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For me, this seems like this winter that will never end. In the past couple of days those of us in my part of the country have gotten a taste of spring. The snow is gone and I’ve noticed my garden is greening up. The early crocuses and tulips have started sprouting finally. It’s been a challenge keeping my two year old entertained indoors because she sees the world outside and doesn’t feel cold the way I do.

We have mentioned before the importance of organic food.  But did you know that some foods are worse than others?

When the weather starts warming up, it isn’t uncommon to go a little mad and experience a rush of Spring fever, to want to clean everything in sight. For some, that is limited to beating out the rugs and airing the linens. For others it means Spring cleaning themselves, or doing a body detox. This can be especially effective to move out the winter stagnation, and cleanse the blood.

In most areas of the country it is still considered flu season, especially considering the amount of snow and winter weather events that keep occurring.  We have some detailed suggestions on how to handle your cold and flu symptoms here, but this year there seems to be a lingering cough that is a prevalent symptom.  As such, here are some suggestions for dealing with this.

So you’ve decided you want to make some healthy changes in your life.  Perhaps this means taking your multi-vitamin, or getting more exercise on a daily and weekly basis.  One small change you might want to consider is increasing your consumption of herbs.  The ones that come most quickly to mind are herbs used in cooking.  They’re readily available and are simple to grow in just about any space.

One of the most frequent arguments against buying organic that we hear is that it is too expensive.  Yes, you will pay a small premium, but you pay for what you get.  Plus, with a little bit of planning, you can stretch your ingredients and make them last.  Case in point: grass fed, pastured chicken.

Here are a few images of what is blooming in our garden in February.

Recently, the USDA has quietly made a couple changes to the regulations regarding certain genetically modified crops, specifically GM sugar beets and GM alfalfa. This poses a very serious problem for organic farmers because of the issues surrounding cross pollination. These decisions may threaten the very existence of organic farming as a result.

I’m just wild about Saffron.  No, not the woman referred to in the 1960’s Donovan song – I’m wild about cooking with saffron.  Saffron has been used in recipes from appetizers to desserts, in cuisines around the world. There are the deep hues of red, orange, and yellow that enhances the pleasure of foods. The incredible aroma and sophisticated taste are unsurpassed.  But saffron is under-utilized in American kitchens.  It is time to understand its benefits.

Many of the herbs we use in our tinctures are grown and harvested from our own garden.  Here are a couple of images of what is growing in January.