Living Naturally
October 18, 2019
Admit it: The crisp, flaky outer scales of the onions you use in soups, salads, and casseroles usually end up in the trash (or perhaps more usefully, the compost bin). But don’t toss them out before you’ve put them to use. For your health!
Recent research confirms that the outer skins of onions provide an exceptionally rich source of plant compounds called flavonoids, especially the powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, quercetin.
Quercetin is under study as an agent for lowering... more
October 13, 2019
If you burn firewood, you have wood ashes. Don’t throw them out! There are many surprising ways to use ashes around the garden and home. Here are five practical ideas.
Each cord of firewood that you burn will leave you with about 20 pounds of ashes or more, depending on your fuel source, heating appliance, and wood-burning skill.
Instead of putting them out with the trash, put your ashes to use in and around your garden and home!
1. Amending Lawn and Garden Soil
Wood ash is a readily available... more
October 4, 2019
You open a bag of whole wheat flour, a box of cereal, or a bag of dog food only to find little worms, moths, or even some webs. Ew! Here’s how to get rid of these pantry pests.
What Are Pantry Moths?
You’ve just encountered the Indian meal moth, perhaps the most common among the “pantry pests.” These moths can infest bags or boxes of flour, grains, dried beans, seeds, nuts, cereals, baking chocolate, cake mixes, rice, nuts, dried fruit, dog food, birdseed, teas, herbs, spices, potpourri... more
October 4, 2019
It’s flu season. The signs have begun appearing everywhere, “Flu season is here. Hand sanitizer: two for the price of one.” Don’t count on alcohol hand sanitizers to ward off the flu.
For years we’ve been encouraged to locate these products around the house, stash them in knapsacks, purses, and glove compartments. At supermarkets, there are alcohol-wipe dispensers to combat germs on shopping-cart handles, etc.
But new research reveals that the sanitizers and alcohol wipes aren’t effective... more
September 30, 2019
As harvest time wraps up, most gardeners will “glean” the last stragglers—the tiny zucchini struggling, a malformed carrot. This act of “gleaning” is also a metaphor for life.
What is Gleaning?
“To glean” means “to gather what was left by the reapers.” Historically, the “reapers” were those who planted and harvested the main crops. The “gleaners” were those who followed behind and collected leftover crops that the reapers left behind or didn’t want. It is a practice described in the Bible that... more
September 25, 2019
Perhaps you’ve been eyeing beautiful vegetables all summer long at farmers’ markets and farm stands. Maybe you have a small or large patch of lawn or weeds in a sunny backyard. If you’ve started thinking, “Hey, what about that garden next spring?,” here is some advice!
If you’ve long dreamed about having a small food garden, the fall is a great time to start thinking about it.
Small is beautiful
Every crop you decide to grow has specific requirements for space, sunlight, water, nutrition, and... more
September 13, 2019
My mom grew up on a big Vermont dairy farm, and every summer, they would haul endless gallons of something called switchel out to the field during haying season. Mom’s recipe for the homemade beverage was simple: apple cider vinegar sweetened with maple syrup (both made on the farm), diluted with cold spring water. Here’s the recipe.
Yuck! We turned up our noses at the thought of drinking sweetened vinegar.
But guess what? Switchel, a drink that harkens back to Colonial haymakers, has become... more
August 22, 2019
Psst! Wanna save money, improve health and fitness, and lower your carbon footprint—simultaneously?
Think about ways to make your daily life a little less efficient.
The idea: arrange your life to move more and rely less on power tools, appliances, and machines.
Living Inefficiently
A few tips:
Put up a clothesline and hang the wash. Clothes dryers account for almost six percent of household electrical costs. Line-dried clothes and sheets smell great. No, your towels won’t turn out soft and... more
August 17, 2019
How do you use extra mint leaves? Here are 12 marvelous uses for mint around the home and garden—from culinary to medicinal to mouthwash to bug repellent!
Meet the Mints
What do you know about the mint family, Lamiaceae, the sixth- or seventh-largest of the flowering plant families?
The most common and popular mints for growing are peppermint (Mentha × piperita), native spearmint (Mentha spicata), Scotch spearmint (Mentha x gracilis), and cornmint (Mentha arvensis); also (more recently) apple... more
August 13, 2019
As a casual cook, I usually throw together a dish quickly based on what’s in season, but in the area of food safety, I’m a stickler for the rules. One in six Americans this year will get sick from something they ate. Don’t be the one! Here are four food safety guidelines to keep food safe.
Food Safety is a Real Issue
One in six Americans this year will get sick from something they ate. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Of the 48 million people who get sick from... more
Pages
"Living Naturally" is all about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Margaret Boyles covers health tips, ways to avoid illness, natural remedies, food that's good for body and soul, recipes for homemade beauty products, ideas to make your home a healthy and safe haven, and the latest news on health. Our goal is also to encourage self-sufficiency, whether it's relearning some age-old skills or getting informed on modern improvements that help us live better, healthier lives.
FREE BEGINNER'S GARDEN GUIDE!
BONUS: You’ll also receive our Almanac Companion newsletter!
