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Herbs can be used from spicing up a main dish with some cayenne or curling up with a good book and a steaming cup of Chamomile tea. With the weather getting colder during these winter months there is nothing better than a cup of herbal tea steeped from your own garden! Drying and making herbal teas is not only a very easy process, but healthier and less expensive!

Start by picking your herbs from your garden mid-morning before the herbs have been exposed to the full sun but after the morning dew has evaporated off of your plant. Cut only the mature plants long stems and shake any insects off of them. Pick off any of the dead leaves, being careful not to damage any of the healthy ones, as this will release some of the precious oils out of the herb. Rinse off the stems and pat them dry (still being extra careful), turn the stems upside down and bundle five or six stems together. Take your bundle(s) and hang them upside down in a warm airy room for a couple of weeks until the herbs are dry. Crumble the leaves off of the stems and place them in an air tight container.

For making your tea, bring a cup of spring water to a boil and add 1 teaspoon of tea in either a tea ball or a muslin drawstring bag. Let the tea ’steep’ in the water for anywhere between 3 mins to 10 mins, taking sips at different intervals until you find the steeping time that you prefer.

The best part of making your own herbal teas is creating your own recipes! One of my personal favorites is Chamomile with a touch of mint, it’s a great ‘before bedtime’ tea.

Have fun with it, homemade teas placed into a muslin bag set in a nice tea cup makes a great holiday gift idea, as well!

Although, there are many ways to cut back on our energy consumption, by doing our part within our own little circle not only helps us to save money, but also helps to save the earth. Below you will find 10 energy saving tips that are simple and easy to do and will help both you and our planet at the same time.

1. Hanging your clothes outside to dry instead of using an electric dryer. Some people don’t like the way their clothes feel when they dry on a line, if this is the case for you, try drying your clothes in an electric dryer for the last 10 minutes of drying time, it really does make a difference in the way the clothes feel and the way you feel when you receive your electric bill!

2. Preheating your oven is only necessary when you’re baking bread or other pastries. I have limited my oven usage by purchasing a toaster oven. You are able to cook just about everything that you put in a conventional oven in a toaster oven and honestly, I don’t know how I survived without one!

3. Hand wash your dishes. If you don’t trust your hand washing, and feel that the dishwasher does a better job, air dry your dishes after the rinse cycle. There really is no need to pay for the dishwasher to dry your dishes for you.

4. Keep all the doors to rooms that are not in use shut. The A/C or heater will have to work twice as hard trying to heat or cool all the rooms that aren’t in use. Close the vents off as well. This will save tremendously on your electric bill.

5. Keep your A/C or heater at the highest possible setting. During the summer months, I keep my thermostat on 78 degrees and during the winter months (keep in mind I live in Florida) I keep the setting on 72 degrees.

6. Thick curtains aid in keeping the sun from heating up your home, in turn causing your A/C to work harder at keeping the home cool during the summer months.

7. Fans also are an inexpensive aid to your A/C unit.

8. Taking all your vegetable waste, coffee grinds, tea bags and yard waste and creating a compost bin helps to save much needed space in our landfills. Compost also makes for a great healthy garden during the planting seasons.

9. Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees. Water heating can be held accountable for 14%–25% of the energy consumed in your home. You can also shorten your showers and cut back on taking baths.

10. Combine errands into one trip. This will aid in saving on fuel and fuel costs. Starting your car over and over again, for several separate trips, can use twice as much gas as one trip that covers the same amount of distance while the engine is warm.

These tips may seem like a change in lifestyle and, in essence, they are! But not only will they pay off in the end, but they are all good habits to get into!

Keeping Green,

Wind

The use of Wind turbines appears as if it could be a great piece to solving the renewable energy crisis mystery. Wind turbines harness the kinetic energy that is produced by the wind with the use of rotors that are fitted with aerodynamic blades. These blades in turn rotate a shaft inside of the generator which creates electricity.

There are many pros and many cons on this free energy solution, even amongst the environmentalists themselves. While most will agree that wind turbines are far less damaging than fossil fuels are, there are many downfalls to using wind power.

One of the largest cons to wind power is the ridiculous claim that they are not nice to look at! Well, honestly I’m not a big fan of the way a nuclear power plant ‘looks’ nor am I fond of the new ‘look’ of the shrinking Arctic. We need to think more on the level of what is effective, as opposed to what is pretty. We are talking about the survival of our planet not the survival of Hallmark!

Another of the larger complaints is the threat to birds, bats and our other winged friends. During a study at Altamont Pass in California on wind turbines and feathered deaths, the study concluded that there were many bird fatalities associated with the wind farm in the area. Let’s compare that with the facts that this particular wind farm is an antique compared to today’s wind turbines. Today’s wind turbines have much larger blades that move at a slower rate of speed, in comparison with the ones at Altamont Pass, leaving the possibility for the birds to dodge the blades much easier. It appears to me that the fatality rate of birds hitting high rises, automobiles, feral cats and human hunting is much higher than that of wind farms.

Wind power may not produce an ideal amount of energy, but at this point every little bit helps! Working our way off the grid is the ultimate goal with alternative energy. Check this page out it is the best directional website that I could find on creating your own wind turbine.

Wind

Although Thanksgiving is traditionally a meal with Turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy, many of us out there don’t eat meat! The true meaning of Thanksgiving is to acknowledge our many blessings and to be grateful for them.

Thanksgiving for us this year will consist of salmon, shrimp, acorn squash, and apple pies! Not quite traditional, but we like to live outside of the box! We aren’t vegetarians nor are we vegan, but our daughters both are. These links provide not only vegan recipes, but coupons and many different articles on living life as a vegan!

vegcooking.com
vegweb.com

Here’s hoping that you have many things to give thanks for this year and many blessings to all! Off to make dinner….

Wind

The other day while in the back yard with my ‘better half’, having coffee by the fire, I noticed that one of our garden beds needed attention. After cleaning out some of the unfortunate plants that didn’t survive the last freeze, it was suggested that we run out and buy some mulch for the bed. Upon looking around the yard, the realization that Mother Nature provides her own mulch hit me! How silly is the human race that we rake up all the natural mulch that is provided to us, burn it, and then run out to WalMart to buy more?

In short, we raked up some of the nearby pine needles and oak leaves and spread them throughout the garden bed!! Wow! What a difference!

Well now, I can’t stop him! For the last couple of days, he has spent his day, raking up all the pine needles and leaves in the yard (the neighbors yards too!) and has relocated them to different spots throughout the property; by the front door, in the garden beds, around the garden, surrounding the shed and I must say, it looks great!

Mother Nature provides some rather beautiful and useful things for us, we just need to look for them!

With the holidays coming up, the demand for turkeys is on the rise! With all the publicity on animal cruelty, many people are in search of those “free-range” turkeys. But, buyer beware!

Free range meat is meat that is used from animals that are permitted to partake in access to the outside world. However, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the definition of free range or free roaming poultry states that, “Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.” That tells me that while in some minds, we have a vision of our thanksgiving dinner having a great life of roaming around on his large pasture basking in the sunlight; the reality may be very different.

Consider purchasing your turkey this year from a local farmer. You’ll not only know what conditions that the turkey was raised under but you’ll be supporting the farmers in your area, too! Building the long lost closeness to our local community can never be a bad thing! If you cannot find any local poultry farmers in your area, Wholesome Harvest is a coalition of over 40 small farm families that offers certified premium organic poultry to grocers, chefs and homes.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Wind

Upon my usual morning ‘web surfing’ routine today, I came across something that I wanted to share with you.

Simplifying our lives and living in harmony with the earth, and with ourselves is what our ancestors once did. It’s the way that life should be! With all of the technology in the world, and the hustle and bustle of our daily lives we are not only making us, as a people ill, but we are making the earth, our true home, sick as well.

These pictures show a home that is built from the earth, into the earth, and uses all of the resources provided by the earth, to power the home. It provides an opportunity to live a simple, self sustained way of life. Solar panels are used for electricity, all of the retaining walls and foundations are built from stone and mud, straw bales for insulation, wood scraps for the floor, right down to cooling the refrigerator from the air that comes from underground through the foundations.

Why is that we feel we need all these so called amenities in our life, with the notion that all these things are created to make our life easier, when they only create stress and illness?

Hats off to the folks that built this incredible home and gave back to the earth some of what we so greedily take during our daily lives.

Just because you rent a home, doesn’t mean that you can’t have a garden! You don’t have to have the traditional garden, you know the one; carrots in this row, lettuce in this row, strawberries on the end, everything spaced apart perfectly. Vegetables are beautiful and make wonderful ornamental foliage for your home.

Why not plant some lettuce around your mailbox? Lettuce comes in many different colors and shapes and when combined decoratively, they look beautiful. Arugula has beautiful white flowers; combine them with romaine and some deep red leaf lettuce and let the array add the perfect touch to the front yard.

Try planting some herbs around the pathway to the entrance of your home. The fresh aroma adds a vibrant scent to the welcoming of the front entryway. As an added bonus, fresh herbs for spicing up your dinner, is literally right outside your front door.

Ornamental peppers are a gorgeous addition to any front yard. They come in all different colors; purple, red, yellow, orange and of course green. When added to an olive oil with a few spices they make a great seasoning and if you put them in a decorative bottle, they make great gifts!

In these tight economic times, growing our own food is not only healthier but cost effective. Think outside of the proverbial “garden box” and grow your riches all over the place!

With the holiday’s coming, keeping ‘green’ might be the last thing on your mind.  However, staying green may be easier than you think! 

1.  Keep all your vegetable waste and use it in your compost bin.

2.  Recycle any cans or aluminum foil that you use for dinner.

3.  Paper towels are a waste of both money and precious trees.  Use cloth napkins at dinner time and use old newspaper when cleaning your glass tables or windows.

4.  Use fresh herbs from your garden for spicing up your dinner.

5.  Handwash all your big pots and pans, there is no need for running the dishwasher over and over.

Have a Happy Green Turkey Day!

Wind 

The need for keeping close attention to things that are going on around us is becoming more prevelant each day.  Doing our part makes a difference.  Sometimes it feels insignificant, that one person can’t make the difference that is so obviously needed.  But you can make a difference, each and everyone of us!

Whether it is growing an herb garden, or starting a recycling program with your family, or something as simple as planting a seed.  Every small bit of change that we can make with our daily habits, makes a difference. 

Following this blog daily will give you tips, ideas and maybe some bit of information that you were unaware of to come up with your own ideas for helping the environment.

Remember….. we have one earth, one life and only once chance…..