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Green Tips: Can, Dry or Freeze It

September 9, 2020 0

Summer is coming to an end! You can enjoy summer fruit all year long though! Simply purchase local fruit now and can, dry, or freeze it. This way you will have local fruit in the cold winter months!

Cherries are out of season and my husband LOVES cherries, so we freeze them. You know what is better than fresh cherries, FROZEN ones. They are amazing! Frozen strawberries are amazing for smoothies, same goes for bananas and blueberries, oh my! The options are endless. 

What are your favorite fruits and veggies to can, freeze or dry? 

Paper or Plastic? Uh, Neither

September 7, 2020 9

Every time I go grocery shopping, I get this question, “paper or plastic?” and a lot of times, the bagger doesn’t even bother to ask…just start loading my groceries into plastic bags. I think that paper and plastic are both horrible for the environment, so I always decline both.

Plastic bags are made from petroleum by-products and are manufactured in an unsustainable and super polluting way. Not to mention, they will sit in the landfill for thousands of years. I can not stand the fact that they are everywhere. Trees, check. Gutters, check. Blowing past my house right now, check. (be right back) OK, I had to go catch it. Bodies of water, check. Everywhere.

Paper bags aren’t much better because even if you recycle them, the process to transport them to the recycling facility and the recycling process itself is very polluting and completely unnecessary. Did I mention the fact, that paper bags are made from trees.

So next time you stop at the store, please remember to grab your reusable bags. It only takes a second. They hold more, are stronger, there are some great looking ones available and it saves the Earth.

Check out my favorite reusable grocery bags here.

Do you use your reusable bags? Which are your favorites?

 

Grow an Indoor Organic Apothecary Herb Garden

September 5, 2020 2

Did you know that herbs have special healing powers? It’s true. Herbs are great for ailments including headaches, stress, sore throats, and digestion. Growing your own apothecary garden is one of the most rewarding garden projects. Herbs are easy to grow, great for beginners, and the perfect project for a family. They grow well in pots, so these would also be great for someone who has limited space or lives in a home without an outdoor space.

Choose an organic potting soil and fertilizer and a sunny place to place your pots or grow your herbs is key. Water the herbs daily until the water drains out of the bottom of the pot. You can use anything for a pot, my favorite pots are old items that you give new life to, such as; vintage milk pails or galvanized bins.

I currently have basil, thyme, and mint in my apothecary herbal garden and plan to add lemon balm, peppermint, and lavender soon.

How does your herb garden grow?

You can upload your garden pics to Sweet Greens Facebook Page for everyone to see.

Green Health: What Are Your Essentials?

September 5, 2020 4
Do you use essential oils? Do you know how to use essential oils?
 

Essential oils are natural compounds found in bark, seeds, flowers, stems, roots, and plants. Essential oils are anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumoral, and anti-fungal naturally. Amazing, right? They are also lipophilic which allows them to destroy viruses that antibiotics may not be able to. You can use essential oils to clean your home and heal your body. My favorite uses for essential oils are:

* Peppermint: Apply to temples for a great headache reliever.
 
* Lemon: Rub into your hands for an amazing alcohol-free sanitizer.
 
* Tangerine: Add to your homemade house cleaner as a disinfectant.
 
* Grapefruit: Inhale for 60 seconds for the perfect appetite suppressant.
 
* Lavender: Inhale for 60 seconds to alleviate depression. and stress.
 
Do you feel better? What do you use essential oils for?

How to Plant a Bee Garden

August 31, 2020 8
Bees are amazing. Bees are responsible for pollinating our natural foods, beverages, and ingredients in medicines. 1/3 of everything that we consume comes from pollinated plants. What’s horrifying is that bees are disappearing at an astonishing rate. Bees are disappearing because of pesticides, loss of habitat, and food supply.
 
What can you do to help save the bees?
 
Plant a bee garden. Bees need flowers that provide nectar, their food. You don’t need a lot of space to make bees happy. Choose native flowers and plants that produce nectar and pollen such as Sunflowers, Daisies, Foxgloves, Asters, Cosmos, and Zinnias. Select a colorful rainbow of flowers (blues, purples, oranges, and yellows) that bloom throughout the seasons, and never use pesticides.

There are other ways that you can encourage bees (and other pollinators) into your garden too:

  • Leave-it-alone gardening works best – so dedicate a patch to let nature and the wild do what it does best.
  • Since there has been a loss of milkweed, there has been a decline in the number of monarch butterflies, which plant plenty (it is the only place they lay eggs and they eat the plant too).
  • Have shallow pools of water – bees are often assumed dead but really just need a rest and some water. Change the water regularly, and put little pebbles into the water so little bees have somewhere to stand. 
  • Get a bee house! You don’t need to have a big beekeeper setup, but little roost modules are perfect. 
Position your favorite chair so that you can watch them but not disturb them; you can even put little water dishes and potted herbs on the edge of the tabletop of your poly furniture too.
 
Do you have a bee garden?
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