What's In Your Food?

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That is what was at the top of the flyer we handed out for the showing of the GMO documentary "Genetic Roulette." I found out about the documentary when I stumbled on a site called Institute for Responsible Technology. This is a site that urges others to educate others about GMOs.While I was searching around the site I clicked on the take action tab which lead me to join the Tipping Point, here I met another local woman who felt the need to educate others is just as important to her as it is to me.

We set up a date and time to show the documentary at the local library. While I was letting others know about the showing I was surprised to hear many say "I don't want to know." "WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR FOOD?" Anyway we could not get into the conference room because they were still using it to prepare taxes. So, we had to go into the main library, not bad we had only two people show up, and this might attract others. It did, but only one person came to talk to us about what we are doing.

We are putting together a group of people to meet monthly, and share about how we are changing our eating habits, along with educating others on various topics. These topics include organic eating, organic gardening, the truth about raw milk, the truth about fluoride, and other things that we are being lied to about. On March 9 we will meet for an organic lunch, pot luck style along with taking forging in the yard, and discussing where to obtain organic food, and how to tell if it is organic.

I'm torn between making organic egg salad, or organic mashed cauliflower.

For the egg salad I use, for one serving

2 cage free eggs
Organic Pepper
Organic Garlic
Spectrum Organic Mayonaise
Paprika, not yet organic
Mustard not yet organic
1/2 Organic Avocado 

I didn't include any measurements because I feel we are all different, one person might like more mayo, or mustard, while some else may prefer less. I eat this alone or as a wrap made with Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Tortillas,   However, for the pot luck I thought I would make finger sandwiches with the Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted 100% Whole Grain Bread.

The mashed cauliflower recipe I found through a blog, but you know me I don't follow recipes. The great thing about this is all you have do is cook the cauliflower mash it up, and add whatever you would normally add to potatoes. I made this once, and my husband and I loved it, please don't ask what I put in it I honestly don't totally remember. You can thank my husband for that who taught me just to throw things together while all the long tasting until you are happy with it.

I wrote this blog to not only share, but to inspire others to become active in educating others about what we are putting into our bodies. There are so many people out who don't know and they deserve the right to know just like we do. I also want to let you know that you can watch the documentary online for $2.99.

Are helping to educate others about what they putting in their bodies, and their families? I would love to hear about it.

This blog was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday.

Better Ab Workout

I found out that for years I have not been working my abs to their full potential which leads to better looking, firmer abs. I always knew to suck my abs in like trying to touch my belly button to my back, and contracting the ab muscles as I performed an exercise. I also knew to keep my elbows open, and my head back, like holding something between my chin and my chest, and not to pull on my head, but lift with my abs.

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But what I figured out during the last say seven years is I can work my abs more effectively, and achieve better, and faster results by adding one simple thing. That one thing is contracting my abs through the whole exercise. So, while I have always enjoyed working my abs because I can lay down, and not have to work a lot, not true. Working your abs takes a lot of contraction and work, that is if you want nice abs, you have to hold that stomach in, contract the muscles all the time, and then when performing an exercise contract even harder. Oh and don't forget to breath out on  the exertion and in coming out, the whole time contracting on those abs, wow that is a lot of work, but worth it.

I also learned that working the abs just does not have to take place on the floor doing some crunches. As a mater of fact I have heard some personal trainers say they have totally ditched crunches. Working the abs standing up, is very beneficial especially for the obliques. While planks at first were not a favorite exercise as you excel you will find that they are very versatile, and a great over all core work out. Planks is what some do alone for ab work, while they are great for the abs they also aid in strengthening the back.

Personally I like a combination of all the varieties, crunches, stand up abs, and planks. Everyone is different you need to find what works for you in creating the great abs. I've never had six pack abs, but that is okay I just want my abs to look the best they can for my body.

Knowing Your Seeds

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If you are planting with seeds it is important to know how what they would go through before sprouting. For instance would they sit on the ground some where through out winter, which is what I am talking about today.

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Recently I bought this awesome book by Tammi Hartung called "Homegrown Herbs," A Complete Guide to Growing, Using, and Enjoying more than 100 Herbs, which you can purchase at The Bulk Herb Store through the affiliate link on the right. I love, love this book for herbs, not only does it tell you everything about various herbs, how to grow them, what their companions are, how to harvest them, but it also includes recipes for medicines, and personal care, along with others for cooking.

Recently I planted a variety of vegetables, and herbs, and noticed that my Yarrow was not sprouting. I went to the book, and looked in the personalities section to read more about this herb, and find out what was wrong. It turns out that this seed needs to go through what is called stratification. See some seeds dropped to the ground, and are left there through out the winter months. During that time they are exposed to moisture rather it be from snow or rain, and would also experience times of freezing, and thawing which benefits the seeds.

So to mimic this process seeds need to be placed in a ziplock bag, with a few drops of water, shack the seeds to coat them with the water, place in the freezer for a month, take them out to thaw for a few hours. This process should be done over a two to three month period of time. However, if the seeds would experience a milder winter, not frozen this process can be accomplished through the use of the refrigerator.

In the back of the book there is a section called "Herb Personalities, A Closer Look at Each Plant,"
Here she tells you witch plants need to go through the cold stratification process, and for how long. However, she doesn't tell you if you should use the freezer or the refrigerator. There is a chart of the plant habitat preferences, a little common sense, and using this chart I think can help us figure it out on our own, It would be convenient, however, if it was included in the personalities section.

While that is only one thing I learned from this book there is so much more. Once my herbs have bloomed I look forward to using the "Harvesting from the Garden" section of this book. I also love that she has included so many charts, diagrams, and colorful useful photos. I highly recommend this book for those just starting out or those who would like to learn more. Other chapters in this book include the following.

• An Introduction to Growing and Using Herbal Plants
• Selecting Plants and Designing Your Garden
• Secrets to Great Soil
• Propagation Methods
• Garden Maintenance
• Pest and Disease Control
• Harvesting from the Garden

This blog was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday and here.

 

Growing Zucchini

Photo credit: It's Your Life

This is the first time I am growing zucchini from a seed, and as it started to sprout, it reminded me of Audrey 2 from the movie “Little Shop of Horrors,” so now that is her name. Like Audrey 2 I thought I was going to lose my first zucchini plant. I noticed the roots were growing up out of the soil, and had to adjust her two different times before she started sprouting.



My friend and fellow blogger Mary from Back to the Basics invited me to blog on her blog.  Read the rest of this over by Mary, and learn more about "Growing Zucchini" organically.  Oh and I also included some of my favorite Zucchini recipes.

Companion Planting

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Companion planting is the best way to grow your garden naturally with out harmful chemicals or pesticides. This method is different also because many times herbs, and even flowers are incorporated into the regular vegetable garden. By using different types of herbs, flowers, and vegetables together they help one another in various ways.

You can see from the picture on the right that using this method creates a very non-traditional vegetable garden. But look how beautiful it is.

Take the Three Sisters method, this is where you plant corn, beans, and squash together. The beans not only crawl up the corn for support, but they also supply nitrogen into the ground for the corn to thrive. The squash also places an important role as its big leaves prevent weeds from growing. However, this is only one example of how of plants help one another.

Let's take a look at the Marigolds, these are great to plant around the border of your vegetable garden. Not only do they attract bees which is vital for pollination, but also deter other pests from the garden. However, it is not with out fault as some pests are attracted to the Marigold, and will devour it, but better the Marigold than your herbs, and vegetables.

Some insects are welcome in the garden and help to avoid others that could destroy garden. Take the lady bug for instance, they can consume up to 50-60 aphids per day. To attract lady bugs to your garden plant yarrow, cilantro, dill, or flowers such as scented geraniums or dandelions.

Planting herbs near vegetables can enhance the flavor like peppermint enhances the flavor of cabbage, kale, broccoli, and  kholrabi. Basil is great to plant near tomatoes, not only does it enhance the flavor, but also deters the horn worm, and other pests. Also plant basil near sweet and hot peppers to enhance the flavor.

Many plants are great to grow just for the benefits they give to the soil in your garden like the beans. Borage is an excellent source of calcium, use the leaves as mulch around your zucchini, it also attracts bees. Some plants should be planted before planting your herbs, and vegetables like alfalfa. Alfalfa is said to be the farmer's plant of choice for natural pest control, but it also is high in nitrogen, and other minerals that benefit the soil.Alfalfa, oats, wheat and others should be planted before and after the growing season than incorporated into the soil.

As you can see there are a variety of ways to garden naturally, yes it takes planning, but it is worth it to get healthy vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. If you look at the top of the page you will see I added a new tab for organic gardening links. I will continue to add as I continue on my new adventure of companion planting.

Do you use companion planting in your garden?

Organic Gardening: Carrot Flies

I always thought I had a brown thumb, but have come to realize I just never took the time to learn about whatever it was I was trying to grow. I ordered a nice selection of GMO free seeds which include vegetables, and herbs from Mary's Heirloom Seeds, she is having a sale by the way.

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Well, eager from some GMO free veggies, I planted the atomic red carrots I purchased. Everything was going fine until I noticed some small insects flying around them. Research lead me to discover the carrot fly which lays their eggs near the plant, larvae hatches and the maggots feast on the carrot root. You can see from the image on the right the damage this tiny pest can do.

So, how to avoid this little pest without using chemicals became my next goal. The most suggested method to avoid these pests is companion planting with onions. Because the carrot fly uses its sense of smell to detect the carrots, the onions will mask the smell. It also turns out that the carrots help the onions to avoid onion flies.

When planting, plant a row of onions,  then carrots, and then onions. Consider using two types of onions, I have red onions, and think I will also plant some green onions which I love to cook with.

I found this great site for companion planting, click on the letter of the herb or vegetable, and just read the simple yet concise information. I also started an organic gardening board on Pintrest some may be interested in.




This blog shared at Wildcrafting Wednesday, and here.