Smoke Signals

If you love all things fermented such as kombucha, water kefir or perhaps you are trying to kick the soda habit, shubs are a fantastic way to go. Shrubs began in Eroupe as a way to get down the more bitter and not so palatable herbs used medicinally. I agree, it is a fabulous way to drink to your health! I'm foremost a tea-aholic so of course I'm incorporating my left over herbal tea blend from Cardamom & Curry for this D.I.Y. herbal shrub.  This makes it easy and is using the left over, real ingredients, that Cardamom & Curry are well known for.  ( They hand craft each bag of nourishing goodness and I was absolutely delighted to meet them and discover their teas! ) For today's shrub, we are using the brewed contents of Kali's Offering . First I made a pot of kali's offering which includes Hibiscus Flowers, Cardamom, Cloves, Ginger, Lemongrass, Mint & Rose Hips.  What a power house of nutriment! Additionally this tea has a natural, b...

Ever wonder why bones and other tissues are able to heal and regenerate, but not teeth? We are told that the same vitamin (well hormone actually, speaking of "vitamin" D that is) & minerals that are good for making strong bones are also good for our teeth.  So might it be possible to aid our teeth back to a better state of health as well as say, a broken bone? And do our teeth really tell the state of our overall health, like many a dentist  preach?     In fact, all of the above is what many doctors have been saying for a long time now. Dr. Weston A. Price, Sir (Dr.) Edward Mellanby, Dr. Thomas E. Levy, medical researcher Ty Bollinger & others all conclude that diet affects oral health and your oral health determines your overall well being.  According to many more doctors, the same bacteria that cause gum disease can also cause heart disease.  And thus having more plaque in your mouth can lead to or be a symptom of having more p...

It's so much fun! Ok first things first, I'm not a trained herbalist. Heck, I'm not even sure I would consider myself an herbalist.  Yet according to the definition, One who studies botany and the use of plants intended for medicinal purposes or for diet, ...I guess I am.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "I just forage the wild abundance of "weeds" around my home." And I hope to encourage you to do the same. In doing so, I teach my children the amazing-ness that grows wild and freely under our feet.  We learn together their unique and individual properties.  We utilize their medicinal value(s) and get to know one another.  The plant and us, that is.     And if that gives one some kind of title, well so be it ~but I'm not entirely sure it does.  Nonetheless, It was well established a long, long time ago,  “See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you ...

No, this is not about your "dirty dozen" whole foods list.   It may be relevant to say we have a background with eating very near 100% organic for a few years, at one time, on our journey.  We have a background with being members of an organization called C.A.R.E. (including binding contracts) in order to purchase raw milk and raw milk products as well as grass fed beef before it was legal to do so. These were the measures "we as the people" had to undergo in order to eat REAL WHOLESOME food. This was 12 years ago.     This picture was 8 years ago. And I am more than thankful at the strides "we the people" have made for the sake of our families, communities and eco-system.  But this post is unfortunately not about the achievements that has come about from these efforts.   SORRY.    ヾ(_ _*) Albeit much good has come from all the meetings, legal work and work arounds, those who have an agenda to conquer and enslave will...

We are still getting bouts of snow flurries but on the opposing days I can feel the sun warming and delight in it brightening our rooms. And with the excitement to plant a few of us including myself already have poison from clearing the field. Isn't fascinating, how plant life can make their own food?!  And to me it is even more dynamic that we in turn can thrive off of them.  What a wonderful design, the symbiotic relationship this whole realm is, no? Thus, I enjoy teaching photosynthesis, often, to our children because this process is just that cool.     _へ__(‾◡◝ )>  (My little girls brought me these the other day, you should have seen how enthusiastic they were.) ꒰˘̩̩̩⌣˘̩̩̩๑꒱♡   The sun for a lot of people however is something to avoid, when we are talking about skin that is.  I'm not sure when it happened but at some point the sun went from being worshiped to being demonized. I can remember my grandmother con...

Now before I begin to be demonized and sent a bunch of hate email , I’m NOT a doctor. Nor did I do the keto WOE (way of eating) under the care of a health practitioner. *I take full responsibility of my own health therefor I do my own due diligence, research and experiments; performed on me, by me. With this said this is my story, not yours. Please take anything I say as just that, my personal experience and opinions. And sorry I'm not siting any scientific reports for this article.  I'm keeping it personal.   I'm JUST a mom! Whew, now that we have all that squared away, let’s begin, shall we? (Note; For those just skimming, or have limited time, the condensed review is at the bottom.) The story: I began the keto WOE back in June of 2013 and I was 7 months postpartum at the time. However I continued this WOE through 2 pregnancies, exclusive breastfeeding and beyond. (ie. Intense workouts, heavy weight lifting, hiking, and more.) For my body, this mean...

Black Beauty is the most concentrated activated charcoal bar soap we offer. Completely black, this is a very popular item when we are at the market, as activated charcoal has been getting a lot of publicity lately in mainstream media. Known for its natural detoxifying ability, activated charcoal is used in many personal care products found in even the most notorious shopping stores such as Wal-Mart. Why all the rage? Many of our customers report that it is the only thing that helps with their dry skin and acne. In my post, “ Is your skin trying to tell you something ?” I go into some of the reasons this detoxing ingredient, activated charcoal works, especially today. And I get to the why this ingredient may be of help to so many even though the root cause can be varied from individual to individual. What sets our activated charcoal bar soaps apart from the rest are the additional ingredients found in our formulation of each activated charcoal soap bar. It's not only t...