Monthly Archives: February 2013

Baby Birds No Longer

Posted on February 17, 2013 | 6 comments

Today is the 17th and my Baby Bird is 17 months old. She has been a toddler for quite some time. Running, coloring, eating PB&J and saying “no!” (All at the same time.) I suppose it is past due that she get a promotion. From this point on she will now be called “Little Bird.”

She is not our only baby bird growing up. With the passing of Steve, “Bebe,” the chick in our banner and Facebook profile picture, who we watched hatch from an egg, is now our senior hen. She is a proficient layer, laying a large, light brown egg daily.

Bebe, all grown up

Although we don’t have any roosters, we were lucky to watch Bebe and her sibling hatch and grow. A few years ago my husband noticed that one of our hens, Butters, a sweet and social Buff Orpington, was broody. “Broody” hens sit on the eggs all day trying to hatch them. In the wild this is obviously a necessary characteristic in order for the eggs to survive. However, most laying hens have the trait of broodiness bred out of them as it can disincline them to lay more eggs. For the purposes of egg production they simply need to lay the egg and move on.

When picking up our organic, soy-free, Modesto Milling poultry feed and scratch from White Mountains Ranch, Papa Bird chatted with the owner about how to get Butters to stop being so broody. She surprised us by suggesting that we let her! She graciously gave us four fertilized eggs to take home and let her sit on. Butters was a wonderful foster mom. She sat and sat and sat and sat…

And finally, one day in the spring, we had babies!! Two of the eggs hatched. Give me the meanest, grouchiest person, put newborn chicks in front of them and I guarantee they will just melt. There is nothing cuter.

Token and Bebe

One chick was strong and healthy. Since the baby bird had black feathers, well black fuzz, Papa Bird kept the South Park references going and named the chick “Token.” The little one we called “Bebe.” Unfortunately, little Bebe was born with a club foot. Her foot curled in and didn’t open up properly. She couldn’t put weight on it or walk properly. I imagine that back in the old days, on a large farm, such a deformed chicken wouldn’t get the chance to survive. Then again, in modern, large scale egg production the chickens live in cages and aren’t really allowed to walk around. So who knows what they do.

Papa Bird did a little research and decided to try to splint her foot. I was so proud of him and his All Creatures Great and Small skills. As I played nurse and lent extra hands, he experimented with various splints for Bebe. First he tried a little piece of cardboard and some medical tape. Unfortunately, Butters kept pecking at the white cardboard. We were worried she would hurt the poor baby’s foot. Eventually we found that what worked best was just a bandaid or two. Fortunately, after about a week her foot worked well, if a little smaller at first. Now you can’t even tell!

Bebe's BandAid Foot

Token, on the other hand, had a different problem. You see, he ended up being a “he” which is illegal in the City of San Diego! We took him to White Mountains Ranch later that year so he could enjoy the spoils of country life.

Click on any photo in the gallery to enlarge.

 

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Posted in Backyard Chickens, How To, Natural Remedies, Our Family, Urban Homesteading

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Dedicated to the Memory of our Hen Steve

Posted on February 16, 2013 | 1 comment

This week our oldest surviving hen passed away, we believe of old age. Her name was Steve.

steve1

Steve was an Easter Egger Chicken and laid large, light blue eggs. She was a survivor and an escape artist. Steve was our only chicken to survive the Coyote Massacre of 2011 that decimated our flock and claimed the life of my 12-year-old kitty. Previously, she had been given to us by our neighbors in 2010 and they had no idea how old she was. They had also lost every single chicken to coyotes, except her, and were giving up. They called her “damn chicken”, but we renamed her after a good friend who requested the honor.

steve2

Out of our first flock, and the second flock after the Coyote Massacre, Steve was the hen most likely to break out of the enclosure and into the vegetable garden. Once, after we thought that she had stopped laying for a couple of weeks, my husband stumbled upon a hidden catch of eggs that she was laying in secret.

steve3

Rest in peace Steve. We will miss you!

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Posted in Backyard Chickens

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Borscht: Good for Your Belly and Your Budget

Posted on February 15, 2013 | 2 comments

When I was a kid I hated beets. I went so far as to refuse to carry the serving bowl of beets when my mother asked us to help set the table. The bread I would carry, green beans, sure, but no way would I touch the beets. Now they are one of my absolute favorite vegetables.

Beet Borscht

Did you know that beets have been considered an aphrodisiac since the time of the ancient Romans? They have also been used for medicinal purposes, as well as a natural red dye since at least the 16th century. No wonder these all natural red velvet cupcakes I made for Valentine’s were such a hit!

I most often roast them in large chunks with a little coconut or olive oil and salt and pepper. Leftovers, if any, are great in salads the next day. The tops of the beets, or beet greens, can be sautéed like collards, kale or any greens.

My second favorite preparation of beets is being featured in this soup. Borscht has been made in Eastern European countries, like Russia and the Ukraine, since the 14th century. It’s hearty, economical, and for those with New Year’s Resolutions, filling while being low in calories. Although they are naturally sweet, and contain about 10% natural sugars, 1 cup of beets has only 50-75 calories.

For this recipe, and all of my recipes, please feel empowered to improvise and substitute ingredients. The only essential one is beets! The recipe works equally well with vegetable broth, making a satisfying vegetarian meal, although beef broth is nice, too. You can even throw in beef stew meat chunks, especially for a chunky borscht. I used a big potato, parsnips and some carrots from our garden, along with other veggies.

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Beet Borscht Soup Recipe

  • Tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 3 carrots
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 3-4 large beets, with beet greens
  • 1 large turnip and/or rutabaga
  • 1 large or 2-3 small potatoes
  • 3-4 parsnips
  • 1 quart of beef or vegetable broth
  • 1-2 cups of water, or as needed
  • 1 small red cabbage
  • 2-3 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice, or to taste
  • salt, pepper, paprika
  • greek yogurt, creme fraiche, or non-dairy sour cream (for a vegan meal)
  • fresh dill

In a large soup pot over medium heat, sauté the onion and carrots for five minutes in the oil with salt and pepper, and then add garlic. Add the hard, root vegetables (beets, turnips, potatoes, parsnips) and the broth. Add enough water to cover all of the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then lower to a steady simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes and then add the cabbage, simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and add paprika. Add the vinegar or lemon juice to taste.

Option 1: Serve as is as a nice chunky borscht.

Option 2: Puree the soup until smooth. (I like to serve it chunky on the first night and pureed the following. Two soups in one!)

Top with greek yogurt, creme fraiche or sour cream and fresh dill.

Tips for Feeding Baby:

This makes great baby food, from months 8 or 9 on.

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Posted in Food, Healthy Recipes, Recipes for the Whole Family, Recipes from the Garden, Seasonal Recipes

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Composting Diapers?

Posted on February 3, 2013 | 2 comments

How to compost diapers on BabyBirdsFarm.com

Not that long ago it was International Babywearing Day. I posted on our Facebook Page about how babywearing (which is simply wearing a baby or toddler in a sling, wrap or other carrier) has made it easier for us to cook, garden and compost. My sister laughed at the mention of babywearing and taking out the compost, questioning if she was truly related to someone so crunchy. I had to take it a step further saying that I chuckled myself the first time I wore baby while composting her wet diapers. Composting diapers? Yup. It may sound impossibly crunchy but more and more parents are ready for creative ways to reduce their babies’ impact on their environment. It is their earth to inherent, isn’t it?

One man's trash...

I recently shared more about why we like cloth and hybrid diapers in this last post, which also talks about how to set up and organize your system. Please do not try to compost a conventional disposable diaper. It would take eons and the plastic and chemicals in it would not be something you want in your garden, let alone your food. We only use gDiapers biodegradable inserts, which, as far as I know, are the only ones that are “cradle to cradle” certified and completely biodegradable.

Although we love the fit, feel and ease of use of using the whole gDiaper system, we initially had only so-so results flushing the biodegradable inserts. My husband was afraid they were negatively affecting the plumbing in our older home. Then I learned that not all in my household had read the directions and were trying to flush the inserts whole. Check out this link for tips on how to flush gDiaper inserts. I recommend getting everyone who will care for baby on the same page, something that in those fuzzy first few weeks of parenthood I must not have done as well as I thought. I also recently learned that flushing the inserts is not recommended when you have pipes infested with tree roots. We have a couple dozen malaluca trees in front of and around our house and just last week the city was working on the sewers and pulled out this massive root ball. (See the picture in the gallery below.)

But composting the biodegradable inserts is a win-win in my book. Urine is an excellent source of nitrogen, and a good source of phosphorus and potassium, making the practice of composting diapers a boon for the garden. Healthy urine is non-toxic. In fact, diluted urine has actually been used directly as a fertilizer.¹ All plants require micronutrients and nitrogen is often in short supply. Vegetables, in particular, are prone to nitrogen deficiency.² (By the way, legumes, such as beans, are an exception, as they actually produce nitrogen. This is why co-planting nitrogen-fixing beans with corn and squash is so helpful. Check out more on this in my post on the Three Sisters.)

To be clear, we do not compost diapers with poop. In our home all poop is flushed down the toilet, baby’s included (and chickens’ excluded). The sewer system is much better equipped to handle human waste than the trash system. Did you know that technically you are supposed to remove and flush the poop from disposable diapers before throwing them away? How many people do you think do that??

…any way, the veggies on the Bird Family Farm looove Baby Bird! (And she loves them.) We put every wet insert, about two/day, along with a lot of kitchen scraps and some yard clippings into a continuous composter. To get the inserts to break down faster, you could rip them open, but we never bother. And, voila! Black Gold…

Black Gold

Click on any photo below to enlarge.

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine  ²http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_deficiency


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Posted in Green Parenting, How To, Parenting, Urban Agriculture

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Everything You Need to Set up a Cloth Diaper Changing Station

Posted on February 2, 2013 | 29 comments

Perhaps you are reading this post because you have decided to start cloth diapering and are getting ready and organizing! Hooray! You won’t regret it. Here is a list of everything you need to get a cloth diaper changing station organized, set up and running.

Organize a Cloth Diaper Changing Station

Maybe you are still exploring options. There are lots of reasons why parents today are choosing cloth diapers, including the environment, saving money, being softer and less toxic for baby, less diaper rash and looking cute! To see a lot of great diaper statistics check out this link.

My path to cloth diapers was kind of round about. My mom loved to talk about dunking poopy cloth in and out of the toilet. No way was I going to do that. (Of course, now that I am 16 months into this parenting thing, a little poop doesn’t faze me, but don’t worry, it is not a requirement anymore!) Neither was I interested in using diaper pins, folding up sad looking rags, or being the parent of “that” child with the pee leaks.


Luckily, sometime before I was even pregnant, I stumbled upon the website for a hybrid diaper company and bookmarked it. (Yes, this was in the days before Pinterest.) An option that uses less plastic, creates less waste and was less toxic to baby immediately appealed to me. As it turns out, hybrid diapers were my gateway drug to cloth. And what is a hybrid diaper? Basically, a reusable outer diaper cover with a disposable or biodegradable insert. They may also be used with a cloth insert.

A day or two after bringing baby bird home from the hospital, we realized cloth wipes were so much softer on her little bum than disposable wipes. In about a week (when she was back up to 7 pounds), she fit into newborn sized gDiapers. We started with the biodegradable inserts, but once we got over our fear of washing something with poop on it, we realized how great it is to use cloth. You buy it once (or twice) and done! No late-night trips to the store for a box of Huggies.


We are in no way endorsed by or receiving money from gDiapers. Full disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage from them for sales made after clinks on these links. There are other great cloth diapers out there, and I know of moms who try lots of brands before settling on the ones they like. However, we started with their newborn pack and loved them. I have tried only one other cloth brand and hated them. I also believe that “one size” diapers that are meant to fit all babies from newborn to toddler… don’t. For us, the option to use gDiapers with either biodegradable or cloth inserts has been great. We use cloth during the day and biodegradable while she sleeps. We take the bio while flying on planes, but have been able to use cloth on vacation. For more on composting biodegradable inserts, check out the next post.

After it languished on our baby registry, we purchased the newborn package which includes newborn and small sized gPants plus a package of biodegradables. But I started thinking that maybe that wasn’t all I needed. Because you don’t put dirty cloth diapers in a diaper genie, do you? So, I am now writing the post that I wish I could’ve read 1.5 to two years ago!

Here is a list of supplies and products that help make cloth diapering easy as pie! As many of us do with our first baby, I spent hours upon hours researching each and every product. Please comment if you have any questions. In the photo below you can see our set up.

Organize a Cloth Diaper Changing Station

A- step can as a diaper pail – There is no need for a fancy diaper trash can, just use a well-made but inexpensive step can, such as this simplehuman one, and use a washable, waterproof liner (B) .
B- diaper pail liner – Tip: Buy two so you always have one available while the other is in the wash. Wash by dumping the diapers straight into the washer and then throw the liner in. (See? No touching poop.)
C- compost pail –  This can hold wet, as in pee-only (no poop) biodegradable inserts before going out to the garden. Even if you have a compost pail in your kitchen, it’s convenient for those middle of the night changes to have one in the nursery. For more on composting diaper inserts, check out this next post.
D- gDiapers gCloth Inserts – For full-time use, I suggest 24-30 cloth inserts.
E- gDiapers gPants  – For full-time use, try 8-10 gPants. This link is to a 6-pack, a great value to get started. but they also come individually or in 2-packs in other colors and patterns. I have seen the 2-packs at Target, Babies R Us and Whole Foods. The cutest, limited prints (and yes, one of ours has a ruffle-butt) are found on gdiapers.com. Tip: Attach velcro under a book shelf to hang diapers. <–Have to give Papa Bird the credit for that. He’s handy that way.
F- BabyKicks Natural & Organic Baby Wipes (the rolled up cloth wipes)  Plan on having about 40 wipes in total. These BabyKicks ended up being the softest after a few washes. We use these wipes for her hands/face and wash them with her clothes.
G- and/or FuzziBunz Wonder Wipes (folded cloth wipes) – After a lot of use the other wipes were softer, but I still like the size and shape of these wipes. Since we use these ones just for wiping her bum, we throw them in the diaper pail to wash with the cloth diapers.
H- a box of gDiapers Cloth Diaper Liners – These are a cool invention: easily pull off and plop poop into a toilet. The wet-only ones can also be composted.
I- aden + anais 3 Pack Muslin Washcloths – After wiping baby’s bum with a warm washcloth, I use a washcloth to gently pat dry.
J- gDiapers Biodegradable Diaper Refills – Tip: To really save money use Amazon’s Subscribe and Save. The biodegradable inserts hold a lot more liquid than cloth, maybe even more than a disposable diaper. We prefer them for night-time and planes. Also sometimes you just want to change it up!
K- extra Gdiapers Snap-in Liners – I recommend purchasing an extra 6-pack. That way if one gets messy, it can be washed and the gPants can be worn again. I wash poopy snap in liners with the cloth diapers and wet ones with her clothes. Do not put them in the dryer.
L- hand sanitizer (similar) – This is handy in case you can’t wash your hands immediately.
M- diaper area wash  – We spray a spritz spritz or two on a warm, wet cloth. Such a nice way to wipe baby’s bum. (Tip: I’ve found Target has this for the lowest price.) After cleaning baby’s bum, gently pat dry with the wash cloth (letter I).
N,O – changing pad and its cover – Mine was a hand-me-down, originally from Pottery Barn Kids.
P- aden + anais Muslim Hooded Towel – This came as a set with one of the washcloths (I).

Not pictured:
Wet Bag -Essential if you ever want to leave the house. This holds wet diapers, clothes, bathing suits, etc. without messing up your diaper bag.
Coconut Oil  – Yup, the exact same we use to cook. (And make belly butter.) This is the only diaper cream we use. (Keep in mind cloth diapered babies get less diaper rash.) Be careful, as many conventional diaper creams will block the absorption of cloth diapers. Coconut oil is the only “lotion” we let little one use.
Diaper sprayer – Optional, especially if you use the cloth liners.
Detergent –  I believe in KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid.) I like to use the same detergent for diapers as I do for baby’s clothes and our laundry. There are manufacturers of diaper-specific detergent, but as long as you are using an unscented, natural one, it will likely be fine. Please check out this comprehensive table to see if you favorite detergent is already on there and how it rates. Currently, I am liking BioKleen Cold Water Formula liquid detergent. It is not too expensive at my local health food store (Sprouts) and I haven’t had to strip, or deep clean, my cloth diapers since I have been using it.
Newborn pack – This link goes to the best price by far for the newborn bundle starter pack.

For reference, our little one has always been 50th to 70th percentile in height and 15th to 25th percentile in weight. She wore newborns from 2 weeks old to 5 weeks. She wore smalls from 5 weeks to 7-8 months old. Pictured are her mediums. She is still in them, and hopefully will potty train before she outgrows them! Since mediums fit up to 28 pounds, she might not ever need larges.

Again, please comment with any questions.

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Posted in Green Parenting, How To, Parenting, Pregnancy

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