Baby Monkey in the Garden

Hello hello hello,It's a fantastically crisp evening out here in Nicola Valley.We went for our first really nice walk today in the brilliant sunshine with our new best friend- our little baby girl Luna!!!Life has taken such a wonderful joyful little turn the past few days- we're loving how our little family is growing here. Luna Moon-Sprout Coutts-MacArthur was born just the other morning- January 28th at 3:05 in the morning- an Aquarius baby to join our little home of two Geminis and a Pisces.....We were in Kamloops a few days ago on Thursday for an appointment with one of our Midwives- Tatania. All that day Brandie had been having minor cramping going on- we weren't sure if it was dinner at a restaurant the night before and the coconut milk ice cream that we snuck into the movies, or if this was the early beginnings of labour. Tatania thought that it was just some early stage cramping that could be the beginnings of a couple of weeks preceding labour (Luna's predicted due date was February 9th).A little while out of Kamloops we decided to visit the Savannah 'Free Store' as we call it (we've been informed it's the dump- though very organized and clean). We collected a few Christmas trees for the goats (trees that folks had wild-cut), some tidy thick wire and fencing, and a couple of broken down freezers (which we'll have drained of freon, and will use for either grain storage or filling with soil and planting in as part of our 'ReUse It' Garden). Brandie's cramps at this poing starting seeming to her more like contractions.As we were driving home, I recalled how a friend had mentioned that babies always come with the moon (there's always a moon of course. She had meant a full moon- then how could you explain that there are babies born every day...). I joked that the cramps were either from the 'Luna and Larry's' Ice Cream we'd enjoyed, or labour was beginning a couple of weeks early. We were still in disbelief that labour was coming shortly.... We had a couple of friends coming for dinner that night- surely the timing wouldn't be that festivities and birthing were to coincide.The contractions were starting to come on stronger when we got home. We phoned up our other Midwife Joanna and told her how things were going. She suggested that Brandie take a bath and to let her know when the contractions were a minute long each with four minutes between them for a whole hour. Brandie got into the bath with these ever-stronger contractions. Char started timing them over a half-hour period- they were already a minute long and three minutes apart!!! Baby was coming fast. It was time to phone up Joanna.By this time my longtime school friend Tyson and our organic Farmer friend Urs from Quail's Farm had arrived. They didn't quite know what to think when I calmly mentioned that Brandie was in the bathtub going into labour and that I was casually finishing up the dinner that Char had started. 'Remain Calm'- this definitely was the most important thing that we've learned over the last nine months of reading books and talking with midwives and mothers. The night progressed. The birth tub that we'd picked up in Kamloops (just that morning, along with all of the other birth supplies) was inflated and filled with a salty brine- portuguese ocean water.... Tyson went home, Urs went to bed, the Midwives arrived, Char went to sleep.Brandie dealt with the contractions as they came- we would make low gutteral noises to keep in the 'Primal State' and keep relaxed. Brandie would sleep between contractions, and take sips from a bendy straw of water and labour aid beverage, like a boxer between bouts. Cold damp towels would be rested on her forehead to keep her from overheating. She would go from the bathroom into the birth tub- now in our living room with a roaring fire. The heat was up to thirty-four degrees and the walls were sweating.Joanna and Tatania were mostly keeping to themselves, letting it all progress naturally. Every so often they would check baby's heartbeat and make a few notes.The contractions got stronger and stronger. Finally there were some membranes that had come out- looking like JellyFish floating about. I would hold Brandie up and she would muster all of her energy to push. Joanna finally said that the next contraction would bring out baby's body. 'Baby's body?' I thought... I didn't realize that her head was already out, that the membranes were just covering her. Finally with a great push little Luna swam out into the water and came up to the surface and onto Brandie's belly, all pink and lovely! Our lovely little baby- unbelievably real- here and now! A real baby girl had been growing inside of Brandie all along!The rest of the night was a continuation of delerium. The placenta came out after a half hour of mom and baby sharing and staring at one another (causing a natural release of the Oxytocin- the 'Love Hormone' which causes a natural expulsion of the placenta). We laughed and cried and felt love radiating all about. Sometime shortly after Luna was born, the moon came radiating out in the sky from among the clouds, a half-crescent moon glowing yellowish orange.Hours went by until light crept in through the window. During that time Luna was checked all over, delicately weighed in a cloth (7 pounds, one ounce), she was measured, temperature taken and all of that. Much cleanup happened over that time- the midwives were really wonderful with leaving Brandie, Luna and I in our exhausted states and taking charge in reducing the carnage. Still over the next couple of days the house seemed as if a raucous party had happened!A couple of days have passed and we're really getting into the groove of being mom and dad. Our lives are perfectly suited to having Luna with us. Wintertime is slow on the farm, and our usual routine hasn't changed too much. We're still reading, making food and smoothies, keeping the fire going, looking after our animal friends, taking walks (no hikes up the mountain for a while), playing piano..... We haven't played any board games the past few evenings but have instead opted for watching films from the library- it's warm in the living room and we're all a little sleepy.Brandie's energy is increasing all the time. She's recovering amazingly well, and is going along with all of the changes that her body is going through. We're absolutely thrilled to be here now- with no desire to go anywhere.Life is fantastic. Our world has just been expanded incredibly. We're loving being parents.Peace and Love,Michael, Brandie, Luna, and Char Monkeys

Hello and Good Day,This morning offered us thick fat fog up and down the valley- a rare occurence out here in the Nicola. It was a wonderful treat when the sunshine ripped through it all and burned it all off- providing us with glorious warmth up on our hike to the Quiet Spot.The snow is thick all over the place- the gardens completely buried under white blankets. When we headed out to Kelowna last week for some family visiting and food deliveries the whole place here was bare and seemingly springlike. Our drive home on Saturday offered many surprises after we dallied home like turtles, visiting thrift stores and natural food stores picking up this's and those. We should have been able to make it home in the daylight, but the roads seemed bare so what was the rush? Foolishness..... Leaving Merrit and onto the #8 highway, we found that that rain that was dropping started freezing up the windshield. Eventually we started hitting patches of extremely slippery ice, upon which we would just take the foot off the gas pedal and keep the steering wheel steady. We proceeded at a crawl, eventually too slow of a crawl, as on a slight incline the truck decided that it wouldn't go any farther. How slippery could it be out there? I thought this as I stepped out of the truck, slipping right onto my tail, and proceeded to slide down the hill away from the truck!Fortunately we always have a set of chains with us (which we've only unearthed once in the past three years!) and after much head scratching, untangling, and cursing loudly, we figured out how to attach them. Amazing how much traction- and what a racket- chains offer on a slippery drive home to the farm (three hours on a usual forty-five minute drive!). There's no place like home!Our little journey offered us plently of lovely visits, expanding our ever-growing learning of the alternatives of baby raising (baby isn't even here yet, and the ideas pouring out of our friends are fascinating.). We're hearing of the successes people are having with diaper free babies (which is much more hygenic, when you consider that a diaper is a place where babies can sit around in their own waste- let alone the environmental impact!) and teaching kids at home..... We never realized the alternatives that exist for 'home schooling'- many systems (including 'Life Learning') that aren't even curriculum based- instead are about teaching your children (and them teaching you) within where their interests lie. A child's curiosity will bring their interest about in so many areas- and their learning abilities will be greatly heightened when its them choosing the subjects.... I know that for myself, I always despised such subjects as Physical Education, Mathematics and Sciences after Grade 9, Music Lessons and many others. In most of these situations I unfortunately had poor relationships with many of these teachers. Nowadays I find myself immersed in many of these areas- I love to hike and garden and do moderate physical activity. We recently acquired my grandmother's beautiful Wurlitzer piano and I've found myself captivated and wanting to play more and more- it's such a treat to work out the notes to a song, plonk around and eventually have music emanating from this grand instrument (many songs I recognize- like a mystery unfolding). I never could have imagined that learning about the dynamics of pregnancy could be so fascinating- it's all about the material we're subjected to. The writings of Michel Odent have at points gotten me so worked up and ready for 'Revolution' that Brandie and Char have had to calm me down. I had to take breaks to cool down from that particular book 'The Farmer and the Obstetritan'. I realize that I learn much much better from a passionately written book than from somebody who teaches because its their job. Of course, I did have many fantastic teachers- many of my english teachers, creative writing and journalism teachers, and drama teachers- who quite likely saved me from utter depression!So now we're blessed with our last few weeks before the Birthday date (February ninth is the prediction). We don't have too many places to go, save some water samples in town and another midwife appointment in Kamloops at some point (and a last dentist trip for me)- though nowhere for more than a day! This gives us lots of time for organizing our place and planting a bit of this and that indoors (Brandie has been planting flats with peas, mixed greens, and some pots of dandelion roots.... Wow! The salads that are being offered us are way more exciting than the usual wintertime 'Sprout n' Kraut' salads.). We have lots of great reading to do (Ina May Gaskin's 'Spiritual MidWifery' is offering lots of baby delivery scenarios), birthing films to watch, board games to play, and squashes to cook (so many different shapes and colours that decorate our upstairs!). We're appreciating our last few weeks of quietude in our house, until our new little energy bundle graces our lives.The joys of farmlife....So I wanted to mention that Rebecca Wood has extended her special New Year's price on her dietary consultations until the end of this month. Her forty or so years of experience with nutritional research and writings offer her plenty of insight with digging deep into what ails you. Her 'Skype' based consultations allow her to study digestive health through reading the signs that are offered around and in the eyes and lips. Her dietary suggestions have always proved correct for me- I especially notice when I don't follow them and wind up feeling off balance and experiencing digestive distress! Check out here wonderful website at www.rwood.com for information about her consultations, plenty of fantastic recipes, and an extremely varied and diverse selection of excellent articles ranging from 'healthy and unsafe cookware', the incredible healing properties of apricot kernels, to ways of improving macular degeneration through diet (like making sure that every day we consume some orange or yellow coloured veggies, as well as some green veggies), and much much more. We're always looking up information in her poetically written books, and are now enjoying the rich diversity offered with her website. If you should find yourself interested in one of her highly informative consultations, feel free say hello from 'Monkey in the Garden'.Well the smells of soup are wafting up the stairs to where I'm sitting here writing away. Brandie is making a lovely lunch today and my tummy is grumbling. It's good to get a belly full of warmth before unloading the truckload of Christmas Tree goat food that's waiting on the back of the truck. Those goat ladies just love their breakfast of fir and pine and bark.Enjoy the sunshine,Peace,Michael and Brandie Monkeys

An ode to Sourdough Rye and its neutralizing properties of Ergot and Phytic Acid!

Sourdough Rye Bread is amazing with its deliciously complex flavour, ease of digestion, ease of preparation, complex nutrition and excellent storability. We eat it every day, share it with friends, and it makes us feel great! We've been operating our little roadside completely organic summertime restaurant 'Monkey in the Garden' for three years now (as well as aseason at various Vancouver Farmer's Markets), for which we grow amazing organic heirloom and open pollinated veggies, fruits and herbs. Ecclectic dishes are served up all season long using the freshest, in season organic ingredients.We also bake up a wide array of baked goods using sprouted spelt flour (for the cookies and cakes and such), as well as authentic sourdough rye bread for the breakfasts, soups & sandwiches and for sale by the pound loaf. As we grind all of our flour from organic whole grains (from Fieldstone Granary in Armstrong), we get to appreciate and inspect each cupfull before it turns into that magical powder. Very seldomly do we come across any ergotized grain- usually there's an occasional split pea or lentil, or a different grain variety- Fieldstone does a great job in providing us with top quality cleaned grain!
Now you may have heard of Ergot, or not at all. Ergot is a fungus that, when the weather is just right (cool and wet), loves to spread itself throughout grain fields infecting the grain (usually rye). It has existed for as long as grain cultivation has been going on- at least 10,000 years. It has quite a remarkable history- causing the horrible affliction 'St. Anthony's Fire'.
Now just last week we got to haul a ton of certified organic uncleaned rye/spelt grain for the garden and to supplement the diets of the goats, and chickens (as well as the dogs!). This batch of grain wasn't cleaned as there was just too much spelt ratio to rye (it was being grown as a rye only crop)- it would be a hard sell to bakers lookingfor consistency and a pure rye product. This wonderous treasure (filling two freezers, two 55 gallon barrels, and four 25 gallon barrels!) is a real treat and joy! You can just sink your hands into a pile of it, and read the story of a season- the weeds that were growing there, a grasshopper skeleton here and there, lots of hullsand chaff, and Ergotized Rye! There it is, for all the world to see- Ergot- looking very much packrat poops! Finally we could inspect real specimens of the famous Ergot that we'd read so much about over the years. We can also very easily pick them out when soaking the grain for the animals.The past few years of baking sourdough rye bread has led to much interest in articles written about Rye grain- its nutritional properties, gluten content, folklore, and such. Rebecca Wood in her excellent book 'The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia' says that 'Rye is said to build muscles and promote energy and endurance, and is medicinal to the liver'. Rye also contains an abundance of vitamins and minerals including vitamin E, eleven B vitamins, protein, Iron and more. It has less gluten than wheat- but due to it's gluten content is still best avoided by people with gluten intolerances- including celiacs and some people with Crohn's Disease. Folks with 'B' type blood and who follow the Eat Right For Your Blood Type Diet might also choose to avoid Rye. For many centuries there have been flare-ups of St. Anthony's Fire all around the world, the horrible ailment that folks who consumed Ergotized Rye succumbed to- including hallucinations and often leading to gangrene of the extremities. Because of this problem and many others, the sourdough process with grain and breadmaking is extremely important. There were periods of time where populations were so hungryand poor that they were left with no choice but to consume ergotized rye. If you were milling your own flour, you could easily pick out the ergot. If, however, the only rye flour that you had to eat had been milled already with Ergot- the traditional sourdough process would completely neutralize Ergot's alkaloid substances (check out 'The Bounty of Rye' article by Jacques De Langre in Paul Pitchford's book 'Healing with whole Foods'.). Now true sourdough, yeast free bread-making does more than neutralize the effects of Ergot- which if you're buying your grain from a reputable dealer or mill shouldn't be a problem. It also neutralizes Phytic Acid. All grains, nuts, seeds, and beans, contain Phytic Acid, which when eaten binds with Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, and Iron in the intestinal tract and blocks their absorbtion. This leads to allsorts of digestive disorders and nutrient deficiencies. Other ways of neutralizing phytic acid include soaking grains and beans for 12-24hours in water with a splash of something acidic (apple cider vinegar, lemon juice), and changing the water before cooking them (skimming all the foam off of beans if they're what's being cooked...). Sprouting is also an excellent technique. We like to sprout all of our spelt grain,then dehydrate it, and fresh grind it for more nutritious and delicious cookies, brownies, and cakes and such. Sprouting also lessens (and is some cases completely rids) the gluten content of grains! Nuts and seeds should be soaked overnight with a small amountof unrefined sea salt, then dehydrated or toasted. Your belly will thank you for the little bit of extra energy expended! Check out Sally Fallon's excellent book 'Nourishing Traditions' for more info on proper preparations of grains, beans, meats, pickles and more. Just for the hell of it: Here's how we make our sourdough rye bread.

Monkey's Amazing Sourdough Rye!!!
First you need to start your sourdough, and catch a culture. Mix a cup of non-chlorinated water with a cup of whole rye flour (ideally fresh ground or as fresh as you can get it for the best nutrition and flavour) in a non reactive bowl (ceramic or glass) and cover it with cheesecloth or a cotton towel. Leave it in an undisturbed clean, room temperature spot. Every day add another cup of water, and another cup of flour- between two days and a week, your flour water mixture should get bubbly and smell sour. This is your sourdough starter! You can keep adding water and flour every day indefinitely to keep your starter alive. What we like to do is mix up a quantity over a week or two, then pour it into several pint and litre mason jars with lids and rings, label them, and keep them in the fridge to set them into dormancy. I just pulled out a two month old jar of sourdough from the fridge and it worked great. Make sure you always make more starter for storing and reviving, as the longer you keep your starter alive, the better it gets (ours is now four years old- there are some in France over a century old and supposedly excellent!). So the night or morning before breadmaking, you need to make a 'sponge'. The other night I started with a litre or so of sourdough starter, and added about two litres of liquid (I used cultured goat's milk whey, though water works great). I then tossed in several handfulls of organic sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds (often I add lots of sunflower seeds), a small drizzle of organic blackstrap molasses, and a smattering of caraway seeds (which also aid in digestion and flavour). A bunch of fresh ground organic rye flour was added (maybe seven cups or so) so that the mixture was thick yet a little soupy. A cotton cloth was laid over it, and it was left overnight to get bubbly and sour. In the morning I added the rest of the ingredients- simply a small sprinkling of unrefined coarse sea salt (it's important not to put itin the night before as it can inhibit sourdough fermentation), and the rest of the rye flour- however much it can absorb (maybe another nine cups? I like to practice bread making as an art and not so much as a science....). I mix it with one hand adding flour as needed until I'm left with a sticky messy goo reminiscent of peanut butter that's lost much of it's oil. At this point, you scrape as much of it from your fingers as you can, put the cloth back over it, and leave it to rest for an hour or two or three (or half an hour).When you're ready to form the loaves- you find yourself rewarded for your patience. The beauty of sourdough rye is that it doesn't require laborious kneading like spelt and kamut or wheat. You simply set your dough onto a well floured surface, work some flour into it until itisn't so sticky, then cut it into the sizes of loaves you desire (wehave a scale and measure them out into one pound loaves for sale and gifting, and two and a half to three pound loaves for ourselves and using in the restaurant). With your smaller balls of dough, you work more flour into them and knead them for a moment until you can form smooth cohesive small loaves without too many cracks or cavities.Place your loaves into well floured (not oiled) baking dishes or loafpans, cut a slit into the top of each loaf (or design or several slits- so that as the bread rises it doesn't blow out the sides of the loaf), cover with a damp cloth, and put them in a warm, draught free spot, with a box overtop of them. That night (or the next morning-ideally six to eight hours, though longer is all right) you can fire your loaves into an unheated oven with a pan of water in the bottom (for steam), put the temperature up to 415 degrees fahrenheit for ten or fifteen minutes, then turn it down to 350 degrees and bake until they're done (around forty five minutes or when you can smell them). The loaves are baked when you can thump them on the bottom and they sound hollow. Cool your loaves completely on a rack with a cloth over them. Sourdough Rye bread is fantastically delicious when very thinly sliced and toasted with your favourite topping or made into open-faced sandwiches. It keeps very well, and actually improves in flavour overtime. We store the loaves in a paper bag inside of a plastic bag, out of the fridge and freezer- and they last for two to three weeks in perfect condition. So there you have it!
Enjoy your delicious, nutritious Sourdough Rye Bread!