Amaranth is an amazing food – quite overlooked as a powerhouse. It’s simple to grow, simple to cook and super delicious.

Here’s seven good reasons to add it to your diet:

1. HIGH IRON: Did you know that one cup of cooked Amaranth grain (actually a seed*) can provide you with much of your daily iron needs? I was amazed when I read this.  Having been a vegetarian since early childhood, finding new ways to keep my iron levels up is always interesting news to me.
2. HIGH CALCIUM and Magnesium – also high in manganese, vitamins B and E, zinc and potassium.
3. HIGH PROTEIN: Amaranth is one of the most protein rich plant based foods. Its seed has 20% protein. 
4. HIGH LYSINE: Amaranth offers the highest source of vegetarian Lysine. Lysine, an amino acid, is a building block for protein, and it helps with calcium absorption and collagen production.
5. GLUTEN FREE: Amaranth is gluten free. It can be ground as a flour or cooked as a psuedograin.
6. HIGH FIBRE:  A diet high in fibre keeps the digestive system healthy
7. EASY AND FAST TO GROW: Did you know you can get up to 100,000 seeds from one plant!  Amaranth is super easy and fast to grow. It takes less than 30 days before harvesting small leaves and just 50 days to maturity. It can cope with heat and dry conditions a lot better than any other leafy green. It grows easily in many contexts and self-seeds readily. You can eat the young leaves, but older ones are best cooked and used like spinach. I add amaranth leaves to all sorts of meals – stir fries, soups, quiches, omelettes, frittata, curries etc. (Typically people have cooked amaranth leaves to reduce their oxalic acid content.

I love the look of amaranth in the garden – it’s flowers are amazing.

The post 7 Reasons to Grow and Eat Amaranth – A Simple Ancient Superfood appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I am paying attention today because they are so cracked and sore, and because we made some lovely scrubs and salves yesterday at a workshop I held here in my garden (DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products) – just what my feet are calling for. These things can be made easily and cheaply.

Homemade mint sugar scrub – see below for instructions.

I knew my feet were in need of attention, but I recently bought a new pair of summer season shoes that seem to be ripping up my soles and aggravating the problem.  Back to closed shoes I think and a week of intensive care….

I’m going to take pictures every day and show you at the end of the week how well this has worked.

This is my three step process. It’s easy to do in the evening while I sit here and write, and catch up on emails.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar Soak

The warm vinegar soak softens the skin making it easier to remove the dead skin. I put in half a cup of vinegar into enough warm water to cover my feet and soaked them for 15 minutes.

2. Mint Sugar Scrub

This was the biggest hit of all at the DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products yesterday class I think. It immediately makes your hands and feet feel great, and it’s super easy. Immediately after the vinegar soak, while my heels are soft, I am using this scrub to help remove the dry skin and to soften, revive and nourish too.

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp raw sugar
• 6 leaves chopped mint
• zest of half a grapefruit (optional)

Soften the coconut oil if solid (I put the coconut oil in a bowl, then place this bowl in hot water till softened), then mix in the other ingredients. Store the scrub in a sealed jar/tin in the fridge and soften just before use.

NB: Make sure you don’t add the sugar to hot oil otherwise it will melt and not be a scrub, and don’t soften later in hot water either.

Collecting fresh ingredients from my garden for making herb oils for homemade beauty products.

3. Herb Beeswax Salve

• 1/2 cup olive oil infused with comfrey, chickweed and calendula infused oil. (see my previous post on how to make a simple cold infused herbal oil http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/making-comfrey-oil.html)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup pure beeswax
• 2 tbsp cocoa butter

1. On a double boiler (or with a ceramic bowl over boiling water), gently melt the beeswax, coconut oil and cocoa butter.  
2. When fully blended remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. When still runny, but warm (not hot) add the herb infused oil.
4. Pour into jars or tins and allow to cool and solidify.

I’ll be repeating this every night for the next few days and going to bed with more salve and bed socks.

These are the things we made in the workshop. Everyone went home with a collection of herb oil, healing salve, hand and face cream and lip balm.

At the end our our day together, this was our board of things we covered.

The last two workshops for the year are:

• The Simple and Abundant Garden on 29 October 
• Harvest to Table on Saturday 12 November. 

There are still places on both of the these if you’d like to come and spend a day in my garden with me learning and creating. We have fun, learn a lot from each other and eat deliciously healthy food!

Workshop participants collecting herbs and flowers in my garden yesterday to make the products. The lovely ladies at the DIY Natural Health and Beauty Products workshop yesterday putting their hand and face cream in jars.

The post Three Simple & Natural Cracked Feet Treats appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

This 9 minute film (click link below to watch) shows how to simply make a super delicious cold remedy from easy-to-grow plants in the garden.  I love that my medicine cabinet is in my kitchen garden surrounding my house and that I can just go outside and pluck fresh herbs and leaves with superb vitality to help sooth a cough and cold when I need it for me and my family.

There are so many great herbs to use in each climatic region.   Here at this time of year, some great ones are:

1. lemon myrtle
2. peppermint
3. menthol mint
4. oregano
5. sacred basil
6. turmeric
7. ginger

Today, I also added organic cinnamon and some raw honey to the blend – mmmm ….delicious and very soothing. Just what I need right now.

I’ve written about the brew I made yesterday and listed a few additional plants – lemon, orange peel, lemon balm, thyme. Each brew I make is slightly different which keeps it interesting.

What is your favourite cold remedy from your garden?

[DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or natural therapist. The information in this blog post and the associated film is based on personal research, conversations with lots of knowledgeable people, and years of experimenting. Please make up your own mind about whether you think it is useful.]

The post My Medicinal Garden: 7 Super Plants For A Delicious Common Cold Remedy – Film #13 (9 mins) appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Grab a cuppa and take a listen. Please leave comments on the Up For a Chat site (and also here on my blog) about the sorts of things you’d like me to speak about when I return to the Wellness Couch for a follow-up conversation about how to get your own simple garden set up.

UC196: Permaculture with Morag Gamble (73:03 mins)
http://thewellnesscouch.com/uc/uc-196-permaculture-with-morag-gamble

Some of the points of conversation include:

• How I came to live a permaculture life
• How to live a simpler, less stressful life and step away from the over-consumerism.
• How the healthier the earth is the healthier we all become
• How living in nature is like a natural meditation.
• How superfoods come from supersoils – the importance of keeping your soils healthy
• How everything has a context for learning – my approach to homeschooling.
• How seeing the world through children’s kids eyes opens up the world tenfold.
• How to reduce waste in our home – food waste and single-use plastics
• The value of growing as much as we can at home & how there’s is more food in most edible gardens than we typically imagine.
• How to think of your garden as one big ecosystem
• How we all have a voice – we can all be part of the change.

The post Permaculture & Healthy Living: Morag Gamble Speaks with Cyndi O’Meara & Friends on the Wellness Couch Podcast appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

After my family headed out, I quickly washed up, fed the animals then launched into it – researching, planning, mind-mapping … I was working but I wasn’t focussed or effective. To be honest it felt somewhat awkward without the usual hubbub of a household with a 3 year old and two boisterous homeschoolers (8 yo & 10 yo).  I love the homeschool/unschool dynamic of active learning, following interests, getting into projects, discussions about fascinating questions that always arise.

I have been getting a bit frustrated that my work is beginning to leak into my time with the kids, and my evenings are getting later (quite a few 4 ams last week!). After my initial attempt at frantic typing and note-taking, I slowed down and found myself reflecting on the pace and fullness of my ‘simple life’ and how too much time is spent sitting at my computer. I decided that perhaps today would be better spent rediscovering my balance and inner calm – a wellbeing day.

I headed straight out into my garden to graze on the salad greens and have a chat with the birds and wildlife.

This mummy wallaby has a gorgeous little joey who has just lunged into the pouch when I took out my camera. They live mostly around garden. I see them every day.

Around lunchtime I took another break and headed off for a mind-fog-clearing ride up the valley. I love my bike. I always find clarity out riding and feel energised for the rest of the day. I don’t go too far – perhaps 10-15 kms with a few good hills. Like always, when I go out with a specific question, I found a sense of clarity again in purpose and direction.

Later in the afternoon, I headed 2kms up the road to a fabulous local organic farm – Baranbali. We play tennis together each week, but it seems ages since we had a chance to sit down, catch up and share our ideas. I put my computer to sleep again and headed over for a cuppa.  A big cuddle with an orphaned lamb was a huge bonus!!! So cute – the kids had it on a little lead and walking it around the garden.

So today, instead of a writing blitz – I mostly wondered, wandered, gardened, cycled, visited.  In the end I only spend 3 hours at my computer but to my amazement, I managed in that time to clearly lay out the chapters of my book and outline the framework for the next two.  I have rethought my schedule for the next six months and clarified the direction for my next series of educational programs.

One of the little things I started today is a quick guide for simple living… and in an initial search for other similar guides, I uncovered this ‘Simple Living Manifesto’. I like it – the bit about ‘leaving out the unnecessary’ was a good reminder for me today. I’ll post my simple living guide soon when it’s finished.

The post Simple Living Guide appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I have started experimenting with apple cider vinegar as my hair conditioner instead of conventional conditioner.  Normally my hair is curly and quite dry  – particularly on the ends. Using the apple cider vinegar, my hair now feels soft and I have no need for de-tangler or leave-in conditioner. I am absolutely delighted.

Six benefits of raw apple cider vinegar as a natural hair conditioner.

1. stimulates scalp to promote hair growth
2. cleans hair without stripping out the natural oils
3. removes residue build up from synthetic hair products
4. helps hair retain moisture
5. is antibacterial and antifungal which helps with flaky and itchy scalps
6. closes the hair cuticle allowing for shine and fewer tangles

Hair just washed and towel-dried – I used local natural bar soap as shampoo and apple cider vinegar as conditioner. Nothing else. Worked just fine. It actually feels far more soft and manageable than it has for a long time. No lasting vinegar smell.

I asked my kids what they thought. Maia said it smelt really nice and fresh. Hugh said it made it look blonder and smoother, and made me look younger….oh, what darlings!!!

So here’s two recipes – you can’t get much simpler than this….

Natural air conditioner recipe # 1

1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
1 cup of water

Pour it over your hair and leave in for a minute or two (avoid eyes). After I rinsed it out I didn’t use any conventional conditioner, or after-wash products. I just brushed then towel dried my hair – that’s it.

Good tip: next time I’ll be mixing it with warm water!!! The cold water rinse on a cool morning was pretty fresh.

Hair conditioner recipe #2 

approx 5 cm length of fresh aloe vera gel

Open the leaf and rub the gel all over your hair. Leave it for a couple of minutes before rinsing out.

Another huge benefits is that you can save yourselves thousands of dollars in expensive hair products by using things from your garden and pantry.

NEW WORKSHOP: DIY Natural Healing and Beauty Products

Learn more at my new workshop on October 1st. Bookings now open. Click here for more information and to register.

The post Make Simple Natural Hair Conditioner You Can Drink & Save Thousands of Dollars Too appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Take a look at these pictures drawn recently by my little boy who turned three in April. He only recently started taking an interest in drawing and now he loves it –  I mean page after page after page.

This series of drawings was done in one sitting. Each picture has an amazingly in-depth story. I understand what they all mean because I sat with him and listened to his active commentary while he was drawing, or sometimes I asked him extra questions when he’d finished. I was astounded at the depth of detail he was describing, and the absolute focus he had on places in nature and the wildlife that surrounds him (real and imaginary!).

Birds feature a lot – here Mr Bossy Boots the seagull (who Monty met on a beach outing) and a bush turkey from our garden. There are over 160 species of birds at Crystal Waters.

Monty loves playing in mud and watching other animals play in the lake below our house. The sticks and mudzone are an obvious feature for him.

He has grown up in an ecovillage spending a lot of time outdoors, in natural spaces, down at the river, around lakes, in the permaculture garden, at community gardens, playing in muddy puddles, watching wildlife  – that is his daily reality. These pictures represent some of what he thinks about.

Rocks for rock hopping in the little river near our place.     One of the sections of river I think he had in mind…

This drawing Monty did as he told the story of a large creature called Jaca who met a little beetle and a snake (his story).

A Sea Urchin. Monty loves going to the beach to fossick in rock pools. (He also loves David Attenborough shows and the Octonauts).

The baby sea urchin looking for it’s mummy.

An underwater creature – perhaps in the lake below our house.

Monty is super excited about Grandad’s boat – a wooden trailer sailer he is restoring. We hope to go sailing in it later this year in the Gippsland Lakes.

 

The night sky out here is INCREDIBLE. Monty loves going out to see what we can see, and to say ‘Hello Moon’. He sings to it.

My little nature boy (it’s actually hard to find a picture with his clothes on that I can share here!) – the river is his favourite place.

He loves the beach and ocean too.

The post An Insight Into the Mind of a 3yo Nature Kid Through Art appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

During the celebration of community at the Yandina Community Gardens today I made this little film to share with you.

There’s lots of fun for kids here too. Check out their website for some great plant info and recipes too – www.yandinacommunitygardens.com.au

The post Film #2: Permaculture Community Garden with Morag Gamble (9 minutes) appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I recognise that I have a tendency to saying ‘yes’ to just about everything that sounds interesting, positive and worthwhile. This past month for me has been so wonderfully busy, that I think I have actually found new levels of capacity.

I love being down at the University of Sunshine Coast Community Garden. I’ll be there again in the morning.

These past few weeks I have led a workshops most days of the week – permaculture, sustainable living, community gardening…

I do need to remember to be gentle with myself and I thank my family for being onto this – they read my energy levels before I do, and the kids especially encourage me to delight in the present moment.

With a little one around, I am always reminded to slow down, get outside and play.

I am a mum with 3 children under 10, two of them homeschooled. I run an education and design business from home and a not-for-profit foundation. I love to cook things from scratch and tend our edible landscape. Our house is often open to the public so I need to keep it looking relatively neat.

In busy times, doing all this can sometimes be a stretch – we don’t have cleaners, gardeners or childcare – but somehow it all works and I love it. The kids are thriving. I feel nourished by my work. Evan and I love feeling productive and active in our communities of practice. We all spark off each other’s enthusiasm for what we do.

I value simple living. That doesn’t always equate with a ‘quiet life’, but for me it’s a ‘good life’.

This is how I stay calm, relaxed and focussed when the simple life sometimes gets a bit too busy….

Be Organised

1. I actively plan my time.
2. I have become a supreme list maker – so things to remember are not swirling around in my head.
3. I always carry a notebook and jot down ideas and new things to do – lots of mindmaps.
4. We plan our family’s week together to make sure everyone’s needs are being met and keep a shared calendar.
5. I aim to get everything ready the night before (lunches, clothes, workshop resources) so our morning can be relaxed and happy.
6. I have found my quiet niche – the time when everyone else is asleep – no TV, radio, music – just me and my myself. At this time, I can clearly and effectively think, plan, write, focus, create…
7. When things do get busy, I let go of some non-essential expectations I have of myself (e.g: writing every day).

I love riding my bike!

Stay Healthy

1. I eat well and usually take homemade food out and about.
2. I carry a glass jar of water infused with rosella, lemon myrtle, tulsi, turmeric and ginger (vitamin C, relaxing, refreshing, immune-strenghtening) and sip throughout the day.
3. I take a nap cuddling with the kids (I do this at their bedtime) – that extra hour or two makes all the difference especially to be able to do my ‘quiet-time’ shift at night.
4. When I need to ‘veg-out’ I avoid the telly or shops – instead play, talk, make, read, walk, think, write….
5. Ride my bike, or play tennis, walk and bounce on the trampoline with the kids.

Baking with the kids – we always love to experiment with healthy sugar free ideas.

Connect

1. I potter in my edible garden – planting, tending, harvesting – noticing the little things along the way.
2. I cuddle the chooks and talk to the birds.
3. I spend time outside in fresh air and amongst the wildlife (I make my office on the front verandah – birds visit, kangaroos pass by, waterbirds visit lake below and I cast my eyes regularly to the hills and national park across the valley).
4. We sit and eat meals together and check in with everyone, tell stories, joke around.
5. We play music and dance together after dinner. (We have a great big box of instruments.)
6. I lie down outside with the kids and watch the clouds or stars, chatting about their questions and big ideas.
7. I love to play with the kids – whatever story they make up. I’m often a horse for little Monty!
8. I ring my parents (interstate) and have a long chat.

Paint, create, get messy and have some fun!

Cuddling chooks always brings a smile.

A slow stroll through the garden, smelling the flowers and noticing the small things always helps me to refocus and slow down.

Stay Positive

1. I spend time in community gardens with wonderfully positive and engaged volunteers
2. I acknowledge the positive things that are happening and think about how I am contributing, and can add more value to that.
3. I regularly reflect on what is important, try to keep things in perspective, and keep the bigger picture in mind.
4. I am conscious to not complain about being busy. I make it so. There is a good level of busy-ness.
5. Smile – and the world does smile back.

Be Mindful

1. Mindfully do housework. When I wash the dishes, I am just dishwashing (or daydreaming out the window) not thinking about the next thing.
2. When I go to bed – I empty my mind, slow my breathing, relax my body before drifting off to sleep. Sometimes I set my self a challenge – to come up with new ideas in my dreams – but usually I aim to just ‘be’.
3. I remind myself to breathe – especially when there’s a need to finish some work and the kids also need my focussed attention.

 

Flowering rocket and in the background, mustard spinach – it’s great to just sit and watch what happens around these flowers – so much life!

The post How to stay calm and relaxed when even the simple life gets a bit too busy. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

The delightful flowering Lemon Basil bush – such a wonderful aroma from the leaves and the seeds, and such a happy plant for the bees.

1. Basil Seeds Ease Headaches

Lately I’ve had a few headaches, not a usual thing for me, so I have been exploring my garden for some natural headache remedies. One I found is basil seed – eating them, and using their oil.

As I explored further, I realised there were many other benefits to basil seeds – and there are just so many on each bush!  Another wonderfully abundant plant that happily self-seeds and can be easily propagated by cuttings.

2. Add Basil Seed to Flavour a Curry

I love the fresh flavour and aroma of adding freshly crushed basil seeds to curries – particularly lemon basil! 

Lemon basil seeds harvested today from my garden. I let the seeds dry on the bush, then chop off the seedbeds and collect in a paper bag. The seeds will come out in the bag with a bit of shaking and rubbing.

3. Eat Basil Seed to Improve digestion

I didn’t realise until recently that basil seeds are used in India similarly to Chia. Like Chia seeds – when soaked in water for 30 minutes, basil seeds swell up and can be added to drinks for extra fibre and nutrients. As a sweet drink with fruits and yoghurt they can improve digestion, and help with detoxification. 

4. Eat Basil Seed to Lose weight

5. Sooth Coughs with Basil Seeds 

Basil seeds are helpful in soothing coughs, sore throats and colds. The seeds are included in many herbal cough syrups. Make your own soothing tonic for the respiratory system by mixing crushed basil seeds, honey and ginger with warm water.

6. Basil Seeds are Uplifting

There is an uplifting effect from eating basil seeds. They also help to ease mental fatigue, nervous tension, melancholy, depression and migraine. Because of its calming effects, it is commonly used in aromatherapy for clarity and mental strength.

7. Basil Seeds Repel Insects

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