• 2 yards of solid black bottomweight twill fabric, 100% cotton
• 1 yard of 2″ nylon webbing for the waist strap
• 2 yards of 1.5″ nylon webbing for the shoulder extension straps
• One 2″ wide stealth buckle
• One 1.5″ wide dual-adjust buckle
• 1/2″ thick foam padding for the waist and shoulder straps
• detailed instructions

Click here to purchase the kit for $36.95.

Low Maintenance Versatile Plants

If you’re wondering about my absence from the virtual world lately, it’s because I’ve been knee deep in my garden. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! In many ways, I much prefer to garden in the Fall than in the Spring. It is the best time to:

• get your plants in and/or plan out your garden for the Spring – the nurseries are also not as busy as in the Spring and thus, more kid-friendly
• get those beautiful Spring blooming wildflower seeds in. My favorites (poppies, larkspur, and of course the bluebonnets) can only be enjoyed in the Spring if you plan ahead and direct sow those seeds in this year.
• propagate!

My favorite trio of low maintenance versatile plants pictured above are (from left to right) flowering rosemary, lemongrass, and salvia greggi. They are all evergreen for year round color, can tolerate both heat and partial shade, attract wildlife but are deer-resistant, require little watering, and suppress weeds. Plus, the rosemary and lemongrass are edible and the rosemary and salvia both produce flowers for a large part of the year.

Some related posts:

• Local Austin garden resources
• Family gardening
• Rose propagation
• Cheap, space-saving seasonal ‘greenhouse’

If I didn’t already have plans this weekend, I would be dragging my family to the 7th Annual Garden Festival of Roses at the Antique Rose Emporium in San Antonio. By the way, it was from the owner Mike Shoup’s rose book, Landscaping with Antique Roses (no longer in print) where I (re)discovered my passion for roses and learned how to propagate and double my collection. He will also be teaching the art of propagating at this event – Saturday at 10am. The Festival is a kid-friendly event.

Borrowing another great restaurant idea: oil cloth (vinyl) tablecloths. Primary reason? Easy to clean. You can purchase the fabric by the yard from Fabric.com and simply sew fitted tablecloths so that your tots can’t easily pull them off!

I just love that we can have blooming roses in the Fall! It makes the record high summer heat followed by unusually wet month followed by lots of bugs and insect bites worthwhile, I guess. Here are my two favorite pinks: the lighter ones are Baronne Henriette de Snoy and the slightly darker pink with pointed petals is Belinda’s Dream (lower left). Now that it has cooled off (hopefully for good), it is the perfect time to propagate roses.

And now, I’m going to explain why I brought up the subject of microbes.

A large portion of my posts are dedicated to homemade, do-it-yourself crafts and necessities. I do it mostly to save money without sacrificing quality, the trade-off being sacrificing personal time and a little effort on my part which I think is worth it. Some of the topics like cooking, aren’t so foreign to the vast majority. But other topics like homemade skin care and housecleaning seem to raise a lot of questions. Mainly, is it better? Does it work? IS IT SAFE?

I brought the subject of microbes to answer the safety question as it is one of the of the main concerns or aversions people have with anything homemade. Understandably so. Some of our concerns with contamination are misplaced and stem from our germaphobic mentality. In a public setting, then yes, it would be prudent to exercise some precautions. But in our very own home, a healthy home is one that co-exists with microbes. Again, I am not advocating living in filth. But we don’t live in a bubble. Trying to engage in a full-on war against microbes can have adverse consequences. So, the goal of homemade, whether it’s cooking, housecleaning, skin care, or some other craft, is still safety but without too much help from man-made biocides. The safety trade-off here means having a realistic expectation of what our homemade goods can accomplish. For example, in the case of housecleaning products, it means that your house will be clean but you won’t even come close to imitating a clinical, almost sterile environment. Not that this should be your goal – you’re not trying to operate on your kitchen table after all. Even in a clean house, bacteria can still spread and cause infections but again, that’s not a bad thing if you view it as exercising your immune system (provided it is not compromised in the first place). In the case of your homemade perishable goods, food and cosmetics, it means a significantly shortened shelf life. With cooking, we are accustomed to this trade-off. We know that the cupcake we bake and leave out on the counter is not going to last as long as a Twinkie. And we use our senses to determine when it’s past its prime and chuck it. Homemade skin care is also a perishable and shares many of the same ingredients you would find in food. However, it seems that we still have unrealistic expectations as to its shelf life and aren’t as accustomed to using our senses to judge when it is past its prime as we do with food. I will address this topic in detail in many future posts. For now, assume that as long as you apply the same mentality to homemade cosmetics as you do to homecooking, you should be fine.

One last point I want to make is that just like microbes, man-made biocides do have their place in our society. In a public setting, for better or worse, the public is more trustful of clinical-like environments and prepackaged, commercially prepared goods. So no homemade goodies to hand out at our kids’ soccer games. But it’s okay. A little bit of man-made biocide in our lives is not harmful. It is the cumulative overexposure that create problems. In the same manner that the dangers of the presence of germs has been blown out of proportion, the toxicity of man-made biocides has equally been overexaggerated. More on this topic in a future post. My point is to minimize, not eliminate, our exposure to biocides. How? By not including synthetic preservatives in our homemade goodies and only using germ-killing household cleaners when necessary, not as part of routine cleaning.

Humans are tough and very adaptable, whether it’s to normal levels of microbes or small amounts of man-made biocides. How else did we come out on top of the food chain and overpopulate the Earth? But if we let science over-intervene, eventually, our bodies and our environment will not be able to keep up with our science.

Everything in moderation.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Preservatives, like disinfectants, inhibit microbrial growth. But their main purpose is to extend a product’s shelf life. In our fast-paced, industrialized world where we as consumers expect to get what we want and when we want with minimal effort, it seems reasonable that so many of our products contain preservatives. But just like disinfectants and antibiotics, microorganisms do develop resistance to synthetic preservatives. Perishable goods like cosmetics and food are not expected to be aseptic – free of microbes. It is practically impossible! As you gleam through the product recalls, you will notice that contamination also happens to preserved products.

So why use it? From a business perspective, if you are going to produce perishables for a large consumer base and need to have a long shelf life to maximize profits, legal and consumer health benefits do outweigh the risks. The demand is also there; consumers do want the convenience and availability of perishable goods and so, preservative-laden products are a fact of life. Again, just like with disinfectants, we can limit our exposure by limiting our intake of commercially prepared perishables. But unlike reducing our use of antibacterial household cleaners, limiting preserved products means significant lifestyle trade-offs: cost, time and personal responsibility. We would have to pay a higher price for quality perishables or spend more of our time making our short-lasting homemade goods and trust ourselves in our ability to make safe products at home (without adding preservatives). The latter comes with practice. But these trade-offs are hard to come to terms with. I guess the point I’m trying to make is to limit your use of preserved products for the same reasons you don’t want to overuse antibiotics and antibacterial products – too much can turn into a health risk.

Next, I’ll close off this series of posts with my personal opinions and why I brought up this topic.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

A few more references

FDA. Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM). This manual represents the agency’s preferred laboratory procedures for microbiological analyses of foods and cosmetics and is now available online to the public.

Chapman, J.S. Characterizing bacterial resistance to preservatives and disinfectants. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 1998; 41:241-245.

Flores M, et al. Deterioration of Raw Materials and Cosmetic Products by Preservative Resistant Microorganisms. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, Volume 40, Number 2, September 1997 , pp. 157-160.

Chapman, J.S., Diehl, M.A., Fearnside, K.J., 1997. Preservative tolerance and resistance. Int. J. Cosmetic Sci. 19, l-10.

Photo via Scott Sodora/WSJ

We hear a lot about the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The medical community has done well in informing both medical health professionals AND patients. We know that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics lead to drug resistance and newer drugs must be developed to keep up. But what about non-medical, everyday cleaning products? Like anti-bacterial soaps with triclosan and germ-killing household cleaners?

Though antibiotics are meant to treat whereas anti-bacterial products are meant to prevent infectious disease, the underlying concept is practically the same. They are all biocides and share similar traits. Including developing bacterial resistance. The concept is nothing new. Bacterial resistance is well observed and documented (see medical reference below) both in man-made biocides and in nature. At first, this may sound like an alarming issue. In the case of antibiotics, it is a cause for concern especially if antibiotics development can’t keep up and stay one step ahead. As for household disinfectants, there are no strong evidence that biocide resistance has escalated to a point of major health risk. That’s good news I guess, especially for the manufacturers of consumer household products. There aren’t sufficient data and the medical community can only speculate on the future. Some experts believe that the recent explosion of biocide containing household products could lead to highly resistant bacteria and therefore reduce the product’s effectiveness but more importantly, that this phenomenon could even directly or indirectly affect antibiotic resistance. On the other hand, other experts believe that the relatively low usage of such biocides in the real world as compared to a clinical setting is not enough to drastically disturb the microflora. Future speculations aside, most of the research do indicate that the regular use of antibacterial agents and disinfectants in a healthy household is unecessary and does not provide any additional health benefits. Not only that but overuse disturbs the balance within our immune system as I pointed out in Part I. Many of these products were not meant to be used on a regular basis. We all have times in our lives where our immune system is compromised. For me, it was the weeks after delivering my babies. Other than that, there hasn’t been any need for our family to use antibacterial products regularly. Just occasionally.

Our oversanitized environment and germaphobic society have led to the explosion in the number of germ fighting household products. But it is unclear whether consumers first demanded those products or manufacturers began making and aggressively marketing them. After all, the global household products market is a $70+ billion dollars industry and growing. It is also fast-paced with new ingredients and technologies and continuously changing regulations. The aggressive nature of the industry drives companies to constantly churn out new products and race to be the first in the market with a new and improved, latest and greatest germ-fighter without fully knowing the long-term health and environmental effects. The plethora of products has clouded our judgment and basic common sense.

Conclusion

Humans have co-existed and co-evolved with microbes since forever. And we will continue to do so either at nature’s pace or with the aid of man-made biocides. But if man-made biocides ever become a major problem, then most likely there can only be a man-made solution as nature will not be able to keep up with the altered and accelerated evolution of our microflora.

So what to do?

Let the medical community research and debate on the future consequences of abundant biocide use. Let the environmental groups and powers-that-be fight and persuade our government and its many overburdened agencies to regulate and do something about it. And let the manufacturers continue to make and market their unecessary germ-fighting household products in the absence of regulations. The most effective action we can take right now, as stewards of our healthy home, is conquer germophobia and reduce our use of antibacterial and disinfecting cleaners. The effects of your actions will ripple through the industry. So much of our house can be cleaned with simple solutions like vinegar, water, soap, and baking soda. You don’t even have to exert a lot of effort – let your appliances do the hard work. I will elaborate on these simple cleaners in many posts to come. I just felt like it was important to give a little backgrounder as to why. For now, suffice it to say that regular use of commercial antibacterial products is overkill. Literally.

In the next section, I’ll discuss preservatives in our perishables, food and cosmetics. It’s all related!

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

References and further reading:

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning products and drug resistance. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 Oct;11(10):1565-70. View full-text.

Russell AD. Bacterial adaptation and resistance to antiseptics, disinfectants and preservatives is not a new phenomenon. J Hosp Infect. 2004 Jun;57(2):97-104. View online.

Aiello et al. Antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products as an emerging risk factor for antibiotic resistance in the community. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003 Aug;3(8):501-6. View abstract.

Tan et al. Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Consumer Products. Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:1082-1086. View abstract.

Levy SB. Antibacterial household products: cause for concern. Emerg Infect Dis. 2001;7(3 Suppl):512–5. View full-text.

International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene. Recent publication listing on microbial resistance.

Athavaley A. Household Products Start to Come Clean on Ingredients. Wall Street Journal. April 2, 2009. View online.

Photo via IRRI

Yesterday marked the first day of Autumn, at least for us in the Northern Hemisphere. The back-to-school/end-of-summer frenzy has quieted down and everyone has settled into their Fall routine. Now, the focus has shifted to the cold and flu season and keeping our home and family safe and healthy. We begin this seasonal topic every year around this time (just like we focus on sun protection at the onset of every summer) even though we can get sick all year round. Everyone is talking about and marketing products to this effect. And the products span a very wide range from immune-boosting foods and supplements to anti-bacterial and sanitizing products to symptom relievers. But in the end, those are just products and they can only do so much. We don’t even know how effective some of them are.

The lesser talked about, cheaper (free) way to keep our home and ourselves healthy all year round is to exercise our immune system. How? By being more tolerant of the microbes in our environment. Before you jump out of your seat in disgust, let me just clarify that I’m not advocating that it’s okay to be dirty and live in filth. I’m just supporting the theory that the modern environment we’ve created for ourselves has weakened our immune system. People in the industrialized world have become too much of an indoor society and an over-sanitized one. For most individuals who don’t already have a compromised immune system, getting sick with common bacteria infection is how our bodies learn to fight it off and boost our immune system. So, when we get sick from a really severe infection, well then we have both the wonderful drugs of modern medicine and our own strong immune system to fight it off and help us recover faster. Isn’t twice the defense better than one? For more information, google the “hygiene hypothesis”. There’s also an interesting segment on this topic in the video “The Evolutionary Arms Race”.

Another downside to microbe intolerance is bacterial resistance. That’s coming up next.

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

I also lowered my energy use and consequently, utility cost, although in my case it wasn’t that much – about $20 a year. Here’s a great site to estimate energy consumption of various home appliances.

Yep, it takes more work. Though it is a great activity for the kids to take part in (the little ones can hand you clothespins) all the while getting chores done and breaking our outdoor time into 10 – 15 minute chunks throughout the day. Having said that, I’m glad the weather is finally cooling off in Austin after record highs all summer long and I’m going back to using my dryer and shorter laundering time. It’s great to have options!

Rotary clotheslines are seasonal items (here in the US) and many are now on sale.