Power of Lemon

Eat This

After making this at home I read an article about the health benefit of Lemons, it's one great supper fruit that people should consume more. I want to share this article with all of you so you will know the power of lemon and in case you are  wondering what's on the picture, it's a great way to consume lemon in a lemon tea or just take a spoon in the morning. I take 4-5 lemons and blend it in a blender seeds, skin and all,  than I take honey and add it to lemon to taste, but don't make it to sweet kind of defeats the purpose of having a healthy supplement. Next time I will add something special to this but I want tell you just yet. :)   The following article was taken from earth in common.

Lemons for Health

Lemon is widely grown all over the world. Lemon grows in abundance in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mexico and West Indies. Unripe lemons are green in color. When they are matured, the color is changed into yellow. Lemon is a must in the kitchen. It is a universally favorite fruit.

Benefits, Qualities and Uses of Lemon

The Ayurveda has regarded lemon as a valuable fruit and admired its properties. Lemon is sour, warm, promoter of gastric fire, light, good for vision, pungent and astringent. It checks the excessive flow of bile and cleanses the mouth. It dislodges phlegm (cough) and expels wind from the digestive tract. It helps in digestion and removes constipation. It prevents vomiting, throat trouble, acidity and rheumatism. It destroys intestinal worms.

Though lemon is acidic to the taste, it leaves off alkaline residues in the body. This is why it is useful in all symptoms of acidosis.

Lemon-juice is a powerful antibacterial. It has been proved by experiments that the bacteria of malaria, cholera, diphtheria, typhoid and other deadly diseases are destroyed in lemon-juice.

It also contains some vitamin A. Natural vitamin C is much more effective than the synthetic one. Vitamin C of lemon-juice is very effective because it is combined with bioflavonoids (vitamin P). In addition to Vitamin C, lemon also contains niacin and thiamin in small amounts.

One should not take concentrated lemon-juice. It should be diluted with water before taking it. Pure lemon­juice contains acid which is injurious to the enamel of teeth.

The body is well cleansed if lemon-juice mixed with cold water and honey is taken on an empty stomach early in the morning. Warm water may be used occasionally to get relieved of constipation.

Lemon-juice prevents or restrains influenza, malaria and cold.

Lemon-juice gives good relief in fever. Lemon-juice mixed with water is useful in quenching the thirst of the patients suffering from diabetes. It gives immediate relief in abdominal disorders. Lemon acts as a sedative for the nerves and the heart and allays troublesome palpitation.

Lemon is especially appreciated for its Vitamin C value. When Vasco da Gama made his voyage round the Cape of Good Hope nearly two-thirds of his crew died of scurvy. But at present the recurrence of such a disaster is no longer possible owing to the widespread use of lemon. Innumerable boatmen moving in sea have saved their lives with the use of lemon.

Vitamin P in lemon strengthens the blood vessels and prevents internal hemorrhage. It is, therefore, extremely useful in high blood pressure, in which cerebro-vascular accidents commonly occur.

The most valuable ingredient of lemon, next to vitamin C, is citric acid, of which it contains 7.2 per cent. Lemon contains more potassium than apple or grapes, which is beneficial to the heart.

Lemon is very much useful in maintaining the health of the teeth and the bones. The vitamin C content of lemon helps considerably in calcium metabolism.

Lemon has been used for many years in gout and rheumatism. Lemon-juice is a diuretic. It, therefore, gives relief in kidney and bladder disorders. It has been used in destroying intestinal worms. It prevents vomiting and helps to cure hepatitis and other innumerable diseases.

Lemon has been proved to be a blessing for mountaineers. In the cases of insufficient oxygen and difficulty in breathing lemon comes to their rescue. Edmund Hillary, the first man to put his foot on the top of Mt. Everest, has admitted that his victory over Mt. Everest was greatly due to lemon.

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Why I drink Shakes

Eat This / Shakes

Well this year is almost gone, we have few more days left and so much was left uncompleted.  As we age it seems that time runs faster and faster; when I was a teenager I could not understand how time flew by for my parents when it practically stayed still for me, but now it's all clear. With this year coming to a close I already have things planned for next year, my Google calender is filling up with trips to Ghana, Family Vacations and meetings.

Being busier as we age forces us to make some hard choices and it's not a surprise that our health tends to starts going downhill and the quality of food that we consume becomes worse as our schedules get busier; we tend to eat dinners later at night, eat more fast food, and less fruits and vegetables. That is the reason why I decided to start having Shakes and Juices to supplement my meals.
With all the holiday food and fast-paced life these meal supplements are a great way to stay on a healthy side and feel better at the end of the day. Not long ago, I came back from a steak dinner party that was late in the day, after going to bed tired I could not fall asleep I just felt like my stomach was over filled and it was working hard for most of the night to process all the meat that I shoved into it.  In the morning I got up and made myself a shake for breakfast, I was filled and felt great for the rest of the day. So if you feel like you need to feel lighter on your feet or you have no energy - than it's time to drink some shakes. We will be posting some of our shakes that we drink to give you some ideas of what to make.
                                 .

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Click here to support Homabenase water project (Ghana) by Dimitry Mishchuk

Hello friends this January I'm planning a trip to Ghana and need your help raising money to get there please take look at the inclosed link and see what we are planning to do there and support me in anyway that you can.
Click here to support Homabenase water project (Ghana) by Dimitry Mishchuk

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Tomato trellis update

Gardening

Tomato are about 9 feet tall

This years tomato trellis experiment was a partial success  When we try new things we always learn something and that is the case with me and my trellis system. You have read my previous post about how I build my tomato trellis and my desired outcome from them was achieved with a great harvest all season long.
With that said I must say that there were a few things that I learned along the way that I will need to change come next year. And for all of you who will decide to give a try to this system I would like to share them with you so you will not have the same outcome as I had this year. With that said let me stress that over all I was extremely happy with this system, we had great harvest of clean, easy to pick tomatoes as well as a simple low maintenance system throughout the whole growing season. Now to the changes that will have to be made.

1. The wire that I used between the two posts sagged from the weight of the tomato plant, there are two solutions that can be done to fix this problem. One of them is to use a piece of wood instead of the wire, preferably the same size as the posts. The other solution is to have a tension wire from the top of the post that will prevent it from bending, in my case it will be hard to do that in all the boxes as I have walk ways that are next to them so I will have to use the first solution.
2. My twine that was used to run the tomato plants on apparently was not strong enough, with constant watering it started giving way on some of the plants and they fell to the ground. In the beginning of the season I fixed a few of them but now with the season coming to the end I have decided to just live with it. The solution is obvious just use a stronger twine next year and the problem will be solved.

Well that's it for the problems with the my trellis now here are a few more images of them and feel free to share your thoughts and ideas.

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New Cottage food Operation Law in Washington

Bread / News

It's great news for all the Washingtonians, the new law will allow all the small home bakers to sell their product legally. The following is an article from the local paper where it talks a bit about the new law. Thanks to The Colombian.

After reading this I have decided to get my license and start baking more, since one of my issues was that I had large quantity of bread left over after each bake, now I can bake it and sell it legally. Here is a link as well if you would like to obtain a permit in Washington state. http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/docs/CottageFoodApplicationPacket061712.pdf

Business prospects are a whole lot sweeter for Washington's home-based bakeries, thanks to Felicia Hill.

The Hazel Dell cake maker and stay-at-home mother of two will be honored Monday in Olympia for helping cook up a new state law that allows small, home-based bakeries like hers to operate legally. For her work last year outlining the rules behind Washington's Cottage Food Act, Hill will ceremoniously receive the first legal permit to sell low-risk foods made in the home.

The Washington state Department of Agriculture expects more than 1,000 potential small businesses across the state to apply for permits to sell baked goods, nuts, jams and jellies at farmers markets and through other direct-sales avenues. The permit is available for bakeries that generate no more than $15,000 in gross sales annually.

"They really wanted it to be a person-to-person transaction, from me, the baker, to the person who is going to eat it," said Hill, who testified before the state Legislature three times last year on the growing cottage food movement, with its hyper-local emphasis.

Hill also stuck around Olympia to hammer out stipulations of the law, pushing to raise the original $5,000 gross-sales cap to $15,000. The increase could help unemployed and underemployed Washington residents generate money to live on, one of the key purposes of the law, according to Hill.

"Ideally, an appropriate amount would be $30,000. That would give someone the ability to live comfortably," said Hill, who has vowed to push for the increase next year.

"I have had numerous people thank me and say, 'This has helped us to possibly start a business,'" she said.

Although the law was signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire last year, the agriculture department just started accepting permit applications this week.

Washington is among three states to recently enact a cottage food law, putting the rule in place just before South Carolina and Colorado, which both passed similar legislation this year. In all, 26 states now have cottage food laws, breaking away from traditional models of production in which food is sold to consumers who have little or no idea where it came from.

"Knowing the person who made your food is not that common anymore," said Hill.

Her business, FH Cakes, bakes and sells peanut-, gluten- and dairy-free cakes. It's a specialty she developed in 2008 after trying to order a peanut-free bakery cake for her son, Luke, now 6, who has a severe peanut allergy.

"I could not get a guaranteed safe cake," Hill said.

She decided to make the birthday cake herself, taking a few classes that uncovered her hidden talent for whimsical cake design. The artful and allergen-free cakes quickly caught on among family and friends, said Hill, who sold her cakes "under the table" for about one year.

She wanted to grow a legitimate business to supplement husband Jeff Hill's income. But Felicia Hill found it prohibitively expensive when she attempted to follow the old Washington state law mandating that bakery businesses operate from a commercial kitchen. The overhead of leasing a commercial kitchen wiped out her modest profit. It would have dipped below the bottom line with child care, which Hill did not want to consider.

"A lot of this stemmed from the fact that it was very important for me to be at home with my children and not have somebody else take care of them," she said.

So, Hill researched the cottage food industry, work that ultimately led to her support of the Cottage Food bill introduced by Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, whose daughter is an artisan baker.

Hill anticipates every state will have some type of cottage food law at some point, enabling artisan food makers to channel their energies and earn income.

"This could help get our local economy get back up and productive," Hill said.

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Tomatoes trellis

Gardening

This year I'm giving a try to a new tomatoes trellis, usually we just have cages around them and then just try and control them from creeping out of the cage. Even with all the effort it's still hard to control them and by the end of the season they are falling out and the fruit is not getting enough sun hiding behind the leaves.

Some time ago I spoted a trellis that intrigued me and I made a decision to build it at my garden. It's a simple trellis that is build out of 2x2 in both sides of the garden box and a whire attached at the top, going across the whole box. I attached a garden string to the wire and the base of the tomato plants.

As the tomatooe grows I twist the string around the plant this way supporting the plant vertically.
Here are some pictures that i took with my phone. I will update as the plant growth and share my thoughts.

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Healthy Road Meals

Food / Vacation

Our family enjoys taking road trips and with a road trip comes a long tradition of taking certain food with us that we eat. Personally I am not a fan of going to fast food restaurants during the trip I prefer something from home. With this short blog today I just wanted to share what our lunch was. We stoped at a rest area about 10 miles in to California to have lunch, to my surprise the weather was not all that good and we had to even hide from the rain at one point, but the kids had fun running around in the grass and stratching there legs.
Our meal was simple.

Boild quail and chicken eggs, beef smoked sausage, organic tomatoes, rye bread, horseradish sause, and red pepper spread. We made small sandwiches and enjoyed them with some plain water. I tend to think that it's a healthier meal than going to some fast food and having lots of fatty food and it's faster as well. O and I almost forgot the main meal smoked bacon.
Tell us what do you eat when you go on road trips.

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Oregon Farms

Gardening / Vacation

Driving on I-5 south gives you a great opportunity to admire Gods great work, the rolling hills the green and lush valleys. With the abundance of rain and cool climate everything is grean and pleasing to the eye.

While driving we saw a lot of farm near the highway and it makes me wander do all those fumes from the cars and trucks get absorbed by the plants and eventually make it on to our tables? Probably. Just another reason why growing your own food makes a lot of sense.

Share with us what you think about this.

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Our Vacation

News / Palm Springs / Vacation

Vacation Time

World Mark Indio California

Summer is here an it's time for our annual Vacation, it's 11:36pm and we need to be on the road at 7:00am so this post will be short. A while back me and my wife decided to take our kids to South California for a week of vacation, so Palm Springs here we come as always it's a hassle to get our self ready and prep all the garden and animals that they will be taken care of. Well we are taking off in just over 7 hours.

I downloaded the app for my phone so will try to keep you all readers up to day with what is going on.  

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Fall planting in the NW

Gardening

Our first attempt at fall and winter gardening.
With the colder days here to stay it's time to try out something new in the garden, why let the soil sit there with out producing any thing if you can harvest fresh food through the winter, or so is our hope. This year we have decided to try out growing greens in the fall but since it's our first year we can only hope that we can harvest something out of it.

We have started some greens in pots that we had and than transplanted them into the garden boxes as the space came available, with some of the summer harvest coming to the end we are able to use the space year round, of course one important step in this is not to forget to add a good layer of compost to feed the soil.

This year we started out with basic Cabbage, Cali flour, Broccoli, Mixed salad greens, Kohlrabi and Spinach. So far they are all growing nicely and keeping our hope up but the cold weather is just around the corner and we shall wait and see how they do.

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Gardening Joys and Challenges

Gardening

Urban homestead, gardening in NW, How to start a garden, Living of the grid.
This post is a dairy entry/ notes for next year as a blog seems to be the most reliable place to keep the gardening notes.

This year we had some joys and challenges in the garden arena that are worth keeping a note on. We started our seeding in early March, and that seemed like a pretty darn good date, need to remember that for future references. Our first seeding was of radishes, peas and dill; followed by cilantro, parsley, arugula and salad greens. Dill and cilantro seeds were bought in the spice section of the Whole Foods Market, for under a dollar you get a lot of seed, thanks to my sister for the tip(!!). Will continue to buy there.

THINGS PLANTED THIS YEAR

1. Arugula*
2. Asparagus
3. Basil
4. Beans-Shelling/Dry*
5. Beets*
6. Cabbage*
7. Carrots
8. Cilantro*
9. Cucumbers
10. Dill
11. Eggplants
12. Garlic*
13. Green Beans
14. Green Onions
15. Jalapenos
16. Nasturtiums*
17. Onions*
18. Parsley
19. Patty Pans*
20. Peas
21. Peppers
22. Pumpkins*
23. Salad Greens*
24. Sorrel*
25. Spinach*
26. Strawberries
27. Tomatoes
28. Winter Squash
29. Zucchinis

* indicates first year/attempt

ARUGULA
Very glad that we tried the arugula this year, I was officially introduced to it this year, I may have tried it before but did not realize what that nutty spicy thing was and excused it for a good dressing... I allowed some to go to bolting- it produces a lot of seeds and in the process has self seeded and we are enjoying that harvest as well. May try the wild arugula for next year as it is said to be slower to bolt.

ASPARAGUS
Have put some compost on it after we allowed it go to growth, something to remember for next year, to put a good amount of compost in February so that the root system would get a boost. The asparagus has been neglected for some time, so this is probably our first year of decent harvest, hubs got so exited over it that he is now planning on multiplying it via the red seeds it puts out.

BASIL
Love, absolutely love the basil, seeded the sweet big leafed basil along with a pack of a variety pack of basil, not too impressed with the variety, besides the fact that it had deep purple basil- good looking, but for our taste buds nothing overdoes the big leafed sweet italian basil. Want to try covering it with cloches of some sort next year, so that we could enjoy it earlier...

BEANS- Shelling/ Dry
So exited to grow my own beans, I really enjoy beans and don't mind eating them on regular basis, however not everyone feels the same in our house; nevertheless beans are good for you and we are now growing them! The ying-yang beans are a great bush bean variety to grow again next year. The other two types are not yet mature, but because they are pole beans the harvest is expected to be larger. Minus the ones that the chicken scratched out and ate....Want to try the cannelloni beans next year.

BEETS
Seed of success has been planted for me with this superfood, but I cannot yet state that I have mastered properly growing them. I did the mistake of trying the interplanting of green beans with beets, even though all sites state that it's a perfect harmonious marriage between the two as the beans fix the nitrogen for the beets, I strongly feel that my harvest would have been a lot better if I gave them both more room, thus sunlight. Dad seeded out the remaining beets in his garden and harvested roots that were two to three times bigger than mine in the same amount of time. I like the variety I planted, just need to give it more room, also want to try the golden variety.

CABBAGE
The pleasant surprise goes to cabbage this year, something I haven't ever tried, and bought a pack of seeds because I was in one of those seed buying modes. Up to this year most of my vegetables came to me in a form of a transplant rather than a seed;  I gave it a try, it germinated, than I transplanted them, without much faith of having this delicious, versatile, superfood making it, to my surprise a head after head was harvested, I even ended up making sauerkraut (twice!) all from the garden, with this particular vegetable I really do feel like a success!! As a bonus our rabbits LOVE to munch on the nutricious outer leaves. Just read that cabbage is extremely heavy feeder, so will need to keep that in mind for next year. I should try the red cabbage in addition to the green cabbage next year...

CILANTRO
Would like to start timed seeding of cilantro next year, as all of it went to flower right around July 1, and I wanted some for the tomato season for the fresh home made salsas. Seeding in mid July did not produce any harvest, must have been too hot for it to germinate, despite the fact the July this year was below average to say the least. Cilantro was seeded in the herb box along with salad mix, parsley and dill.

CUCUMBERS
There was a time that I could never have our garden produce any edible cucumbers, then there was a time I didn't plant any because the previous year's harvest had me scared, there was so many that I didn't know what to do with them... I think I've achieved a perfect balance this year, that is first (!) with the cucs, we had a comfortable planting of slicers and pickling kinds, which kept the fridge full and the canning going. Also in the mix were the european cucs and the midgets. European, I absolutely loved, but there extra gentle skin is extremely easy to bruise. I kept on forgetting that my tiny cucs had to be picked when they were the size of a pinkey and they ended up looking like baby blow up fish. For next year, not so many Orient Express- they were too crooked this year...


DILL
Dill was definitely success I even had the opportunity to harvest all the abandance and freeze it, by rinsing, shaking off the excess water, finally chopping the dill weed, and then I put it up in bags and threw it in the freezer. Dill was planted between the parsley in the herb box, the only problem I did not remember in which row I have seeded so dill and parsley ended up sharing a row. Dill was first to mature thus shadowing the growth of parsley, but I had the other row of parsley to rely on. After the dill was drying as the weather got warmer, that gave way to parsley.

This does it for the ABC and D; hopefully I will feel like make notes on the rest.

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Home made sauerkraut

Gardening / Recipes

Our first year of growing cabbage is starting to pay off, now that we were able to consume few heads of cabbage as salad, my wife decided to try and put some up as sauerkraut. In our culture (Easter European) we have grown up consuming sauerkraut with carrot and a bit of sunflower oil as a salad, as well as other great meals which I hope I can share with all of you in the future. Before we can get to that we have to make the sauerkraut.

Having an organic home grown cabbage is a plus for any recipe and the health benefit is great as well. There are a few different type of sauerkraut that are out there and the one we are making today is more like the one that Russian or Ukrainian people are familiar with, it's a bit milder than the German one and it's not as sour, that's the one we grew up with so called Russian Sauerkraut (kislaya kapusta).

The recipe is simple.
5 Lb of cabbage.
3 tablespoon of sea salt.
Mix it well in a food grade bucket and wait it with a rock so the cabbage produces juice. After about 2 days pack it in a glass jar and put it up in a fridge. If you like to can the cabbage increase the salt to 4 spoon. Simple but tasty.

Till next time.

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