Aromatic Heaven

Shayni, Bird Girl.  This is one of the tame doves that visit each day.

Nirvana!  Sunshine!  A good morning to collect herbs.  I felt like Julie Andrews, wanting to burst out in song "The hills are alive....", substituting "garden" for "hills".  Sitting outside this morning, in the warm sunshine,  with a gentle breeze tugging at my light cotton top, picking herbs for drying.  I marveled at the heavenly aroma wafting up on the breeze, as I picked leaves of thyme, rosemary, sage, horsetail, rose geranium, parsley, oreganum, chives and bay leaves.  The bees buzzed around the herb garden, occasionally alighting on me to sniff and see if I was any good for a pollen collection, then buzzed off to the sage flowers for a good suck of the nectar.  At one with nature.  Every now and then, a little fat bumble bee would land on a quick-drooping flower nearby and I noticed with amusement, how heavy they are!  And for the rest of the day, the strong waft of herbs fill the house as I dehydrate the collected herbs in my trusty second hand $20 dehydrator.  Indespensible when you have a productive garden.  I dry much of our excess fruit for winter consumption.

Mike with our giant silver beet!  Appropriate t-shirt. Te mahi kai.
The abundance of food.

A labour of love - shelled broad beans.  Note, a job that can
 be done whilst reading a good novel.

I sneak moments to browse magazines while drinking my morning cuppa on weekends - this morning started no differently.  I was browsing (eek!) The Australian Women's Weekly and in it was this great article  about living sustainably (actually, there were a few good articles!).  I liked the comparison made about being frugal and being cheap.  Being cheap is going to the shops and buying up cheap-as-chips bargains, just because we can.  Being frugal is scrutinizing the need to buy when we can make do.  "It offers a new - or rather recycled- philosophy for living, which is to spend less, live more, reduce your possessions and increase your self-sufficiency."  I like it!  It goes on to say "A cheap person doesn't consider the full ramifications of his consumption and will consume things just because the price tag is low.  A frugal person will consider whether he needs the item, rather than just purchasing it because it is cheap." (Australian Women's Weekly - New Zealand edition, October 2011)

Our strawberries now require daily picking.  A delight when sliced ,
sprinkled with a smudgeon of organic sugar and topped with yoghurt!

Am due to make some more household cleaners and thought I would share 2 of my cost-saving options:

• Window and glass cleaner

Combine 1 cup white vinegar with 1/4 tspn dishwashing liquid soap and 1 cup warm water (you can add 2 drops essential lemon oil for better smelling cleaner!)  Pour into a spray bottle, spray onto windows or glass, and I use scrunched up newspaper to clean/dry at the same time.  Messy for hands but non-streaky for windows.

(Oh, and just in case you were wondering - my windows are cleaned 2x a year!  I have much better things to do than being anal about clean windows!!)

• Leather Conditioner

Grate 1/4 cup beeswax and melt over low heat, add 1 cup olive oil or coconut oil, stirring quickly and then add 10 drops lemon essential oil and 10 drops lavender oil (or oil of your choice).  Pour into wide-mouthed jar, pre-heated or else it will crack, allow to cool and then wipe on with a cloth and allow to penetrate leather then buff excess off.

(Play around with amounts, use more beeswax if you want more waterproofing quality, say for shoes, or less if you want it to spread easier, say for a leather upholstered couch.)

The mid-week harvest from our
garden supermarket

Asparagus spears waiting to be eaten

Did you know:

Asparagus:

1 - can detoxify our system

 asparagus has 288 milligrams of potassium per cup. Potassium is known for reducing belly fat. It also contains 3 grams of fiber which cleanses the digestive system. It has virtually no natural sodium so no bloating during PMS, has no fat or cholesterol, and one cup has only 40 calories. 

2 - has anti-aging functions

asparagus is rich in potassium, vitamin A, and folate. It is also very high in glutathione - an amino acid compound with protent antioxidant properties; a must as an anti-aging deterrent. Glutathione (GSH) is an antioxidant that protects cells from toxins such as free radicals.

3 - is considered an aphrodisiac

wait -  the asparagus is considered a psycho-physiological aphrodisiac because of its shape. It is said to trigger the mind to have a physiological response. The French word for asparagus is asperge; asperge is a slang word for penis.

4 - can protect against cancer

 asparagus in high in folate which is now known to be an important protection against cancer. Note: Folate is found naturally in leafy green vegetables, and citrus fruits. Folic acid is said to be the same as folate, in the supplemental form.

5 - reduces pain and inflammation

it is the folate that helps reduce inflammation.

6 - can prevent osteoporosis and osteoarthritis

 asparagus has vitamin K which studies have shown can help prevent osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Vitamin K aids in bone formation and repair. It is also necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin. Osteocalcin is the protein in bone tissue on which calcium crystallizes. Asparagus has been listed as the number one source of vitamin K.

7 - reduces the risk of heart disease

 it is the folate that has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

8 - can help prevent birth defects

getting enough folate (doctors often recommend the folic acid supplement) is especially important for women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Having a folate deficiency has been correlated with increased risk of Spina Bifida (a spinal cord birth defect) and also anencephaly (a neural tube defect). Folate helps to regulate embryonic and fetal nerve cell formation and may also help to prevent premature births.

Additionally, studies have shown that the nutritional benefits of asparagus can help prevent and treat urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Overall, asparagus is rich in potassium, vitamin A, folate, glutathione, and vitamin K. It is high in fiber, has no sodium, is low in calories and has no cholesterol or fat.

While there is every kind of supplement on the market to address these health issues, too often we turn to pills as a main source of nutrition. In the interest of good health, whole foods are always recommended before supplements.  http://bkcreative.hubpages.com/hub/10-Super-Health-Benefits-of-Asparagus

On the garden front, we spent Saturday laying cardboard on the pathway to our wood shed, then covered it with sawdust, saving us many hours of summer weeding agony.  What a wonderful gift to be able to source all that wonderful chemical-free sawdust from our cabinet-maker friend.  He has piles of the stuff and hardly gets to use much himself as he is so busy creating the stuff.

Shayni with labour-saving device, Spence!

I love labour-saving options when it comes to house-keeping or gardening!