“I have been collecting used coffee grounds since about November 2010. I haven’t used a huge amount, probably 30 Kilos (at one stage I hauled a 10kg bag home). But even this has been enough to see the results in the garden! No more ants- they had been eating out the root systems from many of my plants and when I added coffee grounds to the garden they stopped immediately. I have also found plants have shot up and are full of colour.”

“I have found that pests like ants, snails and slugs stay away as well as my cat! The cat seems to think my garden is her personal litter box and kept digging up plants as well. Since putting the used coffee grounds on the garden I haven’t found anything disturbed.”

Did you know that coffee grounds are a fantastic compost material that are free to collect and use?

The Ground to Ground website caters for this opportunity, by delivering news, views, research, and general information on the reuse of coffee grounds for compost and gardening. Of the tonnes of used coffee grounds that are discarded each day, only a small amount is collected for reuse – which is a real pity considering the good that can come from a group effort.

Recycling coffee grounds would have to be one of the easiest ways to make a difference, and for anyone interested in gardening, composting, vermiculture, or just environmental awareness, the Ground to Ground website can show you how to get involved for all our benefit.
Please help spread the word about this great initiative and tell your barista about it at your local coffee bar or cafe.

The Ground To Ground Map – Find Used Coffee Grounds

Every couple of days I have a foot bath to help relax the muscles in my feet and detoxify my body.

I fill a small tub up with just enough warm-hot water to cover my feet and then add a handful of one of the following ingredients:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Bicarb soda
• Dead sea salt
• Epsom salt
• Seaweed

Sometimes I’ll add couple of drops essential oils.

I’ll sit and try to meditate for about 20 to 30 minutes so it’s my relaxation time. The hot water and salts combination works to leach toxins from your system.

Hands down, or should I say feet down, my favourite is the Epsom salts baths. It’s an easy way to give your body a boost in magnesium.

The Epsom Salt Council lists the following health benefits from the proper magnesium and sulfate levels:

• Improved heart and circulatory health, reducing irregular heartbeats, preventing hardening of the arteries, reducing blood clots and lowering blood pressure.
• Improved ability for the body to use insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.
• Flushed toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances.
• Improved nerve function by electrolyte regulation. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium levels in the blood.
• Relieved stress. Excess adrenaline and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of well being and relaxation.
• Reduced inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps.
• Improved oxygen use.
• Improved absorption of nutrients.
• Improved formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins.
• Prevention or easing of migraine headaches.

I will warn you – the seaweed one leaves your feet with a green tinge!

I Love Dirt!: 52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature – by Jennifer Ward

Kids in the Garden – Mary Moody

Oudoor Kids, A Practical Guide for Kids in the Garden by Jamie Durie

Kitchen Garden Cooking for Kids by Stephanie Alexander who began the Kitchen Garden Foundation

Here are some of the herb seed sellers in Australia:

• All Rare Herbs
• Austral Herbs
• Four Season Herbs
• King’s Seeds (New Zealand)
• New Gippsland Herbs and Bulbs
• Pleasance Herbs
• Select Organic
• Shipards Herb Farm

Different produce responds to different treatments – and some things just need to be eaten.

The list below gives a summary of what fruit and vegetables store and preserve well. It may also help in planing your edible gardening year.

Stores well:

• apples, pears (not early variety)
• beetroot, cabbage, carrot, garlic, kohlrabi, onion, parsnip, potato, pumpkin, swede, turnip

Good for bottling:

• all fruits
• tomato

Makes delightful things:

• all fruits
• aubergine, cabbage, cauliflower, courgette, cucumber, onion, tomato

Can be dried:

• apples, damsons, plums
• beans, peas, tomato

Freezes well:

• berry fruits, apples and pears (if pureed)
• broad beans, broccoli, calabrese, French beans, peas, runner beans

Lasts well on the plant or in the ground:

• rhubarb
• artichoke (Jerusalem), beetroot, broccoli (sprouting), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celeraic, celery, chard, chicory, kale, leeks, lettuce and salads, parsnip, swede, turnip

Eat when read: few or no good storage preservation options

• artichoke (globe), asparagus, cardoon, radish, sweetcorn

21st-Century Smallholder – by Paul Waddington

A fascinating insight into climate change campaigning and a well-researched summary of the major arguments.

“I suspect that for my friends who aren’t active in climate change campaigning, their inaction is not because they don’t understand or don’t care. Instead it stems from doubts that there’s anything they can do to change the course the world is heading in.  It’s the ‘small cog is a big wheel’ syndrome. People focus on the wheel and how big it is without remembering that even a little cog, when connected to other cogs, has the ability to change the wheel’s direction.”

I particularly liked the beginning where Anna chronicled her experiences in campaigning.

“The whole experience taught me a fundamental truth that I carry with me to this day. I learned that in Australia change comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up. Change can happen even when you’re up against one of the world’s biggest mining companies. Change can happen in spite of a pro-developer state government. Change can come when people join together and don’t give up until they’ve made a difference.”

The youth of today are going to start asking their parents and older generations – why were they so greedy and selfish? Why did they squander and waste the earth’s precious resources so recklessly?

And when that tipping point happens they might get mad.

Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic – by Anna Rose
Australian Youth Climate Coalition
@annarose

I really liked the message of the Anima Mundi documentary, but the editing was very frustrating.

Anima Mundi is an innovative documentary about the planetary animal called the Earth and the human animal we deny, we deny at our own peril, yet a peril that is perfect in design. It covers permaculture, climate change and the soul of the world.

My favourite part is the facinating interviews with the following people:

• David Holmgren – co-founder of Permaculture
• John Seed – Deep Ecology
• Stephan Harding – Gaian Ecology
• Vandana Shiva – Human Rights
• Michael C Ruppert – Peak Oil (as seen in the movie Collapse)
• Michael Reynolds – Earthships (as seen in the movie Garbage Warrior)
• Noam Chomsky – Activism
• Dr Mark O’Meadhra – Integrative Medicine
• Dr Christine James – Psychology
• Dan Palmer and Adum Grub – Permablitz

I would have liked the interviews to go longer and take up the full screen. I would have liked a different music score and substantially less video editing effects. I would have also liked less black-and-white archive footage – as it really detracted from the so important message.

I also did not understand the concept of ”Anima Mundi” any better. I felt some areas were superficially skipped over and just as I was starting to get interested in a particular topic area, the film moved on to something else.

Bruno Tof’s sculpture park is inspirational. But what is with that snail?

The dvd is now available in Australia and New Zealand.

Anima Mundi

Here’s a great treat in the early stages of the GAPS diet. It’s based on my tried-and-true recipe for juicy jelly.

It’s a great palate cleanser – if you are in to that kind of thing!

1 Tbsp gelatine
juice of one lemon, discard the flesh
3 Tbsps raw honey

1. Squeeze the lemon and strain the juice through a sieve to remove seeds and pulp.
2. Add a cup of boiling water to a bowl and then quickly mix in gelatine with a fork to dissolve.
3. Add the gelatine mixture to the juice. Stir to combine and then add an additional half a cup of cold water.
4. Add honey to sweeten.
5. Pour in to molds and set in fridge overnight.

Serves 4.

Here are a list of great resources for anyone on following GAPS or SCD.

Books

• Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet – Elaine Gotchall
• GAPS Guide – by Baden Lashkov
• Gut and Psychology Syndrome – Dr Natasha Campbell–McBride

Cookbooks

• Adventures in the Family Kitchen – by Raman Prasad
• Cooking to Heal Little Tummies - by Jenna Roberts and Natalie Hagood
• Eat Well, Feel Well – by Kendall Conrad
• Everyday Grain-Free Gourmet – by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass
• Grain-Free Gourmet – by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass
• Healing Foods: Cooking for Celiacs, Colitis, Crohn’s and IBS – by Sandra Ramacher
• Internal Bliss
• Lucy’s Specific Carbohydrate Diet Cookbook – by Lucy Rosset
• Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet – by Raman Prasad

Cookbooks – Others

• Nourishing Traditions – by Sally Fallon
• Wild Fermentation – Sandor Ellix Katz

Ebooks and online courses

• 30 Days on GAPS Intro Handbook - Cara
• No More Crohns – by Erin
• Nourishing Eats – by Sarah Smith
• SCD Lifestyle – by Steven Wright and Jordan Reasoner
• Turtle Soup – by Beth Spencer
• Weekly GAPS menu planners - by Sarah Schatz

Here’s my list of GAPS and SCD safe products. I’ll add to the list as I find more.

Food products

• AYAM coconut milk/cream (cans not BPA free)
• Organic apple cider vinegar - Melrose
• Organic coconut oil - Melrose
• Organic virgin coconut oil – Coconut Magic
• Raw honey – Northey Markets and various other markets
• Raw milk – Northey Markets
• Sauerkraut – Eden Organics (available from Mrs Flanneries)

Health products

• Aalgo seaweed powder
• Epsom salts – Blants
• Herbal worming tonic – Green Pet (formula based on Hulda Clarke’s protocol)
• Magnesium bath flakes – Rejuve Health Products
• Soap nuts – Pure Revolution

Organic meat

• Allsop & England Organic Butchers, Brisbane
• Forest Glen Organic Meats, Brisbane
• The Meat-ing Place, Brisbane

Various products

• GAPS Australia
• Kitsa’s Kitchen - stocks Pickl-it jars, Bormioli Rocco Fido jars
• Oz Farmers - preserving jars
• The Pantry Practitioner – Northey Markets, Brisbane