Registration is now open and FREE tickets are available for the Home Grown Food Summit 2019. There are 36 experts INCLUDING Paul Gautschi who promise to reveal their BEST secrets for growing all your own food & medicine! The speaker lineup for 2019 includes big names like:

Dr. Kai Fu Lee, Lehman’s, Stacey Murphy, Melissa Norris, Joel Salatin, Patrick Jones, Woody Tasch, David Goodman, Justin Rohner, Tom Bartels, and Wardeh Harmon. Just to name a few!
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If this will be your first year attending the Home Grown Food Summit, you should know:
It’s a 100% online event, FREE for you to attend. However, you must register online​ to get access to the event. ​

Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C. It is also rich in minerals, dietary fiber and protein. There are a rainbow full of colors to choose from! We love Swiss chard because it is super easy to grow, hardy and tolerant of cold and heat, and so delicious. Most importantly the seeds are organic and non-gmo! 

Gift Living Flowers
Cut flower bouquets are a traditional Valentines Day gift but what gardeners really love are living flowers! Give her the gift of growing living flowers this year! It is an uplifting way to fight the winter blues and you can also have fun transplanting them together in the spring! As you nurture your plants growth together you'll be reminded of your love for one another for years to come.

BUY GROW INDOORS STARTER BAGS 

BUY WILD FLOWERS AND POLLINATOR SEEDS 
If you're new to seed starting, begin with easy, reliable seeds, including zinnia, marigold and cosmos. These all germinate easily and grow quickly. 

BUY WINDOW GARDEN STARTER KIT

BIODEGRADABLE GIFT WRAPPING 
No matter what you give, take the time to wrap your gift and write a handmade card! It makes that special someone feel valued and show that you care. You don't have to be wasteful to make a gift look wonderful. This biodegradable wrapping paper can even be re-used in your garden and the twine can be used for many garden projects. DIY: Be creative and adorn with leaves or flowers!

​Thanks for checking out our Valentines Day living flowers and herbs gifting ideas!

Back to Eden Film, already seen it? Consider gifting it to a friend for Valentines Day! After all what says 'I love ya pal' more than the gift of learning how to healthy food for a lifetime!? 

Article by Dana Richardson, Back to Eden Film producer & gardener.

How to Avoid Termites in Your Home
Even though wood chips are not an attractive food source for termites, they do like moist soil. So, if you already have a termite infestation in your soil the moisture from the mulch could be an attractive area for them continue to survive. To avoid problems, reduce excess moisture around the siding of your home. If your wood chip mulch is laid down right up to the side of your home, rake it back 12-24 inches to give some space where the dirt lays bare. This will prevent excess moisture around your home that will prevent not only termites but also rotting. Also, make sure your sprinklers aren’t spraying the side of your house to avoid too much moisture at your foundation.

 Natural Remedies for Termites
Remember, termites are a natural part of the ecosystem. They are actually one of many insects that help break down wood into compost. So once you've removed the threat from them damaging your home you need not attack them for harmlessly doing their job outdoors. When the termites population has not gotten out of control it is probably due to another disruption in the local ecosystem, solve that first. Are you watering too much near your foundation? Is mulch too close to your home causing overly wet soil? Are decaying logs or dead plants touching your house? If so, fix this and the nature will rebalance on its own.

IF you have wood chips in your garden or in a pile that DO have termites in them do NOT spray it with insecticide! Not only will you create a toxic growing material you will also kill all of the beneficial organisms that are vital to process of decomposition of wood chips into compost. Even using organic sprays is against the principles of growing with sustainable permaculture methods since it can kill beneficial organisms.

The following remedies are recommended for use in or around your home. Although they are non-toxic I'm not sure how your vegetables or beneficial organisms will respond to large amounts of them. If you have a termite problem inside your home, don’t panic and grab toxic pesticides either! There are other very effective solutions that wont hurt you and your family as well. We’ve already shared that Cedar and Cypress heartwood are great naturally toxic to  termites so it’s no surprise Cedar Oil is one effective solution that’s safe for humans. Orange Oil or clove bud oils  are other effective, non toxic, termite repellents and they smells great too! Many forward thinking pest control companies are beginning to offer these non toxic termite repellents as part of their offered fumigation treatments.  

Gardening with Wood Chips
Watch the Back to Eden Film on DVD to own helpful Wood Chip Gardening FAQ videos answered by master gardener Paul Gautschi. Or watch them for free when you buy Back to Eden to download On Demand. Please follow us on facebook to read the first hand success stories of Back to Eden gardeners!

The information shared in this article is gleaned from research shared on Orkin, Terminix and SFGate articles as well as first hand experiences shared from Back to Eden gardeners testimonies worldwide. ​

This article was written by Dana Richardson, co-producer of Back to Eden Film.

The first time I ever heard of kombucha was from Paul Gautschi during the making of Back to Eden Film in 2010. Sarah Zentz (co-producer) and myself spent an amazing year with Paul learning and documenting his gardening methods to share with the world through our documentary. He mentioned it one day to us as a health recommendation and our first responses were "kom...bu...what?" Although the origins of kombucha are thought to date back to ancient China or Japan, to us it was something completely new! In fact, at the time kombucha was a lesser known secret among most people and only available at speciality stores. Now it has become a popular beverage found in most major grocery stores for a whopping $4.00+ per bottle!

Of course Paul Gautschi was one of the pioneers who was "in on the kombucha secret" long before it hit the shelves! In his usual freely giving character Paul took the time to freely share his personal kombucha recipe instructions with us. He even gave us one of his SCOBY starters to use. SCOBY is an acronym for "symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast." I started brewing my own kombucha with Paul's recipe and have been hooked on it ever since. Now you can try it too! It will not only save you tons of money, you will also be able to ensure it's ingredients are pure and adapt it to your personal taste preferences.

"Health is something that is maintained not something that is achieved." 
​-Paul Gautschi

• Improves digestive health due to being a high source of probiotics.
• High in B-Complex Vitamins such as thiamin and niacin.
• Rich in green tea antioxidants that benefit your immune system, weight loss and blood sugar stability.
• Kombucha is rich in tea polyphenols and acetic acid that act as inhibitors to the growth of undesirable bacteria and yeasts.
• Test-tube studies show that kombucha may suppress the growth of cancer cells. 
• Improves cardiovascular function due to lowering cholesterol.

​INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 quarts filtered water (14 cups)
• 1 cup organic sugar (regular granulated sugar works best). 
• 8 bags organic green tea, (or 2 tablespoons loose tea)
• 2 cups starter tea from store-bought kombucha (unpasteurized, original flavored). NOTE: You'll only need to use add the store bought bottles for your first batch. For future batches you will use 2 cups starter tea from your previous home brewed kombucha batch.
• 1 SCOBY per fermentation jar

KITCHEN TOOLS

• Glass Cookware . You will need to use glass pots two to boil enough tea for this recipe. Do NOT use metal.
• Wooden Stirring Spoons. You can NOT use metal stirring utensils.
• 1 Gallon Glass Jars. You can purchase a glass 1 gallon jar online. It is important that is has a wide mouth and no metal. We recommend this pack of two jars. 
•  Alternatively to storing your ready to drink kombucha in a 1 gallon jar you use smaller glass bottles. In this case you'll need a glass or plastic funnel to pour the kombucha into them. It can be more convenient for space and drinking purposes.

 INSTRUCTIONS
​1. Boil Water: Bring filtered water to a boil in your glass cookware. You don't want to add any extra chemicals like chlorine to your brew so make sure it's not just tap water. 

2. Dissolve Sugar: Remove your boiling water from the heat and carefully pour in the sugar to the water. Gradually stir in the sugar with your wooden spoon until it dissolves. Don't skip out on adding the full amount of sugar. This is what the culture "feeds" on to grow a healthy kombucha brew. 

 3. Brew Tea: The best tea bags to use are organic and do not have staples on the bags. If your tea bags do have staples carefully remove them before brewing your tea. No metal allowed! :) Add the tea bags to the water and cover with a lid to allow to steep until the water has cooled to room temperature.  Depending on the size of your pot, this could take a few hours. I like to put mine in the fridge on a heat safe surface to cool faster. You can discard your used your tea bags to your garden compost bin!

4. Add Kombucha Starter Liquid: Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags. Now you can stir in the starter liquid from the store bought bottled kombucha. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.) Make sure the kombucha is cooled to room temp. because the heat will kill the living cultures.

 5. Add the SCOBY: Pour the mixture with and the SCOBY into your sterilized 1-gallon glass jar. Wash your hands to prevent any contamination into your brew. 

6. Cover the Jar: Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers of cheesecloth and secure it with a large a rubber band. It should fit snug. This is what allows the brew to "breathe" in order to properly ferment while keeping our any unwanted particles.

 7. Ferment in a Dark Location:  Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and in a safe place it will not be disturbed. Allow it to ferment for at least 7 to 14 days, checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically. I have found for the first batch it takes a little longer than the subsequent batches.

8. Bottle, Chill, Taste: After seven days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. It will be slightly bubbly to the taste and not overly sweet when it is ready to drink. The longer you allow it to ferment the less sweet it will become. Paul's preference is a less sweet kombucha usually 10 to 14 days of fermenting. Once it is ready either pour the kombucha liquid (without the SCOBY) into your second gallon jar or funnel it into your glass bottles. Seal the ready to drink kombucha jar with a lid or plastic wrap and store it in your fridge. When your kombucha is stored and sealed in the fridge it will not continue to ferment. Keeping it sealed helps keep it pure of contaminants and prevents it from going flat. 

9. Serve: Most people prefer to drink the kombucha chilled and without the SCOBY remnants. The SCOBY particles won't hurt you, it's simply more palatable. Pour your kombucha slowly or use your cheese cloth to filter it for drinking. You can mix it with your favorite organic juice in your glass to enhance the taste. Most of sugar ferments away, but I always rinse my mouth with water or brush my teeth after drinking anything sweet.

Bottom Line: It may look gross but it's worth it for the end results!

9. Repeat: Always mark on your calendar or keep track of when you made your kombucha and schedule a reminder of when to create your next batch. Paul recommended we use two 1 gallon jars to create a brewing/drinking cycle.  He would wait 10-14 days for his kombucha to brew and then use 1 glass gallon jar to for Drinking Kombucha to store in his fridge and the second 1 gallon glass jar for Brewing Kombucha. He would make a new batch of kombucha tea to brew on the same day he would put the drinking kombucha in the fridge. This way by the time he consumed the drinking kombucha the second batch was ready to begin consuming. *Remember to always leave about 2 cups of the previous kombucha liquid in the Brewing Jar with the SCOBY when making a new batch.

Over time your SCOBY will continue to grow in layers in your gallon jar. It is normal for it to appear white with some brown sediment and bubbles. This is all part of a normal, healthy fermentation process. It should smell slightly sour like vinegar with a sweet aroma. Periodically you will need to remove some of the layers of the SCOBY when they fill the glass jar too much. You only need about 2-4 inches of SCOBY to remain in your Brewing Jar. The Kombucha SCOBY is actually high in probiotics, vitamins and protein. Therefore, Paul feeds the discarded SCOBY's to his chickens or sometimes even his dog! Yummy! They love it and turn it into fertile compost! If you don't have chickens or a hungry dog you can still add it to your compost bin to eventually dress your Back to Eden garden soil.

The longer you allow the kombucha to ferment the higher the alcohol content will be and the less the sugar content will be. It has been tested that kombucha is usually only 0.01% to 3% alcohol content, depending on how long you allow it to ferment. It is not enough alcohol to get drunk when consuming a 1-2 glasses. 

If your kombucha starts to smell or taste rotten you know that something is not right and the batch should be thrown out. It could actually make you very sick to drink contaminated kombucha. This would usually occur if the brew fermented for too long (over 2-3 weeks). It could also occur due to contamination of unwanted bacteria, not getting enough oxygen or not having enough sugar. So make sure your tools and clean and follow the instructions. In all my years of making kombucha I have never experienced any negative results. However, take precautions and use care like any home fermenting process. Make kombucha at your own risk and consume it wisely.

TIPS:

• Use organic ingredients.
• Sterilize all equipment with boiling water.
• Never allow any metal to touch the kombucha liquid brew. 
• Paul suggests trying your kombucha with some organic grape juice added to your cup. It tastes amazing!

Written By Kevin Author and Creator of Epic Gardening

Have you heard of the Back to Eden gardening method? If not, you should. This gardening technique will greatly improve your soil tilth and fertility over time. It promises a major reduction in tough weeds and the ability to grow almost everywhere. Water conservationists should rejoice, as this technique is great for drought conditions.
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But what exactly is the Back To Eden gardening method? Let’s break it down to a barebones layout of how it works and how to do your own. It does take time, but it will reduce your labor over future years and make gardening an enjoyable, easy task.

For the first time we are releasing the pruning Bonus Features from the Back to Eden Film DVD for free streaming online! Paul Gautschi is a professional, master arborist. In addition to pruning trees in his local community, he prunes trees on his property every Winter! If you would like to learn how to prune fruit trees (apple, plum, fig and more) then you don’t want to miss this amazing video! Paul Gautschi's pruning techniques are renowned due to the artful and visually stunning results of his trees. One of the benefits of properly pruning trees is the increase in fruit production!

Want to attend a pruning workshop? Please be courteous and contact Paul in advance to find out any upcoming workshop dates and to notify Paul that you will be attending! We encourage that you bless Paul with a donation if you attend his free pruning workshop. Located at Paul's home orchards in Sequim, Washington.

Read to full Jan. 2019 newsletter HERE.