Mumma Vs WEEDS!

So we are finally settled in our new house! I love it sooo much, the space is so relaxing. We have 1.6 acres which is lovely, but the best part is our back fence hits farmland so it seems like we have much more land! I love sitting on the daybed out the back breastfeeding Butterfly and watching the birds.

When we were looking at the place I did notice the lawn had a lot of clover. I didn't care too much as Butterfly loves traipsing through it! Little did I know that clover becomes EVILLL in spring and forms ouchy prickles! So I started pulling it all out. By hand. Hubby rolled his eyes and said we needed Roundup. NOT ON MY ORGANIC PARADISE THANKYOU!! So he continued to be amused my the sight of me out the back, in the rain (makes the ground soft!), pulling out clover, meter by meter. And you know what? I bloody did it! I pulled 80% of it out by hand, by the roots, without any chemicals at all!

Me pullin' weeds!

Our land also had these beautiful small white wildflowers. I told hubby to mow around them, they made me smile! BUT. Then those little fuckers dropped their petals and sprouted thorns and became prickles 100X ouchier than the clover ones! W.T.F! These ones cannot be pulled out by the roots, they are too small, are rooted in too many places and even gardening gloves can't save you from their razor sharp spikes!

The 3 species of frog we've found in our garden! All jumped out from under the weeds.

Butterfly wastes no time getting hands on!

Again, taunts of Roundup. NO NO NO! I didn't waste hours of my life weeding to give up now! I shouldn't really say waste. Truth be told, I love weeding and would love for hubby to take Butterfly for a day so I could spend the whole day in the rain with only my thoughts!

So I thinks to myself, I thinks "I should ask those savvy Smallest Carbon Footprint fans!" So I does. And one of you comes up with white vinegar!

I bought 20L of the stuff from Coles (if you know of a bulk way to buy vinegar I'd like to know, I got 2L bottles!) and sprayed it all over the evil white flowers. It did a really decent job! It didn't anhilate them, but it did kill the majority of it! I have bought another 20L to get the spots I missed. In the meantime I have been scraping the ground with a shovel to get the damn weeds up, and kicking the white flowers off when I see them (before they turn EVIL!).

I guess the score is currently... Mumma 1, Clover 0!
Mumma 1, White Devil, 2. But I'm working on it!

I'm still open to other suggestions for keeping weeds away! After removing the majority of the weeds I discover we actually don't have much grass, so will plant some grass seeds soon.

Peace

My Chemical Free Home

Seriously some nights I go to bed and can't sleep, as blog ideas run through my head! I mentally write them while I toss and turn, wasting precious sleeping time. So I thought I'd spend tonight getting them down... only, I can't remember what any of them were! I mean, sure, if I brush my teeth and go to bed I'll remember, but then I'm back to square one.

Seriously, I need to cut down on my use of the exclamation mark. Sometimes I read past blogs and it seems I have lost the full stop. It cheapens the sentences that really need it! LOL

Ohhh thats right! I was going to list out the changes I have made towards a chemical free household. I thought going chemical free would be a total pain, but it has been so gradual that it hardly feels like anything has changed!

So here goes...

Deodorant: Body Crystal stick from Coles. Supposed to last 12 months... SCORE! It really does seem to work, too. I can usually smell myself when I really reek, and that hasn't happened for ages! I also find that I stink less when I forget to put it on (like, compared to when I forgot to put on my old deodorant). Not sure why that is, maybe it lasts longer?? Whatever I"m loving it!

Toothpaste: FAIL. Still using Aldi brand. Remind me to get onto that.

Moisturiser: Billy Goat Soap Moisturiser (AWESOME!!!!)




Soap: Billy Goat Soap

Baby bath: Moogoo, although it contains Phenoxethanol so will change to Billy Baby Body Wash when it runs out.

Nappy Rash Cream: Natures Child Bottom Balm

Sunscreen: FAIL. Still Banana Boat. Will change to Wotnot sunscreen in Summer.

Shampoo and Conditioner: Miessence ... mmm smells good!

Hand Soap: FAIL. Aldi brand. Any ideas? Hopefully not expensive ones??

Washing: Wild Soapnuts. I heart these little berries! Do yourself a favour and use them. Just do it. You'll save a buttload in washing powder costs!

Disinfectant: White Vinegar, although I am guilty of the occasional spritz of Pine-O-Clean on Butterfly's high chair. Will kick that habit when the bottle runs out.

Toilet Cleaner: White Vinegar

Floor Cleaner (mopping): White Vinegar

Dishwashing liquid: Earth's Choice Dishwashing liquid. I don't use much of this because we have a dishwasher...

Dishwasher Powder: Eco Store... seriously, this 1kg bottle will last you AGES!! I was beggining to think it was a magic bottle that never ran out, but, alas, probably 6 months of use finally finished it off! Again, save yourself some serious cash!

Oven and Hot Plates: White Vinegar and Bicarb

Shower and Bath: White Vinegar and Bicarb

Hubby's Shaving Cream and Deodorant: Still the usual toxic crap. He seems to think I'm a fruitloop... I'll change these eventually, baby steps for the skeptic!

Ridding yourself from the nasties in commercial body and cleaning products seems a mammoth task. Its not. Don't focus on changing everything at once, just research one thing at a time. Some things will cost you more money. My Miessence Shampoo almost gives me a heart attack every time I have to pay for it! But as you can see, good ol' vinegar has replaced most of my cleaning products, so I save a bundle there. I'd say I am still saving money, even though some things are pretty exy. I'll go back now, and colour the things GREEN if they save me money, RED if they are more expensive. K?

It it worth doing. I never used to worry about the things I put on my body, but the ingredients in everyday products are DISGUSTING!! Cancer causing, hormone disrupting, artificial junk. There has to be a reason Prostate Cancer is on the rise? A reason every second child has ADHD? I'm going to be on the safe side... I mean, how can you go wrong with natural ingredients? And they smell so purrrrdy...

What are your favourite natural products? Feel free to guest blog if your home is totally chemical free!