Climate Change is about more than just the weather....

More and more often we are finding out the hard way that our unhealthy obsession with "having it all" at the expense of everything else isnt working......

Rates of mental illnesses including depression and post-traumatic stress will increase as a result of climate change, a report to be released today says.

The paper, prepared for the Climate Institute, says loss of social cohesion in the wake of severe weather events related to climate change could be linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse.

As many as one in five people reported ''emotional injury, stress and despair'' in the wake of these events.

The report, A Climate of Suffering: The Real Cost of Living with Inaction on Climate Change, called the past 15 years a ''preview of life under unrestrained global warming''.
''Recent conditions are entirely consistent with the best scientific predictions: as the world warms so the weather becomes wilder, with big consequences for people's health and well-being.''

The paper suggests a link between Australia's recent decade-long drought and climate change. It points to a breakdown of social cohesion caused by loss of work and associated stability, adding that the suicide rate in rural communities rose by 8 per cent.

The report also looks at mental health in the aftermath of major weather events possibly linked to climate change.
It shows that one in 10 primary school children reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of cyclone Larry in 2006. More than one in 10 reported symptoms more than three months after the cyclone.

''There's really clear evidence around severe weather events,'' the executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute, Professor Ian Hickie, said.
''What we have seriously underestimated is the effects on social cohesion. That is very hard to rebuild and they are critical to the mental health of an individual.''

Professor Hickie, who is launching the report today, said climate change and particularly severe weather events were likely to be a major factor influencing mental health in the future.
''When we talk about the next 50 years and what are going to be the big drivers at the community level of mental health costs, one we need to factor in are severe weather events, catastrophic weather events,'' he said.
full story HERE

We are so far behind the eight-ball now that I am not sure we can ever catch up, we desperately need to find a healthy balance between comfort and the health of every other living thing...which includes our planet.

Satisfying Sunday.........

What a delighful sight to wake to! This morning the ballooning mob were out and about in droves, this is just one of about 6 I saw.

Today was perfect for a day in the garden, cool, slight breeze and sunshine.

I moved two of my roses that seem to be stuck in growth, hopefully they will take off in their new posi.....have to love flowers to admire and brighten the house:)

The lettuces are doing wonderfully, I thought they would have bolted with all the warm weather we are having, but no, they just keep on producing as I keep stripping away the leaves!



The Cape Gooseberry has gone haywire, there is bucketloads of ripening berries on it.

Ive not tried making Jam from these, although I am thinking that with the amount of fruit being produced it may be time to try. An amazing fruit very high in Vitamin C.

The next door neighbours dropped off bottles of lemon juice as you can see to the right. They use the rind dried in their spice
mixes and were kind enough to juice the left overs for me........looks like there is going to be another lot of Lemon Butter being made this weekend. I also freeze in ice block trays, loving nothing better than a great glass of icy water with a couple of lemon ice cubes.......very refreshing.
Or..........you can add boiling water for a drink first thing in the morning, supposedly very healthy for you on an empty tummy.

Some of the pickings whilst out weeding today. I am clearing out the gardens to plant more vegies again. Very strange that I still have tomatoes producing and it's now time to plant this seasons, just goes to show how mild our winter was!

My favourite new objects! I have finally purchased two very large water baths for my preserving. Each comes with the tray to stack your jars in and a handy basket to lift it all out with.

I cannot wait till tomato season, am I going to have a blast!!

The chooks got wheelbarrow loads of weeds today. I haven't let them out for the last couple of weeks because of all the new seedlings just raising their heads, instead just picking bits and pieces to throw in amongst their grains etc.

I've ordered a Chinese Cedar, ever seen one?
They have the most amazing flush of lipstick pink leaves before they turn green for the season, so very pretty.

I love growing my fruit and vegies but having something for the soul is important to me too:)

I've also ordered some of the Albany Woolly Bush,
(Adenanthos sericeus) enough to do the length of the house along the driveway, will keep the summer sun away from the house and ensure it remains a little cooler in the warmer months.

It won't shed leaves into the guttering, the birds love it and it has the loveliest touch to it, soft and feathery.
It is extremely hardy and once settled in is very drought tolerant and doesn't appear to care what sort of soil it is in.

All in all a fantastic weekend with much achieved. Hope yours was a good one too and your week ahead a super one:)

Farmer sues neighbour over GM contamination

JULY: A Western Australian farmer launched legal action against his neighbour for allegedly contaminating his organic property with genetically modified (GM) crops.

Steve Marsh was stripped of his organic certification in December when a neighbour's GM canola blew onto his property in Kojonup in the south-west.

Mr Marsh is now suing his neighbour for loss of income, because he can no longer sell his produce at a premium.

His lawyer, Mark Walter, will issue a writ in the WA Supreme Court claiming Mr Marsh's neighbour was negligent.
He says it is a landmark case that will be watched closely by farmers across the country.

"It's an opportunity to provide all farmers with clarity as to how the law will deal with these circumstances," Mr Walter said.
"I think it's going to be very important because there are both conventional and unconventional farmers who are concerned as a result of the introduction of GM and how that may affect their farming practises and how they protect themselves from that form of contamination.
"It's likely to be an increasingly important issue because the prospect for further losses or unwanted contamination will rise."
GM canola has been grown in WA, Victoria and New South Wales since 2008.

AUGUST: A farmer near the site of a spill of genetically modified (GM) canola in the Great Southern in Western Australia says the seeds are now germinating.

Last week, a truck carrying more than 15 tonnes of GM canola caught fire on the Albany Highway near Williams in south-west Western Australia, spilling its contents onto the side of the road.
The spill has reignited the debate about the State Government's decision to lift its ban on GM canola last year.

Grain transporter Co-operative Bulk Handling issued a statement saying all appropriate protocols had been followed to remove the grain and prevent any contamination.

Narrakine farmer Geoff Reed says he is worried the germinating seeds will contaminate his non-GM oat crop.
"Saturday night we had nine [millimetres] of rain and that exposed a lot of seed that has just started to germinate," he said.
"There's millions of them there, they are spread along about 50 metres of the road-side in the water table."

My personal opinion of GM food is that there has been nowhere near enough, nor any long term studies completed on if and how it may affect our bodies, for all we know this could be another "Thalidomide" waiting to happen! If you haven't already obtained a copy of Jeffrey Smith's "Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods" do so, it's a worrying amount of data.

Arpad Pusztai and other scientists were shocked at their results of animals fed GM foods. Other independent studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well.
FULL story HERE

"Multiple animal studies have shown that GM foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body. With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients' and the public's health," said Dr. Amy Dean, PR chair and Board Member of AAEM. "Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions," said Dr. Jennifer Armstrong, President of AAEM. "The most common foods in North America which are consumed that are GMO are corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oil." The AAEM's position paper on Genetically Modified foods can be found HERE

AAEM is an international association of physicians and other professionals dedicated to addressing the clinical aspects of environmental health.
More info HERE

Grow your own, buy organic and cook from scratch.....the best way to avoid most of it:)

At Last..........

Peace. Ever had something you know you had to do but kept procrastinating?

Well, I have, after 2 years, decided that above all one needs to be true to ones heart regardless of any other factors.

Hope your week ahead is a super one:)

Knocking off work to carry bricks....

Ever hear that old expression? Well it was certainly applicable this last week of my holidays......and I had a wonderful time!

The back steps have been completed, the old

brick ones that were so deep and killed both my dicky knee and our wee dogs arthritis have gone, in their place pine ones that are much easier to climb.

The garden has been going crazy with all the sunshine and rain, and of course with perfect weather goes much planting, beetroot, lettuce, capsicums, leeks, peas, onions, shallots snow peas, watermelons and tomatoes.

What is reallly strange is I still have last seasons tomatoes bearing fruit!!  This year certainly has been very different weather wise......I could live in this climate quite happily if the summer was as mild as the winter has been :)

The amaranth in the herb garden, have no idea how that got there, although it is obviously enjoying the space, the remainder is in the back yard behind the shed where it loves the old chook pen soil.

I plan on putting more of this in next year, we cannot grow enough of it here to be totally self sufficient in it, but love just growing a little:)

The parsely has taken off yet again, despite my having cut it back numerous times for dehydrating!

One more cut from this lot and I will more than enough for my years supply of this versatile herb.

The Feverfew has done really well, self seeds itself every year. A useful herb to have around, I dehydrate this too and now have enough for a year, so will cut this right back with the exception of a couple of flowers for self seeding purposes.

The pepinos have bushed up with wee fruit just beginning to show. Earlier this year we placed some old builders rubble around the plants, they seem to have thrived on it! I suspect its the lime content.

A few of the peas. I have these all over the garden and love them raw, however they leave me with the itchiest throat if not cooked so this lot will see the pot, any I have in abundance for the week get dehydrated.

The chinese goosberries have spread themselves all over the place with many fruits just developing.

These never last long enough to make into jams :)


The fruit trees are all starting to bud up, should be a wonderful year for fruit, although I am not sure how my cherries will go, it hasn't been cold enough I suspect for fruit set.......we shall see.......

One more day of holidays and it's back to work, tomorrow will be spent putting more seeds in, cleaning out the chook pen (hen house) and some weeding.

Enjoy the week ahead:)

Taking the time.......

Having a brief holiday this week and loving every minute of it.

I've had time to clean out the linen cupboard that was outside the bathroom and move it all into the wall to wall vanity we have finally had built into the bathroom.

The cupboard came in useful, is now in my laundry storing all sorts of laundry goodies like dried soapwort and soap nuts:)

I had time to make some of that delectable Lemon Butter/Curd that we so love after a friend gave me two very large bags of lemons.

The recipe is a brilliant one. Unlike most of the recipes, this one will keep on your shelves for at least 12 months. You can find it on the right under recipes.

I thought I would try something different with some of it that wouldn't fit into the final jar, so popped some puff pastry into muffin tins, let them do their thing, then whipped some cream until VERY thick, mixed in some of the curd and piped into the pastry.........result? Scrumptious!! The remainder of the lemons we juiced, saved the zest too and froze into icecube trays ready for the next batch:)

It has rained here just about every day for at least two weeks. This weather is what it used to be like when I was a child, and I do so enjoy it! The garden obviously does too as everything is going haywire........and the cockies (aussie slang for farmers) aren't complaining either, the crops are loving it!

Dinner tonight came from the garden, well, with the exception of the bacon which I buy from the local butcher (locally produced). Potato, Bacon & Broccoli Soup........a deliciously thick soup. I know I consistently point this out, but truly, there really is nothing better than walking outside to pick dinner!

In the case of the potatoes they had been blanched and frozen, the broccoli was picked straight from the plant, amazing the difference in taste too!

Just in case you feel like cooking a soup, here's the recipe:

1 Tblsp butter

1 diced onion

garlic to taste

pepper to taste

3 cups broccoli

2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

4 potatoes

1.5 cups milk

bacon rashers

1/2 cup plain flour

salt to taste

Melt the butter over medium heat

Saute' the onion, bacon, garlic and pepper until caramelised

Add broccoli, stock and potato

Bring to the boil and cook for 15 mins

In a separate bowl mix the flour and milk, slowly add to soup whilst stirring well

Reduce to a simmer for a further 15 mins

Some add cheddar cheese at this stage, I find it rich and flavoursome enough, just finish with your salt to taste:)

You may want to play with this recipe a little, I cook by a splash of this and a slosh of that...

It's nice taking time to smell the roses:)