April 14, 2010 by KerryAnn Foster.

 Ginger Honey cough syrup, photo courtesy of Kayla at Life in Small Town, Wyoming

Recently, we’ve had the yearly sinus fun that comes from the wild weather swings of Spring.  We had short sleeve weather, two days of freezing, then we hit 90 degrees the next day.  This was compounded by us doing some heavy gardening and cleaning out the chicken coop, exposing us to a lot of dust.  The weather and the dust caused my husband and son to have post-nasal drip and a nagging cough from the resulting tickle in the throat.

I am always on a quest to find cheap and natural ways to help treat ‘what ails ya.’  A few weeks ago I read about making a cough syrup by very thinly slicing a hand-sized piece of peeled ginger, Read the rest of this entry »

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April 6, 2010 by KerryAnn Foster.

Produce is always cheapest when you buy it in season for your location. While I can not list every single area of the country and what is in season, this is a general over-view of what is currently in season in the United States.  If you only buy local produce, not all of this will be available to you, but if you do purchase from stores, this is what should be the least expensive and the most fresh right now, even if it’s being trucked in from another state. Use this as a guide for purchasing large amounts from non-local farmer’s markets for canning, freezing, lacto-fementing, dehydrating and preserving. If you can purchase locally and it is within your budget, please do. However, if you are new to eating seasonally or don’t have a local farmer, this list will help you make the best purchasing decisions.

Artichoke
Asparagus
Avocado, Haas
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Chinese cabbages
Collards
Fennel
Grapefruit
Green onion
Kale
Kiwi
Leeks
Lemon
Lime (early)
Navel orange
Peas
Radish
Rhubarb
Sunchoke
Shallot
Spinach
Strawberry
Swiss chard
Tangerine

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