Your Garden will not green-grow
-if you do not water it properly-


Labels

Monday, November 11, 2013

Houses Being Built With Hemp

Scotland Village Houses Being Built With Hemp



Scotland Village Houses Being Built With Hemp

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 12:56 AM PST

A new sustainable housing project in the northwest of Scotland will feature industrial hemp as a main building material, reports Green Building Press.

The ecofriendly material is the main component of a prefrabricated wall system called Hembuild – a mixture of the plant's woody core and a lime-based binder.

The system was supplied by Hemcrete Projects, an English housing company that specializes in hemp-based construction.

So far, two prototype houses have been completed in the Achabeag township, both with very different designs.

Two of the first prototype houses in the Achabeag township were recently completed

Peter Smith of Roderick James Architects explained the decision to use the Hembuild walling system to Green Building Press.
Read more »

Incredible Health Benefits of 7 Types of Tea


Posted: 11 Nov 2013 08:37 AM PST

 Teas that Are Natural Health Remedies

 
While people love tea for its flavor, did you know that tea originated as a medicinal drink thousands of years ago? Check out the amazing healing properties and health perks (weight loss included!) of different tasty varieties of tea. Consider trying a natural tea remedy before hitting the medicine cabinet next time something ails you.  


Green Tea  
Though it seems to have been around since the beginning of time, green tea has solidified its massive cultural popularity in the past decade (Green Tea Frappuccino anyone?).  

"Green tea has enjoyed fame in recent years as it has been under the research spotlight," explains registered dietitian
Jacqueline Aizen. "Green tea is rich in EGCG, a powerful antioxidant that has been linked to improved cholesterol, and possibly inhibiting the growth of cancer cells."  

Registered dietitian
Samantha Lynch adds that the chemicals in green tea also have been shown to help prevent heart disease and uplift your mood.  

But here's what may just be your favorite part: The EGCG in green tea also makes it an incredible fat burner. Studies have shown that EGCG in green tea may both
reduce the body's ability to absorb fat and enhance the body's ability to use fat. Pretty magical, huh?

Ginger "Tea"  
Ginger can be a godsend for your stomach. Internist
Dr. Andrea Ruman explains that ginger is "used to aid digestion and treat stomach upset, stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea and nausea." Ginger accomplishes this mighty task by suppressing stomach contractions and improving the movement of food and fluids through your intestines.   You can buy pre-made ginger tea, but why not make your own from ginger root when your stomach needs calming.  

Aizen recommends slicing two inches of fresh ginger root and boiling in it in a cup of water for five minutes. Then strain the ginger and sip the "tea" slowly.  

"I also like to boil one tablespoon of fennel seeds in one cup of water for five minutes, strain, and sip on it slowly," she explains. "Both ginger and fennel are excellent digestive aids."  

Hungover? Ginger tea can help quiet your rollercoaster stomach the next morning. With its anti-inflammatory properties, ginger tea is also used to help silence pounding headaches.  

Read here for more
hangover remedies.

Oolong Tea  
You may remember hearing rumblings of oolong tea a few years back when it burst on the scene as a weight loss aid.  

The antioxidant catechin in oolong tea, along with the tea's caffeine, is thought to boost the metabolism for up to two hours after you drink it. Oolong also contains Polyphenols, which have been shown to help block the body from storing fat, which in turn may help you to keep the weight off.   

The high concentration of polyphenols also helps improve dental hygiene by fighting tooth decay and helping prevent cavities.  

Oolong's antioxidants are so potent that they help remove harmful bodily toxins, reducing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes. It also helps remove toxins that damage the skin and cause wrinkles, age spots, and slowed exfoliation. We'll drink to that.    


Black Tea  
Get ready for this: studies have shown that black (and green) teas have many more times the antioxidants of fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants work to detoxify free radicals in the body as well as block DNA damage. Translation? They may reduce cardiovascular disease, cancer and delay the onset of diabetes.  

If chronic disease is too far in the future to motivate you to drink-up, know that black tea may also boost the metabolism, fight halitosis (bad breath) and improve skin.  

Like with any tea, be careful not to add too much sugar and avoid tea lattes (that chai latte ring a bell?), which can be packed with sugar and high in calories. For a healthier black tea fix, try an iced pure black tea for an afternoon pick-me-up. Black tea does, after all, have the highest caffeine of teas.           


Nettle Tea  
If you suffer from seasonal allergies, try a dose of nettle tea before popping a few anti-histamines. And yep, nettle tea does come from nettles—those stinging weeds found in parts of the U.S.    

Nettle tea works to relieve those sneezing, stuffy nose, scratchy throat, rub-your-eyes-out allergy attacks through its antihistamine properties. If you start drinking it before your allergies reach full-blown status, you may even be able to ward off the attack entirely.  

It's nice to know nettles are good for something besides ruining afternoon picnics and hikes.      


Chamomile Tea  
The word chamomile just sounds soothing doesn't it? People have long used chamomile as a before bed ritual when they are feeling anxious or need to wind down from a busy day.  

Researchers believe chamomile acts as a sedative in part because it can increase levels of the amino acid glycine in the body, which is known to act as a nerve relaxant. Try having a cup of chamomile tea 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime if you need help winding down. (Check this out for more
tips to get better sleep.)

In addition to these calming properties, chamomile is also shown to help ease menstrual cramps. This may be because glycine also helps reduce muscle spasms, and may help to relax the uterus. (Likewise, chamomile has also been found to be effective at calming stomach and intestinal cramping—great for
irritable bowel syndrome sufferers, who are commonly women).
Evelyn Resh, a certified sexuality counselor and nurse-midwife, even recommends drinking chamomile tea and mint as a natural remedy for upset stomachs related to our old frenemy PMS.
You can also use chamomile tea bags to help reduce puffiness under the eye area, recommends certified holistic and clinical nutritionist Pamela Warren. Just dip the bags in warm water, let them cool to room temperature and then rest them over your eyelids and under-eyes to sooth the area and help fluid dissipate.      


Peppermint Tea  
Like chamomile, peppermint tea is also shown to help release tension, promote relaxation, and aid in calming the body to prepare for sleep.  

Peppermint tea is also great for relieving constipation (how's that for a segue?). It can also help relieve mild stomach pain, flatulence and diarrhea.  

The tea can also help keep you smelling better in other ways too: the minty aroma is a great natural remedy for bad breath.  

This, combined with its ability to ease the unfortunate symptoms listed above, just may make peppermint the perfect tea for a first date.            


References: webmd.com/food-recipes/features/antioxidants-in-green-and-black-tea; sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050104112140.htm; ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/; doctoroz.com/slideshow/health-benefits-tea; livestrong.com/article/322104-the-advantages-of-oolong-tea/; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050104112140.htm
 
Thanks Milna
reposted via Ervas e curas

Tiny Spiritual Retreat Cabins


by Christina Nellemann on November 11th, 2013. Add a Comment
For the new year, I'm planning on taking some time away from the computer to contemplate the next few months, practice some yoga and do some quiet meditation. While searching around for a retreat location, I kept running into meditation retreats and centers that had some sweet tiny houses, yurts and cabins for rent. Each of them are also located in some beautiful locations. ashram-tiny-house

Staying at one of these meditation or yoga retreats is not only a good way to cleanse your body and soul, but you can also get some great tiny house and small space ideas.

ashram-tiny-house3

ashram-tiny-house2

The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California teaches classical yoga, ayurveda, vegetarian cooking, jyotish and vedic sciences, and permaculture. You and your family can stay in several different accommodations including a tent, a dorm and shared or individual cabins located in a beautiful valley.

capitan-canyon-tiny-house

capitan-canyon-yurt

The El Capitan Canyon luxury nature lodging (a little out of my range) is not a spiritual retreat, but does offer some beautiful cabins and yurts to stay in on the California Coast. The center offers massage, food and room packages and tours of the coastal area. You can stay in safari canvas tents, yurts and tiny cabins with names like "Peace Tree", "Lone Stone" and "Shaded Creek".

SF-zen-yurt

The San Francisco Zen Center at Tassajara offers an introduction to Zen meditation and has several places you can stay like wooden yurts and Japanese tatami cabins. The center is quiet, rustic, gets its power from solar energy and offers vegetarian meals. The redwood yurts like the one shown above have views of trees and mountains and can accommodate up to three guests.

spirit-falls2

buddha-tiny-house

Affordable retreat cabins which happen to be next to bubbling waterfalls are available at Spirit Falls in Pine, Arizona. The small cabins (Cave of the Heart, Hopi Creek and Bodhi's Place) are located in the pine trees with views of local wildlife like elk, deer and hawks.

 

Photos by Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm, El Capitan Canyon, San Francisco Zen Center, Spirit Falls

 

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Mount Mulchmore and the Cold Frame “Skirt” by laurabruno

New post on Laura Bruno's Blog



I had finally whittled down our fifth huge pile of wood chips to perhaps one or two afternoons' work. After a long day of sessions and calls to volunteers for our local food security week events (which have turned into two weeks of events!), I walked outside to get the mail. Dale, the man building our next door neighbors two new porches, cracked up as he watched my jaw drop and heard a loud cry escape my throat. This is the scene that greeted me:

Mount Mulchmore: wood ships on the left, shredded leaves on the right

Mount Mulchmore: wood ships on the left, shredded leaves on the right

I really did almost break into tears right then and there, because I had completely forgotten about asking the man who maintains the apartments on the other side of us to dump a huge pile of leaves "anytime this Fall." Ohhhhh, man! Have I mentioned I'm actually looking forward to winter? ;) Anyway, in sighing about this huge pile of extra work to David's mom, she explained to me that the leaves came from their yard and to "take good care of them." We joked about her helping me move them, but through the joking I learned that in all seriousness, the guy who maintains the apartments' yard also maintains David's parents' yard, and he specially mulched them for better gardening use. Sure enough, when I returned home and mustered enough courage to inspect the leaves, they were well chopped and already clumped. Since I had just the day prior to delivery said to David, "I really need some leaves for the raised beds!" I can't complain. "Ask and you shall receive" is seriously evident in my life these days. Almost immediately so.

Yesterday, the "Bed Bed" (a repurposed Sleep Number bed frame) got a couple inches of compost and several inches of leaves:

mulched bed bed

Once I realized that I could use whatever leaves I want now and then bag them up for another round in Spring, I relaxed about the work. It's windy! Not the best time for figuring out where to put all these leaves. Plus, I have a wood mulch clearance deadline of early next week, so this will work out just fine. Rotted leaves made excellent mulch this Spring, keeping our beds moist and dandelion-free. The plants really love all the nutrients from the leaves as they begin to break down. While cleaning up the Bed Bed, I harvested this giant green onion I had replanted from the store this Summer:

Giant Green Onion and Messa Greens

We had the white part of the onion last night in a homemade spaghetti sauce David made from some Farmers Market peppers, homegrown tomatoes (fresh, dehydrated, frozen puree with oregano), and co-op mushrooms, served over peeled zucchini "fettucini." Um, wow! David makes the best sauce and soups! (I'm sure all the fresh, local, organic produce doesn't hurt, either.)

spaghetti

Meanwhile, back in the yard, David was also the master engineer for errant, flying cold frames. Ours is now expertly anchored on all four corners, plus it has a 4-tarp "skirt" to block those nasty drafts that can damage plants even more than snow or frost. Did you know that snow is actually an effective winter mulch for cold hardy plants? "Four-Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman will tell you all about that and more. Anyway, it's not the prettiest thing we've ever seen, but it has stayed in place despite our crazy Northern Indiana gusts:

Cold frame skirt

In the back, you can see a repurposed sheer shower curtain protecting my tree collards until I figure out what to do with them. They were some of our favorite eating this year, but they're not hardy in Zone 5b unless you can get them buried and majorly mulched. Ours haven't re-rooted yet, so I'm a bit nervous to smother them. Mr. Gnome kindly oversees the whole shower curtain operation, carrying fire wood just in case those plants need a bit of extra warmth:

Mr. Gnome

Our rosemary also got "fleeced" last night, and it will continue to do so until Yours Truly gets motivated enough to dig it up and pot it inside for the Winter. Poor, non-cold-hardy rosemary. If only you weren't so pretty and delicious smelling, you wouldn't need to look so silly:

Rosemary fleece

In the background -- above -- you can see another raised bed happily leaf mulched. Look at those calendula go!

Calendula flowers, ruby chard, French sorrel, parsley, oregano and kale ... one diverse, happy family

Calendula flowers, ruby chard, French sorrel, parsley, oregano and kale ... one diverse, happy family

Inside, I've got tarragon and chocolate mint drying alongside a Lone Alaskan Pea Pod! (I planted those too late in the season, in a spot too shaded by my crazy huge lemongrass plant, and I'm sorry to say, I've completely neglected watering them for weeks. That we have any peas is a miracle. We have more growing, but I doubt they'll handle this weeks cold temps.)

Chocolate Mint, Tarragon and the Lone Alaskan Pea

According Eliot Coleman, fresh peas from the garden are enough reason in and of themselves to justify an entire season of gardening. I guess we'll see about that tonight! Acorn squash, the Lone Alaskan Pea Pod, and a whole messa greens. Mmmmmmm, can't wait. I do love fresh food and pretty flowers. LOL, can you tell?

Amazing new invention ! A New Gadget : GrowCube !

Sunday, November 10, 2013

GrowCube promises to Grow food with ease Indoors

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

GrowCube promises to Grow food with ease Indoors
Posted By: Susoni [Send E-Mail]
Date: Sunday, 10-Nov-2013 17:53:40

21 photos on link:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/08/insert-coin-growcubes-hands-on/
Food. It's a bit of a big issue. After all, half the world doesn't have enough, and the other half has so much it doesn't really know where it comes from. Chris Beauvois, a software developer turned inventor, has created a device that could potentially solve both of these problems in a single swoop. GrowCube is a gadget that's designed to grow plants with aeroponics -- think, hydroponics, but with mists instead of trays of water. It uses just two square meters of space and 95 percent less water than traditional farming methods. Now the company is here at Engadget Expand as an Insert Coin semi-finalist in the hope of earning a big stack of cash to help bring this product to the wider world.
Insert Coin ExpandNY: GrowCubes
Beauvois' stated goal is that "food should be healthy, tasty and accessible to all," although that wasn't his original project. In fact, GrowCube was originally born to show off Beauvois' research into thermal power. Serendipity, however, would see the GrowCube become his passion project. There are two models, an appliance-sized version that's built to the same scale as a domestic dishwasher and wouldn't look out of place beneath a countertop, and a pro-level edition that would be used in commercial farming enterprises.
"Food should be healthy, tasty and accessible to all."
The idea is devilishly simple to describe, but difficult to execute: A rotisserie-esque wheel spins six plates around in a circle under a strip of LEDs, which provide the necessary light for photosynthesis. Above, a device sprays a nutrient-rich mist that'll seep into the roots to make plant growth much more efficient. Inside, there's a BeagleBone Black paired up with an Arduino Duo microcontroller, although there are plans to move across to a custom-made motherboard in the near future. Now, the prototypes haven't been priced as yet, but Beauvois hopes to offer the pro-sized models for $2,000 per unit.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/11/growcubespost02.jpg
When it comes time to planting, simply stick your seeds in a growing medium of your choice and download the iOS app. From there, you can select and download a "grow recipe" from the cloud, which works with the numerous sensors inside the cube to control the microclimate. Worry not, people who aren't fans of Apple devices; Android and Windows Phone apps are on their way. Users are also encouraged to tweak and fork the recipes as they see fit, helping to improve the growing and to offer variations. So if you want crisper lettuce, you can select that as an option. While plenty of the Cube's current hardware is custom, Beauvois is a hacker at heart, and plans to open-source big chunks of his technology further down the road.
"Beauvois is a hacker at heart, and plans to open-source big chunks of his technology further down the road."
In experiments so far, GrowCubes have happily produced herbs, flowers and foodstuffs like wheatgrass, microgreens, pea-shoots and even 28 heads of lettuce. On average, it promises to be faster than traditional methods of growing, with a cube full of strawberries taking between four and six weeks to grow. This is opposed to the shoving-seeds-into-dirt-and-waiting method, of course, as you can grow the same produce throughout the year. The technology can also be used to grow both grapes (with a few tweaks) and hops, so perhaps it'll garner the interest of the brewing industry looking for ever greater control of its crops.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/11/growcubespost01-1383942507.jpg
Another benefit of the technology is that the GrowCube is pressurized, which keeps the microclimate bug-free. With an ultraviolet germicidal lamp and a HEPA filter (as well as plenty of bug-killing filters in the pipes where the nutrient mixes are pumped), there's little risk of pathogens getting all over your food. The upside of that, perhaps unsurprisingly, is that you don't need to use fertilizer or pesticides in your growing.
If GrowCubes wins our grand prize this weekend, then Beauvois plans to build 100 of the models, with the bulk of them going to schools to create an educational vertical farm. In the future, he wishes to see a wider rollout of the product, with a dream of seeing units used as domestic growing devices and for commercial applications. You never know, maybe your local fruit & veg co-op will be supplanted with a row of GrowCubes in a few years' time.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/08/insert-coin-growcubes-hands-on/
Posted by John MacHaffie at 6:36 PM 0 comments
Your Garden will not green-grow
-if you do not water it properly-