I am ever increasingly amazed at how something that feels like you are the only one in it evolves as you concentrate on it. For instance, you know when you buy a new car and you think it is pretty unique, and then all of a sudden you see a dozen of the same car in the same day? Or your sitting around wishing for something to cross your path that you don't think is possible and boom it shows up at your door??

Some call that luck, or Karma. I don't believe in luck or coincidence. I do believe in Karma, but I have to think it is more than that. I think it is devine intervention. Let me explain...

Quite a few years ago I did a Sunday market in Portland Oregon under the Fremont bridge for a very short period of time in the summer. It did not go for long and we all parted ways no richer or poorer than when we started. While I was there however, I met some incredible people. One of whom was a woman named Stacie Cohen, she and her then partner were doing Raw cuisine and had some amazing dishes that really reflected the real thing. I was impress and intrigued, but never really acted on it. I was an avid juicer, but had not known much about raw foods. Stacie moved away and I more less forgot all about it. I have always been about whole Organic foods, but raw food was a mystery to me.

In 2007 after I had healed form breast cancer, I began looking at my diet and health differently but did not know how to take action. I sat and wished for an answer. I began studying (as I tend to do) raw foods, books, videos, and online. I started learning about our food supply, Monsanto and where our food really comes from. As this information showed up, I realized I was being led into this journey by a force much bigger than myself. I knew it was what I needed. I was motivated to change, to grow as much of my own food as possible and be responsible for what I was eating. In this process I came across several websites devoted to the raw food lifestyle and one in particular who presistantly wrote me notes and emails daily. I thought to myself, " Please stop sending me all this junk!, I bet if I wrote back there would be no response or I would get some canned response from a computer or something". I was so wrong! To my surprise the woman who owned the sight immediately responded as if she was sitting right there waiting for me to write. WOW! I began to pay attention to the emails and read what was being written. Learning and growing the whole time, getting closer to a raw diet and lifestyle.(Because it is,...A lifestyle you know, Not just a diet)It is a mental change you make, to be affective in your life, in your health. Taking charge of your food supply and your healing.

Then I got word of what they called a "RAW MOM Summit". It was an interesting concept. They had speakers on conference calls answering questions that applied to moms raising kids and trying to live raw. Wow! I thought! this is great!! Little did I know I would have an epiphany and it would change my whole life!! Now, I had a mission, a goal, and the support I needed. I found out that I was for the most part already about 80% raw in my diet already, and...it was okay to be wherever I was on my journey, right here right now.

So the message I want to share with you now is just that, do the best you can with what you have in this moment right now. Tomorrow, do one thing better. Don't think that making dietary changes has to be difficult or painful in order to acheive it. It is okay to take baby steps to get there. Each week change one thing, find a recipe that mimics your favorite dish and make that 3 times in a week. Slowly add a new recipe each week and try to change one habit. You will get there before you even know it. If you have to take suppliments to get your body in balance. As your body comes back into alignment and good health, you will lose your cravings for sugar and fat. The fodds that bind you will not be so difficult to give up. As you begin to feel better, you will be motivated to want to move your body and soon you will be on your way to a healthier, happier you!

Many blessings Friends!

Namaste'

What is “Homesteading?” It used to refer to rural living. Settling on land. But the new generations of homesteaders are all about sustainable living and self –sufficiency wherever you live.

Eating and shopping local, using less energy, living a practical life. Slow food nation, embracing community, improving the quality of life for you and your family. Making choices that benefit the environment and being good stewards of the earth.

 Many people are returning to the victory garden. CSA’s (community supported agriculture) are becoming more popular. Farmer’s markets are in fashion. Artisans are returning to craft. People are raising backyard livestock and taking control of their food supply. More people are commuting by carpool, bicycle and mass transit. There is a new movement toward the “staycation” this is where a family may stay home and makes their vacation right in town or in their own back yard. Staying closer to home rather than expensive travel.

 Many are learning how to card wool and spin yarn. Knitting circles have become popular again. Crafts such as making your own soaps and household cleaners, saving money, saving the planet and saving space in your cupboards.

Storing and canning foods. Dehydrating leftover harvest such as fruits. Planning meals ahead of time. Making fewer trips to the store. Mapping out your trips.

Yes, much of this began to really pick up as our gas prices hit $4.50 a gallon and the nation woke up to the reality of a possible peak oil crisis, for a minute. But just as before when prices dropped back down, a sigh of relief and back to the drive.

But I think we have come to a pivotal point where we can no longer deny that our planet has changed and that we are rapidly depleting our natural resources. A time when we look up and say our food supply has gone through many changes and recent recalls on spinach, tomatoes and peppers, where a salmonella outbreak of unknown origin surfaced. What many in the nation did not seem to know is that salmonella is not a naturally occurring bacteria in vegetables. Have we really become that far removed from our food source that this is not common knowledge? The bacteria that infected these foods came, probably from manure of cows that had not been properly composted.(the manure, not the cows) These vegetables were labeled “organic”. Now you have to ask yourself, how are some of these companies, who traditionally are Non-organic, grow one field organic, and one next to it in traditional style of using pesticides and such. Doesn’t the wind carry those chemicals over? Doesn’t the soil leach the chemicals into the ground or into the water?

Do they use the same GMO seeds that grow the non- organic vegetables? Or are you telling me they use organically harvested seeds or heirloom seeds next to their field of GMO’s? Think about it.

Wouldn’t the wind, and bees and butterflies carry the pollen of one crop to the other? How is this truly organic?

The truth is, you don’t know where your food comes from or what its history is unless you grow it yourself or have seen the operation of the farm it comes from first hand.

And remarkably enough, you may be surprised at some of the bills that show up in congress to try and stop people from having a backyard garden, or storing too much food, or trying to make sure everyone uses, Government “approved seeds” that are disease resistant when they grow. Not that these have passed. But they are out there and on their way. There was a gentleman who started a sustainable village maybe 10 years back out in the desert. He builds an entire community off the grid. No public power, water, or sewage. The government had a fit! He spent 7 years fighting congress to make his sustainable community legal. They forced him to subdivide, add sewage, and bring in electricity. All he wanted was to be completely self sufficient on land that HE owned. But they would not let him. You hear people talk about a conspiracy theory. You think to your self, “oh those crazies” because it seems so far fetched you can barely wrap your mind around it. But let me tell you people, they are out there and it is no joke. Already we have huge corporations like Monsanto who manufacture the world’s largest amount of GMO’s in the way of seeds and fertilizers. They have spent the last few years developing a perfect pig for which they want a patent on the genes. They have supposedly dropped the movement to do so due to public outrage. But interestingly enough now, there is a bill sweeping the nation requiring all to register their livestock, which includes backyard chickens, rabbits, and goats. Now where do you think this project will lead? This is supposedly to track all animals so if illness breaks out they know where it came from… But if you are growing your own food and not sharing with the public, is this really necessary. A large dairy operation, maybe, but backyard poultry? Come on. But, yes this is the reality. The law has already been put into effect in some counties.

All I can tell you they will have a heck of a time with Portland Oregon. The statistic I just saw said Portland was #1 in the nation for urban chicken keeping.

 The world is only getting larger in population, but shrinking in space. The more people we try to spread out and feed the more likely our food supply can become contaminated. We become an easy target for terrorism if we are not buying locally.  More and more now day’s people are becoming savvy to urban farming, permaculture, vermiculture, composting, and making choices that will renew our planet not destroy it.

 If you are a gardener, I want to encourage you to share your garden space and knowledge with a friend or neighbor who maybe does not have garden space of his/her own or who knows little about gardening. Building a friendship in the garden builds a strong community. Teach your children how to grow food and prepare food. It make a wonderful opportunity for them to learn and flourish as young citizens. It will build their confidence and teach them to respect the earth.

 “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

It is the first of July! My garden has grown, the coop is built, the kids are out of school. Now What?

Well, this week I had the joy of listening in on the "Raw Mom Summit". has anyone heard of this. this was for the first time a gathering , on line , of the worlds most renown raw foodist and herbal Moms. it was incredible! I learned so much. You know how you think you know a subject pretty well, and then you take a class and realize, you barely knew it at all. That's me. I have been studying raw food for a while. I was introduced to it by my friend Stacie Cohen a few years back when she lived in Portland. She made the most amazing dishes that tasted so much like the cooked versions. I read a little, but simply did not know what I was doing. As the years went by and the "movement" (if you care to call it that) grew. I had no idea that in Canada and Australia, people were already raw fooding for 15, 20, 30 years or more! Over the last six months or so, I have been feeling a strong urge toward raw, as my kidneys are functioning low and I need a low protein diet. The more I researched the more I realized raw food is where I need to be. This week I am purchasing my food processor, so I can begin to make some awsome recipes and go beyond the fresh fruit, veggie salad, smoothie stage. I will certainly share my recipes with you as I go.

I am not certain how this raw food thing will mingle with the chicken raising, but well see.......

Wishing you all a happy and safe 4th!

As the days of winter grow longer I can feel the anxious twinge in my belly of wanting to get out and dig in the dirt! Now, I know Punksotony Phil saw his shadow today, but, ....Whatever! I don't even know how that could mean anything, it is a weird tradition. I say, spring is coming! and I am going to be there to greet it! yeah!

This year we live on a property that does not belong to us, so I am doing most of my plants in pots. There is something quite nurturing about putting my hands in the soil and sifting through it as I ready my place where my vegetable will call home. I have invited a number of friends to participate in my gardening adventure with me as we have more than adequate space this year and a number of fruit trees to maintain. I have been researching urban chickens and we are readily planning where our chicken coop will go. I don't know that I will have the heart to eat the eggs, but I can always share them with friends. My tendancy these days it to be as raw as possible. Living foods are a great study. There is so much to know and so many recipe. I just stick to the easy stuff right now. Salad. chopped veggies, fresh and dried fruit and raw nuts. Works for me. I have one of those lovely dehydrators sitting on my counter, but, unfortunately it is a decoration for the time being.

I have discovered this wonderful seed catalog that does only traded heirloom seeds. Weird things I have never seen or heard of. I am anxious to try my hand at creative gardening! I had to leave so much behind when we moved. This will be a real treat.

Never forget to honor those gifts of which you are given, you never know when they may go away.

Happy almost spring!

Tea. A brewed beverage loaded with antioxidants, flavor and variety. Did you know that all true teas come from the same plant? Yes. it's true. All teas weather black, green, or white are from the Camellia plant. Different stages in picking, preparation, and fermentation determine the variety. Red Tea or Rooibos, come from an herb. Similar to honeybush Red teas are really not teas at all. There are a decaffeinate drink. Many people love the Mate' teas. These also come from a different plant and are specially prepared. Here's a fact you may be surprised at. Tea contains a large amount of caffeine. If you wish to decaffeinate your tea, all one needs to do is rinse your tea, brew it once, strain, and brew again. Then enjoy your second cup. The caffeine content will not be eliminated but it will be greatly decreased. Just like in all decaffeinated beverages, there are still trace amounts of caffeine.

Then there are tisanes. these are herbal teas we blend with no real teas and naturally contain no caffeine. Delicious as a beverage. Invaluable as a medicine. and soothing in the bath! If you have never drank tea before, and are a big coffee drinker, try a root tea as a coffee replacement. It will boost your health and fight the craving for all that caffeine.

We carry many teas and are always blending new flavors for you to try. This months featured tea is our tummy mint tea. Loaded with vitamin C from chamomile/orange/and gingeroot. The soothing flavor of mint, relaxes you for bed and settles the belly.

Enjoy!