The generous and consistent use of compost is what makes a yard and garden beautiful. It is nature’s superfood for huge blooms, beautiful shrubs, trees, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. When people ask me how I get my yard to look so beautiful and vibrant, I tell them that I have a secret weapon…compost.
Perhaps you are ready to add some chickens to your homestead or even to your backyard garden area. Chickens are a great addition to a country or a city home and can bring much enjoyment along with the added benefit of natural garden pest control and delicious and nutritious eggs. If you have been dreaming of chickens but have some questions when it comes to eggs, let me help you on your way so that you can start enjoying your feathered friends today.
Many Americans believe that to feed a city, it takes miles and miles of machine-laid and chemically-grown crops. But in reality, with the right soil and a little space, you can grow enough food to feed your family in your backyard. A homestead garden is your ticket to becoming self-sufficient and less reliant on commercial grocery stores. In fact, there’s no better time than now to become self-reliant — especially with the pandemic still looming over our heads and climate change on the forefront. Here’s what you need to know to grow 100 percent of your food.
Living sustainably is no longer limited to the size of the land you own. Although you might not have enough space in your garden to grow large crops like wheat and corn, you can still grow fruits, vegetables, and trees in a city garden — or even containers. There’s a growing number of urban dwellers looking to become self-sufficient while reconnecting with nature. So, if you’re a big city dweller and dream of becoming a modern-day homesteader one day, why wait? Here’s how to be self-sufficient in the city.
Do you dream of being self-sufficient and lessening your impact on the environment? If so, then homesteading might be for you. Homesteading is sustainable living at its best. Simply put, it’s a lifestyle where you grow your own food while minimizing your carbon footprint. In turn, you’ll be more self-reliant and less dependent on outside sources. Here’s a beginner’s guide to homestead gardens.
The lemon was first created as a cross between a lime and a citron, and all three grow on evergreen shrubs. The Arabs introduced this small citrus fruit to the Europeans, who then brought them to Spain in the 11th century. Along with other fruits and vegetables, Christopher Columbus brought lemons with him on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, and they have been growing in Florida since the 16th century.
Instead of plunking your kids in front of the tv or game console during the remainder of the stay at home order, why not try to use this time well by getting them into the yard and introducing them to gardening. Even if you are a novice yourself, you can learn alongside your child and grow beautiful food and flowers for your family. Here are a few easy ways to get them involved and keep them interested in planting and cultivating a garden.
The documentary Statin Nation: The Great Cholesterol Cover-Up, presented by Rethink Productions, provides strong evidence that the widely-believed ideology that high cholesterol leads to heart disease is completely false. It details how the scientific groundwork that this belief is based upon was heavily manipulated from the start and presents large-scale studies that clearly show the lack of connection between cholesterol levels and heart disease.
In short, mounting evidence shows that our focus on lowering cholesterol, and our growing reliance on statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals, is both drawing research focus away from investigating the actual causes of heart disease, and, literally killing us.
The idea that saturated fats and high cholesterol levels cause heart disease, nicknamed the ‘diet-heart hypothesis,’ was invented by Ancel Keys, a 20th-century physiologist and advisor to the Department of Defense during World War II.
It was Keys, who had a dark history of performing inhumane medical experiments, that came up with the Seven Countries Study, which shows a linear relationship between high cholesterol levels in seven countries, and corresponding high rates of heart disease.
The graph Keys drew shows that in his chosen seven countries, the higher the cholesterol levels, the higher the rate of heart disease was in that country. However, he omitted 22 countries from his graph, which when added, showed that the relationship was not linear at all.
Many countries that he failed to include had high cholesterol levels, and low rates of heart disease. Due to his selective omissions, the Seven Countries Study was an entirely fraudulent representation that created an assumed relationship between cholesterol and heart disease where none actually existed.
Statin Nation interviews medical experts from a variety of fields, who each present a wide array of large-scale studies showing that there is no evidence-based relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease at all.
In fact, studies have found that LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol is actually LOWER in heart disease patients than in the general population, and also that low cholesterol levels are associated with earlier death. Additionally, a study performed in Japan found that those with the lowest cholesterol levels had a three-fold higher likelihood of dying of cancer.
Sweden, a nation that has rejected the diet-heart hypothesis and instead has embraced a low-carb, high-fat diet, is reporting significant improvements in the overall health of its citizens.
Today, over 40 million people worldwide take prescription statins to lower their levels of LDL cholesterol. However, in doing so, important cellular functions are severely compromised.
HDL and LDL cholesterols serve as carriers of essential CoQ10, beta carotene, and vitamin E to the mitochondria, the energy source of cells. CoQ10 is essential to the functioning of heart muscles, and cholesterol itself is vital for the body’s overall function, including brain function and hormonal stability.
When cholesterol is prevented from doing its job, the body is not able to work as it should. Numerous statin patients testify that they developed a number of new health conditions when they started taking statins, which gradually improved when statin use was stopped.
Some of the most common was severe memory impairment, a loss of energy, depression, muscle pain, and eye problems. Researchers estimate that only about 1 in 200 adverse effects of statins are actually reported by physicians.
One of the most frightening facts about statins is that in 75 percent of cases, they are prescribed to healthy individuals for preventative purposes, as a ‘primary prevention’ measure against heart disease. However, overwhelming research shows that using statins for primary prevention does nothing to increase life expectancy.
Studies show that the instances of heart attacks in statin patients were somewhat lower, but this was canceled out by the other diseases that occurred in these patients while on statins, very likely caused by the statins themselves due to their inhibition of cellular function and their blockage of vital nutrients.
In the 25 percent of patients prescribed statins after a cardiac event, stroke, or surgical heart intervention, the statins did increase life expectancy slightly. However, when the statistics were compiled, the life expectancy of these patients rose by only 14 days.
Statins are one of the most widely prescribed classes of drugs in the world and provide the pharmaceutical industry with billions of dollars in profits each year. Dr. John Abramson of Harvard Medical School explains how the scientific evidence backing statin use is entirely influenced by commercial interests.
In an interview, he details how starting in the Reagan administration, government funding for research in the public interest was significantly cut, and how the great majority of funding for research now comes from the drug companies themselves.
“You have 5 times better odds of getting the results you want if you pay for the science,” Dr. Abramson states. “The real data is not available to the editors of the journal or the peer reviewers.”
One example of how the pharmaceutical companies with a commercial interest in statins doctored studies supporting their use is the Jupiter Trial. Several years ago, this extremely popular study presented that statins reduce the risk of heart attacks by 54 percent, causing doctors worldwide to prescribe them in huge numbers.
However, Dr. Abramson explains that this was a ‘relative percentage,’ and when the actual numbers were analyzed, it was discovered that heart attacks were only reduced by 0.48 percent.
Nevertheless, the media took the Jupiter Trial as fact, and widely reported the success of statins. According to Dr. Abramson, “the only media in the United States that got it right was that renowned medical expert Dr. Stephen Colbert, who said, ‘the Jupiter Trial was a great breakthrough in figuring out how to get people to take drugs who don’t need them.’”
Heart disease is a serious problem worldwide, causing 7.8 million deaths in 2008. As the death toll continues to rise, it is no surprise that people are afraid, and wish to take preventative measures.
However, increasing evidence shows that lowering cholesterol is not the answer, and the use of statins causes great harm with very questionable benefits, at best. Statin Nation proposes a strong link between stress levels and heart disease, a link that demands further study, as it may hold the key to saving a great number of lives.
As far as statins, Dr. Abramson puts it bluntly: “hopefully when we look back on this era, and we see the fraud that went on in misleading physicians about the scientific evidence, we’ll see that this stands as organized crime…. of a higher-tech nature than robbing banks with machine guns. But there’s a lot more money in this, and in fact, many, many more people get hurt.”
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride agrees. She urges us to rethink our obsession with cholesterol. “The last thing you want to do is interfere with your blood levels of cholesterol. Your body knows what it is doing. Whatever level of cholesterol you have in your blood at that moment is the right level for you. Don’t mess around with it.”
-The Backyard Vitality Team
Helping in the garden is one of the best learning activities for kids. They can get in touch with nature, indulge their curiosity, and gain self-confidence, all while soaking up the sunshine and getting their hands dirty. Whether or not you’re a keen gardener yourself, you can easily enjoy these simple activities with your little ones.
Believe it or not, people enjoyed fresh produce for hundreds of years before refrigeration was introduced! You don’t need a fridge to keep food fresh. In fact, refrigeration could actually decrease the lifespan of some fresh produce. Plus, if you want to become self-sufficient, it is a good idea to stop relying on the potentially unstable power grid to keep your harvest fresh and edible, and if you have a large garden, you’ll likely need more space for storage regardless. Here are our favorite tips for storing fruits and veggies without refrigeration and a few methods that will keep your produce good for months on end.
f you are honest, you will admit that you have found skid marks on your underwear at least once. What about skid marks in the toilet? You know, the sticky residue from a movement that doesn’t get flushed away? Well, there are good reasons for both types of skid marks and things you can do to “clean up your act.” Let’s take a closer look to reveal the truth about skid marks.
Skid marks on your undies
If you suffer from frequent skid marks on your underwear it is best to go down a list of possible reasons and through a process of elimination to find the root cause for the skids. Here are some things to consider:
How to prevent skid marks on your undies
Here are some tips for reducing skid marks.
Wipe better
The top reason why most people end up with a little fecal streaking on their underpants is because they are not wiping sufficiently. This is common with children but also common with many adults who leave some feces on their undies.
Soft and sticky movements make things more difficult. A solid feces generally leaves little behind to wipe, while a soft movement can require several wipes, often leaving some fecal matter behind that gets transferred to our underwear. To help get yourself as clean as possible, follow wiping with a flushable wet personal wipe that you can toss into the toilet when finished.
Add more fiber
If you have frequent soft stools, try adding more soluble and insoluble fiber to your diet. This will increase the number of good bacteria in your colon and add bulk to your poop. Most people don’t get nearly enough fiber in their diet. Men need between 31 and 38 grams of fiber daily, and women require 21-25 grams. You can get more fiber by eating fruits, vegetables, oats, and whole wheat.
Shave your butt hair
If you have excessive hair on your butt, you may want to consider shaving it. Hairs tend to trap poop particles as they exit the rectum. These particles can be transferred to your underwear. They can also cause you to have a stinky butt, which is often referred to as “swamp butt.” Keeping your butt hairs trimmed or shaved is one of the best ways to prevent odor and skid marks at the same time.
Quit taking your phone to the toilet with you
For many of us, the bathroom is just one more place that we take our phones for fear of missing an urgent call, text, or email. However, you know that dreaded rabbit hole that you go down on your phone when you first check your text, then your emails, and then sneak your way over to social media. Before you know it – you are on the pot for twenty minutes or more watching funny cat videos. Besides the risk of getting fired because you spend way too much time on the toilet, there is a risk that poop will dry on your bottom and reactivate later when you sweat, which makes it more difficult to get a clean wipe. In addition, sitting too long on the toilet can cause hemorrhoids to develop,
Wear looser undies
If your underwear rides up your butt crack, it is likely to pick up any fecal matter left behind from wiping. Men, this means going to boxers or boxer briefs, and ladies, skip the G string and go for a roomier style of underwear.
Clean well in the shower
Each time you shower, be sure to get your bottom as clean as possible. A handheld showerhead works great to rinse your booty clean gently. If you are going to use any cleaning products like soap, be sure to use a gentle and all-natural product.
Take care of hemorrhoids
Both external and internal hemorrhoids can cause skid marks. This is because feces get stuck in the sphincter, and wiping doesn’t help. The best solution is to work with your physician to alleviate the hemorrhoids. Also, gently washing your bottom area in the shower will help prevent skid marks.
Here’s to ending skid marks for good!
-The Backyard Vitality Team
Susan has been nurturing her gardening tips and advice for over 00 years, it’s fair to say she knows her beans. She’ll be sharing her knowledge from tried and tested methods.
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