Living Naturally
Start a medicine garden to provide herbal healing to your household from your own backyard! Years ago, I started a medicine garden with just a few herbs and 16 years later, it is still growing and changing, as gardens do. I have been making safe simple medicines for my family from this garden each year since we put the first plant in the ground.What is a Medicine Garden?In…
Got a runny or stuffy nose? Scratchy throat? Suspect you may be coming down with that bug that’s going around? Here are 5 tried-and-true home remedies to stave off a winter cold or cough. And does chicken soup really work? Let’s take action!5 Tried-and-True Home Remedies:Cold symptoms are usually mild, but also very annoying and uncomfortable. As soon as you think you’re…
Looking for advice on creating a healthy eating plan? There are so many diets that it can set your head to spinning. It reminded me to get back to basics.Diet ConfusionThese days, we have a lot of diet choices. To name a few: fruitarian, pescetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian, omnivorian, macrobiotic, ketogenic, Mediterranean, low-FODMAP, Pritikin,…
How can we avoid colds and flu? Both—along with pneumonia, strep, chicken pox, and norovirus infections (“stomach flu”)—rise during winter months. Why are they more prevalent in winter? And how can we prevent a cold or flu naturally—before it starts? See our quick tips.Why Do People Get Sick in Winter? The answers are complex, elusive, and still evolving.For a long time,…
In recent years, I’ve started making my own laundry detergent. It’s less irritating on my skin and works as well as any commercial detergent for a fraction of the cost. Here’s the simple recipe.“After the ecstasy, the laundry.” I’d say that this famous Zen saying also holds for agony. Yes, the laundry always awaits! Ecstasy or agony, laundry serves as a metaphor…
Sure, we all know that what we eat is important for our physical health. But can what we eat also affect how we feel? Let’s explore how eating better can help us feel better—with less anxiety, stress, and depression.Interestingly, there’s a whole new field dedicated to this question: “Nutritional psychiatrists” counsel patients on how better eating may help lead to better mental health…
If you haven’t eaten cabbage in a while, we urge you to look again at this healthy, unsung hero of the vegetable world. Want beautiful skin, weight loss, or a great immune system? See five great reasons to eat (and grow) cabbage!Before we had the little greenhouse that enables us to grow salad and cooking greens all winter, we grew between 50 and 100 green and red…
Nothing eases everyday pains, strains, aches, and bruises like cold and heat. But which conditions respond best to heat therapy and which to cold therapy? As someone who spent many midlife years running in summer triathlons and who enjoys a physically demanding self-reliant rural life, I count heat and cold among my most important first-aid remedies.Strained muscles, Achilles…
Feelin’ your oats? Eating your oats? (Yes! They’re good for you!) But what about drinking your oats? That’s right! With just oats and water, you can make your own lactose-free, easy, creamy, DIY oat milk! What are you waiting for?
“Oat milk”* joins any number of plant-based beverages as part of a trend that’s gone mainstream. Even conventional supermarkets now offer a wide variety of…
There’s always debate about fats and carbs, but everyone knows that protein is essential to life. Where do the healthiest proteins come from? Plants! Does that surprise you? Learn how to eat more plant-based proteins for a better, healthier you!Protein powers our body, giving us strength and energy—and reducing our appetite. Thousands of specific protein molecules our bodies make do…
Why throw out some of the healthiest parts of vegetables (potato peels, broccoli stems, etc.)? Toss those vegetable scraps into a stockpot for a delicious, nutritious broth! Here are the best vegetable scraps to use in stock that will add a gourmet kick to soups, stews, chowders, or casseroles. A More Healthy StockDon’t throw out those scraps! Potato peelings, for…
Making charcuterie boards and platters is not only a great way to serve appetizers, but also a fun way to do something different for the holiday dinner table. Guess enjoy helping themselves to favorite foods, it’s far easier on the host than a traditional dinner, and it’s fun.Due to some recent health issues, I needed to minimize exertion but still wanted to bring some variety and…