What is Companion Planting?

Some plants give off scents or chemicals that repel insects, insects like worms and beetles that can destroy your garden. Other plants help prevent disease or attract insects, which are beneficial to plants. And some plants are exceptional at breaking down the soil and helping other plants absorb vital nutrients. Essentially companion planting is used to help your core plants thrive without chemicals.

Examples of Companion Planting and How it Works

Marigolds are widely known to have a very strong fragrance. Many people consider it unpleasant despite the gorgeous flowers. However, many insects also find marigolds quite distasteful including nematodes (roundworms), whiteflies, beetles, and aphids. To use marigolds as a companion plant, plant them at the perimeter of your garden. If your garden is large you may want to plant them throughout. Take care to not plant them too closely to your vegetables because they do attract spider mites and slugs.

Alfalfa actually helps the soil absorb nitrogen, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium which makes the soil ideal for growing vegetables. Because alfalfa has very long and sturdy roots, it breaks up hard clay soil. It’s a great plant to help keep your soil rich in nutrients.

Geranium another flower with a strong aroma repels cabbage worms and Japanese beetles, and leafhoppers. Gardening experts recommend planting them around grapes, corn, tomatoes, peppers and cabbage.

Deciding What to Plant and Where

Before you begin planting your organic garden, do a bit of research to find the best placements for your chosen vegetables. For example, tomatoes do well with a number of other vegetables including garlic, chives, cucumber and mint however not all veggies get along with tomatoes. Tomatoes can stunt the growth of carrots and dill and kohlrabi slow tomato growth.

Make a quick map of your garden before planting and chart where you want to plant each vegetable. A quick trip to an organic gardening or companion gardening site will help you make sure each vegetable’s neighbor is a helpful one.

Companion planting is a very sustainable way to affect the health of your garden. Not only do you help your garden stay pest and disease free, you receive the added benefit of a diverse and healthy garden.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Some studies have shown that the flu enters the body through ear canals. If you’re able to catch your symptoms within the first few hours, try placing a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in each ear every few hours. The peroxide kills the virus before it has the opportunity to multiply and really take hold. You may still have flu symptoms for a few days however, that’s much better than the standard two-week recovery period.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver, a liquid suspension of microscopic particles of silver, is used as a natural antibiotic and antiviral. Practitioners believe it has the ability to essentially eliminate an enzyme that bacteria and viruses need to survive in your body. Like hydrogen peroxide, the best time to use colloidal silver is right when you first notice flu-like symptoms.

Elderberry

Elderberry, an antioxidant, is commonly used to boost immunity however, studies also show it may work as an antiviral. This means during flu season elderberry supplements, such as elderberry juice, syrup or capsules, may be able to help you avoid the flu and if you do catch the flu, elderberry may help shorten your recovery time.

Oscillococcinum

Oscillococcinum, is a homeopathic product that's manufactured in France and sold in health food stores around the world – particularly during flu season. Homeopathic comes from the principle that “like cures like." Oscillococcinum is made from extremely diluted parts of the hearts and livers of ducks, which are believed to be particularly vulnerable to influenza viruses.
Oscillococcinum is used to shorten the duration of the flu once you’ve caught it, it does not prevent the flu.

Echinacea

Echinacea, an herbal remedy most often used to prevent and treat colds and flu, has been shown to shorten the duration for flu sufferers. There are many types of Echinacea the leaves, flowers and stems of Echinacea purpurea seem to have the most effect. It’s typically recommended to take Echinacea, usually in capsule form, every two to three hours immediately after recognizing symptoms.

North American Ginseng

“North American ginseng" is a popular natural flu remedy used to shorten the duration of the flu. However, Ginseng also comes with some serious side effects including negative interactions with many pharmaceuticals, estrogen properties, which can complicate hormone related conditions and other symptoms and side effects that may cause heart complications among other things.
With any herbs, it’s important to check with your doctor to make sure there aren’t any adverse reactions. Having the flu is one of the most miserable experiences, it’s nice to know there are so many natural flu remedies available to lessen the symptoms and help you recover as quickly as possible

The Tree Principles of Homeopathic Healing
Homeopathy is based on thee main principles. They include:

* Like Cures Like
This principle is often seen in the treatment of allergies. For example if a person is allergic to grass pollen then they will regularly receive injections with a small amount of grass pollen in the solution. The theory being that they will slowly build up a tolerance for the allergen until they have little or no reaction. The same holds true for many of our vaccines. If you’re getting a flu vaccine, you’re receiving a small amount of the flu virus. Your body recognizes it and defeats it thus, when that particular strain of the flu comes around you won’t get it because your body knows how to combat it.

* Minimal Dose
Homeopathic healing takes the approach of extreme dilution. Theorizing that your body doesn’t need to be inundated with an element to adapt and respond. How diluted are the dosages? We’re talking about 1 part homeopathic element or remedy and 1,000,000,000,000 parts water.

* The Single Remedy
Have you ever had a cold but didn’t have the cold medication to cover all your symptoms so you took a decongestant, a fever reducer and cough medicine combined to try to make it through the day? This is the opposite of how homeopathy approaches healing. Because you’re dealing with having the body heal itself, homeopathy believes that only one remedy is taken, usually it’s the presumed cause of the illness that is the remedy.

Who Can Use Homeopathy?

Homeopathic healing is deemed safe for everyone. This includes pregnant women, children and even babies and the elderly. Treatment is easy and typically involves, once a diagnosis has been made, taking a powder or small tablet orally. The tablets are designed to dissolve in your mouth and may need to be held under the tongue for a few seconds until it’s completely dissolved. While some treatments may require only one tablet taken daily, others may require several tablets each day. The treatment depends on the diagnosis and the practitioner.

Why use Homeopathic healing?

Believe it or not, homeopathy is the second most widely used form of healing in the world. And its popularity in western civilization continues to grow. By and large, this success is due to the fact that Homeopathy is extremely effective, when properly diagnosed. It’s also extremely safe and results in virtually no side effects and it can be taken with other medication without the fear of interaction.

Homeopathic remedies are also natural. You’re not putting potentially harmful chemicals into your body. In addition, as more and more people adopt a more holistic approach to healing, it’s much more natural and effective to treat the cause of a problem rather than the symptoms. Homeopathy treats the cause.
When it comes to healing, homeopathic healing has a long and successful history and a bright future. To find a skilled homeopathic doctor you can visit one of the online directories or associations or you can speak to your medical practitioner for a recommendation.

Here are a few homemade shampoo recipes to get you started:

Avocado, honey and milk shampoo (for dry hair)

#1 – peel the avocado and place in blender

# 2 – Add a tablespoon of honey to avocado. This will not only help to smooth and nourish the hair but will give it a lovely sweet smell

#3 – add ½ cup of milk to avocado and honey.

#4 – Blend on high until smooth and use within three days. If you have some left over you can simply cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.

Honey, seaweed and lemon shampoo (for oily hair)

#1 – place ¼ cup of dry seaweed pieces (available at health food stores) in a large bowl.

#2 – Add 1 tablespoon of honey to seaweed.

#3 – Add the juice of one lemon to seaweed and honey.

#4- Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes so that ingredients can infuse together. Use on hair and cover any leftovers with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

The lemon will make hair less oily while giving it a lustrous shine. The seaweed will nourish the hair while the honey will make it smell gorgeous and remain frizz free.

Basil

There are a number of basil types including spicy Thai Basil and Sweet Basil, which is commonly used in Italian cooking. Basil can be grown either indoors on a sunny window ledge or in your garden once the fear of frost has passed. Simply place the seeds in the ground per the package directions, The plants can grow up to two feet high which means you’ll want to start thinning them until they’re about six inches apart. Leaves can be picked and used for seasoning when the plants are six weeks old. If you’re going to dry leaves then pick them before the plant’s bloom spikes appear.

Mint

Mint is delightful in drinks, deserts and in many Middle Eastern dishes. Mint, a perennial, is easy to grow because it really doesn’t care much about the soil it’s planted in. This makes it good for even those with brown thumbs. If you’re growing mint outside then take care because it spreads like a weed and can take over your garden or lawn. This makes it a great herb to grow indoors in smaller window ledge containers. Leaves can be harvested as soon as plant reaches six inches.

Dill

Dill is an easy to grow herb and fits quite nicely in a flower garden. It grows to about three feet tall and produce yellow flowers. Both the greens and the seeds from the flowers can be used to season food. The leaves are best harvested before the flowers open. The seeds can be harvested when the flower is open and they’ve ripened. It’s advised to sow them from a seed as transplanting dill plants is difficult. Like Basil, plant seeds after danger of frost has passed.

Thyme

In drier climates, Thyme is actually used as a xeriscape ground cover. This means it’s quite hearty and grows like a weed! You can grow them in a container garden, right in the soil, or on your window ledge. Thyme is another one of those herbs that comes in a number of varieties. It’s best to grow it from a cutting rather than directly from a seed because seeds take a long time to cultivate.

Parsley

Parsley, either curly or flat leaf, is another easy to grow and quite versatile herb. Like many other herbs, it grows quite quickly and reseeds itself, which means you could easily end up with a garden full of parsley if you don’t prune and keep an eye on it. Sow from seeds directly into your garden. They’re not choosy about their soil but they do like a lot of sun.

Growing herbs at home doesn’t have to be left to the green thumbs in the world. Many herbs are tremendously easy to grow and practically raise themselves. Whether you garden indoors or out, in containers or in a small plot in your yard, herb growing is a great way to add flavor and fun to your summertime meals.