what's without is within

huh, you may say. what on earth do you mean. oh, i am trying to say that what you use on your body ultimately ends up in your body. oh! and, better to be without than with all the junk. there you go. so, what are you slathering, lathering and scrubbing yourself with these days?

those isles and isles of fruity, smelly and oh so alluring body care items can really suck you in. go into your local drug store and just step back. is it really necessary to have big of a selection. i guess so, other wise it wouldn't be there or would it? all considering who owns all of these brands, i would assume that that is reason enough for the mass marketing of these items. you can't live without them!

sure you can! break away and get real. that stuff is laden with some seriously scary ingredients. you really don't need 35 ingredients in your shampoo. why does it need to be bright green and smell like guava pineapple on a summer morning. what they hell does that have to do with shiny, clean hair. NADA. so, i say dis the chemicals and go for the real deal.

i can go into detail about parabens, artificial color, fragrance, etc., but i really believe that there is enough info out there on that junk and why bore you with it. what i will bore you with is how to get back to your roots, how to be clean, smell clean and look good without the 'stuff' that eventually leaches into your body and ultimately makes you toxic, not to mention supports some really unethical companies.

first things first, i must mention deodorant and antiperspirant before all else. it is one of the most toxic things that people choose to smear onto their skin. the later is even more toxic, especially for us lady folk. think about it...you are smearing aluminum, a heavy metal, under your arms on skin that is generally shaved. maybe most women don't realize that their breasts are super close to their armpits. linking this together yet? so, where does all of that aluminum go? into your breasts...oh, breast cancer. now you see what i am getting at. creepy stuff! no thanks. by the way, we are supposed to sweat. it is natural. the smelly end of it can be controlled without the conventional goods. check out lafe's natural and organic deodorant selection. complete with mineral salts, natural oils (including hemp) and plant extracts, available in spray and roll on. good stuff! plus, there is a man behind this company. a person with compassion and ethics. can't say that about most things.

next up is soap. in the keepin' it simple mode of things, we still use and probably will always use dr. bronner's magic soaps. their rep says it all and the fact that they have been whipping up this stuff for 60 years is a good sign. plus, they are fair trade and a super hip family run company. who needs body wash to match your shampoo, and your body spray and your lotion. soon you start smelling like a walking perfume bottle. i wonder if people can actually smell themselves or did they burn their noses out? anyway, just a thought. what does matter is that you are clean when you get out of the shower. dr. bronner's castile soaps are the bomb. they have been rockin' the scene way longer than any of that other junk and they have managed to do so without adding the junk. plus, dr. bronner's magic all-one soaps double as a bunch of stuff...you can brush your teeth with it, wash your dishes and clean the toilet. damn that stuff is tricky!

i am assuming that most of us have hair, but not all, so if you do, shampoo and conditioner is probably another item in the bathroom lineup. once again, i could ramble off all of the junk in this stuff, but why bother. i'll get right down to it. look for plant extracts, natural oils and plant based surfactants. it isn't necessary to 'attempt' to smell like what some chemist thinks that a spring dew smells like. all you ultimately need is a healthy scalp and shiny and clean hair. the rest will follow. natural products naturally smell good. like coconuts, and flowers and the dew on a orange blossom. no really, they do. so, check out john masters organics for a huge selection of salon quality hair care products. they have it all and yes, they know what they are doing with it. he even owns and operates a 'clean air salon' in nyc. i dig his shampoo, detangler, sea mist and the dry hair defrizzer (a great herbal oil for keeping sun and salt laden hair happy). for those of you who want to opt for the less salon type products, i'd suggest aubrey organics. they have kept it real for over 40 years, before going green was in, and they have something for everyone. once again, two companies with faces, oddly enough male faces, behind some awesome goods.

that leaves us with lotions and oils and anything else that you may slather on your body's largest organ, your skin. yes, your skin is a pretty complex organ that absorbs and releases the good and the bad. so, you better think about what you are coating yourself with on a daily basis. when treated right, your skin will balance itself out and take care of business. yes, it needs our help to maintain, but that's because we are the ones that take advantage of it. we tend to get too much sun at times, go swimming, play on the beach and unfortunately smear junk on it that isn't what it needs. time to give it what it needs. OIL! yes, good healthy natural oil. be it coconut, jojoba, hemp, calendula, etc., as long as it comes from a plant and is maintained in a pure form, it will make your skin vibrate with happiness. one of my favorites is based on the edgar cayce's studies, heritage brand aura glow. i love the feel and smell of it and it truly makes you feel good. plus, it is great for preggy bellies. regardless of what i enjoy, you will find a ton of products out there in oil form that will make you feel like you are glowing. keep it simple though.

well, there you have it. the basics. it is simple and basic if you let it roll that way. your whole family can use these products if you so choose. we do use pretty much the same brands on the peanut, with the addition of some weleda baby products. it is so vital to treat that baby skin like you do the baby within. nurture and nourish, not add fragrance and chemicals just because you want that new clean baby smell. really folks, babes don't naturally smell like that 'stuff'. they need pure and simple things that don't get their beginning in a laboratory owned by some huge chem company.

the same goes for what you use for yourself. treat yourself well and yourself will treat you well. remember within and without. love that body, it is merely a rental.

what's growing on?

phew, it's been awhile. i feel like we have been mia for months. lots going on and with those longer days and warm spells, we've been recharging our batteries and on the move. so, where have we been? outside of course. every spare minute...mowing grass, playing, keeping the plants happy, growing a baby and filling up our yard with tons of organic goodies.

we got our organic blueberry bushes from backyard berry plants, thanks to keith uridel and his fam, and mrs. chanticleer and ms. aurora, as we so affectionately call our early variety and late variety high bush plants, are abiding in our front yard as we speak. the early variety, chanticleer, already has some berries on there and we can't wait to do some taste testing. kudos to backyard berry plants and keith. he is a great guy to deal with, super helpful, honest and packs up some great organic berry plants along with brambles. and they just had a mention in mother earth news this issue. not bad for a family farm in indiana. we need more of these guys.

the new fruit trees are in the ground and doing alright. we lost one of the apricots, but i can honestly say that i think that it was shipped out in that condition. it looks sad and will luckily be replaced in the fall with another. other than that, the new plum whip and the other apricot whip are doing fine. good news on the ole mrs. rosa front. our older, only about 4 years old, santa rosa plum tree set a great amount of fruit this year. we are happy to say that it looks like we'll be getting more than one plum this year.

as far as the rest of the yard goes, we have tons of greens growing on (mizuna, spinach, collards, kale, chard and mesclun), the tomato plants are in and looking good, the snap peas grew a foot since last week and we are already munching on some young ones, and we have green, well purple, green beans growing all over the place along with some kentucky wonders just poking their heads out. oh, almost forgot the cucs...thanks to a friend we have some lemon cucs and we couldn't resist the pickling cucs that we grew last year, so they will be taking up residence next to our outdoor shower this year. they loved it! those were the best cucs that we have ever had and thanks to our bathing habits, they were as happy as could be climbing up the side of our shower while getting a good daily drink. we are also trying to do some trellising cucs in hanging baskets. worth a try and nothing to lose. we have some great sunny spots that could be utilized and so we shall give it a shot. off the ground, means less fungus and plenty of sun, so why not? it's all about trying to find that balance and it could be found anywhere, even in our backyard.

hard to believe that it is june already, and it feels so good to be barefoot, dirty and weeding and planting already. there will be more to plant, more to eat and more to do as the next few weeks roll on, but for now we are loving this time of awakening. there have been challenges and on the other hand, there have been gains, so it is ALL GOOD. we are battling the neighborhood cats and their choice of our gardens as their toilets, but we can fix it with a few more wire fences, and we also have a 3 foot tall garden monkey, aka our daughter, who loves to remove soil from the gardens at all costs, water everything in site and give the plant hugs, but thanks to some one and a half foot tall picket fences, from the local hardware store, we have successfully kept the little monkey out of the gardens for over a week. gotta love her affection for our food though. she thinks that all plants are babies and that they need hugs and water to grow. i think that she is on to something.

well, that's where the fam is for now. in the yard with grass stained toes, dirt under the nails, naked at times (the garden monkey, not us) and roaming around in the ole camper when the waves are calling or the sun is shining.

get out and roam! and don't forget to grow and glow.