Healing Through Lavender

Mother Nature is one smart cookie.

 

She has given us natural remedies for anxiety, stress and other ailments but instead we choose to try and manufacture something that we think will be better.  Something that is usually full of chemicals and ends up causing environmental problems or making us sick.

 

Enter the healing herb of lavender, which is a beautiful and hardy perennial.

 

 

I discovered the healing benefits of lavender a little over a year ago and can't say enough about it.  Smelling lavender immediately calms me.  While on vacation recently in Bethany Beach, DE, I went to the local farmer's market, as I usually do, in search of a lavender vender who was there last year as well as farm fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob. 

 

As I entered the parking lot full of shoppers and tents and tables, I immediately spied a table full of natural products from Lavender Fields, a 5-acre lavender farm in Delaware (www.lavenderfieldsde.com).  I haven't visited the farm in Milton, Delaware but would love to do so.  Lavender Fields is a farm and a cottage store where 37 varieties of lavender are grown that is open from May to November.  One day I intend to check it out.

 

Lavender Fields located in Milton, Delaware

 I loved smelling many of the wonderful lavender products and ended up buying three types of hand made lavender soaps and a small glass vial of lavender oil which I sometimes put on my temples, my wrists and behind my ears to relieve tension or stress.

 

Studies show, and I have found out for myself, that the scent of lavender lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, putting you in a relaxed state.  Here are a few other ideas for taking advantage of lavender's healing and health properties:

 

--use a few drops of lavender oil into your bath water to soak and relax;

 

--use on burns and bites to relieve itch and pain;

 

--apply to skin to repel mosquitoes and other insects;

 

--sprinkle a few drops on a cotton ball by your pillow to help you sleep.

Lavender has been with us since Biblical times yet even today, in our fast-paced world, Mother Nature continues to take care us with the most natural and organic healers.

It's In The Bag

Truly, it is the little surprises in life that make a difference!

Kindness can arrive at any time.

 

Or maybe it's just that my standard for smiling is different.  What brings a smile to my face might bring only a shrug to another person.  But I'm going to go with the spontaneous and positive happenings that I find around me!  It's all about the smooth and healing ride of life.

 

I know that negative energy is lurking out there, waiting to nab me, but I am pushing it away because yesterday in Washington, DC it was a beauuuuuuutiful day.  Not a cloud in the sky and the air was clean and crisp.  Oh to play hookey from work.

 

I walked to the farmer's market down the street from my office and saw that fall produce had arrived, full of fresh and nutritious possibilities: leeks, kale, pumpkins and an amazing variety of squashes and beautiful apples.  I love the Honeycrisp apples and they were at the top of my shopping list.  I had forgotten how tasty they were until I ate a few over the weekend.  That tart/sweet taste of the Honeycrisp is addictive.  I needed more!

 

When I reached the cash register, I had an armful of juicy apples and as I placed them on the scale, the guy behind the table asked me if I wanted a bag.  In DC, and now in Maryland, the bag thing is a big deal.  Maryland has actually taken it further than DC.  Most stores now charge you 5 cents for a plastic bag so I try to always have one with me.  It sounds like a small thing but it isn't. 

 

The money from buying the bag goes to cleaning up the neighboring rivers and I'm all for that.  But sometimes I get caught off guard like I did last week when I didn't have a bag with me.  I had just bought some dress slacks at Macy's and wanted to continue shopping at other stores in the Mall so I paid the 5 cents for the plastic bag.  I'm sorry but it just feels weird paying for something we used to get for free.

 

Anywho, I'm at the farmer's market and I hand the guy my recycled paper bag (with handles) and he accidentally rips it.  Rut Ro!  So he gives me a plastic bag which he doesn't charge me for and I'm gathering up my stuff to leave.  As I turn around, this young girl come up to me and pleasantly says, "This is for you." Well lookey loo, it's a new navy blue bag that says FRESHFARM MARKETS, just like the one pictured above.

"How nice of you!  You don't have to do that," I told her. 

"No, no," she said.  "It's okay.  Please take it." 

And I did.  With a big smile.

Now it's my turn to pass it on!

 

Pleasant Pops

As many times as I have been to the FRESHFARM markets near the White House to treat myself to the real flavors (or the real flava as my friends like to joke) of the farm fresh produce, I have never tried a Pleasant Pop.  Usually I set a certain amount of money to spend on the beautiful seasonal fruits and veggies sold each week by the local farmers and when the money's gone, so am I. 

But today, it was 95 degrees and I didn't go crazy on the tomatoes so I decided to join the line in front of the Pleasant Pop stand and check them out.  I know it's only a pop but part of healing is nourishing yourself with fresh food and an ice pop is better than a cookie.  I know you agree!!

Right away, I knew these pops were not like the heavy sugary orange, cherry and grape popscicles that I grew up on.  Handwritten on the chalkboard in front of the traveling freezer were the following flavors: blueberry pancake, cucumber chile, basil lemonade and strawberry ginger lemonade.

 

Courtesy of Pleasant Pops

  

I asked the guy selling the pops which pop was the lowest in calories and he said they all were under 100 calories and mostly in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 calores each.  I ordered a strawberry ginger lemonade which he said that was their most popular flavor.  He told me the flavors change depending on what fruits are in season and since peaches were begining to ripen there may be a peach flavored pop next week.

It tasted delicious, fresh and light and not sugary at all; an adult popscicle.  The strawberry ginger lemonade definitely lived up to its name: it was pleasant and refreshing.

What is Pleasant Pops doing at the FRESHFARM market you may ask?  Just as fruits and vegetables picked in season taste best because they are fresh, so to do the Pleasant Pops.  According to the company's website, Pleasant Pops was started in 2009 and the company partners and buy all of its fruits, herbs and milk from local DC area farmers.  The pops are original creations inspired by paletas, a traditional ice pop from the central Mexican state of Michoacan.

So if you travel to Washington, DC this summer and you need to cool off, catch the flava and check out a farmers market and Pleasant Pops for youself.

 

To market, To market

Photo by katieleekitchen

If it's Thursday, then it must be White House Farmer's Market Day!

Beautiful, juicy strawberries, freshly washed pesticide-free kale and farm grown tomatoes were all lined up on the tables today and looking fabulous.  It's a treat for me to get out of the office and feel the warm welcoming sun on my face as I walk the four blocks to the market, one of the city's many farmer's markets where people can consistently find unlimited and natural nutrients.

Today there was a new vendor.  I didn't see the name of the farm but I believe it was located somewhere in Pennsylvania because the people working the stand were Amish and not surprisingly, the line was long.  The Amish have a well deserved reputation for fresh delicious homemade or homegrown foods.  Today they were grilling what looked like red and yellow peppers and onions to accompany other grilled meats brought in from their farm.

I try to go to the market every week because I have learned over the past few years that eating fresh and raw fruits and vegetables is invaluable for a healthy mind and body.  Nourishment is essential to healing just as plenty of sleep is.  When you are dealing with an emotional crisis, the last thing you need to put in your body is processed foods loaded with chemicals and other stuff you can't pronounce.  You body can't get any energy or re-charge itself off those foods.

Tomatoes and kale were my big purchases for the day and then I walked around to see what the other vendors were offering.  Baby squash, spring onions and lots of varieties of lettuces just picked from the farm were among the popular items for sale.  Then there were other vendors who are not farmers who sell their products featuring local seasonal ingredients and they lend a festive tone to the market: the popscicle man whose pops are made from natural juices, a baker who sells different varieties of breads and a flower person selling bunches of seasonal flowers overflowing in tin can containers.

It's a community happening just a block from the White House and I can't wait to buy more goodies next week!

Summer In The City

FRESHFARM Markets Photo

One of my favorite things about summer is the food.  Summer food is the BEST!!!  The tomatoes, the corn on the cob, melons, peaches and berries.  I could go on and on.  Everything is so fresh and so flavorful.

One of the places where I find a great supply of summer food is at a Farmer's Market near my office that is also about two blocks from the White House.  We call it Michelle Obama's Farmer's Market because the first year the Obamas were in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama, as part of her nutrition campaign to get Americans to eat healthier foods, walked across the street to pick out some fruits and veggies for her family.  Naturally, the market got a lot of attention and because of it's prime location you can never be sure when she might visit again!

The FRESHFARM Markets is made up of about a dozen vendors and they sell farm fresh fruits and produce along with flowers, home made breads, home made cheeses, and home made popsicles in exotic flavors such as strawberry ginger lemonade and vanilla honey lavender.  Today, the smell of the peaches was incredible.  I bought some tomatoes and my friend bought peaches.

Besides the delicious produce, you also get a chance to chat up the farmers who grow the food.  They are always ready to talk about the best ways to cook the foods they are selling and how they grew it.  It's all part of the community of vendors who come together every week in this part of the city to promote the unique taste of food grown in the Chesapeake Bay region and expose people to fresh food they might not be able to grow for themselves.

Not only do we feel we're supporting the farmers when we walk down the street to buy their fresh products but we're also doing something healthy for ourselves.  And when you've been sitting in front of a computer for most of the day that's always a good thing!