i have a few 2004 magazines which i don't need... 3 Get Fresh and about 6 Fruitarian Network  ... i'm happy to post to the first person to reply by pm!

I'd love some Berry!  Maybe we can do a swap, I have heaps of seeds but out of broccoli now.  have lots of lettuce, celery, parsley seeds spare.

my first wasn't really interested in trying foods till 1yr.  then she'd have bits of whatever i was having, starting with juices, smoothies, chewing on whole fruits/veg.  Loved dried seaweed, tomatos, anything really.  Her earliest meals were often blended, then later i would process her greens for salads.

my second child wanted to do what everyone else was doing, but not much interested in the process of swallowing till around 6 months.   Before he first started to crawl, i would sit him on the ground while we were gardening and he'd rip off green leaves - whole spinach stalks, wild celery, spring onions, herbs, anything, and chew them all up.  No matter how spicy or bitter the greens, he'd sit there quietly and shred up the garden, spitting out the pulp!  I have noted with both the children that from birth they had no judgement around bitter/spicy/strong foods, but that they have gradually learned this in time from others.  Still, the other day my 2.5yr old was bold enough to eat a millipede

I used to give him blended avo/greens/herbs  soup, whole fruits, & during our Darwin times he loved all the fruits & fresh coconuts.  With the business of life with 2 i rarely got around to preparing him special meals, so i just presented a variety of foods and he does his own thing. 

I always 'let' them try whatever they wanted, and never worried about the choking thing - they explored eating in their own way and soon understood textures, chewing, swallowing, foods and non-foods.  Just my experience, not recommending either way! 

yep when growing fruit trees from seed you do not necessarily get the same fruit that it came from.  BUT you do get a wilder, more natural, hardy and nutrient dense variety (of those that survive), as they tend to revert back to strains they were developed from.   IMO this is great, but we are so accustomed to the hybrid fruits found in shops which generally sweeter and jucier and bigger, and people with small gardens may prefer to plant trees which guarantee them the actual fruit they want!

We pick wild fruits grown from seed quite a bit - berries, plum, nectarines, apples, figs.  They are all very tasty.   Often smaller.   

I always plant the seeds from yummy avocados, sapotes, stone fruit, etc.  Some grow some don't, but as we have plenty of space out here I am happy to plant them all, and maybe create/preserve more varieties than are available in commercial trees.   

i love how these experiences give people positive associations to fruit!   often i hear mums warn their kids to not eat too much fruit or you'll make yourself sick! 

I have just finished reading Shirley Temple's autobiography. In this short paragraph she writes about her father and grandfather (a doctor).

" At four, Father had contracted a digestive disorder which his father judged to be terminal.  A man with an eye for recorded history, the doctor bundled his ill child into a horse-drawn carriage and set off for the nearby town ... to have a final photo taken.  En route they reined up at a roadside store, where the child was curiously attracted to some bananas.  In the spirit of the Last Supper, Dr Temple bought one for his patient, who immediately lost all his morbid digestive symptoms.  A frugal man, the doctor turned his horse homeward, saved the cost of a photo, and took to prescribing bananas when all else seemed to fail."

from Child Star  by Shirley Temple Black

Finally, a legitimate reason to get this thread to the top of the charts. 


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here's another one miss g!

thanks for that.  when i wrote that it said on my packet 'product of mexico'  but i see the new ones are australian!
now i can feel secure to eat as much chia as i like 

thanks miss g.  myself and children are hooked on chia & nice to read something about it!

the only disappointment i have is that it is imported - chia grows so well in Australia, there must be a local source?? 

edible weeds - our local library has a great book by Tim Lowe (/Low?)  on Australian edible weeds.  just the common ones, but great pics and descriptions and uses.  same author also has a very good book on native edible plants.

& as d.r. said, check out the fruit growing around your area, keep an eye on trees and most people are happy to share when they have too much fruit! 

Might be useful if you and children have full regular medical check ups, in case it comes to that.  this i imagine would be acceptable evidence that you are not being negligent.  Maybe vegan society or someone here can recommend sympathetic doctor, otherwise i would just visit a doctor i feel comfy with and request a full checkup, you don't even need to mention diet, and i wouldn't unless it came up - obviously some people have reactions to the term vegan, so you might want to excercise caution....the word vegetarian is much more acceptable to general folk, and if a dr asked you could use that term instead...wise to be cautious when it is about your children, but if ex was to bring this to court it should help you to have official 'evidence' of health.
 
good luck.

there are some older threads about placentas if ur interested.   

1st time we saved & planted under an avocado seedling. 
2nd time (Kittyk don't read any further!!!), i did further research into what other mammals do with theirs, & i ate it (raw in raspberry smoothie).  mums will understand that in those first few days after birth you are in a very different space - babymoon period - and for me in that space it felt right & normal & not yuk at all.... & i know it contributed to my feeling invincible in those early days after birthing :D

lots of bellydancing!  a few of the moves are awesome for toning the stomach muscles from many different angles.  if you can't find a teacher pm & i can send some instructions     i didn't have the weight issue, but found that my belly bounced back very quickly after both bubs and dancing & rawnesss were all i did.

i was blessed with no stretch marks, but have heard that msm is helpful.

xx

i find buying fresh greens from shops for a family can get pricey, but unnecessary when you get familiar with wild edibles (aka weeds) growing in your area.  right now we're finding malva, chickweed, fennel, wild garlic, and more...the fresh young grass coming up right now is perfect for juicing.  free minerals & chlorophyll :-D

thanks for the baking paper advice.  i have put the thing outside, it is still loud though - guess i've been spoilt living in nature so long!   the mice do come and hang around right around it whilst it is running (have caught 7 this week - and had no sign of mice b4!), but have not found a way in.  i guess in this icy weather the warmth and food smells override the noise!  i was worried they'd get in when it was off, but i've got traps set either side which are working. 

we have just finished a batch of olives ...
 
picked ripe off tree (just starting to fall, & birds just starting to eat them!)

dehyrated at lowest setting for 2 days.    YUM. 


as an experiment, we cut and soaked half of them for 3 days (changing water) but was a lot more trouble and they don't taste much different - very slightly milder.