Garden Plum
Welcome to the gardenplum.com healing blog. Read here for thoughts and inspirations about the collective consciousness of the world as we grow and develop through these changing times. Spirituality, herbal healing, the law of attraction, prophecy, abundance and prosperity- delightful creations and thoughts gather here.Archive for Environment
I Have a Question
Yesterday I was in a big retail store, and I saw a new t-shirt line POSITIVES. It looked exactly like the Life is Good t-shirts, which run about $20 in a sporting goods store. These were $6 each.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think its a free market and knock-offs are just part of the market? Or do you think that they stole a great idea?
I know Life is Good, once they made it big, went on to do some nice work by starting a non-profit called Playmakers bringing joy to children experiencing ilness or poverty.
How does our culture view this?
When I find the world over-complicated like this, I return to thoughts about nature and the way earth was intended to be used. If two farmers are both growing tomatoes – I do not see any ethical issue or competitiveness going on. If two hunters bring deer pelts, also – no problem.
The problem is we are so far off the path of sustainable living, that man can justify stealing other people’s ideas, changing a few words and pictures, getting the lawyers OK, print the tshirts halfway around the world – for the benefit of making a profit. Followed by the argument “the right to be positive is not exclusive.” (oh boy I can hear it now). This is currently how the world works and people are admired for this type of handywork, and they laugh all the way to the bank. And some consumer might see $6 for $20 and they join in on the wonderment of “buying at a steal”!!!
And these are the guys who are winning. For now.
THE FUTURE OF THE CONSUMING WORLD – 80% OF OUR OWN PRODUCTS IN 25-50 YEARS
I was recently watching a TedX video featuring John Piotti, ED of Maine Farmland Trust. He spoke words of wisdom on this very aspect. He said, “…in 25, 30 or 50 years, economic reality is going to be such that its clear that the best use of farmland is for growing food. For right now, we’re in this place where we haven’t internalized all those externalities, and we don’t take into effect the full cost of food and the system is broken.” WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
Happy Day After Earth Day!
Food and Hunger
I was optimizing my web site yesterday for search engines (SEO) when google advised me I really needed to start blogging again. After all these years of telling my clients how blogging is so important to search engine rankings, I find myself guilty of the same! Its so much easier to tweet or facebook my thoughts. *Sigh*. Its 2:42 am and I was awakened by some persistent thoughts that I better well blog because I can’t sleep.
I am passionate about Food and Hunger. I was recently invited to speak at a local church on the subject to discuss the farmers market, local healthy foods, and community. To my great pleasure, the local welfare officer and food pantry representative also spoke at this discussion.
One of the first sentences I said was:
“My baseline reason for doing this is to feed people. That’s my thing. When a community is eating healthy food, it raises the vibration of that community.”
But with my nerves being what they were, I never expanded on what that truly means.
Over the years I have seen children diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, or learning disabilities (asperger’s etc). When I review the diet, it sometimes consists of a sugar based cereal breakfast, a mac and cheese lunch, and finally a wholesome dinner. By the time healthy food is fed to the body, the metabolism is already in extreme unbalance. So this child is eating simple carbs, high fructose corn syrup, soy. This type of meal gets into the body, quickly ramps up the energy as the body burns up the easily accessible carbs – and THEN this child is asked to sit still at a desk! That’s outrage! I help people make the correlation here…and get some protein into their morning meal or other appropriate nutrients. But what can be done when the food pantry only gives out non-perishables? (The food pantry NOW accepts fresh produce which is WONDERFUL but that was not the case then. Progress, change and growth!) Its extremely important to acknowledge “What goes in comes out” and begin to acknowledge we are what we eat, which has direct effect on our health.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Next up, we are having a busy day at our farmers market. This was when the WIC (Woman, Infants and Children) Nutrition Program was still running and needy families were given special coupons to spend at farmers markets for FRESH FOOD. The program afforded $12 worth of coupons per family for the entire year. This is a meager amount but still a good try by the state to get healthy food to those who cannot afford it. So on this busy farmers market day, an elderly man appears and he wants to spend his coupons. He wants chocolate. He wants sweets. He wants everything but healthy food. He goes to the jam vendor, the chocolate vendor, the bread vendor, even the alpaca vendor! One of the vendors tried to offer him a FREE spaghetti squash. This squash was big and beautiful, fresh from her garden. ”I don’t want that” he says waving his hands in irritation. ”What do I do with that?” So a few of the vendors came to me and said “who takes WIC coupons?” and one vendor did, so we sent him over there.
Unfortunately, and to my dismay, this vendor cashed in the coupons and “fed the man’s craving” and he went off with his prepared goods in a jolly. This vendor then came over to me and said “anytime someone wants those cashed in, its no problem.” The vendor on my other side said “What did he just say???” The following year the state closed down this particular WIC program, instead opting to hold the program at specific farms with specific pick up times. One of my favorite quotes in this quest for healthy food has been from Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) in Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”
Up and Up!
Flash forward a year, and the farmers market enjoys donating fresh produce to the food pantry whenever it can! Last Thanksgiving we donated an entire bushel of sugar pumpkins.
One of my waking thoughts, now 6 months later, flashed to the spaghetti squash incident and then to the pumpkin incident – which gave me pause “Did the people know what to do with the sugar pumpkins or did they put them out on the step? I should have printed recipes!!!” And whoops my passion and my brain are now together and my body is vertical. Its Friday too… farmers market day well I guess its going to be a long one!
So when I spoke about healthy food raising the vibration of a community, I meant it on so many levels – with children, with the elderly, and with everyone who is effected by this sugar based diet that is readily available to us and eager to replace a healthy homecooked meal in a less than perfect world. There is hope and things are improving rapidly! Our little town is all the buzz about healthy food right now in the churches, the farmers market, our agricultural commission, and our people. The Weare Food Pantry recently made a Facebook claim that “Wendy works at the Weare Food Pantry.” I definitely clicked “confirm”!
Did You Get a Confirmation Number?
The light bulb is finally on.
When I go to Farmers’ Market, the customers ask “do you grow it yourself?” “when was it picked?” and they are in love with the fact that they are able to ensure the quality of their product and how it was grown. That is control! And THIS is whole health!
This is in stark contrast to the phone conversation I had this morning with the banking industry. Last month, I went on-line and set up a re-occuring bill payment. Three days ago when it was supposed to “make my life easier” and “simplify my banking”, the payment did not go. I called the bank this morning and the person said “did you get a confirmation number?” And I was told without a confirmation number the late fee could not be waived as I could not prove it was their fault. (I did win the battle however as I had saved the reoccuring transaction, but I “had the wrong department they don’t give credits.) So all in all, three phone calls to four different people, one unpleasant conversation and two uncomfortable ones later – I have my late charge reversed, reoccuring set up and current payment made. HOLY HELL! An hour later, I’m dumbstruck. What a contrast to the ease of obtaining a fresh cantaloupe face to face with the hands that grew it!
This is when the light bulb went on.
Through anonymity, the corporate world has laid a thick steel wall between the customer and their rights. “Without a confirmation number….” When you buy local, you don’t need “proof” that you tried to do something responsibly.
I know I’ve said buy local before, but from an economic and societal standpoint – we must wake up and refuse to utilize corporate services that “simplify life” when really they are pooling all of our hard earned money and they hold most of it now, stealing our trust in good faith.
So … my gift to you is here!
A Very Bright Note
FROM TUT:
“On the very bright side, never in peace time history has there been such a gallant effort, by so many people, spending so many billions of dollars with no end in sight, to rapidly clean up your environment.
Never before have numerous heads of state and representatives of a corporation as large as many smaller nations, pledged to work together, sharing expertise and resources to get a job done.
Never before have so many prayer and meditation groups suddenly formed, amongst and in between every religion and those belonging to none, to foster healing of your precious planet.
Never before have finger pointers, conspiracy theorists, and blame mongers been so idle and unnecessary in the face of such a tragedy.
Never before have industry titans across every sea chosen to reexamine their own safety procedures, revisit their own environmental safeguards, and expend their own fortunes to voluntarily reflect upon and demand that they do an even better job from this day forward.
And to top it all off, your planet has a loving, brilliant consciousness all her own, and of her countless balancing acts, healing herself is one in which she truly shines.
Of this, and so much more, you can be very, very proud.
Yee-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The Universe”
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE YOUR OWN DAILY MESSAGES FROM TUT, “Thought from the Universe”, Mike Dooley.
Farmers Market in Full Bloom
YES! The Farmers Market this year is such a HOOT! WOOT WOOT!
Just wanted to drop a note how WONDERFUL our Weare local foods movement is going. Come check it out! Summer is here!
CHECK IT OUT ON YOUTUBE
Here is an opening day video on site:
This Friday, July 9th, Lisa of Woodbury’s Garden Center will be offering FREE Fairy Garden Kid’s Classes, sponsored by The Green Team. We have FREE Kids Activities every week, last week the kids made seed infused natural paper! Lisa is incredible!
Just wanted to drop a note we are busy buzzy with harvest season, collecting food, medicine, friends & fun! Fan the market on facebook, or sign up to receive the newsletter to hear more about the experience.
Sound Healing: Funny but True!
Last week I experienced a tuning fork attunement. I had some idea about sound healing, and I thoroughly believe music can heal, so I knew that this would be beneficial to me. But I had no idea what form it would come in! LOL!
Within an hour of coming home from my uber-relaxing session with Pam Pendlebury, LCMT, I had a sudden urge to go out back and pull out that rusting swingset that was thrown into the woods by previous owners. I drove the truck out there determined, despite May flies and rusted bolts! Upon pulling out of that area, I stopped at 3 other areas and dug up old car parts, barbed wire, tires – well you can see all the CRAP I pulled out of the earth! Next was the barn. Soffets, drip spouts, OUT OUT OUT!
Long story short, I had a major metal imbalance in the land around me and the forks pointed it out to me in the funny way that they do. This one happened to be fast and furious! There was an entire second load after the one pictured. Unbelievable. Pam just laughed at me, she called me funny. 
Tuning forks are designed to create a vibration of sound that is at a pitch that has been forgotten since the pyramids. Hidden similar to the dead sea scrolls, these pitches are (i am not a professional) considered equal to “the Om” and if you google tuning forks you will get a litany of the forgotten pitches that heal our bodies and connect us with the divine. My favorite part was when she touched the fork to my heart, the vibration was incredible!
Pam is an excellent massage therapist, art teacher & art therapist if you are local feel free to contact me to get in touch with her.
Thinking of Money as Blood in a Local Economy
“When money is spent at a big supermarket, it flows out like a wound”
I was quoted recently in the Concord Monitor’s Whats in a Local Market which was an article on the Weare Farmers Market. In the article, it did not include the complete quote and so the concept fell a little short and I wanted to reiterate it here:
“Money is like blood. It needs to keep moving around to keep the economy going,” he (David Boyle) says, noting that when money is spent elsewhere—at big supermarkets, non-locally owned utilities and other services such as on-line retailers—”it flows out, like a wound.”
http://www.time.com.
When money stays within the same area, and gets spent over and over again, it bolsters the economic health of that area.
Sometimes in small town economies, people can develop certain stigmas about a local proprietor. It can be as simple as mentioning someone’s sandwich was bad or someone is having financial difficulty. If you take these comments to heart, you can soon find yourself unable to buy anything local and that’s not good!
Communication, good service & a commitment to buying local is key.
You’re on the Right Track Now
Yes we are. Each of us is individually experiencing a realization that something feels better. Something feels more right. Things are aligning.
No? Not for you? It will. Trust and have faith.
Not by coincidence, I was prompted to revisit the deep teachings of the Nicotiana flower. On the surface, it is traditionally used for treating addiction (nicotine), but read further.
What I uncovered about Nicotiana is its’ powerful action of reconnecting humans with the Earth. Reconnecting with a way of living closer to her. For those of us that live in cities or any type of industrialized place that is considered far from nature, the tendency can be to turn to cigarettes to ground yourself and reconnect with the earth, via smoking a plant.
Nicotiana can squelsh urges if you are trying to quit addictions, but it does this through a much deeper means. It reconnects us to that place that modern facility and function has disconnected us from – the simple act of living on the earth naturally, eating the food that we grow ourselves, planting a garden, talking to neighbors, having a sense of community. Being a positive part of our own ecosystem.
Trusting.
Trusting ourselves and man to do the right thing. Kind of hard to swallow isn’t it? Isn’t the number one reason we smoke, drink or do drugs is because we are hurting and want to feel better? And isn’t the reason we are hurting usually because somebody did something “to us”? Trust, trust, trust. Trust people, trust the earth and the ground that we walk on. Trust even more when the pain is greatest. Don’t clam up, shoot up or drink up because that’s what they want. The more we shut down and enslave ourselves, the more our power is somewhere besides within us. Nicotiana Flower Essence is a powerful ally to help during times of tumultuous growth and community rebirth.
A specific example of a positive change, a snapshot of “Nicotiana in action” is Ben Hewitt’s recently released book The Town that Food Saved. Awakened by a sense of urgency, the small impoverished town of Hardwick, VT recently experienced an uprising in getting back to the earth. They created their own re-birth consisting of a localvore movement, re-establishing of local farming and food economy, and at the heart is a local foods restaurant called Claire’s.
Through determination and a strong connection to the earth, this project persevered despite discouragement and negativity. Nicotiana connects people to the earth to give them the strength they need to rise above the times.
Nicotiana gets my vote for being the current Hot Flower Essence, the *Plum* pick of our current times. And Kudos to Ben Hewitt for being and outstanding example. Here is more about Ben here, and if you really want to see him “on fire” see what he says on FOXNews about our current food and financial system. One GROUNDED dude!
The Environmental Footprint: Shopping online vs. instore
Yes!
Dr. Mercola published an article today that shopping in-store can have up to a 50 time larger carbon footprint than shopping on-line!
The studies, conducted by MindClick GSM and Carnegie Mellon University’s Green Design Institute, site “Typically retailers have products shipped from a distributor to a regional warehouse, and then distributed to individual stores. This requires not only extra energy but also extra packaging. Customers then drive to and from the store, and take their purchases home in another package, typically a plastic bag.”
Back in 2001, when I started Gardenplum.com, I wrote about its’ impact, envisioning the reduction in strip mall development, the reduction of big malls, and all of these factors being gentler to the earth. Its really rewarding to go back and read my words from almost a decade ago:
Plum Philosophy. Here are the points I observed about how much online shopping could reduce environmental impact:
1) Omit the gas & oil used to drive.
2) Omit the pollution omitted from the muffler of the vehicle.
3) Omit the money spent on the gas.
4) Avoid hazardous driving conditions & unwelcome weather.
5) Omit the chance of a motor vehicle accident.
6) By visiting retail stores less often, it decreases the demand to build more retail stores, which has a direct positive impact on sprawl. (Sprawl is the new construction of buildings, wherein the buildings ‘sprawl’ across the land like a destructive machine.)
Our local mall, The Steeplegate Mall, in Concord, just filed for bankruptcy. The on-line industry has surely had an impact in commercial development and building strip malls and tarred parking lots. The outlook for Mother Earth is definitely looking brighter every day!
When I was a small child… I drew a conveyor belt factory type object where food appeared in a magical box in the kitchen… and later saw a version of this on Stark Trek
and the Jetsons
where the food just appeared after a few buttons were pushed…
Perhaps an organic version of this is that our food will be just outside our door… in our newly designed sustainable gardens and greenhouses.
I remember both of my grandmothers talking about the single cow they had that they milked. Or the canning they used to do, and how they hated it. Between my grandmother’s generation and mine, something went seriously seriously wrong with our food chain… we developed some of the unhealthiest foods in the 70′s and 80′s, as if we were running from farms and a natural way of living as fast as we could. To get to something better. I would like to continue to get to something better… by going back. The government agrees with me, as the USDA recently claimed that our food chain is unsustainable. Local farming needs to be re-established, here it is right out of the USDA’s mouth.
Shall we shoot for 2020?
Related Links: Hoop House Grants Now Available – Winter Gardens
What Does Your Toothpaste Say to Your Thyroid? “Sleep My Pet”
If you use conventional toothpastes every morning and night, you are placing fluoride very close to your thyroid gland which is located near the brain stem. We really need to think about this one! We should stop doing this!
According to the US National Research Council, “several lines of information indicate an effect of fluoride exposure on thyroid function.”
Fluoride’s potential to impair thyroid function is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that — up until the 1970s — European doctors used fluoride as a thyroid-suppressing medication for patients with HYPER-thyroidism (over-active thyroid). Fluoride was utilized because it was found to be effective at reducing the activity of the thyroid gland – even at doses as low as 2 mg/day.
Today, many people living in fluoridated communities are ingesting doses of fluoride (1.6-6.6 mg/day) that fall within the range of doses (2 to 10 mg/day) once used by doctors to reduce thyroid activity in hyperthyroid patients.
While it may be that the thyroid in a patient with hyperthyroidism is particularly susceptible to the anti-thyroid actions of fluoride, there is concern that current fluoride exposures may be playing a role in the widespread incidence of HYPO-thyroidism (under-active thyroid) in the U.S.
Hypothyrodisim, most commonly diagnosed in women over 40, is a serious condition with a diverse range of symptoms including: fatigue, depression, weight gain, hair loss, muscle pains, increased levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and heart disease.. The drug (Synthroid) used to treat hypothyroidism is now one of the top five prescribed drugs in the U.S.
As recommended by the US National Research Council: “The effects of fluoride on various aspects of endocrine function should be examined further, particularly with respect to a possible role in the development of several diseases or mental states in the United States.”
Source: fluoridealert.org
Consider the affects of a daily ingestion of fluoride and how it affects us as a society; unexplained fatigue, slow metabolism, feeling bored… a nation of tired kids. It is time to look at our household products and the information that is available to us and make better choices! Back to nature with us all!
