A Few Herbs To Grow and Use For Emotional Well-Being

Exploring the realm of medicinal herbs extends beyond their physical healing properties, as they possess the potential to support our mental and emotional well-being. In addition to their renowned immune-boosting, pain-relieving, and digestive benefits, herbs have the ability to alleviate anxiety, mild depression, induce relaxation, improve sleep, and enhance focus and mental clarity.

The extensive array of herbs used for these purposes is vast, making it challenging to compile a comprehensive list. Nonetheless, the forthcoming pages highlight a selection of easily cultivated and enticing herbs, exuding beauty and a delightful aroma, ideal for your personal garden. These herbs can be effortlessly transformed into soothing herbal teas.

While these herbs are generally considered safe for use in teas and other herbal preparations, it is advisable to seek guidance from a healthcare professional before consuming them in large quantities, for prolonged periods, or for treating specific medical conditions.

Consulting with an expert ensures proper dosage determination and helps identify potential interactions with medications or any other side effects. This precaution is particularly crucial for pregnant or nursing women, as well as individuals taking prescription drugs.

Herbs for emotional well-being

Lemon balm

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), a perennial herb with vibrant green leaves reminiscent of its mint relative, emits a distinct lemony fragrance. Its historical use as a stress and anxiety reducer adds to its appeal.

Growing lemon balm: Lemon balm thrives when planted as young plants during late spring. It is generally considered hardy up to Zone 4. With a potential height of 2 feet or more, it makes a charming addition to any perennial bed. Its abundant green leaves and small white flowers add visual appeal when in bloom. Lemon balm is a relatively fast-growing herb, typically reaching maturity in approximately 70 days. Harvest the leaves when desired, whether for immediate use or for drying to create delightful herbal teas.

Health benefits: Lemon balm has a traditional reputation for addressing insomnia and anxiety, often enjoyed in the form of tea. Numerous studies support these medicinal uses, sometimes combining lemon balm with other calming herbs like valerian. Interestingly, lemon balm may offer additional benefits for mental health. Although further research is necessary, a recent compelling finding suggests that treatment with lemon balm extract may enhance cognitive function and reduce agitation in individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Rosemary

rosemary for emotional distress

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), a fragrant perennial shrub native to the Mediterranean, is renowned for its culinary applications and possesses potential mood-boosting and brain-protecting properties.

Growing rosemary: Begin by planting rosemary as young plants during the spring, ensuring well-drained soil and ample sunlight. Carefully select rosemary varieties, considering their growth habits, such as upright or trailing, compact or sprawling, and their cold hardiness levels. While only a few varieties are marketed as hardy beyond Zone 6, in warmer climates, rosemary can be cultivated as a hedge. In cooler regions, it is advisable to grow rosemary in pots,…

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Securing Water Off Grid | Homesteading Guide

Do you want to know the process of securing water off the grid? Follow along the free video series and learn the process of securing water off the grid.

“Water” the most important substance on earth, especially for survival. If you are to live off the grid, you must know what are the water resources you have available in your location to find out what are your options. As you could remember our favorite Youtubers, OFF GRID WITH DOUG AND STACY, are just doing great with living off the grid and off course they don’t want you to miss out on how you can secure water when you start living off the grid. Read on and check the videos prepared for you in securing water off grid.

 

Off Grid: How to Secure Water Part 1

A glimpse of what you can expect from the first video:

  • Doug set up gravity feed water system for rain-water.

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  • He built 10 feet deep and thirty feet long, section of his barn

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  • Raise a tank about 20″ or so from ground level to give even more gravity fall to the cabin.

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  • He used 1500 gallon cisterns, 3000 gallons total capacity and 250 gallons for the first flush.
  • How Doug set up the place for his water system.

Doug discussed a lot on how his work in getting started with securing water for his homestead. Don’t miss checking the full video.

Hit play to start video below or watch it here:

 

Off Grid : How To Secure Water Part 2

Let’s take a peek at what to expect from the second video:

  • He used 4” PVC schedule 40 to allow the water flow to his cabin.
  • He has shown the progress of their water system both inside and outside.

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  • How the waters will come in from the T construction of PVC.

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  • Doug also put a mosquito screen on his tank opening to stop mosquito from laying eggs and stop other pest getting inside his tank.

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  • He has two big tanks that are joined together.

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Make sure to check the video, as Doug explained how he keep sanitation and have proper water distribution.

Hit play to start video below or watch it here:

 

Off Grid : How To Secure Water Part 3

Let’s take a peek on the third and final video of OFF GRID with DOUG and STACY securing water off grid.

  • Connecting up the pipes. Doug show’s the entire process on he connected the pipes
  • How deep he buried his pipes.
  • Doug show’s what areas of his land and house he connected the pipes to have water in.

Make…

15 Top Homesteaders To Follow On Instagram

Looking for top homesteaders to follow on Instagram? Does the homesteader way intrigue you? Read on and find out the top homesteaders to follow on Instagram!

If you’re looking for inspiration to get started on homesteading, these are the people you should be following. They’ll show you the ropes and get you ready and self-sufficient in no time!

If you are interested in living off grid and planning to explore a life outside the comfort of the modern world, you must be aware that you are not alone. More and more people are really doing great becoming self-sufficient and finding ways to create things from scratch. To help you out to which fellow homesteader you can follow to get some tips and guides about homesteading, we’ve compiled, but listed in no particular order, the 15 top homesteaders you can follow on Instagram!

 

1. The Prairie Homestead

Nope. Not at all.

A photo posted by Jill Winger (@theprairiehomestead) on Jul 18, 2016 at 7:14am PDT

The Prairie Homestead is Jill Winger’s homestead blog. Jill’s blog will let you discover the freedom brought by homesteading and teaches you different ways to your roots and write your own homesteading story.

2. Longest Acres Farm

A farm located in the hills of Central Vermont. Kate who’s a mother and a farmer presents beautiful photos of her Icelandic Sheep, Devon Cows, Ossabaw Pigs, her wonderful life and her family’s experience on their farm.

3. The Elliott Homestead

The Elliott Homestead is own by Shaye Elliot and its filled with her homesteading experiences. Here, she allows you to enjoy life on her farm and shares ideas on how to can peaches, the use of cloth diapers instead of disposable ones and tasty dishes you can make by using the crops you’ve grown.

4. The Homesteading Hippy

Heather of The Homesteading Hippy began her homesteading adventure when they’ve bought their first house in 2006 and have attempted to start their first garden by raised bed boxes and planting over 200 seeds and  plants in a very limited space, though they didn’t have plenty of produce at that time but since then she learned a lot about how to become a successful homesteader and wishes to encourage her followers and readers to start where they can and learn along the way.

5. Root Simple

An urban homesteading blog by the authors of Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World and The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heat of the City, Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne. It covers the topic about going back to basics, gardening, DIY living, urban homesteading, herbal medicines, animals, transportation, saving, and food preservation.

 

Start-up costs, Continuation costs, Profits, and Contradictions.

In this article, I compare different livestock – Start-up costs, Continuation costs, Profits, and Contradictions.

I was not raised on a farm but when we purchased 20 acres I knew that we needed to put the land to good use. Thankfully, I have a husband who is almost as adventurous as I am so we jumped into the farm and homesteading life with both feet. God was gracious and we landed well- not very gracefully but we are surviving and even thriving in most areas!

This article will compare the different animals that we have tried to raise on our plot of Heaven on Earth, as well as the costs involved. Remember that we have only been farming for 15 years and our experiences may vary from yours. I am hoping that you will learn from our mistakes and gain some insight from our situation.

These are the animals with which we have had experiences:

Horses , Cows, Chickens – Layers, Chickens – Meat, Goose, Ducks, Rabbits (meat), Sheep, Goats – Dairy.

HORSES

We started with horses. Yep, hay burners. (For those of you who have never had these gentle giants on your property, they are called “Hay Burners” because unless you are using them for transportation, plowing, or enjoyment, then they really don’t do much except eat hay and poop.)

Although we hadn’t thought about having equine on the farm, my daughter had been praying for a free horse for several years and God heard and answered her prayers. Not only did she get a free horse, but it came with free feed and free tack and a free saddle. Who were we to turn down all that free stuff? For those who have or have had horses, you know that as soon as you get a free horse, the expenses begin.

Horses can be picky regarding the hay they eat. Right now in the mid-west, good hay costs around $8-10 a square bale. Horses also need a salt block and a mineral block. These run about $7 each at our local farm store.

Not-so-funny story about needing a salt block… Our second free horse (because horses are herd animals and we didn’t want the first one to be lonely J) was under the weather so we called the vet who came right out and determined he was dehydrated. After sedating him and shoving a gastric tube into his stomach, and filling his gut with electrolytes, I learned the importance of a $5 salt block as compared to a farm call vet bill ($160).

There is also the need for a farrier for their hooves, if you can find one in your area. In our area, they charge an average of $50 per horse (not including shoeing) and the visits are generally every 8 weeks.

And then, since horses don’t live forever, you need to consider the matter of burial. With our other (smaller) livestock we are able to transport their carcasses to the back corner of our property….

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Garden Seed Starting Calculator | Homesteading Guide

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FTC Announces Complaint Against Amazon for Manipulative Design Practices in Amazon Prime Enrollment and Cancellation Tactics

Today the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Amazon for using dark patterns to trick consumers in both the enrollment and cancelation processes for Amazon Prime. The complaint alleged that that Amazon’s use of manipulative design causes consumers to enroll consumers in automatically-renewing Amazon Prime subscriptions without their consent. Additionally, the FTC alleged that Amazon knowingly created a cancellation process “designed to deter consumers from successfully unsubscribing from Prime.” The complaint charges that Amazon’s use of deceptive user-interface design to manage enrollment and cancellation of Amazon Prime subscriptions violated both the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

“Amazon has a long history of using complicated, mazelike design features to prevent users from choosing privacy protective options. These deceptive designs harm users because Amazon continues to charge membership fees from misdirected users and collect, use, and retain users’ personal information.” Said EPIC Counsel Sara Geoghegan. “The FTC’s lawsuit is a strong step towards holding Amazon accountable and stopping the company from undermining the privacy of its customers. Dark patterns and deceptive designs harm consumers and the FTC should continue to take action against the use of these manipulative design features.”

In 2021, EPIC filed a complaint with the D.C. Attorney General alleging that Amazon’s use of manipulative dark patterns in the subscription cancellation process was unlawful. EPIC also signed on to a coalition letter in 2021 urging the FTC to investigate Amazon’s use of dark patterns in the Prime cancellation process.

Easy Homemade Buttermilk Substitute | DIY Ideas

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Data Minimization: A Pillar of Data Security, But More Than That Too

This is the third in a series of blog posts about EPIC’s proposal for a data minimization standard to limit commercial surveillance and protect consumer privacy. In our first post, my colleague Suzanne Bernstein explained that data minimization is a framework for limiting the collection, use, transfer, and retention of personal information and discussed how minimization is a way to fulfill the reasonable expectations of consumers concerning the use and protection of their personal data. In our second post, my colleague Sara Geoghegan talked about the harms that often flow from secondary uses of personal data and how purpose limitations—a critical part of any data minimization framework—fit into the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to regulate unfair commercial data practices.

Today’s post highlights the important role data minimization can play in data security while also underscoring that a robust minimization framework must do more than protect against breaches and unauthorized access of personal data.

Last summer, the FTC published a lengthy request for comment signaling that it intended to adopt new rules governing the commercial processing of personal data—something EPIC had previously urged the Commission to do. In November, EPIC filed extensive comments with the FTC setting out the scale of today’s data privacy crisis, discussing the Commission’s legal authority to establish robust rules, and identifying specific harmful business practices that the Commission should regulate. Those comments cover a lot of ground (summary here), but they lead with EPIC’s long-running call for a data minimization rule—specifically, a declaration by the FTC that:

It is an unfair trade practice to collect, use, transfer, or retain personal data beyond what is reasonably necessary and proportionate to the primary purpose for which it was collected, consistent with consumer expectations and the context in which the data was collected.

By defining the above as an unfair practice, the FTC can unlock the ability to impose significant fines on violators that collect, process, and transfer excessive personal data. Briefly stated, the Commission’s authority to issue trade rules extends to business practices that are both (1) unfair or deceptive, and (2) prevalent. A business practice is considered “unfair” if it’s likely to cause substantial injury that consumers can’t reasonably avoid and which isn’t outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition, and it’s considered “deceptive” if it involves a representation or omission likely to mislead consumers. To establish that a harmful business practice is “prevalent,” the Commission can rely on two types of evidence: (1) past cease and desist orders concerning that business practice, or (2) “any other information available to the Commission indicates a widespread pattern of unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”

Data Security Means Data Minimization

Alongside commercial surveillance, data security is one of the two principal areas of concern highlighted in the FTC’s initial proposal for the (aptly named) Trade Regulation Rule on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security. EPIC has often criticized the FTC’s failure to safeguard the privacy of consumers over the past…

Amazing Bobby Pin Hacks for Survival

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EPIC Urges First Circuit to Recognize Legality of State Voter Privacy Law

EPIC submitted an amicus brief on Friday, June 16 in the case Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Bellows urging the First Circuit to reverse a district court opinion that found a Maine voter privacy law to be preempted by the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”). In the case, PILF—an organization that focuses on election integrity and has at time publicly released individual voters’ social security numbers and wrongfully accused them of felonies—is suing Maine, alleging that Maine’s voter privacy law is illegal. Maine’s voter law allows members of the public to obtain the statewide voter list only if they are doing so to evaluate Maine’s compliance with the NVRA and if they agree to not use the list to publicly release voters’ names, addresses, birth dates, and other personally identifiable information. The NVRA requires states to maintain and make publicly available records relating to the state’s implementation of programs that ensure statewide voter registration lists are accurate.

PILF argues that under the NVRA, all completed voter registration applications, including the information contained in the statewide voter file, must be publicly available, so Maine’s privacy law unlawfully conflicts with the NVRA. The district court agreed with PILF, granting it summary judgment, so Maine appealed.

EPIC’s brief argues that PILF and the district court were wrong: voter privacy enhances election integrity by shielding voters from abuse, intimidation, and coercion. EPIC’s brief argues that publicly releasing voters’ sensitive private information will only discourage voting, so Maine’s reasonable access, transfer, and use limitations enables the public to ensure Maine’s elections are handled with integrity while also protecting Maine citizens. EPIC’s brief also shows that such limitations are commonplace both in voting and other arenas nationwide.

EPIC regularly files amicus briefs in cases related to voter privacy and advocates for voter privacy through comments and reports.