The way that we look at food has changed over the past 10 – 15 years, for many people cheap mass produced fast food is just not acceptable in their diets any longer as they now understand more about the implications of how the food was produced, what it does to our body and the ethics that have gone into the production of the food. For this reason more and more of us are turning to growing our own vegetables and even having a go at rearing our own animals for meat and food. This all ties in very nicely with the boom time that cookery is having at the moment due to the increase in cookery programs on the television. We are more educated about food and how to cook it than ever before and with the help of the inter web we are never far away from some exotic recipe or another. So what can you do to join the growing number of people that are becoming self sufficient and more educated in what we eat and the way we produce our food? Read more »

We are now moving into the time of year where it is great fun to be working out in the garden, spending long hot sunny afternoons tidying up the garden, weeding and planting new plants in time for the summer. Gardening is having a bit of a resurgence in popularity over the past few years with more and more of the younger generation having a go at growing plants and designing a garden, partly because of the exposure that gardening has been given by television design programs and because of acceptance as the garden patio area as an outdoor living space. But one of the biggest growths in the gardening sector has been with people growing their own fruit and vegetables. In years gone by everyone with a garden or an allotment would grow their own fruit and vegetables as a way of providing food for the dinner table when times were hard, now it appears as though we are going into a period of slight recession and people seem to have less money in their pockets because of rising costs people are trying to make ends meet by growing their own produce. Read more »

Fire Agates is a layered stone that is formed then water that is saturated with colloida silica and iron oxide enters a cavity in a rock and the mineral in the water starts do form new rock. When cutting, the stones layers are ground or polished off following the natural contours of the stone until the desired colored is all that is left. Grind off one to many layers and the stone is ruined.

Searching for fire agates is considered hard rock mining. The agates are usually found embedded in layers of dense limonite and rhyolite rock. Removing these gemstones from the underling bedrock without breaking the gemstones takes time and experience. Read more »

It’s not unusual for anyone to experience joint pain at any time in their life; overexerting yourself when physically active, not warming up properly before workout routines, and being overweight by even a few pounds can put undue stress on your joints and lead to discomfort or even pain. There is some persistent joint paint however that should be given extra consideration, as it may be a serious arthritic condition called gout. What is this disease, what causes it, and what can you do to fix it? Read more »

Is weight loss and allergies connected? Good question. Have you ever snacked on something and then been even hungrier than before the snack? Do you get cravings for a specific food that will not go away until you satisfy that craving? If you answer yes to either of these two questions then it is a good chance you some type of food allergy. Read more »

If you are allergic to poison ivy then you suffer from allergies Type 4 or delayed allergies. Up to 90 percent of people are allergic to the urushiol oil that causes the poison ivy rash. Over half of the population will experience a rash with the first contact of the poison ivy plant and is considered the most common allergy in the country. Read more »

Allergies are abnormal reactions to normally harmless substances. The allergens can be inhaled, swallowed or come into contact with the skin.

Allergens that most frequently cause problems are: pollen, mold, dust, foods, animal dander, insect bites, insect spores, viruses and bacteria.

Normally the human body learns to defend itself though experience. That is by attacking a foreign substance that has invaded and harming the body by producing antibodies. The best know of these antibodies are called histamines. Some times the immune system mistakenly recognizes a foreign to be harmful when it is not. This can lead to the overproduction of histamines specially designed to destroy the specific foreign substance. Read more »

When you suffer from some type of heart disease, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be very difficult. We all need to eat healthy, maintain a good regular exercise routine and have regular checkups from our health care provider. When heart disease is not managed well the effects on our kidneys can be catastrophic.

The kidneys job is to filter the blood to remove carcinogens that we take in daily through the ingesting of out highly refined and processed foods. In addition it also removes excess fluid from the blood stream. The kidneys filter the waist products from the blood stream by using the natural pressure of the blood supply.

When this excess fluid is not being remove then the heart will have to work harder to pump the blood throughout our bodies by increasing our blood pressure. Higher blood pressure will cause more damage to our kidneys causing less fluid and toxins being removed from the blood stream. Read more »

Find out about the fascinating wine producing region of the Minervois, in the south of France. Read more »

Find out more about the wines from the Languedoc,France, especially Picpoul from La Clape in France Read more »