Seeds Of Death - Full Movie

What did you think of the film? What part(s) of the film interested you the most? The information that really perked my ears was the information about the allergen in Monsanto corn being turned on and the micro RNA's. I'll be doing a little more research into these two topics over the weekend.  Hope you get a chance to do a little research too, on the things that peaked your interest!

Shelly :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

The Power Of Gardening

**Parental Discretion Advised**

This TED talk was so inspiring to me, and Mr. Finley is a true role model for his community and for myself. My Knowledge of gardening isn't quite on the same level as Mr. Finley's, but I like to believe that I'm taking small steps to teaching the next generation about gardening,nutrition,cooking,seed saving,composting, hard work,and sharing through my children. All five of my kids have worked in the garden and I must admit my two daughters, Kennedy (17) and Jordan(11) really love it! My son, Myles (9) is kind of on the fence about gardening, sometimes he loves it and other times it doesn't want to be bothered with it,but he really enjoys building and turning the compost pile. The other two children, Rico Jr, (14) and Brooklyn (13) aren't really into planting and getting the beds ready, but they don't mind picking the fruits and veggies, so I guess I have my own assembly line of workers for the garden. 

Having our own garden for six years now has really caught on in the neighborhood. Three years ago my next door neighbor decided to grow some tomatoes in some pots in her backyard, and then the lady two houses down from her decided to start a small garden. The next thing I know, I'm giving my next door neighbor seeds that I'd saved from the previous season and I find myself  immersed in conversations with neighbors and even neighborhood kids who want to plant things.I would tell them what I know and what has worked for me over the years, and I would even recommend some of my favorite gardening books, blogs and podcast to many of my adult neighbors. With the neighborhood children they were always welcomed to come and help sow seeds, help transplant plants into the garden, pull weeds, or any other gardening tasks that needed to get done.

As I watched this TED Talk I felt compelled to run out and start this large community garden because I wanted to make a difference in my community. However, as I write this blog post I realize that I've already made an incredible difference in my community,even if it's just my street.This doesn't mean that I won't try community gardening on a large scale in the future, but right now I'm proud of the contribution that I've made to my community with gardening. Who knew a tiny backyard garden could inspire neighborhood children and adults to start growing their own food?

Now I hope this video and post inspires you to get out into your community and share whatever knowledge it is you have. I hope it infuses the urge to volunteer in your community, albeit,community garden, food bank, scouts or whatever!

If you want to know more about Mr. Finley and what he's doing in South Central go to www.ronfinley.com .

A Film For Friday

Locally Abundant is a film by two Canadian students named Ryan Oickle and Justin Cantafio,who decide to wwoof their way across Canada. You might be wondering what is WWOOFing?  WWOOFing stands for, World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms,and it's an opportunity for an adventurous person to see the world,and learn about sustainable living practices while volunteering on small organic farms.

 This film was actually an expansion of a school project the guys were working on and they decided to capture their journey on camera. If you want to learn more about WWOOFing or sign up to volunteer then go to wwoof.net or wwoofusa.org .

 I really enjoyed seeing the magnificent scenery that Canada has to offer and this amazing journey the filmmakers took!!!




Would you ever WWOOF? Why or Why not?

Peace and Love,

Shelly :)

Fall Gardening

What will you be planting in your garden this fall? Do you usually have a bigger or smaller garden in the fall or do you hang up your gardening gloves and boots for the fall? Personally, I've always loved working in the garden during the spring and harvesting in the summer,but in the past 5 years fall gardening has become a consisted past time of mine. One thing I LOVE about fall gardening (besides being able to work in cooler temps)is being able to grow so many delicious leafy greens like kale, spinach, turnips,mustard greens,and other leafy greens. My second favorite thing to do is planting garlic. I never thought in a million years that I would enjoy planting garlic so much, but it has to be one of the easiest crops to grow(I guess that's why I love it so much),it's an awesome flavorful herb and medicinally a powerhouse. I've always bought garlic,but after growing my own for the last five years, I rarely buy it from the grocery store. It just doesn't have the same flavor to me. Last put not least, I would have to say building my compost pile back up is something that I really enjoy too. Lord knows my pile almost completely disappears over the summer. It's not that I'm not composting, it has more to do with the fall leaves giving the pile a much more bulky look and starting the process over again. What's your favorite things to grow and do in your fall garden? Well, that concludes my little rant about fall gardening. I really didn't know what to post and I just decided to just put something down. I hope you didn't find this post boring,and I hope I planted a little seed in your head,if you're not fall gardening to start one soon. Shelly :)