Quotes from St. Theresa: "The value of life does not depend on the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.

True happiness on earth consists in being forgotten and in remaining completely ignorant of created things.

I understood that all we accomplish, however brilliant, is worth nothing without love. When one loves, one does not calculate.

I learned from experience that joy does not reside in the things about us, but in the very depths of the soul, that one can have it in the gloom of a dungeon as well as in the palace of a king.

Jesus has chosen to show me the only way which leads to love; it is the way of childlike self-surrender, the way of a child who sleeps, afraid of nothing, in its father’s arms."

36 Inspiring Quotes from St Therese of Lisieux - Diocese of Westminster Youth Ministry (dowym.com)

An excerpt from below link on St. Theresa:

St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Roses : Catholic Lane

"Therese became known around the world through her autobiography, Story of a Soul. People learned of her “little way” in which she lived each day with complete confidence in God’s love. She explained that what matters most “is not great deeds, but great love.”

She became known as the “Little Flower” because she loved flowers and saw herself as the “little flower of Jesus,” among all the other flowers in God’s garden.

“My mission – to make God loved – will begin after my death,” she wrote. “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.” People often report receiving roses after praying to Saint Therese, especially after praying a novena to her."

Below bouquet has upper Betty White, center Poseidon, dark purple Twilight Zone, light purple Heirloom rose, small purple Lavender Crush, left lavender is Lagerfeld. Betty White has the best scent.

seasiderooftop I'm going back to this post to enjoy the gorgeous pics.of The Virgin Mary that you post. Thank you.

Those pics. remind me of Mary's thoughtfulness and looking out for others, such as the wedding at Cana. Mary informs Jesus that, “They have no wine.” Jesus responds, “O woman, what is it to you and to me? My hour has not yet come” Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).

The pics. of Mary reminds me to have a closer personal relationship with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The statement from below link touches me: The last will of Jesus Christ was to give his mother to all of humanity. He did this, on the cross, when he gave his mother to the Apostle John the Theologian.

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn 19:25-27). Mary as our mother

Below pic. is to celebrate Christmas coming soon and drawing closer to my mother in heaven.

Beautiful, Straw. :) :) I've always loved Jesus' first public miracle of turning water to wine. :) I love how Mary is confident of her son's willingness to be swayed by prayer.

rosecanadian Speaking of wine: Thank God I'm allergic to the sulfites in wine, so I don't drink whatsoever. Green tea really helps to shrink the waist. The only time that I got down to 97 lb. was back when I was 44-year-old and drinking 4 cups of green tea per day. But the caffeine made me tense, so I quit green tea ever since.

Now I'm 61 and I prefer the taste of green lemon balm tea (much better tasting than green tea), plus lemon balm calms me and gives me wonderful sleep.

In the summer, with FRESH lemon balm tea, I weigh between 117 and 115 lb. (I'm petite at 4'11"). In the winter, my weight shoots up to 120 lb. due to NO LEMON BALM TEA.

This year I froze a bunch of lemon balm leaves to make tea, and it works very well in suppressing my appetite due to its high magnesium. I always eat 1/2 the amount if I have lemon balm tea to drink. It tastes 10 times better than mint tea or green tea.

Lemon balm tea is easy to make: In winter I froze the leaves in my freezer in small bags. I nuke 1/2 cup of water in microwave for 2 min. Then I drop a small amount of frozen lemon balm, cover the cup and let it sit for 15 min. Then I add cold water & strain off the leaves and drink the warm tea.

Lemon balm tastes better than green tea, but it does not have the caffeine of green tea to mess up my sleep. Green tea is LOADED with pesticides and gave me horrendous tummy ache. That's why I grow Lemon Balm in my organic garden.

I make Lemon Balm tea for my daughter's anxiety, but she prefers the FRESH leaves in summer over the frozen leaves in winter.
The duckweed in below article looks YUCK when I google it, so I would rather eat lettuce and drink lemon balm tea, I don't see myself eating "slime from the pond", or duckweed!!
Below is from Google News today 11/29/22: The Green Mediterranean Diet Reduces Twice as Much Visceral Fat as the Mediterranean Diet and 10% More Than a Healthy Diet - Neuroscience News

"The green Med diet reduced visceral fat by 14%, the Med diet by 7% and the healthy diet by 4.5%. This modified MED diet is further enriched with dietary polyphenols and lower in red/processed meat than the traditional healthy MED diet.

On top of a daily intake of walnuts (28 grams or 7 walnuts),the participants consumed 3-4 cups of green tea/dayand 100 grams (0.2 lb. frozen cubes) of duckweed green shake/day. The aquatic green plant duckweed is high in bioavailable protein, iron, B12, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols and substituted meat intake. Two hundred and ninety-four participants took part in the 18-monthlong trial."

I am such a fussy person...I can't imagine drinking a duckweed shake. :) :) Walnuts are delicious. I've been eating terribly lately because I've been sick with the flu (got from my Dad who had been in the hospital)...I need to get back to basics with food. I will start making my cranberry juice/kale smoothies again with frozen mangos, pineapple, and blueberries. I worry that it's too much sugar from all of the fruits...but...maybe I'm wrong. I don't really know.

Carol: I'm so sorry to hear that you got the flu from your Dad in the hospital. I hope that he and you get well soon.

I love RAW walnuts in my bran cereal. I use either flax milk or organic soy milk, plus reduced sugar cranberries in my no-sugar bran cereal. I'm too old at 61 to use sugar, can't burn it off like when I was a teenager.

Sugar from RAW fruits don't stick to one's body like COOKED sugar. One time I spilled pasteurized (cooked) orange juice on the floor, and it took me 20 min. of repeated rinsing the floor with a rag plus several buckets of water ... before the stickiness is gone.

Another time I spilled RAW kale and apple smoothie on the floor, it took me a few minutes of wiping that off with a paper towel. That DID NOT leave a sticky residue!!

I was 115 lb. last fall 2021 when I ate 10 pears per day from my 2 pear trees, same with the times I went to Michigan to pick fruits from the orchards. I always lost 5 lb. per week from 5 apples per day, or 8 peaches per day.

But I gained 5 lb. per week from making apple pie with sugar & butter.

COOKED sugar from fruits stick to one's body more so that the FRESH sugar from RAW fruits. RAW fruits have acids & enzymes so they don't stick to one's body.

Lemon Balm is high in magnesium so it curbs appetite, plus I don't crave for chocolates & sugar when I drink lemon balm tea. I gave away at least 10 large Lemon Balm roots to people who bought my rootings this summer. Lemon Balm is most beneficial to health & sleep & happiness.

Vitamin K, as in greens, is a co-factor for vitamin D absorption. Vitamin D is essential for the immune system. So far I haven't caught Covid, despite NOT being vaccinated. Husband caught a very mild Covid this July 2022 that lasted only 1 day (he's 64 and not vaccinated). His senses of smell & taste are NOT affected.

The last time I caught a cold & pneumonia was immediately after my 2015 horrible flu-shot reaction. The 3-docs in my family told me that flu-shot DOES NOT prevent the common colds, it only prevents a few strains of flu that scientists think you "might" catch it.

There are too many pesticides in green tea, and I got horrendous tummy aches from green tea, but zero problems with lemon balm (if enough sun). I would give up all my 150+ fragrant roses, but I won't give up Lemon Balm plants, it's the key to losing weight & health & fantastic sleep and happiness.

Besides helping with anxiety & sleep and diabetes, lemon balm also reduces breast cancer tumor, see excerpt from below link:

The anticancer effect of lemon balm (ergo-log.com)

"The researchers injected rats with the carcinogenic substance 7,12-dimethylbenz-(a)-anthracene [DMBA] in their breast region. The researchers then waited for the rats to develop a tumor. Half of the rats was given a dose of a water-based lemon balm extract daily via the oral route. If the rats had been 80-kilogram humans, they would have received 1120 milligrams of extract daily.

In the animals given lemon balm, the tumors grew less rapidly than in the animals in the control group."

From Straw: 80 kg is 176 lb. And 1120 mg is only 1.12 g of lemon balm extract, a tiny amount. Below is ONE CLUMP, or one large root of Lemon Balm. It's NOT invasive since it doesn't spread via suckers like mint. It took me 6 years before I have enough lemon balm plants to share. My zone 5a winter kills them to the crown, and only the roots survive.

I wonder if baking them in a bread/cake would ruin the value of the lemon mint...I'm thinking that would be delicious! Maybe I should try growing lemon mint this summer. If I can find some....difficult now that our huge greenhouse is no more.

Thanks for the information Straw. I have never heard of duckweed..... I would give it a try. It said it as a grassy earthy taste. One of my favorite scents is a fresh mown lawn (the ones up North and in the midwest) Here are grass is St. Augastine which is nothing more than a fancy name for crabgrass at least IMHO.

My Mother-in-law has COPD and weighs like 80 some pounds. She has it really rough. She use to be a heavy heavy smoker. She also had a heart attack maybe 20 some years ago. They told her not to eat gree vegetable because it has K in it. She was just in the hospital a month or two ago. My husband an I were there when the person came to take her lunch order and asked if she was on any kind of dietary restrictions. We said she could not have heavy K infused foods.... They asked why and we stated it was because the doctors had told her not to eat them..... The dietician said that was OLD school and now doctors say they should eat K.... but it should be about the same amount daily so that their medication can be regulated...... I have been trying to tell her I thought that was the case for years, but instead she and her daughter thought it was best (I think it was just easiest) not to eat any vegetables.... So for some 20 years she as not been getting the proper nutrition as far as I am concerned and it has taken a REAL toll on her health. I can't believe that they would have told her not to take certain foods.... because I think that people need a large array of vitamins.... Yes, one can supplement, but I think the best is always fresh.... JMHO.

I have tried and tried to research ways to tamp down the mucus that dries out and completely blocks her nasal cavity which makes her take her oxygen by mouth which then causes her not to want to eat at all..... I found that one thing to take is hyssop tea. She has been on that about a week and I think it might be helping her somewhat.

Teresa I have some of the lemon balm plant that I got from you. I did lose some of it during my recent hurricane flood (a month ago). A lot of the plant died, but I still see some green on it. I just hope the roots didn't rot.

Also, I think I am going to lose 3 rose bushes from the flood..... Not as bad as my flood two years ago..... Not out of the woods yet but I do see some new green leafs coming out on some of the plants..... I am sure that the flooding lasted longer this time.... but it would flood for two to three hours and then drain, then flood again same day 12 hours later... it did this for five days in a row, The hurricane hit during the high celestial tides.... What happens is the tides come in, but can't get back out do to the wind..... last time it flooded the flood only three days but with no drain period in between. The other thing that happened this time is that just a couple of days before I had given them some azomite.

So I know that I also have some issues going on because I have Evelyn which is normally pinkish peach for me. With the asomite and flooding the leaves are not dropping and don't look sick (yet) but the flowers are pure white.... so not sure what nutrient is missing or if it is just dying.... I had Veteran's Honor during the last flood and it normally has red flowers but it bloomed fushich and then it bloomed lt pink and then it expired. However, his leaves dropped.... Evelyn's has not yet.

Oh, Sharon, what a shame about the flooding.

Sharon - you sure have rose growing challenges! I really hope they all pull through for you. And you sound like a great daughter-in-law. :)

sharon2079 Sad to learn that docs told your mother-in-law NOT to eat green veggies with its vitamin K, when vitamin K is a co-factor for vitamin D's absorption.

Docs are misinformed plus biased due to their zeal to push man-made pills made in factories. When I go to the doc, I see pharmaceutical rep. with their suitcase of freebies checking in. My 3 siblings are docs.

I once was accepted at Physician Assistant master's degree program, after taking 2 additional years of health science classes. I didn't attend since it's too far from my husband. No regrets, my daughter is more precious than any career.

There's ZERO MONEY to be made in lemon balm, greens, and beans, but tons of money are made by pharma in pills and shots.

Docs have been wrong for decades. Decades ago, the sugar industry bribed health experts to testify that eggs, butter, and meat cause high cholesterol, but it's the sugar that stick to one's blood vessels and buns.

Docs were wrong about low-fiber diet to treat diverticulitis, when it's low-fiber that caused diverticulitis in the 1st place. Docs were wrong about using hormone pills to stop the NATURAL menopausal process, which UP cancer.

Docs act like tiny pills can bring health, but it's GOD who made natural produce & herbs for our health. I trust in God-made produce more than tiny pills made with chemicals.

Docs were wrong about taking calcium pills, now it's known that calcium pills UP heart attacks plus prostate cancer.

I laugh when I saw Health news a few days ago that potatoes are safe to eat for diabetes with its high vitamin C and fiber. Few years ago, health experts told us to avoid potatoes, and even the Queen of England avoid potatoes. I ate tons of baked potatoes when my weight was 100 lb., plus normal blood tests in my younger years. My Mom ate tons of potatoes since she had no teeth. She died at 93, despite having diabetes since her early 60's.

I broke a tooth on an M&M.... not even on something like peanut brittle, but an M&M.... U thought it was suppose to melt in my mouth.....

I went to the dentist and he gave me some moxocillian (sp). It has made me so sick I can hardly move. I would almost rather be in pain then to be nauseated..... I have been dealing with that over the last two weeks.

They finished the first two parts today.... and I have two more visits. I begged him to take me of the meds and he did.... but I am sure that I will have to start all over building up good gut flora.....

I was out in the garden this morning.... some of the flooded roses are looking better.... others are looking worse. I guess it will be awhile before I can determine which will make it.....

sharon2079 My heart breaks when I hear such sad news. I went through such ordeal last year when my molar cracked & a piece broke off while eating Eziekiel hard toast. Thank God I did not lose that molar, but I got a root canal, post and crown. The dentist put me on a different antibiotic since I'm allergic to Amoxicilin, but the antibiotics made me throw up when taken after meal. It was OK only if taken before meal.

What made me mad was the $500 UNECESSARY panoramic X-ray after the root-canal was done, which insurance refused to pay. If I had known it, I could had REFUSE the panoramic X-ray.

What helped me after antibiotics was Culturelle for women (to prevent yeast infection), plus Garden of Life probiotics for women (with many strains). Garden of Life was able to activate yogurt culture in Amazon reviews.

Prayers for your roses, Sharon. I hope they make it through the flood. Thorny roses can't take flooding, but low-thorn roses can. One time my 52-gallon rain-barrel collapsed with heavy rain & wind and it dumped the entire 52-gallon on Poseidon. It loved that and gave the best flush in July.

Oh, Sharon...you are going through an ordeal. I totally agree about dizziness...I get vertigo a lot...and I hate it. I'd rather have a broken bone than vertigo. I think it's a good sign that some of your roses are going to survive. Of the ones that survive, maybe you could look at their heritage and see if their parents are for sale...maybe they would be just as likely to handle the stress of sea water as their offspring.

Teresa- Garden of Life...that sounds good. I'll check on that on Amazon. Thanks.

@strawchicago z5, i made my first saurkraut recently, i used the Pioneer woman’s recipe, no vinegar. its pretty easy and simple.

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a100555/how-to-make-sauerkraut/

Thank you for that fantastic link to make saerkraut. I did the same as the instruction: "If the brine doesn't completely cover the cabbage and weight, top off with a 2% solution of salt water (1 teaspoon salt per cup of water). "

I use red cabbage rather than green cabbage. Mine is low salt so it takes 3 to 4 days to sour. I filled a sandwich bag with salt-water, close it, and put that on top to submerge all veggies under salt-water.

I put a small cup to weight the cabbage down. green cabbage here is cheap, 3 lbs for 99c. mine took 2-3 weeks outside.

I'm starting to make yogurt from scratch, just waiting for a moment after Christmas when i dont have anything to do. it should be good for probiotics, i bought greek yogurt though.

SoCalGardenNut I love Greek Yogurt. I put that in pancakes and muffins for my family.

I was at the grocery store and saw a skinny guy buying 4+ bags of spinach, 4+ bags of mustard greens, 4+ bags of kale. I asked him if he's having a party, he said it's all for himself per week.

Greens are cheap at $1 per large bundle, so I make pickled mustard greens.

My Mom lived to 93 despite diabetes, and she ate pickled mustard greens & tomatoes & onion & pork soup daily. Pickled mustard greens & tomatoes soup are easy to digest.

I get heartburn from eating chili-bean soup, but zero problems with pickled mustard greens.

Pickled veggies are ALKALINE, and it balances the frozen tomatoes from my garden.

I take out the hard stems of mustard greens, wash 3 times, chop, then stuff into a tall glass jar (like a coffee jar). I mix 1 cup of water per 1 teas. of sea-salt, I need 4 cups of salt-water per glass jar. I slice a medium onion into thin & large wedges, then use these onion slices to PUSH DOWN the veggies, then put some salt-water in a plastic sandwich bag, tie it, and push down the top onions. Then put the cap on, it takes over a week in cold winter for mustard greens to be sour. In hot summer, it takes 4 to 5 days.

From MSN slide show on foods that prevent cancer:

These Are the Best Foods to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer, According to Science (msn.com)

Plain yogurt

People who ate three to four ounces of yogurt daily were nearly 20% less likely to develop lung cancer compared to non-yogurt eaters, a recent study found. Experts suspect that the benefit could at least partly come from yogurt’s probiotics, which might reduce cancer-causing inflammation by promoting a healthier microbiome

Good to know about the yogurt. I've been making soda bread with 1 1/2 cups of greek yogurt.

When I was younger, I got sick by eating a lot of junk food, I ended up in the hospital. After that experience I’ve started to eat healthier. But gardening is an excellent health benefit both in terms of fruit/vegetables i get out of it and the exercise. so in general, I’m reasonably healthy, i rarely get stomach problem.

I try to eat the right food, but sometime i just graviate toward food/fruit that i like to eat.

i love to eat Jujube, I have 6-10 trees in my garden. Little did I know, it helps with sleep and high blood pressure.

https://thesleepdoctor.com/nutrition/jujube-and-sleep/

it’s high in potassium which helps with high blood pressure.

https://www.thejoint.com/texas/spring/spring-town-center-28043/336601-jujube-is-good-for-sleep-blood-pressure

Another fruit that I like to eat and I have 6-10 trees in my garden is fig

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-figs

I also eat any enormous amount of cherries in the summer. I only have access to sweet cherries and not sour cherries, and i rarely buy anything canned.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cherries-benefits

https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-health-benefits-cherries

i also eat a lot of peaches in the summer.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/peach-fruit-benefits

SoCalGardenNut Thank you for the health benefits of jujube fruits, I will forward the info. to my sisters in zones 6 to 11 (hardiness of Jujube). I need to move to warmer zone & bigger land when my husband retires. It's -8 F tonight 12/22/22 in my zone 5a.

I have a sour cherry tree in my garden, and the juice is amazing for my sore throat when I had flu-shot reaction back in 2015 with pneumonia.

Jujube tree is so pretty. How big does jujube tree grow in your southern CA?

Below is my sour cherry tree, I also had a peach tree, but it declined due to black canker (the neighbor built a fence and blocked out the sun). Peach fruits are very sweet in my alkaline clay with dolomitic lime rocks at bottom.

Wow @strawchicago z5, i drool at that sour cherry tree, i have none here.

i grow all of my jujube trees in container, they can be a pest, they send suckers far away from their roots.

Pictures of my jujube trees. i give some away to my friends at the senior center, i get bored eating them after a while.

Those are fantastic pics. of your green thumb. SoCalGardenNut: Thank you for those amazing pics. of your jujube trees. I google and found that jujube can take hot & dry and prefers fast draining soil, thus good for containers.

I grew 15+ bell peppers and banana pepper this past summer in containers, and NEVER AGAIN, containers dry out quickly and I get so tired of watering them daily. In contrast, I never water bell peppers grown in my heavy clay.

Re-post the info. from the other post since it's hidden with many comments.

I enjoy this Christmas with walnuts roasted with Buckwheat honey (dark and delicious and taste better than chocolates).

I always have a stomachache after I eat chocolate. It used to be Trader's Joe's chocolate that gave both I and my daughter a tummy ache back in the early 2000's. Google news on 12/17/22:

Toxic heavy metals found in many chocolate bars including Hershey’s, Ghirardelli (msn.com)
"The organization tested 28 dark chocolate bars from the following brands: Hershey’s, Ghirardelli, Lindt, Dove, Godiva, Trader Joe’s, Hu, Mast, Taza Chocolate, Valrhona, Beyond Good, Equal Exchange, Scharffen Berger, Alter Eco, Pascha, Tony’s, Lily’s, Chocolove, Endangered Species, Theo and Green & Black’s.

Researchers found that all 28 chocolate bars contained cadmium — a natural element found in soil that ends up in cocoa beans — and lead — which contaminates the beans naturally through the environment.

The heavy metals have been linked to a variety of health issues such as lung issues, memory problems, cancer and even early death.

Lead specifically is well-known to be a cause of danger to humans, with long-term exposure causing memory loss, high blood pressure, abdominal pain and low moods in adults, and brain damage and central nervous system damage leading to learning and behavioral problems in children.

Even just low levels of cadmium are considered cancer-causing and have been linked to kidney cancer and fragile bones, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

I always soak my brown rice in HOT water overnight, then rinse it 4 times to get rid of the lead and arsenic. That's easier than the recommended method of boiling, then draining off the water. Citric acid in the rinsing water also helps to get rid of lead and arsenic, but I use Vitamin C tablets (ascorbic acid) since it's cheaper than citric acid. From a study: "Boiling and soaking of rice samples with citric acid 1% can be a convenient and fast way to reduce the concentration of lead in rice samples."

Good to know about Brown rice, i dont eat a lot of rice, let alone Brown rice. One of my daughters is not into brown rice. I only eat California rice because i have one gluten free daughter. but she doesnt eat a lot of carbs either.

@strawchicago z5, thanks to you for bring up about dark chocolate, my husband went out and get his annual See’s Candy, he's normally a dark chocolate guy, but this year, he did 1/2 and 1/2. i figure when you get to be 72, you can eat anything now. He’s reasonably healthy and always been skinny. he was a runner when i met him, so far no heart health issue for him. I also think because my husband eats a lot of greens, however he has a sweet tooth, he also eats a lot of ice cream.

So the bottom line is I cant compare to him. i need to watch my own weight.

SoCalGardenNut Can you describe the taste of Jujuebe fruit.....

I am to the point I will try almost anything to get sleep..... I have been trying everything.....

In the past four nights I have gotten a total of three hours of sleep and even then it was not restful sleep..... I am now to the point I just think of sleeping and I almost cry...... I am so tired.... I have tried all of the over the counter products and lemon balm tea, even prescribed sleeping pills..... So tired, but not sleepy. but feel so deprived....

Thanks

They taste sweet and crunchy like apples. But buy them at a Asian shop to try them out first. They are also sold as dried fruit, you make tea out of the. However, they are expensive like $6.99 a pound.

i too had trouble sleeping in my 40s, i was miserable to say the least.

But now I dont drink coffee after 12pm, dont drink alcohol at night, and dont eat at night. maybe the combination helps.

Jujube’s are great for snacking fresh. I didn’t realize they helped with sleep. I get them at the local farmers market when they are in season in the fall. And yes they do have the same texture as an apple. I love eating seasonally. Right now my fruit bowl is full of apples, persimmons and satsuma tangerines. There are many fun types of lettuce in my crisper along with bok choy, snap peas and some kind of Chinese cruciferous greens. I just buy whatever interesting things are growing. Plenty of sweet potatoes and winter squashes these days too. 3 vendors sell honey and right now I am rotating between wild Sierra Mt flower, Goldenrod, Western Redbud and California wild native Buckwheat honey.

My local farners market sells them too, i eat in season too. my fridge is full of citruses from my garden. i cant keep up. ive been juicing them.

SoCalGardenNut Wow !! I wish I have citrus fruits like you. Lemon here costs 60 cents per fruit, and I go through 3 lemons a day for my family of 3, to prevent kidney stones from my alkaline tap water (pH 9).

sharon2079 I'm so sorry to hear that you are not sleeping well. I hope & pray that you sleep better. Are you on any meds that might interfere with sleep?

Saw that seeds of Jujube are sold cheap on-line. Saw that jujube can take sandy & hot climate, so they would be great in pots in your Florida.

I slept lousy after menopause. The cause was NOT enough essential fat for my cold zone 5a, plus being sensitive to caffeine, plus vitamin B's deficiencies, plus hormonal deficiencies.

Now I sleep fantastic at 61. The below are MUST for my vivid dreams and fantastic sleep:

1) Enough Omega-3 and melatonin, as in walnuts. Making crunchy walnuts with buckwheat honey helps BIG TIME with sleep since I eat more, like 1/2 cup of walnuts per day.

2) Tiny amount of de-caf coffee for breakfast, like 1/2 cup. NO green nor black tea, I'm sensitive to the caffeine in tea, so I make lemon-balm tea instead.

3) NO CHOCOLATE, I slept lousy when I indulged in dark chocolate.

4) Nutritional yeast helps big time with its high B6 .. B6 works wonder with melatonin (as in walnuts) to produce deep sleep with vivid dreams.

5) Meds can interfere with sleep, but certain supplements help. I'm on ZERO MEDS, but I take NOW magnesium caps, Norwegian cod liver oil (for vitamin A and D), triple-Omega-3 fish oil, vitamin D, and 2 NOW brewer's yeast tablets for chromium (helps with family history of diabetes).

6) Eating 1/2 cup of slightly roasted pumpkin seeds (high in progesterone and magnesium), and I do sleep better if I indulge in 1 TBS RAW flax oil (high in Omega-3 plus balancing my hormones).

7) Enough protein for dinner. If I don't have meat for dinner, then I sleep lousy. In the Old Testament of the Bible, God sent mama (cereal flakes) for the wandering Jews in the morning, but a flock of quail in the evening for meat. If I don't have meat for dinner, then I make myself fried eggs and Ezekiel Toast plus sprinkle some nutritional yeast, and I sleep well with that.

8) Greens as in Kale smoothie, lemon balm tea (from my garden, or in my freezer). Greens such as lettuce is well-known to induce sleep. Green lettuce like Bibb or Boston is too expensive, so I make fresh Kale and apple smoothie, and this supplies vitamin K to help with vitamin D absorption.

Vitamin D (from sunlight or from food) is essential for circadian rhythm and helps to induce sleep.

9) Probiotics such as Culturelle or Garden of Life really help with deep sleep, versus antibiotics always mess up my sleep.

10) Research done by Northwestern University showed that sunlight into the eyes early in the morning helps to re-set the circadian rhythm so that one will fall asleep better at night. In my gloomy zone 5a (month-long with no sun), I set Grow-Lights, so they shine into my eyes in the morning.

Artificial blue lights at night (fluorescent light) or tech gadgets at night can zap out one's melatonin. In one study, women in a dimly lit room can lose up to 40% of melatonin level, necessary to fall asleep.

11) This extra tip is my own: I eat FRESH produce grown in full-sun (citrus-zest, grapes, apples, berries) or veggies grown in full-sun (tomatoes, beans, corn, pepper, okra, pumpkin, squash), or FREE RANGE eggs from hens roaming in full-sun. I don't eat things from a dark box (white flour, white sugar) or animals that never see the sun, being couped up in industrial lot.

At least buckwheat honey gets plenty of sun from buckwheat crop.

@strawchicago z5, my husband and I drink a glassof lemon water in the morning every day. alkaline water is great.

Not sure if cheese is in the category of probiotics but when my husband and i eat cheese in the evening, we have deep dreams.

Sharon - Oh, I'm really sorry that you have such trouble sleeping. It's debilitating to not sleep enough...plus, as you said, you get anxiety about falling asleep. Ugh.

SoCalGardenNut Agree with fresh lemon water, I cannot live without it. It helps me with digestion at 61-year-old. I get more vivid dreams with the probiotics in baby Swiss Cheese (easier to digest) than Cheddar cheese if I snack before bedtime.

Chocolates really mess up sleep with its high cadmium and lead. Husband overdosed on chocolates and his blood pressure shot up. He had chocolates 4 times per day: brownie for breakfast, hot cocoa after work, chocolate cookies and chocolate ice-cream. He was very tense after Halloween with eating the entire bag of chocolate candies.

My 20-year old daughter doesn't care for chocolates, and her blood pressure is very low. Mine is also low.

GardenNut, wow that is a lot of citrus! My yard is very small so I kept it mostly for roses, but I have a little kumquat tree and so from April to June there is always a little kumquat snack for me in the garden. Before they fall off in June I pick the rest and candy them.

Straw, your recommendations for sleep are great. Many years ago I did a “Dream Circle” and the teacher recommended B6 for extra dreaming. We would journal our dreams and discuss meanings. It was fun. For me I need plenty of potassium for good sleep. I take 1-2 grams of a potassium supplement every day which keep me from getting headaches and migraines which are different from headaches and may or may not involve head pain. Magnesium is also recommended for good sleep. However, I get a bad reaction to magnesium supplements of any kind, severe headaches that are not migraines, which I have no idea why. I spent a lot of time looking for any information about this online and found nothing. Generally most Americans are magnesium deficient and a supplement can help with sleep.

Sharon, I hope you can find relief. Not being able to sleep can be very debilitating.

@Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal, I have a small yard too, i also have a nice MeiWa Kumquat, much sweeter than Nagami Kumquat, I already gave 2 Nagami Kumquat trees to my brother. and he doesnt know what to do with them.

I also have about 150-160 roses in my yard, a lot of them are around my fences, some in containers.

You are correct about magnesium, my husband is taking magnesium, but he always sleep well. The doctor found out he was below a recommended level.

Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal I have low blood pressure, and I get headaches from Magnesium Citrate. Googled and found that citric acid is made from a genetically modified BLACK MOLD, and NOT from expensive lemons.

My daughter broke out in rash from CALM Magnesium citrate, she's allergic to citric acid made from black mold, while I come down with headache.

We take NOW magnesium caps with no problems. Cheap magnesium oxide gives me "slimy poop". Recently I gave my daughter "Magnesium Glycinate 500mg per Caps, 120 Veggie Caps, Chelated for Maximum Absorption, Non-GMO, NO Gluten Dairy & Soy, Innate Vitaliy brand for $18." She has no problems with this.

sharon2079 Florida is hot & humid and BREATHABLE & COOLING bed sheets might help. Both I and daughter CANNOT SLEEP if the bed sheets are not breathable, even with 100% cotton. We like the old-fashion linen threads, or sheets made from long-staple 100% cotton which is breathable. Walmart and Target sell "cooling sheets", I bought it and sleep well with that. It's California Design Den Soft 100% Cotton Sheet, 400 thread count.

EVERYONE: What is your favorite cooling or breathable bed sheet? Thanks.

From National Institute of Health website: Vitamin B6 - Health Professional Fact Sheet (nih.gov)

" Vitamin B6 deficiency is associated with dermatitis with cheilosis (scaling on the lips and cracks at the corners of the mouth) and glossitis (swollen tongue), depression and confusion, and weakened immune function. In infants, vitamin B6 deficiency causes irritability, abnormally acute hearing, and convulsive seizures."

If you click on below pic., B6 deficiency is associated with anemia & skin disorders such as dermatitis.

B6 and magnesium are well known to treat Autism and Asperger's, as well as better sleep. Pistachio and sunflower seeds are highest in B6.

Food & Snack Sources of B Vitamins — Nuts.com

No-knead SLEEPY ROLLS WITH OATMEAL, FLAX, SUNFLOWER and sesame seeds.
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour & 1/2 cup instant oatmeal & 1/2 cup golden flax meal

1/2 cup RAW sunflower seed (coarsely grind in a coffee-grinder)

In a large bowl, mix above dry-ingredients together, set aside.

In a saucepan, heat 1 plus 3/4 cups milk or water with 2 Tbs. brown sugar, 1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a thermometer, check to see if it's between 100 and 115. Or else stick your finger in there, it should be very warm, but not scalding. Mix 1 1/2 teas. yeast, let it sit for 15 to 20 min until foam up nicely.

Pour above yeast-solution into dry-ingredients. Beat with egg-beater, it should be wet. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Turn the oven to 350 for exactly 1 minute. Turn off oven. Then put the covered dough bowl into the warm oven, and let it rise until double (about 1 hour).

Remove dough from oven, pinch off tiny rolls onto a greased cookie sheet. Rolls is wet & sticky but dries up once I roll them in 3/4 cup RAW white sesame seed. I use thick & insulated baking sheet, since flax meal tends to brown with thin cookie sheet. Let raw rolls rise for another 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, and leave in oven for another 10 minutes for sesame seeds to crisp.

I eat a lot of chick peas, they have B6.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-b6/

My daughter has both anxiety and PCOS. She's such a picky eater and avoid certain foods. B-complex vitamins are recommended for PCOS for below reasons:

PCOS and B Vitamins | Conquer Your PCOS Naturally

1. The B Vitamin Facilitates Progesterone Production

2. The B Vitamin Precipitates Serotonin Production

3. The Common PCOS Medication, Metformin, Has Been Shown To Reduce B Vitamins

Good Sources of Vitamin B • Walnuts • Organic poultry • Lean red meat • Spinach • Bananas • Seafood • Beans

The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that vitamin B6 enables the body to produce several neurotransmitters, the chemicals responsible for carrying signals to nerve cells.

There are further evidence and many years of clinical settings that testify to certain benefits of Inositol or B8 vitamin, in treating the following disorders: OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Bipolar Disorder, moderate and mild depression, senile dementia, panic attacks, and anxiety.

B8 has also been touted for benefits against colon cancer. OCD and Panic Disorder and depression has been found to correlate with low levels of inositol in their spinal fluid.

Sources of Vitamin B8 or Inositol are mushrooms, milk, cheese, whole wheat bread, rice bran, peanuts, peanut butter, walnuts, hazelnuts, oatmeal, egg white, liver (particularly beef liver), yogurt, and almonds.

Interesting @strawchicago z5, i eat lots of mushrooms. i think my immune system is pretty good because of it. everything else I do eat except for rice bran.

Straw - Holly (daughter with Aspergers for people who don't know) has always adored bread...she eats a lot of it...whole wheat.

Carol - I'm praying that Holly gets that job which doubles her salary. People with Asperger's are VERY CONCIENTIOUS worker and she deserves it with her dedication. I get tired of melt-downs in my 20-year-old daughter with Asperger's, that I googled "how to reverse Asperger's", and folks mentioned about eliminating dairy and gluten (in bread).

Daughter doesn't like bread, and she is lactose-intolerant with milk, but zero problems with yogurt. Below link has good info. on Asperger's:

Asperger's Symptoms & Natural Ways to Treat Them - Dr. Axe (draxe.com)

" Some research suggests that eliminating the proteins gluten (found in wheat, barley and eye) and casein protein (found in milk products) ... both can aggravate symptoms of Asperger’s because they act as a false opiate neuropeptides.

In 2007, a study conducted at the Department of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry in Vienna, Austria found that omega-3 fatty acids may be an effective treatment for children with autism, suggesting they may also help treat Asperger’s symptoms. A dose of 1.5 grams per day for six weeks improved the symptoms of autism with no adverse side effects.

Researchers found that B6/magnesium supplementation improved PDD symptoms in 23 of 33 children with no adverse side effects — in addition, 23 of 33 experienced improved social reactions and 24 of 33 displayed improved communication."

From Straw: sunflower seeds and oatmeal are high in vitamin B6. I need to make rolls or pancakes with those. She's more flexible with her routine and doing well with chelated B6 and magnesium supplement, plus more talkative.

I bought lots of oats recently, why, it’s the first time in a long time that prices are this low, 99c at my local Sprouts. I also bought lots of beans to make chili and soup. now that holidays are over, we’re back to eat sensibly, I've warned my family that i wont be making anymore cookies, it‘s time for a break, there’s always next year, something to look forward to.

SoCalGardenNut I'm making a batch of blueberry & oatmeal & flaxmeal pancakes tonight. Plain Greek yogurt is best but I'm out, so I'll use sour cream. Hot oatmeal is boring, so I prefer making pancakes (takes 1 min. to nuke in microwave to eat).

Husband bought a HUGE BAG of pinto beans from Sam's club for $8. That should last for one year. I'm making chicken & corn tortilla enchiladas with pinto beans. I find that rolling up the chicken & beans inside tortilla taste better than the lazy way of "layering beans, tortilla and chicken".

Chicken breast is so lean that I'll fry each corn tortilla in olive oil first, before rolling.

My staple for healthy eating is chicken cabbage & carrots soup, eaten with brown rice. I soak Vitamin C tablets (Ascorbic acid) overnight in hot water with brown rice, it takes away all the heavy metals well. Brown rice is highest in magnesium and helps to stabilize blood sugar for my family history of diabetes.

Straw - really? Oatmeal is good for Vit B6? Excellent as I have porridge and blueberries (about a cup of bbs) every day. Love it. Holly would never, ever give up bread. I've told her before that it may be linked to Aspergers...and she doesn't care. Thanks...after her interview, I'll mention the omega 3 and vit B6 to Holly...I don't want to cause her stress (which always happens when I try to mention things she could try.) before her interview. Thanks so much for good wishes/prayers for her interview. I'm not sure she'll get it...but we'll see.

My kids have a mind of their own too, they dont listen to me. But slowly they will be eating right for their health. i have one gluten free kid, so when she comes back to visit me, I have to make meals without pasta or bread. So I make rice and potato dishes. But she’s an easy person. The other daughter is a picky eater.