Healthy Living Archives - Landscape Knowledge

Walking the The Bibbulmun Track,Western Australia

Ann and I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Stanley after she had completed this 1000km walk in Australia.

Linda.

Linda undertook this walk on her own. It took the best part of 8 weeks to complete and more than three months to prepare for.

Linda isn’t your average walker by any means. She suffered some serious injuries, breaking her back in an accident. Being a somewhat determined lady she set about challenging herself to literally get back on her feet again.

We interviewed Linda in her new home, a beautiful chestnut farm in Nannup, Western Australia.

Linda’s web site can be found here…Chestnut Brae.

‘Grandy’s Long Walk’ is written for young children, superbly illustrated about her walk.

Linda wrote the book out of a concern that children today are spending less and less time with nature. Spending instead more and more time in front of the small screen. She hopes to encourage more children to get outside. Discovering the same senses of wonder and joy of nature that she had experienced on her long walk in the forest.

Listen to her telling us all about this amazing journey.

You can listen to the interview with Linda here..Walking the The Bibbulmun Track

Bibbulmun Track.

We were so curious about this really long walk, that during our research we found some youtube videos of other people who travel from all over the world to walk this track.

Darren is one such person, he created a video and kindly gave us permission to include it in this article. His video is just a part of the walk, you can view it here Bibbulmun track video

Darren is raising money for Diabetes you can see his web site here Darren’s website

There is also a specialist web site filled with information for those who want to plan their own walk..The Bibbulman Track

Today’s Public Parks

Today’s Public Parks

We were having a discussion about Parks the other day, the consensus was that whilst they are constantly evolving there was a need to include more of today’s more modern infrastructure within a park boundaries.

Do you think that is the case?

For instance – constant wifi?

24 hour video access to see wild life etc. ?

Adoption of solar energy , for example path lighting powered by solar ?

More group areas for meetings outside ?

More refreshment areas ?

Less grass areas ?

The addition of vegetable areas for people to try or see how to grow ?

More opportunities to show visitors how to do something?

What do you think?

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas,

Ann & Chris

Growing Trends

A Growing Trend – is going on a plant safari …

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

A Growing Trend – is coming on a plant safari with us, to find those plants you need for our ideas…. it’s fun, it’s friendly and it’s great exercise….

First another in our series of before and after garden pictures –

Completed project, with garden 'opened up' and pool filled in. — Completed project, with garden ‘opened up’ and pool filled in.

It's amazing what a little planting can do.. — It’s amazing what a little planting can do..

or maybe like this…

Today’s pictures highlight the benefit of having a good designer when it comes to making changes…. You can see the ‘Before’ and then the ‘After’ in the pictures.

First the walls and steps are constructed

then the terrace and walls are constructed, finally the lawn and landscape.

Adding colour to a garden brings it alive !

We’ve started to take a ‘Hands On’ approach and show clients how to buy plants, how to place them and then how to plant them for maximum effect… it’s fun, it’s friendly and it’s good exercise now its time to enjoy …..

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

A fun low maintenance summer garden to enjoy.

You can listen to Ann & Chris’s fascinating interviews with industry experts at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear from you with ideas, comments or suggestions..

Are we rediscovering a sense of community?

Today’s interview is really fascinating, our friends Bill Sosinsky and Rich Sapienza of Energime University discuss, coming trends, in particular the growing sense of community involvement. Community gardens the modern name for an ‘Allotment’ is a case in point.

The growing popularity of farmers markets, are helping to provide locally grown produce, that is grown in season, rather than having all food always available. There are some real benefits to eating ‘for want of a better word’ the right vegetables for the season.

We talk about water usage and the changes coming. To how we will all have to change some of our habits in these new times. In the meantime we all need to reconnect with nature, spend time to just take a stroll in a garden or park.

You can hear our latest interview at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

Ann & Chris would love to hear from you with suggestions for shows or just a comment about this show, you can find us on Facebook at Growing Trends

Outdoors : Growing Trends – Do you suffer from Allergies?

It’s allergy awareness week in England . A subject that has become more and more important to my family over the past few years. My grandson Callum was born with severe allergies , which appear at the slightest opportunity, so … Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Do you suffer from Allergies?

It’s allergy awareness week in England .

A subject that has become more and more important to my family over the past few years.

My grandson Callum was born with severe allergies , which appear at the slightest opportunity, so much so that my daughter Nathalie has developed a huge number of allergy free recipes, started a company to help others with young children with allergies, has been featured in the newspapers, magazines and on television.

You can read more here – The Intolerant Gourmand

This prompted Ann and I to start some research to see how many children and adults are affected.

We were really surprised at how many people suffer severe allergic reactions, how this has exploded across the whole of the USA, partly it seems due to the demise of the Elm trees. You can hear more about this from Tom Ogren in our latest interview.

Nathalie had explained Callum, was a baby boy with severe eczema & food allergies, makes for an interesting journey of discovery!

We found only one food pantry offering exclusively gluten free and allergy free food in the USA.

in OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – It’s opening next month in Overland Park, Kan.

The ReNewed Health Food Pantry, it’s located at 87th and Antioch, will be holding its grand opening on May 13th.

In England rules for premises selling food changed back in December 2014, This has resulted in all premises selling food, whether freshly made or packaged, to provide details of any of the top 14 allergens used. It is still early days, and there has been some resistance, but there are signs that eating out with allergies is improving.

The medical profession in England is also beginning to realise the prevalence of allergies and how many more people are now presenting with serious allergic reactions in hospital – 20,000 attendances last year alone, with over 12,500 of those being an emergency situation!

Here in the USA , Ann and I were fortunate to interview Tom Ogren about his fascinating , very informative book about Allergies in the garden, this is a must read for avid gardeners everywhere.

You can hear our interview with Tom at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments, you can write to Ann & Chris by completing the form below.

The benefits of a School Garden are many, does your school have one?

Is this really salad ? it tastes so good like this !

Ann & I were fortunate to talk to three amazing ladies from Tennessee a little while ago. They wanted to start a school garden at their school, here is their story, the school garden is now in its third year.

Some of the main points we heard were:-

It’s essential to have teacher as well as parent support.

Take time to plan carefully

Initially growing from seed is harder , due to the school calendar.

Choose plants that will fit into this schedule.

The children want to take ownership of their plants !

Educating children in the different choices of produce increases the varieties they will eat.

Children really take pride in taking home to their family the produce they have grown.

In a blind radish test, the children could tell which were home grown as opposed to store bought and much preferred home grown !

Listen here to our interview with these ladies.. www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

Ann & I would love to hear from you.

If you would like us to put you in touch with these wonderful ladies,or if you would like more information on starting your own school garden just complete the comments box below and we will be in touch. If you would like us to interview you, send us a picture of your garden along with contact details, we will be adding a section to our web site www.grotrends.com specially on School garden projects.

Thank you Penny, Peggy and Emily, this was a fascinating interview.

Ann & Chris

Growing Herbs & Veggies in your Flower & Shrub beds

Hello again everyone, this is Ann & Chris from Growing Trends – you can listen to our podcasts at Growing Trends

Yesterday we started a new series of Growing Herbs & Veggies in a variety of easy ways at home, rather than the more traditional row crop method.

Just to recap they are :

1. Introducing Herbs & Veggies to an existing flower or shrub bed.

The Herbs & Veggies blend in and are almost invisible to the untrained eye.

2. Growing Herbs & Veggies in a container.

Growing in pots is great for those with restricted or small spaces. There are a few extra considerations you need to take for success, which we will explain.

3. Square Foot Garden

created by Mel Bartholomew, square foot gardens are one of the most efficient ways to grow your herbs & vegetables

4. Traditional ‘Allotment’ or ‘Community Gardens’

Allotments are particularly European ,

in Denmark they date back to 1778, in 2001 there were around 62,000 !

Finland started around 1916,

France, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Portugal, England, all have long traditions of ‘Allotments’

Community Gardens are more an American version, which often started as a ‘Victory Garden’ in the second world war, and has developed into a Community Garden.

So lets start today with.

1. Introducing Herbs & Veggies to an existing flower or shrub bed.

There are usually lots of different places where you could insert herbs and veggies in an established garden, the secret is to work with the design.

A good time to find those elusive spaces is now as you start your spring cleaning of beds.

Remember to think about the plants final height, most will require at least 6 hours of sunlight

How often you will need to get close to the plant to gather the crop.

Check regularly for pests and diseases and to feed & water.

Use low growing herbs, colourful cabbages instead of annuals for instance

Remember to add compost to the soil as they will still need nutrients

Place taller growing herbs and vegetables with taller shrubs towards the back of a border

With the lower growing herbs and vegetables towards the front of a border.

Remember flowers like Nasturtiums, Pansies,Orange blossom,Squash flowers and Marigolds are edible ( but not if they have pesticides sprayed on them) – take a look at Eat your Roses for more ideas

You can add Squash, Tomatoes, Eggplants,Lettuce, Cabbage, Peppers, Cucumbers, Rosemary, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Strawberries, Blueberries, Radish, Onion, Swiss chard, Apple, Cherry, Plum, etc.,

Remember to feed regularly .

There is no need to ‘row plant’ be creative.

Now you can visually enjoy as well as enjoy eating.

You can listen to more great ideas on our Podcast at Growing Trends

Tomorrow we will talk about growing herbs & veggies in containers.

Chris & Ann are landscape designers, gardeners, inventors , radio show hosts, we live in the MidWest , are passionate about food, cooking, wine and love to interview people who share our passion for the environment.

We would love to hear from you …

Eating fresh local food

It’s time to start growing vegetables and herbs at home, it’s even more important this year here in the USA with the terrible drought in California that has cut water usage by 25%.

The most effective is the Square Foot Garden method invented by Mel Bartholomew. We will be interviewing Mel on our podcast very soon. You can find his book Square Foot gardening – A new way to garden in less space with less work at any good book store.

For those who do not have a garden space, our latest interview on our podcast at www.growingtrends.org is for you.

Ann and I were privileged to interview Nellie, she is a young mother who is passionate about eating fresh produce on a low budget.

Our interview is inspiring for those who want to find the best way to eat local fresh food. Nellie will explain how to balance your budget and yet find good healthy fresh food.

This is one very astute lady, who is passionate about food – she happens to be a good cook too.

Do you remember the milkman?

How things have changed…..

Back in the 1950’s,60’s,70’s& 80’s in England we had daily fresh milk deliveries direct to your doorstep.

A ‘milk float’ as we called them ran on batteries – they were recharged overnight.

Homes were supplied with grass fed cows milk everyday, in glass bottles that were collected and reused, then when passed their usefulness sent back to the glass bottle plant as ‘cullet’ to be made back into new glass.

The milk was really ‘Fresh’ , being delivered in milk churns daily then pasteurized at the local dairy the day before, stored overnight in the refrigerator then delivered fresh the next day to your door step.

Today :

We have GMO corn fed cows milk, highly processed, long lasting, supplied in one time use plastic bottles that are difficult to recycle.

The ‘Milkman’ has long since lost his job…you have to make a trip to the supermarket to buy your milk.

The local diary is a thing of the past too..

Is this really progress? what do you think?

[polldaddy poll=8755792]