Well, I’ve been away for a little longer than usual. It’s strange to be away from the blog for so long, but there has been a lot going on in the “real world”. Some of the most exciting things are that it looks like we’re getting closer to a house with more land (yay!!) and we will be having our commitment ceremony this June on the summer solstice (double yay!!). Continue reading
Today I’m happy to announce the debut of a new ebook, Farm to Table Through the Year: 12 Months of Fresh Food From the Garden. This helpful book is a collection of growing tips, recipes, and inspiration for each of the 12 months of the year. Continue reading
Today I’m happy to share an interview with an inspirational woman who happens to be a sponsor this month. She owns a fabulous small business called Montana Solar Creations and blogs about natural living, too! Be sure to visit her Etsy shop and read more on her blog. Continue reading
Yogurt is an excellent way to promote proper functioning of your digestive system. As long as you’re eating yogurt that has live active cultures, it contains probiotics (aka beneficial bacteria) that help to balance the microflora in your gut. This makes digestion easier and helps keep your system moving regularly.
Making your own yogurt ensures that you know where your milk came from, and also reduces your reliance on continually buying hundreds of little yogurt containers. By knowing where your milk comes from, you can be sure to choose milk from grass-fed cows. Not only are grass-fed cows generally living a higher-quality, free-ranging life where they are eating what they should be naturally (i.e. grass and not corn or soy which also increases your exposure to GMOs), but grass-fed cows also produce milk that is more nutritionally dense. For example, most grass-fed cow milk contains nearly 5x more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an unsaturated fat that may help with heart health and assist with weight loss. Continue reading
As we move closer to the Spring Equinox and many struggle to feel content and whole in the last days of winter’s grasp, I would like to share a guest post by De’Anna L’am. Continue reading
Walking into Deanne Bednar’s Strawbale Studio in Oxford, Michigan is like walking into the future…or maybe the past. Either way, it is at the same time homelike as it is ethereal and dreamy. It is a wonderful, welcoming space in which to find oneself.
Here, you are immediately immersed in a more nature-based state of living: jars of herbs, kombucha, and kefir line the counters, whittling projects lie about the room, and natural trinkets like spiraling wood, herb bundles, and dried flowers can be found in every corner and adorning the walls.
What is more unique to those unfamiliar with natural building techniques are the wonderful Earthen plasters that soften edges, relax the eyes, and bring the outdoors into the home. Continue reading
Nearly every day for the past week, I will suddenly hear raucous alarm calls coming from the flock of sparrows that hang out in the backyard.
It appears that we have attracted a regular visitor who showed up on two separate occasions today. An adorable, killing machine – a Cooper’s hawk. Continue reading
I hear a lot of people bemoan winter weather, but I try to avoid complaining about it. Winter is just another season, the wheel of the year will turn again just as quickly as it always does.
I find it better to embrace the gifts of winter. I allow myself to sleep a bit more knowing that in the days before electricity people were certainly getting a lot more dreaming in this time of year. Why did we decide that we always have to go, go, go? The colder, darker days also allow me to find joy in the ample time to read, sew, journal, and dream of plans for the future. This extra inward-focused time will quickly pass when spring comes! Continue reading
Food is medicine.
It’s true. What we put into our bodies will have consequences for our energy levels, ability to ward off diseases, and maintain homeostasis in our body’s systems. We know this immediately if we pay attention to how we feel after eating poorly or well — we are either drained or renewed, weighed down or weightless. And of course, there are new studies added almost every day that link poor diet to the diseases we see so frequently in our culture that often revolve around a cluster of symptoms we call metabolic syndrome.
Adding herbs to our diets is an easy way to benefit from their protective and healing properties. They can also taste delicious! Continue reading
We recently went to a Sustainability Symposium at the Botanical Gardens. It was a day filled with a variety of lectures related to the impacts of climate change in Northeast Ohio, gardening, and green living.
One of the lectures discussed green cleaning products. At one point, the presenter showed a picture of what it looks like in the cupboards underneath the sink in a “green” home — lots of cloth rags, vinegar, baking soda, and maybe some borax or washing soda. She then asked, “How many of you have cupboards that look like this?”
I was one of very few people that raised a hand. Hmm…I guess there’s still a lot of educational work to be done! Continue reading
These Light Footsteps 