the times we live in

Despite living a simple, frugal lifestyle and budgeting carefully, I've really felt the effects of a more limited budget the past couple of months. (I'll be posting more on this subject soon.)
In an effort to attract some added income I've become an affiliate for Mountain Rose Herbs. I chose this company because of their strong emphasis on sustainable agriculture and overall commitment to the environment, the reason Mountain Rose Herbs has been my supplier for organic herbs and supplies for the past several years. Their prices are some of the best as well. So you see, I have a lot of reasons for choosing to become an affiliate. The bottom line is, I love Mountain Rose and hope you will consider them for your herbs, spices, teas and other quality items. Please use one of the enclosed links or the sidebar link on my blog site to visit Mountain Rose Herbs and while there be sure to read their guiding principles. We need more caring companies like this! I hope you'll support them for your needs. In the process you'll be helping me out as well and for that a seriously huge thank you from my homestead heart.

As well as the aforementioned items, MRH carries natural health and body care products, carrier oils and bulk supplies as well as essential oils, aromatherapy products and gifts for the home and garden. Their list of herbs and spices is extensive and their customer service fabulous. I know!

Breaking Free of the Cave May Save Your Life

(NaturalNews) The ancient philosopher Plato (circa 427 - 347 BC), wrote many astounding works. One of his largest, The Republic, contains the oft-referred to Allegory of the Cave. If you are unfamiliar with the work, here is a good artist's rendition of the Cave: ((http://www.meditationsight.com/Document...) .

Explanation of The Cave

Prisoners are chained deep down in a cave, from very early childhood. Their arms, legs, and head are all chained so that they cannot move, only stare at the wall before them.

Behind them is a huge fire. Between them and the fire is a raised path, on which shapes of animals, plants, and other items are carried. This casts shadows on the wall, which transfixes the prisoners; and when one of the carriers speaks, the sound echoes throughout the cave so the prisoners believe that it is coming from the shadows themselves. The captives play a sort of "name game" with one another, giving names to the shadows, which are the only reality they know.

Now picture one of the prisoners is freed from his bonds, and is beckoned to stand and turn around. He would sense pain in his body, and would be blinded by the glare of light. The shapes passing before him would seem less real than the shadows that they cast.

Upon leaving the cave, he is once again blinded by the increase in light. At first he only sees dark silhouettes of things, then he begins to see objects more and more clearly as his eyes adjust.

The last thing he would see is the sun itself, which he learns creates all of the seasons, and shapes and touches all that surrounds him.

Returning to the cave so that he may free his fellow prisoners, his eyes do not adjust well to the darkness. He cannot play their name game as quick, and they believe him to be blinded from his venture away. They think that this will happen to them, and so do not want to be freed, and out of this fear become murderous to anyone intending to do so.

Current Version

A present day version of The Cave could be likened to a movie many of you will remember -- "The Matrix", and Neo's path to enlightenment. In the movie, Neo knows that there is more truth out there than what he sees, and chooses to swallow the pill that will allow him to progress further and learn. He soon awakens to find himself bound in a liquid filled container. Breaking free, he begins a journey, learning about the realities of present life, negating all that he knew before. He begins to see the world for what it really is; learning that his former world was merely created by a computer program, known as "The Matrix". Neo goes on to realize that while he has this knowledge and can accept it and live in what is truly reality, most people are not ready. They are too fragile for the truth, and would resist or even die from the knowledge. Even some of those that learned the truth failed to thrive in the real environment, choosing instead to be placed back within the false reality.

Applying This to the Present Day

This can be applied to each and every one of us. Every day we choose what we believe to be true. Plato referred to this as "eikasia" which he used to refer to a human's way of dealing with appearances. It is the ability to perceive whether a perception is an image of something else; allowing us to see that a dream or memory, or even a reflection in a mirror, is not reality. We all have puppeteers in our lives influencing what we believe to be true, such as Plato's object carriers and Neo's Matrix. Our parents, teachers, governments and media all influence what we think. It is our job to "awaken", and sort through things diligently to see the truth for what it really is. This is our own personal "Path to Enlightenment", our own journeys out of the cave and in search of the sun.

How This Relates to Our Health

Some of us today are seeing the truth of our situation, and luckily our numbers are growing. We are sick, we are suffering, and we are dying. Why? Our meat comes from factories. Our vegetables and fruits are contaminated with pesticides and herbicides. Our seeds are being genetically engineered, and can now be patented.

Our grocery carts are filled with the latest boxes and packages of low-fat, low-carb, eat healthy, lose weight Garbage, yet we scoff at the prices of organic foods. Where once was a bowl of dough rising on the counter to be baked fresh from whole grains for the family dinner table, now sits a box of Bisquick.

Our milk contains pus and antibiotics, our meats contain nitrates, our drinks and many foods are laden with high fructose corn syrup. In an effort to minimize our waist-lines we consume the poisonous wood alcohol methanol, an ingredient in aspartame.

We have stolen from the earth, taken what was natural and healthy for us and made it unnatural and inherently detrimental. Our children are growing up on sugar and refined foods and we stare blankly when someone tells us that we are clogging their arteries even before they hit puberty.

Our doctors prescribe us pharmaceuticals to address our health concerns, which in turn cause us more problems that lead to more prescriptions. We complacently believe that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are just the side effects of growing old, and that the pharmaceutical companies will keep coming out with more products to "save" us.

Our waists are expanding, our hearts and livers and kidneys are failing. Our arteries are clogging at alarming rates and yet still, what do we do? Supersize that, please.

We must get back to reality. We must get back to nature.

I urge you all, break free of your bonds and walk out of the cave!

References:

"Plato: The Allegory of the Cave". Washington State University. July 14, 2007 ((http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_c...) .

Possehl, Melissa. "Explanation of the Cave". Critical Thinking March, 2006.

About the author

Mel Possehl is a Holistic Wellness Consultant working towards dual diplomas in Herbalism & Holistic Health, and is studying for the Registered Aromatherapist certification.

She has two blogs on natural health:
http://your-holistic-life.blogspot.com/
http://just-womens-issues.blogspot.com/

Thinking Spring

The gardening and seed catalogs are arriving in the mail on a regular basis now. I’ll be purchasing most of my new seeds from rareseeds.com this year. I plan on our having an entirely heirloom garden this coming spring and this supplier has such a good and unique variety. Next week I will seriously have to sit down and make my final decisions on what to order because it won’t be terribly long until I will begin growing the plants.

My canned food supply in the cellar has dwindled. Now I see that a more generous supply of spaghetti sauce and salsa will have to be canned next fall. We have eaten well all winter off last summers gardening endeavors. There is sufficient veggies in the freezer to see us through until fresh is available again.

It’s a good feeling to know oneself as self sufficient enough raise and preserve food, as well as (at least partially) sustain one’s self by the labor of one’s hands…and back I might add. Not everything did great, but we were gardening totally organically, so there were challenges and downfalls. We had some plants that failed, some that thrived and some that didn’t even come up. I learned about blossom end rot on my tomatoes and that it’s due to a lack of calcium. This year I will be planting crushed egg shells with my tomatoes. I learned that planting dill with my tomatoes this year may keep those tomato horn worms at bay. (I also learned that those same destructive worms turn into those cute little hummingbird moths.) I learned, too, that even if a garden product says it’s safe for organic gardens, you really need to question that and read all the info to make sure it’s something you really want to expose your plant and yourself to. There’s some pretty scary stuff out there that’s ”approved” for organic gardens.

The Dangers of GMO's - on my soapbox

People who know me best know that I buy and eat organic and non GM (genetically modified) food as much as one possibly can on a limited budget and with limited sources. That being the main reason for growing our own produce the past couple of years. One I began educating myself I felt we had no alternative if we wanted access to healthier, safer food.

On light of my rant against GM food, I am urging my readers to review Genetically Modified Foods: Toxins and Reproductive Failures, a highly informative article from the Institute for Responsible Technology. I can't emphasize enough just how much I feel we need to make ourselves aware of what we may be blindly consuming.

Also from the Institute for Responsible Technology, below is a list of GM foods.

Genetically Modified Foods at a Glance

Here is a summary of what crops, foods and food ingredients have been genetically modified:

Currently Commercialized GM Crops in the U.S.
(Number in parentheses represents the estimated percent that is genetically modified.)
Soy (89%)
Cotton (83%)
Canola (65%)
Corn (61%)
Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%)
Alfalfa, zucchini and yellow squash (small amount)
Tobacco (Quest® brand)

Other Sources of GMOs
Dairy products from cows injected with rbGH.
Food additives, enzymes, flavorings, and processing agents, including the sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet®) and rennet used to make hard cheeses
Meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals that have eaten GM feed
Honey and bee pollen that may have GM sources of pollen

Some of the Ingredients That May Be Genetically Modified
Vegetable oil (soy, corn, cottonseed, or canola), margarines, soy flour, soy protein, soy lecithin, textured vegetable protein, cornmeal, corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, citric acid, and lactic acid.

Some of the Foods That May Contain GM Ingredients
Infant formula
Salad dressing
Bread
Cereal
Hamburgers and hotdogs
Margarine
Mayonnaise
Crackers
Cookies
Chocolate
Candy
Fried food
Chips
Veggie burgers
Meat substitutes
Ice cream
Frozen yogurt
Tofu
Tamari
Soy sauce
Soy cheese
Tomato sauce
Protein powder
Baking powder
Alcohol
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
Peanut butter
Enriched flour
Pasta

Non-Food Items That May Contain GM Ingredients
Cosmetics
Soaps
Detergents
Shampoo
Bubble bath

Sign up for our newsletter, Spilling the Beans, to keep informed of any new genetically modified foods.

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The trees are greening up and the sun is shining...well now it is. Late yesterday afternoon and night we saw heavy storms directly over our county. Typical Spring in Ohio when cold air meets warm and creates chaotic weather that brings funnel clouds, heavy rain and hail. Fortunately we sustained no damage. And the ducks were in heaven with the rain and puddles! :) As I always say when it rains, "great weather...if you're a duck!"

Speaking of ducks, our three Muscovy followed (voluntarily without prodding) the path to the creek the other day. Since the ground drops in the back, I had to stand on a stool at the kitchen window to watch them waddle down to the creek. Still I could only see so far so we headed upstairs to look out the window. What a wonderful sight to see these fowl in their element, bobbing in the creek, flapping their wings and skimming the water. It was a joyous experience for us as well as the ducks! Needless to say, they are keeping themselves much cleaner now that they have regular baths! They are the most entertaining critters, worth their weight in
comic value if nothing else. They are adapting well and becoming very well accustomed to our presence.

Coop and Conrad (the landowner) worked yesterday on the section of ground by the silo, cleaning up what was obviously a junk pile the previous tenant left. On Earth Day I had gathered up two 55 gallon bags of junk from the area. That was my personal contribution to commemorate the day. That at least cleared the way for the guys to work on the larger pieces of trash. Still have a ways to go, but it's looking better. Just needed to get the worst taken care of before the grass and weeds grew tall.

***

Beyond the barn bank where the old barn used to be, is now this beautiful somewhat secluded area...a small valley unto itself with the creek running nearby. It is quite lovely and peaceful. Coop has been keeping it mowed. I am thinking I will place my concrete bench down there along the edge of the grass near the trees and creek bed. What a beautiful meditation spot that would be. I have always dreamed of having a serene area in nature to go to when in need of solitude. This will be ideal.

Conrad was going to have the old locust stump removed from the back yard, until Coop mentioned that I wanted it to stay. :) It stays. It's a large stump, several feet high that I will use as an outdoor altar or plant stand. I have many memories of sitting under that old locust tree and breathing in the fragrance of its' blossoms. Though the tree may be gone now, the stump is a reminder and the remainder of something beautiful.

greens in the ground & ducks running round

Coop (my hubby) got the garden space looking so nice. Tonight I planted 7 rows of greens and radishes to start with. The tomato and pepper plants I started from seed are doing well and growing hearty. They have about a month to go before planting. I have enough going I will likely have to sell if not give the extras away. I've started three organic varieties; Beefsteak, Brandywine and San Marzano plum style for sauces and salsas.

Now that the weather has warmed and Spring has really sprung, I am getting so anxious for fresh veggies. I could practically live off tomatoes in the summer time. Yum! Not to mention summer squash, green beans, etc. Looking forward to a productive garden and lots of canned goods to put away for the winter.

The ducks (from left to right, Bruce Almighty, Thelma and Louise) are so much fun now that they are free ranging. We'll direct them to the creek tomorrow so they know where the fun is. These three are Muscovy ducks from South America. They're totally unrelated to the North American ducks and different in many ways. They fly, which is what gives them their meaty large breasts, they have talons and can climb fences and perch. They love to perch. They have the weird red flesh around their faces, especially prominent in the males.

When we got them we kept them penned for a couple weeks. We just used an old dog house for their shelter and fenced in a small pen around that. Since they can fly and climb, it was necessary to put some netting of some sort over the top of their pen. We just used some old plastic snow fencing we had on hand and that worked great. We tarped one end so they would have a shady place to sit and added a roost for them by running a narrow board through the holes of two cement blocks, one on each end. They were hesitant to leave their space the first day we opened the gate. Finally Coop shooed them out. They require little if any feed when free ranging because they will eat plants, bugs, etc. Which reminds me, we better get that fencing for the garden by the time to greens come up!

We decided on this breed (and got them free, love that freecycle!) because they are virtually maintenance free, smart and supposed to be the best ducks for eating you can find. Ok, so I'm not going to eat these three, but when the hens start laying we do plan on raising a few for the table freezer. They are very low in fat and have a lot of white meat. I've read that they taste like veal, so we shall see.