It’s difficult to pin down the exact reason I decided, at age 44, to leave the bustle of the city and move to a rural area more than 1,000 miles away. I think I just needed to jump-start my life with a new adventure.

A month or so after the move, I decided that to really experience the rural lifestyle, I needed at least one farm animal. A goat, I thought, would be a good starter farm animal for a woman who had previously owned only the usual array of household pets.

I responded to a notice on a bulletin board advertising Pygora goats – half Pygmy and half Angora. I fell in love the moment I saw the tiny 2-day-old bundle of white hair. Winchell I would name him.

As soon as I returned home, I lifted Winchell out of the car and placed him on the ground. I wasn’t prepared, however, to see him take off running as if he feared for his life. He would be impossible to catch, I decided, after a futile 30-minute chase.

Luckily, Winchell’s gnawing hunger finally prevailed, and he decided I was his only hope for food. Thus began a three-month bottle-feeding routine during which we bonded as mother and child. For such a tiny creature, he sure could make a bone-chilling cry when he was hungry. But after a big meal, he curled up on my lap or on the cushion of an old chair in the corner of the big country kitchen. Angelic, I thought, the first few days. That perception soon changed.

My place was about a mile outside of town, and each day I walked my dog into town and back for exercise. Winchell was not about to be left behind, so he accompanied us, walking on a leash beside the dog. I had to watch that he didn’t eat the neighbors’ roses along the way. It never occurred to me this duo might seem odd, but apparently Winchell attracted a bit of attention on our daily walks. One day I overheard a merchant standing outside her store tell a tourist, “Here comes the goat lady.”

The goat lady! I was far too young to be known by such an eccentric label. From then on we avoided Main Street on our forays into town.

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Grow Your Own Pizza Courtesy MSU News Service Montana State University student Brooke Johns admires a cow mask during an agriculture education program at the Boys & Girls Club in Bozeman, Montana. courtesy Montana State University/Kelly Gorham

Bozeman, Montana – In a classroom at the Boys & Girls Club in Bozeman, 16 children age 5 to 12, spent a recent morning planting seeds, grinding wheat and squishing tomatoes. Under the direction of Shannon Arnold’s Montana State University agricultural education students, the children were learning where their food came from. At the end of the program, they walked away with a greater understanding of agriculture, the origins of their food and a pizza lunch.

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(Mother Earth News) In my part of the United States, you can't drive down a back road without seeing the remnants of an old chicken coop near a barn or house. Quietly decaying as time passes, they are visual markers of a time when almost every rural family kept chickens close at hand.

Step By Step Your Garden Grows: Design an Easy Kitchen Garden

By Janet Wallace

(Grit) Folks offer all kinds of reasons for why they don’t grow potatoes. Some say potatoes are so inexpensive at the store it just isn’t worth the effort. Others say that potatoes take up too much space in the garden. Still others say potatoes aren’t worth growing because they attract pests like the Colorado potato beetle. I, on the other hand, will always grow potatoes because that’s the easiest way to sample the delicious palate of heirloom varieties, and there is nothing like the flavor of a new potato when it’s eaten just hours after harvest.

Picking a potato

At a typical market in Peru, you might find 200 varieties of potatoes. The crop was developed by the Incas, and a great diversity of potatoes wild and cultivated is still found in the Andes. Of more than 5,000 varieties of potatoes, only a small fraction is available as commercial seed stock in North America.

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Natural Gardening for Healthier People and Planet

I've gone "green" as a gardener, using only natural products in my vegetable garden, flowerbeds and on my lawn. Growing my own organic seasonal fruits and vegetables is a fun, economical way to eat healthfully. Plus, as any gardener will tell you, all of that digging and hoeing is great exercise and a wonderful way to spend time outdoors on these beautiful warm days.

"Natural gardening is a growing area of interest among people who want to avoid the toxins in many mainstream gardening products -- plus, it really works," said Howard Garrett, a registered landscape architect, organic horticulturalist and author of The Organic Manual: Natural Organic Gardening and Living For Your Family, Plants and Pets. How is "natural organic" gardening, as Garrett refers to it, different? "Natural organic gardening is working with only natural materials to promote healthy gardens, without the use of toxic chemicals or artificial fertilizers," said Garrett. "It is not just a matter of using a different set of products, it's a whole different thought process and procedure."

Synthetic Gardening Products Are Harmful

There is plenty of proof that synthetic gardening products, including pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides) and fertilizers aren't good for us, nor our earth, whether they're used by commercial farmers or individuals.

First, let's look at synthetic pesticides: An abundance of scientific evidence demonstrates their harmful effects. In 2004, a study was published by scientists at the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Environmental Health Science who conducted a review of more than 300 studies and found a link between pesticides and cancers such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia and prostate cancer. In addition, researchers found that chronic low-level pesticide exposure is associated with a broad range of nervous system symptoms such as headache, fatigue, dizziness, tension, anger, depression and impaired cognitive function. They also found that pesticide exposure may increase Parkinson's disease and could be associated with Alzheimer's disease.

It turns out that pesticides don't do much good for plants, either. "Synthetic pesticides do not even work," said Garrett. "They kill beneficial insects and microorganisms more effectively than the insects and microorganisms that you're trying to kill. There are natural organic alternatives that work much better."

Now let's look at fertilizers. While synthetic fertilizers have not been linked to specific human diseases, many contain nitrates that can leach into the ground, affecting our environment and our drinking water. Perhaps not surprisingly, synthetic fertilizers also don't work well on plants. In fact, said Garrett, these products often "fool" people by creating impressive growth initially, followed by a "pooping out" period that encourages people to apply more product, which perpetuates the cycle. "Most people are surprised to learn that synthetic fertilizers are basically salts," Garrett explains. "When you put salts on plants over and over again, it throws the plant's biology out of balance, which eventually kills it. The salts also cause the soil to harden and get so compact that it won't drain water well."

LET MOTHER NATURE BE YOUR GARDENER

Natural gardening is immensely better for our health and our environment, and it turns out that it's great for plants, too. Natural gardening creates stronger plants that can withstand stressors such as extreme changes in temperature, insects and disease. "The most significant benefit you will notice is your plants have greater tolerance for dramatic weather," said Garrett. "For instance, plants aren't as vulnerable to frost, and therefore can enjoy a longer growing season. These plants are also more resistant to insects and disease."

A common misconception is that natural gardening is more costly -- but Garrett says it actually saves money in the long run. For one thing, you never have to rebuild the garden beds -- they just continue to get better and better. You'll also need to fertilize less often, because the natural products are slow-releasing and longer-lasting.

GOING GREEN IN YOUR GARDEN

Stop using all synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals that harm living organisms. Don't try to combine natural and conventional approaches, as it won't work, says Garrett.

Fertilize with only natural products such as compost or natural fertilizer products two or three time a year. Feed the soil in which your plants grow with liquid fertilizer or compost "tea" (see recipe below) during the growing season.

Create a compost pile, nature's own living fertilizer. It can be started any time of the year in sun or shade. Anything that was once alive can go in the compost, including grass clippings, leaves, vegetable and fruit food scraps, bark, sawdust, rice hulls, weeds, nut hulls and animal manure. Mix the ingredients together and simply pile the material on the ground. The best mixture is 80% vegetative matter and 20% animal waste, although any mix will compost.

Build soil health with natural organic products and techniques. Apply compost, rock materials such as lava sand, granite and basalt and dry molasses (which you can find at gardening centers that cater to organic gardeners) to all planting areas.

Mulch bare soil around all shrubs, trees, ground covers and food crops. This protects the soil from sunlight, wind and rain, inhibits weeds, decreases watering needs and mediates soil temperature. Native cedar is the best choice.

Water only as needed. Natural gardening reduces the frequency and volume of water needed. Water when plants begin to wilt.

Mow lawns only as necessary and leave clippings on the lawn. This returns nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Put occasional excess clippings in compost pile.

For weed control, hand-pull large weeds and cultivate soil health. Mulch all bare soil to keep weeds to a minimum. Avoid all synthetic herbicides. Spray weeds as needed with vinegar-based herbicides.

Control pests the natural way. Use natural products to encourage beneficial insects and spray plants with compost tea mixtures such as Garrett Juice, which is a mixture of natural ingredients including compost, water, apple cider, vinegar, molasses and seaweed (see below).

If you aren't experienced and want to get started, Garrett says that vegetables and herbs such as garlic, chives, radishes, beans, peas and okra are easiest for beginners. "Also small tomatoes, most greens, including spinach during the cooler weather, and beets and sweet potatoes, which are almost foolproof especially for those with sandy soil." Note: If your plants are already growing strong, it's likely too late to go all the way green this season... but you certainly can start planning for a naturally healthy, environmentally friendly garden going forward.

For more information, visit Garrett's Web site at www.DirtDoctor.com. You can also e-mail questions to Garrett at info@dirtdoctor.com.

Source(s):

Howard Garrett is a registered landscape architect, organic horticulturalist, broadcaster and writer with extensive experience in landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance and organic product development. Garrett is author of several books, including The Organic Manual: Natural Organic Gardening and Living For Your Family, Plants and Pets, a non-regional guide to organic gardening (Tapestry). For more information go to www.DirtDoctor.com.

How to Build a Trellis

Gardening on the up-and-up

By Steve Maxwell 

Trellises make ornamental gardens more beautiful and food gardens more bountiful. For little money, these garden structures coax more plant growth from a given area. Growing crops or flowers that climb also will add a striking visual element to your garden.

Building your own trellis is a creative adventure. Small saplings, logs, milled lumber, metal rods and even plumbing pipe can all be made into a terrific trellis. The basic idea is to create some kind of a ladder or matrix for plants to climb.

Perhaps the quickest method of making a trellis is to use cattle or hog panels made from galvanized steel rods (about a quarter inch diameter). These rods are already welded together to form a mesh panel, usually about 16 feet long. You can simply drive fence posts into the ground and attach the panels as if you were making a fence. Or you could get creative and make arched trellises by bending the panels.

When you’re set up for welding, think about conical steel trellises. Using quarter-inch or three-eighths-inch diameter mild steel rod, it’s easy to build tall, elegant, cone-shaped structures that fit over large pots or directly in the garden. Use four, six or eight rods, depending on the diameter of the trellis. You can paint these if you like, but it’s not necessary. Rusty steel looks quite good in the garden if it’s part of a tastefully crafted structure. And you’re probably not going to see the steel rod much anyway (painted or not). Plants love a conical trellis, and many climbing species soon cover it completely.

Can you solder? Copper water pipe (half- or three-quarter-inch diameter) makes a terrific plant support. Create an octagon from eight straight lengths of pipe connected with tee fittings. Extend eight legs down from these tees, and then park the structure over support-dependent species such as delphiniums or peonies.

Arbors and trellises made from wood frequently rot unnecessarily (even at my place). My main garden regret right now is an arbor I built over a pathway in 1995 (see photo). Since then two scandens have been establishing themselves beautifully over this entire structure, which has now weakened enough to wobble. I built it from rot-prone balsam fir poles cut from my forest, preferring to leave the cedars to grow. That was a mistake. Now I’m faced with the job of building another arbor around the first one, then training the scandens around the new wood before the old completely rots away.

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An Introduction to Common Goat Breeds

Whether you want milk, wool or a homestead companion, you can find the right goat for your farm or backyard.

(Mother Earth News) For centuries, humans have raised goats for milk, meat and fiber; as work animals; as pets; and for their skills as highly efficient weed-eaters. If you’re considering getting a goat (or a few), the first step is deciding what you want from your new animal, then finding the best breed suited to that task. Here’s a quick guide to which goats do what, along with a few breed characteristics:

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Reasons for Starting Your Own Garden

Garlic: A Plant to Love

You'll never do grocery garlic again.

from the May/June 2008 issue of Grit

By: Kristen Davenport

(Grit) In the snowy high country of the Rocky Mountains, it seems a miracle each year when the slender green shoots of garlic emerge from the nearly frozen ground.

Along with the crocus, garlic pushing its way out of the cold earth is a sure sign that spring is here, even if we have yet to endure a few late snowstorms (which, by the way, garlic doesn’t seem to mind a bit).

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Homemade Superfood: Sprouting Seeds and Saving Seeds

(NaturalNews) With food prices rising, the dollar falling, and the economy reeling, it is becoming increasingly important that we learn how to grow a portion of our own food. The first steps are obtaining and sprouting seeds, so we'll explore those topics here.

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If we want a sustainable building, the first thing to do is eliminate any toxins. Nader Khalili, architect and founder of Cal-Earth has developed a way of building a house using the earth itself as material. His Eco-Domes (or Moon-Cocoons) are built by using a special sandbag (local earth) and barbed wire technology, called Superadobe. The result is a very stable (and pretty) house that has passed California's strict earthquake requirements. They are designed with the sun, shade and wind in mind for passive cooling and heating. No chemicals or toxins are used, just local lime-stabilized earth in bags. Any 3-5 person team can build an eco-dome in a week!

Bigger Houses – The Earth One

Eco-domes are great for building retreats or small houses and the individual units could even be repeated and joined together to form larger homes. But there is also a bigger model, which is the 3 bedroom vaulted house, also called Earth One. The Earth One is shaped out of arches and looks really nice. This 'dirt cheap' ~ 2000 sq. ft. house can be built with $3000 worth of bags and barbed wire!
 

Emergency Shelters

The simplicity of the Superadobe technique offers a possibility to quickly build emergency shelters, wherever on the globe they are needed. The main building material is the earth, which is available everywhere. This was recognized in 2001, when The United Nations Emergency Response Division sent a team to the Cal-Earth Institute to follow one of their workshops.


DIY Building

Sustainable building includes respect for nature. What greater respect could you show than to build your eco-house with your own hands? Cal-Earth is a non-profit organization that organizes workshops that teach you how to build your own house out of Superadobe.

Abobe and Further...

A house is not built when the walls are up. There are more things to consider, such as power supply. There are two ways of being ecological with electricity. You can either cut your usage (think ecoleds!), but let's face it, that's not enough... Or you can provide your own green electricity! The costs of getting a connection to 'the grid' can be higher than you think. Maybe you want to install a solar photovoltaic system? Do you have a water stream nearby? Install a small hydro-installation. Is your area prone to heavy winds? Get some wind-turbines. Do you have a lot of animals? Consider a bio-gas engine. This list goes on, only to end at the possibilities Nicola Tesla tried to offer us. Why not talk with your neighbours about sharing a system? If you don't have to go to work for your house-mortgage, you certainly don't want to go for your power bill!

(NaturalNews) Today we know more about vitamins, minerals and nutrition in general then ever before, but at the same time there are various elements of the media and medical community that want to keep everyone in the dark about the true role and power that vitamins play in our health and life.

As many who study natural health, nutrition and those who subscribe to various newsletters such as this, the pharmaceutical companies are a major front in the war against nutrition. That's because it's been known since the turn of the last century that the cause of nearly all degenerative diseases as well as the weakening of the immune system that makes one susceptible to communicable diseases are deficiencies of various key nutrients or total lack of them altogether.

Of course this knowledge has been carefully and cleverly hidden from the public for over one hundred years now since they can't have people learning that they can be healthy merely by taking the right nutrients and the right amounts of each. That's why as is the case with vitamin C and many other vitamins, the RDA for most nutrients is pathetically low and barely enough to keep you alive, let alone for you to be healthy and strong.

Since the mid 1800's, the naturopathic doctor has ceaselessly and constantly come under attack by the MD's and organized medical community. As the mechanized view of the body and the germ theory of disease began to become more accepted along with the belief that chemicals and drugs were the way of the future, the attacks became more frequent, bold and progressed to outright lies at times. That's because the MD, with his surgical procedures, chemical drugs, fancy concoctions and useless medical terminology had much more potential for financial gain than did the naturopath or "country doctor". They saw the country doctor as a threat to their growing influence and livelihood as well. In fact the medical terminology that doctors use was created precisely to make the average person feel ignorant and stupid and to keep people from ever trying to diagnose or cure themselves.

The AMA was formed in 1847 specifically to protect the profits and practices of doctors, the MD, not the "country doctor" who they came to view as backwards and outdated. Of course they know that the methods and cures of the country doctor were far better, cheaper and safer than the drugs and surgery approach of the "medical doctor", also known as the "Slash and Burn" method, but it was all about the profits, so if the AMA was going to represent any group they knew that the MD's offered them the greatest chance at profits, growth and power. The AMA is a union created specifically for doctors, NOT patients, not to find cures, not to prevent disease, but to protect the profits of doctors. Just like any union, its job is to protect the jobs and income of its members. The AMA is not the wonderful, benign or righteous agency that it tries to convince the world that it is.

The western allopathic medical establishments knows that nutrition prevents disease and cures most non-communicable and even many communicable diseases as well. That's why they work so hard to suppress this knowledge and why they keep trying to get nutrients like vitamin C labeled as a "drug". They haven't yet, but they're not giving up on this either.

In the book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration", Dr. Weston A. Price details his discoveries in the 1920's of primitive tribes and cultures around the world that were models of health and free of dental caries and degenerative diseases. Since he was a dentist searching for the cause of cavities (caries), that was the main focus of his book. However, he also discovered in his research and travels that a solid and irrefutable link existed between those who had cavities, crowded teeth, and "malformed" faces, and those that lacked nutrition. When the native peoples began to eat the modern processed foods devoid of real nutrients and loaded with chemicals and artificial ingredients, they too suffered the same dental and health problems as those raised on such diets. When the native peoples went back to their traditional whole foods diet, cavities that were progressing ceased and the next generation of children were born with perfect teeth and greatly improved immunity as had the previously untouched generations.

Knowledge such as this is powerful, and it's this kind of knowledge that the "powers that be" don't want too many people knowing about. The less real knowledge and truth that you have about how to prevent and eliminate disease and degenerative conditions with the power of nutrition, herbs, exercise, deep breathing, meditation, relaxation and many other natural and alternative methods, the more people will suffer needlessly while the people who control these organizations, including pharmaceutical companies, doctors and hospitals all get richer. The rest of us will continue to get poorer while trying to pay for this system of useless, dangerous and deadly so-called "medicines" and procedures.

The inexpensiveness and effectiveness of natural cures and the cultures that practice them, such as the Chinese, are a direct threat to the stranglehold that the western medical system has on this country and most of the world. That is one of the main reasons why many aspects of Chinese medicine were so strongly suppressed, laughed at, made fun of, ridiculed and ignored in the past thirty or so years.

It was through the actions of the patients themselves, who kept going to Chinese doctors and other natural doctors and spreading the word of how effective these methods were, that finally got the western medical establishment to start taking notice of Chinese medicine and other natural treatments. They realized that since they couldn't suppress this any longer, they might as well admit how well it works so that they can control it, regulate it, license it and at least make some money off of it. This is especially the case with acupuncture. Even though they reject the Chinese explanations of Chi flow and balance and prefer to believe that it's just effecting the nerves of the body or it's an out of control placebo effect, they still allowed it to be practiced and covered by insurance as a valid and effective cure for certain illnesses.

Getting proper nutrition is vitally important, which is why I juice several times a week to make sure that I'm getting plenty of vital nutrients into my body and I can feel this as I drink the life in the juice down. What's also interesting is that this is also a great way to help one lose weight, since juicing delivers tons of nutrients into the body; hunger often disappears for several hours or more afterward and it seems to also raise metabolism since the body is getting tons of nutrients and enzymes to function with greater efficiency and at a higher level.

I lost over twenty pounds when I started juicing about five times a week. As my appetite decreased and my taste for carrots, celery, broccoli, spinach and such increased, I no longer wanted to put pastries, pizza and doughnuts or other junk food into my body and certainly not fast food. After juicing at lunch time each day at one of my jobs, I often ate my last meal at 3 pm in the afternoon, had no dinner and was not even hungry till about 8 am the next morning. Even then I was not ravenous at all and could have easily gone till lunch without eating anything at all. That's because when you're hungry, your body is not so much craving the solid matter. . . it's craving the nutrients in foods, real nutrients from natural, whole foods. Since juicing delivers large amounts of these nutrients to the body in liquid form, your body has plenty of nutrients in reserve to produce what it needs, so hunger simply goes into a stand-by mode until the cells tell the liver and brain once again that more nutrients are needed, at which point you start to feel hungry again.

You're also getting these nutrients in a more readily bioavailable form since the nutrients are also being delivered with tons of natural plant enzymes, which again take a great load off the pancreas since the body does not have to produce large quantities of enzymes to digest solid matter. Of course juicing is never a long term substitute for real, solid whole foods, but doing short term juice fasts and juicing daily or at least several times a week is a vital and fantastic way to ensure that you're getting large amounts of necessary nutrients in an unadulterated form each time you juice.

I mentioned above a little about the liver and brain receiving signals from the cells. The cells communicate with the rest of the body using energies very similar to light. A physicist by the name of Popp has demonstrated this in his many experiments with cellular communication. He started this work because the modern idea that the cells are all communicating via chemical messages simply did not hold up. Cells were receiving various signals far too quickly to be explained by chemical reactions. His research showed that in fact the whole body is communicating via energy in the light spectrum and that this communication goes on at nearly the speed of light. We are indeed all "luminous beings". This is also why getting out into the sun for 10-15 minutes a day is absolutely vital, not only for the production of vitamin D, but so that your cells can properly communicate with each other and especially the brain. The Chinese and particularly the Taoists practice visual exercises called "Administering Sunbeams" early in the morning and late in the afternoon to ensure that the brain and body get adequate amounts of UV rays from the sun. I'll talk more about this in a later article. The body does talk and has its own language of communication, it's absolutely amazing!

In regards to the liver, in Chinese medicine it's been known for centuries that the liver and spleen are very important for digestion. They are given a special relationship in the five element theory of Chinese medicine which teaches that each organ has solid ties with the others and that there is a definite cause and effect relationship at work. For example, the Chinese have known that the stomach and spleen are linked pairs. This is one of the strongest inter-organ relationships in the body. When the body needs nutrients and even more then just nutrients, but Chi, the liver, which is the vitamin storehouse of the body, sends a signal to the spleen (and stomach by extension) that it requires energy. The spleen, which gives its energy to the mind and is responsible for concentration and faith in Chinese medicine, then signals the stomach and brain that nutrients are needed and the brain interprets this and starts to send out a signal back to the stomach. We feel this as the beginnings of hunger. So naturally, we grab something to eat. When we were all eating real foods from nature, we got lots of nutrients, fiber, bulk matter, sunlight and earth energy in those natural foods and the various physical and energy systems of the human body were satisfied. This kept intense foods craving and bingeing to a minimum because those cravings simply never manifested themselves to the degree that we see today. This is precisely because so many people are consuming nutrient-, energy- and enzyme-dead foods, that the body is in a constant state of nutritional and energy deficiency. Because of this, the liver is not being given the nutrients, enzymes or bio-energy (chi) that it needs, so the feeling of hunger or of never feeling satisfied is nearly always "on" to some degree in most people today.

When you follow a whole foods diet, which includes juicing with lots of fresh vegetables that are nutrient and enzyme dense, you're giving your body not only the physical nutrients and enzymes that it needs, but because such foods are alive, there is also the vital and indisputable non-physical element of Chi present in the foods that the body also requires to convert all those nutrients into other chemical compounds, hormones and enzymes to carry out all its functions. When we eat processed foods such as sugar, which leeches calcium from the bones and teeth and nutrients from the liver, we're stripping away the nutrients needed and not giving the body what's truly needed for us to be healthy, feel great and live long and happy lives.

See, the body is very smart. It knows what is natural and good for it and what is not. It knows that real foods have nutrients, vitamins, minerals and energy present in them. Most other man-made garbage is treated as a toxin by the body. The liver takes care of the nutrient part and the spleen extracts the Chi or energy from foods. But when we consume man-made junk foods and useless stomach fillers such as doughnuts, cakes, candies, cookies, refined white breads, pastries and more, the body senses the various non-organic and foreign chemicals in these foods and the almost total lack of nutrients. The body must have nutrients to digest those foods, so it must somehow "borrow" the nutrients that it needs to digest this "food" from the liver, because the body can't digest them without these nutrients present.

Chemicals that the body cannot digest are considered foreign and toxic by the body and are moved to the eliminatory organs for excretion and elimination from the body. If it can't eliminate it, it does the next best thing, which is to "isolate" it away from the vital internal organs. It mostly does this by storing such foreign matter in the fatty tissues, the fascia between the muscles and the joints. In the case of the latter, this becomes one of the main causes of arthritis which is the body's attempt to store dangerous crystalline structures formed from the consumption of dangerous and unnatural chemical compounds away from the organs. Interesting that your computer anti-virus software also does the same thing when it can't eliminate a virus from the system, it "quarantines" it away so it does not damage the operating system or other critical files.

Getting proper amounts of vitamins, minerals and nutrients is absolutely vital for health, regeneration, strength, happiness and longevity. Just as a lack of vitamin C causes rickets and scurvy, just as a sufficient lack of the "B" vitamins can cause severe illness and eventually death, so too the lack of nutrients in our bodies causes slow degeneration of the body and eventual premature death. Very famous fitness gurus of the 1950's once said "If man makes it, don't eat it" and "It's not what you do some of the time that counts, it's what you do all of the time that counts."

We have to be aware of our nutrient intake every day, not just some days and not others. In this modern, fast-paced world it's hard to make sure we're getting all that we need. That's why taking a good multi-vitamin on a daily basis is very important. A good multi is not your "once a day" vitamins popularly advertised. I recommend the "Alive-Whole Food Energizer" as my number one multivitamin. That's because this product, made by Nature's Way is a whole food vitamin, meaning its not synthesized by man, but merely whole natural foods compressed into a tablet form. Some of the ingredients are even organic. It has tons of great stuff such as all the main vitamins and minerals in very good amounts for most, plus the following: "Green food/Spirulina blend, Digestive enzyme blend, Amino Acid complex, Garden Veggie blend, Orchard fruit blend, Myco defense mushroom blend with about a dozen mushrooms known to increase immunity including Reishi and Shiitake, Omega fatty acid blend and a vitamin C complex all from natural sources". Always remember that it's never a substitute for consuming real, healthy and preferably organic natural raw foods from nature, untouched by man.

For some further reading on the topic of nutrition and its relationship to health and degeneration, read "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" by Weston A. Price and "Pottenger's Cats: A study in nutrition" by Francis Marion Pottenger.