The Garden Shedde

This time of year always tries my patience. It is hard for me not to run out to my tomato plants on a daily basis and try to find the first ripe one to eat; after all these are the heirloom tomatoes that are so good! I know it sounds a little crazy and I just might be but there is nothing like a freshly ripened tomato out of the garden. They just taste better than the store bought variety.

Though we are getting many things out of the garden that you could say the same thing about there is something different about the tomato. Maybe it’s the potential flavor of tomatoes that makes them a different kind of fruit (yes, they are a fruit). Some of them can be tart while others are as sweet as berries. Some beckon you to eat them like an apple while others are perfect for slicing and eating on sandwiches or with your breakfast eggs. All I know is once they start to come in I will be eating them with every meal as long as they last and I can hardly wait!

We all know that the best cure for a sore throat is a cup of tea with lemon and honey.  But, recently honey has been stepping into the spotlight as a natural, miracle cure-all.  From honey, to bee pollen, to beeswax – the buzz is all about the bees.  So, how can honey help you?

Skin Care – Honey is a great natural way to moisturize your skin.  Just mix a couple tablespoons of honey with a tablespoon of sugar, stir, and apply generously to your face.  Lightly exfoliate with circular motions, then let it sit for about 20 minutes.  Rinse with warm water, and viola!  You’re skin with be smooth and soft, with a radiant healthy glow.

Allergies – adding honey to your diet has been proven to boost your immune system, and help relieve allergies.  But, make sure it’s local honey, as the bees who made it pollinated the local plants and flowers you’re probably allergic to!  Take a spoonful before bed, add it to your favorite hot drink, or drizzle it on fruit.  It’s the easiest medicine you’ll ever take.

Energy – It started as a Hollywood fad, but there are thousands who now swear that taking bee pollen gives you that quick burst of energy we all need at the end of a long day.  It’s available in pill or powder form at your local natural grocery.

There are hundreds of ways these little guys can make your healthier – just avoid the stings!

I enjoy tea. I like all kinds but my favorite type of tea by far is green tea. It tastes so good to me. It also tastes good with pretty much every other food. It also tastes wonderful when it is iced and even better if you add sugar or honey. This makes it like green sweet tea. Surprisingly it goes very well with ice cream too. The cold and sweet ice cream just blends so perfectly with the warm or hot beverage that has a slightly bitter taste.

Green tea is also surprisingly good for your health. Green yes helps prevent diabetes and arthritis and it also kills cancer cells. One can easily increase the length of their life by simply drinking green tea everyday. Green tea also has caffeine so it can be used instead of coffee every morning. One Chinese proverb goes “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.”

So green tea is one of the best things that you can put into your body. If you can make it a habit then you will immediately be living a healthier life.

I am a fan of sports. I like all sorts of professional sports, including those performed at the Olympics. In high school I played basketball and threw discus for the track and field team. So when it comes to sports, I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about. And the most important part of playing a sport is balance. If fact, balance is one of the most important things we can master to help us with just about everything we do; inside and outside.

If you lack balance than it’s hard to play any sport. It’s also difficult to garden and some find it hard to play with children. Many things affect our balance such as excess weight, weak muscles and injuries and we are pretty much useless without it. Another thing that I find for many is life is not as enjoyable when you struggle with balance. It’s hard to skip and move freely when you don’t feel in control of your body. One of the best things you can do to help improve your balance along with weight control, strength training and being careful is doing yoga. Many people find it really does help them find their center and balance physically, mentally and spiritually.

My next-door neighbors recently got a chicken pen in their backyard. This is definitely illegal. But besides just sticking it to the man, this is really cool idea. It is an example of the self-sufficiency that we have lost. We totally rely on other people for our food, tools, and sometimes even our own entertainment.

With those chickens, my neighbors don’t have to worry about buying eggs. They can take that off their grocery list. On the other hand, they do have to worry about feeding the chickens. But if chickens are anything like pigeons then they are probably not that picky. And if things went really bad they would be able to support themselves on eggs and chicken. That has got to be a bonus.

I’m not saying that everyone should start breaking the law because it is better. I’m just saying that it might be something to think about. Becoming more self-sufficient is something that could be good for all of us. We could all stand to learn how to take care of ourselves, by ourselves.

Every year for Christmas I get money from my parents, who happen to be divorced so I get close to double what most people get. Up until this year, I have either used the money to pay bills or to just blow on whatever I want but I have found that to ring hollow and set out this year to find something a little different. Though you may think me a bit crazy, I ended up giving up the majority of money that was given to me. Though I found many places that were dissevering of the money, two of them captured my heart; Heifer International and Blood Water Mission.

Heifer International does more than just give animals away to families. They train the families to take care of the animals as well as put them under contract to pass along the animals as they can and the knowledge. This not only gives people a way to make a living but a way to thrive and pass on the good luck. Blood Water Mission simple saves lives by providing families and villages much needed biosand water filters that eliminates up to 98% of disease causing bacteria in the water. If you feel moved to give this year to something greater than yourself, check out these two fantastic organizations and give. You will discover what Christmas can be for you.

I’m sure you have read about how McDonald’s hamburgers have grown over the years along with their orders of French fries and cokes. However, until I actually saw the difference in the portions between the late 1950’s and today, I didn’t really understand how much more we get today. No wonder we have no idea how much we should be eating. We are told to clean our plate and are praised when we do. The problem is we just ate enough for three people!

If you can get this wrapped around your brain you might figure out what is the appropriate portion of food for any given serving. For a serving of cheese, think of one domino, your steak should be the size of a deck of cards, your next burrito the size of a small bar of hand soap and one serving of butter is no more than one die. Indulge in fruit the size of a baseball, baked potatoes no bigger than a regular sized light bulb or pasta the size of a flip phone and you will be fine. Maybe that’s why so many of us need to loose a person in weight! You can’t eat for two or three and expect to stay healthy or thin.

I am much more hopeful than ever before about hat Americans are doing individually to help save resources, recycle as much as possible and cut down their carbon footprint. The numbers of people that I know who are working or riding a bike or bus to work has tripled in the last two tears and those that are changing their buying and eating habits have truly amazed me just in the last six months!

There are a couple of friends that I thought would never even consider buying local and changing the way they cook and eat but they actually showed me a farm they are considering buying as much meat and vegetables from as possible! I almost fell over with surprise. People are starting to realize the benefits of eating local for our planet and our health. I know for me, using local honey has made a difference in how allergies are affecting me these days and though I have not had time to test it, it is well documented that eating a raw or vegan diet can lead to weight loss and eliminating many diseases including diabetes. Of course, you want to talk to your doctor before taking off on this type of diet on your own but who knows, we may be able to control our health by just eating healthier and wiser.

It’s no secret that eating your vegetables everyday is important even though most of Americans don’t even come close to eating near the amount that is recommended. In fact, I had to laugh at a recent commercial where a little girl touting a serving of vegetables in a popular canned food tells a little boy dressed up as corn that corn is not a vegetable, but a grain. I laugh because I had a grown adult person tell me I was wrong one day when I told them the same thing. But I had to sit up after a conversation with a friend of mine that has had multiple health issues of which none are severe but could eventually be. He has completely changed his diet to raw vegetables.

I asked him if he had noticed any considerable changes and he informed me that he no longer suffers from insomnia, stomach pains and headaches and no longer has the insulin imbalance that was leading to diabetes. He said it wasn’t always easy to eat raw and though he can have fruits he has chosen not to. He has also lost about fifteen pounds and continues to loose weight.

I have recently started looking into research on honey bees for a design project at school. Before doing even the slightest bit of research, I knew the decline in bee populations would have an effect on our food supply, I just didn’t know by how much. I was amazed to find out that over eighty percent of cherries rely on bee pollination. It takes about 100 grains of pollen per cherry blossom to produce fruit. Bees carry about 100,000 grains of pollen per load. I also learned that almonds rely completely on bees for pollination. In fact, due to the decline of the hives, many bee keepers are taking their colonies to central California to assist with the almond trees. These are just two examples. There is no doubt countless others.

There are several theories about what is happening to the bees – cell phone tower signals interfering with the bees internal GPS systems, mites, viruses, etc.  This is much more an important issue than I had originally given it credit. Can you imagine what will happen if the decline continues? Food prices would go up tremendously due to simple supply and demand…but what happens when there is no more supply? The bees are a crucial party in the human food chain supply. Even foods that are processed many times start out as something coming from nature. God save the Queens!