5 Easy Steps to an Old Fashioned Cottage Garden

Cottage garden style is a casual, colorful, easy, beautiful and cheerful celebration of flowers and herbs. I started small and continued to add to my garden. It is much less overwhelming to do 'baby steps', rather than to craft a large garden all at once.

To reduce the amount of watering and fertilizing later, start right by using organic soil that is rich in nutrients. You will enjoy the gorgeous abundant blooms of happy plants that are thriving in ideal conditions. Healthy, well-nourished plants need little to no fertilizer. 

One of the best things about this type of garden is its plant density. This dense growth keeps roots cool and moist while crowding out any weeds. Moreover, some seeds will naturally fall to the ground and provide a whole new crop of flowers the following spring.

1. All new gardens should start the same way:

assess the area for the amount of sunlight it receives in a day

determine if the spot is normally dry or moist

if your soil is not 'gardeners' dream loam, add organic materials as needed to make it a great place for new growth to thrive

2. Define the borders of your new cottage garden:

I love the old picket fences, and incorporate them to delineate the boundaries of my gardens. I think they add to the old-fashioned feeling cottage gardens evoke. Perhaps you would rather use stones or some other materials to outline your garden. That's the beauty of a cottage garden-there are no rules except yours!

3. Choose your plants. For me that is the most fun of the whole project. I prefer to use only perennial plant material, but you can certainly add annuals for a bright pop of instant color.

Incorporate the plants that you love, and that work in your sunlight situation. As to choosing colors, I like to mix and match for a very informal look, as if Nature painted the picture herself. But if you wish to use your favorite colors, or coordinate them with your house color, or use complimentary colors, then that is what you should do. Again, there are no hard and fast rules with this type of garden.

4. Wind a drip hose in and around your cottage garden to ensure your plants get all the moisture they need and you won't have to haul out the hose at all! Water ends up where the roots can access it easily. There are inexpensive timers available at local garden centers and online. Just set the on/off time and duration so your garden is watered automatically.

Once established, cottage gardens require a lot less water than traditional gardens. Mine doubles as a rain garden, so I rarely have to water it unless we have an extended dry spell during the hottest part of the summer. Also, my cottage garden faces towards the east. It receives about 6 hours of sunlight, most of which comes during the morning hours.

5. Mulching your garden is always an important step. Mulch holds in precious moisture and holds down weeds, plus it provides that finishing touch that pulls everything together. Use organic mulch like leaf mold or bark, and you have added another layer of nutrients as the mulch breaks down over time.

I make leaf mold by filling up a large black plastic leaf bag with leaves in the spring; tie it up and let it 'cook' in a sunny place for several months. It will break down into usable mulch and be ready for spreading on your gardens in the fall.

Plants that produce nectar, seeds and seed heads are helpful for wild song birds. Nectar plants provide nutritious food during the warmer months; then in the wintertime the seed heads supply valuable nourishment when other seed sources are scarce.

The best gardens are those that bestow beauty and fragrance for us, as well as nourishment for wildlife and beneficial insects. Never use toxic weed killers or chemical fertilizers. Stick with natural and organic alternatives that do not harm us, our wildlife or our water supply.

Remember it is always best to use native plants. They have adapted to your particular climate and soil conditions. Native songbirds, butterflies and bugs look for those familiar and useful plants and shrubs. Your cottage garden will yield many far-reaching benefits for you and your local wildlife.

My name is Connie Smith, and I have been observing, feeding and protecting wild birds for over 35 years. It is so important to help our wildlife that I have dedicated my website to providing information about creating wild bird habitats, as well as safe homes in which birds can nest and raise their families

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Glycoscience Leukemia Breakthrough

Glycoscience Leukemia Breakthrough

Scientists have found that leukemia cells have altered cell surface carbohydrates. This is a remarkable discovery and may change how cancer it treated.

When glycoprotein receptor sites on the surface of human cells become deformed, they can kill you. It is from these little antenna all communication is made to support life. 

You have some 56 quintillion receptor sites (give or take a few trillion). Every single antenna is constructed from Smart Sugars.

When your body does not have enough Smart Sugars, it can manufacture them from glucose and other sugars present. 

However, the enzymatic gymnastics require so much time and energy that the job is not finished properly. When the job is not finished, the receptors are deformed and malfunction with corrupted signals.

Researchers at Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics in Australia and The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have discovered that leukaemic cells have altered cell surface carbohydrates compared to normal cells. Altered cell surface carbohydrates is a critical weakness in leukaemic cells. This knowledge may pave the way for new cancer treatments.

Professor Mark von Itzstein is Director of Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics and the Australian team leader. 

He said the discovery is an important advance against leukemia, a cancer of malignant white blood cells that multiply uncontrollably.

Professors Nora Heisterkamp and John Groffen, leaders of the US-based team and Professor von Itzstein and their colleagues have published their research findings in the latest edition of the internationally acclaimed Journal of Experimental Medicine.

We know removal of healthy glycoproteins from the surface of healthy cells will kill healthy cell. So, the immediate response of the researchers is to remove the altered glycoproteins from the cancerous cells thereby killing the cell. Sounds good, but...

Could it be that the scientists are looking through the wrong end of the microscope? It seems more plausible to improve the immune system by making more healthy glycoprotein receptor sites instead of killing the unhealthy cells. 

That is the job of the immune system. You may be able to do that with additional Smart Sugars in the body which will cut down on the time and energy required for enzymatic gymnastics to produce healthy receptor sites.

More research is needed to determine how beneficial certain sugars are to the human body. Glycoscience work world-wide will provide the information needed so the general public can determine for themselves how best to take control of their own health using Smart Sugars.

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Nutritional Content Of Bee Pollen - No Wonder It's The Most Complete Food On The Planet

Nutritional Content Of Bee Pollen - No Wonder It's The Most Complete Food On The Planet

It seems there is some new type of supplement arriving on the market every day, and of course it is invariably capable of doing the most amazing things.

It cures baldness; it helps your joints; it gets rid of wrinkles, and of course, like virtually every other supplement, it enhances your sex life. I am so sick of reading these ludicrous claims that I no longer even bother.

Admittedly however, bee pollen supplements did manage to catch my attention, and I am about to explain why.

I am not going to mention a single health benefit. Instead, I am only going to discuss a few FACTS regarding the nutritional content of bee pollen, because this is essentially what I found so intriguing.

Let me begin by saying that the human body requires several different nutrients; minerals and vitamins. In fact, your body requires 28 different nutrients. These are essentially molecules which the body requires, but cannot produce.

Interestingly enough, there are only two known foods that contain all 28 nutrients - raw honey and bee pollen. Okay, so now we know that apart from honey, bee pollen has no other competitors as far as essential nutrients are concerned. What about vitamins?

Countless foods are packed full of vitamins and nobody is disputing this, but none of them contain every type of vitamin your body needs, apart from natural honey bee pollen which contains all 18 of them. 

Once again, it is easy to see why there is currently so much interest in this astonishing food.

Good quality bee collected pollen also contains all 25 minerals required by the body, and all the amino acids; fats; enzymes; co-enzymes and etc. It likewise contains good carbohydrates and 59 different trace elements.

When a person thinks of protein, they usually think of things like meat, and especially beef. Ironically, the protein content of beef lags behind that of pollen. In fact it's 50% lower than the protein content of pollen. 

Protein from pollen is also a richer source of amino acids than protein derived from foods like eggs; cheese, and etc.

Well, as you can see, I stuck to my word, in that I have not discussed any potential health benefits. However, if you do decide to start including pollen in your daily diet, it's imperative that you source a good quality supplement. 

Regardless of how amazing the nutritional content of bee pollen is, you could still damage your health if the pollen has been contaminated.

Controlled chemical analysis has clearly shown just how remarkable the nutritional content of bee pollen is, and as such it's clearly evident that it is indeed a complete food, and one of the most nutritious foods known to man.

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Top SEO Mistakes and Myths

Top SEO Mistakes and Myths

1. SEO is a shady dark art

SEO is actually about understanding how search engines rank a website, what search engines look for, and how they determine your position within their results.

There are over 200 different elements that Google takes into account, for instance, so it takes a very skilled SEO professional to truly understand how to get a website to rank highly - and consistently.

2. Once is Enough

SEO is not merely a one-off exercise. It requires a lot of sustained, ongoing work in order to achieve high, stable results.

Google is constantly changing the way it indexes websites and, as such, a website will need to evolve over time to remain ahead of the curve.

Your business is constantly changing, so a good SEO strategy should keep in-line with these changes and constantly reassess your target keywords.

3. SEO is Quick

To build a highly-ranked, trusted website takes time. It can take many months, even years, of SEO work to achieve that coveted page 1 listing. There are literally hundreds of factors that can influence how a website ranks in a search engine. You may not be able to meet every criteria to the highest potential, however the key is to try and adhere to as many ranking factors as possible - and this takes time to work towards.

4. Buying a cheap off the shelf website with 'SEO built in'?

You can't just buy an off-the-shelf website or plug-in and expect to rank well instantly.

How your website is programmed is the most crucial part of an SEO strategy. SEO considerations need to be incorporated into the code from the ground up.

5. I am on page 1, job done!

Everyone wants to make it to page 1. However, there's little point being there for a search term that no-one is actually searching for! It's not the number of page 1-listed results you achieve that count, it's the amount of relevant converting traffic that your website attracts from the page 1 listings.

6. It works for them so let's just replicate it

What works for another business, competitor or friend won't necessarily work for you and your business. Every site has different requirements and therefore needs a tailor-made SEO action plan.

In summary

Always have a bespoke SEO strategy and be prepared to evolve it, target those keywords with the highest chance of conversion, and invest the time and money in a well-built website. Finally, be patient - high listings in Google take time and a lot of effort.

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Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd) for Natural Health and Wellness

Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd) for Natural Health and Wellness

Bitter gourd also known as bitter gourd, balsam pear, wild cucumber is widely believed to have medical benefits. It comes with a scientific name Momordica Charantia. Momordica came from the Latin word which means to bites. This was referred to the leaves that appear to be somewhat bitten in appearance. To justify such claim many countries had developed, synthesized and turn it into a more convenient and easy to swallow forms: capsules. But what could be under such bitter tasting food that makes it salubrious?

Bitter gourd is a creeping vine that actually belonged to squash family and is usually spotted in tropical areas. Mostly it is found in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa where the weather is warm. Its vine can reach up to 5 meters long and usually requires trellis to creep along. It has dark green leaves separated by 3 to 7 lobes. Individually, each plant owns two flowers of which one is female and the other is male.

Meanwhile, the fruit has a distinction of having a wrinkled texture with a hollow portion in the inside. But often times, the appearance varies depending on the variety of the vegetable. Some have smoother textures while others are jagged. The flesh is white in color when the fruit is still young but will eventually turn to orange or yellow when it matures. When it does, the bottom end of the fruit will curl backwards and a reddish aris with seeds enclosed in it will appear. Mostly, it is best eaten when still unripe. Nevertheless, the taste is still bitter.Such flavor is due to the present compound called momordicin. The type 1 of which is present in the leaves while momordicin II is found on the fruit. Although, this type of vegetation is majorly mistaken as vegetable it is in a reality a fruit.

Bitter Melon Precautions - Understanding the Safe Consumption of Bitter Gourd or Ampalaya

Because this herb has a toxic named lectin, this has to be used with caution especially to pregnant women. This plant is known to cause abortion. This is also not allowed for lactating women because the chemical may also pass through breast milk and therefore is harmful to the infant as well. Moreover, this is not recommended for those who have low blood glucose level. Fatal effect may occur. More importantly, those who are already diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus should not take any other drugs especially when your doctor does not recommend it. Drug-drug interactions are not always the best scenario to handle. Severe hypoglycemia may possibly take place. Moreover, this herb should be taken in moderation because excessive drinking of the juice can cause gastric disturbances that either may be manifested trough diarrhea or abdominal pain.

With such immense content, such plant should be regarded with caution when one is utilizing it. It may be true that it brings many benefits and can alleviate major known diseases but still it has other compounds that might not be pleasant to one's health. Nevertheless, it is nice to know that an ongoing research is made to further examine what is within this vegetable that could contribute to the people' health at large.

The bitter melon fruit (Momordica charantia), also known as ampalaya, is known for its many medicinal purposes. It can also be turned into delicious cuisines. Aside from cooking ampalaya and including it in their cuisines, some powder it or extract juice from its leaves. Meanwhile, there are some who turn it into a juice or shake and drink its extract to fully get its medicinal properties. The bitter melon fruit has become a readily available alternative to some diseases. Eating this fruit coupled with a good lifestyle will indeed prolong your life and make you healthier than ever.

However, there are cases where over intake of the fruit has become toxic to a living organism. In one study, toxic effects have been seen on rats and rabbits that were used in examining the effectiveness of ampalaya as a drug. There have also been some references that reported the poisonous aspects of Momordica charantia. Taking large doses of ampalaya fruit may cause severe vomiting and purging. Some also reported that ampalaya has been the cause of the death of a child. By taking in ampalaya juice, the child suffered severe vomiting and purging which lead to death. Hence, moderation is the key in order to prevent these cases from happening. You should also be aware that the regular intake of ampalaya is 1 cup per day. You should also be aware of your everyday intake. Excessive eating and drinking of its juice could be fatal to you.

Ampalaya can easily be part of your everyday diet, so you should not be afraid of eating the bitter melon. Bitter melon fruit or ampalaya has a lot of medicinal properties that can be natural cure for diabetes and other diseases. Eating it in excess may lead to some inconveniences for you; hence, you should take everything in moderation. You should train yourself in eating this healthy plant to help you increase your immune system and eventually prolong your life. There are a lot of health benefits of ampalaya and intake of this plant should be coupled with a healthy lifestyle to gain the wonders of bitter melon fruit.

Suggested Daily Intake

It was recommended that one has to take 50 to 100 ml of the bitter melon juice dividing into two to three intakes. This is equal to almost a small sized, young bitter gourd.

Still, there is the option of choosing whatever form this plant may come, since nowadays it has been turned into capsules, tea and juice. The preference of how it is taken is dependent on one's liking. If you prefer capsule, this has to be taken 1 gram twice a day. Nevertheless, taking it in its original form like turning it into a viand or food is still the most recommended. No nutrients are compromised in this method since it did not undertake any chemical or mechanical processes.

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