Cultivating

Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest.

“This is totally innovative, and has never been done before in a public park,” Margarett Harrison, lead landscape architect for the Beacon Food Forest project, tells TakePart. Harrison is working on construction and permit drawings now and expects to break ground this summer.

The concept of a food forest certainly pushes the envelope on urban agriculture and is grounded in the concept of permaculture, which means it will be perennial and self-sustaining, like a forest is in the wild. Not only is this forest Seattle’s first large-scale permaculture project, but it’s also believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

Delicious Summer Gardening Tips by Mamta in Garden @ MyDecorative.Com

There are plants which need full sun and summer is right time to plant the veggies to enjoy your delicious homegrown dinner. You can plant summer garden. Here are the few veggies which you can grow in your backyard.

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Ethical Reasons:

You shouldn’t eat animals for convenience

You shouldn’t take a life because you like how it tastes

Farm animals and marine life feel pain and DO NOT WANT TO DIE!

You have to artificially inseminate cows/goats so they produce milk

Dairy cows get their baby calves stolen from them for veal EVERY YEAR

When male chicks are hatched at egg farms they get thrown into a grinder

All marine life gets caught in nets including dolphins, sharks and whales

This means we are losing vital marine life for “seafood”

Why do we love cats and dogs, but eat cows and pigs?

Health Reasons:

My energy levels have increased dramatically

My skin cleared up almost instantly

My digestion has gotten so much better due to eating fibre rich foods

There is no need to restrict calories on a HCLF vegan diet

Dioxin, one of the most toxic substances  IN THE WORLD is found in dairy products (Freedman and Barnouin, Skinny Bitch)

High dairy intakes blocks iron absorption (Robbins, Diet for a New America)

You eat all the hormones and pesticides that the animals are fed

Meat, dairy and eggs are extremely high in saturated and trans fats

You are literally eating DECOMPOSING FLESH

Eating chicken or fish is linked to colon cancer (American Journal of Epidemiology)

NO FIBRE IN ANIMAL PRODUCTS = CONSTIPATION YUCK

Dr Anthony Youn - eggs are almost as bad as smoking: eating 3-4 per week may harden arteries leading to stroke

Large eggs contain 210mg of cholesterol (8x more than COW meat)

Vegan proteins may reduce the risk of cancer, obesity, and CVD by promoting increased glucagon activity (McCarthy, 1998)

Disgusting pus in milk (called somatic cells) -> 180 MILLION somatic cells in an 8oz glass of milk. Pus is a response to an infection e.g. a pimple. YOU ARE DRINKING PIMPLE PUS

SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE REVERSED CHRONIC DISEASES WITH A VEGAN DIET

Meg Wolff reversed cancer, Robert Dew reversed heart disease, Natala Constantine reversed diabetes (Kathy Freston, Veganist)

Environmental Reasons:

The business of raising animals for food is responsible for 18% of global warming (Veganist)

Animal agriculture uses 30% of the land surface on the planet (Veganist)

It takes 10 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie of animal proten vs one calorie of plant protein (Veganist)

Methane gas from animal agriculture is 25-100 times more damaging than carbon dioxide (Cowspiracy)

UN: Animal agriculture is the leading cause of resource consumption and environmental degredation

Raising livestock JUST IN THE US uses 34 TRILLION gallons of water (Cowspiracy)

This is because the animals you eat, need to eat water intensive grains

One McDonalds quarter pounder needs over 660 gallons of water to be produced, this is two months worth of showers.

If overfishing doesn’t stop, we will see fishless oceans by 2048 (Cowspiracy).

Marine life does not recover quickly, and the nets used are so big they can catch whales, dolphins and other marine life.

An acre of rainforest is cleared EVERY SECOND (Cowspiracy)

The leading cause of this is to graze animals and grow their feed crops

Palm Oil is responsible for 26 million acres being cleared, however, livestock is responsible for 136 million acres being cleared, making it the leading cause.

Acacia- astringent, emollient

Agrimony- astringent, for heavy menstruation, to stop bleeding, cuts, wounds

Alfalfa- good for any treatment, nourish the body

Allspice- good for digestion, analgesic, antioxidant

Aloe- for cuts, wounds

Angelica- for colds, congestion, fevers, lungs

Anise- congestion, relieve gas, indigestion

Basil- stimulates appetite, uplifts mood,

Calendula- treatment for cuts, bruises

Camphor- stimulates circulation, muscles, limbs

Catnip- antioxidants, good for cats, high on C and E vitamins

Chamomile- anti-stress, anti-anxiety, calming

Cinnamon- for weak digestion, low appetite, stomach upset, antibacterial

Clove- antibacterial, antiseptic, analgesic,

Dandelion- good for the liver, digestion, flush toxins from the body

Dill- ease gas pain, settles the stomach

Eucalyptus- for colds, antibacterial, antiviral, relieve muscles and arthritis pain

Fennel- for coughs, weight loss, helps with menopause period

Garlic- for high blood pressure, antifungal, skin problems

Ginger- for throat pain, analgesic, antioxidant, digestive, stimulant

 Green tea- for weight loss, helps with cancer

Lavender- heal burns, relieve pain, sleep, antibacterial

 Lemon balm- calming, helps with sleep, headaches, mild depression

Lemongrass- menstrual troubles, soothing, sleep

Marigold- minor wounds, cuts, bruises

Mint- stomachache, relieves gas, analgesic,

Mistletoe- helps in cancer therapy

Mugwort- analgesic, helps with menstrual problems, sleep

Myrrh- antifungal, antiseptical, astringents

Nutmeg- nervous system, analgesic, astringent, digestive, stimulant

Rhodiola rosea- anti-depressive, aphrodisiac, stimulant

Rosemary- mental fatigue, increase concentration, antioxidant, insect repellent

Sage- analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant

Sandalwood- aphrodisiac, antifungal, antiviral, diuretic, sedative

St. john’s wort- anti-depressive, antioxidant

Thyme- analgesic, antibacterial, digestive, expectorant, insect repellent

Valerian- antiseptic, sedative

Vanilla- anticancer, aromatic

Vervain- pain reliever, tranquilizer, expectorant, astringent

My go-to remedies for basic vagina/uterus/ovaries-related concerns!  Some follow-up reading linked below.  Enjoy!!

Excellent info from Aviva Romm, MD, CPM (tw lots of gendered language):

5 Favorite Herbal Medicines for Women

Safe Herbs for Pregnancy and Birth

Herbs for More Comfortable Pregnancy

Preventing Migraines

Depression in Pregnancy

More information about specific herbs:

Echinacea

Lemon balm

Nettles

Peppermint

Red Raspberry Leaf

Tea tree oil

Wild Yam

Yarrow

30 Epic Guac Recipes for National Guacamole Day

Giant Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) seeds

Every part of this flower that grows above the ground is edible, and tastes like a sharp cress. The young flower buds can be pickled and used as capers; the flowers themselves make a colourful addition to salads; the green seeds can be used to add a mustard-y punch to any dish; and the leaves can also be eaten, and taste similar to arugula or mizuna.

These are the largest cultivar of these flowers I have ever grown, and while I started with a yellow-flowering phenotype and an orange-flowering phenotype, among the self-sown plants in the F1 and F2 generations, a yellow and orange striped-flowering phenotype has arisen. I haven’t had to re-sow them since planting three years ago.

A single seed can turn into a plant that covers well over a square metre of area in the garden. They repel squash bugs, so they are excellent companion plants for cucurbits.