Let's Garden

Gardening 101 - The Basics and a Little Science Made Easy.

It's time to purchase seeds and plan for the spring. A foot of snow on the ground and I'm excited to order seeds and plan for the 2019 crop. With a growing season of 90 to 100 days and cold nights, it isn't always easy to harvest tomatoes in July in a Montana back yard garden. All climates have their gardening challenges and every season is different.

Join me in this on-line garden class and learn the basics or get a little refresher on why to test the soil, how to understand a soil report, fertilizers, the best location for growing, how to choose varieties for your climate, conserving water and more. Gardening 101 classes include the basics for any climate:

• The Importance of Soil - the dirt's work
• Fertilizer - how much and when 
• Plants - how do they grow
• Seeds & Transplants - germinating a seed and planting a transplant
• Vegetables - growing, hardening, planting and nurturing
• Garden Planning - soil, water, location and rotation

Classes are taught live on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. MST Feb. 20 to Mar. 27. You can register and get more details on-line: Register here for Gardening 101 

Might miss a class? No problem, recordings will be made available.

What are your garden challenges? During this six week class get answers to some of your challenges that pertain to the class topics and learn about additional classes available. Plans are in the works for Gardening 201 and more subjects to include composting, season extension, pruning, pest control, monitoring for nutrient deficiency, companion planting, and food safety in the garden. Additional on-line classes include basics of food safety in the kitchen, gardening with kids, basics of food preservation, and more! 

Stay informed on class availability: Receive my blog by email, follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Simply click on Home to find Subscribe by Email and Places I hang out. There is also a Contact Form if you have questions.

It's almost time to inventory those garden tools!

Common Cold Running Through Your Family?

This is a short and timely post today!

This time of year in Montana the common cold and flu drop into the local schools, move through day cares and businesses and then spread among the community.  We stopped at the grocery story last night to pick up a few needed food items and felt bad for other shoppers we passed who were blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing, hacking and spreading little microorganisms around the store and on grocery carts. That was me and my children at some time in my past! Running to the store to pick up some synthetic-laden-over-the-counter-symptom-lessening product while we let the cold run its course for a month. Rosy cheeks, red nose, sore throat, no sleep and no energy. Sound familiar?  

With over 200 viruses attributable to the common cold, the cold seems to continue to make the rounds all winter long. The low temperatures of winter do not increase our chance to catch a cold. Rather, people spend more time indoors together, travel for the holidays to see loved ones and move these little microorganisms from place to place.  Viruses can easily be transferred from one person to another and need a living host to flourish. They invade the human body, thrive and disrupt our little world.  

I remember everyone offering their remedy but none of them helped us!  Vitamin C, soup, feed a cold, starve a fever ... generally these remedies added little comfort.

When a friend cancels a lunch get-together because their kids are sick, I feel bad but I remember the days of sick children, runny, gooey noses, high fevers, ear infections, lack of energy (me) and transfer from one person to the next. Our family was sick for a month at a time.  Thank goodness this doesn't need to be our end result any more! 

Have you struggled with the common cold taking over your house?

If you would like to know the protocol we use to prevent the viral and bacterial soup affecting our house simply use the Contact Form on my blog to send me an email. This protocol will allow you to travel through airports, visit and hug family without fear of viral infections. Not only will you see a drastic reduction in the cold and flu in your house, you will also increase your energy! 

Why is my protocol any different than everyone else? Simply, because it works! Think PREVENTION not TREATMENT.  I've helped countless others and I can help you too. 

Sleep and the Immune System

Let’s face it, if you are a good sleeper this topic might be irrelevant on the surface. But wait! Perhaps on occasion you have struggled with sleep and for whatever reason something plagues your conscious as you try to fall asleep. You may also know someone who chronically doesn't sleep. Even once-in-while a sleepless night affects your attention span, happiness and/or the ability to function throughout the day. Does this sound familiar? You wake groggy or give up sleeping because you tossed and turned since 3:30 a.m. You stumble to the kitchen and begin the routine of slugging down copious amounts of caffeine laden beverages as you make ready for the day.

Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience studies the internal clock and body changes based on day and night length. All life has been exposed to differences in light and dark as much as hot and cold. For instance, dogs do not shed based on warming temperatures or grow hair/fur because it gets colder outside. Dogs grow and shed hair/fur based on the change of day length so it's difficult to keep that winter coat when exposed to artificial light in the house. For dog lovers fur babies might spend an exorbitant amount of time indoors with year around shedding. What does that mean for us homo sapiens ... all life, almost every aspect of behavior and physiological change occurs during day and night. What if this isn't a random event but is a nightly occurrence? Lack of sleep has serious consequences on the immune system and other functions of the body. How much sleep should you receive? It depends on your age. The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following:  Teenagers (14-17) 8-10 hours; Young adults (18-25) 7-9 hours; Adults (26-64) 7-9 hours. Older adults (65+)7-8 hours.

What are some aspects of your health affected by day and night length? Growth hormones, blood pressure, core body temperature changes, urine production, alertness, melatonin and cortisol.  Information is processed during sleep, developing memories, removal of brain waste and replacing energy reserves. Short term disruptions in sleep cause loss of attention, impulsivity, lack of empathy and failure to pick up on social clues. Long term sleep disruption causes immune suppression, infection risk, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, increased heart rate, mood instability, anxiety and increased stimulant use. 

The immune system is a complicated system in the body that is weak in a child and strengthens as we age through exposure to germs and pathogens. The immune system itself is made up of three significant parts, too involved for this writing. Basically, as our body combats a foreign network of germs that enter the body and we are left with an antibody that stays with us so if we are exposed to that antigen again the body can deal with it more quickly. This creates a stronger immune system. A strong immune system can help the body fight off a common cold, disease and even cancer.  It is the job of the immune system to fight off bacteria, fungus, viruses and other pathogens that enter the body, as well as help with clearing out the dead cells. Other things tend to weaken the immune system, such as medications and lack of sleep.

There are many methods for helping you sleep at night. Some methods are better than others. Taking sleeping pills might seem like the only option. If you have tried absolutely everything else, you may need to visit a sleep clinic. You may even want to combine some of these tested and proven helps:

* Increase your bright light during the day and decrease your blue light before bedtime (electronic devices create a lot of exposure to blue light). Be consistent with the time you go to bed and the time you wake. Avoid afternoon naps if possible. A 30 minute nap may improve brain function but may also make nighttime sleep a challenge. Your body function will improve by simply creating a light and dark routine. Watching TV may help some people but may prevent others from falling asleep or staying asleep. Try to eliminate TV exposure for two hours before bedtime. 

* If your mind chatters about everything you need to do the next day, write it down and forget about it.  If you focus on the negative things that happened during the day and this is your barrier to sleep, start a Gratitude Journal and keep it next to the bedside. At the end the day focus ONLY the good things that happened and write it down. i.e. @Today I am grateful for my friend Jennie. She brought me a latte and it really lifted my spirits. @Today a stranger gave up their seat on the bus and I was reminded there are caring people in the world. @Today someone in traffic slowed down and allowed me into traffic.  Stay positive and focus on the good!  Avoid trolling the negative media sites that aggravate you at bedtime! 

* Reading can help you refocus and get you ready for sleep.  If you use an electronic device for reading, limit screen time or try the sleep option on your device that changes the bright light intensity but also reduces the blue light. If this is not an option on your device, try downloading an app designed to help change the light intensity on your device.

* Listen to a book and close your eyes. Focus on the story. Or, find a comforting sound that may soothe you and help you sleep. Eliminate outside noise, light and irritations.  Hopefully you have a comfortable bed.

* Reduce caffeine and food intake close to bedtime. It is recommended you wait two to three hours after eating before going to bed. Water can also contribute to frequent bathroom trips during the night. Caffeine can stay in the system for six to eight hours. Alcohol can reduce melatonin production, a much needed and naturally produced hormone that helps your body’s ability to sleep.  

* Meditation and prayer are also a good way to settle a troubled mind. When you simply cannot move beyond something out of your control, there are options to help you or you may call on a higher power. 

* Lack of sleep can also be a medication (synthetic) side effect.  Read all side effects of your medication and if it says may cause trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor.

* Lastly, choose an essential oil to incorporate into your nighttime routine with any of the above options. If you have trouble sleeping, whether random or chronic (breathing/snoring, stress, or other unknown), use the Contact Form on the right column of my blog and I will get you some samples to try. Nothing is more aggravating than purchasing something new only to find it doesn’t work for you. Choose safer, cheaper and more effective options on your path to sleep!

Make sure to get the right amount of sleep and keep your immune system chugging along.

Natural Remedy Choices for the 'Medicine Cabinet' Arsenal

Using more than one natural remedy option truly expands the medicine cabinet arsenal for daily wellness and the dreaded unexpected. Anyone who knows me, knows essential oils are my first go-to and have saved my life in a literal sense.  However, herbs and plant based alternatives play a second fiddle for the plant material I currently do not have in my essential oil cabinet!  Thus, in our home, as we ready ourselves for winter, we harvest and put the garden to bed, fill the canning jars, smoke (peppers), dehydrate, freeze, get our essential oils stocked up and make sure the tincture cabinet is ready to go with tinctures made of fresh and dried plant material! September and October 2018 preparations kept us busier than a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs! The elderberry tincture and honey cough syrup with essential oils are ready and waiting.  We also have a few other favorites that support our wellness ... or illness, as the case may be!

Getting the natural remedy cabinet stocked when herbs and plant material are available is less expensive and helps keep us ready for the coming months. While it is only one of our remedy choices, we focus on heart health tinctures and remedies we can use in the event we are exposed to someone with a common cold or flu. We like to combine nutrition, essential oils, whole food supplements and natural remedies to increase our immune system and keep our bodies functioning. Whole body function includes a focus on body systems, such as digestive, immune function, cardiovascular, endocrine and other systems. When individual parts of the system are not functioning its time for more attention!

For instance, keeping a healthy heart is crucial as we begin to age. According to the CDC, approximately 610,000 people die of heart disease in the united states every year - that's 1 in every 4 deaths.  More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were men.  Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, killing over 370,000 people annually. So, lets get heart-healthy! Cayenne is an instant blood flow stimulant that enables it to promote blood circulation, cleans arterial walls and can carry other nutrients to cells more efficiently. The American Nutrition Association shares that cayenne strengthens the heart and has the ability to stop a heart attack in progress. We choose to tincture fresh cayenne to use during the year. But watch for the bite-back; cayenne is a hot option! Hawthorne berry is also listed in many herbal books and used in many countries for heart health. Christopher Hobbs, P.hD shares how the hawthorn berry is prescribed by many doctors as a prevention to heart disease. Hawthorn berry can increase blood flow to the heart muscle and improves the pumping action of the heart. Lastly, beet root is one of the richest sources of nitrates and improves blood flow and heart health.  Using natural options keeps us away from the dreaded pharmaceuticals.  Outside of herbs, I also follow a protocol for my rheumatoid arthritis that has kept me pharmaceutical free for six years. Trust me, I've got answers for arthritis!

How about the immune system!  It changes daily.  While I have strengthened my immune system, sometimes we are all exposed to someone with a cold or flu, or are simply travelling through airports and exposed to new germs.  For this we have our essential oils protocols we take with us when we travel and have never gotten sick. When we get home we get on the Fire Cider as a back up! Fire cider contains lemon, turmeric, garlic, horseradish, black peppercorn, onion and rosemary in a base of organic apple cider vinegar.

The batch in the picture is nearly finished - I just need to top it off with more vinegar. This batch gets stirred every day for four weeks, pressed and bottled. Anytime there is the slightest hint of or threat of a cold we take a shot of Fire Cider daily for a couple days! I have friends who take a shot every day during the winter months. In addition to using as a cold prevention, the ingredients in this recipe are good for many other chronic health conditions. This is a must for the natural remedy arsenal.

For many, many, many years, throughout history, plant materials have been used to treat, prevent and cure illness ... however, we are no longer allowed to use those terms when we talk about plants.  Now, plants are referred to as the alternative, snake oil or dangerous, when they were once mainstream. Plants contain an organic chemistry that cannot be duplicated in a lab and many plants are the base for modern medicine.  Aspirin was derived from the Salicaceae family (willow) and a cancer medication was derived from Taxus brevifolia, or the yew tree. Plants have a beautiful, complicated chemistry that supports body function! We are all uniquely designed and our body chemistry and blood type may be different but plants are for the healing of nations.

Harvest Season and Expanding the Pantry

Harvesting and Preserving Tomatoes

There is something remarkable about growing produce or purchasing at a farmers market. Is it the flavor, the color, the variety, eating pesticide free, added nutritional value, reducing our carbon footprint .... the aesthetic value on the plate or the simple burst of flavor?  Perhaps it is all of the above. You eat with your eyes first!  If something looks yummy you are more apt to take the first bite and enjoy the flavor.  Expanding the pantry for the winter is one of my favorite times of year.  It is a lot of work but the satisfaction of running to the pantry for jams, relishes, chutney, pickles, tomato sauce or pickled jalapenos is so much better than a trip through the snow to the grocery store.

There are more than 3,000 varieties of heirloom or heritage tomatoes worldwide and more than 15,000 known varieties.  Each year we grow 80-100 tomato plants and roughly 30 varieties. The colors, flavors and versatility for preserving are quite amazing. No longer is a red tomato the only option! Grocery store run-of-the-mill tomatoes with no flavor are a thing of the past! If you love the robust flavor of fresh tomatoes you are in the right place.

But ... let's take a quick detour - my spidey senses tell me there is always that lingering question ... What about all the information on the web referencing tomatoes as an inflammatory food?  Web MD suggests not giving up foods in the Solanaceae family simply because you will lose valuable nutrients. Tomatoes have lycopene (a carotenoid) and Vitamin C that help curb inflammation and chili peppers have awesome health benefits, including cardiovascular (cayenne).  Tomatoes are a primary source of lycopene and one of the most powerful antioxidants!  For the past few years researchers have been looking at the positive health affects of lycopene on cardiovascular disease and cancer. Since I boosted my immune system and have chosen supplements that keep me pain free, I have no rheumatoid arthritis pain and I consume a lot of tomatoes.

Thus, you are your best judge for your own food intake.  Listen to your body. Choose foods for your garden or from the farmers market that you can eat fresh and varieties easy to preserve. Also choose varieties that are suitable to your own health style and be careful about following popular opinion. You are unique, resilient, smart and intuitive. Trust you!

If you choose to preserve tomatoes for the winter there are many ways to add flavor and color to your pantry and freezer. You also have better control over special dietary needs, such as low sugar or salt. Here are ways to preserve:

• Freezing tomatoes is easy and a great addition to winter chili, stews and soups.  Marinara takes about two days to cook down tomatoes for a sauce thick enough for pizza. At this thickness it is too thick to safely hot water bath/pressure can in a jar.  Freezing in quart freezer bags (chill marinara first), marinara is the perfect option and ready to use for pizza or a thickener for other dishes.
• Drying is the best method of nutrient retention and if held in a low oxygen container has the longest shelf life. Dried tomatoes are packed with flavor and are the perfect winter snack instead of high fat, high salt chips. They can also be added to soups and stews.
• Canned tomatoes have a shorter shelf life and you need to add acidity for a hot water bath. Perfect for making homemade spaghetti sauce.
• Of course there are many other recipe options and the Ball Complete Guide is one of the most up-to-date and well-researched books for canning safely. Try the green tomato salsa verde!
• A great basics "how-to" book is the So Easy to Preserve  written and sold by University of Georgia. 
• A free option is the USDA National Center for Home Food Preservation and other .edu and .gov sites.

Having taught canning classes for years, I have learned to value the rewards of a well stocked pantry! 

Mother Earth News has some awesome green tomato recipes to choose from as well. 

Use the comment box on the home page if you have any questions!

Business Opportunity - Work at Home

On June 1 Retirement Arrived Early!

Working in a professional career as associate faculty for a state university was a dream job. Setting the hours, autonomy over the schedule, control over programming, great pay and benefits in addition to meeting new people daily was amazing.  So why leave? In this position I was able to help many people with gardening, food preservation and many other fun educational programs but it wasn't as fulfilling as working at home and getting to spend time with my family. Today life is about growing a business & an income while helping empower families to become the lead in their health care team.  Conferring with your physicians and being able to keep the power of decision making is crucial! We desperately need our health care team to be able to discuss patient use of natural products.

What about the business opportunity that allowed me to retire early?  In this business we have customers and we have business partners who want a residual income. If you are interested in a residual income that allows you to travel and be home with the family, read on:

This company supports international markets in 13 countries and continues to expand each year.  There is a retention rate of 68% while the direct marketing industry average retention rate is a mere 10%. With high customer satisfaction, remarkable products and a fantastic compensation plan, individuals who join this company stay for the products or stay for the products and grow a lucrative business. You can't help but be a product of the product.  There are two avenues for new people - join as a customer for the product or join for the product AND the business opportunity. Customers and business owners have greater freedom than ever before!

Monthly Unilevel Compensation Plan

The income potential for a business partner includes the opportunity to earn compensation in five different ways, including: Retail, weekly fast start bonuses, monthly Power of 3 bonuses, monthly unilevel compensation and bonus pools. The unilevel compensation plan will provide you the ability to grow a long range residual income and security for your family. The compensation plan provides the greatest percentage when you have the most people, rather than the standard direct market industrys' lower percentages. This enables business partners coming in at any level to grow a residual six figure income to provide greater freedom. Would you prefer the income offered by our company or most other direct marketing companies? Compare in the table provided.

The products include fully tested, clean, pesticide free essential oils sourced from all over the world in their indigenous habitats. Sourcing plants in their native habitat provides the greatest natural compounds and health benefits, rather than growing in farms. Farmers in the farthest reaches of the world are trained and paid top dollar for top quality product. Essential oils are combined in all products for wellness and body system support. Products include all natural spa and cleaning products for a safe home free of environmental toxins. Incorporating a product into your home that you can be proud to share is the most important part of growing a business. Belief in the product is easy, comforting, and satisfying.

The education ranges from the company blog, science blog, research, DIY, how to's, quarterly magazine, leadership training, convention and internet classes. Team support and webinars make this an easy to grow business. Start today and begin enjoying the rewards of your product and growing an income by next week.


Edited:
Currently I am looking for two business partners.  If you are interested in growing your income and are interested in applying for the position, email me at rene.kittle@gmail.com. 

Serious entrepreneurs who are dedicated, dependable self-starters may apply for this fabulous opportunity!  

All others, if you have a question, please use the comment box and let me know how I can help you. 

Have a remarkable day!

Boost Your Immune System

Do you dread travelling through airports, or a trip into the local school or grocery store? Germs are abundant and once our immune system is depleted the germs attack!  Wouldn't it be nice to have a barrier around the body? A small protective layer where a microorganism (yeast, bacteria, fungus, virus) would just bounce off without the slightest impact on the body? No sniffles, no sneezes, no incubation period and you wouldn't be the latest live host for a virus that doesn't know how to take NO for an answer. I've been there! ... AND that's where the dream ends! But, wait, there is hope!  What if we could strengthen our immune system so that we could say "DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!"

Let's just say for a moment there was something out there ... or a combination of stuff that could protect you from all the common germs on door knobs, garbage cans and cell phones? What would you do to get your hands on that? How would it feel to know you have built your immune system AND you have energy for running errands, going on vacation, heading to the beach, work, play, and writing run on sentences! WOW all that and more!

Take a look at this simple publication that I call Ten Easy Ways to Improve Immune Function and be Healthy this Winter. I'm sharing this with you for free! Why? Because I hope it inspires you to start working on your immune health and journey into the existence of wellness, energy and happiness! I have gone from being sick all the time with an autoimmune disease and living in pain to living pain free without the need for medication. Improved immune function, no colds and flu, improved cognitive function, greater energy and only visiting the doctor for a well visit for the last six years.

Yes, I found the perfect vitality through awesome supplements, improving my gut health and digestion and cleansing the body!

Now I mentor others on how to find greater wellness. Remember, it takes our body time to become chronically ill and it takes time to get better. By mentoring others in body system wellness and  targeting the root cause at the cellular level we can start climbing back to improved wellness. God is good!