So, You Crunchy Huh?

Anyone else into "crunchy" alternative health/living?

We use homeopathy/herbalism when we're sick, I cloth diaper my baby and we buy (or get for free) most of our produce off of free range farms.
Right now with small town living, it's pretty easy - the farmer's market is walking distance, and my family owns a farm where I get free fresh eggs/chicken/beef/veg.
I grow and dry a lot of my own herbs for tinctures, salves, poultices etc.

It's work but we love it.
Anyone else crunchy??

Peace,
- Flowermama:2thumbsup:

 

Our family has lived like this for Generations, but most people call us "Hillbillies"
Waking up in the morning with a root strapped to your chest to get rid of congestion, drinking something mixed with alittle bit of every root and grass to get rid of a sore throat. Sound kind wierd but it has worked all these years.

If we cant grow it, we dont eat it. We have strayed alittle from raising our own meat, but with the economy being the way it is we have started back with chickens and goats.

I feel that soon to survive that most people are going to have to go back to this way of living. I guess most of us here will have a leg up on them. Nice to see others out there living a simple life too.

I like the word "crunchy" better, Hillbilly just makes us sound stupid.

Goodluck to you!

 

I'm as 'crunchy' and natural as a Londoner can get.

I also cloth bum my baby, we don't use a pram/stroller either and I wear her up on my back. No vaccinations, homoeopathy, home grown 'window sill' veg (no garden) and we are vegan but most of the stuff we buy is organic, the use of stones for natural healing too including the amber necklace my baby wears which really really helps with teething, all natural ingredient no fluoride toothpaste :2thumbsup:

 

I babywear as well, what brand do you use? - can I hazard a guess that you also attachment parent?
I can't say I use stones for natural healing, though my little girl sports an amber teething necklace as well.
For healing we're mostly homeopathic and herbalistic.
I finally found a good aluminum-free deodorant stick that works, but I'm planning on just making my own when I get a chance.

Peace,
- Flowermama

 

I use a woven wrap or a mai tei, when she was newborn I used a stretchy wrap and also a a sling. I'm an attachment parent co sleeping, ex breast feeding (had some trouble with biting and expressing ended up drying me out ) so now she drinks soya/almond/rice/oat milk but she isn't interested in milk much now (15 months old!).. i love attachment parenting!!

 

Oh, one of my woven wraps came from Canada! A Chimparoo Sol. Really love that one

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg8LfoyDFUM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg8LfoyDFUM

 

Bravo on figuring out a woven wrap - that always looked so complicated! I used a mai tei for a while but found the CatBird Baby Pikkolo carrier (like an Ergo) much easier for back-carrying.
We co-slept until she was 6 months - I plan on going longer with the next one, and am looking into getting one of those 'sidecar cribs' that shimmy right up against the mattress.
That stinks about your BFing, but sometimes it just goes that way.
I'm still breastfeeding and will probably keep it up 'till Pipsqueak hits around 16 months and she if she'll slowly start weaning. (Pip just turned 12 m.o. 9 days ago! :2thumbsup: )
I'd really re-think the soya milk though, so much has come out about the dangers of soy, especially when it comes to males, because of the estrogen in it.

Rock on with your APing! It's always nice to meet another mama!

So I just ordered this and am SUPER stoked.

http://www.learningherbs.com/herbal_kit.html

It's to start you off making tinctures, salves etc from wildcrafted herbs.
I've read lots on it, but always have trouble starting (it can seem overwhelming) so I feel like this course could really be useful.

Peace,
- FlowerMama :daisy:

 

She doesnt drink too much soya, its mainly almond and coconut she has, and most days shes more interested in food

Yay! 1 year old! Isn't it scary? And how quickly its gone by..

I was hoping to do extended breastfeeding and let her self wean but I'm not too upset anymore, it happened almost 5 months ago now!

Woven wraps were made in heaven! Although they take a lot of practise to perfect a proper seat, I've been wrapping since she was born and still struggle sometimes. Im hoping to get a custom made mai tei soon, so then I can keep one once my baby wearing days are over, as a keep sake I'll miss baby wearing so much, but I won't miss the stares and comments..!

 

As soon as my little girl gets big enough to start walking (she took 4 steps yesterday on her own!!) I'm making her a baby mei-tai for her dolly.
That way she can carry around her baby too!!

I love the way woven wraps look, I just couldn't get the tying part. lol!

Peace,
- Flowermama:daisy:

 

i suppose so. I carry my son in my arms. He is almost 6 months and weight close to 25 pounds, but I can't afford those wraps/backpacks and the one I got he doesn't really like anymore. He heats up very fast to the point of sweating. No car. I walk everywhere. I breastfeed and he sleeps next to me. I often let him go naked. Hm..we have a forest/feral garden and have been trying to include more of that in our house and body.
I also don't have a washing machine, microwave, dishwasher.
people call me crunchy. I always say I don't have the money to be crunchy..

 

I've never been called crunchy before, but I guess that is what I am to an extent. We live off the land, hunting, fishing, and raising livestock (pigs, chickens, and occasionally a steer) for our meat. Raise a large garden for our veggies. We have a small persimmon orchard, a few apple and cherry trees, and a large amount of black walnut. We harvest the wild raspberries and blackberries that grow in the woods behind our house as well. I have a few neighbors that we trade goods with from time to time as well. I'm big into canning and dehydrating and we usually have at least one year + of food on hand at all times that requires no refrigeration. We heat and cook with wood only.

I breastfed my girls for a couple years each, with a few months of two nursing at a time. My youngest self-weaned at 25 months about a year ago. Cloth diapers and co-slept and I made slings to carry them in.

It's a lot more common in our rural area and most are just repeating the way they were raised.

 

This is very much how I feel, too. I am starting to really get into growing my own food - but the most instant benefit I have found to staying away from mass produced food (by which I mean supermarket bread, junk, meat etc) is how much better I feel!
We live in such a consumer society where so much is wasted and so much of what we eat is actually really bad for us - I too wonder what it would be like for most people if the power, tap water, society etc, fell apart tomorrow.

 

Tell me about it!
I've been trying to stay away from as much shit as I can, but even the fresh veg you buy at the stores now is so covered in chemicals, it's hard to tell if it's doing more harm than good.
I'm big on gardening. Sadly, we have a pretty short growing season here in ON, Canada - (or just a long-ass winter depending on how you look at it. :frown: )
But I love growing lettuce, onions, peppers and garlic - not to mention herbs.

At lest I know where those have been.

Peace,
FlowerMama

 

My baby doesn't like babywearing It makes me sad. He gets overheated really easily which usually leads to him getting super fussy. He's been like that since he was a newborn. I can put him in his mei tai when he's sleepy and he'll fuss until he falls asleep and then I can usually carry him around while he naps, but he doesn't like it when he's awake. He likes his stroller. I got the stroller as a gift and never really planned to use it because I wanted to babywear but he loves it and he's the young master lol so he just goes in the stroller now when we take walks. At home he's a big mama's boy and he isn't happy unless I'm holding him but he still hates babywearing so I've perfected walking around with him propped up on one hip while I use my free arm to do things.

Otherwise I attachment parent..we cosleep, breastfeed, he's never once been left to cry for longer than the time it takes to get to him. I puree his baby food from fruit and vegetables I buy from the farmer's market.

we garden too and this year I'm getting a herb garden going. so far the herbs i'm growing are more for cooking than to use medicinally, but i would really like to start a medicinal herb garden too.

 

Well, I can help you there darlin' if you have any questions.

My munchkin is now I big walker.
She won't let me wear her anymore - and tolerates the stroller, but mostly she wants to walk all by herself.
It's even a battle to get her to hold my hand!

So now we walk around the block and to the Library and back, and she loves it.
It takes us forever to get anywhere, but you know, little legs and all.

At least your little one will still let you wheel him around! :2thumbsup:

~ FlowerMama

 

I'm gettin' crunchy.... working on it
Quit coffee, went vegetarian, started yoga, threw away my bras, stopped wearing panties, stopped shaving, started advocating for animal rights, working on recycling and reusing more, got a medical marijuana card, working on being a better person with bhakti yoga and karma yoga.... and I have to admit, with all these changes I'm making, life is getting better all the time!

 

I don't think I could give up meat - I applaud the people who do; but I'm not a very large person to begin with and the nutrients/iron I get from red meat is invaluable to my diet.
Plus I'm a big 'homesteader' and want to be self-reliant.
I grew up on a farm where butchering animals was just part of life; and I have my hunting license for deer; we're all pretty big venison fans and it cuts the cost of meat exponentially.
I could get rid of my bras, but I hate being without panties. I have no idea why - I'll be so hot that I'll strip down to nothing but my panties but leave those on.
While I'm all for animal rights my passion is more for human rights; namely child rights. :2thumbsup:

I've been doing yoga for years and I love it! You should look into belly dancing; I did it for a time and was part of a troupe before I moved, but I bet you'd love it.

Bravo on your changes! I'm glad it's making you a happier person.

Peace,
~ FlowerMama

 

I'm getting more crunchy every day

*Use cloth diapers and part time EC, no creams/lotions needed
*Cloth pads for me, cloth breast pads (for the leaky boobs)
*Breastfeeding (older girl stopped at 18 months and asks occasionally for pumped breast milk in a glass (now 3 years old), little one is 9 months and will bf until she decides to stop herself), attachment parenting, co-sleep/bed share (futon mattress on floor)
*Dishwasher gone
*Gone Vegan
*Don't use shampoo or conditioner (baking soda & water for filthy hair, like when the baby threw up on me)
*No deoderant or any kind of makeup
*And are now about to start our experiment with hand washing (bucket and plunger style)
*And I've just sewn a beautiful "family cloth" roll and am starting on the "un-paper towels" (of course made from old clothes, sheets and towels)
*No car, got bikes (both with a seat for 1 kid) and have and have 2 old strollers that my mom gave us, but will give them away soon, first one then the other
*Currently use a moby-wrap on the 9 month old (used it since birth) and am going to get one that is good for back carrying both of them (not at the same time though)
*Next spring we'll start the real foraging and the summer the year after that (or a year later, depends on when we move) We will start growing our food
*Rarely wear socks and walk barefoot outside

My 3 year old is a nudist, rejected clothes from birth, always struggled and when she hit 1 years old she started saying "no wear clothes" and just undressed her self, so now I just let her decide (still wears at least undies when we go somewhere but is naked in the yard) so there is less laundry and she needs fewer clothes


...

 

I don't drive a car, never even owned one. I sail and drive a boat.
DELETED my facebook, got rid if my cellphone.
i don't shave, don't dye my hair anymore, use bare minimum makeup.