Scenes from the Normal Naturally Yours Grocery

Here are some stills from a video tour that was filmed a few days ago at the Normal store of the Naturally Yours Grocery enterprise.

Naturally Yours Grocery
1503 E. College Avenue
Normal, IL

(309) 452-3456

Early Spring Gardening Tips

It's not too late to try to catch up with these Early Spring Gardening Tips...



* Do you want new beds?

If so, lay out newspaper 5 or 6 sheets deep, then add several inches of compost over the top. This kills existing vegetation by smothering it. Four months later, you can dig it up to work the compost into the soil. No sod removal is necessary.

(This is best done in December or January.)

* Shop for seeds in December and January. Order early for best selection. If you snooze, you'll lose.

* Assess soil. Buy a soil test kit or have soil tested. Most county extension services can test your garden soil or recommend labs if they don't. Healthy soil is essential to a productive plant, so it pays to test especially if your results were unimpressive last year. Call to find out what you need to do and how long it will take, then plan accordingly.

* Check shrubs and woody plants. What needs pruning? For early spring bloomers like forsythia, prune promptly after flowering is complete.

* Fruit trees need to be pruned before they begin to blossom if you didn't get to it while the trees were domant. If they blossom, it's best to wait until winter rolls around again. (It's okay to prune dead wood.)

* Do you have a lot of perennials? Do any of them need to be moved? Spring is the time to transplant divisions or move plants around. If you have friends who are gardeners, it's a good time to arrange trades.

* Check your tools. Clean and sharpen blades on hand tools. Have mower serviced if you didn't do it in the fall before you put them away. Budget for new tools or replacements now.

* While you're at it, organize the garden shed. Clean, sterilize, and organize terracotta pots, planters, and starter trays. Sterilize using a bleach and water solution of 1 part bleach to ten parts water. Rinse thoroughly, then dry. (Remember to do this in the fall so you don't have to do it when it's still cold outside.)

* Clean and repair outdoor furniture. It may be too cold to paint unless you've got a basement or heated and ventilated work area, but at least they will be ready when the weather warms.

* If you haven't broken the chemical habit, make sure you check any old chemicals you might have. Before you discard, check with your county or city waste management office for guidance on recycling or disposing of any hazardous chemicals.

* Provide or build gardening supports for peonies, tomatoes, peas, beans, and squash. Supporting flowers with heavy heads prevents breakage. Growing vegetables vertically saves space and prevents bugs and slugs from knoshing on your veggies.

* Sow seeds in starter trays according to package instructions and the last frost date for your area.

* Don't get anxious and start working in the garden too early. The soil needs to be damp but not soggy or sticky. If you take a handful of soil and make a ball, it should fall apart easily when you open your hand.

* Careful about moving plants outside or transplanting. Also, setting out plants prematurely often results in discouraging losses. If you must move a strong hardy plant to a new location, be sure to dig deep to get all the roots and water it daily to help the roots sink down and anchor the plant to the new ground.

Planning and getting ready to go saves time and money that you'll want to spend on cool new plants, techniques, and tools.


-- Demesne


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Naturally Yours Grocery on Posterous

Do you know Posterous? It's the outrageous synthesis of Twitter and email and a blog. Take the best of those three, streamline it, simplify it, and voila! Posterous!

Our account at Posterous is another fun and fast way to contact Roger, ask questions, share recipes, discover videos...on all aspects of the organic, natural, healthy lifestyle. For you. For your family. For your world.

Posterous is probably the easiest Fast Blogging platform ever designed. Remember when you used to tell people that blogging was as easy as sending email? Now that's literally all you need to do. Other platforms have offered email posting for years. Posterous is the first to take the concept as their platform for both registration and content updates.


Posterous:

(1) Easy as Twitter.

(2) Same as email.

(3) Multi media like a blog.


You just send an email to post@posterous.com along with file attachments (photo, mp3, video) and when it gets to Posterous, they turn it into the first post in your blog. You can set up as many accounts as you want. Thus, if you want a personal trivia account, plus one on your area of expertise or some hobby, you can keep the content streams separate.

After you send your first email, they'll send you an account verification email to opt-in to the program. At that time, you can set the password and the name (______.posterous.com) of your account.

Check it out:

Naturally Yours Grocery @ Posterous

naturallyyoursgrocery.posterous.com



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healthy memories of New York City

As I was filming some tour footage at the Naturally Yours Grocery in Normal, IL, I got to thinking about my years in New York City, from a health food perspective. I had it made. As I walked to work in Greenwich Village, it was about 12 blocks from my apartment on 1st Avenue and 13th Street, I could stop off at a Korean food market.

At that Korean food market, and they riddled the streets, seemingly one on every block of Manhattan, they lovingly provided much fresh produce, and served up plastic bottles of pure carrot juice and strawberry juice. Man, on a blistering hot day, those beverages were just what the Real Doctor, the Physician known as Nature, prescribed. Nice and cold, not sugary, but full of wildly delicious flavor and intrinsic sweetness, these liquids both quenched my thirst and nourished my system.

That's when it really hit me: sugary chemically whacked-out soda is not necessary.

Fruit and vegetable juices provide way more bang for the buck, in terms of satisfaction, nutrition, and energy. Nature's own energy drink, the original power blaster, fruit and vegetable juices, along with herbal teas, can speed you up or slow you down, whatever your needs are, and not wreck the entire mechanism as they do it.

What a shame to quench thirst or fill a growling stomach with objects of manufactured un-naturalness, educated scorn, and little nutritional merit.

To slurp and swallow substances that do damage to the body, including the brain and personality! To be enslaved to taste-buds that are warped, having lost their original direction through advertising and peer pressure. To automatically reach for a toxic treat, a woeful walloping of unfit food.

Be thankful you have not completely given your health over into the hands of those who merely seek to addict you to their over-sweetened, fatty, artificially colored and flavored and preserved monstrosities. Appreciate how life, your particular path, has led you to the safe shores of enlightened eating. Ponder how many folks never reach even the slightest interest in what it is that keeps them alive, and what's destroying them slowly but surely.

They say in New York you can get anything you want. As I reflect back on my times there, I am very glad that I gravitated toward naturopathy, health food restaurants, pure juices, and herbal remedies.

There was shop that was below street level, you walked down some steps to get to it, and it was full of herbal items, plus I think some witchcraft related things, but the main thing I recall is buying these discs, flat round pure licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) extract wafers, bitter, like a medicine, not very sweet, but delivering a terrific blast of licorice root essence. (Licorice can be useful for some people in addressing issues of nicotine addiction, sore throats, immune system boosting, energy enhancement, psoriasis, blood thinning, anti-oxidant production, and menopause. I drink it in an Alvita herbal tea preparation now and then, for the energy boost.)

I took most of my meals at two health food restaurants, two Polish restaurants (one on First Avenue and one by Tompkins Square Park where the historic police action occurred), a Mexican restaurant, and a few Indian restaurants.

One of the health food restaurants, in the East Village, was called Rapid Algebra. It was the hip hangout for fellow musicians and artists. My friend Ann Miles, a electronic musician I recorded some music with, liked to meet me there just to talk and get all excited about art and philosophy. I recall a small coffee shop near her place, where I'd get an Arabic coffee with cardamon pods in it. Very strong.

The other health food restaurant I can't recall the name of, but they were on St. Mark's, and had this orange colored sauce they poured on top of brown rice. Oh man, that was too good to even describe. Slightly like ranch dressing, but way more delicious, sweeter, and I ate a lot of bowls of brown rice with that sauce on it. Maybe someday I'll remember what they called it, or someone will tell me.

I fondly recall my naturopathic doctor, a woman, who gave me a homeopathic remedy against atomic radiation right after the nuclear reactor meltdown at Chernobyl. It was an inexpensive tablet, maybe $13.00 or so, that dissolved in my mouth, I think it was sublingual (under the tongue). Whether it was effective or not, I cannot tell, but the memory of an alternative treatment at a dark historic moment, seems to seal the memory near the front of my consciousness tonight.

I had that lockjaw problem, TMJ syndrome, where you can't hardly move your jaw, eventually not even able to talk, my brother was visiting me in New York and can recall this odd situation, trying to communicate with someone who can barely move their mouth, and instead of going to the dentist and getting an expensive "appliance" to wear on my face at night as I slept, I got a chiropractic adjustment, just one, and was completely cured.

Those were the days, my friend!

Organic Compost Pile Ingredients List

As a companion post to today's "Organic Compost Pile", and due to an argument my wife and I got into about it, which led me to delete the original reference to adding thoroughly rinsed and sun-dried, mostly cotton, pocket lint ("eeeewwww" she cried), and buckling down on the actual INGREDIENTS to use, and what to avoid.

Luckily, as I was doing some research to ensure that my findings and recommendations were up to date, I came across this gem from our friends at Organic Gardening. I reblog it in full, with sincere appreciation for the expertise-sharing folks at Rodale Inc.

Mix and match the green and brown ingredients listed below until you find a compost recipe that works for you. Just keep in mind the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio as you build your pile.



Extra(ordinary) Organic Compost

Ingredients Lists



Green goodies

Aquarium water, algae, and plants (from freshwater fish tanks only) add moisture and a kick of nitrogen.

Chicken manure has high amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Dead houseplants add a dose of nitrogen, but don't include thorny or diseased plants.

Fresh grass clippings should be mixed with plenty of drier, brown material, or you'll risk creating a smelly pile.

Green garden debris, such as spent pansies, bolted lettuce, and deadheaded flowers, can all be recycled in the compost bin.

{OPTIONAL:} Manure from pet rabbits and vegephagous rodents (e.g., gerbils and hamsters) can be composted with the accompanying wood or paper bedding.

Vegetative kitchen scraps (carrot peelings and the like) should be buried in the pile so they don't attract animals. Eggshells are okay, too.

Weeds can be composted! No joke. Just remember never to add weeds that have set seed or weeds that root easily from stems or rhizomes, such as field bindweed and Canada thistle.



Brown goodies


Brown garden debris, such as corn and sunflower stalks, dried legume plants, and dried potato and tomato vines, adds bulk to the pile.

Hedge prunings and twigs help keep a pile fluffy but should be chipped first so they decompose faster.

Leaves are an abundant carbon source and full of nutrients. Stockpile them in fall so that you have them on hand in summer.

Pine needles decompose slowly. Add only small amounts to your pile. Use excess needles as a mulch.

Straw bulks up a pile, but it should not be confused with hay, which often contains weed and grass seeds and shouldn't be added to compost (unless you want to deal with the potential consequences).

Horse manure contains more nitrogen than cow manure.




#### No-No List ####


The following items should never be added to compost, because they could introduce harmful pathogens, toxins, and nonbiodegradable material.

Diseased plants must be disposed of in the garbage or burned. Adding them to compost could spread the disease.

Dog, cat, pig, and reptile manures (and associated bedding) may contain parasites or dangerous pathogens that are harmful to humans, particularly pregnant women, children, and people with compromised immune systems. Never add them to your compost.

Gypsum board scraps could contain paint and other undesirable toxins.

Materials from the side of the road, including grass clippings and leaves, could contain petroleum residues (such as oil), toxins, and nonbiodegradable materials.

Meats, dairy products, bones, and fish decompose slowly, smell, and attract animals.

Paper, especially glossy paper, printed with colored ink, may contain heavy metals. Black-and-white newspaper is safe.





The So-So List



Many things found in the average home are nontoxic and biodegradable and come from a known source—but they aren't great compost ingredients because they break down slowly, mat together, or don't add many nutrients.

Black-and-white newsprint and office paper can be used in the compost pile if you're desperate for brown materials, but they must be shredded. Try using the newspaper in sheet mulching projects and recycling office paper instead.

Cardboard is best used in sheet mulching. Shred or chop it into small pieces if composting.

Dryer lint may contain synthetic fibers that will never decompose. Even natural-fiber lint adds no benefit to compost.

Human and pet hair can be added in small amounts, if you keep in mind that it breaks down slowly, mats easily, and sheds water.

Natural-fiber cloth doesn't add any benefit to the compost pile. Consider using burlap bags under wood chips to prevent weeds instead.

Sawdust must be used in moderation, because it breaks down very slowly and can lock up nitrogen. Never use sawdust from treated or painted wood.

Vacuum bags may contain synthetic carpet fibers and other non-biodegradable items.

Wood ash adds potassium (potash), but it is an extremely alkaline material and should be used in small amounts.

Wood chips should be used as mulch around ornamentals because they break down so slowly.




! ! ! ! -- Cowpie Caution -- ! ! ! !


Cow manure may contain E. coli O157:H7, a very dangerous pathogen that can cause severe illness and even death. "It's hard to meet time and temperature requirements to kill pathogens in a home compost pile," says soil scientist Craig Cogger, Ph.D.

We don't recommend adding it to home compost ever because of the health risk.....

Wear gloves when handling manure and wash your hands thoroughly.


Tweet

Organic Garden Compost

Manures and composts, especially those produced on-farm or available locally at low cost, are ideal resources for cycling nutrients on-farm. From the standpoint of overall soil and crop health, composts or aged manures are preferred.

Compost has a unique advantage in comparison to un-aged manure and other organic soil amendments in that it has a (usually) predictable, and nearly ideal, ratio of carbon to nitrogen. (Parnes, 1990)

Compost can be safely applied at rates of 10 tons per acre (Parnes, 1990), where quantities are available. Much higher rates are not unusual, especially where soil is being improved rather than maintained.

Compost has some particular advantages in row crop production, especially when used in conjunction with cover crops and green manures. In sandy soils, compost's stable organic matter is especially effective at absorbing and retaining water.

Fresh plant material incorporated as green manure, on the other hand, retains its waxy leaf coating and cannot perform the same function until thoroughly digested by microbes.

There are several conventional fertilizers that should be avoided in sustainable farming because of their harmful effects on soil organisms and structure. These include anhydrous ammonia and potassium chloride.

The use of dolomite—a liming material having a high magnesium-to-calcium ratio—has also been generally discouraged, but most problems result from the frequent misuse of dolomite for raising pH on soils already high in magnesium, not from any innate detrimental qualities. It is certainly appropriate for use on fields deficient in magnesium as indicated by a proper soil test.

Some of the more "environmentally friendly" chemical fertilizers such as mono-ammonium phosphate (12-50-0), commonly called MAP, may also have a role in the transition away from the harsher chemical fertilizers.

A very serviceable and affordable 4-16-16 transitional fertilizer with magnesium, sulfur, and other minor nutrients can be prepared from a combination of two-thirds sulfate of potash-magnesia and one-third mono-ammonium phosphate. When used in combination with composts and/or legume plow-downs (for nitrogen), this 4-16-16 can be banded at seeding or otherwise applied just like the regular 5-20-20, but with reduced negative impact on soil life.

Significant additions of lime, rock phosphate, and other fertilizers should be guided by soil testing to avoid soil imbalances and unnecessary expenditure on inputs.

Cooperative Extension programs offer low-cost soil testing services in many states.

Also refer to ATTRA's Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories publication.

-- National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service "Compost".

Make Your Own

Organic Compost Pile:

Soil is where organic gardening and farming begins. What is going on underground is vital to what occurs above ground.

Your fertilizer should be what was once alive and thus contains the substances and synergists to make the new life arise from the past. By recycling living tissue, you're doing the environment and future generations a big favor. You withdraw your support and funding from artificial growth stimulants and focus on Earth's natural pre-existent plan.

The best thing you can do for your garden, along with weeding and solar receptivity, is to add organic matter to the soil. It's the same principle as how leaves add nutrients to the earth it biodegrades into: the natural fertilization system is far better to imitate than technological aberrations.

By adding decomposed organic material into your soil, you'll enhance your garden's grow-power. It will improve the overall molecular structure, increasing a sandy soil garden's water holding capacity, and aerating a clay-rich garden. The rich treasure of nutritive value in organic compost also can help your plants be stronger, displaying a hardy rise to maturity, with better resistance to disease and insect predators.

Here's some more good news for busy people: organic compost is easy to make, easy to use, and contains a tremendous storehouse of flavor-boosting minerals and disease-resisting nutrients.

Let's consider how much work is really involved, equipment required, and when compost is ready.

Composting can be as much or as little work as you want to make it. The more effort you put into it, the faster you will have finished compost.

The only required equipment is a shovel or pitchfork to turn or move the contents of the compost pile. Your pile can be built anywhere, except up against a structure such as a shed or a solid fence. There will be bugs and worms helping you compost and you want them in the pile, not in the shed or the house. Two feet is a safe distance from any structure. A bin is unnecessary. You can just build your pile on the ground.

We need a variety of plant material to start off with. Grass clippings and kitchen scraps provide nitrogen while leaves and dried straw provide carbon. You simply throw in organic materials as they become available. To speed things up, we suggest you turn the pile every other week.

The finished compost pile will have shrunk. It only takes up about a quarter of the space of the original pile. When the individual materials can no longer be identified and the pile looks like dark, rich soil, the compost is complete. It will smell sweet, woodsy, and earthy. It will crumble through your fingers. If it smells bad, it is either too wet or not getting enough oxygen.

Keep a large iron coffee can or small tin bucket under your kitchen sink for kitchen scraps. This will be your secret little Compost Pail. Keep the children and pets out of it. Avoid letting others see you toss stuff into it. Don't even let your neighbors know you do it. LOL Relax -- it can sit a few days before any odor starts to waft into the kitchen. Be sure to ONLY throw organic material into this special Compost Pail.

Coffee grounds have a pleasant smell that hides most other odors - keep them in the (unbleached, non-chemicalized) paper filter, it will break down too!

If your home gets really hot in the summer, and you don't keep the air conditioning on much, throw the contents of the clandestine Compost Pail out into the Compost Pile at least once a day, depending on the type and amount of waste that accumulates.

Things to avoid:

• diseased vines from tomatoes and squashes as they may contaminate the pile
• animal fats such as meat scraps, grease, or bones as they might attract unwelcome critters
• any odd looking change of coloration or texture on the vegetative surface of a plant
• random garbage, especially items with metallics, paint, inks, or other industrial pollutants
• human or animal waste of any type
• anything with chemicals, preservatives, dyes, shellacs, or packaging material
  

You can use eggshells, bone meal, and fish scales if you wish, as these provide beneficial minerals and may help discourage garden pests. Use your homemade compost as a side dressing for your garden rows.

Then, when you're up and running with it, you can be proud of yourself. You're doing things the natural, sustainable, Organic Way!


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Roger Hutchinson the Naturally Yours story

Roger Hutchinson "The Naturally Yours Story"

Naturally Yours Normal Tour VIDEOS

Naturally Yours Normal, IL store "Tour PART 1"




Naturally Yours Grocery - Normal, IL store "Tour PART 2"





Naturally Yours in Normal, IL Tour PART 3

Recorded March 23, 2010.


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Methodist Wellmobile at Naturally Yours in Normal

We're pleased to announce a series of appearances of the Methodist Wellmobile at Naturally Yours Grocery, Normal store location.

Here's some information about the Wellmobile, from their website.


[QUOTE]

About the Methodist Wellmobile

The Methodist Wellmobile is a massive consumer education program designed to promote healthier living among central Illinois residents.

Our free or low cost screenings, are conducted by caring and trained Methodist Medical Center staff who travel throughout central Illinois educating members of the community on issues including healthy living, early detection of disease, as well as, disease prevention and treatment.

It is our hope that patients and physicians use our services to monitor the improvement of results during dietary, lifestyle or medication changes.

[END QUOTE]




FREE cholesterol, blood pressure, and spirometry screenings.

All screenings require an 8 - 12 hour fast.



For a complete list of current Wellmobile screenings offered to the public, please visit the Wellmobile online and go to their Screenings page.

Methodist Wellmobile
at:

Naturally Yours -- Normal store
1503 E. College Avenue
Normal, IL
(309) 452-3456

10 AM - 12:30 PM

March 23
April 27
May 25
June 22
July 27
August 24
September 28
October 26

Jamie Oliver Food Revolution

Have you seen the ABC television show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"?

It's a wonderful program, where famous British chef Jamie Oliver tries to radically transform how parents and schools think about what they feed their children. His heart is to break the iron grip of junk food and poor diet propaganda that is killing our kids.

He's an extremely charming and popular chef and healty diet advocate who's no stranger to colossal challenges, what everybody calls "impossible", "futile" and "unrealistic". Case in point: he revised the British school food program.

He has now targeted Huntington, West Virginia, called the Most Unhealthy Town in America, where half the residents are obese. His goal to save the lives of 50,000 people suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, and other malaise related to improper nutrition. To make the job really hard and, with an eye to ratings wars, entertainingly suspenseful, he has just one week to do it!

Jamie is more confrontational and blunt than I would expect a consultant to be, but then antagonism and conflict make good entertainment, right? He uses the "flash mob" technique of presenting something extraordinary in an unexpected, "normal" place. Like staging healthy eating rap music choreography in a public park.

The local media, both the newspaper and a radio talk show host, arrogantly attacks Jamie with "who are you to tell us how to conduct our lives and change our eating habits?" It's sad how resistant people can be to change, even when the change means living longer, happier, healthier lives.

It's good when the local newspaper takes your remarks out of context and paints you as a demon or a nutjob. The controversy can generate more interest in your project, but you also have to set the record straight, and make sure how you're perceived fits with the reality of what you're doing.

The entrenched attitudes that are complicit with fast food, convenience meals, easy preparation, and poor nutrition are revealed in all their ugly repugnance. Last night's episode showed kids getting "breakfast pizza" (loaded with pepperoni & sausage), pink and brown milk (strawberry and chocolate), and processed edibles like chicken nuggets.

Starch, starch, starch. Artificial flavorings. Quick microwaved garbage disguised as "food" that will help growing bodies become strong and developing minds become mature. It was incredibly sad to watch the kids line up for this crud.

What was also astonishing was how most of the food was not eaten, and tossed into the garbage can (where it mostly belonged in the first place!) I saw many items that could have been put into a compost pile or fed to horses and cattle, like apples. The children seemed to eat primarily the sugary crap and maybe the main entree.

A pompous school administrator complained about food group inclusions, but to him, it was the food group that needed to be represented, in spite of the fact that the food item within a specific group is heavily processed, full of corn syrup and sugar, and laced with weird chemical additives.

Jamie Oliver has a "can do" attitude. He knows that serving raw, natural, healthy food can be a bit more time consuming, and requires some education and persuasion, directed toward the children, parents, schools, and food program administrators.

But isn't worth a little extra time and effort, when it comes to our children, who represent the future of our nation and world?

Jamie Oliver uses dramatic presentation techniques to drive home his points, like piling up a week's worth of meals on a kitchen table, burying a fat fryer in the backyard, and dumping a wheelbarrow of sugar on the floor.

I highly recommend "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" as a unique glimpse into the condition of school lunch programs, the responsibility of parents, and the joys of healthy eating.

Watch the full episode from last night: "Episode 101"



Jamie Oliver "TED Award Speech"


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Make Your Own Organic Yogurt VIDEO

"Make Your Own Organic Yogurt" from Mercola.com






"How to Make Your Own Yogurt"







"Homemade Yogurt Making, pt 1"







"Homemade Yogurt Making pt. 2"


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Naturally Yours cold and flu products

Naturally Yours cold and flu products

17 Tips for Going Organic on a Budget

Follow these food shopping tips to a less expensive, healthier lifestyle. The only thing that will fatten up is your wallet!


1. Commit to buying your favorites, organically.

To get started, choose one of your favorite food items-something you buy on a regular basis - and commit to buying the organic version of it from now on. This one simple step will greatly reduce you and your family's exposure to pesticides, chemicals, hormones and antibiotics.



2. Explore.

Check out the organic food sections of your market to get to know which products you'll be buying on a regular basis.




3. Use a grocery list!

This may seem obvious, but studies show that people who use grocery lists and stick to them save money on their grocery bill. Plus, buying less junky fast foods creates room in your budget for tasty, whole organic foods! Find some tasty organic food recipes at OrganicAuthority.com




4. Prioritize your shopping list - and know where 'organic' counts.

Meats, dairy and sweet fruits are the most important products to 'choose organic.' When making your shopping list, keep this in mind.




5. Look for organic generic or private labels from your supermarket chain.

Does your grocery store have its own organic generic label or natural brand? They are typically cheaper than big-name counterparts and still certified organic. I've also found that these generic organic brands can even be cheaper then the conventional or non-organic counterpart!




6. Shop bulk.

Many stores that stock organic foods also have bulk grains and cereals. This can keep your spending down and save on landfill-bound packaging. Remember to bring your own bags to take home bulk food products so you don't have to reach for another plastic bag.




7. Shop at your local farmers' market

Buying at farmers' markets is actually one of the best kept secrets to buying affordable, organic food. Top chefs in both Europe and America's have been doing it for years!

A USDA study in 2002 found that about 40 percent of farmers' market farmers don't charge a premium. Cities now list their local farmers' markets online, so simply search for the one closest to you. Local Harvest makes it easy.




8. Don't rule out non-organic when it comes to local farmers.

Some farmers simply cannot afford the cost of organic certification - which doesn't mean that their fruits and vegetables aren't pesticide-, fumigant- or chemical-free: just ask! I find local farmers to be very honest. Get to know your source. This simple tip can be applied to all areas of your new-found green life.




9. Buy organic coffee and tea

Like other organic crops, organic coffee beans and tea are grown and processed without harsh chemical fertilizers or toxic pesticides . Make it "shade grown" while you're at it to ensure that age-old, earth-friendly agricultural techniques are preserved.

Check out OrganicAuthority for my favorite organic teas in our online store.



10. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

It's a great way to "go local." Visit Local Harvest find out first hand, why "locavore" was dubbed Word of the Year, 2007, by the Oxford dictionary!



11. Don't see it at your favorite grocery? Ask!

Stress that you want more organic produce - or whatever green item you want. The manager will be happy to hear from you since grocery stores are eager to meet the demand of their customers to ensure loyalty.



12. Grow your own, organically!

This is a great way to save cash: I grow organic tomatoes, lemons, limes, bell peppers, lettuce, herbs and other produce that would otherwise be adding up at check out! Choose the most expensive organic produce - and the ones you like to eat the most - to plant and grow.

Live in a small space? Try container gardening!




13. Go Online.

Your favorite organic products are just a click away. Use the Internet to feed a healthier you!



14. Limited on time?

Check your local listings for grocery delivery services: many deliver organic groceries. Organic Express, out of L.A., and DiamondOrganics.com has helped yours truly keep organic eating alive and well - in spite of my busy schedule!



15. Save for your future.

Spending a little more now on organic will mean saving more on healthcare later. Don't forget the deep impact living green has on your long-term health. It's preventive medicine - that just happens to taste great!



16. Commit to eating out less.

If you eat out just one day a week less, you'll not only put money back in the bank but you'll also find more room in your budget to buy quality foods that are tasty and nutritious, while supporting a healthier you. No matter how convenient you think it is, if you go through the drive-through window - even just one time a week - it's one time too many. Both your budget and your waistline will thank you for putting an end to this bad habit.



17. Think about your values when you shop.

Do you shop merely on price and large quantities? Or does quality and nutritional value count for something? Remember: consuming foods that are tasty and rich in nutritional value is what will keep you healthy, assist in keeping the weight off and add up to less doctor visits. And knowing it's better for the planet is a nice perk!



- reblogged from Laura Klein, Organic Authority blog "Top Tips for Shopping for Organic Food on a Budget".

Spring Garden Preparation

Work back six weeks from the last frost date in your area to develop a timeline. The following list will help you get started before you set out a single plant.


* Do you want new beds? If so, lay out newspaper 5 or 6 sheets deep, then add several inches of compost over the top. This kills existing vegetation by smothering it. Four months later, you can dig it up to work the compost into the soil. No sod removal is necessary. (This is best done in December or January.)

* Shop for seeds in December and January. Order early for best selection. If you snooze, you'll lose.

* Assess soil. Buy a soil test kit or have soil tested. Most county extension services can test your garden soil or recommend labs if they don't. Healthy soil is essential to a productive plant, so it pays to test especially if your results were unimpressive last year. Call to find out what you need to do and how long it will take, then plan accordingly.

* Check shrubs and woody plants. What needs pruning? For early spring bloomers like forsythia, prune promptly after flowering is complete.

* Fruit trees need to be pruned before they begin to blossom if you didn't get to it while the trees were domant. If they blossom, it's best to wait until winter rolls around again. (It's okay to prune dead wood.)

* Do you have a lot of perennials? Do any of them need to be moved? Spring is the time to transplant divisions or move plants around. If you have friends who are gardeners, it's a good time to arrange trades.

* Check your tools. Clean and sharpen blades on hand tools. Have mower serviced if you didn't do it in the fall before you put them away. Budget for new tools or replacements now.

* While you're at it, organize the garden shed. Clean, sterilize, and organize terracotta pots, planters, and starter trays. Sterilize using a bleach and water solution of 1 part bleach to ten parts water. Rinse thoroughly, then dry. (Remember to do this in the fall so you don't have to do it when it's still cold outside.)

* Clean and repair outdoor furniture. It may be too cold to paint unless you've got a basement or heated and ventilated work area, but at least they will be ready when the weather warms.

* If you haven't broken the chemical habit, make sure you check any old chemicals you might have. Before you discard, check with your county or city waste management office for guidance on recycling or disposing of any hazardous chemicals.

* Provide or build gardening supports for peonies, tomatoes, peas, beans, and squash. Supporting flowers with heavy heads prevents breakage. Growing vegetables vertically saves space and prevents bugs and slugs from knoshing on your veggies.

* Sow seeds in starter trays according to package instructions and the last frost date for your area.

Don't get anxious and start working in the garden too early.

The soil needs to be damp but not soggy or sticky. If you take a handful of soil and make a ball, it should fall apart easily when you open your hand. Also, setting out plants prematurely often results in discouraging losses.

Planning and getting ready to go saves time and money you'll want to spend on cool new plants and tools.