Most docs today recommend, organic when possible, grass fed animal protein, etc. It doesn’t have to be expensive if we grow at least some of our own.
As I write this, the sun is shining, all my windows are open, tulips have livened the front yard, and the buds have opened on all the trees to reveal those lovely pale green spring leaves. Ahhh, I can feel my body relax, feel my lips curling up into a smile, and I am grateful to live in this little paradise.
All thoughts of the cold, cold winter are gone and I’m ready for Mother Nature’s kinder season.
I can’t wait to dig my hands into my vegetable garden! My parents would not believe I just said that. This is a huge change from when I was a teen who was tired of having to weed, pick, and can veggies! I vowed I’d never grow my own back then. It’s funny how different we think as we become wiser with age. Many of the things that were important to me as a teen and young adult are quite far under my radar now. When I think back on all the years that I was wrapped up in my career, then my family, and how I looked at life back then, it makes me wonder if there really wasn’t time to stop and smell the flowers, or gaze at the summer sky filled with big fluffy white clouds, or listen to the birds singing their lovely melodies; or if I simply didn’t take the time. Was I so caught up in daily tasks as a young adult that I forgot to just BE? Maybe. Or, maybe life is a series of cycles that we go in and out of as we continue our lives.
Right now, it feels like the right thing to do is to become more self-sufficient. The planet will certainly be happier if my veggies don’t need to be trucked in from California, Florida, or Mexico all year long. I have neighbors that are raising their own chickens and goats. They sell eggs, goat milk, and goat cheese. I can even walk to purchase those. I used to love to fish, and since I live on a lake, perhaps I’ll take that up again as well as I mostly eat fish or chicken as protein. I have a freezer in the garage that I can fill with organic strawberries and blueberries, grown right here in my neighborhood, to last the rest of the year. The freezer’s big enough to hold chicken that’s raised and butchered here and all the fish I can catch! If it doesn’t have enough room, I’ll get another freezer. It’s time for me to live like my parents did when they were kids. Back then, one neighbor raised rabbits, another grew vegetables, another had milking cows, etc. Maybe you’d like to join in this effort as well? The more of us who live in communities that can provide all (or most) of the food we eat, the healthier that will make us and the planet.
After more than a year of physical distancing, perhaps more people will consider spending more time at home working a garden, or raising animals. I see small groups of people across the USA who are seriously considering these life changes or have already began to implement them. A friend of mine in New Hampshire cleared a large bit of her land to make a larger garden. She has a cold cellar AND a freezer, so she’s growing root vegetables, too. The important thing is that she’s loving it! So am I.
Have you ever thought to grow some of your own food, or maybe you have a little garden of your own? Let me know and we’ll compare notes on growing methods. This is the season to start your garden. What will you plant? We can also exchange recipes for some of the veggies we grow; it will be fun!
I’ll start with this recipe for a delicious burger!
Meanwhile, here’s a good news story about how this pandemic has caused others to change their perspective on more than gardening. I would love your thoughts on this topic as well.
And for today’s video, here’s a 5-minute self-care routine that you can start from your chair! Don’t skip your self-care, even on those days when you don’t feel like exercising… Please remember to like and share if you enjoy this video!
Best of Health,
Kathi
