Creating: Florida Native Gardening

Here is a video of the beginning of my Florida native plant experience. Now that i know about native plants. It is insane to think about all the destruction that has gone on in Florida and many plants are endangered just like the animals. I am starting my journey to be part of the solution.

Living: butterfly weed

Not so long ago I wrote about Monarch butterflies and feeling the urgent need to help. Well I attended a native plant sale last weekend and during a lecture the speaker said if we stayed until the end we would get native butterfly weed. The end of the lecture came and he said that the native plant society wanted it for a raffle. WHAT?! This was my way in, the seeds were already sprouted.... oh the tease of it all!! Today I was in Home Depot looking at the seeds and there they were asclepias tuberosa.. What you are kidding me? Now let's see if I can get them to sprout. Wish me well. For the love of the Monarch butterfly.

Living: No Poo Method 2 year update

No Poo Update

Living: What I learned yesterday

You have  heard  of  that saying  about learning something  new  everyday...  Well  I decided  I  want to blog as  many of these as possible this year.  The information  may not  be news to you, but  it is new to me  and  sometimes  I think  how  did I not  know this!!  I  didn't  know
Monarch  butterflies 

 are  endangered.  I  didn't  know  that  a major  reason  for this  is that  non native invasive  milkweeds,

Asclepias curassavica

can kill them.  Do not buy this milkweed for your butterfly   garden if you live in Florida. These milkweeds  are marketed through  big box nurseries and the like.

To help the Monarch  butterfly in Florida homeowners  need to be providers for the  essential milkweed the caterpillars  need to live.  Here is a website  that I found helpful.  I plan  on  getting some seeds soon  to  grow milkweed.

** both images are from wikipedia

Living: Composting with worms

A few  days  after  getting  the worms  in the Worm  Factory 360, this is what  the bin  looks like.

Living: worm composting

I just started  worm composting today.  I have a worm factory 360.  More updates  as I learn more and see what happens.  I added  Kale and tea bags to the composter.

Living: eating that cleans your teeth

My latest new thing to do is to eat kale in the morning.  Now I find  out that is great  for keeping your teeth clean.  I also  drink green tea during the day  (in stain steel  and I am learning that that is not a good idea smh  at all the things I am learning that I previously  thought was safe.)

Here read this article and  keep  those teeth beautiful..

 5 Foods to keep your teeth clean VEG news

Living: food healing

I  just posted this on facebook...

So I am thinking maybe of my friends don't realize why I am such a FOOD "freak." and vegan. Do you know why? leave comments or guess...

one person chimes allergies....  I  replied...
"allergies" but not really ...more like poisoning that doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me, they rarely check for food toxicity.. An accumulation of toxins caused all sorts of inflammation in my body. Symptoms were from chronic fatigue, and were exactly like Fibromyalgia ( a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.) If you are being poisoned of course your brain isn't going to process signals correctly.. there is a CURE.. the same thing that causes it cures it.. food.. I was wearing knee braces and had a lot of pain the doctors said I would have to get injections for the rest of my life.... I was guided through spirit to stop eating meat and I felt better then I stopped eating pizza and I felt even better then I started eating more organic and started to et raw vegetables and I am cured. I can sit criss cross applesauce style on the floor after not being able to do that for a while. I am not perfect but I don't take pain pills (that kills your liver) I wake up thankful for the knowledge and healing I have. And I would like to share it with others.

What I forgot to write was  that I had an MRI  on my knees  before my diet  and they  found a degeneration  and  after  my diet  I had a another one  I didn't tell the doctor about the diet  and I didn't  mention  anything about  the degeneration  before the MRI.  the results  mentioned  nothing  about it,  it was gone and so was the pain  that  I had experienced  that was associated with it!!!!!

Living: Permaculture

So  I don't believe in coincidences.  I met someone  while  redoing a website for him and is all into gardening, specifically food.  He knows someone I know (which I found out later, small world) and I just love the energy that  came out of our conversation  and  now  due to the fact he is into  permaculture, Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments. I am  simply  fascinated  as to why  I didn't  know  this before  (I guess it wasn't time.)

I just started  researching this  as I would like to start growing my own food.  Here is a wiki explanation of permaculture.



Here are some of the things I found  online.

Permaculture  links

Free pdf  on Permaculture

Permaculture Activist

Living: Letter from a High School Friend

We are friends on facebook and haven't seen each other in person for awhile. I received this letter via facebook and asked if it was okay to post to my blog. I started crying the instant I read the last paragraph.

Hello Melina,

Well, you finally did it. Your posts have convinced me and my husband to try going vegetarian. We can no longer consume animals knowing how horribly they are treated.

We started going vegetarian today. We had a long talk and agreed that we could not continue to eat animals. So, now we're trying to change our lifestyle to cut meat out of our diet. We may end up vegan one day, but we're starting out vegetarian. I'm nervous because I've been making meals based on some sort of meat and a side all of my life. Now, I've got to find easy-to-make, healthy vegetarian options. And snacks. And we're very social, going to people's homes and having people over for dinner all the time. Any tips based on your experiences might help us. I hope you don't mind sharing.

Thank you for being so persistent and and courageous. I was often angry at you for posting some of the stuff you put on Facebook, but my ire was rooted in my own guilt. Every time I pet my dog, I felt like a fraud. I was fighting doing the right thing because becoming vegetarian seemed so difficult and alien. But the inconvenience is far outweighed by the atrocities being inflicted on animals. And I know that once we move to a vegetarian lifestyle, it will become part of our lives, no harder than our current diet.

Thank you again for inspiring us to do the right thing. We are attempting the change. I think we'll be able to do it. I'll contact you if I hit any obstacles, if you don't mind.

All the best,

Jim Bennett

We are all one and we all make a difference in each other's lives. Thank you Jim for letting me know this.