Simply Salt

I happen to love Epsom salt.  I realize it seems like a silly thing to love, but sometimes the best things in life are simple.  I believe a good box of Epsom salt can completely change your day.  You might remember your grandma keeping these under her sink, and the truth is she was on to something.  Here are some ways I use Epsom salts in my home:

Baths- Anyone who knows me well will vouch that I am a bath junkie! I add about 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts to a warm bath.  This is because Epsom salt is high in magnesium which helps relax tired muscles and calms busy minds.  This is great for post workout, injury or workday and according to Jenn, post pregnancy.

Scrubs- These are ideal this time of year.  Add Epsom salt to your favorite oil to make a homemade scrub. Combine 1 part oil (such as olive, coconut or grapeseed oil) to 3 parts Epsom salt.  You can also add any essential oil so it smells amazing.  Mix in a small bowl before you jump in the shower and scrub away your winter skin.  This is not only a completely natural body scrub, but it also costs pennies compared to the ones you find in the store.

Gardening- During my search for gardening know-how I found out that adding a pinch of Epsom salt to your watering can and compost can kick up the nutrients in your soil and therefore your plants.

These are just a few ideas to get you started.  I have also heard of using Epsom salts for shampoo, bruises and acne!  It is amazing how such a simple thing can have so many uses and benefits.  I would love to hear about the different ways you use them in your home.

Marcie

My Garden Update

Hello again bloggerland, I am proud to report Cody and I have had some progress in the garden these past few weeks. We planted about 60 seedlings in the past month and have been giving them some much deserved love as they grow. In the process I have learned a few valuable tips:

1) The answers are somewhere- I have had many questions, such as; when is the right time to plant things? How do I know how much water or sun everything needs? The answer is simple: just ask. Between Google, some great gardening books, my mom, seed packet instructions and a few helpful people in line at Rona, every question I could have imagined to ask has been answered.

2) Plants can and will grow in pretty much anything- This is one of the coolest things we discovered. At first we were buying those expensive little seed trays and pots from Rona or Walmart. Although they looked great, as plants grew we needed to transplant them. Turns out you can turn anything into a planter. We used milk cartons, yogurt containers, mason jars and coffee cans. All you need to do is poke a few holes throughout the container so that the soil can breath.

3) A few seeds is plenty- I'm sure this is considered a common beginner mistake, so it is only fair we made it. Just because there are 30 or so seeds in the pack does not mean you need to plant them all, or even close. We ended up with about 5-10 of everything and are already deciding who we are going to give all our extra seedlings too.

4) Not everything will grow- Although we were very successful, there was one batch of flowers and a few other plants that just did not grow. We have gotten into a habit of talking to our plants, thank to Adrianne, and all the tough love and affection in the world couldn't get them to grow. So green thumb or not, sometimes you just need to part ways and move on.

I added a few pics of some of the seedlings, there are zucchinis, cucumbers, strawberries, dill, parsley, basil, and some flowers so far. And just in case anyone is wondering our compost is a rocking! It smells good and it feels great to not be throwing our waste into a plastic bag.

Happy gardening everyone!

Marcie Brown

Acquiring a Green Thumb

As part of my nutrition program I did a Co-Op last summer at an herb garden in Toronto working under the watchful eye of a medical herbalist. In the process I discovered a deep love of gardening. The garden is a great place to calm your mind and get a little dirty. So after a bit of convincing my boyfriend was so kind as to let me overhaul his garden this year, with his help of course. So i decided to keep an ongoing blog of my first real attempt at a garden. I am looking forward to sharing my learning curve with all of you out there in blogger-land, as well as hopefully getting some feedback from some experienced gardeners.

One of the first things we did was getting our compost set up. My boyfriend Cody has a condo with a small back yard, so our first challenge was space. We found a lot of great design ideas for building our own compost by using old pallets. Unfortunately these are about 3 feet by 3 feet and we just didn't have the space. So we did the next best thing... took a trip to Walmart.

We ended up using a 34 gallon plastic garbage can (you can also use a metal one). Cody then used a drill bit to punch holes throughout it, including the bottom. This is a very important part, the more oxygen the better, this will keep your compost from getting stinky. A properly done compost should never smell funky.

The next step is to fill it up. The best ratio for compost is 3 parts brown stuff to one part green. The brown portion includes dead leaves, newspaper, egg cartons and mulch, basically anything no longer living. The green portion includes fresh glass clippings, egg shells, fruits and vegetables. We choose to dig up the previous garden and start completely fresh this year and so we also added all the the roots we dug up.

Next you need to add some water and an activator, these you can find pre-boxed at Rona or Walmart for around 10$. We found out that human urine is a very effective activator, and some gardeners swear by it. This is due to the nitrogen content. Of course after that discovery Cody was set on peeing on it, I think its a boy thing. If you are using urine it needs to be diluted however with water, about 1 part urine to 10 parts water. Give it a good stir and then you wait.

Continue to add your waste from your kitchen and yard as the months go one. It is supposed to take about two months to get a good compost, so i will keep you updated. Make sure to keep stirring it as you add new things. This is not only environmentally friendly, but provides some awesome organic matter for great gardening. I included a few photos of our homemade compost. I would love to hear if anyone has any more tricks and of course about your own versions.
Happy composting everyone!

Marcie Brown