Fire cider is a traditional herbal remedy that has been used for centuries, particularly in folk medicine, to support the immune system and promote overall health. Its history is intertwined with the practices of herbalism, particularly in the Appalachian region of the United States, where it became widely known. Like many uses of herbs and plants, this information has been lost to the modern day fixes. But now it is more important than ever with all the fast foods, boxed foods and chemicals in our body care formulas to take care of our immune system. Fire Cider is an amazing blend of herbs and vegetables to help stimulate and activate the immune system. According to the American College of Healthcare Sciences, "Fire Cider, an ancient herbal elixir brimming with health benefits, has been cherished for its delicious flavor and numerous health-enhancing properties. This centuries-old herbal preparation is not only a delightful addition to your wellness routine but also a powerhouse of nutrients and medicinal compounds that can support your overall well-being." Horseradish offers health benefits such as supporting digestion, boosting immunity, providing antioxidants, promoting circulation, aiding detoxification, and potentially reducing inflammation, thanks to its rich nutrient and bioactive compound content.
Ginger offers numerous health benefits, including reducing inflammation, improving digestion, alleviating nausea, boosting immunity, and supporting heart health due to its bioactive compounds like gingerol. Turmeric provides powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, supports joint health, boosts immunity, and may improve brain function, largely due to its active compound curcumin. Garlic offers numerous health benefits, including boosting immunity, reducing inflammation, improving heart health, and supporting detoxification, thanks to its active compounds like allicin. Onions provide numerous health benefits, including supporting heart health, boosting immune function, reducing inflammation, and improving digestion due to their rich content of antioxidants and sulfur compounds. Cayenne Pepper offers various health benefits, including boosting metabolism, promoting digestive health, reducing pain and inflammation, improving circulation, and supporting weight loss, thanks to its active compound, capsaicin. Lemon offers a range of health benefits, including boosting immune function with vitamin C, aiding digestion, promoting skin health, supporting hydration, and acting as an antioxidant due to its high vitamin C and flavonoid content. Rosemary offers several health benefits, including improving memory and concentration, reducing inflammation, boosting circulation, promoting digestion, and providing antioxidant protection, thanks to its active compounds like rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid. Thyme offers various health benefits, including supporting immune health, promoting respiratory wellness, reducing inflammation, improving digestion, and acting as a natural antioxidant due to its compounds like thymol and carvacrol. Apple Cider Vinegar offers several health benefits, including improving digestion, supporting weight loss, balancing blood sugar levels, boosting skin health, and promoting heart health, due to its acetic acid and beneficial enzymes. Local Honey provides numerous benefits, including soothing sore throats, boosting immunity with local pollen exposure, promoting digestive health, acting as a natural antioxidant, and supporting skin health due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. In a mason jar combine;
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For years, hair dye has been associated with harsh chemicals, scalp irritation, and long-term damage—but what if there was a better way? At Herbal Hydration, we believe that beauty should be both vibrant and natural, which is why we’ve created a plant-based, chemical-free alternative to conventional hair dye.
Our mission? To give you stunning hair color without the compromise. In this blog, we’ll be sharing: ✔ Tips & Tricks for Using Natural Hair Dye ✔ Before & After Transformations from our community ✔ How to Care for Your Color to Make It Last Longer ✔ The History & Benefits of Herbal Hair Coloring 💡 Did You Know? Many ancient cultures, from Egypt to India, have used plants like henna, indigo, and chamomile to color and nourish their hair. We’re continuing that tradition—bringing you a healthier, more sustainable way to dye your hair. ✨ Join the Natural Hair Revolution! ✨ Follow along as we explore the science, history, and beauty of plant-based hair dye. Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover? Drop a comment or send us a message on Instagram & TikTok! A very common questions I get is what kind should I buy, and my answer is always, English Lavender. "French" or professionally named X intermedia is that traditional smell that most people say remind them of France.
But do you know what France climate is? Mediterranean. Do you know what climate Ontario is? Crap. Our winters are harsh and some years we have seen a drop of -25 celsius after a rain storm. Why do we live in a place where the air hurts our face? The "French" Lavender have the same thought and would rather not participate. But if you are stubborn like we are, there are some ways to attempt to prevent all that drama in the spring. We cover with biodegradable plastic bags. We cut a hole in the corner of the bags for airflow and tie the handles around the base. Most lavender farms use tarps that may or may not work better. Being in the windiest location in Southern Ontario (which is why we have the windmills behind us), we do not have the luxury to attempt tarps unless we want to spend our days chasing them. With that said, English Lavender is beautiful and the colour of the flower is bluer and much prettier than the "French". It is a smaller plant and their are many kinds. Folgate is our favourite with a second to Royal Velvet. There are so many to choose from, but whatever you do, do not buy the Spanish Lavender. Nothing against the Spanish, that is for another post. There are so many types of lavender, and with that different types of purning. If you know what kind of lavender plant you have it will make it easier.
However a general homeowner plant should be pruned twice. Start in the spring in late May or early June before any buds show on your plants. With a pair of sharp clippers, trim the tops of the plant that are soft leaves only. You do not want to cut into the woody part of the plant. Shape your lavender plant like a round soccer ball if you can. The second time to trim your lavender and the most important time is in the late summer, end of August. Trim off all the flowering stems. This will protect your lavender plant over the winter and put energy into the roots for regrowth the following year. Tomatoes: Plant and trellis your tomatoes in a sunny location with well-draining soil just below the bottom leaf. In optimal conditions, tomatoes can grow 10 feet. Allow plants to partially dry before watering to avoid unwanted disease. Plant basil between your tomato plants to get a sweeter tomato. Trim off all “suckers” of the tomato to ensure quality fruit on your tomato plant. A sucker is the small shoot that develops between the main stem and individual branches. As your plant grows, remove bottom leaves to give your plants more airflow. Cucumbers: Plant and trellis cucumbers in well-drained soil and in full sun. Cucumber plants can reach up to 12 feet. Allow your cucumbers to partially dry before watering. Watch for Squash Bugs and Cucumber Beetles which can damage your plant and fruit. We recommend using a hand vacuum to collect the pests and remove them to a bucket of soapy water. Utilize companion plants such as nasturtium and marigold to ward off pests. Peppers: Plant your peppers in a sunny location with well-draining soil. Pepper plants can grow up to 4 feet tall. Pinch off the first 2-3 sets of flowers until the plant is large enough to sustain the weight of a pepper. Trim off all but 3 main stems to grow large peppers that ripen faster. To avoid trellising, you may pinch off the top of your peppers to encourage bushier, heartier plants. Zucchini: Zucchini can produce for approximately 1 month once it is full size. The flowers of the zucchini are edible, but ensure that you have pollination before removing them so that the fruit will fully develop. Zucchini is susceptible to Squash Bugs and does not often survive in the hot summer months. Plant in full sun. Cabbage: Cabbage is a long term crop that is a heavy feeder (requires more nutrients than other plants) and likes well-drained soil. Cabbage is susceptible to the Cabbage Moth which means little caterpillars may enjoy your harvest before you do. To protect this plant from pests, we recommend using a row cover, available from most garden centres. Try adding dill as a companion plant to vegetables in the brassica family as it acts as a repellent to many pests. Kale: Kale is a giving producer. Once the leaves get to a nice size, start harvesting the bottom leaves all season long. Kale likes well-drained soil and full sun. Kale is susceptible to the Cabbage Moth which can eat the leaves of the kale. We recommend using row cover, available from most garden centres. Planting Tip for all vegetables: Use Bone Meal and Blood Meal to feed your plants and prevent transplant shock. Put in the base of hole that you are planting the vegetable plant in.
In 2018 Mingle Hill received its name. We are located in St. Ann’s and operate as a family-owned certified organic farm. Though we have always believed in growing food to share a means of sustainable living, that belief has been enhanced during the time of COVID-19. Working on a farm means listening to Mother Nature and working with her throughout each season. This year has been no different. We continue to seed, tend, water, amend and plant. When the weather brings a wind- or snowstorm, we move onto other work. A lot of that work looks different this season as we make adjusts in a time of quarantine. At the farm, we all learned through experience. Each season we develop new skills and ideas to improve for future years; each night we bring home research to put into practice the following day. This year a big goal for us is education. Our hope is to provide knowledge about each vegetable we grow, to inform the community that we operate with zero food miles and certified organic growing practices, and to assist new growers on their journey. Like many vegetable farmers, winter is a season of hope and anticipation. We have taken time to review what habits worked for us last season, and which did not. We have reviewed each variety of vegetable we grow to analyze its germination rate to its post-harvest storage longevity. Winter is also the season of Catalogues. The prospect of catalogue deliveries keeps farmers walking up and down their undoubtedly long driveways each afternoon to check the mailbox for the new season’s issue. For new growers, catalogues are generally free to request online and are filled with hundreds upon hundreds of vegetable and flower varieties. This is how we at Mingle Hill get started. If we did or did not like a certain variation last season this is our opportunity to either see if it is back in stock or to try an alternative. The list we call, “The Seed Order” is mulled over for weeks before we finally hit send to purchase the assortment of seeds for the season. Not only does The Seed Order need to be reviewed for foreseen quantities, it also provides us with the platform to educate. For example, we have chosen cucumbers that are parthenocarpic. Parthenocarpic means that the male vs. female flowers do not matter because they will produce fruit without any pollination. This is great for greenhouses as bees don’t tend to hang out in ours too often. One of our favourite concepts on the farm is “food miles.” Food miles is the distance food travels from where it is produced to where it is sold and consumed. Measuring food miles is one way to gauge the environmental impact of commercial food production and distribution systems (Rodale, 10). To put it into perspective for you, the food miles on our farm is less than one hundred steps. We harvest in our field and bring it down to our farm store where it is washed, stored or prepared for a customer. In contrast, an avocado must travel over 3,500 km from Mexico to Niagara. That means driving for nearly 40 hours straight to bring an avocado into a Canadian grocery store. This is why food miles are so important to us. We are certified organic and we have zero food miles. It’s not often you get both in the same place! This year we were fortunate enough to start our season off with a two-part Organic Growing program partnered with the Grimsby Library. Through Zoom we illustrated the steps between choosing the vegetables for your garden to harvesting from it. Part 1 included choosing what to grow, where to grow and how to prepare your soil. Part 2 demonstrated the steps to seeding success, seedling needs and growth, hardening off, transplanting and outlining some pests and pollinators. There is an endless bulk of information that can be shared and learned so we truly hope you were able to catch the program. Lucky for you, we were able to sort out recording for our Part 2 session! For those of you that were unable to access our Resources document following the session, we have included it here for everyone to enjoy. As you continue to grow for yourself or purchase local, organic goods remember that every step you take counts. Buying local supports your community and provides jobs to multiple individuals within it. Supporting small-scale organic farms near you decreases food miles and sequentially lowers the carbon footprint. Growing for yourself includes you in the company of other gardeners, which is a boundless cornucopia for learning. Getting your hands in the dirt is the ultimate application of your research and keeps idle hands and full minds steady. Here at Mingle Hill we are elated to begin another season with you whether it is bringing the field to your fork or insight as you build your own garden. Thank you for growing with us! Mingle Hill Farms This year we are proud to have the addition of another Rozema on the farm: Olivia. Olivia has been building the online presence of Mingle Hill and ensuring the effects of isolation do not stop us from getting our organic goods to the community. Thank you, Olivia. Source: @deannacat3Source: @savvygardening
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AUTHORMeet Emily Rozema: The Heart Behind Mingle Hill Farm CATEGORIES |