FARM FRESH LIVING
             
Celebrating the New Healthy and Organic Lifestyle
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HEALTHY HOLIDAY SEASON
greens7 Healthy Fresh Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season Organically this Year!

You can celebrate the holiday season out in the country with gift giving, wonderfully decadent desserts and still be green! When you live rural you are closer to nature, to wildlife, to native plants and more intimate with the seasons. This holiday season is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate in a healthy, environmentally friendly and delicious way. Being “green” and living an organic and sustainable lifestyle doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy life; in fact it is quite the opposite. Here are the top 7 Farm Fresh Living tips to a superb organic holiday season regardless if you live in the country or not:

1. EAT LOCAL, EAT HEALTHY - VISIT A FESTIVE FARMERS MARKET

Help sustain your rural community and reduce the miles that your food travels. My mother always told me that it is important to know where your food actually comes from and she was right! Visit your local Farmer's Market or if your farmers market is closed for the season try to shop at an organic market.

2. PUT MORE GOBBLE IN YOUR DINNER WITH AN ORGANIC TURKEY

Get to know your local turkey or goose farmer this Christmas. Organic turkeys and geese that are free-range grown spend their lives running about in the open and are free from harmful antibiotics and hormones. Organic free-range turkey is a very good source of high density, low-fat protein produced without the additional potentially harmful chemicals. In addition, organic turkey is also good source of selenium, zinc, niacin, Vitamin E, beta-carotene, and Vitamins B6 and B12.

3. ADD MORE HEALTHY ORGANIC GREENS THIS SEASON

No rural home is complete without a kitchen garden not matter how small! Need help planting a kitchen garden? Read our article about how easy it is to start a vegetable garden. If you had a garden this summer, then you can raid your freezer for organically grown peas, carrots and other vegetables have higher levels of vitamin C, more minerals and cancer fighting antioxidants than non-organic varieties. Try adding in organic winter squash this season at your holiday dinner table. Winter squash is a powerhouse of antioxidants and vitamins!

4. SPICE UP YOUR LIFE AND YOUR HOLIDAY DINNER WITH FRESH HERBS. Fresh Herbs

One of the tastiest benefits of organic gardening is the ability to maintain a well-stocked kitchen pantry, bursting with seasonal herbs that add zest to your home-cooked meals. During the summer into fall you can grow a wide variety of herbs no matter what size garden you have. Herbs are perfect for small rural kitchen gardens and most varieties can be grown in pots right on a patio! Herbs require full sun, organic fertilizer and moderate watering to grow healthy and happy. Essential herbs to grow are: basil, Italian parsley, oregano, marjoram, thyme, chives, chervil, cilantro and chocolate mint. You can either grow herbs from organic seeds or purchase organically grown herbs online in 3.5” pots to get a head start! During the summer into fall you can harvest herbs and either dry or freeze them for use later in the year. For Christmas dinner at the farm we always have a containers of rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme growing inside to use. Basil, the quintessential herb does not do well inside in the winter but you can find a quick tip on storing fresh basil here...

5. GIVE THE GIFT OF GREEN THIS SEASON

We are not talking about money, but green as in living plants! Plants are beneficial to our own health and psyche as well as healthy for the environment. All plants remove the Carbon Dioxide we emit during breathing and release Oxygen into the air for us to breathe. This exchange takes place during photosynthesis. In addition, all plants remove impurities from the air. Giving green is easy and if the recipient is an avid gardener they will appreciate a premium perennial over that “thing-a-ma-jig” that you gave them last year that is still tucked away in a closet. You can order a gift certificate from a sustainable nursery online, visit your local organic nursery or if you don’t have an organic nursery near you, you can also order sustainably grown plants online and have them delivered anywhere in the United States!

6. DON’T FORGET YOUR PETS

This holiday season let’s don’t forget our pets! You have the choice what to feed and reward them with, so show you care and give your pet only organic pet food and treats! The recent pet food scare and recalls have been a wake up call to us all. Typical dog and cat 'off-the-shelf' cookie brands that you find at box stores are less expensive than organic treats since they use waste products from meat packing houses, expired oil by-products and other fillers. Box store and name brand non-organic dog and cat cookies are artificially flavored at the expense of your pet’s health.

Start the season right by switching to organic pet food and cookies.Organic doesn’t have to be bland for your pet. Try our new line of reasonably priced organic gourmet pet cookies with ingredients grown at on our farm Stargazer Perennials in such tantalizing flavors as Shitake Garlic Beef, Basil Herbed Chicken and Salmon and Cheese Tidbits from All Natural Pet Cookies.com. When buying organic dog and cat treats remember that they are perishable since they contain no preservatives unlike non-organic pet products that can remain on the shelf for years. Organic pet treats make a great gift for your friends and families pets this season.

7. EASY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

Now that you have experience the joy, health and peace of having a sustainable, organic Christmas continue it throughout the year!