All posts by The Natural Mammas

Rainwater Collection | A Natural Water System For Any Green Building

June 28, 2012 The Natural Mammas 2 Comments

After living in northern New Mexico for 10 years it’s hard to forget the preciousness of water. Before living there I knew to turn the water off when brushing, don’t water your lawn at noon, and save water however possible. But, I didn’t really get real water conservation and especially had no concept of water independence. We always had city water or a well that had been no issue to dig.

However, that’s not true for many properties in New Mexico and around the world. Everyone needs water though right? One solution – rainwater collection.

Rainwater Collection is just what it sounds like. Collecting rain water and storing it for use later. It’s been done for centuries and is currently very popular in some arid places like the southwestern US, Brazil, China and elsewhere, as well as for people who are designing and building off grid homes like earthships and other types of green buildings.

Rain water harvesting systems are usually gutter systems that instead of emptying the water they catch from the roof into a location in your yard or into the street, they empty it into a holding tank. At their most basic a rain water collection system could also be a 50 gallon drum or two set near the garden or the water tank for the livestock too.

Take a look at these examples of rain water collection systems for a better idea of what I’m talking about.

rain water collection system emptying into cistern — From Earthship Biotecture this is an image of gutters that will collect the rain water that falls onto the roof of this earthship and funnel it into this underground cistern that will store the water from storms for use within the home later.

rainwater collection system in backyard — This was the backyard of our first house in New Mexico. You can see that the roof empties water into the gutter that then runs into and down through that white pipe on the right of the image. From there it went into an underground cistern. It was amazing to watch it fill with one of those powerful high desert storms! We used the water we collected for everything except drinking.

rainwater collection system — A very nice, clean example of a rainwater harvesting system with the red pipe tucked up there collecting the water from the roof then channeling it into that cool red holding tank for storage.

an above ground cistern or rain water collection tank

homemade rainwater collection tank and system — Here's another example of a homemade rainwater collection system with several gutters and pipes feeding that orange holding tank.

Ready to incorporate rainwater collection into your green building?

It’s so easy.

Depending on your climate you may need to dig for your cistern if you plan to use it year round so it’s underground and safe from freezing temps. Otherwise, it’s just gutters, some type of container to hold the water you collect, along with a way to release the water when you’re ready for it and you’ve got your very own rainwater collection system!

If you just want a small project, try setting up a system off your garage or barn for your garden. If you like it go bigger! It’s amazing how much water you can collect and what it can really save you, and the planet.

gallery, Natural Mamma's Recipes

Spring Deliciousness-Rhubarb Crumb Cake

June 5, 2012 The Natural Mammas 2 Comments

I have discovered that some people grew up with and love rhubarb and others never really jumped on the rhubarb boat. Until about 4 years ago, I was part of the latter group. When we purchased our house we were very lucky to have a lot of existing plant life already in place and one plant that grew well and was pretty huge was the rhubarb. Not having been raised on this herbaceous perennial myself (and I mean I have no recollection of anyone EVER offering me anything rhubarbish EVER), that first year I just let it grow and flower and said nice things to it like…”pretty rhubarb” and “oh my, you are a big fella aren’t you rhubarb”. All of my niceties paid off and the rhubarb grew and grew.

By the second spring in our home I was ready to start doing more than growing a luscious green leafy friend so I attempted to cut and prepare a strawberry rhubarb pie that didn’t turn out so great and I then, disgruntled, proceeded to gift my rhubarb to those with greater rhubarb power.

Third year started the same, however I shared my rhubarb with a friend and neighbor who returned the very next day with a delicious rhubarb crumb cake. Thanks Traci! You may be thinking what I was thinking…rhubarb crumb cake? Are you crazy? But man was it delicious. It was my inspiration to begin working harder to perfect my experiences with the rhubarb and really utilize this yummy fruit [Side note: I like many of you would have probably categorized rhubarb as a vegetable, but learned only recently that while it technically is a vegetable, in 1947 the rhubarb was declared a fruit for trade operations-who knew?].

I tried lots of different rhubarb recipes from pies to chicken and really didn’t fall as hard for any of them as I did for the rhubarb crumb cake from the friend. So this year, I decide to focus all my energy on perfecting a recipe of my own and I think I am ready to share my creation with the world. It is an involved process, but well worth the effort. Everyone in my family eats the rhubarb crumb cake (even my father when visiting and he was dead set against rhubarb and now you see I wasn’t lying about never having had rhubarb growing up). Within 24 hours of it coming out of the oven the pan is empty and we talk about making more.

I feel it is important to mention that rhubarb has some cathartic properties. While the leaves are very toxic and should never be ingested, the roots and stem also have mild properties that my affect some more than others. I consider it a light cleansing type of food. There are no emergency bathroom visits or anything, but some people are more sensitive than others and I like to make note of these types of things when suggesting that you all try something. The effects are greatly diminished during cooking so really no reason to worry…although if you are feeling a bit backed up perhaps some raw rhubarb stalk dipped in sugar would do the trick : ) Check out the recipe below, try it, tweak it and enjoy it! (ps..sorry my pan looks so dirty…all I can say is it is old and it is faithful and it really is clean)

mixing cake batter for rhubarb crumb cake

Spring Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: www.NaturalMammas.com

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 10

A light, tart, sweet version of a rhubarb crumb cake

Ingredients

Topping
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
pinch salt
6 tablespoons butter room temp
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening (or use 8 tblspn butter total)
1 cup + 1tbsp cake flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Rhubarb
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb
2 tbspn white sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tbspn flour
Cake
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
6 tbspn butter room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Starting with the rhubarb
in a bowl, coat rhubarb in sugar, ginger and corn starch and set aside
Topping
combine sugars, cinnamon, ginger, salt and flour well. cut in butter one tablespoon at a time adding vanilla 1/2 way through. continue to cut until the topping is the consistency you like…think crumb cake esque
set aside
Cake
combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt and mix well…add butter one tablespoon at a time to make a crumby batter.
Add egg, yolk and vanilla-continuing stirring will be rather stiff and dry
Add buttermilk stirring until mixture becomes smooth and sort of fluffy.
When cake batter is ready, coat the rhubarb in the remaining flour and with a slotted spoon move rhubarb into cake batter (this is so as not to take all the juices gathered in your bowl). Turn rhubarb into batter gently.
Grease 8X8 cake pan well.
Pour rhubarb cake mixture into pan. Cover in crumb topping and place in 325 degree oven. Cooks for about 55 – 60 minutes. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired when serving.

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Diapering Your Natural Baby Pt 1 – Cloth Diapers

June 3, 2012 The Natural Mammas 1 Comment

Even before your little bundle is born what you’re going to do about catching their pees and poos has to be decided. Many natural families hope to do this in the most eco friendly way possible but, honestly, there’s no easy answer when it comes to diapering your baby naturally.

So, we thought we’d take a look at what’s available and the the pros and cons of each through our Diapering Your Natural Baby series to hopefully help you diaper your baby as naturally as possible for your family.

Diapering Your Natural Baby Series Part 1 – Cloth Diapers

When many people think of diapering naturally, cloth diapers come to mind. They can be a great option in many situations and do certainly keep diapers out of landfills; a common concern with conventional diapers.

There are quite a few different styles of cloth diapers, even ones that are exactly like disposable diapers (easy on, easy off, use once) you just reuse them. No folding or pins or anything like that. Of course, you can still do things that way but, the world of cloth diapers has come a long way since their meager beginnings.

If you plan (or end up ) having more than one child cloth diapers generally end up making diapering your second nearly free. This is a fantastic advantage of using cloth vs many other diapering methods for sure!

Many do feel there are concerns with the extra loads of laundry cloth diapers create and the extra water and energy usage that results from that. Also, some folks don’t have a washer and/or dryer at home which can make cloth diapering more difficult.

Overall, cloth diapers can make a very nice option for diapering your natural baby, but, like anything they’re not perfect by any means! To learn more about other diapering options please read the rest of our Diapering Your Natural Baby Series where we’ll explore Elimination Communication, Hybrid Diapers, and yep, even Disposables!