Ah, December. The beginning of a season that is filled to the brim with all things magical. I become alive this time of year. The next couple of months are bliss for me, as my senses are tickled by sights, sounds and smells that have the ability to transport me to places, that sometimes only exist in my imagination.
The sense of smell is powerful. It can trigger a long lost memory of baking with your grandmother, that you didn't even know you had. Or bring you to that magical Christmas Eve midnight mass - when the incense burned silently as a marker of the excitement that lied ahead in the wee hours of the morning. Scent triggers emotion.. and during a time when the joy of the season can easily become lost.. I like to use scent as a tool to bring me back.
So here are some easy, inexpensive, natural tricks to get your home smelling magical for the holidays.
Pomanders First used in the middle ages, where people would wear them on long chains (like jewellery) to ward off infectious diseases, and to simply smell better. Back then they were made of all sorts of crazy things. Today they are simply made of Oranges studded with Whole Cloves. Once made, they will dry out and can last for years as air fresheners, and even can be useful in linen closets and drawers to repel moths.
You will need:
1) A few confectioners scoops of whole cloves (purchasing whole cloves at a bulk food, is far more cost effective than buying them pre-jarred)
2) A few Navel Oranges of varying sizes
Simply push the cloves into the orange in any pattern that you please. You can completely cover the orange in cloves, or you may choose a design such as stars, or swirls. Or in the case of my brother's creation in the picture, you can't opt for the "Mr. T" pomander :)
Potpourri Crock Pot
Tossing a few spices and fruits into a crock pot (or regular pot) will fill your home with a warm Christmasey scent. It's dead easy, inexpensive, and is a great way to get rid of any fruit that might be starting to spoil.
What you'll need:
1) A couple of fruits of your choice, such as: Apples and Oranges - cut into slices or quartered (you can use anything from pomegranates to cranberries to pears.. it matters not.
2) A few cinnamon sticks, or a couple of tbsp of ground cinnamon
3) Some whole cloves
4) Some nutmeg
5) Water
Combine a random amount of these ingredients into a crock pot, or large saucepan; fill about 2/3 of the pot. Fill pot with water to about 3 inches from the the top. Simmer on low.
I've left this for a couple of days at a time; turning the stove/crock pot off at night, and when I leave the house - and refilling the water as it cooks off.
Balsam Fir
Balsam Fir trees smell divine! If you opt for a real tree at Christmastime, you should get yourself a Balsam. It's true that Fraser Fir is the longest lasting tree, however nothing comes close to the scent of the Balsam! I'd say put off your tree trimming until 2-3 weeks before Christmas, so that you can take advantage of the loveliness of Balsam's fragrance.
If you do not use a real tree, that's still okay. You can still take advantage of Balsam's scent by grabbing up a few of it's branches to adorn your mantle, use for a centrepiece, make a wreath, or use in your outdoor urns. You can either buy these branches where ever you would pick up your tree - such as a nursery - OR if you have any friends or family who are getting a Balsam for themselves, ask them if you can have the scraps they trim off from the stump.
Little known facts about opting for Real Christmas Trees:
- More environmentally friendly
- Christmas trees are often grown in soil that no other crops can grow in
- The trees take years to mature; in the mean time provide habitat for wildlife, as well as clean the air
- When people are done with their real trees, they are recycled and used as mulch - where as fake trees end up in landfills
- Fake trees and wreaths are made from non renewable petroleum
- For every tree that is harvested, 2 or 3 seedlings are put in its place
Happy scenting! AND If you have any more Scent-sational tips, I'd love to hear them! Leave your comments below :)
We are all too aware that cancer and degenerative diseases have become an epidemic. Who among us can honestly say that they do not know someone who has suffered the wrath of some kind of cancer, if they haven't suffered themselves. Too many people have suffered unnecessarily; and it's just that, unnecessary, and guess what... PREVENTABLE.
I have seen too many lives ripped apart by disease, and I personally fear nothing more than losing a loved one to poor health. So HOW can I help? WHAT can I do to ensure that my family and friends, and myself, get to live to a ripe old age, in good health? The answer is easy... simple nutrition.
In the past 100 years or so, our civilization has advanced more rapidly than it has in all of it's history. This is amazing, it's inspiring even. But is it possible that sometimes advancement can go too far? While globalization is good in many respects, it has unfortunately robbed us of some simple pleasures. We have become so accustomed to blindly trusting what is presented to us in the grocery store; it looks great, so it must taste great and be healthy too, right? But as Socrates says "The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living". So I encourage you to examine what you consume a little bit closer. The above video is a brilliant example of a little girls unexpected lesson into what is going on beneath the surface of our grocery store veggies:
So if we know that mass food production has spiralled out of control, focusing more on making money, rather than supporting nutrition and human longevity... then what can we do to save our families and ourselves from the harmful effects these tainted veggies will inevitably have on our health? We can take the control of what we consume back.
A friend of mine recently posted some fantastic "mobile uploads" of her "Home Farm" on Facebook. I was immediately struck with inspiration and curiosity, and couldn't resist picking her brain on how I could follow in her footsteps to become a home farmer... here is our discussion.
Julia: Ericka! :) Why did you decide to grow your own veggies, where does the inspiration come from for you?
Ericka: My fiance's grandparents owned a huge working farm, they grew mostly corn and raised hogs; His grandfather ran a roadside veggie stand until he died years back. My Fiance's Grandmom still owns the farm although it is no longer a working farm.We decided when we bought our house that we would try growing our own, because with a large family fresh produce get's expensive. Also, it's something we can do together as a family, and everything in the garden is organic and just taste's fresher!
We started out small with just tomatoes, a couple different varieties of peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cantaloupe and cucumbers. The 1st year the garden was a trial & error learning experience. The eggplant grew terribly slow and produced very few fruits the cucumbers and zucchini died and the tomatoes didn't do very well. The peppers however were insane but they tend to be very hardy to begin with. It was very, very hot here last summer and peppers thrive in hot temps.
Julia: So for someone like me, who has no idea where or how to begin growing my own food, what advice could you give me?
Ericka: Basics for starting a home farm are of course figuring out where you want your garden, and how much yard space you're willing to give up for it. Our garden this year is a whole lot bigger than last year's. We also split the yard and made a dog run so the dog run fence also serves as a trellis for our vine plants - honeydew melon, butternut squash and pumpkin. We tilled the area and added Miracle grow garden mix and blood-meal. At the end of the season last year we tilled all the dead vegetation into the soil; you want to do that as it helps make the soil richer. We've gone to both the Home Depot and the Farmer's co-op for our supplies. I grew the tomatoes, peppers and butternut squash from seed. I have a new crop of butter-crunch lettuce in the ground grown from seed as well since we've eaten all the romaine and red-leaf from the garden already, lol! The cabbage, cauliflower, honeydew, corn and eggplant I got from the local farmer's market and it is much healthier than what you get from Home Depot..and the plants were a lot cheaper too..$1.80 for a 4 pk versus $2.98 a 4 pk at Home Depot. Cauliflower is our experiment this year, it's more a cold weather grower so we'll have to wait and see if it flowers towards fall, the plants themselves have gotten huge. Regular watering is essential, rain collection barrels are great but only if you get a lot of rain. We haven't had much unfortunately.
Julia: How did you learn how to do all of this? Ericka: Home growing is really a hands-on-learn-as-you-go thing. Books and internet are helpful, but what works for one may not work for another because of differences in soil, etc.
Julia: How do your kids feel about growing their own food?
Ericka: Right now my 10 yr old is fascinated with the corn which is probably 6 ft tall now, He goes out and inspects the garden, and helps with weeding. My 12 yr old could care less she has more important drama to attend too..lol! My 3 yr old comes out and helps me harvest, and tries sampling. I've got a ton of ripe grape tomatoes on the vine so she eats them right off the plant; can't get any fresher & with no pesticides to worry about!
Julia: Speaking of pesticides, naturally there will be pests/bugs eating away at the goodies. How do you address that? Do you think commercial pesticides have contributed to the failing health of the general population?
Ericka: We haven't really needed to spray with anything. I was noticing an abundance of ladybugs the other day, they are your garden's friend and it is a good sign when you see a lot of them. I did have cabbage worms on my red cabbage a few weeks back, so I sprinkled flour on the plants which causes them to bloat and die. I now have some nice heads of cabbage forming out there.
You can make your own natural pesticides from just dish soap and water in a spray bottle. If you need something stronger you can add garlic, onion and cayenne pepper..bugs do not ever bother my hot pepper plants which explains why adding cayenne to your mix acts as a deterrent. Commercial pesticides are poisonous and the veggies and fruits probably do absorb quite a bit of it which defeats the purpose of organic. Yes I do believe pesticides have contributed to the fact that people are sicker nowadays. There seems to be a lot of children who have assorted difficulties, just like fish have become poisoned by mercury, we've poisoned ourselves with commercial pesticides; not a good thing.
Julia: Why do you call it "Home Farming"? Ericka: "Home Farming" is just what people here are calling it guess it sounds cooler than "I have a veggie garden"..lol..maybe because people are expanding it to being bigger than just growing a few tomato plants.
Julia: You mentioned "Rain Collection" earlier. Can you expand on what that is? Ericka: Rain collection is easy. Just put your containers out and collect the rain! You can fashion an irrigation system I suppose, but we haven't done that yet. There's not been a whole lot of rain our way, so in areas with little rain it might take forever to catch a good amount of water. We tried the soaker hoses but they don't really work very well so we just water by hose every evening. Now that we have a real pool I don't have the kiddie pool water to recycle but the county has a garden allowance you have to apply for. The county figures out what your average usage is and the excess use is reduced by 50%, so that's pretty cool.
Julia: Home Farming actually sounds a lot less scary than I thought. The benefits are clear, healthier food, bigger pocket book at the end of the day, and not only physically rewarding, but mentally I'm sure too, no? Ericka: Home farming can be back breaking depending on the size of your garden. We didn't use a tiller, everything was done with garden tools. It's very calming however, to go out and weed and spend time walking through to see how everything is growing. I was noticing the other day how HUGE my Roma tomatoes are this year..I started these from seed and they've just flourished; probably in another month we can start canning. Julia: CANNING... I CAN't wait to learn more about canning (pun intended he he he). That is a topic for another day I suppose :) Thank you Ericka for your insights; looking forward to learning so much more from you.
Ever wanted to learn how to pull off a vintage hairstyle? Don't know how to pincurl? Don't know what setting lotion is? look no further..this week's vlog post will answer some of your questions, and point you in the direction of the best of the best in vintage hair-styling tutorials.
Today I took a trip over to the Historic St. Lawrence Market, to visit the flower market "The Greenery Patch" . I met with the ever-so-lovely Dahla MacKenna, who agreed to make for me, a most beautiful vintage inspired centrepiece for a VERY important dinner party I have coming up. I can't wait to share Dahla's fabulous creation with all of you in a couple of weeks, but until then enjoy the teaser video ;)
First used in the middle ages, where people would wear them on long chains (like jewellery) to ward off infectious diseases, and to simply smell better. Back then they were made of all sorts of crazy things. Today they are simply made of Oranges studded with Whole Cloves. Once made, they will dry out and can last for years as air fresheners, and even can be useful in linen closets and drawers to repel moths.
