Gardening

I've turned some attention to our yard recently. When we first moved in we had 6 huge trees in our yard which completely blocked the house from the street. We chopped those down, but Sweetie counted we still have 25 trees in our yard. I love them and they provide lots of shade, helping keep the house cool most of the day.

Since we're on a budget, I didn't want to go out and spend a ton on plants. Every once in a while something pretty pops up - what some may consider weeds, I dig up and replant elsewhere. Now we have a pretty purple flowering plant in one of the clay pots left here by the prior owner, and a climbing purple plant on the front porch.

I also bought some tomato plants at the nursery down the street. What a great trip that was - Mr. Happy and I walked there and to our surprise they had a petting zoo with sheep, ponies, cows, ducks - he liked the goat the best. The plants are just starting to produce tomatoes and I'm so excited! Depending on the volume I plan on trying to can them later in the summer.

We also got some seeds and a seed starter kit at "Home D" as Jacob's Pappy calls it. We've got more tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, as well as two types of flowers (hopefully) growing in there. I planted them about a week ago and expect sprouts soon. I want to get a composter so I can use the byproduct in the garden.

We've skipped using pesticide and weed control in our yard this year. There is quite a bit of crab grass, dandelion, and clover, but when the lawn is cut it all looks green to me and doesn't really bother me. I did have some small white bugs attack a little rose bush that I got from my mom and had potted outside. I moved it away from the menacing bugs and hope it comes back. Here is a tip I found on www.earthlab.com (you can calculate your carbon footprint there) for a natural pesticide that I'll try:
Blend 1 garlic clove, 1 small hot pepper and a quart of water in a blender, then pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Spray it on your inside and outside plants, and this recipe will help keep the pests away in a natural way.

They also say to use cedar mulch (from a local supplier) as a guard against both weeds and pests in the yard and garden.

One other tip - I bring in my watering can and fill it with the rinse water from the laundry. Then on days when it doesn't rain, I use that to water my plants. Its a great way to conserve water.

Natural Teething Solutions

So Mr. Happy is in full blown teething turmoil these days. He started putting his whole hand in his mouth and pulling on his lower jaw, and sometimes pulls on his ears (I think there is pressure on his ears). In an effort to relieve some of his pain, we pulled together a bunch of things to help him out. Here's what's worked so far:

1. Hyland's Teething Tablets. I found these at Whole Foods and they'd been recommended to my husband by several people at work. They are all natural, made primarily of chamomile. Last night Mr. Happy couldn't get to sleep so we gave him two of these, I nursed him and he was out. He woke up at 5:00 am, clearly because of his teeth; he was still tired so I gave him two more and he slept til 8:15. I'm going to avoid giving them to him during the day (unless the pain is preventing him from napping and he's tired) and use some of the other methods that follow.

2. A bottle of chamomile tea. I gave him one of these this evening to help him relax. He liked it (it was a little warm) and drank quite a bit.

3. A washcloth soaked in chamomile tea, then frozen. I dipped the corners in the tea, then twisted the corners and stuck them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Its nice for him since the part that didn't get wet isn't icy cold on his fingers.

4. Frozen fruit in his sucky. A while back I noticed a friend of mine giving her son this little thing that's like a pacifier but instead of a nipple at the end, its a mesh bag. She put fruit in it and he could suck on it. We got one for Mr. Happy; today I put some organic frozen mango in it. He loved it! I was nice and cold, but he didn't have to hold the cold part and super sweet and yummy. I also tried blueberries which he liked but made a big mess (didn't think that one through). Other - better - options would be banana, grapes, etc.

5. Cut up veggies and fruit. I give him big pieces and watch him VERY closely. Cucumber worked well; carrots too but I have to hold it so he doesn't choke. This option just requires you help and supervise. A lot of times I'll let him suck on a cold apple or pear that I'm eating and he loves it.

6. Traditional teething toys. I don't like the idea of him sucking on plastic but he seems to like some of them because they have little ridges that probably feel good on his gums. The round rings are the worst because his fingers get cold; ones with hard plastic handles he seems to like more but all of them warm up pretty quickly. I keep a stash of four or five in the fridge and switch them out.

7. Nursing. The old standby. I think this helps relieve some of the pressure on his ears too and he just likes the comfort of it.

8. Massage. Sometimes I'll massage his gums, but he doesn't really let me do it for long unless my fingers are cold.

Hope that helps. Would love to hear other thoughts or suggestions!