If you are like me and use flouride-free toothpaste without SLS and other yucky ingredients, you are likely paying a lot for toothpaste. Any of the brands we have found that meet the criteria we are looking for cost about $5.00 per tube, for a not-so-family-sized tube. (If you don’t understand why someone would want […]

I stopped taking prenatal vitamins a few pregnancies ago because I don’t really feel comfortable with singled-out vitamins (out of their naturally occurring form, i.e. “food”). I looked around for a natural supplement as well, reading lots of ingredient lists and testimonials, but I either didn’t like the company well enough to buy from […]

I’ve been asked several times recently about nutrition and supplements for pregnancy, and have also been reviewing my own notes for my own pregnancy, so I thought I’d share here about this timely-for-me topic for my own benefit, too. I have done much research on this and had a bit of experiential data (i.e. I’ve […]

My seven year old son is particularly adept at dragging a day’s lesson of Explode-The-Code out for several hours. If I could find any verses referencing it (which, to his chagrin, there are none), I might be able to call it a spiritual gift. However, I am convinced that it is a gift to be […]

If you have been itching to learn how to make your own herbal medicines and remedies… this is the time.
1) It’s Winter, and the days are too dreary to be outside much
2) There will likely be extra opportunities to have flu casualties case studies readily available
3) The price is right better than right now.
Run, don’t […]

I hate memes. I do not mind reading them, mind you ~ it is fun to read other folks’ ~ but I know me… if I started doing them, I would feel pressured by the things and feel as if I had to do it every week. I have enough real responsibilities without my […]

Since it appears to be that time of year again, when viruses are running rampant, and lots of folks are succumbing, I’ve been feeling led to get back on the wagon as far as doing my part to keep us healthy. Also, my dear friend Carla Lynne has also just been through a major illness, […]

So my girlfriend calls today, checking on our new cow, and casually asking if we had received her Christmas gift, “You know, the one I left you last week”. When two girlfriends and their children were here for an impromptu tea party, our collective children enjoyed themselves, tea-ing, partying and sundry other giggle-inspiring activities, while […]

Deep sigh.
It’s over. I was truly dreading it, knowing that the dispersing of such information could very well cause us to be the laughing stock of the church, I didn’t want to tell.
When you go to church with almost all farmers, especially folks who were raised on a farm, eating, sleeping, breathing farm life, […]

We’ve heard it a thousand times, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. But when it comes to being sick, or worse, having our kids sick, or even worse yet, having all your kids sick at once, this prescription is as good as gold.
 
 
Exposure to bacteria and viruses is not the cause […]

He said to do it. He even blessed it. Back before the Fall and before the Law, He told us to do it. His doing it Himself convinced me that it was something I should be doing. Yet I struggle with observing the Sabbath.  There is a battle storming between my flesh and spirit…
 
Rationally I […]

I promised a post on making herbal tinctures, and here it is!

Everybody’s doing it. The more folks learn about natural health, and taking seriously the stewardship of their health, the more folks are learning about herbal medicine. Making your own herbal medicine is combining health stewardship and financial stewardship. Even Martha (who surely doesn’t view […]

Just in time for my Elderberry syrup to be ready, the first episode of sickness has hit our family. For the average family, sickness is no sprint, but for a larger-than-average sized family, it can be a true marathon. The typical duration of an illness is compounded by the passing of germs from person-to-person-to-person… The more people, […]

The rules have changed. And no child in my family is the least bit disappointed. Under normal circumstances, the words, “OK kids, we have a new rule…” are met with groans and downcast faces. This new rule however, has been met with nothing short of elation.

In our family, Rule #146 has always been,

“No […]

So why do it anyway? What could possibly be the point of making your own medicine? The bottom line answer is simply that the ‘run-yourself-ragged, get sick, pump in antibiotics, feel a little better, then repeat’ method does not work. It is a failing system. You know what I mean, too. How many families do […]

Nesting seems to be covering many aspects of the daily workings of our home these days. I’ve been painting, cleaning, ditching stuff, and reworking systems to be more automated. Reinventing the wheel on a daily basis is not as efficient for me as reading a previously thought-out list of ideas. Read that: I don’t think […]

(Note To Self: Do not add items to blog sidebar unless you are open to the accountability of folks asking about it, i.e. you really have to do the things you write about.) 
Several ladies have asked recently about what I am using for cleaning products. It is good timing, too, as after much trial and error, […]

I can’t even pronounce the word, and I have no idea what it will taste like, but I’m game. I’m always up for trying something new in the kitchen. Especially something that comes with so much “good press” and favorable research about it’s healthful properties.

And just like any other kitchen experiment at our house: […]

I have at least one proof of my success in mothering. It happened tonight at dinner.

First, a little background. I am a crunchy type- you know, really into healthy eating: grain mill, Nourishing Traditions, raw milk and all that. I don’t hug trees, I just believe in good stewardship of our health. My kids have […]

Medicine is not supposed to taste great. I know this. At least I know that it usually doesn’t. Even as a child, I knew that whatever that pink stuff was, it did not taste like any bubblegum I ever had. (Let’s not discuss the time little brother and I ate “chocolate bar” Ex-Lax. Little kids […]