Indian Runners

Spring is in the air and that means lots of baby animals.  Yesterday we picked up our order of 5 Indian Runner ducklings (4 females, 1 male).  They are so cute.  If you are wondering what the colored spots are on their heads, the hatchery from which they came paints the heads of the females with a red dot and males with blue. 

Indian Runner ducks are land ducks that do not need a pond, just a small pool or tub of water to occasionally bath in.  They lay from 150-200 eggs a year or more.  Indian Runners love foraging and running around grassy meadows looking for worms, slugs, even catching flies.  So far we have been observing them eating, jumping alot, and bathing in their drinking water. We are happy to have these new fuzzy friends. 

New Man In Town

About a month ago we adopted a Leghorn rooster from Sienna Ranch.  He is mild mannered but a little skittish.  It is said that a white rooster brings many blessings to a property and so we named him Barak, which means blessing in Arabic.  Our 7 year old agrees, "He is president of the chickens!"



Thoughts On Today

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Rumi



remembering the struggles of our ancestors,
times have been hard before

 
In these times where there is so much turbulance, change, and sorrow, we need to be desperately seeking out the joy and beauty that is all around us.  I have not written for awhile, feeling to overwhelmed by current events to talk about the new chicken tractor, the felted soaps, or the seedlings in the ground.  The mundane seems so trivial and yet it is what keeps us going day to day as we are cleansed by the rain and watch the shoots push up and grow tall, painting the hills green.  Meditating on what might be good information to share right about now I realized that many are feeling a bit helpless not knowing how to be proactive or what to do to protect ourselves-to feel empowered. Here is some knowlegde I have accumulated from various sources I trust on moving through trying times with wisdom and grace.  Protecting our bodies is just the first step but an important one we cannot afford to overlook! 

Radiation Concerns
It is fun and easy to incorperate these delicious foods into our diet.  Wake up people and take good care of yourselves.  The time is now. 



Native Californians have been harvesting seaweed as a main
 food in their diet for thousands of years



Foods and herbs recommended as offering the best protection against radiation:

sea vegetables (seaweeds)

fermented vegetables (especially cabbages and other brassicas)

dark green leafy vegis (collards, kale, mustards)

miso

daikon

burdock

mushrooms (reishi, shiitake)

lentils

coconut milk

black and green teas

anything high in Vitamin C

apple pectin

nettles

eleuthero (siberian ginseng)

cilantro

Notes on Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng): 

Eleuthero is an adaptogen which reduces stress on the body by combating harmful toxins. Eleuthero has shown a protective effect in animal studies against chemicals such as ethanol, sodium barbital, tetanus toxoid, and chemotherapeutic agents.

eleuthero leaves and berries

 Eleuthero also reduces the side effects of radiation exposure. In animal and in vitro studies, Eleuthero has demonstrated effects of radiation protection (Yonezawa et al., 1989) and stress reduction (Takasugi et al., 1985). After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many Russian and Ukrainian citizens were given Eleuthero to counteract the effects of radiation. Eleuthero was also commonly used in Russia in oncology hospital departments to increase the tolerance of the patients to the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy (Gvamichava, 1966; Khatiashvili, 1964, 1966; Kupin, 1986a, 1986b).

 



eleuthero root



Important Links to Check out with Lots More Info, Articles, and Recipes!!!

http://www.seaweed.net/Words/healing.html

http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/radioactive-fallout-fear-recommendations

http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Surviving_Radiation.htm

http://midnightapothecary.blogspot.com/

*This is intended to be an open forum.  Please respond with suggestions, comments, questions.  Let's educate each other, we are all in this together.

Happy Spring!