Have you planted your garden yet? It’s the perfect time. Even if you only have a potted tomato on your urban balcony or a couple of herbs on your kitchen window sill, gardening is : personally rewarding offers you the freshest foods possible healthy, and great exercise I fully admit my addiction to gardening! Since … Read more
If you have read my book, Food is Medicine: 101 Prescriptions from the Garden, you probably noticed a theme running through it: Certain foods are mentioned over and over, to prevent and treat diseases and maladies that are vastly different. That’s because these foods are superfoods, ones that are so dense in nutrients that they … Read more
Gardening is the world’s best kept exercise secret. But that’s changing. Recent medical studies have documented what backyard enthusiasts have known for years: Gardening is good for us and it’s a great way to achieve and maintain physical fitness. Regular garden chores can burn anywhere from 120 to 200 calories per 30 minutes, depending on … Read more
I don’t know about you, but I get pretty tired of apples and oranges and plastic tubs of organic lettuce and plastic tomatoes in the winter. So I couldn’t be happier with the advent of spring and the vastly expanded array of fruits and vegetables now available. Variety is the spice of life, so we … Read more
As summer arrives, just a reminder that it’s always wise to limit your sun exposure. But who among us is always wise? Not me! Now’s the time to sing the praises of the kitchen plant — aloe vera. There’s nothing quite like the gel of this succulent plant to ease pain and speed the healing … Read more
Now that much-anticipated beach vacations, gardening, outdoor sports and other outside summer activities are on our calendars, it’s time to practice ways to protect skin from sun damage. The medical profession has reported loud and clear that too much exposure causes dryness, wrinkling, premature aging and even skin cancer. Yet, many people don’t understand that … Read more
You’ve no doubt seen the “Buy Local” bumper stickers around town and maybe wondered what the big deal is. Now that spring is in full swing and early crops are starting to come in, there’s no better time to get your hands on the freshest, most nutritious food possible. If you’re growing your own garden, … Read more
“Home-grown tomatoes, home-grown tomatoes, what would life be without home-grown tomatoes? Only two things that money can’t buy, that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes…” I hummed this favorite John Denver song to myself throughout the spring when I planted my seeds indoors, tenderly transplanted those little plants into my garden in May after the danger … Read more
This has been a somewhat difficult gardening year. Thanks to a neighbor who likes to kill everything in sight, there are no coyotes or snakes to control the squirrel and rabbit population, so we lost all of our tomatoes and most of everything else. Sigh. The good news is that we have a bumper crop … Read more
I’ve written several times over the years about these bee-killing chemicals: https://kathleenbarnes.com/neonicotinoids-update/ https://kathleenbarnes.com/epa-issues-moratorium-on-new-neonicotinoid-products/ https://kathleenbarnes.com/monsanto-free-bee-healthy-gardens/ https://kathleenbarnes.com/bayer-monsanto-marriage-made-hell/ https://kathleenbarnes.com/roundup-more-proof-of-poison/ https://kathleenbarnes.com/bee-killing-pesticide-found-in-lowes-home-depot-plants/ Finally, there’s some movement in the right direction. There’s great news on the garden front this spring, especially if you buy plants for your garden or patio: This spring nearly 140 Big Box retailers are phasing out or … Read more