Organic Thoughts - Moondance Organic Gardens

Organic Thoughts - Sept 11: Abundance, this time of year is such a reminder of delayed gratification. All the millions of tomatoes that we have to harvest now started way back in March when I took the seeds and planted them one by on in a little trays of soil. Starting seeds always amazes me as it is so abstract, containing the miracle of birth, the desire of natural things to grow and the need for faith. From the first sprouts, the transplanting up to bigger pots, hardening off then finally planting in the field it is still hard to imagine the harvest yet to come. The weeding, staking up and mulching down are all before any hint of the abundance yet to come with fruit that tastes like liquid sunshine. Ah that irony of life where you can wait and wait then all of a sudden when it arrives you are so busy it can be hard to appreciate the process that it took to get there! Well friends please enjoy the abundance of the season (and eat lots of tomatoes), enjoy as a month from now they could be hit by frost!

Organic Thoughts Sept 4th: Just a few follow up thoughts from last week. When I read it again I realized that there were a few blanket statements that I was not comfortable with. I put all large corporations into a grouping of not being civic minded nor ecologically concerned. While I believe that this applies to many, it does not take into consideration those big businesses that do make it part of their mandate to pursue best practice in ecological areas and in giving back to the community. I think it is important to recognize those businesses that do produce locally, use local product, try to reduce packaging and support healthy communities. I recognize the inherent difficulties with this as it goes against current business/consumer practices of only considering the lowest pricing. The other area that I wish to clarify is in regards to grain fed vs. grass fed cattle. Again when I read my words, I realized that I was remiss in stating that when we raised cattle they grazed on grass but were also fed silage (chopped corn), hailage (chopped hay) and chop (chopped grains). Most people would find the beef very different from straight grazed beef. I would suggest you check it out and see for yourself. Two good local sites are,

www.efaosimcoecounty.ca Ecological Farmers

www.simcoecountyfarmfresh.ca Local Producers

The information that is in the Organic Thoughts are simply the ramblings of my own mind. I strongly encourage you to let me know what you think and welcome feedback, suggestions, ideas and additional information.

Wishing you the very best,

Kim

Organic Thoughts - Aug 28th: Equity, every once in a while you hear in the news about the crisis of the family farm. The trend over the last 15 years has been towards "factory farms" with exponential loss of the family farms. Factory farms are generally owned by corporations and have operators or managers to coordinate the activities, they are also on a very large scale. This is most evident in production of beef, chicken and pork as well as greenhouse operations for vegetable crops. There are many detrimental aspects to factory farming just as there is with large corporations in any sector. They have little connection to community, concern for sustainability, the environment and have profit as their top priority. For the most part this corporate policy of profit coincides with the consumer interest in paying the least amount possible with little awareness of what are the long term implications. In food production, this has meant that it is almost impossible for a small farm to produce enough sales to support one income, let alone a family. I, in no way, wish to complain about this situation personally but I do hope to raise some awareness of a critical situation to our long term health and environment. For example beef production is predominately factory-farmed in Ontario. That means concentrated large scale production with one "farm" having anywhere from 500 - 2000 head of cattle in feedlots. The cattle are fed a combination of grains, concentrated protein, growth hormones and are inoculated with a variety of vaccines and antibiotics to keep them from getting sick. Grass fed animals rarely have need of vaccination nor contract things like BSE. The concentration of animals creates an extraordinary amount of manure which then needs to be contained in huge slurry ponds (which in the case of flooding can create a environmental nightmare). Then it gets pumped into tankers and sprayed on fields (much of what goes into the animals (hormones, antibiotics) also comes out) to grow more grain for the animals and us. The cattle are kept contained so the meat is more tender (in the case of veal they are kept in small white huts that they are chained to). In comparison when I was growing up we had beef cattle ( usually 60 - 100), which spent most of their day out grazing in the field (which I believe is their natural habitat). Grass fed beef tastes totally different and has more antioxidants like vitamin E that actually helps break down cholesterol. I could go on and on but I wanted to give you a little taste of what is happening to our food system like so many industries that are being sold to the highest bidder. I know I am speaking to the converted as you are the people that are already making a statement by doing the only thing that makes sense to me which is Buying Local! Not always easy but the more we do it, the more will be available. Again … here is to conscious choice.

Wishing you the very best, Kim

Organic Thoughts - Aug 21st: "Willful waste makes for woeful want" is a saying my Mom would say to me that her Mom often said to her. A product of the times of depression and much challenge to even take care of basic needs. That thought was going through my head this week after being more aware of where I use water and how much I waste. I think it all comes down to that, not being a vigilante on a soap box about what everyone is doing or not doing, but creating a stronger awareness of exactly what I am doing and what that means. Creating more awareness can give me a chance to decide if it feels right or not. Then the big challenge … Change! Feels almost impossible some times, I am so busy doing what I do. Ah, here is to finding the time to settle, create more awareness and make the changes that feel right.

OK, I'm taking the dish water out to feed the poor planters that have been cooked. Little steps,

Cheers Friends,

Kim

Organic Thoughts - Aug 6th: Keep Cool, I'm lucky enough to get away to the cottage for a few days to re-hydrate. Be back Tues. night and looking forward to the rest of the week.

Cheers,

Kim

“When I get to the family cabin, food stops being a mere necessity to provide energy for another hour

of shooting. It becomes something to celebrate. Summertime provides us with a bounty of

fresh fruits and vegetables …”

David Suzuki, Environmentalist and activist

Read the article http://www.davidsuzuki.org/about_us/Dr_David_Suzuki/Article_Archives/weekly07270701.asp

Organic Thoughts - July 31st: So many things to think about, so little time to write about. Here is to finding the time, making the time, taking the time. May you take the time to enjoy the warmth and sunshine of our summer. Take a picture on one of these sweltering days to keep you warm in the frosty days of January. Better yet get a picture of a picnic at the park, a hike in the woods, a lounge chair with a good book and cool drink, with you in it of course!

Have Fun and Enjoy Your Time,

Cheers,

Kim

Organic Thoughts: July 24th Pay it forward, has anyone seen the movie? It is a thought-provoking story about the power of singular positive acts and the snowballing effect that they have. When thinking about how life has changed in the last 100 years I came across the idea of future planning. What are our plans for the future? Do we have any? Are we going towards a future that we are aiming for or just living in default, too busy to think of "down the road" … what our choices are creating. The philosophy that sits well with me is the Native American ideal of making decisions with the effects for 7 generations in mind. How often is that happening in our current society? Well there are decisions being made out there and it seems without much public consultation or shared information. Recently Canadian regulations on allowable pesticide residues were "harmonized" to come in line with the US allowable limits. This means that the majority of our limits were raised to make trade of these foods easier. This is one of the effects of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. I obviously have my personal feelings about this but I encourage you to check out a variety of sources and find out what you believe (Google search will give you lots of choices). This is definitely going to have implications for water export, energy export, sovereignty and much more. A further direction from this act is the North American Union, which, again without putting my personal feelings out there, I encourage you to find out some information as there has been little in the media. Bottom line is I would like to see a world where my children and theirs can drink the water, breath the air and eat real food, I'm just not sure that we are headed in that direction. What do you think?

All the best,

Kim

"Our real problem is not our strength today; it is rather
the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow."

Calvin Coolidge
1872-1933, Thirtieth President of the United States

Organic Thoughts, July 17th: Weeds, how amazing they are. They grow without anyone planting them, they rarely have pests or disease, they can out compete most crops we plant and are still green when all the grass is brown. Many weeds are habitat for beneficial insects, seeds for birds, food for butterflies and downright good for us (ah that's another topic). My point is that the soil wants to be covered not bare. Weeds serve a eco purpose as they hold the soil, shade the ground and add organic matter back into the soil. That being said there is a balance needed to grow crops and have a good harvest. As long as you get the weeds before they start to flower (because they will leave seeds then) they can make a good cover for the ground and go back into the soil. The issue of golf green lawns is I think one of issues we will have to face soon. White clover is a great alternative that never needs fertilizing, watering and always stays green. It also improves the soil (clover takes nitrogen from the air and stores it in the roots). It is time for us to consider how we can adapt to our changed and changing environment. What makes sense for you?

All the best,

Kim

"Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1855-1919, Poet and Journalist

Organic Thoughts - July 10th - One Step At a Time: When things get a bit overwhelming for me, workload, state of the world or otherwise, I try to come back to the thought … one step at a time. I have a planning sheet to track everything I have going on and what I need to get to. At the top I have the quote, "A journey of a million miles begins with a single step". Amazing how that thought can help me breathe into the reality that all I need to do is take the next step and not let my mind wander into all the things that need to happen after that. Plants show me that every day, as they grow one leaf after another and then, when ready, flower and set fruit. We do seem to be in a somewhat interesting time, as stress seems to be increasing all around. In the plant world, the flowers have become prolific and the vegetables coming to flower very early in the season. When plants are in stress they move quickly towards trying to produce fruit or seeds. The Live Earth concerts also appeared to me as a sign that society is trying to move towards change and feeling the stress that our environment is placing back on to us for our careless regard to how we live on this earth. Here is to being fruitful in changing the way we coexist with our planet. One step at a time.

All the best,

Kim

As I see it, every day you do one of two things:
build health or produce disease in yourself.”

Adelle Davis, American nutritionist and author, 1904-1974

Organice Thoughts - July 4th ‘Domauch’, in Croatian it means homemade. This Sunday we set aside as our family day. Not easy when there is so much to do, even around the house, let alone outside. What a treat to rest, play games with the kids and I even baked. I finally made that rhubarb crisp I have been thinking of since we started harvesting rhubarb and made peanut butter cookies (my son's favourite). So homemade is a treat now for us as opposed to the norm, rather a sad statement of affairs. One of the things I enjoy during the winter is a little more time to actually make things and catch up on all the things that get dropped in the summer. But for many with year-round, full-time, outside jobs, how do you manage?

How did we get into this state of affairs where people are hard-pressed to find time to do something so basic as cooking or baking? Thinking back on this, I recalled my childhood memories of being sent down to the basement to get some preserves such as peaches, pears, relish. I remembered with amazement that there were shelves and shelves of each fruit, preserved and set downstairs to feed us through the winter. Of course, all the veggies were blanched and frozen and all sorts of things dried. I asked my Mom, how on earth she did that with three children (all in activities), a working farm and, often, extra mouths to feed. Her response "well it was busy". What she more remembers is how her Mom with five children, a wood cookstove and often gangs of thrashers to feed would be working from sun-up to sundown. Amazing to think of the changes in our lives within three generations. One thing that I do note from pondering through this, is that homemade comes with love and usually no additives.

In our quest for an ‘easier’ life we have been sold the idea that we need to buy all the latest technological devices. (Can anyone even imagine getting up to change the channel on their TV?). In order to have all the things we need to have, we must have a job that takes us away from our home for 40+ hours a week. (Don't even get me thinking about shift work!) Because we are on the run all the time, we rarely have time to prepare real food, let alone buy it. Where has that left us as a society? For the most part, stressed, (malnourished, from fast foods), overweight, eternally rushing and with the highest cancer and heart disease rates known in the world. Unfortunately, it is often not until something dramatic happens in our lives that we can take the time to make changes. Sunday gave me pause for thought, what can be more important than making real food for my family and self? Guess it comes down to priorities. The challenge I find is to hang on to these moments of awareness and live what I know to be important. All I need to do is read the ingredient list on the cookie box to know that mine are just way better, domauch.

“We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat
can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.”

Adelle Davis, American nutritionist and author, 1904-1974

Organic Thoughts: Thanks Giving! What a tricky time of year. It is so beautiful, yet so sad. That is what has been going through my thoughts recently -- the duality of all things. There is so much to give thanks for -- the bounty of the plants, the warm summer days, the wonderful new friends and the treasured long-time friends. Then there is the other side of killing frosts, cold rainy days, the extraordinary amount of work to get ready for winter and the sadness of moving into winter. What I know and try to appreciate is that there is no value in judgment of something being good or bad. Things simply are and life seems to always provide a variety of experiences. Say with the tomatoes. We have had an abundance of fruit to savour, some perfect and others not so nice. It is easy to pick the beautiful, blemish-free fruit and it feels so good to see a bucket of the beauties. Then the other side with the half slug-eaten, half-rotten tomatoes. Trust me, not so much fun. Thank you to all the green team members who have made it through the picking and sorting of these tomatoes. They are all part of the same plant, the same experience, I just find it a perfect example of how I attach judgment that something is good or not good. Unfortunately (no, not unfortunately), well OK here it is -- you don't get the good without the bad, it just is. When I can get my head into that space there is a lot less unhappiness in my world. Here is to Giving. Thanks for all that is. Wishing you the very best,

Kim

Organic Thought: Sept 26th Organic, well it has been a hot topic of conversation and concern with the e-coli scare on fresh spinach from the U.S.. From what I have heard, the problem originated in compost that was not heated properly and contained fresh animal manure.

Here at Moondance, what we do is

1) let compost sit for at least a year

2) use green manure crops such as clover, winter rye, buckwheat. These plants grow and are dug into the soil, then becoming part of the soil, providing nutrient and structure.

3) apply aged horse manure in the fall if needed.

4) look at the weeds as green nutrients (until they flower) and dig them in also.

Compost is often referred to as black gold as it provides a nutrient balance that plants appreciate. When you think about how plants grow in a natural setting, compost is about as close as it gets. Considering all the food we can grow without using synthetic fertilizers (made from crude oil) I really don't get why synthetics are so popular except that it is, of course, easier! Well here’s to the challenges and joys of natural growing!

Wishing you much health and happiness, Kim

Organic Thoughts: Sept 18th Commitment. I heard someone talking of commitment last weekend. Saying that commitment is the magical act that starts the flow of things happening. Put intention out there and then watch what happens. Well, it is not always so clear what one should be committed to. Our lives tend to be filled with so much information, so many causes, so many conflicts. Being outside with nature is always my way of sorting things out. Funny how I need to go outside to go inside. However it works, things always seem so much clearer when I consider how nature works. Plants and animals follow their natural cycle … a strong goal being to grow. This time of year shows me a time to slow down to start the activity of storage. What I would glean from the plants, trees and animals is grow, do your best and follow the seasons. There is no plant out there that is healthier with artificial inputs than with natural inputs. Plants, just like our bodies, are constantly working towards being as healthy as possible given the circumstances. These observations reaffirm my commitment to the idea that supporting my body, mind and spirit with growth, the best I can do and following the seasons is my intention. Growing naturally (organically) seems obviously the only logical choice. Here is to the gathering together that fall prompts and the time to find what commitments are right for you.

Wishing you much health and happiness, Kim

Organic Thoughts. Sept 11th: Prosperity. In the plant world there is an interesting correlation between richness and productivity. For many plants they have particular nutrient needs (which composted plant and animal manure provide beautifully) Certain "high maintenance crops" like corn and potatoes like lots of nitrogen which is why they are great to follow a nitrogen-fixing crop like beans, peas and clover. When many plants (especially tomatoes) are provided with too much nutrient they grow large beautiful leaves, a big beautiful plant but often with very little fruit. Interestingly, when you don't provide extra nutrients you usually get a huge beautiful crop of fruit. My thoughts are that the goal of the plant is to make sure there is seed for next year. If they feel challenged then they work very hard to make sure they produce lots of seed. If there is a lot of richness around them, they put most of their energy into becoming a huge big plant and seem to forget about producing seed. So my question is, what is prosperity. Watching plants gives me much to ponder and wonder about in our relationship to them and as an analogy to how we conduct our lives. Is more really better? Wishing you much health and happiness,

Kim

Organic Thoughts Sept 4th : Balance of Opposites. This time of year makes me think of the coming winter. I can almost feel the slowing down and cuddling in happening in nature. It is this time that helps me appreciate the business and intensity of spring. The incredible heat of July makes me appreciate the cool fresh days of Nov.. I haven't discovered what makes me appreciate Feb. except for being Tom's birthday and the coming spring! What occurs to me is that it is the experience of one thing that helps us really appreciate the other side of it. Times of happiness are all that much sweeter for the remembrance of hard times. Hardships are more bearable with the remembrance of good times. We are meant to experience all things and acknowledge the balance that is. Remember we create our own reality of a situation, merely how we choose to interpret what happens to us. I know … easy to say when times are good and so hard when times are tough. Well nature tells me this is a time to gather in, prepare and appreciate the bounty that we are blessed with. Here is to looking at the whole cycle and appreciating the present!

Wishing you the very best,

Kim

Organic Thoughts - AUG 29th: Connection. We got a chance to go to the CNE this weekend. What fun our family had. One time when we went back to get some more water and drop some things off at our vehicle there was a woman next to us in the parking lot checking on her dog who was getting too excited to stay at the baseball game she was watching. When Tom helped out the woman with getting some water for her dog. She was amazed that he would help a total stranger. He simply replied we are all on the same planet. What a great reminder to me about our often forgotten connection with everything. Whether you look at it from Physics (check out the movie "What the Bleep do you Know") which proposes that energy is all connected and solid forms are simply more concentrated mass of atoms. We seem to think that because we see, we understand but I think it is more what we don't see that makes life truly incredible. The effect of a smile, a kind deed, a loving thought. Plants magically collect the energy from the sun and grow to clean our air, create oxygen and create food energy for us. Scientists have still not been able to figure out exactly how plants do what they do. I think the important part is for us to live in appreciation of the connectedness of everything. We are all on the same planet!

Wishing you much health and happiness,

Kim

Organic Thought - AUG 22: Delayed Gratification, Nature is the master of this old time virtue. Everything in our society is so instant we even want things even before we get there or have the money (thus our challenges with credit). Working with nature is a good reminder that if you don't plant the seeds you get no crop. If you don't put the work and care into helping them grow then who knows what will happen. It was May 18th when we planted the seeds for the sweet corn that we can eat this week. Makes it all that much sweeter for me to see the corn ready to harvest. Here is to planting seeds!

All the best,

Kim

Organic Thoughts Aug 14th:

Live: What an incredible treat to listen to live performance by some really talented people. It can seem like a challenge to find the time and money to enjoy live performance (music, theatre, dance, etc.) but what a thrill to marvel at the abilities of others. I love to sing but it is not something that others appreciate (so I am told). So I greatly appreciate others who can sing. This young woman Serena Ryder was one of the last performers we listened to. This woman in her early 20s walked up on stage alone, said hello and broke into song that just blew everyone away. What a voice, a presence and talent!

That is kind of what I think about fresh veggies. There are the ones that are easier to get, out of a can, frozen, at the grocery store. But the ones that really make your body sing are the fresh off the vine, out of the ground, vitamin-packed tasty veggies that you can only get straight from the garden. So I applaud your efforts in getting the ‘live experience’ of your food and hope you enjoy the feeling you get for your time and money.

Wishing you much health and happiness,

Kim

Organic Thoughts Aug 10th : Local, I know I do go on about that but it is part of my consideration when looking around and trying new things. There are lots of juices, supplements and foods that are very good for us. Many tropical fruits have amazing healing abilities (and taste really good). I was thrilled when a friend dropped off a recipe for a very healing pesto that for the most part is very local. With anything like this, I firmly believe that you should try it for yourself and see what your body thinks about it!

Coriander Chelation Pesto

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cut Brazil nuts (selenium)

1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine)

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium)

2 cups packed fresh coriander (which is cilantro) (Vit. A)

2/3 cup flaxseed oil (so much goodness)

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (vit C)

2 tsp dulse powder (sea weed) most grocery stores have it but definitely at the health food store

Miso or Bragg's Liquid Aminos (tasty salty stuff)

Process the cilantro and flaxseed oil in a blender until the cilantro is chopped. Add the garlic, nuts, seeds, dulse and lemon juice. Mix until finely blended into a paste. Add a bit of Braggs or Miso to suit your taste. Store in dark glass or opaque container. Keeps well in the fridge (cover top with a little oil and it won't go brown) or freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to Ziploc bags.

Taken from the article I was given but I don't have other data to back this up. I do know it tastes great and my body was happy after I ate it!

"Coriander (Cilantro) has been proven to chelate toxic metals from our bodies in a relatively short period of time. Combined with the benefits of the other ingredients, this recipe is a powerful tissue cleanser. Two teaspoons of this pesto daily for three weeks is purportedly enough to increase the urinary excretion of mercury, lead and aluminum, thus effectively removing these toxic metals from our bodies. Heavy metal poisoning is a major cause of hormonal imbalances, cancer, thyroid problems, neurological disturbances, learning problems, depression, food allergies, parasites, etc. It is delicious on toast, baked potatoes and pasta".

Wishing you much health and happiness, Kim

Organic Thoughts August 5th : Balance. When I try to sift through what happens in my life, balance seems to be one of those cornerstones of happiness. Given the option of being happy or not, I try to find ways to live life that leaves me on the happy side. So balance becomes the challenge. Balance, often, between what I think I need to do (work, cleaning....) and what I know I need to do to stay healthy (spend time with family, yoga, time away). The gardens are a good lesson for me as the more in balance (biodiversity), the healthier the plants are. Growing areas need a balance of birds, bees, flowers, herbs, food plants, water, frogs, spiders, even snakes. The more biodiverse the environment, the closer to balance the plants become. One of my favourite books is "Bioplanning a North Temperate Garden", by Diana Beresford-Kroeger where she outlines the needs for a diverse healthy garden, looking at the eco function of different plants, trees, shrubs and even weeds. This does not mean that adversity does not exist for plants or humans. It does mean that the more diverse the environment/our lives the closer we can be to balance and health! Wishing you much balance in your life. All the best,

Kim

Organic Thoughts July 25th : Community. Talking with another mother at one of the kids activities was a good chance to reflect on the importance of community. Trying to get children to sports, lessons, friend’s places, etc. can be quite an interesting schedule. There are so many aspects to consider and it is easy to feel like you need to do it all. I love when I get reminded that all children really want is your love and attention. The other mother said to me "it takes a whole village to raise a child". What a gift to know that there are others that can, will, like to help out. What a gift to children to have other adults actually take an interest in them.

Community for me means so much. It is one of the reasons that I wanted to "move back home". I appreciate the security that I felt as a child knowing that if I needed help, the community was there for me. Houses were not full of strangers but people that had known my family, sometimes for generations.

Community here at the gardens is a gift that I so appreciate. It is my honour to get to know all the people who come here to pick up their vegetables. I so appreciate the commitment that it takes to add something extra into your week and make it to the gardens. Then there is the wonderful people who give of their time and energy to make the gardens work. The Green Team is a wonderful assortment of people (and their children) who come here to help plant, weed, pick and prepare food for many to enjoy. Then there is

Peggy who puts out the bulletin, Lisa who manages the web site and so many others that provide inspiration and education. My parents are also an integral part of this community. All those cabbages were grown at my parents place. They live just down the road and allow me to use a five acre field in front of their house. Fortunately for me, my Dad (retired farmer) is someone who needs to stay busy so he keeps everything growing down there and has a much neater garden then mine ever is! Then there is my immediate family. Without them I couldn't do it. I am so grateful for their love and support to follow my dreams. Here is to Kyra, Logan and Tom!

Community is all around us. Sometimes we just need to get involved with a group of interest. Attend a local baseball game, local theatre or start a book club. How fortunate we are to live where there is such an abundance of opportunities. Community gives us strength, connection and a feeling of belonging. Thank you for being part of my community.

Wishing you much health and happiness,

Kim

July 20th

Organic Thoughts: Garbage! It always amazes me how much garbage we create. I now appreciate my Mother's habits of reusing containers, tinfoil, bags and such. As a child I remember thinking, well, how ridiculous. It turns out that in general our society seems to agree with my childhood thoughts. We create incredible amounts of garbage then fight to avoid having a garbage dump in our own backyard. Object permanence is a concept that all children develop but apparently as adults we can ignore that all that garbage has to go somewhere.

So for my part I am interested in reusing packaging as much as sanitarily possible (Ziploc bags washed with soap and turned inside out last for many uses). The salad mix and greens that we have to bag are one of my packaging concerns. If you have any suggestions on an alternative I would be thrilled.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when you buy something and there is an excessive amount of packaging, you know the big box with the tiny item. I appreciate the retail challenges presented by small objects and people's perception that it should be bigger if it costs that much. But who ends up paying for all that packaging going to the dump? You do, of course, as your taxes are used to support garbage disposal. I really wonder if it shouldn't be part of the responsibility of the company who produces it! I know one person who mailed back all the postage paid envelopes with all the extra flyers, etc. that came with the mail. What would happen if customers took the packaging back to the store and said that the company could have it back, thank you!

As always when I get disturbed with the general state of affairs I know that it all comes down to me. The choices I make and what I can do to make a difference.

These are merely my personal opinions and I welcome any other views or suggestions.

Wishing you much health and happiness,

Kim

July 12th

Weeds! High priority in my life right now. They are in themselves just a part of nature and, given bare ground, nature quickly takes care of that problem. In a natural setting do you ever see bare ground? The lesson is that ground is not meant to be bare (unless it is where nothing will grow i.e., desert) A definition of a weed is any plant that is not where you want it to be. When I worked at the hospital I had an ancient (over 90) farmer tell me that he was told to go out and weed the corn when he was a boy. When he asked his father what weeds to pull, he replied, "even a rose is a weed in a corn field". So it is a matter of perspective what is weedy!

During numerous hours out communing with my weeds I have come up with a number of reasons to appreciate your weeds.

* they make great mulch (only before they flower)

* lots of beneficial insects need the weeds to feed on

* they have beautiful flowers

* they keep the soil from getting scorched, dried up and blowing away

* the chickens love them and just imagine all the good stuff in the eggs

* they are good indicators of what is going on in the soil (pig weed - lots of nitrogen, thistle - compacted soil )

* many are extraordinarily nutritious (more nutrient dense then many of the plants that we grow on purpose), for example:

Dandelion (leaves, roots, flowers) contain vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E, what that means is it cleanses the bloodstream, liver and increases the production of bile. It is diuretic, reduces serum cholesterol and uric acid (gout). Improves functioning of kidneys, pancreas, spleen and stomach. (Leaves are tasty in salads in spring and fall)

Plantain (leaves), contain glycosides, minerals, mucilage, tannins. Soothing to the lungs and urinary tract, it has a healing, antibiotic effect used topically for sores and wounds. Poultice for bee stings and other bites. (Young leaves are tasty in salads)

Source: Prescription for Nutritional Healing, James F. Balch, M.D., Phyllis A Balch, C.N.C.

So that is just two of probably 10 weeds that I see every day. Amazing that they are all around us and most of the time we are just trying to figure out how to get rid of them!

Here's to eating weeds!

All the best,

Kim