Organic Gardening Supplies:
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Herbs & Healing
Herbs & Healing
We all know we need to eat well to maintain a healthy body & mind. It takes education and wisdom to discern what it truly means "to eat well." So many people, including so-called "food-gurus" expound on the benefits of vegetarianism, or high-protein diets, low-carb diets, vegan diet, eating only raw foods, eating no white food, dehydrating food, doing "cleanses", eating organic, eliminating wheat, dairy, all sugar, getting lots of fiber, subsisting on "green drinks" or juicing, or an all-liquid diet. There's "Eating for Your Blood Type", "Atkins", "South Beach", "Diet For a Small Planet", "The Mediterranean Diet", & thousands more. Following any of these diets or precepts will not guarantee you will never be sick, or you will live forever. Research on the "Longevity Diet", which is a very low-calorie diet, showed that people did live slightly longer, but they had no energy to do anything or enjoy life! That's no way to live!
And if you really read the research on fats, cholesterol and heart-health, you would have learned that a high blood cholesterol has no correlation at all to heart attack! Yet the side effects of statins have been devastating to an unaware & uneducated population. (The problem is more in the food itself: eating grass-fed beef contains more heart-healthy Omega-3s than fish oil!) But grass-fed beef is not what's available in your big-grocery-store chain anymore. CAFO beef (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) is harmful in many ways: what it does to the environment as well as your body.
Surely, we are all aware that the industrialized farming methods of the last 50 years have depleted the soil, and is now based on more & more chemicals and pesticides being used in conventional farming. Most common grocery-store foods lack either taste or the nutritional value of organically-grown food & home-grown food. People across the US grow their own tomatoes every summer, if nothing else, just for the incredible taste. Something hybridized and genetically manipulated to be shipped in trucks holding thousands of tons and not get crushed, and then have a shelf-life of 2 weeks cannot compare to the tomato you pick in your garden and walk into the kitchen to slice & serve with dinner. The "weak" conventional foods may sustain life, but that's "existing," not "thriving." It is necessary to add exceptional foods to your diet, to strengthen the body and protect life. One of the best ways to do this is with herbs. Indigeneous peoples all over the globe have always known this and used herbs. Chinese medicene is based on acupuncture and the use of herbs, and was more effective than 'Western medicine" for thousands of years.
Herbs contain nutrients in great concentration, more so than conventional fruits & vegetables. Sometimes they provide health-giving nutrients not found in food. Recently, many of these foods are being dubbed "super-foods" and good marketing foists them on humans who are sick, tired, overweight & aging rapidly, looking for a quick fix. Many companies selling these drinks, juices, concoctions & pills have been sued for false advertising, and some products have been removed from the marketplace. Yet herbs remain here on earth, since the beginning of time, for your use.
Don't misunderstand me--I am not a fan of the FDA. They have consistently targeted the supplement industry, accusing them of selling potentially harmful vitamins & minerals, while approving pharmaceutical drugs with a litany of harmful side-effects, including heart-attacks & death! They have approved drugs that have killed hundreds of people before later removing them from the marketplace. Your doctor knows & prescribes these drugs, because he is "sold" them, by attractive, young, smart college grads, right in their offices. They receive expensive dinners at the finest restaurants, tickets to the theater & opera, and cartons of free samples, to push on their patients, like guinea pigs. The psychiatrists are the worst of all, for they have become nothing but pill-pushers. Yet in 12 years of medical school, they learn nothing of nutrition, herbs & healing with both.
Herbs can tonify the body, and purify it too. Herbs can energize, lower blood sugar levels and high blood pressure, eliminate toxins, help you sleep, calm children with ADD, build healthy bones, kill parasites, calm the nerves, have antibiotic qualities (as well as be probiotic), strengthen the immune system, keep your gums healthy, increase sexual energy, build red blood cells and create an internal environment that will not support cancer-cell growth.
One of the greatest herbs, known for its healing properties for thousands of years, is ginseng. It contains many well-known nutrients such as B Vitamins, calcium & other minerals, and amino acids. It also provides compounds that were unknown & unnamed until recently: Panax Sapagenol & Panaquilon, to name 2 out of the many (6 I know of.) These are concentrated compounds, easily assimilable. Some herbs contain more than 20 times the amount of Vitamin A & D found in cod-liver oil; others have B-12, amino acids and minerals in high concentrations to reverse deficiencies. These effective properties of herbs are unique and easily used by the average person, if you have the knowledge.
Soothing your stomach with mint tea or aiding digestion with ginger tea has become well-known & widely accepted in the last 45 years since I first learned about & started experimenting with herb teas. Some herb teas and blends have become popular over the years and are marketed by giant companies. I will teach you some good blends for specific conditions to make on your own. I will write about those herbs you can use to improve your health now, and how you can grow them as well.
The first one to know about is ginseng. Not only does it contain the vitamins and compounds I named above, it also contains Panaxin, Panacin, Amylase & Ginsenin. Studies in which adrenalin was shot into the human body resulted in elevated blood sugar levels. This happens to us all the time when we are under stress. The blood sugar level returned to normal as soon as ginseng was administered. this is just one example of super-nutritional healing, found in herbs. It is almost impossible to obtain these healing components in every-day food, which provides our basic nutrients.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
There's been snow on the ground already in WA (I'm in the unincorporated area of Spokane.) We've already had some frigid, grey days that have left me in the dumps. I've been working on packing seeds that I gathered at the end of summer, eating beautifully colored squash & yams to raise my spirits, cooking hearty soups and freezing them, and today I am going to dry some greens picked yesterday--kale, mustard, parsley & cabbage leaves, mostly. I am also going to chop some parsley and chives to freeze (not too sure how that will come out.)
I'm glad there are so many places in Spokane where people who need a good meal can get food. The ranks of the hungry and malnourished are growing in America, not just Spokane county, where I read that 43% of the population is now receiving food stamps.
I volunteered for a short time at the wonderful Women & Childrens' Free Restaurant, until my blood pressure hit the ceiling! (It was just situational, and now it's almost "normal.") I lost 10 lbs. in one month being here, and I don't think it was from "extra work." I was eating more raw food, straight from the garden, and I felt satisfied, not hungry all the time, as I was last year, eating mostly microwaved food and living in a dark, dreary, basement room. It's amazing what complete nutrition can do for you. I can plan my meals now, incorporate vegetables into every meal, and eat when I want (mostly--paradise has been marred by negative forces, that may force me to move on. We'll see how I do as the weather gets worse. I refuse to live around an alcoholic or drug addict. Maybe this person won't be around as much in the winter. We'll see.)
The Women & Childrens' Free Restaurant (WCFR) has been a wonderful service in Spokane for over 20 years, and I hope they find a place to relocate to. They fed me and offered friendship in my darkest hours. As my other business grows, I will never forget all their kindnesses (and the great meals I was unable to prepare in my own living situation.) I hope people remember them also, this holiday season.
For incorporating vegetables into every meal, I cut kale into sauces, grate squash to eat with eggs, and mix all kinds of vegetables with beans & lentils for soups. The other day I made a Vietnamese-style noodle soup, with green onions, cabbage & kale leaves, broccoli, chives, seaweed, and chunks of 3 different kinds of squash. Last night I made spaghetti & meatballs, and mixed chopped parsley, basil & carrot into the meatballs, and thinly sliced kale into the tomato sauce with spinach. If only I had a good red wine to go with it! It was delicious! I have left-overs to freeze. Tonight, I'm planning a vegetarian meal of roasted vegetables. I have turnip, parsnip, beet, onion & potato to slather in olive oil, salt & pepper and roast in the convection oven. I've also been eating the "crackers" I made in October. They keep very well and are still crispy.
I've been processing and drying all the squash seeds instead of roasting and eating them, as I usually do. However, I may roast some of the seeds I am now soaking from an unknown squash that froze in the garden and was starting to rot on top. Inside, some of the flesh was still good, and the seeds look fine. I think it was an overgrown and misshapen hubbard squash. The flesh is a beautiful creamsicle-colored orange, and looks meaty. A few minutes ago Robert brought down a bucket of processed greens, nuts, camellia seeds and spices, for dehydrating into "burgers" in the simple dehydrator down here in the kitchen/canning room. I hope my kitchen is not "invaded" again, as it was yesterday, and I can finish the job in peace. All I have to do is place scoops of the mixture on the screen racks, and press them down, like a cookie. Should take 24 hours to dehydrate them fully. I'll let you know how they turn out. Maybe I can figure out how to get a picture from my phone onto here. Have a great day, wherever you are!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
INW Permaculture Conference, Spokane: 11/4-11/6
PERMACULTURE IS ABOUT SOLUTIONS!
Coming Nov. 4th, the Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild is presenting the First Annual Permaculture Conference, at Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane WA.
There will be 40 presenters, 60 workshops, field trips, a trade show, a Saturday evening Contra Dance, hands-on activities, panels & round table discussions, and the garden tours, which I am helping prepare for now.
Permaculture believes, as does Garden of Lia, that it is possible for communities everywhere to feed themselves, have clean water, healthy economies, and lead a decent life. The principles of permaculture can be applied to back-yard gardens as well as farms, cities and countries.
Permaculture is just one of the manifestations of the new paradigm emerging to free people and assist them in making better choices for their health, and for their communities.
Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising in the world! Please tell three people you know to look at the INW Permaculture site (and my Garden of Lia blog) and to ask those 3 to tell 3, etc. If just 8 people do that, then over 65,000 people will have gotten the word about permaculture! And if even 10% of those people (or about 6500) make a little change in buying of food or growing of food, make a little change towards more sustainability, or organics, or even eating their vegetables, that will have a HUGE impact on ending hunger in America! So let's do that now!
Go to www.inlandnorthwestpermaculture.com to see more.
Join Epicurious in a Food Day Celebration at Epicurious.com
Same principles as Garden of Lia: Secure a safe food supply. Join Epicurious in a Food Day Celebration at Epicurious.com:
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Revenge is sweet
Revenge is sweet Read "The Barefoot Agrarian" blog: the chickens and the squash bugs.
Monday, August 1, 2011
IFOAM | Organic World Congress 2011 Korea
The hope for the Future of Humanity Lies in Organic Farming: IFOAM | Organic World Congress 2011 Korea
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Making Cutting-Edge Animation On A DIY Homestead : NPR
Making Cutting-Edge Animation On A DIY Homestead : NPR Garden of Lia (me) never had such a hi-tech vision, but I love it! & right in the neighborhood I want to return to! California here I come!!!!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
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