01-31-2012

01-30-2012

01-25-2012

01-23-2012

01-18-2012

Tomorrow's Garden Starts Today

This is one of the busiest times of year for many, and I am no exception.

The kids have just returned to school, classes at the university are about to start again. Paperwork for the years taxes need to be collected, files and piles sorted through and shredded, archived or acted upon, business decisions finalized, and schedules and calendars have to be filled out for the year ahead for all the members of the family.

Like many other busy mamas, I'm in charge of multiple schedules; mine, BW's, JB's, Squirt's, the house and to some extent Charles'. If I'm lost and adrift, you can bet chaos reigns in the Olson household.

But to me, the most important task of the year is working out the details of that season's garden.

As mentioned in A bench for Tiffany, my garden is a reflection of how I am doing, and in planning for my refuge, I am given the opportunity to reflect upon the past year's events and prepare for the one ahead. Successes, failures, incomplete or unrealized goals are all revisited. In identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each moment, I'm able to learn, let go and look forward.

Methodically I gather all of the seeds I've purchased, collected or received from friends. So too are the catalogs, magazines, calendars and notes brought together so that what seems to be a disorganized pile of a gardeners delight is created.

In combing through my seeds, those that are more than three years old, failed to thrive or did not meet expectations are removed. I'm a one and done kind of gardener when it comes to the seeds I plant, excepting only for those that may have failed to thrive due to poor weather or bad timing of planting. Only the few that pique my interest are given another season to display their promise, but valuable resources such as time, space, sun, water and Charles' patience are not casually spent on those that fail for more than two seasons.

Once a complete inventory is made of what I currently have, duplicate copies of catalogs are recycled and those for companies I've come to rely upon are slowly perused through and the anticipation of spring swells with each bright picture my eyes linger on.

Then the 'creative juices' begin to flow. Those items that might fill gaps in the collection I've amassed, will replace seeds that are too old or I've run out of or look fun are high lighted and added to my list. As part of the creative process, there are no limits at this stage, other than the number of days needed in a growing season.

It is only after I've made my lists, compared prices, eliminated duplicates, cross referenced growing conditions and ensured that all these tiny seed packets fit within my budget that I fill out order forms. With excitement and anticipation for the coming spring I begin to create a final garden plan and set a schedule for when the tiny little promises of tomorrow will be nestled in seeding media.

When the last details of the garden are finalized, I am calm, relaxed and able to focus on the countless other tasks that demand my time, attention and undivided energies.

As the children have grown, the magic of planning the garden has woven itself about them, and they too participate as much as I am able to let them, each looking forward to the tiny green flecks that emerge after weeks of patience and tender maintenance.

I am always excited to see those little flecks, those little promises, and I can't wait to for this years.

The best time to start a garden of your own is now, before the warmth of spring has begun to make herself known and it's too late to nestle those seeds into the ground. A catalog, pencil, paper and imagination are all that you need.

Shopping for Gold

The hardest part of any elimination diet is finding products that you can use to replace those that contain the compounds you are trying to eliminate.

Thankfully Doug's mom Grace has many years of experience with this, the Feingold Diet, and has been so very giving of her time that our transition has been easier than most.

In talking with her, I’ve benefited from her ‘Hard Knocks’ and won’t have to spend countless hours wandering from grocery store to grocery store trying to find breads, cereals, yogurts, snacks, lunch makings and other ingredients for dinner.

Also rendering this lifestyle change easier is the fact that we cook most of our dinners and nearly all of our weekend meals from scratch. Charles and I fell in love while cooking with each other for our friends, and we find it is a relaxing and satisfying way to catch up at the end of a long and busy day.

For the last two weeks, we've been following this diet and already we've seen some remarkable changes. This morning at breakfast BW remarked that last night was the first time in recent memory that he didn't wake up in the middle of the night and he felt rested.

We've all noticed that he's been agreeable, pleasant and a lot more gentle when it comes to playing with JB and the dog. So far BW has only mentioned once that he misses the bright flavors of cold cereal, but when offed the choice of eating that and feeling like he used to, or sticking with the diet, he quickly answers "Stay on the course Mama!"

Charles and I remain reserved about this diet as it eliminates so many fruits and vegetables that contain silicates (thought by some to result in hyperactivity and an 'allergic' reaction in some children) and one of the criticisms is that many of the fruits that are 'approved' of also contain high levels of the same compound. This is among many of the questions that I have and continue to research. For now, we have adopted the diet as a natural fact of life, that we are following it so that every member of the family is as healthy as they can be, and Charles and I try our best to not be either overly positive or negative about what this program can do.

For those of you who’ve ever heard of the Feingold Diet, who are curious about it, or are wondering if it might be an option for you, here is some of the information that Grace passed along to us about where we can get foods that do not contain artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and other ingredients to avoid when starting out on the diet.

At Wal-Mart (and some extent Sam’s Club)
Frozen Salmon
Raw Tortillas (which can be found by the string cheese section)
Natural Peanut Butter
Granola bars
Mom’s Naturals
Tyson’s Natural Chicken Nuggets

General Grocery Stores
Many Newman’s Own products
Breyer's Ice Cream
Tyson’s Natural Chicken Nuggets
Rudi's Organic Breads
Pear Juice (in the baby food aisle)

Whole Foods
Deli Meats
BBQ Sauce – Mustard Based as tomatoes are a significant source for an allergic reaction
365 Lemonade
Hot Chocolate
Ice Cream Cones
Cupcakes
Breads
Raw Pizza Dough
Pepperoni from the deli for Pizzas
365 Powdered mixes – gravy, sauces, etc.
gum drops
meringues
gummy star candies

Also, here in River City we are fortunate to have a little restaurant that imports foods from England, and they have the most delightful candies that BW and JB can enjoy freely. Outside of the United States, most European countries have outlawed the use of petroleum based chemicals in the food sources, be they raw or processed. Whenever we have the opportunity to purchase an import from those lands at a reasonable cost we take advantage of it.

If you are fortunate enough to have a Whole Foods within close proximity as well as the resources to shop there, the task is much easier since it means that a greater variety of choices in food is readily available. Without that store or another 'Natural Grocer' the job will be more difficult and you may need to rely more on mail order sources for durable goods.

I can say that of all I've learned in the last several weeks, one thing stands out the most. Charles makes amazing peppermint patties!

Play Ball

The following has been going on for the last half an hour or so;

BW, in the entry calls up to the living room "Daddy, you want to come out and play catch?"

Charles, lying on the couch says "Sure" and gets up, puts on his shoes, finds his mitt and ball and heads outside only to find that BW, his sister and the next door neighbor girl have all mysteriously disappeared. Charles looks around, sees no one and returns inside where he takes off his shoes and proceeds to the couch to lie down and resume his nap.

Just as the man is about to slip into the land of nod, the front door bangs and from the entry BW calls up "Daddy, don't you want to play ball with me!?" and then heads back outside.

A bit more slowly, Charles again rises from the couch, puts on his shoes and heads outside. And like before, BW and friends are no where in sight.

Shaking his head and mumbling under his breath, the man returns to the couch and wraps a blanket around him, this time leaving his shoes on.

As in a comedy of errors, BW once again returns to the entry and sadly calls up "Daddy, why don't you want to play ball with me?"

This time Charles called out as he rose from the couch "Stay right there, don't move, I'm on my way."

And then they did play ball. And I could finally laugh about it.

Saying 'No' to Neon

BW has always been an interesting child, but it wasn't until JB came along that we were able to identify just how different BW was.

As he's grown up we have always been sensitive to his moods. Some days he's giddy on the verge of a manic and out of control with laughter, and other times he is incredibly grumpy and even just the act of breathing by another person in the household can set him off on rages or moments of extreme withdrawal - but overall he is a sweet boy who tries very hard to be calm and focused.

When we'd talk with the doctor about it we were never able to identify a pattern - it never seemed as though there was a consistent pattern of activities that would set the stage for one mood or another.

It has been a challenging eight years.

For the last year or so a pattern began to emerge. It began once BW was old enough to be able to describe how his body felt when he was experiencing his different moods. He also met a little boy named Doug who sufferes from a sensitivity to artificial colors, preservatives and certain types of fruits and vegetables.

His family diligently follows a diet in which artificial and some natural compounds are eliminated from their food. Doug is by all measures a normal and happy boy until there is an accidental ingestion of 'off limits' foods and his behavior suspiciously resembles BW's.

After paying attention to our own diet and noting BW's behavior we began to notice that there was indeed a pattern to his behavior and it is closely related to the foods we eat. Brightly colored foods, products with really long ingredient lists that contain abstract sounding names and modified sweeteners all appear to have negative impacts on BW's ability to control himself. Recently he's begun asking if we to can follow the same diet as Doug's family - even going so far as to beg to feel better.

Charles and I began to research the diet - and it seems as though there is merit to it. We already cook so many of our meals from scratch that we hope it won't be as significant a change to what we already do. We'll need to add the ability to interpret and identify ingredient lists more closely than we have before... and the list is impressive.

The first and perhaps most important immediate additives to eliminate are the FD&C colors. If it's neon, it's not an option. I do believe the year ahead is going to be an interesting one, and we all hope that BW starts to feel a little less like his skin is crawling and his mind is going bonkers.

Here are only a few of the ingredients we'll be saying goodbye to, at least for the foreseeable future... I'll let you know how it goes...

Artificial flavoring, aspartame, BHA, BHT, calcium propionate, FD&C Colors, MSG, synthetic colors, sodium benzoate, and vanillin are among those ingredients that we are on the lookout for... And you'd be surprised at all the places you can find them.

Here we go - hold on tight.