Cloth Diapering

I've had a few people ask me over the years my advice on cloth diapering.  Although I am no expert, and honestly, a bit rusty as it's been five years since I really researched the topic, I am happy to share.  Recently a friend on Facebook asked me to help out her friend, so instead of re-writing my thoughts, I figured I'd compile them here, and direct future questioners here.  =)

There are lots of options when it comes to Cloth Diapering (CDing).  There are pre-folds, which are kind of the "old fashioned" way of doing diapers.  You fold the cloth up and put a cover over it.  These are the cheapest way to go, but also the most work, I think. 

There's also All-In-Ones (AIO).  These are basically the convenience of disposables, since they're just one unit. There's no folding or stuffing. I've had AIOs before, and the biggest downside to these is they take FOR-E-VER to dry!  For this reason alone, I don't recommend them.  Unless you enjoy running your dryer twice, just to dry one load. 

There are also Hybrid Diapers, like G-Diapers, where they're re-usable covers, with disposable, biodegradable inserts to put inside.  If you're out to save the planet, these might be for you.  But if your goal is to be frugal, these are not it!  The liners cost more than disposables, and you still have to buy the expensive covers. I'm not a fan of this option.  I just use disposables when I need disposables, and do cloth the rest of the time. 

And then there's Pocket Diapers.  My favorite.  Not as much work as pre-folds, and sill dry relatively quickly (unlike AIOs).  They are diapers with a "pocket" in them that you stuff with an insert. I have hemp inserts, and they are awesome!  Hemp absorbs FOUR TIMES it's weight in liquid, so they hold a lot before they leak.  I've tried terry cloth/cotton inserts, and I.hate.them.  They don't last 30 minutes before they're leaky.  What's the point of cloth diapers if they're not going to work?  I've know a few moms who only tried cotton or terry cloth inserts, and ended up giving up on cloth diapers because they were so frustrating.  I believe they've now replaced many of the hemp ones with bamboo inserts.  I don't know much about bamboo's absorbency, but only that it's really eco-friendly because it grows so quickly, and is easily reproducible. 

I personally used to use Happy Heineys pocket diapers. They used to come in Small, Medium, and Large (I believe now they come in One Size).  But then, my kids get so big, that even the size Large become too small for them by the age of two.  So, I was forced to buy more cloth diapers.  I figured I better find something that would last, since I was buying them for the second time. I did some research, and found Blueberry Diapers to be ones that fit larger kids.  I buy the One-Size (OS) Blueberry diapers.  They're expensive up front, but after three kids and years of use, we've saved thousands of dollars.

I should explain sizing, I suppose.  You can go with a brand that comes in Small, Medium, and Large, and buy a set of diapers for each stage of your baby  (which gets expensive, but the fit is a lot more precise), or you can buy OS diapers, which grow with your child.  They snap up smaller when they're little, and expand as they grow.  The only downside to this is that they're really bulky on newborns.  Even on my 10.5 lb newborns, I don't prefer to use OS diapers until they're older.  I still have my set of small Happy Heineys that I use for the newborn stage.  Once they grow out of those, I put them in my Blueberry OS diapers. 

How many diapers do you need? 
I think for the newborn stage, you are changing diapers so frequently, that you need a lot.  I have 24 small Happy Heineys that I use early on.  Once they're bigger, you don't change them as frequently, and you can use less.  Since I often have two kids in diapers at once, I own eighteen of the Blueberry OS diapers. 

I wash my diapers every other day or every two days.  I keep them in a wet bag until it's time to wash.  If there are solids, I scrape them out into the toilet, then put them in the wet bag.  I'm not anal about getting off every bit of solid...just the big bits (sorry for the TMI!). Then I wash them on hot with some diaper-safe detergent.  There are lots out there. Most "free and clear" ones are not good to use on your diapers.  You don't want anything that will coat your diapers, and make them not absorb as much (especially fabric softener).  I always add a little baking soda and vinegar to my loads (like a small amount...a couple tablespoons of each).  Vinegar is a natural water-softener, and baking soda keeps things white.  Together, they're a great team in the laundry.  I actually use them in every load of laundry I do. 

If you ever do get some build up on your cloth diapers, you can always strip them, and they'll start absorbing better, and won't stink.  

Well, I think that's it! Hope that helps you all.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll try to answer them.  Again, I'm rusty, and no expert, but I'm happy to help a Cloth Diaper Newbie!

Chicken Harvesting

Today we processed all our hens, and our one remaining rooster. We figured, we got these chickens for free (on Freecycle), and have spent a fortune on Organic, Corn-free, Soy-free Feed, and have received less than a dozen eggs from the Lovely Ladies in the last two months. We figured they've probably passed their prime, and won't likely pick up production that much once the weather warms up. Buuuuut, since we know they are healthy...why not make dinners out of them?!?!

So we did just that. This was the third or fourth time in the last two months that we've processed chickens. People kept giving us their homegrown/ free-range roosters, which we gladly received. Needless to say, we've got the process down to a science.

The Hot Contractor and The Princess did all the outside work, while I did all the inside work (and took care of The Brothers).

Here's The Princess, helping Dad








She'd help catch them. A few got out of the coop. Those ones were captured with the .22 riffle.

Once they caught them, The Hot Contractor would cut off their heads. The Princess would assist him with the scissors, etc.



This is where he'd remove their innards and de-feather them.

He dipped them in our big canning crock with hot water (on our camping stove) to remove the feathers.




Then he'd bring them in the house to me.

I'd dump them in the sink, wash and separate livers, hearts, necks, and feet. Then I'd wash the birds, and put one bird in a Ziplock, with one neck and two feet (to be used to make bone broth after we eat the chicken).




Then Little Brother helped me spread out the hearts and livers on a cookie sheet, and we stuck them in the freezer. We're going to be cutting them up into pill-size pieces, and taking them daily. Liver (from a healthy, pastured animal) is probably THE most amazingly healthful food one can consume. We want those benefits, and since our liver pills are gone, we need to replenish our supply.



I haven't get decided what I'm going to do with the chicken hearts yet. We may cook them in the crock pot with some BBQ sauce. I've never eaten chicken hearts, but I know they're good for us, and I hate wasting things, so I'm sure we'll find something to do with them!

Here's a pic of Little Brother. He was too cold to be outside for long, but he loved watching the action (especially the .22 action!) from the window.




It was a good, productive day. And now we have twelve more chickens in our freezer. Between the chickens and the deer, we won't need to buy meat for...like...forever! 

Note to Self:

When letting your eleven-month-old "air dry", don't get distracted. It might lead to him pooping all over your floor, then walking in it. And then your dog might decide to help by eating it.

Note to Self #2: Don't ever, EVER let your dog lick you.

Fire Making

Here's my Hot Little Hunter making fire...his latest endeavor. He actually got it going! It was pretty cool to watch. He was just rubbing wood together, and voila...fire!

Mean, Mean Rooster

 { I copied and pasted this from my Facebook status from a couple weeks ago because I want it to be forever imprinted in our family history.}

After chasing both The Princess and Little Brother, our huge, white rooster lost his life today. The Hot Contractor heard poor, little, 2yo Little Brother screaming bloody murder outside. He looked out the window, and saw the horror. Grabbed his gun, and told the kids to stay inside. Just as he was about to do the deed, he heard The Princess banging on the window. He turned around to her yelling, "ARE WE GOING TO EAT HIM FOR DINNER?!?!" He smiled and nodded, then shot the rooster, chopped off his head with an axe, de-feathered him, and stuck him in the freezer. I love my husband!

Oh, Deer!

A couple weeks ago, the Hot Contractor shot a deer outside our front door. It was a very exciting, much-anticipated night, as he'd been trying to get a deer for the entire two month deer hunting season that was one day from closing. Here's how it all happened...

We were sitting at the dinner table, about to start eating, when The Hot Contractor had to pee. Instead of using the toilet, like a civilized person, my Hot Little Hunter (I'm considering changing his name to this) decided to go outside to relieve himself. Of course! That's what you do when you're a hunter...always on the lookout! As he was out there, he could hear a deer out in the brush (the sun had just set, so visibility was bad). He came in and grabbed his .30-06 which was mounted above the door (just like Charles Ingalls). Not more than five minutes later, we heard the shot. He'd shot a doe. A big doe.

He spent a couple hours hanging her outside that night, and we left her for a couple days. Then he skinned and processed her. Here are some pics I took of that.







The head (I know, gross, huh?).






Another "head shot".






Here's the Hot Hunter himself.






And the deer skin hanging on the back of our truck. Lovely, isn't it?






Then we had to process the meat. We made a bunch of it into jerky (which lasted like 3.5 days, it was SO GOOD!), saved some steaks and roasts in the freezer, and made the rest into ground meat. We have this handy dandy meat grinder attachment for our Kitchen Aid, which has come in handy a couple times now (the first being when we processed our 500 lbs of beef last year). Here's a pic of him and The Princess, hard at work.






{Please note the pink sparkly princess dress. I love that she's grinding meat while wearing this.}

And now we have a freezer full of organic, grass-fed venison to last us all winter. And it cost us $15.30 (for the deer tag). Love it! Thank you, Hot Hunter!

Dilly Cucumbers

I made my first batch of fermented cucumbers this week. I was really skeptical they would taste good, but they do! They're so yummy! Here's a pic.