Hello Love Lights! Garden and Healing Updates

Hi Love Lights-This is Appalachian Medicine Woman SandraBear Davis- hope you are having a GREAT start to the week!

Well the the rains came back to PA-the garden is growing- we are harvesting just enough to enhance our meals with lovely,fresh,organic heirloom seed veggies! Tomorrow we get to have our 1st tiny seed potatoes and our 2nd handful  of green beans -love that cooked together! So tomorrow we will have supper from our little garden-2 little yellow zucchinis cooked w green peppers and onions ,some fried green tomatoes,beans and potatoes and likely some cornbread and salmon or baked chicken .

Earlier this week I went to Penzys spices in the Strip district of Pittsburgh and bought one each of all thir curry spices- I had fallen in love w lentils done up Indian style and wanted to replocate what I had had- did it-YUMMY- lentils are SUPER good for you and EL Cheapo to the max-PLUS you can sprout them too- all around goodness I'd say!! Nice thing too they don't take hours to cook unlike most dried beans or peas.

Hasn't this been a challenging garden year? Here in Pittsburgh (I am moving back to the Chimney Rock NC area in Oct) we had a late frost that killed many of my tomato,pepper and eggplants I had started from seeds
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Then we had drought ,I was sick and ended up in the hospital (found out I am diabetic and have a thyroid condition-doing GREAT now), groundhogs and deer invaded the garden while I was down for 3 weeks and they ate ALL my cabbage,brocollli,cauliflower,cucumber,squash,greenbean and most of the corn plants -many I had started from heirloom seeds in Feb...

About the only thing in the big garden we will be harvesting is potatoes and it looks like a pumpkin plant is doing well along with some green pepper...sigh

HOWEVER- we had also planted a large patio garden that is going gangbusters! We fenced it in w chicken wire to keep out groundhog and deer -and it is producing so well! During the drought and extremely hot days I watered the containers daily- checking them 2 or 3 times a day-so having had a back up plan - I am not overly disappointed!

Yes we will likely not have the tons of veggies I wanted to can this year -but it is fun to garden in a container patio garden-NO weeding! No bothersome bugs at all - lots of blossoms and many plants forming-it is a later garden -but hey-I am NOT complaining! We are enjoying what we have -instead of crying over spilt milk .

We are able to continue our prepping otherwise through every other week shopping trips- a typical trip I am able to put back an extra bag of sugar, oil,baking mix,4 to 6 cans of evaporated milk  ,some chocolate chips and nuts, a dozen mac n cheese, dozen each of corn,green bean,peas,diced tomatoes or sometimes cans of beets ,carrots,mixed vegs. ,chili beans ,or potatoes, ,a dozen cans of fruit, 4 cans of salmon, 6 or 8 tuna ,instant coffee and flavored creamer ,4 to 6 boxs scalloped potatoes,some oatmeal, 4 bags of beans and and 2 to 4 of rice.I like to get at least a few condiments,honey and some extra salad dressings - at least 2 cases of water . I also put abit into medical and hygiene items as well as extra pet food. I get these at Aldis at really great prices ! ..and yes some of these may be GMO-they are certainly NOT organic but these are SURVIVAL foods - our day to day foods lean toward organic as much as we can -w very little meat or processed foods! 

I also go to the health food store monthly and get extra TVP as a meat substitute , bulgur wheat for taboulli salad YUM- and various other types of beans .We get local honey and real maple syrup at our favorite produce stand -has LOTS of Amish items-...

If I find a great deal on celery or onions I dehydrate those.Today I have some apples that were getting wrinkly in the dehydrator-man the house smells great!

We are able to do this prepping on a super slim budget by cutting back on meats,basically no eating out(except pizza and a netflix movie on Fri ) we have no entertainment or clothing budget -we drive as little as possible, do our own haircutting ,we do free things like hiking, going to parks, listening to music, cooking together and lots of interesting conversation! This Winter we will add in chess,cards,board games and hauling in firewood-which to me is FUN.. maybe I am wierd-lol!

Oh on my walk today I came across staghorn sumac for Indian Lemonade and elderberries about to ripen for making jam OR cough syrup- think I will start w jam! I also came across a huge black walnut and a hickory nut tree- loaded-COLD Winter ahead.. the wild grapes are loaded too-nature telling us STOCK UP kids!

We needed to go semi vegetarian for my husbands health anyway-and it opened up money to prep! I am so proud to say my husbands prostate issues have cleared up-his PSA levels are normal now and he has no nodules - he cleared this up by going through Dr Winers Wellness Centers recommendations as to herbs and going on a low uric acid diet! Now can you beat that-claiming back health and saving money too! Plus prostate surgery leaves many men needlesssly impotent-and he is SO manly- what a loss that would have been.. so I benefit too- wink,wink!! lol- besides the man I love getting healthier OF COURSE!!

I am continuing to go from fat to fit through semi vegetarian eating,daily walking,tending the garden and self love vs self loathing motivation.. which seems to be the modern model- hate your body-NO-I believe it is a temple for my Soul and honor my body as a God given GIFT!

From what I have seen in the future we need to be fit in mind,body and Spirit! Working more and more from a space of LOVE and gratitude!

Well I wish you all a wonderful day!!
Love n Light!

Appalachian Medicine Woman

PS-Look for info upcoming as I restart my Blogtalk Radio Daily Show under a new name-New Earth Prophet- sort of a healers, simplicity seekers,metaphysical and preppers encouragemement and how to show! We are also gonna do a You Tube Show w the same name- not on a schedule but as we see fit to add items- showing HOW too prep,how to make handcrafted healing salves,tinctures,infused oils and herbal tea!

This week we will be harvesting herbs and making salves from roses oil and blue sage infused oils-

Have a BLESSED and Sacred Week ahead!