Lately, I've been having conversations with others on how to live more organically, how to take out the GMO's and chemicals from our food, and how to educate ourselves on getting this accomplished. A question I continually ask is how is it that living in Miami, we do not harvest rain water? In my humble opinion, I believe if we were able to set up a system to collect rainwater we could prevent a lot of the flooding issues. We also be able to use this same water for the gardens or lawns. Speaking of which, another question I ask a lot is how can people live on a nice lot and not have any type of edible garden growing on it. I like flowers and plants, but given our food choices and how expensive organic is, you would think more people would want to cultivate something.

Now that I got that off my chest, I have been thinking of working on a video to teach people to dehydrate fruits and vegetables. I will post the video soon to teach and hopefully encourage more people to get involved with food preservation. Which leads me to gardening. When there's excess fruits and vegetables, you can't eat it all so you preserve it by dehydrating (among other means). Or, if that's not the case, then if you are at the supermarket or grocery store and there's a sale on fruits or veggies, if you know how to dehydrate, then you can buy at the sale price and preserve for later. Cranberries were on sale in December or November, can't remember so I bought a few extras and dehydrated them. They are great in yogurt, smoothies, cakes, kefir, etc..

I had a disastrous balcony garden after my plants that were growing beautifully were decimated by the white fly. So, now I am planting cuttings from my basil and Spanish oregano plants to create a hostile environment for the white fly so that I can start planting my tomatoes and cucumbers and lettuce again. There are different pests in South Florida and I just need to figure out how to work around it. Once I have my garden working again, I'll start preserving the fruits of my labor. Pun intended! :-)

I just found out that on Saturday, January 21st, at the 40th Street Farmer's Market there will be a free rain barrel workshop. I'm super excited as this will give people that don't know about harvesting rainwater, the knowledge and know how. They are also selling them for $40.

Now I have to run as I am getting my herbal oils ready for the market on Saturday. Hope to see you there. Otherwise, make it a wonderful weekend. 
Blessings,
Z

After the holidays, everyone wants to keep the resolutions they made on New Year's Eve, one of which is usually weight loss or getting to the gym. I myself have been struggling with weight loss for the past three years. In reality, weight loss is a state of mind, where you convince yourself that you are either ready or not to lose the weight. I tell myself that I want and need to lose this weight but then I binge on chocolate. That's not very smart. In order to lose weight, my mind has to be in it. I have to vest in myself mentally and the physical will follow. I am being motivated by a dear friend in New York as well as my sister. We are sending texts to each other to motivate and inspire to do something each day. It's not about going to the gym if that makes you feel miserable, it is about making one positive move each day whether that be stretching, walking, running, cycling, or swimming. Just one. The next day builds on the prior days and so forth. Yesterday my dear friend from New York sent me a link barstarzz.com/inspiration/father-and-son-workout-goals again, to motivate. I received the link via MP3, listened and did the few exercises on the spot. and you know what? I felt better. I did something and that meant a lot. Today, I did it again. It's all a circle. We get up, get ready, do what we need to do and in between there's stress and eating (healthy or not). It's about forming the habit to do something positive every day. The video link above may inspire those that are ready to go to the park or the gym. The gentleman is 60 years young, what an inspiration.
Healthy mind, healthy body. 
Now I'm off to bottle some ginger kefir soda, so yummy and healthy. I'll be at the market on Saturday and you can contact me before that if you have any special requests.
Blessings,
Z