vegetables

Home Gardening for Beginners

Home gardening is one of the best ways to practice self-sustainability. Home gardening allows you to grow your own produce, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, and so much more. There are many ways to create a thriving garden at your home, some which includes:

1.      Building raised beds

Building raised beds allows you control the soil. It gives you the opportunity to create what I like to call super soil by either buying soil from your local nurseries, or to do a mixture of native soil, and compost. Either way, plants tend to thrive and do better in raised beds. Raised beds also contains the spread of your plants. For an example, if you are growing mint, you would want to use either a pot, or a raised bed. This will keep your mint contained, and prevent your mint from spreading all across areas you want to utilize to grow other plants.

2.      Using pots

Pots are amazing tools to use to grow plants. I especially like the idea of using pots to grow plants if you do not have a lot of yard space, dirt areas, or if you are growing single plants. Pots are great tools to use to help contain certain plants such as mint, marjoram, and oregano. Pots can also be great for plants such as tomatoes, and strawberries which will spread from seeds dropping if not contained.

3.      Plant Directly in the Ground

Planting directly in the ground has its advantages, and disadvantages. When you plant directly in the ground it tends to take much more maintenance because there will be weeds growing more frequently. Planting herbs that spread in abundance will take more maintenance, and can take over your garden if not trimmed often. I had my experiences with planting directly in the ground, and it took a lot of work, but was well worth it.

Each tool of gardening can be utilized, and will help you get one step closer towards self-sustainability.

Click on the video for a quick tutorial on a simple way to start your garden.

5 Proven Ways To Boost Your Immune System

We all strive to have a strong immune system. If not, we should. Who wants their body to be protected against sickness and disease? Thought so. Your immune system is your defense system. There are many holistic practices that are used to help boost your immune system. There are what I like to call “common practices” which includes plant medicine that are easy to grow, and access. I am going to give you 5 common practices to help boost your immune system.

1.      The most common plant used to help boost your immune system is mint. You will hear me talk about mint a lot because the properties of mint are truly amazing. Mint is a great tool for boosting your immune system. Some of the nutrients you will find in mint are calcium, vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium, and iron. Not only can mint leaves help boost your immune system, they are easy to grow, and can be used in a variety of ways. I grow, and use mint daily, especially in the winter season to help boost my immune system.

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2.      Essential oils are great to use if you want to boost your immune system. There are certain aromas I recommend you use if you want to boost your immune system. Aromatherapy is such a big thing because science proves that essential oils encourages cell growth which leads to faster healing. You can provide aromatherapy in your own home with a diffuser, and high grade essential oils. The highest grade of essential oils you can find is Doterra. There are many other brands that can be found in your local stores like Target, Walmart, or even Amazon. The three most common essential oils to use for boosting your immune system are peppermint, lavender, and rosemary. Other essential oils such as eucalyptus, grapefruit, frankincense, tea tree, and lemon are also great for boosting your immune system. Essential oils, depending on how high the grade is can be used in a diffuser, topically, and internally. Doterra essential oils can be used for all three purposes.

3.      An easy way to boost your immune system is to get more sleep. Yes, very simple right? I will say it again because I know you are not getting enough sleep. GET MORE SLEEP. Why is sleep important? Sleep is important because sleep is a way to manage the amount of stress on your body. Stress means that your body is fighting extra hard. Stress makes your body vulnerable, and guess what? Yes, you guessed it. It weakens your immune system. In a study done in 2013, it was found that 60-80% of people who visited doctors for illness had stress related components. The study can be found at this link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1392494

4.      One of the best ways to boost your immune system is to eat healthier. We are at number four on the list, and I’m sure you’re like wow, I didn’t know it was that easy. Taking care of your immune system can be very easy and practical. Eating foods like fruits and vegetables will definitely aid in boosting your immune system. This holds true due to all the antioxidant that are found in fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants helps fight off viruses, and keeps your body protected. I am going to name some common fruits and vegetables you can stack your refrigerator with to help boost your immune system. Oranges, cranberries, goji berries, watermelon, blueberries, spinach, kale, cabbage, and purple seeded grapes is what you should fill your refrigerator with. They are all powerhouses for boosting your immune system. The great thing about it is… They are all common fruits that are easy to have in your home garden.

5.      Drink less alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages, if you did not know, makes your body vulnerable and more prone to getting sick. Yes, alcohol lowers your immune system. I still drink my alcoholic beverages, but I always have my alcoholic beverages served with mint leaves, sage leaves (which is another plant that’s amazing for boosting your immune system), and blended with fresh fruits and vegetables. I balance my alcohol with immune system boosters.

There you have it. These are 5 common ways to help boost your immune system. I like to find the most common, and practical ways to approach health. These are things you can get started on as soon as today. Enjoy!