What do this lovely music and an Owl have in common? Well it's a little corny but I just discovered our new Everearth 'Owl' is musical- pull on his tail and he plays some wonderful music: the Brahms' Lullaby, apparently one of the most famous and recognizable melodies in the world, used by countless parents to sing their babies to sleep. I am not musical at all but I did immediately say 'that's nice, what is it?!' and luckily my incredibly musical wife was there to answer. Music like this worked for our eldest (now 6), so if you are looking for a lovely baby gift, which will be useful too .....

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With my wife back at work full time and me recently retired and helping run Really Eco Baby, it fell to me to look after our 3 ‘babies’, aged 6, 4 and 3. What did we do- well, picked plums of course. Yesterday we took a rainy walk to the allotment to try and break them out of their craziness from staying indoors all day and discovered the plum tree over laden with fruit. Miriam (in the middle) discovered she liked plums freshly picked from the tree, which was great as she is a fussy fruit eater.

So they were all excited to go back and pick those lovely plums and what a great experience it was. Talking, picking, ladder climbing, avoiding nettles and searching for ‘magic’ dock leaves when we did get stung- fantastic.  We came home for lunch and jam making and the result was delicious. Two of them tried the new jam, one liked it, so not a bad result- it is in fact the best plum jam I have ever made!

 After making 18 jars, we still have 3 times as many plums to use up. My lovely wife made a delightful plum and ginger cake for her art gallery/ café, Dot to Dot. She used a grand total of …..12 plums!! So drying and more jam is the way forward.

 We talk about reducing our footprint, being more eco and buying ethical goods but picking nature’s abundant harvest does it for me!

 Why not look at our lovely organic flannels for washing plumy faces or our monster T-shirts for wearing when picking or enjoying those slurpy plums.

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We have been harvesting marigold seeds. If it sounds idyllic, it really is. Of course, moments like these are rare in our busy lives, but it's at times like this that we really love what we are doing. And the marigold seeds are totally eco! They are self-seeding, are bee friendly, the flowers go in our salads and the seeds go in your gift boxes. We think it is a magical gift for parents of newborns as the seeds will bring them flowers year after year as their child grows - wonderful! And if they move, they can harvest some seeds and start the whole cycle again. 

The marigold seeds pop up in some of our gift boxes like the New Mum Nest.

For more photos of us hard at work, see our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ReallyEcoBaby 

It is almost the end of Zero Waste week: did you take the pledge?

Thinking "Zero Waste" is a great way to reduce landfill waste but also save money: they usually go hand in hand.

Already in its 7th year, Zero Waste week's theme this year is "One more thing". Most people do their best to reduce their waste and recycle what they can but we all know we could do more. By taking a pledge, we can decide on a small thing to change and pledge to follow it through long-term (maybe even forever).

Here are some ideas taken from the Zero Waste website:

• Ditch plastic carrier bags
• Pack a zero waste lunch
• Recycle your Tetra Pak cartons
• Take clothes to a textile bank
• Shop naked!
• Declutter without landfill
• Reduce food waste
• Repair something
• Spread the word!

By the way, naked shopping is buying without any waste or extra packaging: a naked cucumber as opposed to a naked customer!

At Really Eco Baby HQ we have pledged to declutter without landfill. What will you choose?

You can submit your pledge on the Zero Waste website (and receive their newsletter) but we would also love for you to let us know!

Or why not sending us picture of your Zero Waste week: who will have the smallest bin bag (or none at all??)