We planted an orchard!

One of the first things we wanted to do this Spring was get some fruit trees in the ground since they are such an investment into food production on the property. We planted two cherries, a peach, and a pear tree to go along with the apple tree that was already on our property. These new trees should produce a decently-sized fruit harvest in 2-4 years. We plan to plant and maintain this orchard using permaculture principles as much as we are able: promoting diversity, planning efficiently, and utilizing resources fully.

The diversity of trees will be joined with a wide variety of shrubs, berry bushes, herbs, and flowers. These will help to promote a wide variety of microorganisms and pollinators, and limit damage from diseases and pests. Each plant will have different resistances to disease and pests, essentially diversifying our investment and promoting a hardy homestead. Here’s to healthy food production!

Each year, my goal is to grow enough produce for my family to eat all year. Each year, I get closer to this goal. It is a bit of a trial-and-error process each year to answer the age-old question: how much should I plant in my vegetable garden? In this vlog I’ll walk you through my process of assessing what’s left from our preserved home-canned and frozen foods to decide how much I should plant in this year’s garden.

Some plants have a more direct correlation of seed-to-food ratio, like beets, carrots, and cauliflower where each seed produces a single unit of produce. Others produce many units of produce per plant, such as squash, zucchini, cucumbers, or green beans. Healthier plants, of course, produce more while less healthy plans produce less. Because of these varying factors you will find there is no magic answer to knowing how much of each plant to put in your garden, it takes this sort of year-by-year assessment and adjustment to get as close as possible.

If you don’t succeed on your first try – welcome to the club! I’ve been gardening for years and have yet to hit that nail perfectly on its head, but each year it gets a little easier and I get a little closer and I’m happy with that! We’ve greatly reduced our reliance on the grocery store and a few years in (with some seed-saving knowledge) we have also decreased our grocery budget by quite a bit. Here are a few tips to help you succeed:

Plant What You’ll Eat

Every gardener does it – inevitably you will end up planting too much of something your family won’t eat. I’ve got a freezer full of turnips from 3 years ago that we are still working on for this exact reason. I just couldn’t resist how picturesque and farm-y they looked growing!

By all means, plant things you enjoy and try new things – but save the majority of your space for well-loved staples that your family traditionally eats plenty of.

Plant Extra if You Can

Decide how much you think your household might eat, and then plant a few extra if you have space and resources. Seeds are cheap and it’s pretty common to lose some plants to disease, pests, or just the garden gremlins that inexplicably leave your plants sad and wilty. Having a few extra means you’ll be much more likely to hit your mark

Start With Growing for Summer

If you’re a beginner gardener, and especially if you haven’t preserved food in the past, a great goal is to aim to grow the food your family will eat fresh during the summer months. You will have plenty to learn and do as you plant, tend, and grow your first garden. Preserving and canning are amazing and incredibly useful skills, but you don’t have to overwhelm yourself by planning to do all of it in your first season. Eating produce all summer from your garden is incredibly rewarding – give it a try!

Have a Preservation Plan

If you’re looking to preserve the produce from your garden, have a rough plan in advance of how you’ll preserve it. Will you can, freeze, or dehydrate? Do you have space for storage? Do you need to learn these skills before your produce is ready? Make sure you are prepared when the time comes…your produce rarely waits for you and it is a heck of a disappointment to put in all the work to grow a winter’s worth of produce and watch it go bad before you get to it!

Boy, is it cold outside! Cold outside often coincides with colds inside – winter has long been regarded as cold and flu season and with recent events, boosting your immunity can be a top priority! No one wants to be out sick from celebrations and responsibilities all winter long. Strengthening your immune system and fighting bacteria and viruses can be aided with certain important nutrients included in this cinnamon orange smoothie recipe:

Probiotics

Probiotic foods contain the friendly, helpful bacteria that can colonize our intestines to help digest our food, keep us regular, and defend us against harmful bacterial infections. In the case of this smoothie, the yogurt will provide a dose of probiotics.

Prebiotics

While probiotics are the foods that contain the helpful bacteria, prebiotics are the foods the bacteria love to eat! Orange juice, especially including pulp, contains these prebiotic fibers that can make our helpful gut bacteria thrive.

Vitamin C

Long recognized as one of the key nutrients supporting immunity, vitamin C provides antioxidant benefits and helps to promote the production of your body’s own natural antibodies.

Zinc & Vitamin D

Both of these powerful nutrients are associated with lower infection rates, and shorter infections that are less severe. The also can slow viral growth and

Lactoferrin

Found in milk and yogurt, this compound boosts your immunity by preventing viral entry into your cells.

Propolis

This compound, found in honey, has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, as well as promoting antibody immune cell production.

The foods in this immune-boosting winter smoothie bring all these nutrients together to support your immune system’s function throughout the cold and flu season. The smoothie tastes like chai-spiced oranges and is the perfect complement to your breakfast or as a snack during the day. To make this smoothie a meal, add a frozen banana and a scoop of your favorite plain or vanilla protein powder.

References

1. Immune-boosting functional foods and their mechanisms: a critical evaluation of probiotics and prebiotics https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332220308180
2. Network pharmacology of AYUSH recommended immune-boosting medicinal plants against COVID-19 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975947620301078
3. Immune-Boosting, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Food Supplements Targeting Pathogenesis of COVID-19 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7575721/
4. Immune-boosting role of vitamins D, C, E, zinc, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids: Could they help against COVID-19? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378512220303467

Most of us would love to be active and healthy, exercising regularly doing something we enjoy. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to stick to an exercise plan. How exactly do you choose a workout that you’ll actually enjoy and that is sustainable? There are a handful of things to consider to help yourself be as successful as possible in your fitness. It’s important to consider some of your own personality traits, as well as some of those weird little quirks we all have. It’s amazing how much working with your tendencies rather than against them can change the game.

A few things to consider:

“Mood exerciser” vs. “Routine Repeater”

Are you someone who needs to be “in the mood” for a particular exercise in order to do it? You’re not alone, Mood Exerciser! Don’t expect to be someone who completes the same workout day after day. Have several possible workouts in your arsenal so when it comes time to exercise, you can choose the workout you’re most in the mood for. Maybe on a high-energy day you do high-intensity interval training, on an angry day you kickbox, and on a mellow day you do yoga. The choices are yours, but make sure you have some options!

If you are someone who prefers a regular zone-out routine than having a different option every day, you are a Routine Repeater. For you, it’s more important to find that one exercise that is a perfect fit for your lifestyle and gradually progress in intensity or time. If you stick with the same workout for 3-4 months, consider adding a 1-2 day per week cross-training to prevent injury and muscle imbalances.

“Rip-the-BandAid” vs. “Joyride” Exerciser

Do you want to really feel like you did something when you work out? Do you want to sweat and feel the burn? If so, you are a “Rip-the-BandAid” exerciser, and you will likely prefer higher-intensity workouts that you can get done in half the time. Some good options are high-intensity interval training or bootcamp.

If instead you are someone who needs to be enjoying yourself to exercise, you are a Joyride Exerciser. Joyride exercisers tend to love group exercise classes, sports, and workout videos like group dance classes, kickboxing, or martial arts.

One of our greatest frustrations with healthy living is dealing with the normal obstacles of life – the things that can stand in the way of our best-laid plans. My clients are often eager and ready to come up with their “plan A.” The “if everything works as it should” plan. The “this is how I really want things to go” plan. I also encourage them to come up with contingency plans. What if everything doesn’t work as it should? What if things don’t go how you really wish they would?

Having a contingency plan helps prevent the all-or-nothing feelings that can come into play when we don’t seem to be able to make plan A work. If plan A is all we have in our healthy tool belt, then we end up defeated when it won’t work for one reason or another. Your plan failed…guess you can’t be healthy today.

Not so!

Life is often not going to work out the way you hope, so be prepared! Have a plan for when the plan doesn’t work. It’s not defeatist – it’s realistic. Have a contingency plan. This is how I usually describe them:

Plan A: This is your best-case scenario. It is the plan that is designed to help you meet your health goals and fit into your (and your family’s) lifestyle at least half the time. If you make a plan A that rarely ends up ever working, it’s probably not the right plan A for you. Remember that it’s okay to try changes out before committing to them (in fact you should!) and it’s okay if a change doesn’t work for you. Keep looking for your best fit!

Plan B: This is your “oh shoot, I didn’t have time for plan A” or “we can’t afford plan A right now” or ______insert reason plan A doesn’t work this time_____. This is not as ideal of an outcome as plan A, but still keeps you on track with a decent second-best. Ask yourself what might stand in the way of your plan A, and consider how you might adjust. Plan B options sometimes require a little bit of advance preparation, but then they have your back when needed.

Plan C: This is your hail Mary. The “well…nothing went the way I planned so we will do the best we can with what we have today.” Sometimes you actually have a third-best option, and sometimes your plan C is just to let it go and try again tomorrow. Either way, make it an intentional choice, not an automatic response to a plan A roadblock. Plan to take a day off if plans A and B fall through, and don’t feel bad if they did. This mentally helps us stay away from thought patterns like “well, I didn’t complete plan A today, so I guess I’m not being healthy anymore.” It sounds dramatic when you say it out loud, but it’s the way a lot of our brains think. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard from clients about healthy changes they did great with…until that one day, then they gave up since they had “broken their streak.”

Here are some examples of contingency plans my clients have made:

Cooking at home

Plan A (best-case-scenario, works at least half the time): Make a meal plan each week and cook at least 5 dinners at home.

Plan B (second-best option, has your back with a little advance preparation): This client felt her most likely roadblock would be not having time to make the dinner on her meal plan, so her plan B was to buy pre-cooked salmon fillets and a vegetable/red potato medley to keep in the freezer so she could always have a microwave back-up option if she got stuck in traffic on the way home from work.

Plan C (do the best you can with what you’ve got, no preparation required): If she comes home late and her kids have a nighttime activity, she usually needs to bring something home or take the kids out on the way. We selected 3 different restaurants that her kids would like and where everyone could customize their own healthful option.

Strength Training

Plan A: Go to the gym before work to strength train three times per week.

Plan B: This client’s gym is very busy in the afternoon, so his biggest roadblock would be getting his workout in if he missed going in the morning. If he didn’t make it to the gym before work, we selected a Youtube body weight workout he could do at home in the evening.

Plan C: If he did not want to work out in the evening when he got home, he could either try going to the gym a different morning that week, or take a day off and try again on his next scheduled gym day.

The point is, that making the plan ahead of time helps prepare you for challenges and makes any of the options okay. It allows you to realistically navigate life’s curve balls while still keeping focus on your goal. All while avoiding a defeated attitude when life just doesn’t play nice. So hang in there! Make a plan, and another, and another. And don’t beat yourself up when plan A and plan B don’t work! It happens to everyone – now you can be prepared.

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Fasten your seatbelts and make sure your seat is in the upright position – we are on the runway for the holiday season! Cozy get-togethers, tasty dinners, and delicious sweets and treats await us! For some, the question is always: how can I stay healthy and still enjoy my holidays? Too many times we can struggle with this balance, finding ourselves dehydrated, bloated, and unhealthy come January, swearing “never again.” Or – just as unfortunately – stressing ourselves out so much about not affecting our health that we don’t actually spend any time enjoying our holidays. No more! Here are 5 practical, easy tips to enjoy a holiday season that won’t leave you ragged coming in to the new year.

1. Prioritize

Our natural tendency is to take a little bit of everything at any given holiday event. Often, though, we don’t even truly love all of these treats. Skim the spread and honestly ask yourself which items are sure to delight you. Which one would you be sad to leave without? Dish up and enjoy! If there are others that aren’t your favorites, don’t take them by default. Make sure to prioritize what you really love!

2. Set Yourself up for Success

It’s tough to enjoy a holiday when you aren’t feeling well, and we all know that certain foods (in certain amounts) affect us in uncomfortable ways. If a gathering is potluck-style, bring a food that you know leaves you feeling great. Then you know there will be at least one dish that won’t leave you feeling less than your best. If you don’t have the option to bring something, snack on some feel-good foods before you head out.

3. Take Your Time

Don’t rush the experience – eating holiday food is a seasonal delight to be savored. Make a plate, have a seat, and visit with a loved one as you eat. Take time to enjoy each bite and chew well (this helps with digestion as well as enjoyment)! After finishing your plate, give yourself 10-15 minutes before you go back for seconds. Our satiety signals sometimes take a bit to kick in. Waiting can help prevent painful over-fullness!

4. Hydrate Well

Most of the things that leave us feeling crummy after the holidays have to do with their dehydrating effects – sugar, salt, and alcohol are all culprits for leaving us dried out. That dehydration can lead to headaches, fatigue, breakouts, digestive issues, and more. You can make big strides to feeling your best by simply making sure to drink plenty of water leading up to, during, and after your holiday celebration.

5. Enjoy!

Do not let worries about your health or weight consume your holidays. Your mental health is a much larger part of your overall wellness than that Christmas cookie. Practice balance, give yourself grace, and enjoy every second with your family, friends and favorite foods.

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What’s a better pairing than strawberry and rhubarb? Sweet and tangy, and both ready at the same hopeful time of year – Spring! This seasonal recipe helps you celebrate the return to sun and fresh produce in delightful, high-fiber cookies. An extra bonus? They’re egg-free and very easy to modify to vegan with your favorite plant-based milk!

Here I place my pledge to never make you scroll through 24 paragraphs about what I did the day I first made this recipe, 14 variations on the recipe, and how this was my grandmother’s sister’s favorite food. You will find the recipe directly below. Happy cooking!