Zero waste gardening

 Zero waste is my favorite topic on this blog. Previously we talked extensively about zero waste cooking. Let's also talk about zero waste gardening

• Drill or poke holes in used milk cartons or plastic bottles to use as a watering can, watering sprinkler
• Frame gardening
• Use popsicle sticks as garden labels. It's biodegradable and looks great
• Start a worm bin, compost to combat food waste
• Collect rain water with buckets on rainy days, store in water tanks for future dryer season needs. Be sure to treat the water for medium long term storage. Rain water can also bring the essential nutrients and minerals the plants need. 
• Used tea bags can be used as incubation pouch for germinating seeds. 
• Dipping plant stems in honey (honey you were to discard, not for eating), can provide vital nutrients for the plant to grow. 
• Join a plant swap program, exchange plants with other plant moms e.g. blossom plant swap.
• Reuse water for 3rd 4th rinse of vegetable, washing hands (without soap), rinsing clean things, you can use that for watering your garden. Do not use the first / 2nd rinse to avoid pesticides and other bad stuff. I was able to go on days and even weeks without dedicating water for gardening, by reusing rinse water, even during hot summer season.

Manuka Honey, stories, anecdotes, fun facts

 warning these statements have not been approved by FDA. This is a lifestyle blog, doesn't intend to give any health advice. Please do your own research. Please consult with your physician. 

Some countries like Australia and New Zealand offers what's considered medical grade Manuka Honey, believed to promote gastrointestinal (GI) health, and believed to have potentials to boost the immune system. There's a system to rate Manuka Honey based on production and nutritional contents. An unique factor is used in this grading system called Unique Manuka Factor (UMF). In some countries like New Zealand and Australia, there are clinics and hospitals that use Manuka Honey in clinical trials and treatments. That is not the case in the United States.

It seems that royal jelly likes to name things after itself, the major component of royal jelly is Major royal jelly protein (MRJP)... That's not exactly helpful. According to Wikipedia : "Royal jelly is a nutrient-rich mixture of vitamins, sugars, fats, proteins, and enzymes." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_royal_jelly_protein . It's used for feeding the young and that's why it is so nutritious, like egg white.

Manuka is not used extensively in the United States. They can be found in Costco food isles. 

Workout, fitness for wellness - modern fitness trends

These exercises aim to improve your wellbeing. Modern exercise, workout trends.

At-home fitness, mirror fitness

Core Yoga, Glow Yoga, heated yoga, laughing yoga.

Chopfit, axe throwing, exercising with a fitness axe

Cycling: soulcycle has a beautiful following, almost cult-like with amazing soundtracks. Local alternatives include CycleBar in Berkeley.  Check out the soulcycle sound track on sound cloud https://soundcloud.com/soulcycle

Burpee : dubbed the most efficient cardio workout, without equipment without environment reqs, do it any where atitude.

Equinox (the Hermes of gyms) jetlag busting exercises: https://furthermore.equinox.com/sweatlag . Equinox recovery workout https://furthermore.equinox.com/articles/2017/03/recovery-workout these workouts help you last longer as athletes, recover faster. Fitness vocabulary https://furthermore.equinox.com/articles/2019/02/fitness-vocab-eldoa

Foam roller : how to use a foam roller
https://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/news/g28644/how-to-use-a-foam-roller/
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/foam-rolling-how-to

Jump rope: minimalist workout does not require venue or machines. 

Mobility sticks

Popsugar fitness youtube channel

Sumo squat

VR fitness: Supernatural VR Fitness

Apps - productivity fitness apps that improves our self care, well being, zen, relaxation, calmness

These apps in general may lead to a better lifestyle, healthy living.

For calmness: Sleep apps, sleep cycle, meditation apps, meditation music

For fitness and running: Nike training app, Strava maps out the course, 

For health : Stanford heart study health app, Apple Watch for tracking heart rate and irregularity

For productivity: youtube music study sessions,

Spotify : Brown Noise play list. 

White noise sound device. 

Cloud study music. Youtube chilled cow channel. 

Warning: none of the statements are approved by FDA, these are not health advice. Please always consult with your physician.