3 Habits of A Modern Hippie

Just entertaining the idea of hanging your clothes out on the line makes you a bit of a modern hippie. Resisting the convenience of using a dryer for the simple pleasure of hung dry sheets:) Oh yeah! I try to do it whenever I can.

There's something sweet about it. Going out there in my bare feet, clothes-pins clipped on my shirt. I love how everything comes out looking like it was ironed, smells fresh and of course- not using any additional electricity using the dryer. I do admit the towels come out pretty crispy but if I really want them soft (as my hubby is a sucker for soft towels), I just pop them in the dryer for about 5 minutes and voila´!

Next, I compost and LOVE it! Since I juice pretty much every morning, I'm generating ALOT of rich "food" for the soil. I have 2 compost piles. One that I'm currently adding to and one that I stopped adding to about 5 months ago. Since this summer has been so hot- the one I stopped adding to in April has already turned to dark rich soil. It even has a tomato plant growing out of it which I don't have the heart to till under.

The second pile that I'm adding to right now is one of those tumblers and it works like a charm. I only add vegetable scraps, seeds, egg shells and herb leavings from my teas. I never put any bread, cheese or meat in there as it will rot and putrify in the compost. Always remember to water your compost, keep it damp to encourage breakdown. Also add some grass clippings or straw to it occasionally. Additionally you want to try to turn your compost pile once a week or so. This will ensure that you get a nice consistent breakdown of the vegetation. Compost is a wonderful habit to get into. It's the circle of life in action- what we consume and what we are should return to the earth.

I grow my own herbs, preserve them, cook with them and make herbal remedies. I really love cooking with herbs. Sage, thyme, rosemary, and oregano are a few of my favorites. I grow them each year, dry them once mature and store them in glass for the winter. It's amazing what a little rosemary and garlic can do for chicken, steak and vegetables. Next year I'm going to grow garlic- I've never done it but I'm told it's easy to do. When the garlic cloves sprout "tails" those go into the grown, tail side up. It will sprout and turn into a garlic plant! Plant the cloves in the fall for spring time growing! 

I also grew Stinging Nettle, Yarrow, Mullein, and those are medicinal herbs with astringent, healing and anti-inflammatory properties. Even the cullinary herbs are medicinal. Sage is a wondeful tea for colds and flu. Thyme is excellent respiratory and is anti-fungal and anti-parasitic. Rosemary supports the digestive system and oregano is a wonderful anti-viral herb. Adding freshly dryed home-growned herbs helps you and your family be healthier and improves the flavor of food without over salting. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing:)