees. It KILLED me to pinch them off, but I know the trees need to focus on their root production and not fruit production. Hopefully, we will be overrun with peaches in about 5 years!

Make it Yourself Monday!!!

Since I came out of the No-Pooing closet, quite a few people have messaged me interested in getting recipes for some of my homemade products, mostly beauty related or bath related. I decided that every so often (i.e. when I run out and need to make more), I would do a post with recipes that I use to make every day products!
Introducing my favorite product of all time: Castile Soap!! This can be used for everything from scrubbing floors to washing babies. It's super concentrated, so keep that in mind when you see how little of it is used in recipes!
Yes, my kitchen is a mess...
I like Dr. Bronner's and Dr. Wood's castile soap, but I've found that the Dr. Wood's is a lot less price-wise than Dr. Bronner's, although Dr. Bronner's is more widely available. You can find it at Target now!
This is castile soap with peppermint essential oils and organic shea butter, so this is what I use to make bath products. Keep in mind, this has no numbing agent like most shampoos, so watch out for eyes.
Since this has the peppermint essential oils, keep that in mind when using it on kids. There are mild versions, especially good if you have a little one with sensitive skin or a diaper rash. Some kids are more sensitive than others. But for us, personally, the little ones really enjoy the minty smell (and Keelin likes the cool tingle, Jackson has yet to comment- LOL)!


This is a jar that once held my favorite oil cured kalamata olives! I'm craving them just looking at the glass jar!

For the kids, I fill the jar halfway with hot water and dissolve about a 1/4 of a cup of castile soap. I called a mommy friend of mine who uses the same thing on her kids and she says that she uses 1 part soap to 5 parts water- gives loads of suds and isn't tough to wash off.
There is no magic measurement, just make sure that you use a lot more water than soap- it's really concentrated!

My no poo recipe is still being adjusted. I make a thick paste out of baking soda and water, scrub it really well into my scalp, and then work it down to the ends of my hair, rinse with cool water, and then rinse with some diluted apple cider vinegar (organic and unrefined ACV is best, but you can use white vinegar in a pinch). Definitely works for me!
I've been reading online and a lot of people seem to use a thinner mixture instead of a paste. The common ratio seems to be 1 TBSP of baking soda to 1c of water. I'm going to try it later!

And here is something I am really excited to share!!!
Homemade dishwashing detergent!
Isn't it pretty?
Recipe:
2 cups of Borax (I bought "20 Mule Team" brand borax at Harris Teeter for $2.50)
2 cups of Baking Soda (or washing soda) (I bought Arm & Hammer, huge box, for $2.50)
4 small packets of sugar free lemonade Kool-Aid (you can also use 4 tablespoons of citric acid--if you can find it) (I accidently grabbed Orange- LOL, hence the color! - $1 for 12 packets)
White Vinegar until it's really wet and soft ($1 for a HUGE bottle)

You use about 2 tablespoons per load and I have had really good results with it so far today!
For $7, I got enough to make enough dishwashing detergent to last for a YEAR!!! That is half of what I used to pay for one small bag of my all-natural dishwashing tabs that lasted not even a month and a half... We cook at home a LOT, hence a ridiculous amount of dishes.

EDIT: My mixture dried solid within a couple of days, which I am sure is caused by my jar not being air tight. Since then, I have mixed my powder together in the jar, using the vinegar in the rinse aid compartment in the dishwasher instead of mixing it with the dry ingredients! Hope that helps!



Next time:
homemade deodorant,
facial cleanser,
moisturizers,
styling spray for no-poo'ed hair,
and homemade laundry detergent!!

Where do you put the batteries?!

I was playing with my munchkins this afternoon and decided to snap some photos of them playing. I can count on two hands the toys these kids have that are battery-powered. Most of our toys are kid-powered :)

We used to have all of the light up, noise making, Disney character covered plastic junk. The more I researched, got headaches from the noise, and realized that the mess was NOT something I wanted in my home, we started slowly but surely minimizing the number and type of toys in our house. At last count, we have 7 toys that require some sort of power, including the tv that I have in the back of the house for the kids to watch the occasional movie on. The rest is mostly wooden, imagination requiring, and I love it! And so do they!

Keelin trying to use a wooden pizza cutter on a wooden apple stuck together in the middle with velcro. She's wearing a bioME 5 "K for Kangaroo" shirt.

Click here to see bioME 5's organic clothing options for kids!

Here is Jackson playing with the apple and Keelin playing with the darn pizza cutter ;) She's cutting a wooden loaf of sliced "bread" held together with velcro.

They were pretty hung up on play food this afternoon, but you can also see the Plan Toys lace up shoe, and the Melissa and Doug toys- the word matching game, the tool set, etc. We love Melissa and Doug, even though their items are mostly made in China and we wish they would make them here in the U.S.A.

Jackson, making a pizza for his big sissy!

Little mess maker! Keelin would run away before I could take many pictures with her in them. Don't know why she was being camera shy today :-/

So there ya go, y'all! Just a little peek into the toybox. So many people act like our kids are deprived because they don't have TONS of toys or the "latest and greatest," but shoot, they are happy kids and I feel good about what they have to play with. Kid-powered is the way we like to do it at our house :)

No, we're not "going green!" We're striving to be more conscious!

The next week or so will include quite a bit in my blog about what we are doing at our house (lovingly referred to as the Emerson-Power Homestead) to become more sustainable and self-reliant.

I just want to make a few things clear before I really get into this over the next few days, weeks, and months-

1. We don't give a flying flip about "going green." The whole "go green" movement has turned into a joke, a consumerist hullaballoo or a hollow bragging right, if you will, and we aren't buying into that sort of thing. This isn't about fancy water bottles (although we enjoy those) or buying organic cotton shirts from Wal-Mart (which we do not do, since we don't shop at Wal-mart). This is a bit different.

2. We won't be doing much of anything that you'll see and go, "Oh, how cute!" This project, for the most part, is not fancy or attractive. It is basic and sometimes raw, a modern attempt at returning a place that is more responsible and conscious.

3. If anyone is interested in any of the projects seen here, please let me know and I will help you in any way I can to help you introduce any part of this to your family. I'm a modern gal. I shop, I mix a mean margarita, and I drive a mini-van... but I also dream of vermicomposting and converting our swimming pool into a salt water pool. Everything that you will see us do as a family is totally doable by a normal, modern person.

So yeah, this is for us, for our planet, for our great-grandchildren. It isn't going to always be pretty, but it's worth it. Here we go! :)


These are wooden pallets that I got from a local company that is giving them away. We are going to be hammering these together to make a frame for our compost pile tomorrow. They are about 4'x4' with one not pictured.

We are taking my dad's truck this week to get an entire truckload of these. Why, do you ask? Because it's free wood! This wood can be popped off of the pallet and used for any number of projects around here. And if you've been to a home improvement store recently, you may have seen how expensive wood is.

By using scrap wood or recycled/repurposed wood, you save a TON of money and you use a wood product from a tree that has already been cut down. It just makes sense!



Here is a picture of the two 60 gallon black plastic barrels that my dad and husband got me for my birthday. (See my new mommy-mobile in the background?! :)) They are food grade barrels that have been cleaned out and sold off to be repurposed. These were picked up for $20 each from a guy that sells them downtown out of the back of his store. He also has smaller red ones, but I loved the simplicity of these (and the extra 5 gallon capacity), so we went with black.

These are going to be converted into rain barrels. They'll be connected to a down spout on the side of our house and will catch rain water. There will be netting to prevent leaves, bugs, and whatnot from getting inside. At the bottom, we'll insert a spout that will hook up to a standard garden hose. The pressure from the weight of the water will cause the water to flow through the garden hose. This will provide water for our garden!

This is a good idea for a number of reasons. Foremost, we have a well! In NC summers, we tend to get a bit dry and while I've never heard of our well going dry, we have neighbors that have had to come shower at our house before due to their wells going dry in a drought, so we're going to try to utilize our resources wisely!


This is the label on the black barrels. When I opened the lids to check inside of them to ensure that they were in good condition, I immediately knew what they had originally carried! Gherkins in brine!! My rain barrels smell like pickles!!! How appropriate for this pregnant lady, right?


This is a picture of the clothes line that I bought last year and my brother set in concrete for me a couple of weeks ago. I use it to dry my cloth diapers for the most part, because lately we have been getting quite a bit of rain. When it dries out a bit, I plan to dry my cloth diapers on it and at least the kids clothing. With this being a small line and me giving birth to our third baby this summer, I have a feeling it will be getting a workout!

Why is a clothesline an awesome option? We go through a TON of laundry! We wash, we dry. We wash, we dry. Hello, energy usage! By washing in cold water, we use our well water and very little energy to wash. By hanging to dry, we use absolutely no energy to dry our clothes! With my cloth diapers, I do a hot wash and two cold rinses, which uses a little bit of energy to heat the water, but I feel like by hanging them to dry instead of drying them using two cycles in the dryer (they're super absorbant, clearly!), I am able to off-set that extra energy usage. This will be really helpful with 3 kids, two of whom will be in diapers.


Here is a picture of part of our yard. Our yard is about 3 acres, but at least half an acre is occupied by a pool, play house, storage building (about to be converted into a chicken coop), and landscaping.

The sand box and teeter totter are in a part of the yard that sits low, so when it pours rain, it is puddle central. We put the play equipment back there so that we could utilize the higher areas of the yard for gardening and the like. Shoot, if it's that wet back there, the kids won't be out there anyway, so we figured it was a safe bet :)

The garden (still with long rows, we haven't put in the short rows yet- we had a little issue with the tiller this weekend and it should be out of the shop tomorrow) is just over a quarter of an acre. It should be more than big enough to grow the seedlings that I've been tending on the sunroom for the past few weeks!

If you got this far, thank you! I know, I ramble.
More on this topic tomorrow!