Blueberries are perennial flowering plants of the Ericaceous family known as Vaccinium Cyanococcus. The flower itself is typically bell shaped and can be white, pale pink, or red. The fruit is a deep velvety purple with a fleshy characteristic.

Blueberries are sweet and juicy and can be used in a wide variety of recipes from jams, sauces, and smoothies to cakes, baked goods, and other pastries. Aside from the tasty recipes that can come together using blueberries, they are medicinal in terms having antibacterial and antiviral qualities. This succulent fruit packs quite the nutritional punch with its panel of plant nutrients.

Potent Concentrations of Antioxidants

Did you know that blueberries contain high concentrations of antioxidants, which help your body fight free radicals that kill your cells and accelerate aging? In fact, consumption of this natural medicine may even help protect your heart and brain health. Blueberries possess the highest antioxidant capacity, bar none, when compared to other fruit, veggies, and spices according to the world’s healthiest foods website. Eat them raw and optimize your health by giving the body the nutrients it needs to combat free radicals that damage our cellular structures right down to the DNA.

In fact, according to Prevent Disease.com, 300 grams of blueberries puts up a strong fight against DNA damage to blood cells resulting from oxidative stress. Consuming blueberries on a regular basis may just help one bypass the rising risk of cardiovascular and other degenerative diseases.

Loaded With Phytochemical Anthocyanin

The phytochemical, anthocyanin, is present in substantial levels in blueberries and is responsible for its healing qualities involving inflammation reduction, blood pressure reduction, and the overall rise of health and longevity when consumed often. Due to the antioxidant properties of Anthocyanins, good vision can be maintained and even reserved by preventing or slowing down visual loss and other age related eye problems.

Rich in Other Vitamins and Antioxidants, Too

Anthocyanin is just one of the potent antioxidants found in blueberries. You will be surprised to learn that consuming blueberries will raise your levels of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, copper, phosphorous, selenium, zinc, and iron. These antioxidants make the blueberry the go to for a quick nutritious snack promoting health and wellbeing. The copper, for example, helps build immunity by fighting bacteria and it’s required for the production of red blood cells; the zinc and iron will raise hemoglobin and oxygen in the blood to strengthen immunity.

Excellent Nutrients for Brain Health

With all the antioxidants present in blueberries, neurological disorders can be prevented and healed as the degeneration neurons and brain cells are restored to health along with the central nervous system. Adequate intake of antioxidants such as those found in blueberries can benefit Alzheimer’s sufferers because they heal deteriorating brain cells and tissues. This can work toward keeping the memory focused and sharp.

Effective Nourishment for Heart Health

There are several factors that make blueberries terrific for heart health including the high fiber content along with the high level of antioxidants found in the fruit. These factors help blueberries dissolve bad cholesterol and strengthen cardiac muscles.

Works Toward Healthy Digestion

The fiber content in blueberries, if consumed by the handful, will help keep constipation at bay, while the vitamins, minerals, and acids help correct digestive difficulties. One such vitamin is the B-complex group with folates, pantothenic acid, niacin pyridoxine, riboflavin, and folic acid. Together these allow the body to metabolize carbs, protein, and fats, ultimately promoting healthy digestion.

Low in Calories

Stay trim snacking on blueberries, as they are quite low in calories. Just under a half a cup of blueberries is only 57 calories. This is a much more health conscious choice then a processed food snack or baked good which does not offer much in terms of nutrients.

Still Potent When Frozen

Studies have shown that there isn’t any damage to the antioxidant content when blueberries are frozen. When frozen for 36 months, researchers learned that the overall power of the antioxidant was not lost; this is fantastic news for those who may have difficulty getting their hands on fresh blueberries and typically buy them frozen.

Use certified organic ingredients to maximize flavors and nutrition while minimizing your risk of exposure to pesticides, chemicals, and preservatives. In the case of blueberries, it’s best to use the organic varieties as the conventional are high in pesticides according to the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie/ Frozen Ice

This recipe uses 1.5 cups of frozen blueberries, 1 frozen banana, ½ cup of Strauss Organic vanilla yogurt, 2 cups water and 1 cup of crushed ice. Combine ingredients in your blender to desired consistency, then enjoy a frozen treat that is packed with antioxidants and nutrients. This same recipe can be used to make blueberry banana frozen ice by pouring into ice cube tray and freezing.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

This recipe calls for 1 ¾ cups of flour. I like to use a combination of almond, amaranth, and quinoa flour in equal portions. This is then combined with ¼ cup of whole oats, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ cup coconut oil, 3 ripe bananas, 1/3 cup of coconut sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup of almond milk, a dash of vanilla extract ad 1 ½ cup of frozen blueberries.  Combine ingredients, bake for 30 minutes on 375.

Blueberry Flaxseed Pancakes

For this dish, combine 2 well beaten eggs with 1 cup of buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 stick of melted butter, 1 cup of your choice of gluten free flour such as brown rice flour and or quinoa and amaranth flour, ¼ cup of ground flax seeds, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/3 cup of honey, 2 cups of blueberries, 3 mashed up bananas and a nice pinch of cinnamon.

Blueberry Parfait

Layer your favorite oatmeal and yogurt with fresh or frozen blueberries. Top with hemp, chia, or sunflower seeds, drizzle with honey and dig in!

Blueberry Jam

Boil 3 cups of blueberries with some maple syrup. Mash the blueberries and boil down to your favorite texture, about 15 minutes. Stir often so that it does not stick. Once you have achieved your desired consistency, remove from heat, let cool, and add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. This can be spread on muffins, toast, tarts, cookies, and more.

Sources:

• Frozen Blueberries Is Even More Healthy, Study Says – Epoch Times
• 36 Foods That Help Detox and Cleanse Your Entire Body – eatlocalgrown.com
• Eat Blueberries and Strawberries Three Times Per Week – Harvard Health Publications
• Blueberries – Wikipedia
• Blueberries – Women Fitness
• Blueberries – Nutrition and You

(DrFrankLipman – Frank Lipman) In the last decade or so, hundreds if not thousands of farmers’ markets have opened their gates, creating a thriving alternative to industrially produced food and the impersonal food shopping experience. And while they haven’t totally replaced the supermarket, farmers’ markets are definitely taking a bite out of the industrial food business by offering an easy way to connect with beautiful, fresh, healthy food – and I couldn’t be more delighted.

With access to this healthy shopping option now easier than ever, here are four essential reasons why I believe farmers’ markets are fantastic for your body, mind, and spirit – and why everyone should support them.

1. Farmers’ Markets Are … Good for Your Body and the Earth

There’s a lot to like about food from the farmers’ market. For starters, it’s the farms themselves. Most are small, non-industrial, hands-on, often family-run or cooperative operations with close ties to their land. They tend to value and treat their land right, using low-impact, pesticide-free, sustainable farming methods, which are kinder and less poisonous to the soil and the food that’s grown in it. The result is produce that’s pretty close to organic, minus the official USDA certification.

When these nearly-organic foods arrive at the market, they’re fresh and unadulterated, not having been subjected to the preservative and ripening treatments used on much of the picked-too-early, trucked-in-from-2000-miles-away produce found at a typical supermarket. Even if you don’t count the smaller carbon food-print, you can’t ignore the fact that the stuff is fresh, having been picked at its nutritional peak, just a few hours before it’s in your hands – making farmers’ market produce among the healthiest you can buy.

2. Farmers’ Markets Are … an Excellent Way to Shed Extra Pounds

Granted it won’t happen overnight, but buying the majority of your produce, and when possible eggs, meats, and poultry, at the farmers’ market will help you drop weight. How? Simply by preventing you from buying cartfuls of health-sucking, weight-boosting processed crap. You’ll be choosing from whole, healthy, unprocessed foods – virtually nothing in a box, bag, or can.

You won’t fill your car with a trunk-load of added sugars, sodium, chemicals, or preservatives, thoughtfully wrapped in endocrine-disrupting plastic packaging. You’ll be buying and eating clean, nutrient-packed foods, and eliminating a vast majority of the processed food ingredients that have been keeping you fat and sick.

3. Farmers’ Markets Are … an Uplifting Sensory Experience, Not a Depressing Chore

For most of us, a trip to the supermarket is anything but enjoyable; it’s just one more mind-numbing chore on our never-ending to-do lists. A visit to the farmers’ market, however, is an event – and an experience that engages the senses. There are vivid colors to excite the eye, produce to sniff and squeeze for freshness, and at some markets, on-site musicians adding a live soundtrack to the festivities.

There are the wonderful aromas of produce, freshly-picked, presented in the raw, or handmade, baked, churned, cured, or fermented into wonderful, healthful treats for your table, many of which you can ask to sample before you buy. How many supermarkets provide this kind of an experience – and do it all outdoors, no less?

Farmers’ markets deliver not only the freshest, most earth-friendly and nutrient-dense options in town, they also connect us with the simple, pleasures of discovering, tasting, touching and smelling whole, real foods in an atmosphere that’s inviting and exhilarating, not dreary or exhausting.

4. Farmers’ Markets Are … Good-for-the-Soul Social Events

At the supermarket, there’s little opportunity for human interaction, and with the rise of self-serve checkout machines, the shopping experience can wind up being an insular, solitary one as you troll the aisles, stuck in your own head. Not so at the farmers’ market, which can be a daily or weekly opportunity to connect with your neighbors as well as the real, live people who grew your food.

Amazing, isn’t it? The guy (or gal) standing behind your food can tell you about their unique growing processes, how the plants were treated along the way, how to store your purchases and even how to cook them when you get home. When’s the last time that kind of knowledgeable exchange happened at your local supermarket? My guess would be never.

Another bonus is the easy interaction and natural conviviality between like-minded shoppers, foodies, and farmers, all sharing their knowledge and appreciation of nature’s bounty on offer that week. In our fragmented and disconnected and screen-obsessed lives, I think of farmers’ markets as the ultimate antidote. One of my patients describes her local farmers’ market as “a cocktail party minus the cocktails.”  She stocks up on produce, conversation, and social connection every week.

Locate a Local Farmers’ Market

So this weekend, instead of trudging off to the so-called “supermarket,” head outdoors to the market that really is super for you. To find a farmer’s market in your area, check out Local Harvest’s directory of more than 30,000 family farms and farmers markets. Also have a look at the USDA’s database of more than 8,000 farmers’ markets – and don’t forget to bring your own tote bags to carry home all your purchases! 

For more of my favorite healthy food resources – where to find a farmer’s market, get wild fish, find grass-fed meat and more, see my post on “12 Great Food Resources”.

A Complete, Step-By-Step Guide to Restoring Your Health and/or Staying Healthy

It’s simple. But in today’s world, it certainly isn’t easy. The hardest part about being healthy is learning how simple it can be. Simplifying one’s life can be very complicated.

Start Listening

Listen to your body. When you eat crap food there is an itch in your throat. That’s infection feeding off of the sugars and the damaged cells caused by one soda or one cookie. Headaches, skin itching, brain fogginess, fatigue, and aches and pains can usually be traced back to something you ate. If you are not yet in tune with your body, pay attention.

Don’t take painkillers. They make it too easy to continue the poor behavior. Healthy people, the truly healthy ones, deal with a headache naturally. They ask themselves what they did to get this headache so they don’t get it again, and they use natural means to remedy the pain. They don’t cover it up, causing other problems in the long run.

Accept the Fact That Your Health Is Up to You

Learn the absolute truth that your health is your responsibility and totally in your hands. A doctor cannot make you healthy. Neither can this article. Your health is totally and completely dependent upon your actions. There are very few people reading this article who don’t have the choice to be healthy. Most people think that their sickness is out of their control–a hand dealt by fate, bad genes, etc. This is so rarely true. Every single ailment has a natural cure. An absolute cure. And none of them work well without a very healthy diet as the foundation of one’s lifestyle.

And the truth is that a healthy diet cures most problems by itself. But there are those who are so sick, so toxic, that they need targeted nutrition.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Forget the magic pill. Almost everyone who comes to me asking what they can do to be well is looking for a shortcut. They’re looking for a few natural “tricks” that will allow them to keep smoking, or drinking soda, or eating fast food. And I know them. I know tons of them. And they work – for a little while. You can take an Advil for a headache, or you can take enough high quality Boswallia, but being healthy means avoiding behaviors that cause headaches and not blaming them on stress and/or genetics. When the body is healthy, I mean really healthy, it is amazing how well it can handle stress, allergens, and even environmental toxins without negative physical reactions.

Genetics are a predisposition. If your father died of a heart attack at 50 years old, that does not mean that you have to die at 50. It simply may mean that if you don’t take care of yourself your heart may be one of the first organs to go. That’s how genetics work.

It’s a hard truth for most to accept. It’s hard because it takes away the excuses and makes it much more difficult to live life in the conventional way, the way most have been raised believing is “normal.”

How To Eat Healthy

Cut Out All the Crap. No soda, coffee, smoking (anything), drugs (over the counter and prescription), alcohol, pre-packaged processed foods, fast foods, microwaving, and restaurants.

That last one is tough, I know. And that includes restaurants that claim to be healthy. They aren’t. Of the 65 restaurants I know of that claim to be healthy, two of them are. Even the healthiest options from the other 63 are prepared by cutting corners that render the food much less beneficial than if it was prepared by you at home. I do eat out. But I don’t do it often, and I know how to order healthy when I do. And every now and then I splurge. But I spent a lot of time eating perfectly, detoxifying, and learning to listen to my body. I also worked in a few restaurants that were supposed to be healthy, and know what to avoid. For the purposes of this article, it’s better to just give up restaurants for a month at least. If you want to be truly healthy, it’s time to prepare your own food. It’s time to learn raw food recipes. It’s time to cook with quinoa and brown rice. No more refined foods. Almost everything should be unadulterated. The few exceptions are certain foods that can or should be fermented, but that’s another article.

Recommended: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

No More Drugs

Smoking marijuana is not healthy. It’s got a ton of benefits, and there are way worse things you can do to your body that are totally legal. But smoking, smoking anything, introduces tons of carbon and free radicals into your body. And if the marijuana isn’t the pure high quality stuff, who knows what else you’re burning into your lungs. There are better ways to get all of the benefits that marijuana can provide.

As written above, no more over the counter medication. It’s not a small thing. One aspirin is not inconsequential. It does damage. I have yet to see anything at all healthy that is sold at a pharmacy, believe it or not. Everything in there is toxic! That is, unless you know of one that sells some organic produce. I haven’t found that drug store yet. Give up cough medicine, throat lozenges, and antacids; nothing you would buy at pharmacy is good for you or your health.

There is a catch that I am well aware of–birth control. Other than condoms, birth control is absolutely terrible for you. Pills, shots, IUDs, they are all absolutely terrible for your health and I have yet to find a natural birth control that works. I recommend condoms and/or spermicide. But I do understand that sometimes those aren’t the best options and we all have to figure out what works best for us. But I do not know of a way artificial hormones can be healthy. And IUDs have serious problems associated with them as well.

Another tough problem to deal with is the prescription drugs for serious issues such as mental illness or diabetes, or other conditions with dangerous consequences if/when we quit taking them. In most cases there is a way off of them. But it’s a long road, and it takes time, patience, and diligence. And while I feel everyone should take health into his or her own hands, this is an exception. Most people on medications such as these should have guidance; someone should be watching and making sure things are going well.

It can be very tough to find a professional who knows enough about health and knows how, or has the desire, to get someone off drugs. If you suffer from a physical health issue, take things slowly. And consider getting help if possible. If it’s a mental condition, and it would be dangerous to be off the medication, I do believe there is a way to get off of the pharmaceuticals and be healthy, but it will take a lot of time and a lot of help, and a lot of discipline for the rest of your life. There are a few cases were I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to take this route. The risks are so high.

No More Processed Foods

I know a lot of vegans. I only know two who are healthy. The rest are junk food vegans.

I know a lot of health nuts. It’s my field; it’s my circle. And while many of them don’t want to hear this, I only know of a handful that are really, truly healthy. Most choose to be “healthier.”

Understanding the difference between healthy and healthier is imperative. Cliff Bars are healthier than a Snickers bar. The latest raw food spirulina bar sweetened with dates and apple juice is healthier than the cliff bar. But what’s healthy is raw whole dates and apples. I haven’t found a mass marketed food bar that is actually healthy. I’ve only seen healthier. The few that I have seen that I would consider to truly be healthy are made by very small companies and sold at smaller individually owned health food stores. And still, the other 19 out of 20 of those sold at these places would fall under the “healthier” category.

Prepare your own food. Take the time. Health is taking time for yourself and your family. Enjoy cooking or preparing raw foods from scratch with your family, instead of choosing a lifestyle that demands quick and cheap meals.

I can cook most meals as fast as other people can cook out of a box. It takes practice, lots of time and energy put towards learning the skill. But there is nothing more important to one’s health than preparing one’s own meals.

Drink

Don’t drink coffee. It’s acidic. It’s not good for you. The caffeine wreaks havoc on your thyroid. It causes a lot of other problems. Soda should come with a warning label as serious as a pack of cigarettes. Don’t touch the stuff. Diet soda is worse. Artificial sweeteners are an absolute no. Truvia is bad too. No soda. No flavored water. No store bought juice.

Limit the fruit juice even when it’s fresh and pressed. It’s still refined and processed because you are removing the fiber. Fruit juice, at its best, is still a concentrated refined sugar product. Green apples are an exception, and can be mixed with vegetables, but juice green apples, beets, and carrots sparingly because of the sugar content.

No alcohol. Humans weren’t meant to ingest alcohol. A glass of red wine has benefits, but those benefits can be had with better choices. Drink water. And make sure it is filtered and toxin free whenever possible. Don’t worry about drinking “enough” if you’re eating right. More on that in a moment.

Exercise

When someone tells me that they don’t have time to eat right or to exercise, I ask them if they ever watch television, and if they have a Facebook or a Twitter account, and if they ever go out drinking with their friends. People are so addicted to convenience and pleasure that it all ends up being very inconvenient. I try to remember that what is convenient today may have a high price to pay, and I also try not to confuse pleasure with happiness.

The truth is exercise pays you back with time in more ways than one. I’m not just talking about the idea that you live longer. And exercise alone does not necessarily help one to live longer when their diet is poor. Exercise for 20 minutes in the morning and once your body becomes accustomed to it you get back much more than 20 minutes in that day. You get that time with mental clarity and the ability to handle stress more effectively. We are more efficient, more productive, and see things in a more positive way when fitness is a part of our lifestyle.

And 20 minutes done right is all I believe anyone needs. I workout for longer than 20 minutes on most days, but the benefits of 20 minutes of very intense ass-kicking exercise are massive. And while one could argue that 30 minutes would be better, I find that on a busy day when I feel that my time is limited, 20 minutes offers me the best return on my investment. I am a firm believer in HIIT training. High Intensity Interval Training. Google it if you’re unfamiliar. I also do yoga, I ride bicycles, I weight lift, I do exercise that last for hours and I do very short and intense circuit training. I mix it up. There are different benefits to all. That said, for anyone short on time, nothing beats HIIT.

If there is no time or money for the gym, that’s fine, because the best exercises in the world are bodyweight exercise! From yoga to squats to sprints, the variety is endless. I believe that squats are the most important exercise anyone can do, and you don’t need weight. If you’re too out of shape to squat all the way down, try what I call “get ups.” You lay down and you stand up (alternating between what side you get up on each and every time is very important). When one ‘s health is too poor do “get ups” then sit down and get up as many times as possible from a seat. As soon as the soreness goes away, try for at least one more than you did before.

Be careful not to do it if you’re out of shape, especially for those with issues that affect muscles and joints like fibromyalgia. It is very easy to get very sore when you’re out of shape, and a toxic body takes so long to heal that a tough workout can be counterproductive.

And while this is one area that I do not heed my own advice with often enough, I recommend everyone take up yoga. An intense 20 minute exercise routine that builds endurance and strength is essential, but yoga is a close second. I don’t make enough time for it, but I will, as it improves one’s life immensely when practiced regularly.

Fast and Detoxify

You can fast without detoxifying. You can detox without fasting. And you can fast and detox while getting lots of nutrition, too. I recommend the latter. A calorie fast is a great way to reduce and eliminate the urge to eat junk food and to eat too much. It helps to reset the taste buds so that fresh raw produce tastes as it should. It can eliminate addictions. And when one is looking to lose weight, the initial results from a fast can help inspire those to start eating well afterwards. But it can also be the beginning of a rollercoaster ride. Coming off the fast gently and slowly with raw and healthy produce is the proper way to ease off. For a few choices on affordable fasting and detoxifying check out Fast and Easy Detox. You can also add a high quality nutrition supplement to the detox and insure you are getting plenty of nutrition. I am a fan of calorie fasting, but not nutrition fasting.

Get Educated

Read all about natural health. The key phrases for Google are: natural health, alternative health, natural remedies, home remedies, holistic health, and alternative medicine. I will warn you, like everything else, most of the information on these topics is crap. But almost all of the information is better than conventional medicine, and even most of the lousy information on natural healing has a higher success rate than conventional medicine, believe it or not. Seriously, the statistics on conventional medicine are scary!

It takes time to get educated. You get better and better at weeding out the B.S. It needs to become a hobby. Health and the knowledge of it should be one of everyone’s favorite hobbies. Doesn’t that make sense?

A lot of people who go through a traumatic health experience dabble in alternative medicine. Then they say, “I tried everything.” The truth in many of these cases is that the person tried 19 conventional medical treatments and one or two alternative medical treatments, none of which included patience and the most important aspect of holistic healing, a lifestyle change. True natural health takes time, patience, and discipline. But once you find it, that magical balance when you are totally in tune with your body, it’s easy and surprisingly simple.

If you’re looking for alternative medicine to compliment conventional treatments, I firmly believe you are wasting your time. As I’ve stated, the only alternative medicine that works in the long run includes a nutrient dense, toxin free (or as close to it as possible) diet, which cannot possibly be very effective if one is consuming the incredibly toxic substances that pharmaceutical companies call medicine.

Take Supplements

There are two reasons I recommend people take supplements. One is that our food, even the organic produce, is grown in depleted soil using conventional farming practices. We have spent a long time developing our agriculture practices to grow food that looks good and lasts a long time on the shelves, without a care for the nutrition content or taste of the produce (and the two usually go hand and hand). For this reason I recommend a nutritional supplement like Total Nutrition Formula. I like to make my own. This article shows you how to make your own Total Nutrition Formula. I also recommend vitamin D, a B vitamin complex (a whole and complete B vitamin complex), and Body Balance. You can also easily make Body Balance yourself, if you are so inclined.

Some people need more nutrition than others. For instance, when someone’s thyroid is weak, which is very common with our lifestyle, there are a lot of supplements to choose from based on their specific needs.

The other reason I recommend supplements is to eliminate parasites and fungi. If you’re familiar with Candida, you know that it’s yeast, a fungus, that when left unchecked causes series problems. And almost everyone you know living the modern conventional lifestyle can contribute every single one of his or her health conditions, at least to some degree, to Candida. Many different kinds of parasites also affect many people in many ways.

And what most people don’t know is that Candida can grow anywhere. Yeast infections are not just vaginal. Athletes foot, sore throats, ear infections. Most infections are actually in part, if not completely, caused by Candida.

How to Know If You Have Candida

If you are prone to any kind of fungal infection (including athletes foot), if your tongue is white, if you regularly drink alcohol (which turns into simple refined sugar in the bloodstream feeding all the bad bugs), and if you have taken antibiotics recently and not addressed Candida, you have Candida overgrowth.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Kill The Parasites

What do bacteria, virus, yeast, and parasites hate? Garlic, Oil of Oregano, Clove, and a healthy body. In addition, nothing is better at killing Candida than SF722.

Anyone who is getting started with natural health, and/or detoxifying, needs to take Oil of Oregano, a parasite cleaning supplement with clove, and SF722 for at least the first month. And most should continue with lots of garlic and SF722 thereon after if they are typically going to “cheat” and eat sweets every now and then. This is why I always have SF722 ready. I do “cheat” every now and then. You don’t have to always be perfect to be healthy, but most people have to be perfect for at least a month or two (in many cases more) before cheating doesn’t set them back as if they never cleaned up their diet in the first place.

The Most Important Supplement

Blood Detox. I believe everyone should take this. It’s one of the (if not, the) most powerful tinctures there is. Thick, sludgy, toxic blood comes with an unhealthy body. It contributes to all health issues. Thick and gross blood makes it harder to rid the body of any and all infection.

The Mindset

I think this is the hardest part. The healthy mindset sets apart those who are “healthier” and those who are truly healthy. People who will never get cancer, people who will never die in a nursing home, people who will have their cognitive abilities until the day they pass on, all understand that every aspect of our health in almost every single case is under our complete control.

Now comes the information that even most of my close friends who are health advocates will disagree with me on, but I know that the following is absolutely true. If you’re pregnant and have morning sickness, you’re not eating right. If you are nursing a baby who gets diaper rashes, you’re not eating right. If your nails break easily, you’re not eating right. If you have allergies, you’re not eating right. If you get headaches, you’re not eating right. If you have body odor and need to mask it with deodorant or perfumes, you’re not eating right. If you wake up in a fog, sore and achy, you are not eating right.  If you have ADHD or you are not sleeping well, chances are you are also not eating right. If you get cavities, you are not eating right. If you need any medication that is not for an emergency situation, you’re not eating right. The bottom line is, if you have health issues, you either are not eating right, or did not eat right for a significant period of time.

There are so few exceptions. Genetics is very rarely one of these exceptions. In almost every case, genetics are simply a predisposition, not a curse.

There are a very few people who try eating right but are so infected with Candida and various parasites that it seems as though there is nothing they can do to their diet to get healthy. That’s where the nutritional support listed above comes in.

A Truly Healthy Diet

The most important part of this whole article is the diet. Nothing else alone will get anyone to a healthy state, but for many, especially younger people, the right diet can be followed and everything else ignored to get one to a healthy physical condition.

Stop Feeding the Bad Guys – No Sugar, No other Crap

Candida makes everything worse. And it is fed by sugars, rancid fats, and damaged cells. It doesn’t take much! Even a little bit of sugar feeds it and keeps Candida thriving. It is hard to kill, and it comes back so easily. The reason Candida is so pervasive is that humans were not meant to eat refined sugar. This includes agave, fruit juice, sugar in the raw, and date powder. It’s all refined sugars (even “raw sugar” is a refined sugar). Even the seemingly healthiest health-nuts typically eat way too much sugar. This is the number one reason why so many of my health-food loving friends still have health issues. They cannot get away from sugar.

Bacteria, viruses, fungus, molds, and all manner of parasites love sugar and decaying cells. If you eat crap with sugar you feed these infectious organisms. If you eat crap food without sugar you damage your own cells, which feeds these organisms.

These organisms are not inherently bad. We need them. Our bodies and our planet need scavengers to take out the garbage. The trick is not to eat garbage causing our body’s cells to become garbage.

Avoid These Foods

Soy, pasteurized foods, homogenized foods, foods from conventional farms, prepared packaged snack foods, microwaveable foods, “ready-to-eat” foods besides fruits and vegetables, and foods in the health food section (because the real health food section is the produce section).

Also avoid MSG, GMOs, and anything refined that we wouldn’t normally eat wild in nature. I do make an exception for oils, not for health, but for taste. I use a very little bit in my salads and some of my cooking. I cook with high temperature oils, so I don’t eat spoiled rancid fats. I also get plenty of healthy fats from my diet. At times, when money is tight, and/or good produce is scarce, I do take a fat supplement. UDO’s Oil with DHA is my personal favorite. I also like the Nordic Naturals, Thorne, and Carlson brands for their commitment to quality.

If you choose to take a fat supplement, make sure it smells right. It should not smell rancid or fishy.

What to Buy

My diet, in order of what I eat most of to least of, when I can afford it is: fresh raw vegetables, fresh raw fruit, cooked vegetables, brown rice, various beans, quinoa, oatmeal, eggs, and fresh herbs and spices. With very few exceptions, this is my diet. The main difference between when I have a better income and when money is tight is that rice and beans move closer to the top of the list.

I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. I have in the past, but not anymore. There are plenty of great reasons to boycott Wal-Mart, but the point I am making here is their food is awful. I shopped there for groceries a long time ago before I knew better, and a few times since to prove a point. The produce is absolutely tasteless. There are few exceptions that come and go. For the most part, the produce at Wal-Mart is bland and nutritionally void.

Unfortunately, most grocery stores aren’t much better. A little, but not much. Find your local farmer’s markets. Buy produce at a supermarket as a last resort. And buy organic whenever possible, but don’t let that stop you from eating fresh raw produce as often as you can. The exception here is genetically modified foods. Read about GMOs here. Avoid them at almost any cost.

What’s better than buying food, if at all possible, is to grow your own food. It takes time to master the art. It’s not a quick and easy solution. It will likely take a few seasons to get things right, and most people who do grow much of their own food cannot grow everything they need to sustain a healthy diet with enough variety to get all of their nutritional needs meet. Though I do know a few people who forage with great success, but that’s another topic for another article.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Meat

If you do not want to be a vegetarian or a vegan, choose your meat carefully. Make sure it’s sourced from humane farms for ethical reasons and for good health. Chickens should be pasture raised and allowed to eat all kinds of bugs, grasses, and weeds. Cows should be free range too, grazing on grasses all day long. Healthy meat, from a healthy animal, cooked in a healthy manner, is not bad for you, contrary to what most vegans will tell you. But overcooked meat, meat that is cooked on too high a temperature, meat smothered in MSG and other toxic ingredients, and meat from unhealthy animals feed unhealthy unnatural diets is what most people eat. And that is how meat causes cancer.

How to Prepare Healthy Food

If you think my diet is bland, think again. I eat very well. People love my food. It’s really very good. And I am still learning. It’s fun. It takes time, but you get fast and you get good. I can make the most amazing rice and beans in a pressure cooker in 20 minutes. I do have to soak the beans first, and there is about 5 minutes of prep time chopping the onions and mincing the garlic, etc., but once the beans are cooking, I’m able to clean up the mess I made and relax well before it’s finished.

Make salads. Not your typical salads, but salads with lots of variety. My type of salads typically consist of spinach, arugula, collard greens, spring mix, shredded leeks, red onions, red cabbage, red bell pepper, rainbow chard, beet greens, grated beet root, graded carrots, grated zucchini, cucumbers, cilantro, pomegranate seeds, raisins, dried unsweetened cranberries, sesame seeds, and ground papaya seeds. A large salad with a wide variety of vegetables is the most important meal of every single day!

I mix it up. Sometimes I have other vegetables in there. Sometimes I shred an apple and throw it in. My dressing is a balsamic vinaigrette. For the recipe check out my article 80% Raw Food Diet.

You will find that when the bulk of your diet is made up of fresh raw produce, you don’t necessarily need to drink a lot of water. You get it from the produce. And your body will do a much better job than it used to of letting you know when you are thirsty.

When cooking foods, it is important to understand Advanced Glycated End Products. Don’t overcook your meat as this binds the proteins. Rare beef is not dangerous when it’s from a healthy cow.

I also love sprouts! They are super easy to make at home. Check out Five Reasons to Sprout.

Soaking and Sprouting

To be on the safe side, soak all dried beans for 24 hours. Soak all raw nuts for 24 hours as well, and then dry them before eating for taste if you want the familiar crunch. Don’t eat more than a handful of nuts a day except on special occasions. It is common for raw food enthusiasts to eat nuts with every meal. They make cashew cheeses and almond butters. Once you get the hang of these recipes, what you can make is simply incredible. But most raw food advocates eat too many nuts and I believe this is the most common cause of health issues for people who eat mostly or entirely raw. Raw junk food is much healthier than regular junk food, but it is still junk food.

Veganism

I wish everyone would eat vegan. I love animals. But I do not believe that meat is inherently bad for us. And I do know that most vegans are no more healthy (or only slightly healthier) than meat eaters. Junk food vegans, junk food vegetarians, and junk food health-nuts are people who eat prepackaged processed foods of the healthier variety. This isn’t healthy. At best, it’s healthier.

If you do choose to go vegan or vegetarian, you really don’t need nearly as much protein as we have been led to believe. And the protein you do need does not have to come from meat. There are plenty of all natural vegan bodybuilders. And a good protein supplement for those who do need more protein is the Nutrition Formula I also recommend as a multivitamin/mineral.

Get Enough Sleep

This can be very difficult to do when one’s health is poor. But the body needs to regenerate or else lots of health problems will remain and damaged cells feed the bad bugs. For more on sleep check out Ask OLM, Pure Sleep, and 10 Things You Can Do to Have More Energy. We have many articles.

No Shots

Vaccines and other shots are toxic. No matter how useful you think immunization are (and the reason they are crap is beyond the scope of hits article) they put toxic chemical preservatives in every single one of them. You cannot be as healthy as possible with that toxic crap in your system.

My Diet and Lifestyle

It’s simple. Eat like we would eat in nature’s most optimal conditions. If we were the very best, very fastest, very smartest humans before technology and alcohol were discovered, in the healthiest most abundant environment, how would we eat?

But like everyone else, I have my demons. I don’t eat perfectly. There are a few people I know who are healthier than I am. But only a few. And only two of all of the many doctors I know are healthier than I am. I find that when you focus your energy on healing other people all the time, it’s too easy to let your own health become secondary.

I rarely get enough sleep. This is my biggest issue. I spend much of my time trying to help people and trying to make the world a better place in the ways I believe I can, while giving my family as much of my time as possible. It’s a balancing act I am still getting the hang of. I know it’s difficult, balancing one’s life.

But our child is healthy. He’s progressing very quickly, without a single health issue or a cold or anything. At 7 months old he has not had one single health problem besides an occasional diaper rash when his mom’s diet has a little too much sugar (due to smoothies at work with sweetened almond milk or apple juice). Gabriel doesn’t get sick, I don’t get sick, and neither does his mother. We both wake up with energy and clarity. We can focus almost all day, every day. We are vibrant and full of energy. And we ride our bikes everywhere.

I still have a ways to go. I get better and better at practicing what I preach every day. Health is a journey, not a destination.

Must Reads:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

So You Want to Build an Organic Vegetable Garden…

It’s easy enough to say you want to build an organic garden, but how does one actually get started? Before I get into my four beginning principals, let me say that these directions I’m writing are applicable to anywhere: backyards, smallholdings, allotments, farms. You can even apply them to containers you might only have space for on your apartment balcony. I’ve helped build and design gardens from small window sill pots to 200 acre properties. The elements are the same. Stick to the plan and you won’t go wrong.

Four Basic Produce Gardening Principles

There are four basic initial principles that I teach people to take into account  before they start any type of produce garden. They are pretty much the integral infrastructure in my method of food growing, something that can be reflected back on throughout the life of the garden at any stage. They are…

• Location
• Water
• Wind
• Land

They will and can make a huge difference to your garden. Not taking them into consideration before you start can cause you to pull your hair out. I’ve made mistakes in the past and have had to redo a few things because I just jumped in feet first. Just sit back. Relax. Look at your intended grow area and picture in your mind what you’d like to see there. Draw up a map of the area, the directions, where the water is, any major or influencing topography, and the general direction of the prevailing wind. If possible, I recommend doing this little ritual a few times over a few days so you really get a feel for the area and its personality over the different times of the day. Don’t bother drawing up a map every time, just breathe and get a feel for the place.

I’ve had people roll their eyes at me when I suggested that they “meditate” on their prospective vegetable gardens. Fair enough. It might not be something that everyone wants to do. But I cannot overstate the benefits of doing so. Part of my methodology of growing is establishing a connection to not only my food but to the land itself, a “re- connection” if you will. As new age or hippy as this may sound, it is an intrinsic truth inside all of us. We are part of the world and its system, just like ants, trees, rocks, or lakes. But for now, let’s concentrate on getting this thing up and running.

Location

Location is the first thing to look at when planning a garden of any kind. You need a somewhat open space that has a nice air flow and at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Dappled light is fine as long as there is enough to promote growth in your plants over the course of the day. Stand in the middle of the area and relax. Listen to it—its sounds, its hum. Look at the differences in height of the surrounds. Take into account the shade of surrounding or nearby trees and their affect on the beds. How big are they? If you’re going to plant directly into the ground, you’ll have to accommodate for the trees’ water usage. A good size tree will take up to 200 litres from the ground on a daily basis. Here’s a good checklist to go through when surveying and planning your garden. Plus, is it close to your home? Is it a chore to walk the distance? What if it’s raining?

• How much (if any) shade does the area get?
• What times of the day does it (shade) occur?
• How much exposure is there on the beds from 11am to 3pm, the hottest hours?
• Are there any deciduous trees? Does winters loss of foliage make a difference between the amount of winter and summer sun?
• What shelter will those trees give with winter frosts or snow?
• Take into account the arcs of the higher sun in summer and the lower sun in winter and how much difference in sunlight there is between the two seasons.

Water

Water is the most important resource that we have on earth, because nothing can survive without it. Don’t forget that less than 5% of the Earth’s water is fresh water and much of that is unusable due to pollution. So using less is obviously a bonus, and creating a system that harvests a source for our own use without the reliance on utilities, big business, etc. is worth a major pat on the back. First, let’s consider the following before we get digging:

• How close is my main water source?
• Will I be using mains or a rain/tank water?
• What kind of water is it? Fresh, chlorinated, fluorinated etc?
• How am I going to get water to my garden?
• Will I be able to water in the early morning or later in the evening (the cooler parts of the day) to maximise water usage by plants?
• Will I need to install a gravity feed, dripline, or other water system?
• Will I need to buy a water tank?
• Could I build a dam or pond to catch water?
• Can I build multiple catchments to catch overflows?
• What about building swales, tree pans, or berms?

Wind

Wind direction is something that a lot of people either ignore or they just don’t think it matters when it comes to their gardens. Exposure to winds can dehydrate plants and soils, knock them over, create windfall fruit, or just blow soil and plants away. Diffused, it can also strengthen trees by encouraging trunk strength in order to adapt to the windy conditions. Wind is a part of the natural weather cycle, and it’s something that we can integrate into our system so that it works for us, not against us. The main mistake people make with a dominant wind is trying to “block” it when they should be trying to “diffuse” it. But first, what wind questions should you ask yourself when you’re planning a new garden?

• What direction does the prevailing wind come from?
• Take into account, hot northerlies and cooler southerlies.
• Wind across any body of water will cool, which is great for summer seating.
• What natural windbreaks exist on site?
• Will I be able to build or plant any windbreaks?

Land

Lay of the land was a huge consideration for me when I started my vegetable garden, mainly because the quarter of an acre that I’d chosen to grow on had flat patches, inclines, declines, dry bits, bits prone to flooding—the whole nine yards. I had to draw up an initial map of what I was dealing with and stand (literally) in that field for hours, watching where the sun shone, where it didn’t, what was sheltered, what had cover and how all the other elements interacted with it as a whole. This is probably the most important aspect of garden design as it will dictate the design you construct. Take your time, breathe, meditate on it, leave it if need be, then come back again.

The topography of any garden will dictate the type of bed system you grow: raised beds, no dig, containers, or directly into the soil. You can use any of these, but you might have to “tweak” them a little to fit in. Not everyone has a nice flat patch to grow on.

Below is a quick diagram of a typical backyard, illustrating the factors I’ve mentioned. This is actually a suburban job I recently built for a friend. There were big trees next door (on the west side), inclined ground towards the front (near the house). Basically everything came into play with it. We opted for an in-ground bed as the soil was great. After we’d tilled the area, we formed north –south rows with the pathways in between mulched to a level of around 75mm, pretty much like my own large vegetable garden at home.

{Editor’s note: 75mm is just shy of 3 inches. The author lives in Australia and therefore uses the metric system. Since the U.S. is one of two major countries in the world refusing to use the metrics system, we did not ask the author to change his measurements to the Imperial system. Here is a quick and easy conversation site if you need one. http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/millimeters-to-inches.htm}

In short, this was relatively easy and is applicable to most of the backyards I see. There were a few evergreen trees along the back fence that threw a bit of shade on the vegetable area during winter, but not enough to deter growth. It had a nice northerly pointing aspect. Water was close enough to only need a regular garden hose with watering. The east side had good sunlight from about lunchtime onwards so it would be good for fruit trees. The shed and trees along the neighbour’s fence line to the left resulted in dappled sunlight on the patch from about 3-4pm, so that would help reduce any burning effects.

We left a grass/play area for his kids and designated a composting area at the back fence as well.

The only unfortunate thing was that the vertical growing areas like the east side fence and shed wall weren’t really good for growing. They just didn’t get much sunlight at all. But rather than leave them empty, we tried a few climbing natives rather than fruiting plants. We’ll see how they go.

How to Build Your Own Garden Beds

Okay, so you’ve made a plan, decided on an area, sussed your water source, and you’re ready to get building. But, what kind of garden bed will you create? Let’s focus on the three greatest hits in the vegetable growing world. They are:

• Raised beds
• No dig beds
• In ground/direct planting beds

Each bed has its good points. The thing is to choose the best one for the area you have, your needs, your budget, and the look you’d like as well. On my farm, I’ve got raised beds, in ground beds, and no dig beds. I love having a variety. They all work great for me and are suited to their own particular areas. Let’s start.

Raised Garden Beds

Raised beds are often the easiest for people to build. You can use a range of products to build them and if your soil is pretty poor, you can just fill them with good stuff and off you go.

The main building blocks people use for construction are untreated sleepers (editor’s note: the author is referring to untreated wood planks or railroad ties) bricks, stacked stone/rock, or even corrugated metal that can be bought in pre fabricated garden bed forms, ready to fill and grow in. Though the metal ones are easy and aesthetically pleasing, a 3×1 metre bed will cost around $20-$300. In comparison, a sleeper version of the same would cost you around $150.

Let’s go through the basic construction of the most popular mediums.

Sleepers are the easiest in my opinion, I’ve built more sleeper beds than I can remember, and they look great. Most sleepers will come in lengths of either 2.4, 2.7 or 3 metres (meters in American English), if you can build with or join either of these without having to cut them, all the better. Most will be 200mm/20cm in width and will vary in thickness from 50-100mm. For a typical two sleep high bed, 50mm is perfectly fine.

Once you’ve decided on your beds, dimensions (let’s say two beds at 3 x1.2 metres) it’s easy, you’re basically going to be constructing boxes that will be filled with soil. If you’re using hard wood like red gum, you’ll need a good drill to pre drill holes for joining as you’ll struggle to get nails through them. If you’re using a softer wood like pine (untreated of course) you’ll be fine without one, though if you’re using wood screws (75mm) it is easier to pre drill your holes.

So for our bed the length is 3 metres, we’re going two sleepers high, in a nutshell we’ll need…

• X 4 3 metre by 50mm red gum sleepers
• X 2 2.4 metre by 50mm red gum sleepers
• A drill
• A pack of 75mm wood screws (you’ll use at least 25 in construction)
• X 4 100mm wood screws

We’re simply using the 3 metre lengths for the side and cutting the 2.4 metre ones in half to make our ends. Arrange the sleepers in their box shape first. Make sure it’s all ok and then start pre-drilling your holes. Three holes at the end of the 3 metre lengths, coming in 25mm from the end, will suffice. As we’re drilling into the grain on the 1.2 lengths, they won’t require drilling, make sure all your angles are flush and drill the two together. It helps to have a friend to help you out, and make sure you’re wearing your safety gear.

Now we can fit in the other pieces, and we’ll have created a big empty box. You could simply use this, just one sleeper high, but if you’re wanting to grow root vegetables like carrots or potatoes, I’d recommend going two high.

If you go two high, build the second level (empty box) the same way you did the first one, then “carefully” stack them on top of each other. To keep it all in place, simply drill a screw diagonally down at each corner, from the top down into the lower corresponding sleeper. See the diagram below. This screw will keep the sleeps in place. You will need to pre drill it and use 100mm screws.

Take into account the picture below, this bed is exactly what I’m talking about with my building description. Please use it as a visual reference and always double check your measurements before you cut or drill into them. If you don’t, you might be heading back to the store because you cut a sleeper in the wrong spot and created a big piece of firewood. Going on the length of sleepers available to you, you can dictate all kinds of lengths or widths. The main thing is to make sure you have the least possible wastage or leftover wood when you calculate it.

This is an example of a two sleeper high raised bed.

If you’re a confident brick layer, you can build a raised bed from bricks as well, I’ve done a few myself. They are pretty labour intensive, but in the right garden they look great. I’d still recommend going a good 400mm high and make sure you have the cash as you’ll need bricks, mortar, concrete for trench footings, and a brick bolster to cut your bricks in half.

To build something like this, I’d recommend either getting in a professional to do it for you or getting a few tips from a brick layer, watching a few brick laying how-to videos, and having a practice first. It’s easy after you’ve built a few, but if you’re only intending on building one, you want it to look right.

Besser blocks (concrete blocks) can be used in the same way, though the gaps inside them can be tricky. You can just fill them and plant perennial herbs in them like sage or thyme. Again, get a pro or do your research.

Now that you have your beds built, what do you fill them with? This simple question could have a hundred different answers. Different gardeners have their own preferred mixes of garden soils that they like to use. Some people add rock dust/minerals, others add coir (fiber extracted from coconut husks) and other fibrous things. These combinations work well for them, but for me, there’s a simple and easy equation to go by.

• 40% compost
• 30% manure (preferably cow)
• 30% soil

Now by soil I mean the regular old garden soil that you’ll find at your local garden centre. It will (should) have varied things in it already. That’s fine. Mix these three ingredients together the best you can and fill your raised beds with it. Allow it to settle by about 50-75mm in a two sleeper high bed over the next couple of weeks.

Don’t panic about getting the ratios exact. Do your best and it’ll be fine. You can plant directly into this mix. Typically it will be a neutral pH. You won’t need to add fertiliser, lime, sulphur, potash or anything else. This is its beauty, its simplicity. It’s ready to go, as is.

At the end of each season/year, you will have to top up your beds a bit and add back the goodies that your vegetables have taken out. You can use the same equation above, but use a smaller amount. Also, if you’re concerned about your pH at the end of the growing season, you can get an easy to use pH kit or take some soil (about half a cup) to your garden centre. They might test your pH for free.

But wait, how much soil do you actually get? We just need to calculate volume: length x width x depth. So for a 3 x 1 metre bed that is 400 mm deep, it would be 3 x 1 x .4. That gives us an answer of 1.2, which is 1.2 cubic metres of soil. Calculating it to the top of the bed ( the whole 400mm) allows for settling, which then will give you a lip on the edge of about 50mm. Perfect!

The simple diagram above shows what I mean in regards to leveling your beds, the shortest side (right) should be at least 400mm high to give a good depth to grow in with the other sides height adjusted accordingly to give a level ground for the beds surface, depending on the actual incline of slope. This is applicable to all bed types.

No Dig Garden Beds

No dig beds are pretty easy, and I have to admit a smug content-ness after I build one as I think they just look great. The order of events for building one is a basic layering of media, like a lasagna. Different people use different things, but I generally stick to the same recipe.

• First layer, (on grass or soil):  newspaper or cardboard, laid THICK at a good 30-50mm.
• Second layer: compost, mushroom compost.
• Third layer: grass clippings, soft prunings, leaves, or hay if you have none of these.
• Fourth layer: manure, well broken down (cow or sheep). Chicken is too acidic en masse like this.
• Fifth layer: lucerne (alfalfa), hay (without seed heads), pea straw, or sugar cane mulch (When using alfalfa be careful to avoid GMOs!).

This is the basic recipe for layering. You need to water each layer in really well as you go and in between each one you can add things like leaves or grass cuttings if you have them, but don’t go too thick with these, they’re just an addition.

With each layer, aim for a thickness of around 100mm, a bit less for the manure, a bit more for the lucerne etc. Once you get your bed to a good 50cm tall you can water it in again and leave to settle for a day or two before you begin planting, it will sink a bit so don’t be concerned if it looks shorter in stature the next day. Also with the actual dimensions of the bed, you can go as long as you like but try to keep the width to 1 metre max. This is so you can reach the other side of the bed when planting. Otherwise you’ll be going back and forth around the bed or stepping on it and compressing it down. Neither is good.

If you’re building directly onto grass, take into account the type of grass. Blade grass (like fescue) will die off easily under the first layer. Runner grass (like buffalo, couch, kikuyu) will do its best to get through and get into your lovely beds. Mow first on the lowest setting to really get off to good start and make sure the first layer on top of the grass is nice and thick. You can plant straight into your bed when you’ve finished, but I prefer to give it a few days to mingle. It’s up to you.

If the area has a slope, you can simply build up one side of the bed to have a level planting area. If you are building one on an incline (or decline, depending on your view), you might want to have the beds running down in line with the slope itself, rather than crossways or parallel to it. This is a bit of a catch 22 with rain. Crossways running beds, with light to medium rain, will act like swales and catch the water, which is great. But if your area is prone to heavy downfalls and flooding, the beds could become mud pits as the water has no direct route to run off. Think about your intended patch, your weather and take all facets into consideration.

What about amounts? How much stuff do you get to build a no dig bed?

For a 4x1x40-50mm bed, you’ll “roughly” need:

• 2/3 of a metre of manure
• 2/3 of a metre of compost
• 2-3 bails of hay/lucerne
• A good 15-20 newspapers or equivalent in cardboard
• Water, hose preferably
• Grass clippings, soft prunings, leaves, nothing “twiggy”

Don’t forget that you can make different garden bed shapes and patterns like circles, spirals. etc.

In Ground or Direct Planting Beds

In ground or direct planting beds mean just that, you’re planning on tilling the soil you have and planting straight into it.

The pro’s and con’s of this are pretty simple. It all depends on the type of soil you have and what’s on top of it, grass, weeds, etc. First, do a few test digs with your shovel at random points on the proposed area and have a look at what’s beneath. If you find that you’ve got a good upper topsoil layer (a good 20cm) you should be okay. If you find that you’re hitting clay, stones, or shale after digging an inch or two, you might want to consider a different option.

You can grow vegetables in heavily clayed soils, but they are a palaver. You’ll have to apply components like gypsum to help break it down and add extra soils to grow in. This is pretty labour intensive and isn’t the best way to go for smaller vegetable gardens.

If, on the other hand, you find that you have a good upper layer of topsoil, then you can till it with a rotary hoe/cultivator, break it up to a fine tilth, remove any weeds/grass/roots and get planting. But, even if your soil’s great, it’s always a good idea to add a bit of compost or manure while you’re cultivating it. Mix it in just to replenish the soil a bit.

The best way to calculate the amount of manure you’ll need is to calculate volume of the bed by 20mm deep. So, to work out the volume of the area, we need to times length by width by depth. So if you have a vegetable garden area of 100 m2, (a bed 10 metres by 10 metres, length and width) that means your calculation will be 10x10x.02, this gives us a total of 2 cubic metres. That’s the amount you’ll need to apply. Easy, eh?

Grass is another issue with this type of growing. Most commercial digs spray the entire area with herbicide, then till for planting. We’re not using harsh chemicals, of course, so we have two basic options.

• Till the area with grass and rake it out after
• Remove the grass first then till

The first is simple enough with blade grasses. Runner types make it a bit more difficult. If you have a friend who can use a rake, you’ll easily get through a typical 10×10 area in a day/. To achieve a fine tilt, till the area with a rotary hoe/cultivator a good 5-6 times. This is best done when the soil is damp but not muddy. Come across the field from two directions to achieve a crisscross effect. Then you just rake out the grass bits and their roots. But do make sure you get it all out. Running grass root systems generally have a few sub layers below ground. If you miss any, it will grow again and be a nuisance.

The second option requires digging down a good 50mm and completely removing the top layer, soil and all. This is easier on your back, as you can use machinery to do it, but take into account the soil you’ll lose. This type of bed would require double the amount of manure/compost to get it on track, i.e. 10x10x.04, 4 cubic metres.

Once you’ve tilled your bed, you’re ready to plant. You can either keep it as one big area for planting or dig out rows with paths in between so you’re not compressing the soil. Like no dig beds, rows can be easier if your area has an incline/decline to it as you can level each bed accordingly. A big area on a slope can be troublesome with water runoff.

If the soil is average in quality, you might need to spread a 50/50 compost/manure mix and turn it over into the soil itself. I would calculate the area to a depth of around 100mm. So a 10×10 metre area would be 10x10x.1, one cubic metre.

This was my first vegetable garden at my farm, a 5×5 metre, in-ground bed.

If that’s the case, you might want to go with a raised bed system, or else if you get a big downpour, most of your vegetables and that wonderful topsoil are simply going to wash away. This happened to me mid construction on one of my vegetable beds and it was heart breaking. I couldn’t do anything to stop it and I had to simply watch it wash away.

If you’re considering building your own vegetable garden, and I hope you are, then hopefully this article has shed some light on how to get started. It’s not that difficult, once you choose an area and get your materials together. You can then build and grow, literally!

Further Reading:

• Planning Your Organic Garden
• DIY Solutions for the Garden
• 5 Natural Pest Remedies for Your Garden
• Medicinal Herb Garden – What To Grow and How To Keep It Growing All Winter
• Ten Great Gardening Tips
• How to Make Your Own Compost Tea

A Beginner’s Guide to the Art of Organic DIY Composting

With “green” gardening becoming more and more popular, many gardeners are turning toward making their own organic compost for a number of reasons, from low cost (relative to store-bought versions) to reducing landfill waste, to simply benefiting from the high quality and mineral and nutrient rich nature of organic, homemade compost.

Greens + Browns + Oxygen + Water = Healthier Plants!

While reasonably easy to learn, there are a few tricks of the trade to ensure that your organic compost is mixed and aerated properly, that it stays at the right temperature, and that it will provide all the wonderful benefits it should.

Choosing a Bin

Compost bins come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials. Prices vary from practically nothing to upwards of $150.

Homemade bins can be created out of a number of recycled materials such as scrap wood, cinderblocks, wire mesh, bricks, or a combination of each. Regardless of the materials used to build the bin, it is important that the unit is constructed to withstand the weight of the composting materials and to maintain the proper composting temperature (140-160 degrees Fahrenheit) when it is full.  Additionally, it must withstand the elements and intrusion by wild animals while allowing proper drainage and air-flow.  And, of course, it should fit your needs and the space allotted.

Store bought bins are generally (though not always) plastic, durable, and lightweight. They come in any number of colors, shapes and sizes.  Features vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but often include built-in lids with venting holes for aeration and drainage, trays for sifting the different materials, and access doors for removing material ready for application.  Some even allow for “tumbling” the material, a practice that allows for more effective aeration or separating the material relative to when it was placed in the bin.  Depending on your budget and need, there are myriad commercial composting bins for indoors and out available at your nearest home and garden retailer.

Creating the Perfect Organic Compost: The Compost Equation

The goal of every composter should be to produce the richest, most nutritious and viably useful organic compost possible.  The materials you will be contributing to your compost bin, from household kitchen scraps and refuse to lawn clippings and leaves, will eventually break down.  Therefore, you will always be producing usable compost, though the time-frame will depend on your methodology.

Since compost becomes compost as microorganisms (bacteria known as actinomycetes and fungi) feed upon the materials in your bin, these pathogens require a few basics in order to do what Mother Nature intended them to do.  Therefore, it is important to have an understanding of what is going in your bin and when, as the effectiveness of the compost and how fast it will be usable is reliant on a balance between the “green” and “brown” materials introduced.

In short, for every pound or so of “green” nitrogen material you put in to the bin like coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peelings, and grass clippings, you will want to include a pound of “brown” carbon-rich material like straw or dead leaves. Too much of either material can slow down the decomposing process and/or lead to unpleasant smells.

Oxygen and moisture are essential for the microorganisms to keep functioning aerobically.  Too little moisture in the bin will lead to a pile of dried-out, crispy matter as opposed to rich and slightly dampened material. Too much moisture will drown the microorganisms, depriving them of the oxygen necessary for life. Turn your compost once or twice a month with a pitchfork, shovel, or aerating tool and add a little water if needed. Proper aeration can result in rich, moist compost ready to use in a few weeks rather than a few months.

To Compost or Not to Compost?—That is the Question

Now that some of the basics of composting have been outlined, it is important to develop an understanding of just exactly what sort of items you can put into the compost bin and why.

Remember: for creating organic compost it is generally preferable to only include those items that are themselves organic or organically grown!

The following is a short list of materials that are suitable for composting and commonly found around the house:

Nitrogens:

• Coffee grounds
• Banana peels (chop them up for quicker break down)
• Flowers (but only if they are green and not dried)
• Vegetable and fruit peels (chop them up for quicker break down; do not use lime peels, as they can abruptly and detrimentally increase the pH levels of the material leading to the death of the beneficial organisms)
• Pet food (preferably not meat-based)
• Lawn clippings (again, only if they are green)

Carbons:

• Leaves (chop them up for quicker break down)
• Dried grass clippings
• Hedge clippings (chop them up for quicker break down)
• Dried corn stalks and cobs (chop them up for quicker break down)
• Pine needles
• Saw dust and wood shavings (but only from wood that has not been chemically treated)
• Peat moss
• Nut shells/peanut hulls
• Tea leaves

The following is a short list of unsuitable items for the compost bin:

• Ashes from the barbeque (charcoal)
• Dog and cat feces (may contain disease organisms so avoid at all costs!  If one chooses to use manure only use material from organically raised animals like cows, goats, horses, etc.  with ratios of 16-18:1)
• Meat, bones, fat, grease, oils (will not break down and will attract unwanted animal visitors)
• Lime
• Non-white/colored/dyed paper
• Toxic materials (household cleaners or water with cleaners added)
• Any materials that are not biodegradable

Upon following these very basic guidelines the DIY gardener will soon have what master gardeners have long considered the “bee’s knees” for their beds, lawns and gardens.  Use this homemade, nutrient-rich organic compost as a soil amendment, fertilizer, or mulch and watch your vegetables, flowers, and other plants flourish like never before, all while lessening waste in the home.

Happy gardening!

 

In the midst of summer fun, those who love garden fresh greens for months to come will take the time now to sow the seeds of kale, cabbage, broccoli, and collards. When we are savvy and sow the seeds in August, these cruciferous crops get off to a healthy enough start to withstand frigid winter weather.

What is so beautiful about this reality is that we can harvest the greens, especially of kale and collards, all winter long and for most of next spring.

Use whatever space you have, a deck, balcony, patio, small plot, or large garden. After you purchase your seeds, soak them for 8 – 12 hours and sow these seeds ¼” deep in loose soil.

The choice to sow the seeds directly into beds or to start them in flats or small pots is up to you. Planting the seeds directly in four inch pots, about 25 cents each at garden centers, insures that you have a strong and vital plant when you are ready to transplant into beds or larger containers.

Another reason some choose to go the route of four inch pots is for the sake of enjoying the rest of the summer garden edibles until the time comes to harvest. When the tomatoes, peppers, melons, corn, and summer squash come to their end, a little bed preparation goes a long way in setting the tone for the healthiest fall garden plants.

The great news in your near future (come six weeks down the road when the bed space is ready) is the kale, collard, cabbage and broccoli starts will be very well established.

August is also a good month to plant lettuce, spinach, radishes, turnips, beets, and, depending on your zone, rutabagas and parsnips. These plants tend to do best when directly sown into their permanent home, so skip the small pots on these crops.

A few herbs that tend to thrive when planted in August are chives, oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary.

If you don’t have a full on backyard but do have a little space, like an apartment balcony or any place that gets sunshine, a few garage sale trips can help you to gather planters or miscellaneous items that can be transformed into planters. A five gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom works wonders.

First step, however, to relish in those luscious greens this fall and winter, is to start the seeds now. As you read this, consider grabbing a piece of scratch paper and jotting down your list of what you’ll need to buy or gather in order to feast on the fabulous fall and winter foods. If the fresh taste isn’t motivation enough, think of all the time and money you’ll save by not driving to the store, shopping, and spending cash on foods that you grew from tiny seeds!

Grocery Shopping Makes Me Angry

I used to love to shop—especially at the farmers market. All those rows of beautiful, colorful, fruit and veggies. You could find anything—everything! It was paradise. But the last few times I went shopping, I didn’t enjoy the experience at all.

It wasn’t the long lines and the swarms of people; I avoid shopping on the weekends and during the “rush hour.” What makes me angry is the limited supply of organic produce and the outrageous prices.

One of the farmer’s markets I frequent shelves all of its organic produce along one short wall.  I’d estimate 23 linear feet of refrigeration and shelving. Turn around and you will see at least ten times as much conventional produce, at much lower prices. This particular market caters to the local Asian and Hispanic population, selling exotic greens and rare fruits, along with the staples we all use. I want to try cactus and funny looking eggplant, dragon fruit and star fruit, but none of these choices are organic.

In the farmer’s market where I do the bulk of my shopping, there was an entire row of peppers and an entire row of cucumbers, and not one of them was organic. And nearly every organic item was priced at twice the price per pound. If the conventional item was 99 cent a pound, the organic equivalent’s sticker read 1.99 per pound. There are exceptions of course. Organic watermelon was four times the price of conventional.

Why do we pay more to avoid being poisoned by our food?

Why Is Organic Food More Expensive?

Certified organic food is more expensive for several reasons. First and foremost good old supply and demand. Normally when we hear those magic words we think that the price was merely jacked up as high as the market will bear. But the truth is, when you only look at the short term costs, organic farming does cost more—at least in upfront labor costs, post harvest handling, marketing, and distribution.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this is true around the world. They state:

• “Post-harvest handling of relatively small quantities of organic foods results in higher costs because of the mandatory segregation of organic and conventional produce, especially for processing and transportation;
• Marketing and the distribution chain for organic products is relatively inefficient and costs are higher because of relatively small volumes.”

Organic certification also adds considerable cost to the small farmer, both in fees and labor.

When we buy organic meats and dairy, we know the animals’ care and treatment was considerably better than that of animals raised in factory farms. The conventional big business practice is to leave these pitiful animals standing in filth, crowded in bins. They are fed low- cost GMO laden feed and shot full of antibiotics and hormones to keep them alive until they can be butchered.  Yes, of course, this inhumane treatment is less expensive than raising free range, organic fed, healthy animals. It is illegal to abuse a pet, yet when it comes to raising cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and turkeys, we allow horrific, unspeakable animal cruelty to be the accepted norm.

Farming is much the same. In the short term it is cheaper to grow huge fields of one crop, to dump chemicals into the earth and spray with pesticides, to strip the land, than it is to rotate crops, replenish the soil naturally, and grow healthy pest resistant and disease resistant plants.  Instead, over time more and more chemicals are used to yield the same crops. But our fertile earth is dying, stripped of minerals and the healthy bacteria that ensures nutrient rich food.

The Cost of Conventional Agriculture

Although the current costs of conventional food are low, the true cost is so much higher.  It’s not just the little known fact that conventional farming is highly subsidized by the government, while organic farming is not. The true cost of today’s cheap conventional food does not reflect destruction of our farmlands, the health of the farm workers exposed to pesticides, or the effect on the health of every man, woman, and child eating foods with substandard nutrients contaminated with pesticides and herbicides, not to mention the genetically modified atrocities that disrupt fertility and damage our organs.

How Do We Make Organic Food Less Expensive?

Once again quoting the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:  “As demand for organic food and products is increasing, technological innovations and economies of scale should reduce costs of production, processing, distribution and marketing for organic produce.”

So let’s keep up the demand. But we can do more.

Once, several years ago, I was visiting a friend in Kansas City, Missouri. She took me to her favorite grocery store, Wild Oats. It was a medium sized store, the size of a regular grocery store back in the day before we super sized everything. Although all the prices seemed reasonable, there were no signs telling me which produce was organic. My friend laughed. All of the produce and meat sold in Wild Oats was organic. And not one of the foods on their shelves contained MSG, hydrogenated oils, or other known harmful additives. Can you imagine what a joy it would be to shop if every grocery store sold nothing but organic, healthy food?

We have the power to take this country back from big business, to protect our most valuable resources—our land, our seed banks, our future. Write to your senators and congressmen. Call for a ban on factory farming, conventional farming, and GMO foods. Tell them organic farmers should be subsidized, not giant corporations that are raping the land. Push for laws to protect and support family farms including a waiver of inheritance taxes. And above all, stop purchasing hormone laden, antibiotic laden milk and meat. Buy organic meat, dairy and produce, even though it is more expensive. Most importantly, grow your own organic food! We have the power to render these poisoned foods obsolete by refusing to purchase them.