| Debbie (Sarfati) Steinbock , HHC | |
| Guided Health Food
Store Tour
|  Next Date: TBA
A guided and educational tour, offering detailed explanations of the nutritional benefits of foods and demystifying many food-fictions. Learn how to shop for fresh seasonal produce, read nutrition labels, select home and body care products, get money saving tips for shopping, and so much more.
View class information and details. |
Natural Foods Cooking Classes
|  Next Date: TBA
Learn to cook nourishing meals that are easy to prepare and taste delicious! Recipes focus on seasonal vegetables and foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. All classes are hands-on so you can learn just how fun and simple healthy cooking can be! View class information and details.
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| Join our list |  | | | Dear AJ,
Welcome to Nourishing News, a free monthly newsletter designed to help you live life more deliciously!
I love this newsletter on Composting and find it helpful to pass it along at this time of year.
Thanks for reading! As always, if you like this newsletter, please forward it to anyone you think will enjoy or benefit from it.
Yours in health,
Debbie (Sarfati) Steinbock, HHC |
| The Whole Scoop | Composting
Composting is essentially nature's recycling system where living or once-living materials are broken down into a rich soil. Composting is a convenient, economical, and sustainable way to handle your yard and food waste-right in your own backyard.
Building your Pile
Designate an area of your yard for your pile. Mine resided in the far corner of my yard, and I chose to partition it off with a little wire to keep it contained. If you'd prefer, you can also start your pile in a compost bin. To have a successful compost pile, you need to have a mixture of "greens" and "browns". Greens include grass clippings, garden trimmings, fruit and veggie scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds and manure (from plant eaters). Browns include hay, straw, dry leaves, leaves, sawdust, shredded newspaper, and finely chopped wood or bark. (Avoid: bones, oils, infected plants, meat or fish scraps, and dairy products. These can attract animals and transmit disease.)The greens and browns provide the food for the compost critters (worms, bugs, and other microorganisms) that break down your compost materials into a lush soil.
Start your pile with approximately a 4-6 inch layer of browns, then a 4-6 inch layer of greens, water, mix and repeat. As your greens and browns accumulate on top of your pile, it will need to be "turned" periodically (about once a week), which mixes all the materials together resulting in a dark and crumbly soil. Once your compost materials have been broken down (about 6 to 8 weeks or until it is about half its original size), the soil can be used to pot plans, start a garden, etc.
Benefits
Yard waste makes up 20-30% of the solid waste of most municipalities throughout the United States, while food waste makes up another 8-9%. The cost of collecting, hauling, and handling yard waste is often a large part of the budget associated with many municipal solid waste management programs, averaging 20% of the budget and increasing to as much as 50% when grass clippings and leaves are handled.
Yard and food wastes are also major factors in the production of methane gas and acid-liquid drainage in landfills. Incinerating yard wastes is a major source of air pollution. Although municipal composting is an environmentally preferable alternative for handling yard and food wastes, processing these wastes at the source reduces the major costs of collecting and has a positive effect on the environment.
Additionally, by composting you grow healthier lawns and gardens that require less water and fewer chemicals. When our vegetables are grown in composted soil, they have a higher content of vitamins and minerals, partially from the rich soil that they grow from.
With composting, nothing goes to waste. The end of one meal is the beginning of your next. By nourishing our soil we are helping to nourish our bodies as well as the environment.
More Information:
http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/yardcomp/yardcomp.htm
Not Ready to Compost
For those of you who are not yet ready to begin an outdoor compost, at least start to make better use of your veggie scraps! A friend once taught me to make a "compost soup". For weeks we would collect the peelings, steams, and other discarded scraps of vegetables. We stored it all in freezer bags and added to it daily. Once we collected a few bags we would dump all the scraps into a large pot, add enough water to cover the scraps, and simmer it for a few hours. Strain the veggies and the result is one of the most delicious and nutritious soups you can make. The beauty of "compost soup" is that it comes out different every time. (My favorite is one with beet scraps; you get a lovely red soup!)
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Healthy Bites
| This Month's Pick: Strawberries
The strawberry is the most popular type of berry fruit in the world. As strawberries are very perishable, they should only be purchased a few days prior to use. Choose berries that are firm, plump, free of mold, and which have a shiny, deep red color and attached green caps. Since strawberries, once picked, do not ripen further, avoid those that are dull in color or have green or yellow patches since they are likely to be sour and of inferior quality. Medium-sized strawberries are often more flavorful than those that are excessively large.
A Few Quick Serving Ideas:
- Add sliced strawberries to mixed green salad.
- Layer sliced strawberries, whole blueberries and plain yogurt in a wine glass to make a parfait dessert.
- Mix chopped strawberries with cinnamon, lemon juice and maple syrup and serve as a topping for waffles and pancakes.
- Blend strawberries with a little bit of orange juice and use as a refreshing coulis sauce that goes well with poached pears.
- Add strawberries to breakfast shakes to give them a more vibrant taste and texture.
Source: WHFoods
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| Food For Thought | Client Spotlight-A New Beginning
I loved our first session this morning. Thank you so very much for what you do! I am looking forward to a healthier, more energy balanced life! You are very easy to talk to and learn from. Thank you!
A.A.
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