Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Responsibility of Living Organic~

Those of us who have learned to think and act "organic" now has the responsibility of making sure our knowledge is used to impact others who are still searching for the understanding.

We must display our actions in all phases of our life to effect the production of goods, food, and power. This obviously has to be more than digging compost into our gardens. Our actions must start in our own gardens, but it can't stop there if we are going to make real change a success.

There are three ways to impact the cause.

One-is Personal. Return all we can to the soil instead of the landfill.
Grow some of our own food, and grow it without chemicals.
Take action to know and preserve our own health.
Our health care system is shakey at best. We must begin to take charge and be the keeper of our own well being.

Two-is Community Action. Whatever our knowledge is, we must share it with those around us. Be a teacher, a promoter, a leader. There are many things that can be accomplished by a group that one person can't do.
A community project for recycling, edible gardens at schools, senior centers, and homeless shelters are great places to start.

Three-Political Action. It's a fact that environmental problems have largely been created by misguided use of technology. Solutions will have to be for the most part political as well.
We must get very aquainted with our politicians, locally and nationwide.
Ask hard questions and don't settle for brush-off answers.

A good question to ask is: What are you doing to make our planet a more organic place? Be bold about what we are doing and what we need to help our cause.

Organic has made great strides in the last few years, but we have only scratched the surface to what has to be done.

Please join me in doing something that will make a real difference in the bigger picture.

Bea Kunz

The Edible Landscape~




Do you know there was once kitchen gardens and livestock on the White House grounds.
Granted it was another era, it was the norm, it was a good thing. Do you know there is a petition to encourage going back to the kitchen garden at the White House?

Roger Doiron, founder of the "Kitchen Gardens International," of which I am an active and happy member, recently had a great article in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/garden/17garden.html?8br

If you are intrigued, read it and follow some of the links. Read some more, and hopefully this will inspire you too...to plant an edible landscape.

An edible garden is a fun, wise, and beautiful thing to do for yourself and the planet we must all share.

Happy Gardening~

Bea Kunz

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Your Garden as Your Pharmacy




Do you long to be free of aches and pains, the sniffles, allergies, and a host of other ailments that keep you less than a 100%.

You garden may well hold the key that unlocks the knowledge you need to make changes that will bring much welcomed relief.

A good maintenance plan is worth a million trips to the doctor's office.

*( please note, I'm not attempting to offer medical advice in any manner. If you have major health issues, I would suggest getting medical attention from your prefered source before adopting a self made plan.)

That being clear we can go forward.

These are a few plants/herbs that have long been used and trusted for medicinal uses.

Bee Pollen
Belladonna
Chamomile
Calendula
Cider Vinegar
Eucalyptus
Echinacea
Garlic
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Ginseng
Horseradish
Honeysuckle
Lavender
Lemon
Olive
Pineapple
Potato
Rose
Sage
St. John's Wort
Swedish Bitters
Tarragon

This a very short list and there are as many different methods of use.

Therapeutic Tea, Aromatherapy, Soaks, Supplements, Massage, and Culinary.
These are the methods we can use daily and make our own decisions and conclusions.

For a more official regiment of use-Homeopathy, Hair Analysis, Autohemotherapy,to name a few.

Each little natural thing we do for our body will reward us with a better immune system. This is the key to fighting off major illness if it should visit you.

An herbal soak, a cup of hot herbal tea, a good book and who needs more.
(Well, let's not forget the computer.)

To good health at a price we can afford.

Bea Kunz
Sage Hill Farms

Monday, June 02, 2008

Summer Solstice


~

Speaking of change and how we evolve....

Depending on where you live, the Summer Solstice occurs this year —
in the Northern Hemisphere on: June 20, 2008 at 7PM EDT; and in the UK on June 21, 2008 at the stroke of midnight GMT.

in the Southern Hemisphere on: December 21, 2008 at 10:04pm AEST.


Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.

As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.



Early Celebrations

Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations in the northern areas have for centuries celebrated the Summer Solstice, otherwise known as Midsummer.

The Celts & Slavs celebrated with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy.

Perhaps the most enduring modern ties with Summer Solstice were the Druids' celebration of the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day belief of a "lucky" wedding in June.


Today, the day is still celebrated around the world - most notably in England at Stonehenge and Avebury, where thousands still gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

Pagan spirit gatherings or festivals are also common in June, when groups gather to light a sacred fire, and stay up all night to welcome the dawn.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.


Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.


Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.

Will you be celebrating Summer Solstice?

Do share....

Wishing you all a most eventful summer...full of blooms~

Bea Kunz