5 Uses for Spent Coffee Grounds

Photo Credit:www.paperjewels.com

'If you drink a lot of coffee or have worked in a coffee house, you have probably looked at the massive amount of coffee grounds being thrown away after one use and wondered, “isn’t there something these can be used for?” 

You’re not alone, researchers all over the world have wondered the same thing and explored the issue. The good news — spent coffee grounds DO have value! What potential uses for used coffee grounds have been found?' 

Read more...

Read more »

How to Create a Therapeutic Alzheimer's Garden

 
Photo Credit:cleavermind,LLC Facebook



'Having access to a nice garden can meet so many needs for people with dementia and their caregivers. Good garden design can be part of a treatment plan for people with Alzheimer's who are very restless or agitated and who like or need to walk a lot.'

Aims of Garden Design for Alzheimer's

Read more...

Read more »

Gardening Can Help Beat Depression

 

Photo Credit:http://www.feedage.com

'Every year, some 230 million prescriptions for antidepressants are filled, making them one of the most-prescribed drugs in the United States.

Despite this, the incidence of all forms of depression is now at 10 percent, according to 2012 statistics1, and the number of Americans diagnosed with depression increases by about 20 percent per year2.

Such statistics are a strong indication that what we’re doing is simply not working, and that instead, these drugs are contributing to other serious health problems. Fortunately, there are other, safer, more effective ways to address depression—including something as simple as spending more time outdoors.'

Read more...

Read more »

16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps

Photo Credit:www.yumuniverse.com

'Looking for a healthy way to get more from your garden? Like to know your food is free of the pesticides and other nasties that are often sprayed on commercial crops? Re-growing food from your kitchen scraps is a good way to do it!

There’s nothing like eating your own home- grown vegies, and there are heaps of different foods that will re- grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out or put into your compost bin.

It’s fun. And very simple … if you know how to do it.

Just remember … the quality of the “parent” vegetable scrap will help to determine the quality of the re-growth. So, wherever possible, I recommend buying local organic produce, so you know your re-grown plants are fresh, healthy and free of chemical and genetic meddling.'

Read more...

Read more »

Garden Hoses Leach Toxic Chemicals Into Water

'Have you ever wondered where that funny taste and/or smell comes from when you take a drink of water out of the garden hose? Most likely, it comes from toxins in the lining of the garden hose and its fittings.

Research released by Healthystuff.org studied 90 different types of garden hoses. They found levels of lead in excess of Consumer Product Safety Commission Standards for other products, and phthalate DEHP and lead levels in excess of the Federal safe water drinking standards.

The research also found a number of other concerning toxins leached out by garden hoses, including antimony, Bisphenol A, Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), Diisobuytle phtalate (DIBP) and Diisononyl phthalates (DINP). The BPA levels of hose water from the tests were twenty times higher than the .1 ppm BPA levels allowed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) – a safe drinking water foundation and certification group.'

Read more...

Read more »

Landlord Charged for Front Yard Garden - Tenant & Neighbors Fight Back

'Stay-at-home dad Karl Tricamo was another

unsuspecting gardener

just 

going about his

favorite hobby and following the rules. 

He loves to garden

 with his 55 heirlooms and dislikes GMOs and pesticides.'

“I just thought it would be an excellent way to help provide for my family,” he said. “People have been gardening since the beginning of human civilization, and the First Lady has even been setting an example by gardening at the White House! I never expected it to be so controversial.”'




Read more...

Read more »

Why Gardening Makes You Happy and Cures Depression

'While mental health experts warn about depression as a global epidemic, other researchers are discovering ways we trigger our natural production of happy chemicals that keep depression at bay, with surprising results. All you need to do is get your fingers dirty and harvest your own food.

In recent years I’ve come across two completely independent bits of research that identified key environmental triggers for two important chemicals that boost our immune system and keep us happy - serotonin and dopamine. What fascinated me as a permaculturist and gardener were that the environmental triggers happen in the garden when you handle the soil and harvest your crops.'

Read more...

Read more »

Gardening at Home Linked to Increased Veggie Consumption

 

'Recent scientific research confirms that gardening may be linked to
higher rates of vegetable eating in older populations of adults.
According to a recent report from Texas A&M University and Texas
State University, older populations of adults who garden are more likely to eat vegetables than their non-gardening counterparts.

This study, published in Hort Technology,
surveyed adults over the age of 50. Over 250 questionnaires were
completed by adults aged 50 years and older, over the course of one
month. The online survey was created as an effort to encourage gardening
among older adults, and was part of a program involving what the
researchers called “gardening intervention.” '





Read more...

Read more »

Seven Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Own Food

'That’s right, having your own vegetable garden is now trendy. In fact according to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writer’s Association (GWA) Foundation, over 41 million U.S. households, or 38 percent planted a vegetable garden in 2009. And, more than 19.5 million households (18 percent) grew an herb garden and 16.5 million households (15 percent) grew fruits during the same period.

The study found that there was a growth in edible gardening from both experienced gardeners and from an influx of new gardeners: 92 percent of respondents had previous experience and 7 percent (7.7 million households) were new edible gardeners.'

Read more...

Read more »