Why the Homestead Life Will Make America Great Again

I'm not here to talk politics or endorse any candidates, but I would like to discuss the state of our nation, and why I think living a more self-reliant lifestyle is what it will take to make us great again.  Whether you live in an apartment or on 20 acres, the change begins with each of us and how we live.

Our New Homestead

We have embarked on a new adventure.  My fiance, Owen, and I bought our new home on 6.8 acres.  We sold one business, closed the other, packed up and moved to a new town near Owen's favorite fishing river in our beautiful Washington State.  Our intention is to create our own modern homestead.

How to Start a Community Garden

Last year, my business had the opportunity to partner with a charity and build a community garden at our local youth center. In one day, the community came together, young and old, to build raised beds and a fence to surround the garden. Now the youth center includes gardening as an after-school activity for the kids. They feed them after school snacks and meals out of the garden, and send the extra produce home to their families.

               

Seeds of Grace (dreambigaskbold.org), the non-profit that organized and fundraised for the event, has now built nine community gardens in Washington State and Mexico. Each garden donates their produce to a specific organization to help the community. Homeless shelters, food banks, after school programs, and Meals on Wheels are a few of the recipients. 

               

I sat down with Seeds of Grace founder, Karole Johnson, to ask her how others can start building community gardens where they live. She offered several helpful suggestions based on her own experiences.

Cannabis is Powerful Medicine

After living through decades of the War on Drugs, even though laws have changed in a majority of States, there is still a stigma attached to one of the most healing herbs on the planet: cannabis. 

               

Cannabis was the most widely prescribed medicine until the early 1900's, and has never caused one single death.  Before cannabis prohibition laws were passed in 1937, the American Medical Association stated the world would be denied a potent medicine if it were illegal.  However, when the Marijuana Tax Bill was up for a vote in Congress, Representative Vinson blatantly lied by saying the AMA was behind the bill.

               

The AMA knew then what we are rediscovering now.  Cannabis is one of the safest, most powerful healing herbs on the planet.  It is known to help with a variety of ailments, including and not limited to epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer, nausea, stress, PTSD, migraines, anorexia, depression, arthritis, and chronic pain.

Reishi: The REAL Magic Mushroom

An acupuncturist once told me that if I only ever take one supplement  for the rest of my life, it should be reishi mushrooms. For thousands of years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has hailed reishi as the "Mushroom of Immortality." We may be a few thousand years behind here in the West, but modern science is finally starting to catch up. 

Nature's Way to Defeat Stress

Stress is an inescapable part of life. It may take the form of taxes, difficulties at work, or a traffic jam. The sources are endless. A little can be good, but overwhelming stress takes a toll on our health and leads to disease. Eastern medicine has many strategies to deal with the toxic stress that knocks us out of balance.