With Nature at Honey Horn

Yesterday, I finished Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step, an excellent written meditation to help foster mindfulness and awareness.

Often, Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that we would benefit to become more aware of nature.  This is both to increase our level of mindfulness, and to reduce the suffering in others’ lives.  When we are disrespectful to the Earth, we are being disrespectful to all other living beings and to ourselves since we are all connected.  When we become more aware, more conscious, we are naturally inclined to be more respectful of the Earth. Continue reading →

Relaxing on the Coast

I apologize for the lack of posts lately…

I tried to give my full attention to the Thanksgiving holiday — family, food, relaxation.

I also found time to discover this lovely little scene on my Thanksgiving Day walk. Continue reading →

Homemade Wheat Thins + Palm Oil PSA

Although I’m a few days late with this, I’d still like to share with you that last week was Orangutan Caring Week.

Continue reading →

To Love This Land

Throughout my life, I’ve heard people complain countless times about the region of the world that I live in — it’s too cold, the economy is not good enough, there’s not enough city life, it snows too much, it’s too humid in the summer, it’s too on and on and on… Continue reading →

A Night in the Dark & Echinacea Tincture

Hello Light Footsteppers!

I think today is another hodgepodge of a post for me.  It seems that I have been busy, busy lately.  All good things — friends visiting the states from South America, a conference, event planning, trying to continue a regular habit of eating well and taking walks in nature.  It’s all left me with a lot of ideas for what I imagine to be profound posts, but time slips away quickly and then I wonder if it’s all still relevant.  Continue reading →

Simply Homemade: Broth Powder and Face Wash

Last weekend, I was at the Chicago Bioneers conference.  It was extremely empowering to be in the presence of so many inspirational figures who are leading the way toward a new future  — one that is less dependent on oil, better at following the patterns found in nature, and is resilient to the inevitable fluctuations that happen in life. (My favorite presenters included Vandana Shiva, Richard Heinberg, and Starhawk.)

One of the themes that continually appeared was the need to focus on creating community and living simpler, more regionally-based lives.  However, people often asked, “How? What can I do to help us transition?”

I believe one of the primary answers is, in fact, embarrassingly simple: we need to consume less and produce more.  This cuts our carbon footprint, decreases our exposure to toxic chemicals, reduces the need to extract far away resources, supports local (and often home-based) economies, gives us meaning and purpose, reduces costs, produces less pollution, and on and on….

And so in case you haven’t noticed, that is one of the main things that I am attempting to do with this blog — get you excited about these simple-living changes!  It’s one of the easiest ways to walk the talk of being environmentally friendly, socially just, and a participant in a new Earth-centered way of life.

Today, I’m sharing two new homemade products that I’ve been meaning to write about (although on different ends of the homemade spectrum) — broth powder and face wash. I know…totally unrelated to one another, but they are both about producing more ourselves and consuming less!   Continue reading →

Homestead Highlight on Backyard Farming Connection

Interested in learning a little more about me, how I got started with backyard farming, and why I think it’s so important to live this way? Continue reading →

Slippery Elm Balls for Digestive Distress

Medicine doesn’t have to taste gross or be filled with ingredients that a normal human cannot pronounce (let alone comprehend where they came from!).  In fact, one of our first lines of medical help can be in the form of healing, all-natural products from plants we can identify outdoors that are made in our own kitchens with ingredients we trust.  This is herbal medicine. It is people’s medicine.

The following recipe is for a fun, easy to make, and even easier to eat herbal ball that helps to calm digestive issues.  Eat too much? Have heartburn? Feeling a general sense of malaise in your digestive region?  Give a slippery elm ball a try! Continue reading →

Herbal Ice Cubes

Hurry! Before the killing frosts come (if it’s not already too late)!  Try these herbal ice cubes as a way to preserve the last of your culinary herbs.   Continue reading →

An Easy Apple Crumble to Delight Your Fall Taste Buds

We all deserve a homemade apple crumble at least once during the Fall.  Here’s an easy one to make (as long as you’re still able to find apples this year after a difficult harvest…). Continue reading →