Organic gardening sites that I find useful

Here are some great sites that I find useful for finding new ideas for my organic garden.

Dig my Plot - Growing vegetables & fruit organically on an allotment : a
natural approach. What to do guide is updated monthly. Interesting
ideas and tips for everybody including Getting Started, Companion Planting,
Identifying Weeds, Herbs, Crop Rotation.

Organic Gardening Magazine - loads of ideas and useful information and a great magazine to subscribe to

Kitchen Garden - unfortunately not organic, but you can get loads of useful stuff like when to plant tomatoes or how to get rid of snails without hefty poisons, and more

Dalewood Fromage – really nice organic cheeses – I especially love their Brie with fig – its utterly sublime

The Soil Association - the ultimate in ‘Saving the Planet’ – my all time favourite publication, utterly dedicated to helping farmers who care about the land

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Reasons to Throw Out Your Microwave Oven

Here are some great reasons from Joseph Mercola – writing in The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients at www.mercola.com on why microwave ovens are actually not good for us.

1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term, permanent brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain (de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue)
2. The human body cannot metabolize or break down the unknown by-products created in microwaved food
3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods
4. The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual (long term, permanent) within the human body
5. Minerals, vitamins and nutrients of all microwaved food are reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down
6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens
7. Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths (tumours). This may explain the rapidly increasing rate of colon cancer in america
8. The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cells to increase in human blood
9. Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph glad and blood serum alterations
10. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability and a decrease of intelligence

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Hunger-buster salad

This makes an amazing lunch for hungry youngsters.

Serves 1 or more

Wheat free; sugar free; dairy free; vegetarian

Take

A few slices of freshly baked rye bread

1 handful of frilly lettuce leaves

Extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil for drizzling over the salad

1 juicy lemon freshly squeezed

Finely chop the following:

A tomato

A few sticks celery with leaves

A few slices cucumber

2 slices of a deep red onion

1 quarter sweet pepper – any colour

1 carrot, and

Half an apple

A handful mixed raw nuts – walnuts, pecan, cashew, almonds, etc

Mix together:

1 crushed clove garlic

1 seeded chilli

1 tsp chopped parsley

1 tsp torn basil leaves

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

1 small spring onion

2 or 3 dried dates

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

Herbamare and freshly ground pepper

A few fresh dill or fennel sprigs

Do

• Cover the slices of bread with washed and dried lettuce leaves
• Arrange the rest of the chopped ingredients on the lettuce
• Top this with the garlic mixture
• Sprinkle with chopped nuts
• Season and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil
• Serve immediately

From Nutritious by Sally-Ann Creed & Jill Fraser Halkett

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Memory Loss: 6 simple ways to prevent it!

1. Exercise your mind. Crossword puzzles, mind games, challenging reading or educational classes can help keep your brain agile and strong.

2. Exercise your body. Physical exercise seems to correlate with better mental function, perhaps because of improved circulation.

3. Eat a diet rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. Vegetables and fruit are the best sources of antioxidants. A good pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplement provides omega-3s – remember, men don’t take a chance with flax oil – its now well documented to promote cancer growth

4. Limit or avoid alcohol. Alcohol in almost any quantity can be toxic to the nervous system.

5. De-stress. Perform daily breathing exercises and practice relaxation techniques like meditation, prayer or yoga.

6. Take multivitamin containing B vitamins. Folic acid, B6 and B12 are essential to maintaining healthy nerve function. Ginkgo biloba is also a helpful supplement

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Organic Vegetable Garden progress

April in the new garden at Squirrel’s Landing has been busy. We found a source for organic leaf salad seedlings (hooray!) and most of them have taken.

We had a very hot spell two days after transplanting, and had to find some quick protection so they didn’t frizzle up. We lost three in the process, but the rest are now close to harvest as you can see, which is something of a record – it will be four weeks from planting by the time we pick them next week!

A friend and colleague has opened up a brilliant new health store in the Redham Centre, called Creeds Super Natural Nutrition and customers have shown a huge interest in our organic garden, so we’re planning to take produce once a fortnight – as soon as they’re available. It would be wonderful if we could supply the whole demand, so we have our eye on renting an empty plot nearby to swell our supply.

Our beetroot have also grown very fast as the conditions have been good in the past month. Another row of seeds has gone in and as soon as the little bulbs form on the first row we’ll be thinning them and enjoying a delicious meal of infant beetroot and their leaves. Quite delicious with a splash of extra virgin and some Wineland Brie™ from Dalewood Fromage.

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Top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan

Here are my top 20 recommendations for a healthy nutrition plan:

1. Cut out the following: Sugar; White flour (it's stripped of nutrients), Animal and vegetable fats and ALL margarines


2. Avoid excess soy and consider having none at all


3. Keep consumption of dairy products LOW


4. Don’t rely on ONE source of fibre, (i.e. wheat bran) include beans, pulses, fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oats, rye, barley, corn


5. Wheat bran is not a good choice - it inhibits mineral absorption


6. Keep alcohol consumption down


7. Limit salt – try not to add any to your food and never cook with it


8. Don't eat excessive amounts of animal protein


9. Protein is also found in nuts, seeds, peas, beans, lentils, sprouts and whole grains. All are rich in vitamins, minerals and protein


10. Avoiding carrying too much weight – it will reduce your life expectancy, and brings many diseases with it


11. Don't smoke or take recreational drugs


12. Ensure a HIGH intake of vegetables, especially green, leafy ones and preferably raw or steamed


13. Plenty of good quality fibre – many people need supplemental help here


14. Eat organic and free range where possible


15. Take regular MENTAL exercise - hobbies, reading etc


16. Prayer enhances immunity


17. Enjoyment of life also enhances immunity


18. If you are a vegetarian (but be aware of the long term dangers here) ensure sufficient protein and include the following: Rice with legumes or sesame seeds, Wheat with legumes/sesame seeds, Corn with legumes, Sesame seeds with either beans or wheatQuinoa is a good source of protein


19. Regular exercise - even if it is just a 15 minute walk


20. Have a goal in life - raises your immunity!

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What about a low-fat diet?

For those of you who still think you’re going to lose weight on a low-fat diet, think again.

Our bodies crave fat and we cannot survive without it. As soon as we deprive ourselves of good fats and oils (in fish, pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplementation and extra virgin cold pressed olive oil) our bodies panic and send messages to our brains for a quick fix in the way of sugar, sending us into diabetes contenders and susceptible to other degenerative diseases.

It is clear from the ever-present chronic diseases, skyrocketing overweight and obesity rates and widespread degenerative illnesses facing developed and developing countries that something has gone wrong with our diets. The biggest fad diet in the world has encouraged food from machines and sickly animals instead of whole foods from organically grown sources and this is a major issue that contributes to the failure of our health.

Identifying and eating low-fat foods provide many with reassurance, but fat is often substituted with increased levels of sugar. Many people believe a low-fat alternative has up to 40 percent fewer calories than regular brands, when the true figure is more likely to be only around 11 percent, say researchers.

A person's perception of what amounted to a regular portion of food was often slanted when faced with low-fat alternatives. People believe they will feel less guilty eating the low-fat foods, so they tend to overindulge.

Unbeknownst to the general public, the theory that bad health follows high intake of fats in general or saturated fats in particular has long had its detractors--and the list of detractors has been growing noticeably in recent years.

Have a read of what DrSears.com has to say on this topic - you'll need to register, but worth reading!

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Stem Cell ‘Cure’ for Diabetes Type 1

The TimesOnline article sounds like a miracle cure, and for Type 1 sufferers will come as a possible life line.

Far be it for any of us to debate the pros and cons of stem cell research at the expense of people suffering with this disease, be it from childhood or as a result of diabetes Type 2 which has developed out of control.

However, from a nutritional standpoint, there is much that can be done to support the immune system of Type 1 diabetes sufferers, and even more for Type 2 diabetics, who can reverse the condition before it develops into Type 1 if they diligently follow the guidelines of nutritionally aware health professionals.

Many diets developed from a dietetic aspect through a medical approach are destined to turn Type 2 diabetics into Type 1 within 5 – 10 years, but this is not necessary and there are many cases of completely reversed Type 2 diabetics to prove the point.

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Does dark chocolate reduce blood pressure?

Many people, including the marketers of chocolate, would be thrilled to find their favourite treat is able to reduce blood pressure, but I wonder why people have high blood pressure in the first place. Could it be they are consuming lots of milk chocolate, as Forbes.com has intimated?

I agree it seems small quantities of dark chocolate have healthful flavonoids, but encouraging consumption in order to reduce hbp may be fuelled by clever marketing. A more sensible approach is to encourage sufferers to increase their garlic and onion intake, promote a low fat diet and eat oily fish at least twice a week.

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Dieting does not work, researchers report

Anyone who has been on a diet will tell you that over time, they do not work – that is why so many people yo-yo diet. The temptation of a ‘quick-fix’ will always lure overweight and obese people to ‘try just one more diet’. It’s a mug’s game that is certain to fail. From a common sense angle, we know our bodies understand feast and famine very well, as we are conditioned to store nutrients in our fat cells if a drought shows the slightest chance of being apparent.

Think of it this way:

As soon as we reduce our intake of calories, our bodies are conditioned to store food because they think a drought is at hand and could get worse. So food is stored in the fat cells ‘for later’.

Another aspect that is going to encourage a diet to fail – our bodies crave fat, but the world has gone mad and has encouraged a ‘fat-free’ lifestyle to reduce fat, which is completely against the way our bodies function best. Our brains alone consist mostly of fat, and work at optimum levels when our essential fatty acids are in balance. If we reduce fat, we unknowingly turn on a craving for fat which manifests itself in a craving for something sweet. So we have a quick fix bar of chocolate or muffin or breakfast bar (even worse!) in the hopes of stilling the nagging urge, and so set up a cycle for storing fat once again. Sugar turns quickly to glucose in the blood and if we don’t use it immediately it becomes toxic, so turning on the insulin response which removes the toxic sweet stuff out of the blood stream – into the fat cells!And so the cycle goes on.

There is only one certain way to lose weight and keep a healthy body as a result, and that is to eat a variety of foods which are not processed and are still in their natural form, exercise sensibly, drink plenty of water and make certain you have enough good fats and oils in your diet. Find a nutritionally trained health professional who understands how your body reacts to different foods and keep away from fad diets.

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Suggested Reading

We recommend the following books to read on the range of topics that we write about on Cabbages and Cream:

Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry, by Elaine Hollingsworth This remarkable book will show you how to: determine which foods and which minerals build bone mass; Prevent/reverse osteoporosis; substitute safe remedies for dangerous HRT; avoid food and beverages that cause bones to dissolve; avoid/reverse all female (and male) complaints without drugs; prevent/reverse impotence and prostate illnesses; use simple, natural remedies for many common ailments; discover the only progesterone that is effective, does not contain preservatives, and costs a few cents per day; banish constipation; rejuvenate your skin naturally; prevent breast cancer; sail through menopause, drug-free; avoid a commonly prescribed drug that creates severe spinal degeneration, even in the young; get a mineral that halts 40-50 per cent of calcium loss; and get a Peruvian root vegetable that has been used for 10,000 years to promote bone density and make menopause easy, and costs a few pence a day.

Toxic Childhood: How The Modern World Is Damaging Our Children And What We Can Do About It, by Sue Palmer One in six children in the developed world is diagnosed as having 'developmental or behavioural problems', and the number is rising by 25% each year - this book explains why and shows what can be done about it. Children throughout the developed world are suffering: instances of obesity, dyslexia, ADHD, bad behaviour and so on are all on the rise. Sue Palmer, a former head teacher and literacy expert, has researched into a whole range of problem areas, from poor diet, a lack of exercise and sleep deprivation to a range of modern difficulties that are having a major effect: television, computer games, mobile phones.

The Inflammation Syndrome: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Allergies and Asthma, by Jack Challem A breakthrough plan for better health and wellnessRecent research shows that chronic inflammation is a major underlying factor in many common diseases-not only arthritis, but also heart disease, diabetes, and more. This unique book explains how to combat inflammation through an easy-to-follow anti-inflammatory nutrition program that limits bad fats and refined carbohydrates-and uses vitamins, supplements, "good" oils, and tasty recipes to restore dietary balance and promote health.

The Fat Flush Plan, by Ann Louise Gittleman From the UK Daily Mail, Monday May 27, 2002 "The Fat Flush Plan is an incredible weight-loss system that has taken America by storm. It has been devised by one of America's top ten nutritionalists, ANN LOUISE GITTLEMAN, a qualified diet specialist with a Masters degree in nutrition. She has used her scientific knowledge about how the body breaks down fat to devise a plan guaranteed to help you lose pounds and inches - and keep them off forever."

The Wrinkle Cure: The Formula for Stopping Time, by Nicholas Perricone Nicholas Perricone, in the opening chapters of The Wrinkle Cure, explains why skin wrinkles and sags--a combination of factors including the passage of time, stress, poor nutrition, excess alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation and exposure to cigarette smoke, sunlight and pollution. Ultimately, however, it all boils down to damage caused by those renegade free radicals. The bulk of his book is then devoted to a clearly presented skin care regimen that involves oral and topical antioxidant therapy. On the oral front, he emphasises eating antioxidant foods, such as cantaloupe and dark green leafy vegetables, and avoiding "bad carbohydrates" (high in the glycemic index) such as pasta, sugar and pancakes. And if you want to look good for a big event within a few days he suggests eating "fish, fish and more fish".

The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs, by Ross Pelton and Jim LaValle Many of the most widely used prescription drugs cause the body to lose nutrients and, as a result, cause nutritional health problems. Based on extensive scientific research, The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs is the first book for the general public to describe the nutrient losses caused by prescription drugs and present ways to combat these losses and maintain good nutritional health. It's essential reading for all prescription drug users.

Trust Us, We're Experts!: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future, by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber Fearless investigative journalists Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber (Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! and Mad Cow USA) are back with Trust Us, We're Experts--a gripping exposé of the public relations industry and the scientists who back their business-funded, anti-consumer-safety agendas. There are two kinds of "experts" in question--the PR spin doctors behind the scenes and the "independent" experts paraded before the public, scientists who have been hand-selected, cultivated and paid handsomely to promote the views of corporations involved in controversial actions. Lively writing on controversial topics such as dioxin, bovine growth hormone and genetically modified food makes this a real page-turner, shocking in its portrayal of the real and potential dangers in each of these technological innovations and of the "media pseudo-environment" created to obfuscate the risks.

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About: Premenopause, by Jesse Hanley , John Lee and Virginia Hopkins Real solutions for PMS, fibroids, fibrocystic breasts, weight gain, fatigue, endometriosis, irregular or heavy periods, infertility, miscarriage, and other premenopausal hormone imbalance symptoms, in detail. He also covers the topics of stress, birth control pills, hysterectomy and cancer. Many case histories are included, and Dr. Hanley adds a new dimension to this book by addressing the emotional issues of premenopause symptoms as well as the use of herbs and nutritional supplements to treat symptoms.

Food Is Better Medicine Than Drugs: Your Prescription for Drug Free Health, by Patrick Holford and Jerome Burne "Food is Medicine" is an important and potentially controversial new book from top nutritionist Patrick Holford and leading health journalist Jerome Burne. They explain why food is better medicine than drugs. Brilliantly researched and based on solid scientific trials and illuminating case histories, "Food is Medicine" will revolutionise the way you think about your health and put you back in charge. The authors reveal how modern medicine has become distorted and is now, for reasons largely to do with profit and power, heavily dependent on prescription drugs. They look at common health problems (pain/arthritis, heart, depression, diabetes, memory, hormones, digestion, breathing, infections etc) and compare the effectiveness of nutrition-based approaches with today's potentially harmful commonly used medicines. Holford and Burne then recommend the foods and supplements you need to take to keep you healthy and to help reverse your health problem, suggesting safe drug-free alternatives to painkillers, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, blood thinners, cholesterol reducers, HRT, antidepressants, stimulants and tranquilisers. Simple to follow, practical and convincing, this is the book you need to read before you go to see your doctor.

We want real food, by Graham Harvey Mineral levels in meat and milk plummet over 60 years and "We Want Real Food" explains why and how it can be reversed. We are all being encouraged to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and many of us regularly spend more on organic produce in the belief that is better for our health and taste buds. However Graham Harvey illustrates how our increasingly industrial farming techniques are denuding our soil of the essential nutrients, minerals and structures needed to produce quality produce. Everyday fruits and vegetables have significantly lower nutrient contents from those grown 30 years ago, and are set to diminish further unless action is taken now.

Omega Rx Zone: The Miracle of the New High-dose Fish Oil, by Barry Sears A revolutionary new plan that uses cutting edge research on fish oils to take you to an entirely new level of the Zone. Enhanced brain power, improved physical performance, and amazing disease-fighting power.

Reduce obesity through exercise

It is strange to think that Reuters has a story that highlights 15 minutes of exercise will help reduce the risk of obesity in your kids. Surely that is just common sense? The more we exercise the less chance of being over-weight?

This is such an important topic and it seems sometimes that society (obviously I'm generalising here) can overlook the obvious when it comes to exercising especially for children. There are high demands for kids to be working hard at school, fitting in with their social networks and other demands of growing up in the 21st century, and sometimes the focus on such an important part of growing up, like exercising, is not given the time it warrants.

Obesity seems a popular topic in the news this week, with the BBC saying that scientists have found a clear link to a 'obesity gene'.

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Avoid these exercises in the gym

While I'm on my high horse about exercising in the gym, have a look at this article on avoiding the certain exercises.

I agree with most of them, although I believe there is still significant value in doing sit-ups, when they are done properly!

It is interesting to read that most of these exercises are one's that don't neccessarily add value for those playing sport or wanting to get fit, but rather those looking for a body for the beach...

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Best exercise for your legs

There seems to be a huge amount of emphasis on working out in the gym these days, when in actual fact exercising using your own body weight is often more effective and almost certainly less stress on the body and joints.

Here is an interesting article on the single-leg squat that offers a change in approach to conventional squats or leg press in the gym, but can be just as effective!

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