A little intro to Permaculture ~ Mariella

Permaculture is a big word. And I never quite understood what it meant. In all honesty I’m still in the process of understanding its meaning! But this is what I have gathered thus far:

It has to do with more than just gardening; Permaculture is a philosophy of working WITH rather than against nature, of thoughtful observation rather than thoughtless action, of looking at systems in all their functions rather than only one facet or possible outcome. In other words, it is the implementing of an entire system that works for you, considering everything so that in the end the thing you’ve created works for itself! 

This is a universal need. 

And this is where the concept of sustainability comes in, if the system that you have designed for your garden or your business or your lifestyle requires a disproportionate amount of input and resources, and creates a lot of waste, then it’s not sustainable over the long term. 

I’m going to be chatting about Permaculture a bit over the next few weeks as it’s something that I’d like to learn more about, but I promise that I’ll try not to bore you! I’d like to intro with Permaculture Ethics or principles:

Care for the Earth – All things, animate or inanimate, have an intrinsic worth and shouldn't be overlooked.

Care for people – Through self-reliance and community responsibility we care for ourselves and our fellow human beings.

Give away surplus – This fulfills the above. It’s plain to see in a garden situation, when food is ready to eat, it’s really ready! Everything ripens at once and this harvest needs to be shared. When we have too much of something in the garden for our family to eat, we give some to my husband’s parents and his brother's family. This perpetuates a habit where they also do the same, and we receive yummy gifts from time to time from a crop that we were not growing ourselves. 

This can apply to more than just gardening. If you’re building and there is material left over, swop it out or gift it, you’ll see the turn around when things come back to you. Trust the process.

In today’s current system, everything has one or two uses and then it ends up as landfill, this is called a linear system, as the resource makes a straight line for the dump! Sustainable systems are circular. The used item gains further use or ends up back at the source, where it can be naturally recycled and help make new things grow. Not a drop of energy is wasted and in such a system, where every little thing is cared for and considered, excess of resources is the natural result and the surplus can go toward care for the earth and people again!

It’s a system which focuses on humanity grounded in the same functions that make the planet a place which sustains life opposed to one slowly becoming inhospitable because of exploitation. Take some time today and think about the systems you have in place in your life and if they work for you as they are. Like, does it make sense to throw the compostable off cuts from cooking in the trash just to buy compost from the nursery when you want to work in the garden over the weekend? Have a good think, and I’ll be covering some ways to implement Permaculture in your home soon! 

How we chose our new cell phones ~ Mariella

How do you choose a cellphone? Contract, durability, service provider, design, colour? These reasons alone may be a strain on your brain!

There are as many studies showing that cellphones lead to brain tumours as there are studies which show that they are harmless, so this leaves us pretty much in the position of guinea pig! We are taking part in the largest (+5.981 billion subscriptions worldwide) bio-dynamic experiment in history, exposing ourselves, our children, our environment to a constantly buzzing web of electromagnetic signals. Are you excited yet?

There is much debate about the disruption and massive reduction in numbers of bee colonies and radiation from phones and other electronic devices.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/are-mobile-phones-wiping-out-our-bees-444768.html

In October last year an Italian court ruled that a businessman developed a benign brain tumour as a result of being on cell phone for hours on end and deserves worker’s compensation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified mobile phone radiation on the IARC scale into ‘Group 2B - possibly carcinogenic. Deeming it necessary to conduct further tests.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57536355/italian-court-rules-mans-tumor-caused-by-mobile-phone/ 

The most obvious cause for concern is that, the longer you chat on your phone, the warmer your head feels. This is due to dielectric heating, an effect of microwave radiation. Dielectric material/living tissue is heated by rotations of polar molecules induced by an electromagnetic field. When on your phone, most of the heating effect will occur at the surface of the head by your ear, causing its temperature to increase. The body will increase blood flow to that area to reduce heat but the cornea of the eye can’t heat regulate. Even though no tests show increase in cataract due to microwave radiation exposure from cell phones, I don’t find this information too encouraging!

Baring all this in mind, our contracts expired recently and we embarked on an info seeking spree. The manufacturers of the phones I was interested in did not seem to have answers regarding the radiation levels of their products so we had to glean info from independent sites, comparing data to try to filter bogus information!

These are the sites that we found informative:  

http://sarshield.com/radiation-chart/

http://sarvalues.com/what-is-sar-and-what-is-all-the-fuss-about/

http://www.emfexplained.info/

http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-6602_7-291-2.html

 

Cell phone radiation levels have a SAR rating which stands for Specific Absorption Rate, which is the unit of measurement for the amount of RF energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone. The lower it is, the better off you are. Simple!

Tips for basic phone survival:

   - Distance makes the brain last longer. Many cell phone manuals actually recommend keeping your mobile phone at least 10 mm away from your ear at all times. Consider talking on speaker or a hands-free device. Experts cannot agree on whether a wireless or wired version is better, but as they all emit low level radiation, it’s best to take it off your ear when you’re not on a call.

  - No conclusive tests have been done on the lasting effects of radiation on kids, but most authorities recommend limited use. My kids speak on speaker for a minute or less, no exceptions. I’m not waiting around for the results! They also don't play games on phones without switching to flight mode.

- - SMSing is your friend. Phones emit less radiation when texting and it keeps the radiation away from your head!

- - Research shows that calling and receiving calls when the signal is strong dramatically  reduces exposure to radiation as the phone doesn’t have to try so hard to broadcast its signal to the nearest tower.

-          

 - Dial with your phone on speaker as this is when the radiation levels go up.

 - Remember to change hands during phone calls.

     

   It's a mine field of information out there, but after quite a long search we chose what we felt was right for us, even though we originally had something else in mind! This is important stuff, but just how important, only our children will be able to know for sure.

Keeping healthy with Sprouts! ~ Mariella

A while ago, the lady who helps me out once a week told me her son was ill and the doctor informed them that he had an unhealthy diet. Together we embarked on exploring ways to fix the situation on a low budget. 

She explained to me that they ate almost no raw food, with the exception of the occasional apple and I felt that this was a good place to start. We worked on it for a while and her son’s health quickly improved, and the secret ingredient was sprouts!

Sprouts are packed full of vitamins, minerals, proteins and enzymes which can be easily assimilated and digested. They also aid digestion. Think about it, this little green sprout has everything required to create a large plant, it’s just bursting with the energy to grow. It takes a few minutes a day to maintain and can produce much of your daily nutritional requirements.  

Sprouts allow for quick salads,  just throw them all in a bowl, add olive oil and lemon juice and serve! And as far as super foods go, you don’t get it cheaper.

There are many sprouting trays on the market, but I use a glass jar with netting held over the opening with an elastic band. 

Fill one quarter of the jar with your choice of sprout, soak overnight in a dark place, like the cupboard, and allow to drain in the drying rack before you leave for work. 

Rinse once a day until ready. 

Its best to leave them until the root is about 1 cm long at least, but a good way to know if they are ready is to taste one. 

If it still tastes a little starchy, leave for another day or so.

See your sprouts as a micro organic garden on your kitchen counter. It takes up no space and offers so much. I like to use alfalfa, fenugreek, lentils, Mung beans.

Each sprout offers something different:

Legumes – Protein and starch.

Mung beans - vitamins A, C, and B complex.

Most Seeds – phosphorous.

Sunflower seeds - vitamins B and D and all the essential amino acids.

Sesame seeds - calcium, iron, phosphorous, niacin, and protein.

Alfalfa (otherwise known as Lucerne!) - chlorophyll, vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E, G. K, iron, calcium, phosphorous, and sulphur.

Wheat grass (sprouted in trays, have as juice or sliced in salad) - Vitamins C, E, B complex, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, protein, enzymes, chlorophyll.

Buckwheat - lecithin and rutin.

They are also fantastic to take on long hikes as they weigh nothing and will ensure that you get your raw foods in long after all the usual fare has dried out or gone off. 

Sprouting makes my life easier and breathes freshness into my salads and believe me, including sprouts into your diet makes eating raw much easier to achieve! 

Practicing Gratitude ~ Mariella

My goodness, this was an eventful weekend. With two minor injuries in the family, both requiring urgent medical attention, and car damage, unrelated, it has been challenging to keep my sense of humour! 

Today I woke up like the weather; cloudy, heavy and grey. It took going out in the late afternoon drizzle to ‘go pick tomatoes’... 

(See http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/05/ultimate-stress-management.html)

...to gain some objectivity on the matter. And I came to the conclusion that one area of my life is lacking attention and that is dedicated intent-full me time! 

I have found that one of the practices most effective in times of trouble is the practice of gratitude. As a means of delving into one another’s days, my family have cultivated the habit of performing a little ritual in the evenings during dinner. It goes like this:

Everyone gets a turn to say:  What they are grateful for today.  

                                         What they found challenging today. 

                                         What they are excited about today.  

That way it ends off on a high note and I, as a parent have the added opportunity to hear about issues at school that my children may not have thought to tell me about. The most important part is to highlight the positive events in the day and to feel real gratitude for them. 

After my trip around the garden with my little basket of tomatoes and herbs I have decided to crank the gratitude thing up a notch by getting myself a lightweight little Gratitude Diary, it will live in my bag and as I see things that reaffirm my faith in this magical life, I’ll whip out my diary and commit them to paper. That way, my arsenal against down days can build. I recall telling someone last week, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’. Well here we go…..

What we fed the soil to get Today's Harvest ~ Mariella

This is our harvest for today! Granted we were away for a few days! But still! I’m quite excited! It serves as confirmation that hard work over time pays off, and reminded me to not feel discouraged when the birds total the tomatoes or the caterpillars consume the basil. 

When we started our garden on this hill of Fynbos exposed to harsh salty weather coming off the sea, the soil was tired and acid, and my husband worked hard to enrich the soil. 

Here’s a list of what we used and why:

-Dolomitic lime: Lime is produced from limestone, mined, crushed and processed into a granular form used to neutralize acidity in the soil, provides an inexpensive source of calcium and magnesium, improves microbial activity, improves nitrogen availability, promotes root growth, increases soil structure and increases rates of air and water infiltration.

-Manure: Organic Matter used to fertilize the soil and add nutrients such as nitrogen.

-Horse manure: We filled the bakkie with loads full of horse manure which was then allowed to compost for a couple of months before use. It’s an incredible fertilizer.

-Green Manure: Any garden clippings or crop leftovers like stalks and leaves. They help to nitrogen fix, and add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. The green manure principle started as a natural consequence of crop rotating, the bits left over in the fields after harvest are churned into the ground and allow the soil to recover.

-Compost: Anything organic from the garden and kitchen. Try to avoid throwing any cooked food it as it attracts pests like rats. If you have a compost heap in the back of your garden, you can throw any kitchen scraps in it but if you have a compost bin filled with worms, there is a list of foods that cannot be thrown in, like pineapple, onions and garlic.

- Bounce back pellets: An effective easy to use organic fertilizer based mostly on Chicken manure.

-Comfrey Tea: Comfrey is every gardener’s best friend, it’s prolific and a great source of nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, potassium, fruiting vegetable love it! Fill a bucket with leaves and weight them down with something heavy like a brick, put a lid on the bucket to keep the flies out and allow to compost for about 3 weeks. It comes out foul smelling and dark and your plants will thank you. Dilute by at least 50% and spray on leaves to suppress foliar diseases, increase the amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speed up the breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavour of vegetables.

- Bone meal: A mixture of finely and coarsely ground animal bones and slaughter-house waste products used as an organic fertilizer for plants It’s a slow-release fertilizer and very good as a source of phosphorus.

We have been working on the garden for about two years and the benefits are starting to show. There’s always lots to do but there’s always lots to harvest! 

Coconut and Strawberry Ice-cream with Chocolate sauce - Dairy and sugar free! ~ Mariella

So, now you have delicious frozen homemade coconut milk in an ice tray in the freezer.

(see http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-make-your-own-coconut-milk-at.html) 

But what can you do with it? You can use it as a substitute for cream in any dish from pasta to Thai curry and it’s great in smoothies and baked desserts. This is what I did with mine this week and my kids are bugging me to make more!

I tipped out one ice tray full of frozen coconut milk and added an equal amount of frozen organically grown strawberries which I bought during season from the 'Home Grown' stall at my food  market. Organic fruit is obviously first prize, but any frozen fruit will do, just remember to peel and cube it before you freeze it.

(see http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/our-first-market-day.html )

I then put it all through the Oscar and it looked like this:

Which, for all of it’s yumminess, doesn’t look all that appetizing, which is why I added a little Agave, then put it through the Oscar again.

I then made homemade chocolate 

(see http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/07/super-easy-healthy-snacks-on-move.html) 

and instead of refrigerating it, I poured it straight onto the Coconut and Strawberry ice-cream. It was such a hit, completely dairy and sugar free and quick to make!

  

How to make your own Coconut milk at home! ~ Mariella

As I am sure you are well aware, I’m nuts about coconuts! Coconut oil, fresh green coconuts, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut cream. There just one problem, all of the above are easy to find except for the coconut cream. Most tins have horrendous lists of stabilizers and additives. My favourite is sodium metabisulfite, which is an inorganic compound of chemicals, formula Na₂S₂O_5.

This chemical has been associated with broncho constriction, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, gastrointestinal disturbances, swelling of the skin, flushing, tingling sensations and shock. Direct contact of sodium metabisulfite with your eyes can cause irritation, pain, stinging, tearing, redness, swelling, corneal damage and blindness. 

Ingesting pure sodium metabisulfite irritates your gastrointestinal system as it reacts with acid in your stomach by releasing sulfurous acid. Ingesting high amounts can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, circulatory disturbance and central nervous system depression. A fatal dose is estimated to be 10 g for the average adult, that comes to approx two R2 coins!

Suffice to say, I’m not so into it! But I do like coconut milk, so I've devised a cunning plan! It’s so easy.

-Take desiccated coconut, pour it into a pot and add approximately double the amount of water.

-Let it boil for 5-10 min

-Remove from heat and allow to cool.

-Run through your Oscar, 

Which happens to be on Sale at Fresh Earth at the moment 

(http://www.freshearth.co.za/store/p-2179-oscar-juicer-da-900-chrome.aspx) 

or other food processor, using the juicing element and viola, you have coconut milk!

It doesn’t keep for longer than two days (which is probably why they load it so full of nasties!) so it’s best to make it on the day you intend to use it. You can also freeze it in an ice tray and add to curries or smoothies.

I did that and had a little left over, which I added to my smoothie.

Today’s smoothie:

-Homemade yoghurt 

(See post : http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-make-your-own-yoghurt.html)

-Homemade coconut milk

-1 white nectarine

-Agave/honey

-Tahini

-Macadamias

-Roasted desiccated coconut and goji berries to garnish

So yum and all before work this morning! It’s so easy and…… I’ll show you next week what I have in mind for the frozen coconut milk in the freezer....!

Grow your own! ~ Mariella

I picked these tomatoes in an open field close to my house.

They were growing wild. 

They taste great! 

And this got me thinking, 

if we threw seeds into every open plot, how much extra free food we would have and that got me thinking about the open space in our gardens, especially if you include the lawn! And that got me pondering the mass crop situation and how unnatural it is to grow just one crop for kilometers repeatedly in the same place year after year, and then I thought (all this thinking was very linear, as you can see!) about supply on demand and how we have the industrial era to thank for suburbia and now we have suburbia to thank for the protracted employment of mass crop farming.

 

If you look at these two images, they look rather similar and in fact, the one necessitates the other. The concentration of people in one space, not growing their own food, requires an unsustainably vast quantity of food grown in another place. 

This visibly explains that if we want an end to commercial farming we have to feed ourselves, we cannot demand a change but still go to the supermarket to buy groceries. What we need is something more like this…

We need to grow our own. 

If you don’t already have your own garden and don’t have a lot of space, then start with potted fruit and vegetables that are easy to manage. Most plants do well in pots provided they have enough space.

Check out this website for tips:

http://www.container-gardening-for-food.com/

Growing you own food ensure food that it is fresh and grown with love and it’s so empowering when those first little shoots start to show. Good plants to grow in temperate regions in South Africa in January are: Dwarf beans, climbing beans, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, endive, leeks, lettuce, marrow, spring onions, parsnip, potatoes, radish, silver-beet, sweet corn, turnips.

Pick one, find out what it likes and start from there! The time is now!    

Your number 1 energy saving asset! Mariella

The point of this blog is to ‘create a new understanding of health and sustainability through a combination of modern world creations and the reintroduction of some forgotten principles!’ And I think this post, as brief as it is, fits the criteria perfectly!

It’s one thing to know about an applicable bit of wisdom but I have found that until you are forced into a situation where you have to use that bit of what you already know, do you actually make the effort to apply it.

My daughter and her friends won the Young Designers Award at the Eskom Eta Ideas for Energy competition last year.

(See post http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-daughters-team-wins-eta-awards-young.html )

They won with a research project about energy savings and introduced the concept of the ‘hotbox’ to the judges. Now before your eyes glaze over with memories from your college days, I’m talking about the concept of taking an already cooking pot, and insulating it either in a blanket or a container made specially for that purpose, so that it passively cooks itself. I use a very large polystyrene box to make my yoghurt, it works like a charm. But because I use it to store all the yoghurt tubs and other goodies for my market stall during the week, I don’t ever use it to cook with. Last night I cooked a meal which required all of the elements on the stove plus one! I still had rice to cook and had no space for it. So my husband came up with the ingenious idea of seeing how the cooler box would work as a hotbox. It insulates, right?

So I let the rice boil on the stove for five minutes and then transferred it to the cooler box, dropped a blanket on top of it and closed the box. It cooked in the same amount of time but with a fraction of the gas! 

This is really important information! 

It should go viral! No matter what our socio-economical situation is, most of us have a cooler box, which sits redundantly in a corner until there’s a braai at someone’s house! This cooler box can become your number 1 energy saving asset. I’m being very serious about this! If everyone started using their cooler boxes tonight, 71% of South Africa’s domestic energy crisis would vanish overnight! And think of what you could do with the extra money in your pocket! Really super-duper-extra seriously, try it. 

This post applies to you!

Today is the day! 

Happy 2013! Mariella

It’s 2013! And I quite like the number 13. Perhaps because so many people do not! I traveled on the 13^th once, and suffice to say I had the entire back of the plane to myself!

2013 is, as my brother-in-law so eloquently said, ‘uncharted ground!’ Every year I start my year with a good read up on all the different philosophies and what they have to say. I see it as having a look at the map before the journey starts.

2013 is the year of the Water Snake according to Chinese astrology. It begins February 10^th. The snake, also known as the junior dragon, is an enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected creature. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a snake in the house is a good omen as it means that the family will not starve. In the year of the Water Snake, all things will be possible. Saving money and being thrifty should be on top of your list of priorities.

‘While the outside seems to be solid, the inside is empty.  Hence it is a year of conservation, a year of rebuilding and a year of changes’, this is what Paul Ng has to say about this year.

http://www.paulng.com/CMS/uploads/2013-geo.pdf

Numerologically speaking, 2013 adds up to the number 6, which apparently personifies the idea that we should love others as we love ourselves. This year there is focus on helping others less fortunate, and assessing how important material things are to us.

I have moon calendars in my shop made by a talented astrologer, Fiona Sim, from Cape Town. I find her calendar very sensitive and spot on! And I freely admit to consulting it on things like party dates. Full moon makes for a dance party, whereas if the moon will be waning, I make sure I have enough chairs! For example, the 1^st January 2013, the moon was in Virgo.

The calendar said ~ ‘Time to get organised, fix and finish things. The mood is useful and helpful. Enjoy health foods and stalls, crafts, detail work and planning.’ So if you found yourself organizing a little more than is healthy for a New Years day, that may have been why!  

I take these things with a pinch of salt, but I find it increasingly interesting how, in retrospect, there's a truth to them!

Happy 2013 everyone, may this year be blinded by how brightly you can shine!

Mayan Calendar and beyond / Mariella

So we are still here! The world didn’t end on Friday, Christmas came and went and I have to say that even though I didn’t expect to meet my maker last week, a part of me did wonder if there would be some kind of manifestation of lack of Mayan calendar! A bigger swell than usual perhaps or a global hiccup…mass awakening maybe! Am I a little disappointed? Well let’s say that I bought my 2013 Moleskin with a little more fervor than usual. 

And I have nothing planned for New Year!

If there’s no automated rise in consciousness planned anytime soon, perhaps it’s time to manifest my own. I think that on a subconscious level I had my eye in 12/21/12 and now I have my eye on me! There is a growing movement toward looking to our forefathers for a way forward. We look to the Native American Indian prophecies such as the Rainbow Warrior story:

Some time in the future, the Indians said, the animals would begin to disappear. People would no longer see the wolf, or the bear, or the eagles. And, the story goes, the giant trees would also disappear. And people would fight and no longer love one another. And the beautiful rainbow in the sky would fade away; people would not see the rainbow anymore.

Then children would be born into the world. And these children would love the animals, and they would bring them back. They would love trees, and they would bring them back too. And these children would love others and they would bring peace to the world. And these children would love the rainbow, and they would bring back the beautiful rainbow in the sky. For this reason the Indians called these children the rainbow warriors.

http://2012rising.com/article/the-new-children-prophecies-of-the-rainbow-warriors

http://www.manataka.org/page235.html

We look to calendars, ancient texts, documents channeled from the infinitely wise for some guidance on this un-signposted path we tread. And sometimes we find the wisdom we seek and sometimes it sheds a little light on our cloudy road, but you know when someone else is holding the torch for you at night down a winding path to your car? You can see, but the light is always a little off center. And it’s irritating because you’d really rather be the one holding the light! You’re thinking that what you need is a light that comes from you! These incredible sources of valuable insight can only inform us on direction finding, in the end, the path is ours to walk. And if I am the one shining, then that light is perfectly positioned for me! So today I choose to cultivate a brighter light to find my way by, a light so bright that I can see the fork up ahead, or a shear drop! I don’t really see this as a post-Armageddon resolution, there’s another end of the world coming in March anyway! I see this as a renewed perspective on a methodology I already try to employ and I’m excited by it! 

Check out this truly inspired song by a very talented musician, Matisyahu, I will be light!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mbHr5wOKG4 

Why I'm keeping it Local this Holiday / Mariella

I have decided that I’m ready to take the Pledge! This holiday I am only buying local! I’m buying gifts and goodies from Locally owned businesses only! And even though the reasons are obvious, it still helps to bring them to mind in a conscious way and think about them when shopping.

Why it’s a good idea to buy locally designed products:

-South Africa is full of amazingly creative artisans, craftsmen and women, manufacturers, designers. There really is no need to look elsewhere.

- Locally owned businesses tend to take greater care with whom they employ, resulting in better customer care.

-You keep the carbon footprint of your festive season to a minimum, just think about the amount of trash in your bin on boxing day, and how many trashy plastic toys get thrown away in that first week. Now times that by the block and then by the neighborhood and so on….it’s scary stuff!

-  Buying local boosts local economy.

- It increases job availability in your area which in turn puts more money back into local economy which in turn boosts job availability!

- Support of one’s creative endeavors is a powerful incentive to keep creating and if people are supported in what they love to do, it makes the world a much happier place.

- It cultivates unique local identity

- It ensures growing quality instead of decreasing quality of product as a marketplace of many small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.  A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

Reasons to supporting local food:

-The produce is fresh and bursting with vitamins,

- It creates relationship between buyers and producers, if you want to know something about the product, ask the farmer, he's standing in front of you!

- You get more for less!

- If it's organically grown it safeguards the environment and protects biodiversity.

- It preserves open space as farmers trading directly to the public make more per metre and are less prone to selling out to developers.

- It cultivates home industry and entrepreneurship.

- It's a place where community meets and grows; a place unique to the character of the town and the people in it. It fosters a direct link to the food we eat and to the land and seasons.

And if you are giving presents this festive season, why not:

- Use news paper instead of wrapping paper and get creative with potato printing.

- Make what you can, especially if you are budgeting a small amount per person and there’s a long list! Chances are you’ll get more for your money by making something at home.

For those of us who like to give gifts at Christmas time, it’s good to keep the spirit of giving in mind; it’s about the love, not the amount of zeros and small prices can go hand in hand with small environmental impact, just think local! Now is the time!

Spring in my garden / Mariella

Contrary to popular belief it is now Spring in Plettenberg Bay. Our season’s are different here, warm time is from December to June. If you expect a week of warm days at a time before that, you may be disappointed! I see it in our garden. 

We planted like possessed farmers in August/September and all those sweet new baby shoots struggled to get out of their beds, like chilled children on a winter’s morning, while mom screams from the door,’ Get up now, it’s time for school!’

But now with a relatively dependable sun baking down on them from 5:00 am to 7:30 pm they are pushing fast toward the sky. It’s a reassuring sight to see! Everything is bright new green and hiding within the protective covering of so many leaves, are small green fruits and flowers of all kinds, carrying infinite possibilities!

   

And we have many different types of tomatoes coming up! Names like Chocolate cherry,Yellow Pear, Yellow stuffer, Mortgage lifter, Ananas Noir, Cuban black,Purple cherry, Ukrainian purple, Pineapple,Brandy wine, Golden princess, Green zebra, wild cherry tomatoes, and some strange unknown variety that look happy!

We use what is called a cold frame to plant some of our seeds in instead of in seedling trays. A cold frame is simply a wooden frame sectioning off an area in your bed. It has another frame the same size over it with a hinge that is used as a door to regulate heat and cold. We cover it with clear plastic in winter to keep it warm, and shade cloth in summer to keep it cool and retain moisture. This is where our little babies live and get transplanted from.

it keeps bugs out and makes sure that no unforeseen elements trash all of our hard work! I'll post some photos as things grow and progress. Spring is here and my garden is a busy place to be! 

Little nutrition tricks I've learnt / By Mariella

Little tricks, we all have them. Things we've learnt along the way that we now take for granted, things that have possibly yet to occur to others. It’s good to share these things, grow the trick pool a little. 

This is a little list of nutrition tricks and bits of info I have acquired along the way. This is not a complete list! I’ll add to it periodically, as I remember things!

-Coconut oil, when eaten, is a natural sunblock. I haven’t researched this and haven’t found it in the research I have read regarding coconut oil, I found out accidentally. We went hiking for a few days and I took coconut oil along as a superfood snack. I ate about 4 tablespoons of it a day, maybe more. We do this hike every year, and every year I burn, this year everyone else burnt and I didn't  except on the last day, when my coconut oil ran out! Also, i use it on my face instead of moisturizer and I've noticed a difference. And it's great to put on after you been in the sun, but not before! I use two different oils, one made by Quinns, which is deflavoured for everyday use, and one by Crede, which is super flavourful and yummy, check out the Crede Oil on the Fresh Earth Website. 

http://www.freshearth.co.za/store/p-2974-crede-coconut-oil-500ml.aspx

-Chocolate craving is indicative of iron deficiency; this does shed light on the cravings that happen at a certain time of the month. Incidentally, the more carbs we eat when we are PMSing, the worse the symptoms become. 

  

-Grinding your teeth is indicative of Magnesium deficiency, I find that if I take 1500 mg a day, I stop grinding and the benefits ripple over into things like being about to wake up earlier in the morning, clearer thinking, no cramps.

-Dehydration results in: Fuzzy eyesight, extrasystoles (when your heart skips a beat and then makes up of it with a double beat, usually at night), swollen hands and feet, sleepiness, loss of concentration and short term memory, back pain, craving something sweet, feeling hungry all the time.

-My body can handle a certain amount of mucus forming foods before reacting. Now that i don't eat carbs or sugar, my tolerance of Dairy has sky rocketed. This is the first year that I've eaten it throughout winter without so much as a sniffle!

-I read once that Chillies are so good for you that your body releases endorphins as a reward so that you'll eat more! Chillies are also great for your immune system.

Ok that's it so far, a little shared insight. I find that if I make sure I have at least 1l water before i leave the house and don't forget my Magnesium, I'm good to go. Find the little tricks that work for you and share them with others. A little wisdom goes a long way!