Homemade baby food

Our little baby girl is almost 5 months old, and really starting to take an interest in us as we eat. At her last check up, her doctor gave us the green light to slowly start introducing solids. Being the green momma that I am (cloth diapered, breast fed as long as I could) of course I want to make my own baby food! What better way to save money, by local and ensure fresh tasty ingredients? So I bought Top 100 Baby Purees and started looking up methods and recipes. It's actually quite simple!

First I had to buy a food processor. Most people have these but somehow my house did not. A quick search on amazon turned up a $25 one with 5 star ratings. Once that came I chose my recipe. I picked apples for her first food. Her doctor said to alternate a fruit, veggie, then meat, and to keep with one food for 5 days to watch out for allergies.

I took two red delicious apples (green or yellow might be too tart for babies), peeled, cored and chopped them. I added about two tablespoons of water into a a saucepan, and threw the apples in. I covered the pan and turned the heat on low for about 10 minutes. Then I put the apples into the food processor and pulsed for about a minute. Once it's pureed completely, it's done!

I spooned out one serving for that day, then put the rest in a silcone sided, BPA free tray. This tray is neat because each square is exactly an ounce, which is how much a baby should have at each seating. I put it in a freezer bag and froze them. It made 6 servings, so she has a week's worth of food! I think I will do carrots next, then chicken.

I am happy to say she loved it! Here are some pics:

 Here is the apples cooking

This is the food processor I bought with the apples inside

Here is the apple puree, inside my tray. 6 servings, plus the one she ate.

And here is Piper enjoying the food I made her! There is nothing more rewarding then feeding your baby (your whole family for that matter) food that you prepare, or even grow yourself. She will be having green beans from our garden soon!

Bartering in the modern ages

Our jalapeno pepper plants are producing like crazy! Each of the four plants has about 4 mature peppers on it, and at least 6 baby peppers on it. And more buds keep popping up every other day. I have a confession to make- I do not like peppers! Not even a little bit. I only grew them because I remember how easy they are to grow. Next year note to self: grow food I will actually enjoy! Ce la vie.

So with my surplus I have decided to give it away to those who enjoy it. Chris (my husband) is learning how to include jalapenos in cooking, and even made jalapeno poppers, but even he is running out of ideas. Chris, my friend, loves peppers and she said that she would gladly take them off my hands in exchange for eggs. Fresh eggs? Score! There is nothing like fresh eggs. I can't explain how, but they just taste different.

And there is something to be said about bartering. I got rid of something that I had plenty of, and in exchange got something that I needed. No money was exchanged. It makes me feel good to know that my hard work with my plants is feeding someone else. Something that I enjoy is benefiting another person. We need to bring back the barter system! LOL here is a picture of my peppers and her eggs, courtesy of Chris :)

Making jam

Today I had the privilege of visiting my lovely friend over at Gardening Adventures, Brittany! We normally get together and talk about gardening, kids and her wedding. But today she showed me how to make jam! I was so excited! We made mango papaya jam, and boy was it good! Here is a link to her recipe, she is so much more of a better story teller than I am ;)  enjoy!

Hard days work

This week I have been on spring break. It has been so much fun! We visited John's Pass, the beach, celebrated Ostara, and had numerous picnics. As most of you know, when you have children it's hard to get much of anything done that remotely resembles work. So Wednesday I asked my sister in law to watch the kids. Most people would have kicked back, read some magazines and caught up on their DVR. Nope, I am crazy, I gardened!I had a full 4 hours free and I put on my muddy sneakers, grabbed my wide brimmed hat, put on sunscreen and headed outside!

First things first, I had two blueberry bushes I bought a few days earlier that needed to be planted. I stopped at Home Depot and got some pine mulch. Blueberries like acidic soil, so I figured adding that along with peat moss would not only acidify the soil but help retain the water in my sandy soil. I got home and found the sunniest part of my back yard, right next to my other blueberry bush. I cleared the area of weeds and grass and dug a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the plant. I back filled it with garden soil, peat and pine mulch. The resulting planting was about 6 inches above the ground level and heavily mulched. I am excited because they are all three different kinds of blueberries, so they should cross pollinate well. Here is what the area looked like as I worked:

 Here is the area before I started ^^

 Got one in

 The hole for the second bush

 Second bush waiting to be planted

 Here they all are! The closest is the one I planted last year, the two further along are the new ones.

Hello plants!

I also surprised my husband and got him a gardenia tree. Yes, they come in trees! Along this fence seems to be the sweet spot for growing things. Everything grows here. Heck, we even have grass growing over here! So, here goes nothing with it. Here is what it looks like:

 Pretty, isn't it?

Ta da! All in a row, I hope they all live long and prosper ;) (star wars pun intended)

Earth Hour

Tonight is the 6th annual Earth Hour. At 8:30pm everyone is encouraged to switch off their lights in a united message about climate change. Last year alone 5,200 cities in 135 countries across the world participated. It brings attention to the fact that if we want to maintain a beautiful Earth with resources for future generations the change needs to be global, but it all starts locally. For more information visit the webpage for Earth Hour and see how you can make a difference. I know for one hour tonight I will be switching my lights off :)

UT's Greenfest

Every year for the past three years Chris and I have gone to Greenfest at the University of Tampa. It is actually where I bought my first plants (two gardenias and a jasmine) back in 2010 and made me want to garden. The gardenias have since died, but the jasmine is going strong! Here is a run down of how it went:

This year it was just as big and busy as ever! They had people selling everything from edible plants to planters to local honey. It was nice to see so many like minded people getting together and sharing stories, tips and ideas :)  Indiana had fun in the children's area, and Chris sat down with Piper along the water front and listened to the blues festival across the channel while I kept shopping. All and all a great day! Here is what we bought:

 This is the key lime tree that Chris saw and got star struck over! We had to get it- key limes are his absolute favorite!

This little guy is a pineapple plant! I can't wait to plant this sucker. The guy who sold it to me said they loathe rich soil. I was sold!

This is gardenia. Chris is not giving up on the thought of having a gardenia bush, bless his heart. I want to try adding pine mulch and coffee to acidify the soil around where it will go For now, it's staying in the pot though.

I finally got my meyer's lemon tree! Isn't it great looking? This one is staying in the pot as well. I may not plant it for a while. I want it to grow more, and need to find a good location to plant it.

We also got some thyme, chocolate mint, parsley, a emerald blueberry bush and a jewel blueberry bush. My hope is that when I plant them next to the blueberry bush I already have that they will cross pollinate one another. We shall see!

I plan on dropping the kiddos off with my sister in law on Wednesday, rolling my sleeves up, and getting dirty! Planting posts to follow :)

First harvest of the season

Hell everyone! Just wanted to stop buy and post a picture of the first harvest of the season: jalapeno peppers! These actually fell off the plant, so I am assuming they want to be eaten lol here they are:

Hooray!!!