Farmer's Market Pros and Cons

I have recently set a goal of trying to make it out of the house in the morning and then staying home in the afternoon. My hope is that this helps with Marley's schedule... she's a bit of a monster when it comes to sleeping. So this morning we were up and out at 9am!!!! We have a local mid-week farmer's market, which is super nice because it gives us something to do during the week. So I strapped Penny into the Ergo (best baby purchase!) and placed Marley in the stroller (mistake #1) and off we went!

If you know Marley, then you know that 1. She doesn't sit still AT ALLL. 2. She LOVES food. So this resulted in 1 fall and several escapes to attack the samples. Then I felt bad that my toddler was eating all the food and guilted myself into purchasing from more than I would have liked to. What started as a free fun outing ended up costing me more than the produce at the store would have :(
That being said, I am a huge supported of buying locally, so I guess that wasn't so bad.
This was my first "issue."

The second thing that bothered me was the craft vendors. Most of the vendors there were selling pre-fabricated merchandise. Stuff that was bought in bulk and shipped from China. This is not handmade! It made me sad that one of the places where handmade has thrived is being taken over by this type of industry! A tear was shed for the handmade community today... not literally, but figuratively...

Overall I would give the Farmer's Market experience a 7... Its more fun when I have back-up :)

Make your own cleaners!

So today I will share a few DIY cleaners that I have found for around the home. If you know me, you know I HATE chemicals. They creep me out! And to top it off, I have incredibly sensitive skin and without fail, I always react badly to cleaners... so I try and use as many natural cleaners as possible around my home. 

Here's what I use:

Windows: Vinegar and water... yes, it works! Vinegar is AMAZING... I knew this, but then I found this , 1001 ways to use Vinegar!

Check out that page for so many ideas for non- chemical ways to get the job done!

Anti-Bacterial Cleaner: Tea Tree Oil and Water (fill up a spray bottle with water and add a couple of drops of Tea Tree Oil) 

Floors: I mix Castille Peppermint Soap with water and scrub away. This one is particularly important to me because I have a little one crawling around on the floors... picking things up off the floors... and yes, sometimes even licking the floors! Despite how much this utterly grosses me out, at least I know she is not licking chemicals along with the dirt and left over chicken nugget crumbs. The Castille Soap is just Trader Joe's version of Dr. Bonners... which is another one of those Miracle cleaners.... you can use it for anything, and it smells great!

I Haven't had much success with natural dishwasher detergents, but I just read this post on a wonderful blog I check in on sometimes, and I will have to give it a try... I'll let you know how that one goes!

As for laundry detergent, I use Crunchy Clean... which I am now carrying!!! Whoo hooo! This is a work at home mom, making NATURAL detergent from her kitchen, and she has the yummiest scents to choose from... check out her website... I Love her stuff!

Try these out... ditch those harsh chemicals and enter the world of green living... wouldn't it be nice to know that if your kiddo were to enter the forbidden cleaner cabinet... it wouldn't kill them... they might just smell like Vinegar, Tea Tree Oil, and Peppermint... just a thought!

Have a Green Day!

Ash