Kristi Beisecker is a graphic designer, photographer, printmaker and alternative scientist whose interested in making images through two contrasting elements. She is also a blogger in lifestyle, travel, wellness and health, art and design, beauty and fashion.
Expedition Easthampton is River Valley Co-op’s marketing campaign for their new location in Easthampton, MA. The goal of this campaign was to inform the public and their customers of the progress with the member loans. In order to guarantee success of the construction of the second store a certain amount of money from member loans from the co-op was required. My contribution to this project was to design a look for the printed materials utilizing the cartoon style of River Valley Co-op and the chosen elements (paddle, compass, mountains, etc.). This resulted in a colorful but informative and playful design that is appealing for all ages.
Herbal remedies are plants that have a medicinal effect. Herbal remedies have been around for thousands of years. In fact, some evidence suggests that plants were used for medicinal purposes over 60,000 years ago. The earliest written evidence dates back to over 5,000 years ago.
Such herbal remedies have been making a real comeback in recent years.
Herbal remedies contain powerful chemicals that many pharmaceutical companies and scientists are studying. Many of these plants are either available in the grocery store or can be grown quite easily in a garden. Using these plants in your diet can have a significant effect on your health and overall wellbeing.
These herbal remedies can often be just as effective as pharmaceuticals in the prevention and treatment of disease:
Ginseng. Ginseng is one of the most popular plants in Chinese medicine. The most popular varieties are American ginseng and Asian ginseng. American ginseng is considered to have a greater relaxing effect, while the Asian variety is more stimulating.
Consider these benefits: Ginseng is an excellent antioxidant and reduces inflammation. Ginseng has shown promise for improving brain function and treating erectile dysfunction. It could also lower blood sugar, lower fatigue, and have benefits against cancer.
Garlic. Garlic is readily available and a powerful herbal remedy. Most people enjoy the taste of garlic, bad breath notwithstanding.
Garlic has been shown to significantly reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms. Hypertension responds positively to garlic consumption. In fact, garlic is at least as effective in treating hypertension as some medications.
Garlic also lowers cholesterol levels, may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and could help with the process of removing heavy metals from the body.
Turmeric. Turmeric is used in Ayurvedic medicine and is also a popular spice in Indian food. Turmeric is also readily available in any grocery store. The primary active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin.
Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory. It is as effective as aspirin and ibuprofen in treating inflammation. It is also believed to be beneficial in treating and preventing cancer. Depression, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s are also believed to be helped by the consumption of turmeric.
Ginger. Another very common grocery store item, ginger, is excellent for the treatment of nausea and morning sickness. Ginger can be used as a spice or made into tea. More benefits include:
You can use it to help treat muscle pain and soreness.
Ginger is another excellent anti-inflammatory.
Indigestion, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol can all be reduced by ginger.
Valerian root. This might be a little harder to find. In fact, you’ll probably have to grow this one on your own, but it’s worth the effort. This flowering plant has many health benefits.
Headaches, insomnia, digestive issues, muscle pain, fatigue, and anxiety can all be helped by valerian root.
Chamomile. This daisy-like flower is most commonly consumed in tea form. Chamomile is believed to treat insomnia, reduce cold symptoms, boost immunity, and lower stress levels. Chamomile tea is available at your grocery store.
Herbal remedies can’t replace all pharmaceutical drugs, but they are viable replacements in many situations. Of course, you should still include your doctor in your herbal remedy plans.
Herbal remedies can be very effective and inexpensive. $1 of garlic can easily last a week. If your budget is tight, herbal remedies can be a great way to boost your health without breaking the bank.
Even if you’re in 100% perfect health, herbal remedies can help to keep you healthy. You have nothing to lose. In fact, your food might taste even more delicious while you’re making your body healthier.
Whipped coffee is all the rage these days and with this simple five-step recipe you can enjoy a barista-made drink in minutes! There are many ways to whip up (yes, pun intended) this coffee treat, and as a result it comes out in many different ways. From others who have made this drink, matcha and cocoa powder seem to work just as well. The co-op carries a variety of instant coffee varieties, including fair trade and instant coffee substitutes. We recommend using a real instant coffee for the best results!
Oatmeal baths have a strong and well-known reputation for their restorative qualities. They can balance and moisturize skin, calm inflammation, relieve itchiness and restore pH. Oatmeal soaks can even soothe common irritations such as sunburn, eczema, bug bites and rashes.
This type of soak can relieve aches and pains, improve sleep and circulation, relieve water retention and calm inflammation of the skin and body. It works its magic by restoring pH levels, drawing out impurities and delivering much-needed minerals to the body.
Ingredients
1/2 cup Organic Oatmeal
1/2 cup Himalayan Salt
1/2 cup dried herbs
Optional: Your choice of skin-friendly essential oils and only about 10 drops diluted in a carrier oil.
Add ¼ – ½ cup of your bath soak into the bath to use.
Measure out ingredients
Put all in a bowl and mix.
Pour into a blender
Blend until it’s fine and smooth
Store in a mason jar until ready to use.
Adapted from: https://jenniraincloud.com/himalayan-oatmeal-bath-soak/Please note that this project’s health benefits have not been evaluated by the FDA and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
Looking for ways to have fun with your kids this coming weekend? Take some time to relax and enjoy the outdoors with DIY bubbles! You can make your own bubbles using everyday household items, and with surprisingly little effort. In addition to the solution below, we have provided two ways to make a bubble wand with common craft supplies. Make a fun, creative one using pipe cleaners and pony beads or a simple one with jewelry wire—either way works
You’ll Need
1 part liquid hand soap
1 part water
⅓ cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
Step 1: Find a bowl, jar or container you can use to store your solution. A mason jar works great for this since you can easily seal away any leftover solution for another occasion.
Step 2: After gathering your ingredients, start by adding one cup of water.
Step 3: Pour an equal portion (one cup) of liquid hand soap into the water.
Step 4: Measure out ⅓ cup of cornstarch and combine it with the water and soap. This will help add strength and durability to your bubbles—making them more stable so they don’t burst as easily!
Step 5: Next, add one teaspoon of baking powder to your solution. The baking powder acts as a reactant, much like it does in regular baking. Combining the dry acid and base into a solution will cause a reaction producing carbon dioxide bubbles. Single-acting baking powder produces all of its bubbles when it gets wet.
Step 6: Stir gently to avoid forming bubbles in your solution, until the ingredients are dissolved. The end result may look different for everyone depending on the type of soap you use, but this does not affect the quality of the bubbles themselves!
Making the Bubble Wand!
Making a bubble wand is super simple and easy to do, take some jewelry wire, two pipe cleaners and 6 smaller pony beads and 3 larger ones in the colors of your choice.
Step 1: Unspool some jewelry wire and cut it to your desired length. Then fold that length in have by making a loop.
Step 2: Take two pipe cleaners in the colors of your choice and attach them to the base of the loop, then wrap one around the base to securely fashion it. Repeat this with the second pipe cleaner for the other side. By this point, you should have two pipe cleaners on either side of the wire base.
Step 3: Start feeding your beads onto the wire base and begin with the smaller pony bead. The beads should alternate between small – large – small with a twist of the pipe cleaners at the end. Repeat this until the wire base is completely covered.
We hope this DIY will bring you closer to your loved ones this summer and inspires you to make similar projects! For more activities and backyard family fun, click here.
A simple lunchtime meal could look drastically different without bees. We can thank these pollinators for about one out of every three bites of food we eat, including many of our favorite fruits like blueberries, peaches, blackberries, grapefruit, raspberries, oranges, pears and plums.
As pollinators, bees flitting around apple orchards and cranberry bogs move pollen from the male parts of trees and plants to the female parts. This shift of pollen allows the flowers to produce fruit. Many crops, like almonds, avocados, cucumbers and even onions, wouldn’t produce much, if anything, without the help of bees. In the U.S. alone, bee pollinators annually contribute to about $20 billion of products people use every day. Recent scientific studies show that bee pollination is directly connected to human health.
People need to consume a variety of nutrients to stay healthy. Globally, the crops that provide these nutrients vary widely from place to place, with developing regions of the world being more dependent on particular fruits and vegetables than others.
Were these crops to fail on account of a decline in pollinators, it could result in a global malnutrition problem.
Unfortunately, researchers have seen declines in the success of wild and commercial bee colonies over the past 50 years. This drop in bee numbers in the U.S. is attributed in part to an increase in private and commercial pesticide use. Other conditions contributing to the struggling numbers are habitat loss due to development, monoculture agriculture (growing just one crop, like corn, year after year), animal grazing and the introduction of non-native insect species. Cumulatively these conditions have crop farmers concerned about whether there will be enough honeybees to pollinate their fields, and beekeepers concerned about collapsing honeybee colonies.
Despite the challenges honeybees are facing, there is hope. Scientists confirm that the diverse ecosystems found on organic farms provide friendly places for bees to nest and roam. Organic farmers often grow more than one type of crop which provides bees with a varied and nutritious diet, and they don’t use the types of synthetic pesticides that have been connected with bee population declines. Organic farms are helping the bees that eaters rely upon for meals every day, whether a person chooses to eat organic food or not.
Reposted with permission from www.strongertogether.coop
POLLINATORS ARE THE FUTURE OF FOOD
If pollinators disappeared from the planet, even beef and dairy products would be scarce, because pollinators are vital to crops that feed cattle and other grazing animals. From apples and almonds to strawberries and tomatoes, many of our most beloved foods depend on pollinators. There’s a link below that will show you the number of flowers and foods that will be scarce without bees.
MEET THE BEE’S FRIENDS
Other types of pollinators work alongside bees, helping to maintain the diversity of plant life and playing crucial roles in our ecosystem. Meet some of the honey bee’s fascinating friends – bumblebee, monarch butterfly, hawk moth, firefly and hummingbird. Honey bees pollinate more than 100 types of crops in the US – but they can’t do it alone.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT ALMONDS
Farming monoculture, in which land is devoted solely to one crop (e.g., almonds), makes it hard for pollinators to find year-round food and means that almonds and other crops are increasingly dependent on commercial bees that are trucked from one crop to another. Almonds are dependent on honey bees and other pollinators to bear fruit.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Beekeeping
Reach out to Ben Warren in Customer Service at the co-op who has a history of beekeeping! He has agreed to provide his work email and a bit about his background as a resource for our cooperative community to learn more about beekeeping and how you can start your own bee journey. If you have any questions please reach out to Ben here: bwarren@rivervalley.coop
I have been beekeeping for less than a year. Unlike most businesses, and perhaps a select group of homeowners with the same hobby or profession, I did not have the space to keep my bees on my property. I spent weeks scouting a home to set up my hive and eventually found a quiet spot in the woods. Now the woods are not the ideal placement for a hive: the sun takes longer to wake up the bees and there is a greater chance of animals trying to weasel into the honeycomb. BUT so far I have not had any issues with my hive and it’s a very beautiful space among the trees.
For the first few weeks, I had one box for brood, a special frame to hold simple syrup while the flowers were still blooming, and a foundation to keep the hive elevated off the ground. As the summer progressed I added another hive body (for hive growth), removed the special frame and then added a honey super: the box you collect honey from. I acquired ratchet straps to lock the boxes together just in case something tries to snag a taste of honey (I’m lookin’ at you, Ursula). I didn’t harvest any honey this year, I probably could have but a hive needs around 70 pounds of honey to support themselves over the winter. Collecting honey will be a special treat next year, but I just want them to be happy and healthy.
Buying Local
Buying local honey products not only increases demand for our local honey companies which help these businesses as there is no middleman at the co-op but supporting local hives keeps them sustained and in turn helps out the bee population.
Make Your Own Bee Hotel
Mason Bees in particular appreciate dry housing within their habitats to help them survive harsh climates. There are really nice bee hotels made of wood and other materials, however you can use the DIY article below to make your own out of bamboo and an aluminum can. If you don’t have bamboo, you can easily use rolled up pieces of paper glued together to get the same effect!
Share Information
But be careful of false information, it’s always helpful to spread information to your friends, family and co-workers, however make sure it’s accurate! We have provided social media graphics and a cheat-sheet consolidating this post into one document.
