Get the glow... Organic mandarins, pomegranates and avocado

Who doesn't want glowing beautiful skin?? Contrary to popular opinion, it can't be brought in a bottle, healthy glowing skin is more about what your are putting in your body than on it. Your skin is the largest organ in the body, used to protect your vital organs but also release toxins through.   So it makes sense to put less toxins in so that less toxins need to come out.   Making your skin radiate health can be as easy as......getting healthier DETOXIFY: Clean our your cupboards and rid your home of processed foods they rob the skin of luster( as well as the rest of your body).   Start your day with a glass of hot water with lemon Increase your daily greens- try a green smoothie or a green juice Eat organic foods whenever you can, by eating organic you eat real food sans chemicals, no pesticides, herbicides or artifical fertilisers floating around in your body or on your skin ;) Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate with clean pure water, get a good filter, preferably a reverse osmosis system (we love the one we have from Pure Water on Tap.) FEED YOUR SKIN: Your skin is a living breathing organ, that thrives on good nutrition. Nourishing your skin begins on the inside with clean pure foods. In particular.... leafy green raw vegetables,  Pumpkin seeds(pepitas) are a great source of  zinc (an essential beautifying mineral) and essential fatty acids, making them a potent anti inflammatory. Chia seeds, are a phenomenal food for skin, made of 20% protein and essential fatty acids amongst other nutrients Eat foods high in Vitamin A, a deficiency in this vitamin can result in dry, scaly and crinkled skin, Vitamin A also helps regulate pore size. Foods high in vitamin C, help protect collagen fibres and keep capillary integrity by ensuring the health of the capillaries that deliver nutrients to the skin, this prevents skin from broken veins and early wrinkling. MOVE IT:  Proper elimination is essential for skin health, this means eating food high in natural fibre, ie fresh fruit and vegetables.  When wastes are not eliminated property , this can result in stasis contributing to early ageing. Moving your body with physical exercise every day is a simple tool to get glowing skin, cardiovascular exercise, that is exercise that get's your heart pumping, also works the lungs and helps deliver oxygen rich blood throughout the body.  Exercise also works to promote bowel movement. Join us in continuing  the conversation on Facebook  tomorrow, going through some great foods high in Vitamin A. PLEASE NOTE ANZAC DAY:  As a sign of respect we will not be trading on Anzac day, that means that the Food Store and home delivery will be closed.  We are back to normal trading and are open on Friday though;). Any queries regarding your order email us As always, thanks for your love and support and assistance in creating a better food system, we hope that you have  a beautiful happy healthy week, Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX And like flowers in the fields, that make wonderful views, when we stand side-by-side in our wonderful hues.. We all make a beauty so wonderfully true. We are special and different, and just the same, too! So whenever you look at your beautiful skin, from your wiggling toes to your giggling grin... Think how lucky you are that the skin you live in, so beautifully holds the 'you' who's within." Michael Tyler, the skin you live in Fresh organic food, local organic food, organic farm, organic food store, organic food school

life on the farm

The rains have come, I have never truly known the value of rain, well that is before I became a farmer.  Rain is something I would dance for, it's so exciting particularly because we had so many autumn seedlings go in today.  

For those of you that haven't yet visited our farm, we like to consider it to be 'beyond organic', we don't practice monoculture production nor do we enlist heavy machinery to do all our labour, we have people.  Everything that we do is done by hand with love, rain or as Summer has dictated heat..and it is looking amazing.  

  

I am so passionate in demonstrating that growing food can be aesthetically beautiful, as well as functional and our food forest is a perfect example of that.  We are using time honoured methods of food production as well as utilising the wisdom of the present and our organic produce is divine for it.  Despite the continuing heat, our summer crops are still going strong, we have cucumbers, apple and lebanese, silverbeet, all the herbs, eggplant, tomato, pumpkins, corn, amaranth, beans, lettuce, rocket and so much more and I can't wait till we open it up and share it with you all.  In the meantime you can rest assured that you can't get any fresher than straight from the farm, this defines slow food.  Imagine when we have completed the whole farm, imagine when the majority of your food is harvested on the day you purchase it, this concept is virtually unheard of in this day and age...we are bringing it back. Absolute freshness and amazing health.

That is what I want for you..healthy people make a good world and good world makes for the best life, so get healthy, we have our last juicing chart available online this week, this is no 5 and looks at juicing peaches to plums and all the juice inbetween.

Download it here

If you are lucky enough to live in Melbourne, you can take advantage of our home delivery service all throughout Metro Melbourne or you can come and choose your own from our farm store at 138 Monbulk Rd, Mt Evelyn

If you are interested in learning some new skills in food production, why not volunteer on our farm, register your interest here

  

As usual thanks for your amazing support, we are so grateful to build an amazing world with you,

  

Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX

"

"If food was no longer obliged to make intercontinental journeys, but stayed part of a system in which it can be consumed over short distances, we would save a lot of energy and carbon dioxide emissions. And just think of what we would save in ecological terms without long-distance transportation, refrigeration, and packaging--which ends up on the garbage dump anyway--and storage, which steals time, space, and vast portions of nature and beauty." 

Carlo Petrini 

Organic food home delivery melbourne, organic farm, organic food, farm fresh organics

Nice to be back, fresh organic produce straight from the farm, FREE JUICING CHART Part 1.

Wow its great to be back, hope that you have had a great summer break and are well on your way to creating the best year yet in 2013.  Whatever your goals, please make health your priority, I know that life can sometimes get in the way, but if you commit to 80% of the time doing the best that you can, you will be rewarded with good health...and this is the most important thing in the world..

We are committed to making you healthier, stronger, and happier, so in addition to delivering the freshest organic produce, this year we are going to provide you with health tools regularily to enable you to make educated change.  This week is part 1 of our organic juicing chart, (there will be 7 more to come) print it out, laminate it , do whatever, just stick it up and get juicing.  

Download it here

   

Our summer break was spent working a bit around the farm, we have done planting, and now we are harvesting.  Its so amazing, the more that you pick, the more that grows. We have some exciting news coming in the next couple of months, we are planting the seeds of something huge on the farm.

In the food store we have a freezer now and in the next week or so it will be loaded with amazing frozen organics, berries, vegetables and so much more.

The food school schedule will be available online in the coming weeks.

I must thank you for the responses that we received from our feedback forms, we have heard what you want and are responding.

NEW THIS YEAR

• There is a reduced delivery charge, only $6.95 per delivery under $100.
• Orders over $100 will receive FREE delivery. 
•  The store will be open longer hours and more days. Now open till 5pm on Monday's and Thursdays and we will also be opening on Sunday's 10-2pm.
•  We will also be adding the convenience of bulk purchases for dry goods.

 We are so happy to be serving you all again, and look forward to the best year yet.

As usual thanks for your amazing support, we are so grateful to build an amazing world with you,

  

Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX

  

"

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive

"

~

Harold Whitman

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Its Christmas Time

Four organic eggs,  three organic apricots, and an organic box of cherries.


Like you need my reminder, here it is anyway there are only 8 more days until Christmas Day is upon us...Just quietly I am freaking out too, presents aside I am also beginning to stress about the food.... The most important part of the day, the blessing that we have I suppose is that with organic food the flavours are so amazing, you can keep the food simple and produce will do the rest.

So in the midst of the madness, maybe we should take a leaf from nature (pardon the pun) and keep everything simple.  Presents, food, our lives.  The simpler that they are the less stress we have!!!

THIS WEEK WILL BE THE LAST DELIVERY WEEK FOR THE YEAR FOR THE MAJORITY OF YOU.  WHILST WE ALL TAKE A WELL EARNED BREAK AND BUILD AN EVEN BETTER ORGANIC EMPIRE IN 2013.

Some things to look forward to in 2013....

Our farm, this last weekend was spent planting out the farm, lead by our amazing farm manager Steve, Jenny and a host of fabulous volunteers on both Saturday and Sunday. What this means is lots of amazing produce from farm to fork for all of you!.

Our food school, we have an amazing selection of food school courses coming your way, including cheese making, vegan, raw pasta, proscuitto and so much more.

Our food store, the addition of our new fridge means that we will be stocking so much more amazing produce!  We will have so many new products in 2013.  We also have a new range of home wares coming in, eco, organic and amazing

Online store, 2013 will see our best website yet, with a new shopping cart, easier shopping and so many more features..you are sure to love.

HOUSEKEEPING:
Our last day of trading will be Christmas Eve,  Monday 24th December 2012, we will then reopen on Tuesday 29th January 2013.  The food store will be open occasionally when we have some amazing summer fruits coming in, ie peaches and blueberries and we will let you know via Facebook when we are opening...
We have some gorgeous Christmas presents coming for all of our clients, so please be sure to place your order this week leading up to Christmas to receive your gift.  If you have a standing order you will automatically receive your gift in your organic box.   

As usual thanks for your amazing support, we are so grateful to build an amazing world with you,

  

Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX

  

'Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas."
~ Peg Bracken.

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Farming, tomatoes and Joel Salatin, what life on the farm is teaching me

I remember once upon a time, dreaming of a farm, a place where food grew naturally, this place was where paradise met the rest of the world....I found that place and my dream came true...I didn't think that anything could make me more focused than what I was..farm life has.  I never considered myself a farmer, that is until now.

You see the sun has come up on our farm...metaphorically and literally....we have ourselves an amazing farm manager, Steve, who is going to growing your divine organic produce. The farm is coming together, your food is. 

You see  I think that I have been blessed with the huge responsibility in life of keeping people  healthy, that is my mission, to create, perpetuate and share real food.  This is truly one thing that creates happiness in the world, for food=life.  I must express my gratitude to you all, because its because of you and for you that this can happen....

It's so important for me to connect with you, as a farmer, at our food school and in our farm store these connections, that one's that make us a community are so important for creating the future that we want, a beautiful one, where our kids and their kids will always have access to the best freshest alive foods. 

What have I learnt in my short time on the farm, that life is miraculous...its is bigger than we could ever imagine.  That the sun rises and sets irrespective of whatever problems you think you may have, and that the people that you love, they are what truly matters...

So tomorrow evening I get to hang out with one of my food hero's, Joel Salatin of Food Inc fame.  He is a farmer that is revolutionising small scale farms the world over, with a holistic system that goes beyond organic. I look forward to seeing you if you are attending the Dumbo Feather event. For those that are not, don't despair I will be sharing Joel's wisdom.  

Speaking of farming, we have over 18 varieties of heirloom organic seedling available in the food store this week, get in quick and start your own...they don't take much to grow and will taste amazing!!!!

I hope that you have a sensational happy healthy week, thanks for all your amazing support

Angela and the team at Organic Empire

"My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher, but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer."

Brenda Schoepp

Organic home delivery, local organic food, organic food store, organic farm, organic home delivery Melbourne.

 

Pesticides and the Dirty Dozen

Have you tried some of our strawberries? They are so sweet and divine...and soooo good for your health.  It is so important to make sure that you eat organic strawberries whenever you can, conventionally farmed strawberries have been found with over 60 different pesticide traces, thats pretty scary.  In fact, there are many chemicals used on conventional produce that remain once harvested....strawberries are one of the worst.  The Environmental Working Group, a non for profit US group has released a foldable pdf, titled the Dirty Dozen, a list complied based on pesticide residues with recommendations for the most heavily sprayed crops. This can be downloaded HERE.  (Even though its from the US, its still relevant to us in Australia)   Back to the sweetness of strawberries , these little wonder fruits are one of the best sources of Vitamin C,  the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrient content of strawberries is simply outstanding. Studies have found that the intake of strawberries on aged animals increased cognitive performance and motor function. The studies I think are most interesting are the ones based on digestion with recent studies finding that strawberries can improve the digestive state of those with inflammatory bowel problems including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.     TRY THEM THIS WEEK Come into the shop this week for some great specials on strawberries and lots of other divine produce.  We also have tempeh, yoghurts and cheeses in stock. I hope that you have a sensational happy healthy week, thanks for all your amazing support Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX 'Right now, this moment is the only one we're guaranteed. We make lists and plans.  We think we know what we'll do tomorrow, next week, next month. But really...all we have is right now. All we ever have is one wonderful now after another. So in this one golden moment of precious life-pick the strawberries.' AUTHOR UNKNOWN   ORGANIC FOOD, ORGANIC FOOD MELBOURNE, LOCAL ORGANIC FOOD, ORGANIC FOOD STORE, ORGANIC FOOD SCHOOL, ORGANIC EMPIRE

Spring cleaning and becoming earthed.

Spring is just about sprung and it is just about time to start peeling off the layers. As we let go of the old and make way for the new, the coming cycle brings with it a feeling of ascension and new growth. The freshness and cleansing that comes from the active burst of greenery in these new beginnings places emphasis the need to include more raw and fresh foods into our daily living. Spring is the season of revitalisation and is of many simplistic beauties. 

Seasonal foods to enjoy and why…

Seasonal food…	Healthful benefits…
Cauliflower	Rich in antioxidants called Indoles which are helpful to protect against hormonally-related cancers, as well as assisting with the detoxification of chemical substances from the body. Cauliflowers go well in mild curries and with rice dishes and can be sliced thinly into salads.  Be cautious with too much raw cauliflower if you have an underactive thyroid.
Carrots	Rich in natural B-carotene which is important for maintaining healthy vision and for liver cell protection against alcohol and other damaging environmental chemicals. Eat carrots raw as a snack, grated into sandwiches and lightly steamed at dinner. Be cautious with too much carrot juice as it is quite high in sugar causing a blood-sugar spike.
Cabbage	Rich in glutamine, vitamin C and potent antioxidant glutathione, good for keeping skin youthful and beautiful. Can be helpful for hormonal balance when eaten regularly. Cabbage is an excellent source of glutamine and can assist with the healing of stomach ulcers.
Broccoli	An excellent booster of vitamin C and folic acid for the health blood cells and immune system. Only have organic broccoli, as it tends to be one of the most heavily laden with pesticides.
Kiwi fruits	Rich in enzymes and antioxidants, enhancing digestion to improve the breakdown of food into nutrients. Kiwi fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C and fibre making it is great for cardiovascular disease prevention.
Strawberries	Cleansing and strengthening for the elastic collagen structures of the skin, artery and tendons. Traditionally strawberries have been used to heal problems with the gums, including for the removal of tartar build up and gum diseases.
Oranges	Vitamin C increases the absorption of minerals like iron and calcium from plant based food, this can be beneficial for vegetarians and those choosing to eat a more naturally-based diet. The white fleshy part is rich in bioflavonoids which is potent healers for hemorrhoids.
Apples	Contain antioxidant quercetin which is naturally antihistamine, anti-inflammatory and is healing for the immune system.  Apple seeds contain a substance which converts to the toxin cyanide in the body, for safety avoid having large amounts of apple seeds or remove before use.
Leafy green vegetables	Rich in important magnesium and chlorophyll which are both essential for preventing arthritis and bone and joint problems. Eat 2 cups or more daily for optimal results.

A great way to ‘get your greens in’, is to start off the day with a Green smoothie. A basic recipe is as follows (serves 2):

Blend for 1 minute- 1 ½ medium banana, 1 cup berries, 2 cups cos lettuce, 1 ½ cups fresh filtered water. YUM!

After the long and cold winter, that refreshing sense of revitalisation, rejuvenation and renewal, is just the most beautiful motivator to get us out of the house and into the great outdoors. Oxygenating the body is a major key to good health; and this can be done through exercise and through food. Choose an abundance of brightly coloured seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables and opt for less packaged and processed foods, which lack vital force.

Start to become more ‘earthed’ and spring into action by taking these simple lifestyle measures: 

• Rise early with the sun and take a brisk walk to get the blood flowing 
• Take small breaks during the day, outdoors
• Breathe deeply whilst stretching in the sun
• Take a walk on your lunch break in the local park
• Drink plenty of fresh filtered water
• Spend weekend afternoons in the garden with the family pet
• Eat some fresh raw foods with every meal
• Pick fresh herbs from your garden and sprinkle them on meals
• Make a delicious green smoothie

In this current day and age of technology, we can sometimes forget to reconnect with nature and be thankful for our food source. Ultimately, our connection to, and understanding of food should bring us closer to nature. 

“Our food is in our nature, and our nature is in our food” 

By becoming more aware of the impact our food choices have on the environment, and by choosing to eat organically, we are choosing to take a more holistic approach to foods. 

“Love your foods, love your body, heal-thy world”

For a more personally tailored approach to Natural Nutrition Therapy for Optimal Spring Health Cleansing and Detoxification, contact Know Foods Australia. Nutrition Therapist Jessica St Clair Rogers practices at clinics in Middle park and Brighton. Treat yourself and your health to a Personalised Eating Plan at Know Foods Australia TODAY!! 

Contact Jessica on 0431 039 277 or Visit www.knowfoods.com.au