Spinach and Honey

You must really love to cook?

2009-07-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

[Written previously for SFGate.com/moms]

I get the question a lot: "You must really love to cook?" It isn't that I love to cook really. I don't mind cooking. I certainly do a lot of it. More accurately, I feel like it's my duty as a mother to feed my son proper food.

It comes naturally to me to catch Mikey when he falls. That's how I feel about healthy food. I watch Mikey at the playground so that he doesn't fall and hurt himself and I cook him good food at home so his body is healthy on the inside.

The immune system is what battles cancers that come a' knocking. Cancer is abnormal cells that divide and multiple. The body's immune system tries to fight and kill off these cells but sometimes it can't. And, cancer isn't just for adults so it is never too early to build up a young child's immune system. Cancer affects about 14 of every 100,000 children in the United States each year.

According to the National Cancer Institute diet is one of the four behavioral factors that we can control to help prevent cancer in our bodies. If I were to feed Mikey boxed cereals, processed snack foods, and dinners with no vegetables, he would have a weakened immune system and be vulnerable to diseases like cancer.

The best way to cut back on junk food is not to stock it in the house. Yep, I had a withdrawal period but I never looked back. Et Voila! My motivation to cook healthy foods is to give my child a fighting chance.

Write for Choice!

2009-07-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here's me on KPOO radio yesterday campaigning for Certified Professional Midwives to be included in the Obama Health Care Reform bill. That's my cute little red-headed baby with me.

When looking into using a midwife for my pregnancy and delivery, I wondered what the difference was between a Certified Professional Midwife and a Certified Nurse Midwife. Here's my unofficial knowledge of the differences:

Certified Professional Midwives specialize in out-of-hospital births like at a birth center or a private home. Certified Professional Midwives can only work outside of hospitals; and therefore, have a lot of experience with low-tech, unmedicated births.

Certified Nurse Midwives specialize in hospital births and are licensed to work in hospitals. Certified Nurse Midwives have gone through more schooling than Certified Professional Midwives. The extra schooling allows them to work in hospitals. Most of their experience comes from working with mamas in a hospital setting, so they are more familiar hospital births than out-of-hospital births.

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Health Care Reform

Certified Nurse Midwives are currently included in the first draft of the Health Care Reform bill, but Certified Professional Midwives are not. Certified Professional Midwives are licensed by their states and should be added to the list of Medicaid-eligible providers recognized at the federal level.

Because I had such a fabulous prenatal, birth, and postnatal experience with a Certified Professional Midwife, I would like to see them included in Obama's Health Care Reform bill. Around 50% of births are paid for by Medicaid users. Medicaid only covers Certified Nurse Midwives not Certified Professional Midwives.

I would like to see women given more choice. And so, I am working to get Certified Professional Midwives covered by Medicaid. It's one sentence in the bill. If you're interested in helping, please go here to the MAMA Campaign to send a letter to Boxer, Feinstein, and Pelosi.

Please send your letter this weekend because they're moving fast on the hill and we want our voices heard.

More choices for women!

Listen to me and midwife Maria Iorillo on KPOO radio Thurs. July 16th

2009-07-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Midwives and Mothers talking about Health Care Reform and how Certified Professional Midwives can be a part of the solution!

I'll be there because I've had both a hospital birth and a birth under the care of a Certified Professional Midwife. Listen to my birth story and what care I prefer and why. Plus, listen to one of the most experienced San Francisco midwives, Maria Iorillo, talk about Certified Professional Midwives and our nations health care reform.

It's this Thursday, July 16th, from 12noon to 1pm PST on Reality Sandwich, KPOO, 89.5.

Tune in on your radio if you live in San Francisco or listen from the Internet at http://www.kpoo.com/hearus.html. Click on the jukebox image on the right.

Wisdom of Inconsistency

2009-07-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

{Published earlier for SFGate.com/moms]

I remember my mom killing herself to keep everything equal between the three of us children. As parents, we are told that it is important to be consistent.

I was relieved to read in Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, by Dr. Sarah J. Buckley that it is okay to be inconsistent because it's human nature. Have I ever cancelled an engagement or changed my mind about something? I feel relieved because it's hard work trying to line up the way Zack does things and the way that I do them. Buckley says:

Consistency between parents is artificial and unnecessary. ...I also believe that we can have different attitudes, thresholds, and responses, yet still parent together with ease.

I no longer have that nagging voice in my head saying that I am doing this whole mothering thing wrong when I let Mikey make a huge mess with the packaging poppers one day and not let him do it again the next day. Each day is different, each moment is different. Sometimes I feel more tolerant than other times.

If I say no to another book because I am tired from a day of fun with my little bundle of joy, but papa wants to read one more, fine. I don't need to feel like we're giving in to Mikey's attempt to delay bedtime.

Mikey is learning that at different times people are willing or unwilling to oblige. Buckley says, "Our children know that we will respond differently because we are different people. We don't want them to manipulate those differences, but it's okay to do things differently."

Since I have let go of the feeling that I need to be consistent, I feel more real and honest. Inconsistency has allowed Mikey to see more of me as a person and less of me as an authoritarian mom. I hope that he is learning how to be more true to himself as well.

Another grassroots campaign to include Certified Professional Midwives in Obama's Health Care Reform Bill

2009-07-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Watch this youtube to learn more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps7WANXhZXA&feature=related

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign empowers midwife advocates and moms/dads groups as they promote increased access to out-of-hospital maternity care and the Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) who are specially trained to provide it.

Our dedicated campaigners, or "Pushers" as they are affectionately known, help to educate the people in power (at the insurance companies, in the hospital associations, in the Statehouses, and on Capitol Hill) about the reduced costs and improved outcomes associated with using out-of-hospital maternity care and Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), who are specially trained to provide it.

The Big Push campaign works to widely share the stories of U.S. citizens who choose CPMs as their maternity care providers and the multiple benefits to society that come from fully integrating out-of-hospital birth and Certified Professional Midwives into the health care systems of our states.

July 2009 Article on Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs)

2009-07-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

A July 2009 article on Certified Professional Midwives, politics and health care reform!

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=delivering_affordable_healthcare

I live on a relocated cemetery

2009-07-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

[Written previously for SFGate.com/moms]

This Friday I was alone in my apartment. Husband and 2-year old were elsewhere for the night. I had a nice night out: yoga and dinner. I cleaned up that day's breakfast and the rest of the house from 11pm to midnight. I lay in bed alone. I fell asleep and then awoke two hours later because I felt someone holding my hand. I don't think that I've slept alone, I mean really alone for two plus years. So, I thought maybe I was just imagining that Zack was in bed with me, but I woke to the same feeling every two hours until finally morning came. Much of the Richmond District was a graveyard. The Encyclopedia of San Francisco says:

Golden Gate Cemetery was created in 1868 on about 200 acres purchased by the city north of Clement between 33rd and 43rd avenues. It was also known as Clement Street Cemetery and the City Cemetery. In 1909, it was turned into Lincoln Park Golf Course. It is unknown how many remains were moved, and several hundred were discovered when the Palace of the Legion of Honor was being renovated in the 1990s.

My house was part of a housing development put on top of an old cemetery, one of "The Big Four" cemeteries. After we moved into our house and started digging in the garden, we found a large piece of a tombstone. If they forgot to remove a piece of tombstone, what else did they forget? My neighbor has a fully intact tombstone in her yard. She calls it, "Our New Yorker." He was a pioneer from New York. Although she jokes about it, she confessed that she got holy water from a church and poured it over the top. I am starting to think that I should do the same thing.

It was like people were hanging out in my house, but I couldn't see them. Like trying to sleep with someone watching you. Or, trying to sleep with the lights on. They weren't mean or unfriendly just there. I've felt them before with Zack home but somehow I was able to ignore them better. Friday night was a haunted, sleepless night. I am glad that I've got a full house again.

My Baby

2009-07-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

"This is MY baby. This is MY baby," I repeated over and over in my head right before each wave to push consumed me. The urges were so strong that I felt like I could loose my breath completely.

The sun shown bright and I listened to the neighborhood children play outside as I labored calmly in my birth tub. I had wonderful rests between surges where I listened to birds and dosed off to sleep. My doula whispered, "You are having a beautiful birth, Thais."

I was, but I also struggled with doubt the whole time. I was scared that I might not be able to pull it off. Even when West's head had crowned, I thought that he would get stuck and Maria would have to transport me to the hospital for another cesarean. And then, the hospital would have birthed by baby not me. But somehow, I managed to overcome those doubts right before each surge with my simple chant, "This is MY baby." Sometimes I would say, "Let's just get through this next one. Just one more."

The realization that only I can birth my baby in the way that I want was an on going theme for me throughout my pregnancy. People that I felt dependent on and wanted at my birth didn't work out for one reason or another. Even Maria had to go lobby in Washington on my due date, and I had to come to terms with the fact that she might not be there for the birth. Luckily, West came when she got back. I am so grateful for that.

For my first son's birth, subconsciously, I always thought that I'd be saved like Cinderella is saved from her evil step-sisters. I assume that it is a cultural message ingrained in my psyche since I was a little girl. It's important to have support, but the reality is that only the Mama can birth the baby. It is hard to be alone on such a hard journey, but the belief that I could do it and my two years of preparation allowed the baby to come. I pushed as hard as I possibly could. I wanted him to arrive protected at home and in peace.

"This is MY baby," I chanted over and over again to myself. And I did push him out. He came right out like he should. It took only one hour of pushing after seven hours of active labor. Baby West was born at home on a gorgeous, sunny day. His demeanor is as peaceful and calm as the way that he joined us. And, he is so loved by me and so many others who have followed my recovery from my first son's birth to the discovery and actualization of a home birth with my second. When Maria put him on my chest, I rejoiced, "I did it! I did it!" Kara, my doula, cried with joy next to me as she listened to my reaction. I feel so powerful. Birth really is empowering.

As I celebrated holding my new baby in my arms and watching him nurse perfectly without any instruction. Maria said, "Now that is an unmedicated baby." After a brief celebration, Maria was looking serious again because I still had not birthed my placenta. We waited an hour and tried everything from angelica root, to nursing, to a shot of pitocin. Finally Maria had to make the decision to call 911 and have an ambulance transport me to UCSF. I needed a manual removal of the placenta. It was only Maria's fifth ambulance transport in her 23.5 years of being a midwife. Four of the five transports were placenta related.

Maria can perform the procedure herself, but since I had had a previous cesarean the chance of hemorrhaging was too risky. The procedure at UCSF was short and I was back at home shortly afterward. I am happy to have had a good hospital experience rather than one of a victim. It was a necessary part of my healing.

As Maria and I waited for Zack to pull the car around in the quiet lobby of the hospital at midnight, she said, "This is what home birth is all about, it's a collaboration with the hospitals. We come to them when we need their services and we only use what we need."

Please join the MAMA Campaign to help lobby to include Certified Professional Midwives in the Obama's Health Care Reform bill.

Born at Home! Welcome home baby West.

2009-06-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

All went well and I had my beautiful baby at home on my side of the bed. I used the tub but it wasn't where I chose to birth my baby for whatever reason. I was in active labor for seven hours and pushed for one hour. He latched on right away and I had a glorious hour with him before I had to go to the hospital for a manual removal of my placenta. The procedure was short and I was back home in bed with my baby shortly afterward. I feel like the hospital experience was a vital part of my healing, but I am glad that it was a short and relatively easy visit.

I am writing a more detailed birth story for this blog and Maria's blog. It will still be abbreviated. I really need to write a book to cover the full two years of my experience.

I am sure happy to be on the other side and to have had a successful and joyful birth experience. What a load off! Time to move on but not from the home birth community; I am here to stay.

West weighed 8lbs. 10 oz. He was 21 1/4 inches long. And, had a head of 13 3/4 circumference.

More about my home birth journey here.

Homemade Granola with Soaked Oats and Sprouted Seeds

2009-06-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

How to make homemade granola with soaked oats and sprouted seeds and nuts?

8 cups dried rolled oats
1 cup coconut oil
1 tbs. vanilla
1 tbs. cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole almonds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup goji berries
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chocolate chips or carob chips (optional)

Day 1
Step 1: Measure 8 cups of raw rolled oats and put into a large bowl. Add 16 cups of water and 16 tablespoons of yogurt, lemon juice, whey, kefir, buttermilk, or vinegar for sprouting. Let soak overnight.

Step 2: Measure 2 cups of nuts and/or seeds and soak overnight in a bowl. I like to use any combination of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Read more about soaking nuts and seeds here.

Day 2
Step 3: Strain and rinse oats. Dehydrate for around 8 hours or until dry at 250 degrees.
Step 4: Strain and rinse nuts and seeds. Dehydrate with the oats but on separate sheets until dry (approximately 4 hours at 250 degrees).
Step 5. Toast nuts and seeds in 300 degree oven with salt for forty-five minutes.

Day 3
Step 6: Crumble dehydrated oats into a large bowl.
Step 7: Mix in coconut oil, vanilla, molasses, brown sugar, and honey to oats.
Step 8: Pulse nuts and seeds in a food processor or blender until they are chopped (optional step, Mikey doesn't like the big chunks).
Step 9: Mix chopped nuts and seeds into oats.
Step 10: Mix in flax seeds to oats.
Step 11: Pour onto two buttered cookie sheets and put into a 300 degree oven for forty-five minutes.
Step 12: Pour back into the large mixing bowl and add raisins, goji berries, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips (optional) or carob chips (optional). Mikey was the mastermind behind adding the chocolate and carob chips in the first place. I think it's too sweet so we serve them on the side now.

This all seems like a lot of steps but if you already have the nuts and seeds soaked and toasted, it doesn't take as long to make this granola. We love it! I am making a batch every week these days.

Fastest Check-Out Line at Rainbow Grocery

2009-06-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Some of you might have read the recent article on SFGate.com about coupon days at Rainbow Grocery. They are busy shopping days, but for me, the savings are worth it. If the lines are really, really long, I would pick lane 4. It feeds into two cashiers, and so goes twice as fast as the other lines.

Happy Shopping!

Where to find Rainbow Coupons?

Midwifery and Health Care Reform

2009-06-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

Three San Francisco midwives are going to DC this week to speak with key Senate staffers from Boxer and Feinstein's offices about how Certified Professional Midwives can be an important solution to the difficulties with American maternity care. Obama's three health care reform principles include: reducing costs, guaranteeing options and providing affordable, quality care to all Americans. Midwifery can do all three!

Here are two videos taken at Maria Iorillo's home to help promote Midwifery in Health Care Reform:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4atqJNTmPrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeYQrDzB2lY

Subscribe to the Mama Campaign to support the purpose. Numbers of subscribers is important when lobbying.
http://www.mamacampaign.org/

2008 San Francisco Department of Vital Statistics for Birth

2009-06-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

These are the official Mode of Delivery rates for San Francisco Hospitals in 2008.

The Categories are

Primary (first baby)
C/S (cesarean)
Repeat C/S (repeat cesarean)
Forceps
Vacuum
Spontaneous (natural vaginal birth)
VBAC (Vaginal Birth after C/S)

This is the percentage breakdown based on total births at that hospital.

This is public information.

Hospital	Primary Cesarean	Repeat Cesarean	Total Cesarean
CPMC	20.6%	10.3%	30.9%
Kaiser	24.2%	7.5%	31.7%
SF General Hospital	11.8%	8.8%	20.6%
St. Lukes	11.5%	9.0%	20.5%
UCSF	18.8%	8.2%	27%

Hospital	Forceps	Vacuum	Spontaneous
CPMC	1.8%	7.6%	58.5%
Kaiser	0	2.7%	64.7
SF General Hospital	1.1%	4.6%	72.8%
St. Lukes	.4%	3.4%	75.7%
UCSF	4.3%	3.1%	64%

Hospital	VBAC
CPMC	1.3%
Kaiser	.9%
SF General Hospital	1.9%
St. Lukes	.1%
UCSF	1.7

Are you scheduled?

2009-06-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

My due date is tomorrow and I can't believe that what inspired me to write a post tonight is induction of labor. Since I am looking fairly large, many people ask me, "When are you due?" I say, "Tomorrow." And, they say, "Oh, are you scheduled?"

By scheduled, I am assuming that they mean scheduled for induction of labor. I am truly surprised by the number of people who ask this question.

How did this become the socially acceptable response?

Why don't people say things like, "Oh that's wonderful, best of luck for a healthy baby."

As I write that phrase, I think to myself, "Of course, people must say that nice cliche phrase. "

Sadly, they really don't. Instead when they hear that my due date is tomorrow, their eyes pop out of their head and they look at me in dread and fear. They can't believe that I am at my son's swimming lesson or the grocery store or walking the Lyon St. steps.

Why do we react this way?

It is not beyond me that I am sheltered from our mainstream world of fear-based maternity care. If I were receiving care from an OBs office right now, I would surely be pressured to schedule an induction date or rather in my case a cesarean date (induction shouldn't be done with VBac mamas). I am so happy not to have that pressure and to be allowed the time and space to have my baby when my baby is ready to be born. I am certainly ready as most women are at 40 weeks. I hope he comes soon.

38 weeks: Birth Tub and Love

2009-06-06T13:52:00.001-07:00

I am in a sweet spot of my pregnancy where everything is bliss. The seas are calm. I've had two nights this week of five to six hours of sleep without waking up. My birth tub is set-up and ready. I have been feeling practice labor every night from 7-11pm. I am ready and settling into waiting for baby West to join his family on the outside.

During Shavasana today, I had a practice contraction and it actually felt pleasurable. I hope that I can relax that much during labor to have an enjoyable experience. At least, I got a small glimpse of how that might work. I just can't wait to hold baby West in my arms. I want to feel him all wet and slippery with Vernix and watch him play with us for that brief hour of alertness before he goes to sleep for two weeks.

When I think of the name West, I think of hope. Traveling to the West into the unknown in search of a better life. I think of openess, vast space, and surrendering into trust, love, and kindness. All these qualities remind me of the characteristics of the sacred faminine and all our female spiritual leaders. Why would we name a boy West if all I think about is female qualities when I think of his name? Well, I can't imagine a better world than a world where yin and yang are once again equal and peace is with us all. When I think of the baby inside of me, I think of a soul with a great purpose in this life and I am honored to get him here.

37-week Home Visit

2009-05-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Maria Iorillo, my home-birth midwife, came over to walk through our home to get a sense of the space where my baby will be born. We have to move a couple pieces of furniture; but otherwise, we are ready. All our supplies are labeled and in the birth room (our sun room/baby's nursery). I love this picture of Mikey listening to the baby's heart beat during my check-up.

Mikey crawled in between my legs multiple times reenacting birth. He was born by cesarean so maybe it's how he knows birth to happen through images that he has seen. Or, maybe he is acting out how he would have liked to be born. Maria suggested that I watch a movie called "What Babies Want." She said it has video clips of the same behavior that Mikey was doing while I was laying on the bed. Sort of interesting.

I had false labor last night. I thought that I'd have a baby this morning but no such luck. Zack's picking up the birth tub today so we'll be having a hot tub party in our sun room tonight to give it a test run before the big event.

An Account of a Home Birth Prenatal Appointment

2009-04-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Imagine never waiting in a waiting room for a prenatal appointment. Imagine entering the exam room and seeing a comfortable couch to sit on. Imagine never being asked to undress and wear a paper gown. Imagine never having to sit on an exam table waiting for your care provider to finally knock on the door and come in. Imagine resting comfortably and completely clothed on a couch and enjoying a pleasant conversation for an hour with your care provider. Now imagine bringing your parents to your appointment. Take it even further and imagine bringing your children.

I'd always go alone when I first started seeing Maria Iorillo for my prenatal care. We have a three-year old and it just made sense to have my husband stay home with him. My first pregnancy, I was use to waiting an hour or more for our prenatal appointments and then only visiting for ten minutes with our care provider. I would write out my questions before my appointment because it was nearly impossible to remember them all under the stress of knowing three other mommies were waiting for their hour late appointments too.

In Maria's office, I never wait. I am greeted right when I walk in the door and sit on a couch across from a small area with wooden toys including a lovely cradle with a baby doll in it. Maria didn't need to say that children were welcome at her appointments.

Right before my third trimester, I started asking the grandparents to watch Mikey so that Zack and I could both go the appointments. As I grew more and more comfortable with my long, stress-free appointments. I invited Mikey's grandparents to come and meet Maria. So one beautiful sunny San Francisco morning Mikey, Mikey's grandparents, Zack and I all showed up for my appointment.

Maria smiled and welcomed the grandparents and Mikey to sit on the love seat next to Zack and I. She didn't ignore them and continue with her routine appointment with us, but instead said, "When grandparents come to an appointment, I like to ask them to share their birth stories." So while Mikey played with the baby doll and peered out the window watching for each Muni train to pass taking its passengers to work. Zack's mom told Maria about the birth of each of her two children at Kaiser in San Francisco in the 70s. Then, Barbara asked Maria a couple of questions about newborn care right after birth and Maria took her time to answer them. I never felt like she was rushing them out nor annoyed by their presence. After about a half an hour, the grandparents left with Mikey and Zack and I finished our appointment with Maria by checking the baby's heartbeat, my blood pressure, pulse, and weight. After that wonderful experience, we now take Mikey with us every visit so that he can be apart of his brother's birth as well.

My other posts on home birth:

On my blog:

http://www.spinachandhoney.com/search/label/Home%20Birth

On SFGate:

Read some of my other posts about birth here, here, here, here and here,and here.

Home births 'as safe as hospital'

2009-04-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

The largest study of its kind has found that for low-risk women, giving birth at home is as safe as doing so in hospital with a midwife.

Read the full article at BBC News online:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7998417.stm

Read more about this study in this opinion piece:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/annalisa-barbieri-i-gave-birth-at-home-ndash-and-heres-why-1669309.html

Raising Chicken and Ducks

2009-04-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

I took an excellent workshop at Garden for the Environment last Saturday. I learned about raising chickens and ducks. Here are my notes from the workshop. Keep in mind that they are notes and I am no expert.

----------------
Bottom line:
You can have a maximum of four birds in San Francisco. The number depends on how many other animals that you have in addition to the birds. They have to be kept 20 feet from any door or window with human inhabitants. Birds on roofs are okay and you can even have a dairy cow in San Francisco.

First thing to do if you are thinking about keeping birds is to check your rights in the city code. Most city codes can be found online:

City of San Francisco
Article 1, Sec. 37. Keeping and Feeding of Small Animals, Poultry and Game Birds.

City of Oakland
Section 6.04.320 Keeping of Fowl

City of Berkeley
Section 10.12.040 Rabbits, domestic fowl, etc. -- Enclosure requirements.

Second thing to do is read a book. The presenters at Garden for the Environment's workshop, Paul Glowaski and Cooper Funk, recommend these books:
Guide to Raising Chickens
Keep Chickens!
Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry: Breeds, Care, Health

Third thing you need to consider is your responsibility as a pet own.

1. If you don't enjoy having your chickens or ducks, you can't just let them loose in Garden Gate Park.
2. Talk with your neighbors before buying your chicks because birds might make a little noise (not as much as dogs) and sometimes (rarely) fly the fence.
3. Look at the time that you have to care for your birds. Just like dogs, they need to be cared for every day and can't be left uncared for while you are out-of-town. They need daily feed and water.
4. Their coop needs weekly cleaning.
5. Consider how you want to keep your birds: free in yard (prepare for yard destruction) or a bird run.

Fourth thing to consider is the end point.
1. Chickens can live up to 30 years but they stop producing a lot of eggs after just two or three years. If you are only allowed four chickens at a time, do you want to keep non-egg producing chickens? What will you do when one is injured?
2. Once a bird is dead, you ship it via fedex to UCDavis where they do an autopsy paid for by the US government because of California's risk of the bird flu. For us backyard farmers, it's a place to dispose of dead birds.

Differences between chickens and ducks:
1. Chickens scratch, ducks don't (they have webbed feet)
2. Duck eggs are bigger.
3. Duck eggs are excellent for baking.
4. Ducks are more gentle than chickens.
5. Ducks need only a tub of water (not a pond).
6. Ducks love to eat snails.
7. Chickens have an aggressive pecking order, ducks are less aggressive.
8. Ducks can forage for 15% to 100% of their food.
9. Ducks need a smaller amount of feed (1/4 lb. per duck).
10. Ducks can be trained to eat weeds (oxalis) and snails.
11. Ducks sleep on hay; Chickens sleep on wood shavings.

Similarities between chickens and ducks:
1. Produce the same amount of eggs about 4,000 eggs per lifetime.
2. Eggs taste similar.
3. Need to lock-up chickens and ducks at night or raccoons will eat them.
4. Chickens and ducks can coexist.
5. Both eat the same feed except ducks need niacin supplement.

Free in the yard birds:
Chickens like to eat succulents and anything red like strawberries. You will have to sacrifice a part of your yard for them.

Birds have three life Stages:
chicks: birth - 2 months
teen: 2 months - 4.5 months
hen: 4.5 months - 5 years

Choosing Ducks or Chickens
1.Paul and Cooper recommend a dual purpose heritage breed. Dual purpose means that they are good egg producer but also have some meat on their bones; and therefore are good to eat when they die. They are also heavier so they don't fly the fence as easily.
2. You don't need a rooster when you have hens.
3. Keep at least three hens because it takes the pressure off one individual hen.
4. Hens lay 2 eggs every 3 days or 3 eggs every 4 days. That adds up to 270 eggs a year.
5. Chickens will become more friendly if raised with ducks.
6. Chicken and ducks can be raised together.
7. Spring is a good time to get chicks because they'll be in full production in summer which aligns with their biological clock.

How to tell if an egg is bad?
1. Eggs last 4 weeks in refrigerator and 2 weeks unrefrigerated.
2. Place an egg in a cup of water.
3. If it lays flat on its side at the bottom of the glass, it is fresh.
4. If it stands up at the bottom of the glass it is nearing the end of its freshness.
5. If it floats, it is bad.

Pests
Other animals can attack your birds so lock them up at night:
raccoons, dogs, skunks, possums, hawks, and owls

Diseases
1. Mites (lice) can be prevented by having a clean environment. Make a hard plastic, metal, or concrete nest box so it is easy to clean. Clean it weekly and bleach it once a month to keep it clean. You'll if your bird has mites because they run around the eyes. Fleas are not an issue. There is no cross contamination with bird lice to kids or house.
2. Eggs can get stuck in a birds vent. You have to reach up and pull it out.
3. Cannibalism happens if birds are bored or don't have good nutrition.
4. Chickens sometimes eat their own eggs. Once this happens it is unstoppable. To prevent egg eating, clean up any broken eggs immediately. And, don't feed your birds egg shells.

Feeding Birds
1. Raise your own chicks because it will minimize the stress on them when you need to handle them throughout their life.
2. Give your chicks a drink of water when you receive them in the mail. New chicks eat the egg white in their shells so they can last three days without food or water. That's why they are mailed.
3. Feed your chicks "chick starter" feed. Mix in rolled oats to chick starter at 8 weeks. Start mixing in "layer feed" at 18 weeks and switch completely at around 20 weeks. The difference is that there is calcium is in the layer feed. When the birds lay their first eggs start with 100% layer feed plus grit (sand) and oyster shells. You can serve everything buffet style because chickens only eat what they need.

Brooder Homes
1. A brooder is a home for chicks. Chicks need 1/2 square feet for each chick. As the chicks grow, give them more and more space. A full-grown hen needs 2-3 square feet.
2. A brooder can be a large cardboard box.
3. Chicks need a heat lamp with a red light bulb. The heat lamp should be high enough so that it isn't too hot and low enough so the chicks aren't cold. If they are all huddled under it; it is too cold.
4. Water and feeders should be up off the ground and lined up to the middle of the birds backs.
5. At 8 to 10 weeks when the chicks have their feathers, they can go outside.

Coop Homes
1. Coops are outside homes for birds. They include roost bars, nest boxes, safe enclosure, and ease of cleaning.
2. Coops should be 10 square feet per bird if the birds don't have a bird run or free access to the outside world. If they can go in and out of the coop, then three or four square feet is good.
3. A bird run is a secure large cage around the coop for the birds to hang out in. A bird run should be eight by eight feet. Bird runs are a good option for people with gardens that they don't want destroyed. You always have the option of letting them out for an hour or so under supervision. You can make a bird run frame out of two by four wood and then galvanized welded wire with one inch to two inch holes. The coop is inside the bird run. Keep water in the coop and in the bird run area. The structure needs to be fully enclosed which means the floor to the bird run should be wire as well because raccoons will dig.
4. Build 1 nest box for each bird. A nest box is where the hens lay their eggs. Put dry wood shavings in here for the birds to sit on. Ducks like straw. If you lived on a farm and had a lot of birds, one nest box per four birds is fine. Each nest box should be 10 inches wide by 12-14 inches in length and height. They are about the same size as an egg crate. The nest box needs to be a dark color.
5. Hens sleep on wood planks (roost bars) off the ground. The roost bars are 2 by 2 pieces of wood off the ground. There needs to two feet of room under roost bars that can easily be cleaned out daily. Chicken like 10 inches of roost bar per chicken. Ducks sleep on hay on the ground.
6. Water and feeders should be up off the ground and lined up to the middle of the birds backs.
7. Collect eggs daily.
8. Put Coop in the sun with some shade.
9. Build coop off the ground.
10. Put the feed outside the coop.

Feeding your Birds from the Kitchen
1. Food to avoid giving to your birds: potatoes, chocolate, avocados, onion and other foods like onions. Ironically, avoid feeding your ducks fish.
2. Let your birds forage your compost pile but keep your compost pile separate from your bird run.
3. Feed your birds two pounds of kitchen scraps a week.
4. Scratch is a treat food for birds. Only feed them a couple handfuls a day.
5. If you have a bird run, let your birds out in the late afternoon to eat bugs.

Other reading:
BackYardChickens.com
SF Bay Guardian Article with Paul Glowaski
Homeless Garden Project

City Chickens! And Ducks Too!

2009-04-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dreamed of keeping chickens in San Francisco? My friend, Amy, use to talk about it a lot. At the time, I thought she was a little nuts. But lately, with all my gardening and cooking, I can see keeping chickens, or why not, even ducks in the backyard.

Garden for the Environment has a class next Saturday to teach us city folks how to legally care for healthy chickens and ducks in our own backyards. My curiosity got the best of me and I signed-up. I am sure that my neighbors will be thrilled to read this post. :)

Over breakfast this morning, I asked Zack if he knew if we could eat duck eggs. He didn't know, but the internet seems to have a lot about it. http://www.duckeggs.com/duck-egg-questions.html#taste

We don't have any pets in our family and I am warming up to the idea of an all outdoor pet. No hair inside! Sounds perfect. We'll see if I feel differently after the workshop.

-------------------

CITY CHICKENS! AND DUCKS TOO!
AN INTRODUCTION TO RAISING AND CARING FOR HEALTHY CHICKENS AND DUCKS IN SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

You can keep chickens and ducks in San Francisco! Join Paul Glowaski and Cooper Funk of Urban Eggs for an exciting workshop on organic “eggriculture”. You will learn how to legally keep chickens and ducks in San Francisco, from coop design to health concerns, and what to feed them and examples of appropriate organic systems for both chickens and ducks.

To pre-register, please call (415) 731-5627, or email info@gardenfortheenvironment.org.

-------------------------------------

Here's additional reading on a local food writer who recently prepared goose eggs. http://www.thedinnerfiles.com/?p=964

Pictures of 2008 Victory Gardeners In Their Gardens

2009-04-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

SF Victory Gardens, a program of Garden for the Environment, installed 15 Victory Gardens for San Francisco residents in 2008. I was one of those lucky 15 people. Local photographer Anne Hamersky recently photographed the Victory Gardeners in their gardens, and bounty growing within. See Anne's photographs at http://www.annehamersky.com/gallery/VictoryGardeners/.

Other Reading:
http://www.examiner.com/x-2485-SF-Gardening-Examiner~y2009m3d3-Victory-gardening-San-Francisco-style

(Small wait for this Video)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/watch/video_3301_qt.html

http://www.spinachandhoney.com/search/label/Victory%20Garden

How to Cook Bok Choy

2009-03-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

We grew baby bok choy in our garden and it did very well. As a result, I learned how to cook it. For four heads of baby bok choy:

1) Cut the stems off from the leaf part and wash each separately because the stems need just a few more minutes in the pan.
2) Put a tablespoon of olive oil into a fry pan and add the stems. Cook for one minute.
3) Add 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce or to taste and a little pepper. You don't want too much soy sauce or it tastes bad.
3) When the stems are tender, add the leaves.
4) Cook leaves for three to five more minutes.
5) Add another 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce and a dash of pepper and serve.

Try adding garlic and ginger to the olive oil if you have the extra time.

Yeah! Obamas to Plant White House Vegetable Garden

2009-03-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Read New York Times Article here.

Seeing the Obama's plant a vegetable garden was one of my personal wishes for them to do while they live at the White House.

My eyes swelled up with tears while reading this article. It's such a powerful message and takes some backbone to stand up against large food corporations.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the last person to plant a garden on the White House lawn and she withstood huge criticism from large food companies. I am sure that the Obama's are standing up to equal if not more pressure. Obama's are demonstrating that they really do want real change.

"The Obamas have been lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally could lead to healthier eating and lessen reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer."

Read New York Times Article here.

Hiring a Doula

2009-03-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Instead of the obstetrician model of care, I am choosing the midwifery model of care; instead of a hospital birth, I am choosing a home birth; instead of taking the McMoyler Method childbirth class, I am taking Shelley Campbell's hypnobirth class; instead of no doula, I am hiring a doula.

Now that I know what I am up against, I want all the support that I can get. Having a midwife is not enough. I had a midwife for my first birth experience and she wasn't with me the whole labor like I thought that she would be. Most midwives are focused on vitals and technical things. They are very supportive and knowledgeable but work on the big picture rather than working with each surge. I understand this now and respect their role. They save their energy for catching the baby and any emergency that may come up.

A doula's only job is my comfort and to be by my side the whole time with each surge. I understand the difference between a doula and midwife now that I've experienced childbirth for myself and appreciate the importance of each of their roles during childbirth.

My childbirth experience could be fast since it's my second child. I might not need a doula, but I am thinking of it like insurance. If I need extra support to help me through transition or driving to the hospital or any other difficult situation that may arise, I want someone there to help me through it.

Mikey was pulled out of me via cesarean at the final hour, and I think that if a similar situation were to happen, a doula could help me better transition from labor to surgery to avoid some of the trauma that I suffered the first time around. Or she might be able to help me ask for more time to deliver my baby naturally. I now know that the power of birth and the hospital are so overwhelming that any bit of help is extremely valuable and could help to postpone or avoid surgery.

In their book, Mothering The Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth, Marshall Klaus, John Kennell and Phyllis Klaus summarize scientific studies which have been carried out on the advantages of doula-assisted births.

Benefits from the presence of a doula:

Reduced the overall cesarean rate by 50%
Reduced the length of labor by 25%
Reduced oxytocin use by 40%
Reduced the use of pain medication by 30%
Reduced forceps deliveries by 40%
Reduced requests for epidural pain medication by 60%
Reduced incidences of maternal fever
Reduced the number of days newborns spent in NICU (neo-natal infant care unit)
Reduced the amount of septic workups performed on newborns
Resulted in higher rates of breastfeeding
Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal confidence
Resulted in more positive maternal assessments of maternal and newborn health
Resulted in decreased rates of postpartum depression

I want my only job to be birthing my baby. I don't want to worry about what is happening around me. I want my doula to filter out the drama and deliver the truth to me in raw form. I want the information to come from someone that I trust because I don't trust unknown medical professionals like the McMoyler Method taught me to do for the first birth. Her method didn't work out so well for me. I want a doula to help protect my environment while I focus on my baby.

Zack and I interviewed six doulas and they were all wonderful and more than qualified for the job. Each interview happened at 8pm in our living room and lasted about an hour. We didn't have a list of questions. We just chatted with each doula and got to know them. Zack and I liked them all. We wrote down all the things that stood out about each one while doing the dishes after they left.

Each doula has something unique to offer and they are all very bright and interesting people. Britt has had amazing success with hypnobirth and is a prenatal childbirth instructor. Esther was a midwife years ago and has a valuable appreciation for postpartum care. Reise is a Birthing from Within childbirth instructor and prenatal yoga instructor. Spring is an apprentice midwife and massage therapist. Jamae has had two home births herself. And, Kara has attended 150 births. The hardest part will be deciding which one of these amazing women is the best fit for us.

Please share your doula recommendations in the comment section.

Kara Engelbrecht
kara@serpentine.com
http://www.karaengelbrecht.com/

Spring Childers
springcmt@yahoo.com
http://www.thebirthdoula.com/

Britt Fohrman
britt@brittfohrman.com
http://www.brittfohrman.com/

Esther Gallagher
esthergallagher@sbcglobal.net

Reise Tanner
reise@treeinthegarden.com
http://www.seedinthegarden.com/

Jamae Tasker
mamaladysf@gmail.com

Other resources:

http://www.sfdoulagroup.com/birthdoulas.html

http://www.naturalresources-sf.com/resources.html#birthdoulas

My other posts on home birth:

On my blog:

http://www.spinachandhoney.com/search/label/Home%20Birth

On SFGate:

Read some of my other posts about birth here, here, here, here and here.

Faux-fibers Labels

2009-03-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

Don't be fooled by polydextrose and other fiber additives.

Read in Slate about the latest way food companies are deceiving us with false food labels and how the FDA goes along for the ride.