Real Food in Little Rock

Willow Springs Market Garden

2012-02-26T22:47:00.000-06:00

by Robert Lashley

Peg and Robert

Willow Springs Market Garden was founded April 6, 2006. Peg, myself and son Alex, work the garden, with occasional volunteer helpers. Three dogs provide security from rabbits as well as people.

Our 3 acre garden is on a gentle southern slope just south of Little Rock, a half mile from the city limits. We couldn't find a single rock in the garden soil! An ancient river used to run through our place, a neighbor told us, leaving a sandy soil for our use.

Inputs to improve the soil include: alfalfa pellets, compost from American Composting on Faulkner Lake Road. (One cubic yard is $12 wholesale.) Worm castings, our own "homegrown" compost and cover crops of legumes, vetch and oats in the cooler weather and buckwheat and Iron and Clay cowpeas in the warmer months. Initially well rotted horse manure was used as a fertilizer, but we have stopped using that in favor of fish emulsion, seaweed extracts and the worm castings mentioned earlier. Our animal manure is now provided by our small flock of ducks, who's mobile pens are moved regularly so they can "weed and feed" the garden.

Because our garden is small we do not have any financial pressure to make a profit, as Peg and I both work as registered nurses in local hospitals. This allows us to experiment freely with various unusual vegetables.

This year we are growing Mars celeriac, and Flower Sprouts, a cross between kale and brussels sprouts. Unusual fruits in the works include Goji berries, honeyberries, jujubes, and paw-paws. Minutina, lambs quarters and radicchio liven up a selection of salad greens. Asparagus is a spring treat coming up in April.

The inspiration for starting the garden came from Eliot Coleman's book The New Organic Grower
which spells out the steps to follow from land selection, to organic inputs to improve the soil, to tips on marketing. The section on which type of equipment to purchase, was very instructive.

We chose a BCS 853 diesel 2-wheel walk behind tractor as our main workhorse. Five years of almost daily use has proved the durability of this well made Italian machine. Provided with a PTO we run a range of implements with the tractor. We highly recommend Earthtools, the leading retailer of 2-wheel tractors in the U.S.A. We were able to buy the tractor, rotary plough, tiller, brush mower, trailer, dozer blade, for $8,000, a huge savings over the John Deere type conventional tractors. The diesel engine requires little maintenance and we use bio diesel to run it.

I am a founding member on the board of directors of the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market, located April through November at 6th Street and Main in North Little Rock. We are opening quietly April 7th this year, with a Grand Opening the following weekend. You can also find our products online here (Saturday pick up) and here (Wednesday pick up).

Come and visit with us to get to know your farmers by their first names.

Robert, Peg and Alex.

Willow Springs Market Garden, LLC*
4924 Willow Springs Road
Little Rock AR 72206
501-944-7180
http://www.willowspringsmarketgarden.com
* We decided to incorporate as a LLC to take advantage of the legal protections offered by being a corporation. Today's society is so litigious, and we also obtained a sales tax number. Dealing with the sales tax division is one of the most trying aspect of running a small business in Arkansas.

Come and see us soon: take exit 133 Geyer Springs off I-30 and go straight south 4 miles until the end and make a 90 degree left onto Willow Springs Road. We are one half mile on the left.

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Also in this series: Rattle's Garden, Tammy Sue's Critters and Falling Sky Farm. If you are a farmer and would like to showcase your farm, email Julie: luvmyhub AT gmail DOT com

Falling Sky Farm

2012-02-22T21:10:00.000-06:00

by Andrea Todt from Falling Sky Farm

My partner, Cody Hopkins and I (Andrea Todt) started our farm, Falling Sky Farm, in 2007. It is in Marshall, Arkansas - about 100 miles north of Little Rock.

Why We Farm

Cody and I met and read Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma in 2006. We both love food, and we were looking for a way to stay in the beautiful rural Arkansas Ozark's. Both of us are college educated with degrees in physics and outdoor education, but there just weren't many job opportunities for us here.

After visiting Joel Salatin's Polyface farm in Virginia (featured in Pollen's book) we decided to give small-scale, grass-based livestock farming a go. That was five years ago. We are committed to raising delicious healthy food in a manner that respects the animals we raise as well as the land we raise them on. We are also passionate about participating in, and supporting, our local economy and community.

What We Raise

On our farm we raise meat - poultry, pork and beef.

Cody with happy turkeys

The chickens, ducks, and turkeys for meat are raised in floor-less pens "tractors" which are moved daily to fresh pasture - keeping the animals clean and healthy while at the same time fertilizing our pastures and building organic matter in our soils. We also have a flock of hens who lay beautiful, delicious and nutritious eggs. (We are planning on increasing our flock size this year to make sure we can supply more of you with this high-demand item!)

The hogs reside in our wooded acreage - keeping the understory cleared out while foraging for acorns and other tasty treats. Both our hogs and poultry are supplemented with a GMO-free grain ration.

foraging hogs

We raise beef cattle that are strictly grass-fed and finished. We manage all our animals intensively, moving them regularly to allow plenty of rest and regrowth time for our pastures and woods, and plenty of high-quality food for our animals. Frequent moves also aid in breaking parasite cycles, allowing us freedom from chemical dewormers and the use of antibiotics to keep our animals healthy.

Beef: it's what's for dinner.

Farm Hands

As for help - we have grown large enough that we now employ, at least part-time, several members from the local community to help us with chores during the busy season (spring and fall is when we raise the majority of our broilers - meat chickens), various projects that are always happening on a farm (fencing, running water-line, and building projects mostly), and then the big one- processing all of the poultry.

All our chickens, ducks and turkeys are processed on-farm, and on butcher days we'll have up to 7 other people working with the two of us to get the birds from their (we hope) happy life in the pasture to their packages in the freezer.

By doing all of our own processing for the birds we are able to keep their lives as stress-free as possible and ensure a clean and respectful environment for their journey to your kitchen. Some day we would love to be set up to be able to process all our animals on farm, but for now we do haul our hogs and beef to a certified USDA butcher.

Andrea & baby Sam at the Argenta Farmer's Market in NLR

Joys of Farming

One of the greatest parts of our "job" (more a lifestyle in my mind) is that I really appreciate the connection to the land and the animals that comes from farming. It is not always as romantic as it might seem (in fact it's often not) but there are certainly those days when it's beautiful outside, and you have a few minutes to sit and enjoy the serenity of the cattle herd grazing enthusiastically in the new paddock you just moved them too, or to take a walk in the woods to check the pigs and sit for awhile on a log and enjoy them rooting or resting contentedly in the leaves. There is always something new happening - never a dull moment!

Challenges of Farming

By far we have found that the most challenging aspect of farming is how many hats it requires you to wear. Not only do you have to be good at (in our case) raising and caring for animals, but you also have to be a marketer, a bookkeeper, good at networking with other growers/farmers and able to fix all those little things that always come up on a small farm, and in a small business. All of this must be accomplished with the lack of infrastructure that exists for small farmers (finding mills that will get us the grain we want, finding butchers for our beef and pork- much of what used to be available in most small communities around the country is now lacking).

It is certainly very rewarding work, and the appreciation and commitment of our customers is a huge help in getting us through the challenging times. We also have the support of friends and family who help out tremendously.

The Future for Falling Sky Farm

I am looking forward to experimenting with growing some grains this year- to supplement a small part of the grain we purchase for the animals, but mostly for our own consumption and that of our customers! We shall see how successful I am... if it goes well I anticipate doing more next year and incorporating the use of draft animals (a passion of mine).

We are very much looking forward to living on the farm full-time. As soon as our land-owners finish their new house we will be moving into their old one. In the past we have lived in an airstream camper from April to Thanksgiving on the farm. Soon we will be in a real house instead of the airstream (which is great, but will begin to feel a little cramped with a boisterous 17 month old when we move back up for the spring season!)

Where can you find us?

We direct market with all of our products. The majority of our customers and our venues are in Little Rock and Conway. You will find me, and our 15-month-old son Sam, at the North Little Rock Argenta Farmer's market most Saturdays through the market season. We have also attended the Hillcrest market several times.

For on-line markets, we sell through both the Little Rock Locally Grown and the Conway Locally Grown markets (in fact, we started the CLG market in May of 2008 in an effort to create another outlet for our products, as well as for those of other local farmers).

Several restaurants in Little Rock have our meat on the menu. To name a few: Brave New, Ashley's at the Capital Hotel, Heifer Cafe, Hillcrest Artisan Meats, and The Root Cafe.

We offer a Meat Share Program- a years supply of meat (for most families): 1/4 beef, 1/4 pork, 24 chickens and a turkey delivered to your home in it's own freezer! For customers interested in purchasing in bulk this is certainly the most economical way to buy from us.

If you are interested in hearing more about our farm keep an eye on our Falling Sky Farm facebook page, and check our website periodically. I'll have information about our spring open-farm posted soon! Thank you for your interest and support of our farm. Happy eating!

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Also in this series: Rattle's Garden and Tammy Sue's Critters. If you are a farmer and would like to showcase your farm, email Julie: luvmyhub AT gmail DOT com

REAL Chocolate Syrup

2012-02-20T21:39:00.004-06:00

You know you want to make this...

HB here.
I love chocolate. I love milk. I love chocolate milk. I grew up making chocolate milk with Hershey's syrup and later in life moved onto bigger and better things: Nesquik Chocolate Milk Mix. So tasty, chocolately and just loaded with sugar. Somewhere in the midst of all this chocolate milk drinking, I got married and had a baby. Then, I had two babies at once. By the time I needed to feed all three of these tiny, cute people something other than breastmilk or baby food, I began questioning everything we ate, including my precious chocolate milk mix and the Hershey's Syrup drowning my ice cream. :( Sad, sad, sad. I found a chocolate syrup at Whole Foods that did not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup but it was around $5 for one bottle. Ouch. So, I searched the internets and found the below recipe. I've been making it for nearly 2 years, y'all. It's that good. I have never once made it with white sugar. I always use unrefined sugars, such as sucanat or muscavado and the syrup is divine.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup muscavado or sucanat
1/4 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup water
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk cocoa, sugar and salt in a pot till combined. Add water and whisk till well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove syrup from heat, let it cool for a bit and then add the vanilla. I've added the vanilla when it's still quite hot and it's been fine, although I'm sure some foodie somewhere would tell me never to do that. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 1 3/4 cups of syrup and will keep in the refrigerator for a loooooooong time. I use a scant tablespoon per one glass of chocolate milk. This recipe doubles very well and makes great chocolate shakes or hot chocolate. I've not tried making this with honey or maple syrup. Anytime I've tried to sweeten something containing cocoa with honey instead of sugar, it just doesn't float my boat. So, enjoy it and don't hate yourself for wanting something sweet. :)

Tammy Sue's Critters

2012-02-19T19:45:00.001-06:00

Tammy & Skip at the market

To help our readers get to know the farmers of central Arkansas, I have asked some of them to share about their farms. Today's article is by Tammy Pope of Tammy Sue's Critters.

Known as Tammy Sue's Critters, my husband, Skip, and I farm ten acres on the Pulaski-Faulkner county line. Our critters include dairy goats, angora goats, a llama, and a flock of chickens.

The spring is a busy time on the farm. Let me show you around.

Our Critters
The herd of French Alpine dairy goats is hovering at eleven heads. However this spring our farm will experience a bit of a population explosion with kids (baby goats). We also have three angora goats, which are kept for their fleece. From the goats, we get milk and use this to make soap and lotion for our small business. We also make cheese. For personal use, we make yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, and buttermilk.

Currently we are in the process of doing an add on to the goat house. This will enable us to install a three section sink and apply for grade A dairy status. Hopefully this will be completed by spring.

Our flock of chickens flitters at forty for the time being. About mid March we are expecting thirty more chicks. This will really increase our egg production. The girls head out in the morning to forage for the day, then are in by dusk. Later in the spring, we are enlarging the hen house to add additional boxes. We offer our eggs at the Argenta farmer's market and on the Farm 2 Work online market.

Soap and Lotion
Our forty scents of (as well as unscented) soap are made with goat's milk and vegetable products. The same natural ingredient standard goes for our lotions. We are expanding our line this year to include a shampoo and a shaving bar.

My hope, when we started this, was to create a useful product, reasonably priced. We are proud of our soap and our lotion and are pleased to keep it affordable.

The Veggies
Each spring we grow heirloom vegetable plants in our small greenhouse. We have many varieties of tomatoes, several types of peppers, beans and eggplant. These are available through Farm 2 Work, Little Rock Locally Grown, Conway Locally Grown, and the Argenta farmer's market.

The Future
This is our fourth year in business and we have been on the farm for over six years. Our web site is Tammysuescritters.com. I have a blog which also provides contact and product information on it. Spy on in and see more pictures of our farm.

Our biggest issue at present is that my husband and I are still working full time with the North Little Rock School District. This makes it difficult for us to keep up with everything. The plan is for both of us to be on the farm full time in three years. When we are in a tight spot our son helps us out. We also have built relationships with some other farmers and they have been there to help if needed.

As a community, we need to support each other and our neighbors. By purchasing locally produced products, we are strengthening our own economy and helping people we know achieve their goals, raise families and become self sufficient.

Each Saturday in the farmer's market season (April - October) you will find us at the Argenta Farmer's Market or say hi on Facebook. Please stop by and try our soap and lotions. We are looking forward to meeting you!

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Last week we learned about Rattle's Garden. If you are a farmer and would like to be a part of this series, email Julie: luvmyhub AT gmail DOT com.

Urban Homesteading Workshop Series

2012-02-17T15:47:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Arkansas blogs is Green AR by the Day, written by Nao Ueda. She is going to be teaching a workshop on urban homesteading at the Green Corner Store. Details below.

Curious about urban homesteading? Interested in becoming more self-sufficient?

The Green Corner Store will host a three-part Urban Homesteading Workshop Series, 6-7:30 p.m. beginning March 8 at the store (1423 D South Main) in Little Rock.

Nao Ueda, author of GreenAR by the Day, will share tips on how to grow and preserve food, raise farm animals, keep bees, and still live in the city. The three-part workshop will cover:

March 8 – What is Urban Homesteading: Overview
March 22 – Gardening & Harvest Preservation
April 5 – Keeping Farm Animals in the City
$15 per session. Handouts and light refreshments provided.

Come to one, two, or all three workshops! Each session is limited to 15 participants, so register early!

RSVP by calling (501) 374-1111 or emailing info@thegreencornerstore.com.

Freezer Cooking Class by HB

2012-02-17T14:25:00.000-06:00

Last night HB hosted a Freezer Cooking Class in her kitchen (invitation only). She gave everyone a packet of super valuable information. After a brief time of teaching we watched her mad skillz with the fryin' pan.

Of her own admittance, the kitchen is quite small - not quite ten feet square. The size does not limit her ability to cook nutritious and delicious food for her growing family and she wanted to encourage us all to be content with what we have.

The foundation for many Southern Delicacies is a cream of mushroom soup (HB is the epitome of southern, y'all.) So, she demonstrated how to make the perfect cream of mushroom soup (recipe here.)

Wendy's Real Food Resolutions

2012-02-14T09:22:00.001-06:00

This post is written by Wendy. It is part of a series we started last year on New Year's Real Food Resolutions. The first part of the post was written in 2011; in the second half Wendy reports on their progress as well as what they are looking forward to in 2012.

With 38 years of eating, 6 years of studying clinical nutrition, and 15 years of feeding a family behind me, I feel like I’m only beginning to get a grasp on a truly healthy view of food.

I’ve long been a healthy eater by most standards, especially those I studied and taught in my former life as a dietitian. Yet much of what I built our family eating patterns upon has been up-ended as I’ve looked more to the specific needs of my children.

My husband Chad and I have four growing girls. They’ve always loved helping me in the kitchen, for which I am very grateful. We’ve made many wonderful memories in our aprons!

I specifically recall a conversation with an acquaintance in Ohio roughly six years ago. My daughters were 7, 4 and newborn at the time, and as I chatted with this mother of teenage daughters, she shared about her girls’ premature “development” and their family’s recent decision to purchase organic milk based on her personal reading about the hormones and antibiotics in conventional milk. I had always walked right past the organic section in our local Kroger, focused solely on keeping my monthly grocery budget in check. However, we decided that with four girls, the extra expense of organic milk would be worth it if the concerns were even remotely legitimate.

Ultimately, that conversation was what moved feeding my family beyond a simple financial decision in the grocery aisles and opened my eyes to the need to (re)educate myself.

Fast-forward to mid-2009, when the frustration of one daughter who has struggled with learning challenges and one who is plagued by constant intestinal issues drove me to tears. I prayed even more earnestly for direction in helping them where medical professionals and medications could not. The One who created them and loves them best is also my Counselor, and so I began to pour out my heart to God more regularly on behalf of my children. I also began to read and ask a lot of questions, slowly coming to terms with the humbling realization that I hadn’t learned much of practical value in graduate school after all.

The new learning curve was and is steep. Reading The Maker’s Diet and watching Food, Inc. have been helpful. Our best decision thus far has been joining a local meat-share program, which has provided a freezer full of grass-fed meats which I get to experiment with each week (a big shout out to Falling Sky Farm). I have to say I pretty much feel like a newlywed again, since only about half of my attempts over the past six months or so have gotten the “thumbs-up!” I am so thankful for the challenge, though, and how it is stretching me.

In 2009, we began by tackling the snacks around here, trying our best to avoid the pre-packaged items, and going instead for apples and peanut butter or cheese or mixed nuts. This was a really big deal at first, since we eat six times a day every day – seriously! That’s 18 meals and 18 snacks per day – all making a mess on the island and counters in my kitchen. We do still grab peanut butter crackers and granola bars from Sam’s occasionally, but the girls turn their noses up at them unless they’re really hungry and we’re truly “on the go.” Even my 5 year-old readily prepares her own snack rather than looking for a boxed item now.

In 2010, I really wanted to make a major kitchen transition – you know, throw out everything you’ve ever purchased and never buy it again. My husband didn’t so much go for that, but in his wisdom offered to discuss what would be most beneficial for our particular family and our current stage of life.

These are the goals Chad and I laid out for 2010 in January, dubbing them “the four B’s”:

BREAD - We began making our own sandwich bread from freshly-ground wheat berries the first Saturday in January – one year under our belts now. Yeah! We’ve had some really “dry” weeks, where even the toast wasn’t so great, but overall it’s been a good experience and I think we’re moving toward
more consistently edible bread.

BUTTER instead of margarine – and more of it. While we were at it, we also got rid of all cooking spray and cooking oils, keeping only coconut and olive.

BREAKFAST - We became much more intentional about incorporating a protein source every morning. This has often been eggs, but we have counted whole milk yogurt, too. Mid-year we also did away with any and all breakfast cereals (read why here). I have to tell you, my kids (and husband) really fretted about this one for a few weeks. Now? Well, I made our traditional huge batch of sweet potatoes for a Christmas Eve dinner party, which needed a couple of cups of Corn Flakes on top. The remainder of it sat in the pantry untouched for two weeks without anyone even asking for it. They’ve really begun to enjoy baked oatmeal, yogurt with granola, homemade muffins, and such.

And, finally, BEDTIME - Believing adequate rest was probably the main thing lacking in our girls’ lives, we resolved to re-establish earlier bedtimes for all four of them. That lasted about a week. We’re not nearly as good at the whole bedtime thing as when we just had one child. Oh well!

kombucha

The things that were added in along the way in 2010 were learning to make dairy kefir (used primarily for soaking oats and wheat so far) and kombucha in early summer. We made 6 quart-sized jars of the soda-style kombucha every week for about 5 months, interrupted by a family trip in December. My girls started begging to make it again – they were very glad to get back to it this month!

As for 2011, my thoughts are to branch out beyond bread and pancakes with the freshly-ground wheat (and to try other grains as well). This should be a little easier with my new Bosch – I never thought I would be so excited about receiving kitchen appliances from my husband for Christmas!

Another goal is to return to our pattern of hosting other families for supper 2-3 times per month. Actually, it’s not so much that we haven’t had friends over, but more that when we do host, I still serve one of several tried and true recipes adopted over the past decade. I need to figure out how to prepare and serve “real food” recipes that would be crowd-pleasers.

Finally, I would love to build on our weekly farmers’ market purchases of last spring, summer, and fall. Oh, how I miss the farmers’ market! I’m thinking the goal might be to double the amount of produce I choose each week in order to put some aside for winter. (Help! I have no idea how to do that!)

Thanks for the invitation to share our baby steps, Julie. Thinking back over our recent journey has made me realize how far we’ve already come. Now even the larger steps that remain ahead don’t seem nearly so scary anymore!

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2012 Update

I am glad to report that we have enjoyed many opportunities to host in the past year and we have a deep freeze full of yummy vegetables from the surplus of our Kellogg Farms CSA (I highly recommend purchasing a half or full share for great produce all summer long)!

My teenage daughter has taken on full responsibility for keeping the kombucha going week in and week out, for which I am very grateful. She also keeps herself busy in the kitchen making homemade applesauce, salsa, and more whenever her schedule allows. What a blessing!

We are still failing miserably at the bedtime thing. I seriously need ideas to have at least a few people in this house asleep before 10:00 p.m. each night.

In 2011, we did find great new ways of using the wheat berries to make hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, and more, thanks in large part to friend Johanna Gelatt, who gave a bread-making demonstration in my crowded kitchen last winter. If you're considering grinding your own wheat, get in touch with Johanna - she can share from a wealth of knowledge and experience!

Our food world was turned upside-down yet again when we took the plunge to begin the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) in November in order to address our 7 year-old's ongoing GI troubles (www.pecanbread.com and www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info). No wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, rice, or sugars here for the forseeable future, but we are thrilled with her new outlook on life thus far!

The added work in the kitchen to make the SCD happen would have been truly impossible even two short years ago - I would have been in a heap of tears on the floor, I'm afraid. Instead, by God's grace, we have taken baby steps which have led us to the place of being able to say "yes" to a radical change in eating that is proving to be very beneficial for our Caris. I am grateful!

The words I am focused on for 2012 are "simplicity" and "authenticity" - in relationships, in parenting, in life. They aren't specifically related to our eating, but I can certainly see how returning to preparing and eating whole, real foods is a simple way to live (not easy, mind you, but simple). The relationships that grow as we work together in the kitchen, defer to one another's needs while on the go, and invite others into our home are the biggest joy of all. . . and they're authentic! Win-win!

-Wendy

Rattle's Garden: A Local Organic Farm

2012-02-12T21:10:00.000-06:00

Guest post by Tara Stainton

Our farm's name is Rattle's Garden, located near Vilonia, Arkansas. On paper it's run by myself, my husband and our 18-month old son. Sustaining it however, requires the help of a lot of extended family, friends and college interns. One of the aspects I love the most about a small farm is that it becomes a sort of community.

This is our fifth year selling vegetables and flowers but only our third year of it being my primary form of work. My husband works in Little Rock for a small company that specializes in wetland mitigation which is cool because both of us have a passion for environmental issues.

I grew up in the middle of corn and soybean fields in Iowa. My parents didn't farm but my extended family did and almost all of our friends and neighbors had ties to agriculture. Despite being so close to it, I really had very little knowledge of commercial agriculture growing up. Terms like "Round-Up Ready" and talk of commodities among the adults in my life as I was growing up went in one ear and out the other for me. I was twenty-eight years old when I read Jane Goodall's "Harvest for Hope", merely by chance. In it, she spoke of seeds being genetically modified to withstand Round Up being sprayed on them. Round Up Ready. Wait, corn and soybeans we are using as food being sprayed with Round Up? Something clicked and my eyes were opened. With my husband working out of town for about two months I spent endless hours on the internet researching industrial agriculture and our current food system. I became determined to grow our own food.

My first garden was small. A small garden still has appeal to my type A personality. I could control almost everything in it. I could raise the rows easily to allow my plants to stay above standing water in early spring. Bad bugs could be hand-picked in a small garden. Plants could be easily covered in the fall to provide frost protection.

All of that got a little more difficult as our garden grew to this.

And we've grown more this year. I think we'll continue to do so as long as we can continue to maintain the standards we started with. I am a firm believer in growing organically.

With that in mind, until last summer, I've never considered certifying organic. My main reason for this was that I had standards set beyond certified organic standards. Until last summer we never even used an organically approved compound on our garden. When bugs or disease got bad we burned bugs and plants and replanted. This was costly but really important to me. The way I see it is we are not that much higher on the evolutionary scale than bugs and plants. A neurotoxin is a neurotoxin whether it is naturally sourced or synthetically produced.

Enter blister beetles. Last summer blister beetles threatened to wipe out our entire vegetable crop.

We had to make a decision. We either needed to cut the garden back to a more manageable scale and only produce our own food or find alternative means to combat blister beetles. As difficult as this was for me, we chose to use an organic compound called Pyganic to fight the blister beetles the rest of the summer.

The only thing that made me feel better about this decision was knowing that Robert and I would be in control of where the Pyganic was being used. Most of the time we were able to knock the bugs off of the plant and then spray them on the ground as they ran for cover. The few times we did have to spray directly on a plant, I marked the plant with twine and we didn't pick from it again. That is how much it scares me to use a chemical of any kind.

This story is awfully long to tell over and over at the farmers market. So the only way I see to honestly label our food is to certify organic. I hope this is the right decision.

In the meantime, our spring is ramping up with our tiny greenhouse overflowing with early vegetables and flower seedlings.

I'm excited about the summer and can't wait to be back at the Argenta and Hillcrest farmers markets. We hope to have a bigger presence at the ASN online market this year as well. I started a blog a few months ago where I'm attempting to document most of what is happening here on the farm. I don't know any way to be more transparent about how we are growing things. If you want to follow us you can find it at www.rattlesgarden.com, otherwise come meet us at the market. We love to make new friends!

VIDEO: Chicken and Rice Soup

2012-02-09T22:04:00.000-06:00

HB shares her secrets for making a HUGEMONGUS batch of delicious, nutritious chicken and rice soup in no time flat. It is four gallons worth to be exact. Watch below or click here if reading in email.

And for the record, she added the chicken after the rice cooked (no matter what she said on the video). There wasn't room in the pot for it.

-Julie

Cooking for an Army

2012-02-09T22:03:00.000-06:00

When HB and I get together and cook a month's worth of food for two families, we have been cooking and chopping solo in our respective kitchens for several days prior. I've attempted to document in pictures the vast proportions of food used in this herculean effort.

Cooking insane amounts of food causes one's mind to wander and I've wondered about the sanity of chopping 23 cups of onions!! Yes, I used my food processor for some of the onions. However, it is not alway consistent with chopping the onion. I need to hide from my texture sensitive son so I chopped some of the onions in tiny pieces. And it makes me cry. You should smell my house.

Other odiferous offerings: this is what 24 chopped cloves of garlic looks like. All of it went into the curry.

We used fresh and roasted garlic. Food photographer I am not. Let me reassure you, those 8 heads of roasted garlic were incredible. My husband, who eats girl food, said it looked so good he wanted to eat it for breakfast.

Not everything is stinky. Some of it is kind of sweet - like 8 cups of coconut milk.

Here's what four pounds of garbanzo beans look like after they've been soaked and cooked. That's almost two gallons of beans!

yummy hummus here we come!

The Cruise Director told me to roast 22 sweet potatoes but I think I roasted a few extra...and we used every single one.

I used a roaster for the first time this week. It's really just a huge crock pot.

Long story short: last week I let the water boil out of my broth leaving a dry crock pot. In an early morning stupor, I poured cold water into a very hot (and dry) crock pot. Do not do that. It will crack. You will be sad. And feel very stupid.

Every cloud has its lining. I borrowed this roaster from my friend who has TWELVE children. (Yes they are all biological! I suppose she feels like she cooks for an army every night.) This roaster is awesome. I cooked 3 chickens at the same time.

The next day I cooked three more (total of six) because the Cruise Director told me we needed more chicken.

Another reason this roaster is incredible: BROTH!! I'm talking GALLONS of broth at one time. Those are chicken feet in there, people. Go get you some.

This is just a small glimpse of what it is like to cook for an army. To read the menu and recipes for our cooking day, go here.

Not pictured: 3 gallons of broth, 60 cups of cooked and chopped chicken, 4 quarts of heavy cream, 5 pounds of butter, 7 pounds of cheese and a lot of soap to wash all the dishes!

-Julie

Batch Cooking: Another Day in the Freezer

2012-02-09T21:36:00.000-06:00

HB and I cooked a ton of food today - great proportions of nutritious and delicious goodness (menu and recipes here). My saintly mother arrived last night from Kentucky and not only provided childcare for us today but also washed a mountain of dishes. She was a HUGE help.

L to R: Brenda (Julie's mom), Julie, Gramm (HB's son) and HB

I will admit to telling HB that I thought we were biting off more than we could chew. Her response? "I will not admit defeat until I walk out of that kitchen." She was raising the bar whether I was ready or not.

The biggest difference maker of the day was the fact that the Cruise Director came with a schedule in hand. She wrote out what and when dishes would be made and by whom. In the end we agreed that the schedule helped tremendously with our time management.

It must also be said that we could not have cooked this much food on our first cooking day. This is our fourth time to cook together. Each time we get to know each other better - our strengths and weaknesses (I don't always measure - she likes to follow recipes exactly.) I feel like we're kind of in a rhythm now. The next cooking day will go even smoother. But I don't think it would be possible to make more food.

HB started immediately with sauteing onions and peppers for the burritos while I went to work on the curry. Below is a picture of her burrito making station. She was making burritos at 9:00 this morning.

After the above picture, the Cruise Director had me so busy that I ~~couldn't~~ didn't take any more pictures until the end of the day.

Below you'll see our packaging station - a card table and an ironing board. Instead of rolling up the area rug, I put the orange table cloth on it (because the rug is a bear to get to lay flat if it's moved.) Please note that we were running out of table space so I started laying packaged food on the floor. The Cuties boxes were the perfect size for storing our burritos for the freezer.

Recap -
8:45 - HB arrives
8:46 - we start cooking
8:47 - our boys start ~~fighting~~ arguing. My mother runs interference.
11:00 - Mom takes 3 kids to Chick-fil-A
11:30 - HB & I eat lunch standing up while cooking/cleaning
2:00 - drink pina coladas for a little pick-me-up. A special drink is always planned for the day.
2:45 - HB leaves to pick up the twins from preschool (I washed dishes)
It's starting to get blurry now. I can't remember if we were packaging before or after the twins. Because once the 4 year old twins were in the kitchen...well, production screeched to a crawl. My mother took them to the park. We worked like mad to clean the kitchen and package remaining food.
4:30 - HB's swagger wagon pulls out of my driveway.
4:31 - I put burritos in the oven to warm for dinner.
4:32 - I collapse on the couch.

-Julie

Real Food Bloggers Bite Off More Than They Can Chew

2012-02-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

HB here.

'Tis the night before another cooking day with Julie. After our last cooking day, we ran out of food way too fast. So, this time, we've decided to up the ante. We are attempting to cook more than we've ever cooked! Doesn't that sound awesome? Don't you want to come wash our dishes?!

Here's what's on the docket:

Nourishing Traditions Curry (recipe improved and quadrupled by Julie)

My Chicken Alfredo Lasagna (enough for six-8x8 pans, recipe to come)
Hummus (roasted red pepper and the traditional varieties...Julie soaked and cooked four pounds of dry beans that cooked up to almost two gallons of garbanzos...)
Burritos (36 total, some beef, some chicken, some pork, some mostly bean for the man who eats girl food)
Cheesey Mexican Chicken (recipe quadrupled)
Chicken Pot Pie (recipe quadrupled)

I need onion goggles

Pizza Sauce (huge batch in crock pot)
Sweet Tater Casserole (recipe here, doubled, sans raisins)
Chicken and Rice Soup (HUGE batch)
Soaked Muffins (recipe quadrupled, adding zucchini that we froze from the summer)

In order to prepare for cooking day, Julie has been chopping up a storm (I tried to help, but she insisted on covering chopping duties. Isn't she the best?!) We've cooked and deboned a total of 11 chickens, I've made lists, written instructions and gathered a few things to take to Julie's house for cooking and assembling the dishes.

Poor Julie had a hard time chopping the 23 cups of onions needed for our adventures. She sent me this picture in the middle of the day with the subject line "I'm okay" and she mentioned something about me being a "slave driver". That girl has a flare for drama.

flour FLOUR everywhere!

My last task of the day was to grind the wheat for the muffins and begin the soaking process. Long story short, I didn't install the bowl on my grain mill properly and several cups of freshly ground wheat flour shot out all over my pantry. My pantry is also my laundry room, which means that freshly folded and laundered items were baptized in flour. Props to my wonderful husband for cleaning up the HUGE mess. Did I mention that as soon as I discovered my grain mill spraying my pantry, I put myself in the line of fire to save my precious laundry?!

All in the name of nutritious meals for my fam,

-HB

Chicken Curry tweaked from Nourishing Traditions

2012-02-07T14:45:00.000-06:00

This recipe was inspired from the Chicken Curry (page 287) in Nourishing Traditions.

My family liked it (thanks Rachael for the suggestion!) so it has been decided as a batch cooking recipe. The original recipe does not call for rice (potatoes or beans). However, I served it over rice the first time I made it. The second time making it, I added rice while cooking to save a step. I like the consistency much better. It is now like a stew or thick soup. The sweet potatoes, green and garbanzo beans were added for flavor, texture and bulk.

Following recipe is tweaked and quadrupled from the original recipe in Nourishing Traditions. Of course you can alter the spices for your family's palate.

2 whole chickens, cooked and deboned
1.5 sticks butter or 12 T coconut oil
6 cups onions, chopped
8 T tumeric
4 t five spice (cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, white pepper)
5 T cumin
1/2 t cayenne
4 t corriander
24 cloves garlic, diced
16 cups chicken broth (one gallon!)
4 lemons, juiced
4 c brown rice, soaked for better nutrient absorption
8 cups coconut milk - make your own for cheap
8 cups frozen green beans
4-6 c. diced sweet potato, cooked
4-8 c. (2-4 cans, rinsed/drained) garbanzo beans - optional
lots of Real Salt
fresh cracked pepper

Directions
Saute onions in butter until soft. Add spices and stir for several minutes. Add chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir in garlic, rice and coconut milk. Simmer partially covered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced and thickened. Stir in chicken and season to taste. Add sweet potato and green beans very last since they are already cooked.

Serve sprinkled with toasted coconut and chopped green onions. On the side serve a fermented chutney, like this one with apples or this one with cranberries.

-Julie

Melissa's New Year's Real Food Resolutions

2012-02-06T09:49:00.003-06:00

This post was written in 2011 by Melissa, mother of SIX boys. At the end of the post she gives an update for 2012.

This girl is definitely more in the “drop the ball” camp when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. Nonetheless, I face 2011 with great optimism that setting goals, whether they get fully met or not is a worthy practice! After all, how are you gonna measure your success without a gauge?

When it comes to eating real food this year, I am more optimistic than ever! Why? Because for one thing, I am already making significant baby steps (significant for me and my family anyway). And secondly, because the idea of eating real, whole, healthy foods moved from that part of my psyche that wants to be thin and pretty and acceptable in the world’s eyes to the part that says, “This matters for health and well-being and even for spiritual reasons.”

When things move from the superficial to the meaningful, the need to incorporate that becomes powerful and intentional. And even though I find myself occasionally (okay, more often than I’d like to admit…) reverting back to bad habits, especially in this past holiday season of feasting, I find that I am more convinced that my health is the thing taking the beating - not my waistline. It is for those reasons that I once again, set my face towards the goal and say…LET’S DO THIS!

My resolutions for this New Year are a short list but packed with lots of change for my family. Baby stepping we will go into this as we have already been doing!

1. Conquer my fear of the farmer’s market and buying locally.

Those of you who frequent the markets are wondering what it is I am so afraid of!? It is just the unknown. I feel unknowledgeable about things like what to look for in produce and local meat, what is a fair price, and if I can afford to pay the price. I tend to fall into extremes, either buy nothing…or buy everything…and either way live with regret. One way I am baby stepping towards this is to purchase organic produce a little at a time from Whole Foods and try new veggies and recipes with them. Then, once I know what my family will eat and how much is good and how much is a waste…I can make better decisions at the markets. I also plan to find a buddy who will go with my and hold my hand…so to speak!

2. Continue to experiment with new cooking techniques and recipes.

I have conquered kombucha and kefir and even tried Hindu fermented lemonade! Now, I’d like to try lacto-fermented mayonnaise, sauerkraut, more grain-soaking and maybe grain-sprouting. I also want to make my own vanilla extract, my own spice mixes (like taco seasoning, salad dressing spices, etc), and more of my own condiments.

3. Improve at managing my grocery and household budget so that making more expensive, but healthier choices will be doable.

I firmly believe that this can be done. I have already seen it. For example, if I make my own kefir I don’t have to buy yogurt at Whole Foods and that savings alone justifies my purchase of a cow share so that we can have access to raw milk! If I buy less sugar and snacks that are unhealthy, I can justify purchasing organic produce. And, if I buy in bulk or from a co-op I have to spend more up front perhaps…but in the long run I am saving money…and my health! I want to get really savvy at this so I can show my husband that indeed, we are NOT spending more for this lifestyle or that if we are, it is minimal and worth it!

4. Begin weaning myself and my family away from chemicals in our home.

I confess….I love a clean home. I love clean laundry. And I have always equated those things with the SMELL of some chemical…be it bleach or detergent or perfumes. Slowly but surely I am becoming convinced that this is not good and not necessary. I have yet to begin this process so I am excited to see where it leads and if I am satisfied with the results.

So there you have it…that is a great accountability for me! Like I said, I feel confident these things can be done in 2011. It is exciting to see how I have already grown in the area of Real Food in the past few months. Blessings to you as you try new things this year too!

++++++++++

2012 Update:

I was scared to revisit these goals, but pleasantly surprised I had worked on most of them to one degree or another. I was glad I kept it simple.

1. I did not conquer my fear of the farmer’s market at all. In fact, never even went to one. I really am going to have to find a friend to go with…several friends go so I have no excuses. One issue I run into all summer is my boys swim on Saturday mornings and that keeps me busy 8 weeks of the summer. I still want to work on this resolution!

2. I did try new cooking techniques! I made wonderful vanilla extract and then vanilla sugar, have made my own mayonnaise with ease and tasty results, and make homemade salad dressings. I have yet to do grain sprouting, but I have soaked grains for things like breakfast oatmeal casserole. I will continue doing these things this year.

3. I can’t say I “found the answer “ for lessening my grocery budget to adapt to real food purchases, but probably managed to maintain status quo with it.

4. I did make A LOT of homemade cleaning agents this year and wrote about it here. I still make many of my own cleaners though if I get busy I revert back to store-bought. I am getting ready to check into Norwex cloths next week as this will eliminate the need for a lot of cleaners homemade or not.

I need to maintain these resolutions this year and add in more experience with things like fermenting. I hope to follow some of Julie’s recipe for fermenting foods. I am also working on making more healthy alternatives for my kids for snacks. I enjoy baking so I think this one will be FUN!

-Melissa

How to Make Coconut Milk

2012-02-05T15:47:00.001-06:00

Gearing up for another batch cooking day, I've decided to make coconut milk. Making it is not a lot of work and is cheaper than buying cans*. If you compare recipes available on the internet you will see that the ratios of water to coconut really depends on your preference. I used 8 cups of water and 6 cups of shredded coconut.

How to make coconut milk:
1. Bring water to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in coconut. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Your fingers will thank you.

2. Transfer in small batches to a blender or food processor. Give it a whirl.

3. Pour into a strainer lined with a thin kitchen towel. Let it drain then squeeze out remaining milk.

That's it.

As I mentioned on the video (click here if reading in email to view), you can use the remaining coconut.

1. Toast and use as a garnish for curries or other coconutty dishes.
2. Dehydrate and pulverize in blender or food processor for coconut flour (which is used in many gluten free recipes like this one for fudgy coconut flour brownies.)

See also:
Chesseslave makes coconut milk as does Nourished Kitchen who uses fresh coconut.

-Julie
*I buy shredded organic coconut in bulk from Azure Standard for about $2.89/lb. I didn't weigh my 6 cups of coconut, but for kicks, let's just say it was a pound. I made 8 cups of coconut milk (or 4 cans) for the price of one can. And, I don't have to throw away or recycle anything. Nor does my family have added chemicals in our food, as canned coconut milk often has thickeners and the cans are often lined with BPA, a known carcinogen.

Launching of a Local GAPS Group

2012-02-02T13:57:00.000-06:00

It is exciting to announce that Pam Berndt, a certified GAPS Practitioner, is launching a GAPS support group. If you have gut issues or want more answers regarding the GAPS diet, please join us.

When: Saturday, February 25th
Time: 10am to noon
Where: Terry Library community meeting room (on Napa Valley Road, west Little Rock)
What: Free event introducing GAPS to the community. These meetings will occur on a regular basis and provide a support network for those involved.

Structure: Brief introduction and background
GAPS Lesson #1 Introduction to GAPS (powerpoint presentation)
News
New recipe demo (live or video)
Question/answer session (group)
Closure of the meeting
Private question/answer session

Friends and family welcomed!

Little Rock's GAPS Practitioner - Pamela Berndt, RN, CGP

2012-01-31T09:45:00.002-06:00

Journey into the World of a GAPS Practitioner
by Pamela Berndt, RN, CGP

I am no stranger to the belief that “You are what you eat”, or rather, “You are what you assimilate”. Having grown up during the 50s and 60s, on 5 acres of rich, organic soil in the glacial basin of southeastern Wisconsin, I was truly an “organic child”. However, these were the days when traditional ways of preparing and eating nutritious foods were rapidly being challenged by the “convenient”, processed food craze. New mothers were encouraged to bottle-feed their newborns, replacing mother’s milk with pasteurized cow’s milk. During the ensuing 50 years, the American dinner table became a testing ground for an array of processed chemical amalgamations. (If the previous three words sound oddly reminiscent of a typical ingredient list on todays cans, jars and boxes, it should come at no surprise).

As a young mother, I became more and more interested in the principles of nutrition. After all, I was now responsible for the health and development of two precious children. Even then, it seemed somewhat odd that our standard food pyramid was firmly planted in the American grain belt......and taking a deep, cleansing breath, I placed the next 2 loaves of whole grain bread into the oven. Years later, by some quirk of fate, the owner of Serenity Farm Bread in Leslie, Arkansas, introduced me to Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon and Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Katz. Thus, began my facination with the Weston A. Price Foundation - its philosophy, precepts and practice.

This journey has now taken me into the world of a science-based nutritional protocol known as GAPS. Many of you are familiar with the work of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and may also be following her recommendations. The book, Gut and Psychology Sydrome, acknowledges and supports the fact that intestinal health is key to well-being. It lays the foundation for understanding what causes gut dysbiosis and how to reverse it. There was never any question in my mind when given the opportunity to become a GAPS practitioner. This was simply the next, necessary step. Having integrated these principles into our family lifestyle during the past year, I have experienced, firsthand, their wisdom and value.

By Appointment: Holistic Pathways, PLLC
501-224-2167
holisticpathways@me.com

Kelli's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

This post continues our series on New Year's Real Food Resolutions. It is written by Kelli who wrote here about how real food started for her. She has also written Beef Tongue: Not So Offal.

****************

In January, 2011 Kelli wrote:
I can’t believe it’s been almost one year since I came home and told my husband I wanted to change our diet and our lifestyle…and my husband thought his world was ending. HA! Looking back over the year I’ve been thinking about a song from “Hairspray”: “I know we’ve come so far, but we’ve got so far to go.” (I know. A bit random, but it fits.)

It’s been a year of firsts: First time to bake bread without the aid of a bread machine, drink raw milk, grind my own flour, embrace fat, wash my hair WITHOUT shampoo, make a sourdough starter, learn that there was something even called “Kombucha”…I could go on and on.

I’m not huge into the whole New Year’s Resolution thing, but I have been thinking about some things I would like to see happen in the coming year.

1. One of the best Christmas gifts I received this year was Nourishing Traditions. I want to read through and absorb the wealth of information.

2. Drink some kombucha everyday – even if it’s only half a cup. (Still acclimating to the slight fermented flavor. Teetotaler here.) Experiment with flavors beyond fresh pineapple – my go-to flavor. An added health bonus is that it seems to help with muscle soreness. I’m training for a marathon and need all the help I can get in that area!

3. Be more diligent about taking my fermented cod liver oil and red raspberry leaf supplement.

4. Focus on gaining strength, especially in my upper body. As a long-distance runner I have plenty of endurance, but no upper-body strength, which is common among us runners. I plan on getting into a routine of pilates and free weights along with my running.

5. Make a better effort to eat well outside my home, which will mean bringing my own food a lot of times. Learn to plan ahead for this. Have a mental list of foods that are quick and easy to throw together in a short amount of time, and are made from ingredients I typically have on hand.

6. Discover the perfect recipe for a natural facial moisturizer: one that moisturizes without drying me out OR causing pimples. No small feat. Any recipes would be appreciated.

None of these things are earth-shattering in their impact, but all of these steps together will go a long ways in improving my overall health and quality of life. After all, it’s all about the Baby Steps!

++++++++++

2012 Update:

I can’t believe a whole year has past since setting these resolutions! How did I do? I would say…good. Not excellent, but good.

I read a little bit of “Nourishing Traditions”, but still haven’t read it cover to cover.

We were doing great with the kombucha until the cold weather set in. Our house stays too cool for it to ferment, so we’re having to wait until it warms up to start it brewing again. We’ve really come to love it, and I miss it! I console myself by grabbing a bottle from Drug Emporium any time I’m close by.

{JULIE adds her two cents here: I was having the same cold kitchen problem until I ordered this seedling heat mat. It helps to increase the temperature of my kombucha so that it will ferment. Worth every penny.}

Am I still great about taking my supplements? Sadly, no. This is one I am still working on improving.

After running a marathon in March, I’ve been cutting back on the distance running and adding in more Pilates. I cannot say how much I love Pilates!!! I discovered an awesome blog – Blogilates.com – and there are tons of free Pilates videos on there. I feel so much stronger now! The good thing about Pilates is that you get strength without the bulkiness. My belly is flatter and I’m more slim and toned overall.

I have not been diligent about bringing healthy foods when I’m hanging out at someone else’s house, but I HAVE been better at not over indulging and trying to pick out foods that are less evil than the others.

NAILED IT! See THIS post.

I don’t have any resolutions about food this year, because I feel like at this point in my life, eating traditionally is just something we DO, it’s not something I have to sit and think about. I just want to keep on doing as we do, and if I come across something I feel needs to change, cross that bridge when we come to it. My main goal is to get back into blogging on my personal blog. I didn’t have the time when my husband was cramming in classes to finish up seminary, and I have yet to get back into the habit.

Here’s to 2012!!!

-Kelli

Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu

2012-01-26T21:51:00.001-06:00

Today's guest post is by Erin. She is a wealth of information. I asked her to share some natural remedies for cold and flu because, well, 'tis the season! I love that most of these remedies are inexpensive, none are toxic, and best of all they can be done in the comfort of your home.
- Julie

++++++++++

It's that time of year. The marquee at Walgreens says, “Get your flu shot before the rush!” I won't be rushing to get a flu shot, but Walgreens does have a decent selection of more natural remedies.

Today I am sharing some of the ways Dr. Mom treats the sickies in our home.

General recommendations include increasing probiotics, eliminating sugar, decreasing protein, taking vitamin C, and increasing the intake of warm fluids.

You want the body to be able to focus on fighting the intruders, not digesting difficult foods. Sugar basically paralyzes the immune cells for varying amounts of time (up to several hours). I’ve also seen a recommendation to avoid dairy products since they can increase mucus production in some people. We use sodium ascorbate as our source of vitamin C. It is a powder that is easily added to food—you can use it like you would use salt. It’s also easy on the stomach. If you prefer to use a whole food source of vitamin C, this is a good brand. As soon as anyone starts sneezing or having a runny nose in my house, I make a batch of Children's Composition Tea and GOOT.

Sore Throat
- Sweet and Sour Tea: apple cider vinegar (ACV), honey, and hot water. The proportions of each are up to your personal taste. ACV is pretty strong so start out with just a little—you can always add more.

- Throat Coat Tea by Traditional Medicinals. Comes in a box of 16 tea bags. Available at Kroger, Drug Emporium, and Whole Foods. Tastes great and works wonders. It also comes in a syrup (made with glycerin and honey) and in lozenges.

- A cup of hot homemade chicken stock.

- Frozen blueberries. My kids love this one.

Stuffy Nose/Cough
- The goal here is not to dry up all that mucus. That can lead to infections. You want to work with your body and help get it OUT!

- Did you know that you should only blow your nose gently (if at all) and never hold one side closed? Blowing out of only one side can drive the mucus into your sinuses and cause infection.

- Mullein tincture. Mullein is a great herb for respiratory ailments. Several of our tinctures are alcohol-based (as opposed to glycerin), so if I'm using it for the kids I put the drops into a hot cup of tea. That evaporates the alcohol. The tincture can also be rubbed onto the skin. We buy our tinctures from Mountain Rose Herbs.

- Lobelia. This herb is a bronchial dilator. From the Mountain Rose Herbs website: “Lobelia has emetic and anti-spasmodic effects, which has led to it being used to treat asthma and food poisoning. It is a physical relaxant, and can serve as a nerve depressant, easing tension and panic.” We like to rub the tincture on our feet and chest. There is some debate on taking it internally, so do your research first.

- Marshmallow. No, not the fluffy white things. It’s a soothing herb for the mucous membranes and can be very helpful for bronchitis. This is another tincture we put in hot tea. *Side note: it is also amazing for urinary tract infections.

- Eucalyptus essential oil. Do NOT take internally!!! It is quite toxic. However, eucalyptus vapors are very helpful because they are antiseptic. We like to add a few drops (1 or 2) to a dab of coconut oil and rub it on our chests—a homemade vapo-rub. You can also put the oil on a damp rag and place it somewhere near you while you sleep. Just be sure babies and toddlers don't get a hold of it and put it in their mouths.

- Herbal Vapor Inhalation Treatment. Another option with eucalyptus oil is to make a steam bath using a shallow pot of water on the stove. Heat the water just short of boiling, take it off the stove, and place the pot on a table. Pull up a chair, add 4-5 drops of the oil, and drape a towel over your head to direct the steam. Lean over the pot and inhale the vapors. I would also recommend closing your eyes since the eucalyptus can burn a bit. Continue inhaling the steam for 5 minutes, adding more drops of oil as needed. Rosemary is a good herb to use with this technique as well. If you use fresh herbs, simmer them in the water for 5 minutes before inhaling the steam.

- Sinus Rinse/Neti Pot. Not for young children. We like this brand.

- Prop up. This is a very simple step you can take to assist your body in getting rid of the intruders. We actually put our younger ones in their car seat to sleep if a stuffy nose is waking them up at night. And, no, we don't leave them in the car. We put the car seat in the crib. :)

- For older children and adults with a nighttime cough, we have found the homeopathic remedy called “Bronchial Cough” to be invaluable. It's made by Hyland’s.

- Throat Coat Tea by Traditional Medicinals can also be beneficial for some coughs. Available at Kroger, Drug Emporium, and Whole Foods.

Ear infections
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 80% of ear infections clear up on their own without prescription antibiotics. And who wants all those side effects? But, man, are ear infections painful or what?

- Homeopathic Earache drops. Amazing pain relief.

- Onion or garlic drops. Mince some fresh onion or garlic, add olive oil, and heat gently. Strain, let cool to body temperature, and put 4-5 drops in the ear. Repeat 3 X per day for 3-5 days.

- Heat. Use a rice-filled sock, hot water bottle, whatever—it feels goooood.

- Prop up. It helps keep the Eustachian tubes from getting blocked. See above explanation.

- Onion compress. Yes, food is medicine.

Fever
Fever is your friend. It is how your body kills the intruders. Suppressing a fever can even be detrimental. It interferes with the process of naturally acquired immunity.

- Loose, 100% cotton pjs. Cotton lets your skin breathe and feel more comfortable when it's hot with fever.

- Children's Composition tea. A blend of peppermint, yarrow, and elder flower. We bought the bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and made our own blend.

- Ginger bath. You can use fresh grated ginger or ginger powder. Ginger is a warming herb and assists the fever in doing its job. Make sure the bath water and the bathroom is warm enough to keep away chills.

- Garlic. It is antibacterial and antiviral. My 5 and 7-year olds will take it off a spoon if I mince a clove and cover it with honey. Don’t chew! Just swallow. GOOT is another great way to get garlic into your system.

- Enemas. Not a pleasant topic for some, but they can be quite helpful. Intruders can’t be eliminated if the bowels are blocked up. Diluted GOOT and Children’s Composition can both be used for at-home enema solutions. Here are some instructions for a coffee enema. You can find other instructions online.

- Elderberry Syrup. Also the preferred treatment for the dreaded flu. This tastes really good and is easy to make. We bought our dried berries from Mountain Rose Herbs.

- Lemon Wrap. We haven’t tried this one, but next time someone gets a fever…

Some of you will probably notice that I didn't mention Echinacea. My husband is allergic to it! It's in the same family as ragweed, so he gets hay-fever symptoms when he takes it. Not pleasant.

These are just a few of the myriads of natural remedies available. Try some out and see what works for your family. If you know of something I've missed, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

-Erin
participating in Monday Mania

Rachael's New Year Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-25T16:13:00.000-06:00

Rachael's daughter is now 5yrs and the twin boys are 4yrs.

This post is written by my (Julie) best friend from Phoenix. Rachael gave me my first kombucha scoby and is ~~to be blamed~~ one of the reasons I'm on a real food journey; she's an excellent mother of three preschoolers and is a preacher's wife.

Get the Junk (Back!) Out

We had been successful in ridding the pantry of all taboo (according to Nourishing Traditions) ingredients, but as time slips past, some of those no-no’s surreptitiously crept in again. They all began as “just this once” or “I need to have something easy for Sunday while we wait for Daddy.” Slowly but surely, they have become regulars.

The following items need to be eliminated again:

◦ Cereal
◦ Packaged Snacks (with all sorts of heinous ingredients, I’m sure)
◦ Too frequent desserts

To be successful I will need to get in the kitchen to prepare the alternatives. This is where the real work begins, right? To help me with my plight, my daughter needs to do a candida cleanse which will necessitate getting my tail in gear. I MUST have something prepared to satisfy the 4-year-old, “But, Mommy, I NEED a snack!”

Removing the poor food choices is never enough though, is it? I also need to:

Add the Good Stuff--CONSISTENTLY!

I have really good intentions, honestly I do. But as they are wont to do, busy days come and we skip the cod liver oil “just this once--we’ll do it at dinner.” Most of the following items have been a part of our healthy lifestyle in the past, but this Mama needs to get back on the wagon! Here are some of the things I would like to add (and keep!) this year:

◦ Fermented Cod Liver Oil
◦ Vitamins and other supplements
◦ Homemade, Soaked Bread
◦ Kombucha for the children (Mama and Daddy have been hoarding it!)
◦ At least one organ meat recipe that everyone loves (okay, tolerates would be sufficient)

Thankfully, my children help me remember their vitamins and cod liver oil, if I’ve been half-way regular in giving it to them. I am blessed that all three of my preschoolers take their CLO right off the spoon!

The big theme that I’m seeing in these goals (and others for the new year) is that I need more routines and structure. From cod liver oil to a regular baking day to having the children help tidy the house,

Rachael milks 3 goats for their family's raw milk.

Mama needs a routine. And I need to stick with it! I’ve never been much good at sticking to a system and maybe I should start out by figuring out why. It may be that I try to overhaul my life in a single day or it could be that I don’t like being told what I have to do, even if I’m the one telling me!

If anyone out there has suggestions or what has worked for them, please leave a comment.

-Rachael

Toddlers and Cod Liver Oil

2012-01-22T21:40:00.001-06:00

Today I'm sharing a video of my toddler eating her fermented cod liver oil right off the spoon. It looks like chocolate but I promise it is cod liver oil. (If you're reading from email, click here to view it.) My family takes fermented cod liver oil from Green Pasture. I aim for 5 days a week - sometimes it is more, usually it is less. Consistently, it is the only supplement we take.

We've shared before reasons to take cod liver oil as well as methods. Cod liver oil contains key nutrients for brain development, most specifically it has ample amounts of fat-soluable vitamins A and D that aid the body in mineral absorption.

Because cod liver oil is actually food and not a man made supplement, you body can more readily absorb the vitamins in it. {synthetic supplements - think: round peg in a square hole} If you are taking synthetic vitamin D, may I suggest trying cod liver oil?

Ramiel Nagel wrote a book called Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition (which can be found in the Central Arkansas Library System). He gives convincing arguments that along with other things, cod liver oil can stop cavities and help teeth remineralize. Check out his website for more info.

Antidotal evidence: a friend of mine had severe tooth pain one Friday afternoon and thought with certainty that she would need an emergency root canal Monday morning. After some internet research, she decided to take large quantities of cod liver oil, hoping for relief. I saw her Saturday morning in immense pain; she hardly talked and held her jaw the entire time. To her amazement she did not visit a dentist at all the next week and attributes the healing to cod liver oil.

To reiterate some of the things I learned at the Weston A Price annual conference:

- Vitamins A, D, and K are the activators for minerals. A person cannot assimilate protein or calcium without vitamin A. {Lori's post on Brain Pow-ah is expands a bit more on this.}

- Primitive diets contained 4 times the calcium and other minerals and 10 times the fat soluable vitamins compared to modern diet.

- Green grass that pastured animals eat makes vitamins A&K. Vitamin D comes from the sun as well as from animals who have been in the sun. It is so important to eat animals who have been on grass.

Since we have had a few cloudy days here in central Arkansas, I am motivated to give my family their cod liver oil every day this week.

-Julie
Green Pasture did not compensate me to tell you about their cod liver oil. I told you which brand because I thought someone would ask.

Erin's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-22T19:54:00.001-06:00

This post is written by Erin, who has written articles before like Real Food Budget Tips, about her food journey in Small Beginnings: Where Do I Start? and the dangers of fluoride in Water, Water Everywhere and Nor Any Drop to Drink. As a side note - Erin's husband, Paul, wrote a song called I Eat Real Food.

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I have to keep things very simple when it comes to resolutions or I'll get discouraged and give up before I even get started.

My theme for resolutions this year is keep it simple and frugal. So here are my simple kitchen resolutions for 2011:

1. Learn how to make (and start making!) my own yogurt. I might try to make it in the crock pot.
2. Grow some of my own food, especially herbs
3. Stop using paper napkins and paper towels

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Here's my update for 2012:

1. I pretty much bombed with yogurt-making because I am constantly using my one crock pot for cooking chickens and stock. However, I am picking up a new crockpot this week!
2. I bought herbs but didn't get them planted soon enough--so they fried. :( I will be attempting this one again.
3. Success! We have completely eliminated paper napkins. I still keep a roll of paper towels around for emergencies, but I hardly ever use them. I found this product to be a nice substitute.

Where to Buy Locally Grown Food

2012-01-20T16:45:00.000-06:00

Several people have included "eating local and in season" for their New Year's Real Food Resolutions. Many of you are familiar with the summer farmers markets at the River Market, Hillcrest Market and my personal favorite in North Little Rock at Argenta. Read the difference between the the River Market and Argenta here. Unfortunately these markets do not open until April.

However, you may not know about a year-round, on-line farmers market option. One option will deliver to your work place if you work at Blue Cross Blue Shield, UAMS, UALR, and ABC Financial Services.

Baby Steps

If you are not in the practice of buying locally grown food (or, you buy all your food at a store), take a baby step this week. Look at an on-line market that works with your schedule. Order something. May I recommend pastured eggs? They are a bit more expensive than their grocery store competitors but are packed with so much more goodness! Read this post I wrote comparing eggs. Pastured eggs are an inexpensive form of quality protein. And did you know - eggs at the grocery store can be up to three months old?!

On-line Farmers Markets
- downtown Little Rock - Saturday pick up 10am-noon order here.
- downtown Little Rock - Wednesday pick up 4:30-6pm order here.
- Around Little Rock - Wednesdays delivered to these work places: Blue Cross Blue Shield, UAMS, UALR, and ABC Financial Services. If you are not affiliated with any of these businesses, you can also place an order for pick up at Eggshells in the Heights or the Kitchen Co. in Pleasant Ridge, WLR. Order here.

- Conway - Friday pick up 4-6pm order here.
- Russellville - Thursday pick up 4-6pm order here.

Julie

Rita O'Kelley's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-18T11:42:00.000-06:00

Rita O'Kelley, former Weston A. Price chapter leader, has written in this space before. A few of the topics include: where to start on a real food diet, fats do not make you fat and the short and skinny on sweets.

And, remember - Thursday night is the Weight Loss Edition from 6-8pm at FamilyLife. If you're thinking of going, be sure to let Dr. Bishop's office know. Details here.

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Goal: Eat “In Season”

When I began my “real food” journey in 1999…. I let my Irish spontaneity take me into “all in” hyper drive. I read Nourishing Traditions and got rid of ¾ of the “food” in my pantry and fridge. I realized I needed to take small, manageable bites… what to keep, what to absolutely stop or discard, what to try later.

In 2012… one month at a time, my goal is to learn what foods are “in season” in Arkansas, and more specifically in and around Little Rock not California, Florida, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and beyond.

We go to the store and buy whatever we want (usually) and it is there; albeit tasteless, picked prematurely, shipped ridiculous distances, and subjected to harsh road trips and mishandling.

Read those labels… see where it was born and raised, country or city-fied…. Sprayed or au naturale….green or ripe….USA or foreigner.

If it isn’t fresh, locally grown or “in season” right now, I am going to ever-so-slowly discipline myself to set aside “wants” and plan. Eating what is “now” means winter and requires discipline. In Arkansas there is not much grown or harvested Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb.

It will teach me to put up food for the winter, learn about my farmers and area, and quit expecting blueberries in January… or chicken if I have not bought chickens when harvested locally. I bought chickens. Yea!

January: winter squash, potatoes and onions stored from prior months, lettuces, herbs and other “green” foods grown in greenhouses by Arkansas Natural Produce and other local farms.

Here is link to what is available by month (general rule) in Arkansas.

Good luck and good planning! One day at a time… one month at a time. Eat fresh and local.

-Rita

HB's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-17T09:54:00.002-06:00

This week we are continuing our series on Real Food Resolutions. Today's post is written by HB who has also shared with us her real cheese dip, don't hate the okra, and the baby steps her family has taken on a real food diet.

1. Do less, be more.

I've been taking my family on this wonderful, crazy, challenging, totally un-American journey into real food for nearly two years now. It's time to stop trying new things and stick with the basics that are working. So, I am taking a big ole break from incorporating new recipes, making new beverages, and trying to convince my sweet hubster that spaghetti squash tastes just like Ronco pasta!! You know it does! :) I've finally figured out how to make delicious bread, granola, and many other recipes that fill our bellies and nourish our bods. For now, I'd like to take it easy, enjoy nutritious food and live a little outside my kitchen.

2. Get back to my food-budgeting roots.

My man and I got hitched in November of '03. For the first two years of our marriage, our food budget was less than $125 a month. Yes, it's true. We were squeaking!! It was awesome. Actually, I mean, it wasn't really awesome because we definitely ate some processed junk, but I loved the feeling that resulted from conquering the food budget. I was large and in charge and my man was happy. Seven years and three kids later, our food budget is way, way, way more than $125 a month. That figure just makes me laugh. I've given myself plenty of time to get used to eating real food and lots of wiggle room in the budget. Now that I've tackled feeding my family real food, it's time to take this budget DOWN! My goal is to cut it down by 40%. I know that seems extreme, but hey, if you're gonna set a goal, why not get crazy!?!?

Here are some ways that I plan to save some cizash:

• buying wonderful pastured eggs from the farmer who gives me the best price. This is not super convenient, but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.
• ordering most of our organic produce from Azure Standard. Azure has already saved me a load of money. They have great products and dang good prices.
• continue buying our meat in bulk. I buy our pork and chicken from Cove Creek Acres and our beef from Falling Sky Farm. I know these farmers personally and they are great people who work hard to bring the best grass fed meats to my table. Buying meat in bulk has saved me literally hundreds of dollars.
• continue meal planning. I am a die hard menu planner. I love, love, love to plan a good menu. Makes mouths happy.
• once-a-month cook what I can so that we have great meals prepared when we are pressed for time and tempted to eat out.
• eat out less!!! My man and I are trying our darndest to not spend a dime on eating out for the entire month of January. So far, so good. Only 20 something days to go. That's not too bad, right? Right??? I've begun twitching slightly when we drive past Layla's on Rodney Parham. They miss me, I know they do.
• ask my farmers if they will trade with me. I make lots of bread and am happy to trade. Making bread is easy. :) Shhhh...don't tell.
• grow some seriously good veggies this summer. We had a garden last year and it was fabulous. My children snacked out of the garden until there was nothing left. We saved a ton of money by gardening.

I think that's all I'm resolved to do at the moment. When our children are older and don't need every single ounce of my attention and energy from the hours of 7 a.m. till 8 p.m., I will likely add some more food goals to my plate. Get it? :) For now, I'm enjoying feeding my family well, but mostly, I'm just enjoying my family. Happy New Year, friends!!!

-HB

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Well, how did I do in 2011?

Thankfully, I was able to meet many of the goals I set for myself.

I brought our food budget down quite a bit, but not 40%. I would say it's down by about 15 to 20%. Since I posted last January, we have had the privilege of becoming foster parents for the state of Arkansas. We have a very hungry one year old in our home. Adding another real food eating, milk loving baby has definitely increased our food budget. I am convinced that feeding this little one nourishing food while he is in our home is more than worth any extra expense or time in the kitchen.

Though it may not be cheaper than the grocery store, my husband and I have decided to support Kellogg Valley Farms and buy a CSA basket. Kellogg Valley grows local, chemical-free produce and getting chemicals out of my food is important. Though I plant a garden, it just doesn't produce enough for our family.

Speaking of time in the kitchen, I have successfully spent less time in the kitchen this past year. My husband is happy and so am I. Julie and I will continue our batch cooking extravaganzas, and I will continue with my basic standby recipes: oatmeal bake, granola, and soaked sandwich bread.

As far as real food resolutions for this year, I plan to continue cutting back on eating out and make my mayonnaise taste less like olive oil and more like Miracle Whip. I know, don't cringe. I'll admit, I like Miracle Whip and so does my husband. I'll keep you all updated on any mayo making successes.

After a few years of real fooding, I think I've finally come to a happy medium. I am comfortable with my 80/20. Yes, there is almost always a bag of wavy Lay's potato chips in my pantry. There will always be a few things that I like and choose to eat even though it's not nourishing. The main staples of my family's diet are nourishing, whole foods. I encourage you all to embrace freedom and not perfection when it comes to real food. Each one of us can only do so much. Focus on what you can do, not on what you wish you could do, or what someone else seems to be doing.

Happy 2012!

Real Food in Little Rock

Willow Springs Market Garden

Falling Sky Farm

REAL Chocolate Syrup

Tammy Sue's Critters

Urban Homesteading Workshop Series

Freezer Cooking Class by HB

Wendy's Real Food Resolutions

Rattle's Garden: A Local Organic Farm

VIDEO: Chicken and Rice Soup

Cooking for an Army

Batch Cooking: Another Day in the Freezer

Real Food Bloggers Bite Off More Than They Can Chew

Chicken Curry *tweaked* from Nourishing Traditions

Melissa's New Year's Real Food Resolutions

How to Make Coconut Milk

Launching of a Local GAPS Group

Little Rock's GAPS Practitioner - Pamela Berndt, RN, CGP

Kelli's Real Food Resolutions

Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu

Rachael's New Year Real Food Resolutions

Toddlers and Cod Liver Oil

Erin's Real Food Resolutions

Where to Buy Locally Grown Food

Rita O'Kelley's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

HB's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

Chicken Curry tweaked from Nourishing Traditions