Your Garden will not green-grow
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Thursday, February 6, 2014

The Hobbit Hutch (Tiny House)

by Kent Griswold on February 6th, 2014. Add a Comment
by Jim Mangum

The Hobbit Hutch is a 56 square foot vardo/caravan/gypsy wagon with a 20 square foot porch. Inspired by Paleotool's Gypsy Wagon on Instructables website.

Totally insulated. It has tiny appliances in a tiny kitchen area with working window…jalousie windows on both sides of the bed…transom window above it…artwork/awning/window box on the "romance side" of the wagon…faux wood stove…a/c…bed with pull out dining table…and soon the porch will have a propane outdoor shower and cassette toilet hidden away inside a plywood box seat…all surrounded by outdoor privacy curtains.

vardo

It was built on a 8 x 5′ Tractory Supply trailer and we will be using it primarily as a writing studio…my wife and i are both authors…and a guest house when the kids/grandkids come.

Jim Maangum Bastrop, TX
http://www.saintmaker.us/

vardo kitchen

vardo bed

fisheye view 1

fisheye view 2

side view

vardo front


The Amazing Healing Properties of Fermented Foods


February 5, 2014 | By | 1 Reply

WIKI - KimchiSayer Ji, Green Med Info
Waking Times

Between the hard and fast dichotomies of cooked and raw, dead and alive, is this beautiful thing called fermented.  A place where many of the digestive challenges associated with raw foods (e.g. enzyme inhibitors, anti-nutrients, lectins) are overcome in favor of not just preserving their benefits (e.g. enzyme activity, vitamin content, life energy), but amplifying them. Also overcome are the adverse consequences of cooking, e.g. enzyme destruction, vitamin activity degradation, oxidized fats, denatured proteins, etc., while still benefiting from the enhanced digestibility and assimilation that certain cooking applications offer.  Fermented food is in many ways the complementary union of cooked and raw, as well as their transcendence – an image, not unlike the Tai Chi, comes to mind.

In fact, fermentation has almost heretical power in the realm of both medicine and nutrition, being quite capable of literally “raising the dead,” as well, revitalizing and infusing with living and breathing energy a food ingredient that has been cooked into oblivion, or, a human whose body has been poisoned close to the point of death with antibiotics, or similarly biocidal drugs or chemicals.

There is no lack of scientific confirmation for the indisputable value of fermented food for the promotion of health and wellbeing. In fact, one could consider fermented foods like kimchi, natto, apple cider vinegar, and even – in moderation – wine, coffee, chocolate and beer, ‘medical foods’ of sorts.  At GreenMedInfo we have been indexing these functional applications in disease prevention and treatment straight from the research housed on National Library of Medicine, and have found over 140+ diseases that may be prevented or ameliorated by their use. [see: Fermented Food Health Benefits Research]

There are a broad range of fermented foods we could look at to illustrate their power to heal. After all, every single culture on the planet used (not a semantic coincidence:) culturing to sustain themselves.  But for this short article we will focus on Asian traditional preparations, since there is already such a huge body of clinical research demonstrating their amazing health effects:

  • Kimchi – a probiotic strain isolated from the fermented cabbage preparation kimchi known asLactobacillus brevis is capable of degrading organophosphorus pesticides.
  • Kimchi – a probiotic strain known as Bacillus pumilus found within this fermented food is capable of degrading bisphenol A, a powerful endocrine disruptive chemical.
  • Miso – a fermented soy food has been shown, when consumed regularly, to reduce the risk ofbreast cancer in women by up to 54%.
  • Miso – capable of regressing colon cancer growth in the animal model.
  • Natto – A fermented soybean extract that has been shown to suppress plaque buildup (as measured by the intima media thickness) in the arteries in an animal model.
  • Natto – capable of contributing to nerve regeneration following sciatic nerve crush injury.

This is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to illustrating the remarkable properties of fermented food. We encourage our readers to take a look at our extensive database on the subject of the health benefits of fermented food.

Another important point to make about fermented food is that it generates an entirely novel set of nutrients and medically important phytocompounds, in addition to what is found in the starter culture ingredients themselves.  This is not unlike what happens when we consume a raw or cooked food, and the beneficial bacteria within our gut go to work to break down anti-nutrients, or secrete enzymes we ourselves are not capable of producing, or at least not in adequate quantities.  There is something known as the food metabolome. It is that set of small-molecule metabolites of foods – numbering over 3,500 – that are byproducts of our organism interacting with food to produce novel new byproducts.  For example, flaxseed contains high levels of lignans, which once thrown into the fermentive crucible of our digestive process, are broken down into at least two important metabolic byproducts: enterlactone and enterodial – both which are phytoestrogens, and are largely responsible for flaxseed’s tumor regressive actions in estrogen sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate cancer.  These two compounds only exist in between the human organism and the flaxseed organism, and would not exist without the “third organism,” if you will, which is the vast populations of beneficial bacteria within our alimentary canal.  So important are these microflora to our existence, that some scholars have suggested we reclassify ourselves as a “meta-organism,” as we are a composite of a wide range of organisms – in fact, 10 times more numerous are these “other” organisms than our own cells. Indeed, as we discussed in a previous article, even our own mitochondria – the powerhouses of our cells – were once bacteria living outside of our bodies.

Ultimately, a return to fermented foods are a return to our own ground of being, and well-being. There are profound challenges that stand in our way, of course. The modern world nukes its food, yes, with literal nuclear waste.  We microwave, we cook, we fry, we dehydrate, we spray our food into certain death. And now new research shows that even the very food starter bacteria normally found within healthy soil are being decimated by Monsanto’s ROUNDUP herbicide glyphosate, which is destroying its microbial biodiversity and hence fertility. Certain regions of the world that have depended on these indispensable dairy-culturing organisms for countless generations now have none to be found.

So, we must hunker down. And work on cooperating locally to produce, and support the producers of, organically grown food. Sharing raw cultures.  Becoming intimately involved with the quality of the food we consume. And remembering that fermented food is one of the key, if not indispensable ingredients in attaining and maintaining optimal health. And furthermore, that one cannot separate out personal or human health from planetary health; they are, and always have been indivisible.

About the Author

Sayer Ji is the founder of GreenMedInfo.com, an author, researcher, lecturer, and an advisory board member of the National Health Federation. Google Plus Profile. His writings have been published and referenced widely in print and online, including, Truthout, Mercola.com, New York Times online, The Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, New York Times  and The Well Being Journal.

He founded Greenmedinfo.com in 2008 in order to provide the world an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural and integrative modalities. It is widely recognized as the most widely referenced health resource of its kind.

Health Benefits of Eggs

re-blogged from BURNBLOG

 
 
 
 
 
 
2 Votes

 Don’t be afraid of eggs. They are a super health food and can be prepared in many interesting ways

Around the world, eggs have been a breakfast staple from time immemorial and for all good reasons. Afterall, an egg is a storehouse of vital nutrients, making them an integral part of a healthy diet. And for those of you who are afraid of indulging in this power food because you’re worried that it will add to your weight, remember, one egg contains about 80 calories and about five grams of fat. Hence, smart consumption is a far healthier option to cutting them out completely.

 Eggs are a well known rich source of protein — an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. The body uses protein to build and repair tissues as well as making enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals. Unfortunately, unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body does not store protein, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply. Thus eggs are the perfect sources and a smart food choice for those who reduce their intake of carbohydrates in a bit to lose excess weight.

Another important nutrient you’ll find abundantly in egg white is riboflavin or Vitamin B2. And for all of you wondering what’s the benefit of this nutrient, Riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin which is involved in vital metabolic processes in the body and is necessary for normal cell function, growth, and energy production.

The yolk, which many of us avoid out of fear, is actually a very healthy food, if consumed in moderation. Mainly fat, the yolk contains 1.33 gm of cholesterol per 100 gms and is a rich source of vitamin A, B vitamins, calcium, phosphorous, lecithin and iron. Incidentally, the iron found in the yolk is easily digested and assimilated in the body. According to nutrition experts, one can eat one whole egg every day without harming one’s cholesterol and other blood-fat levels. But for those who crave for more eggs, you can reduce fat by using one whole egg and the whites of the rest of the eggs.

And now for all the ways you can eat them. There are four basic ways in which eggs can be prepared. They are us under:

 

burnblog-boiled-eggs

 Boiled
For many of us, this is a comfort food that brings back yummy childhood memories. Boiling an egg is one of the healthiest way you can consume it and is the perfect option for those watching their weight. To make the perfect boiled egg, drop the eggs in their shells (preferably at room temperature) into simmering water, and cook for three to 10 minutes on a medium flame. Here’s the interesting part. A short cooking time produces a soft boiled egg, with a runny yolk while boiling the eggs for a longer time will give you a nice hard boiled eggs, which can be eaten plain, sliced, mashed and even added to variety of dishes.

 

burnblog-poached-eggs

 Poached
You may have heard the term often and wondered what exactly the hype is all about. Well, to put it simply, a poached egg is one that has been cooked by poaching it in water. Like a boiled egg, this too is an oil free preparation method. To poach an egg, let water simmer in a pan. Crack the egg into a small bowl and then gently slid it into the pan. Cook the egg until the white has solidified but make sure the yolk remains soft. The ‘perfect’ poached egg has a runny yolk, with a hardening crust.

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