Category: Introduction

What does Natural Health really mean? As a Christian, I believe that God created everything. That would include everything that we need to maintain our health. In fact, I would put it out there that people have harmed their health primarily with man-made innovations and products. As we move farther from the farm to table life styles we lose the goodness God has placed here for us and replaced that with instant gratification products that do not require planning and forethought.

I have Meniere’s disease, which is an inner ear issue that can cause severe vertigo. The solution (not a cure) requires me to control my salt intake. Since I am not a salt shaker kind of gal I had to look deeper into what I consumed. I was horrified when I really started reading food labels. For example, canned soup can contain as much as 960 mg of sodium in a single serving. A can of soup usually holds two servings. The suggested daily intake of sodium for an adult is about 2000 mg. You can see how a diet of convenience foods such as canned soups, vegetables, packaged goods, etc can cause great harm. I am not suggesting that everyone immediately begin growing and canning their own food, but I am suggesting that if we truly want to improve or maintain our health we must take responsibility for what we consume.

I have found that if I do need to buy canned versus fresh, I can often find the “No Salt Added” versions if I take the time to really research. My wonderful husband even looks at the label to check the content of what we buy. We have found that we rarely go into the isles of the grocery store. Most of what we buy is found in the perimeter of the store. Fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh dairy and the bakery are all found in the perimeter. I started cooking fresh foods instead of canned and then I freeze some for the days when meal planning was overlooked or I just don’t feel up to cooking that night. We do have a garden and I do can our vegetables, but I also cook with canned foods that are simple ingredients with no added chemicals, salt, sugar or natural flavorings (what exactly is natural flavoring).

Some of you are wondering where to start. I suggest that you pick your worse habit and start with what is doing the most harm. Don’t just quit cold turkey but find a healthy replacement. I use a lot of Mrs. Dash no salt Lemon Pepper seasoning and it is wonderful. If your vice is soda try replacing it with 4 oz of fresh juice in 12 oz of flavored club soda (no sugar substitutes). My favorite is pineapple juice and lime seltzer water. I love cheese and have found that Swiss cheese has the least sodium per serving. I use diced tomatoes (no salt added) with seasoning over pasta instead of spaghetti sauce. Be creative, find a social media group that you can ask questions of and start taking control of your health through better eating habits.

Bon Appetit

Who is ready for 2020 to be past?? I know that I am. It has been several months since I posted mostly because of teaching in the COVID climate. I really thought that we would shut down again within 2-3 weeks of the beginning of school. We have almost made it a whole semester. Unfortunately, that has left me with little time to work on Cedar Ridge. Here is the update.

We purchased several trees and plants through the local Agriculture extension. We bought 2 trees and 4 blueberry plants for less than the cost of 1 tree. I was extremely happy when my wonderful husband picked up our bare root plants. They are doing very well. I am currently off for Christmas break and planning my spring garden as well as the areas where I will be planting my additional medicinal plants.

I have been doing a lot of research on therapeutics for COVID. I was sure that I would bring it home to my husband. So far so good. I am interested in the natural therapeutics that I have access to in my forest domain. I will update you if we have any up close and personal exposure to the virus.

I pray that everyone is safe and healthy through the new year. I will be adding new products soon as my plants produce and I can harvest what I need to make lotions, tinctures and oils. Merry Christmas, be safe and may God bless.

Hello all, I have been thinking about how to start this journey. I am not an expert, but I spend a lot of my time researching. I would like to share two important resources.

1. homesteadingfamily.com. – Is a great free video series that explains how to incorporate natural healing into everyday life.
2. deeprootsathome.com – is an excellent resource from a medical to natural professional

I have learned over the last twenty years how important “you are what you eat” can be to your health. If you take the time to watch the videos from Homesteading Family you see that the first level of defense is food. I have Ménière’s disease which is an inner ear problem that has me checking labels for salt content. I can’t tell you how horrified I was when I started reading food labels. Check for ingredients that you can’t pronounce, salt, and anything that says “natural flavorings”.

Since salt is an issue with my condition I have found that most canned foods are heavily salted. Even something as simple as a can of corn. The recommended daily salt intake is 2300mg of salt which is 1 teaspoon. This is the canned good content not what you add with a salt shaker. Not everyone has the same issue as me, but if you have a health issue or even a potential health issue then you need to know how your diet impacts that health issue and make a change.

CHANGE. A word that most people fear. I suggest that you take the most impactful habit that has an impact and change that first. Don’t do a total life style change, pick one thing that has the most impact and work on that only. If you smoke, STOP. Whatever that takes. If you drink soda (pop) even if it is diet, STOP. If you drink alcohol, limit your quantity. OK, I am not giving up homemade wine.

If you have a bad habit that you know you need to change. If you need help with a replacement, contact me and we will find a healthy replacement together. I have made changes in my life and I have many more to make, but one step at a time. Let’s step together.

Have a blessed day. Let’s start a journey together.

Carol Rondeau

This is the beginning of a journey. As I age, I find that the journey has a few more rocks and pot holes. I have always been interested in natural remedies to physical issues. It is not necessarily a distrust of the medical field, but an intimate relationship that I have with my body and its functions.

If we take the time to listen to our bodies we can often determine what or where our issues originate. I am a big believer in treating the cause not just the symptom. An example is when we have rashes; in order to treat the rash correctly we really need to know what caused it. If it is food borne we need to identify the offending food and remove it from our diet rather than continuing to treat the rash time after time.

As we start our journey I want to make sure to set some ground rules. First, I am not a Doctor and will NEVER give a prognosis or try to identify a medical issue. Second, I will not prescribe a medical cure or product for a particular medical issue. What I can provide is information and resources as well as anecdotal experience from a 1st person perspective. The article that I write will be natural plant based solutions that I have tried personally with the original issue as well as my outcome.

So, take the time to get to know you in your own skin. Maybe do a little research into your genetic makeup and check out previous generations. I do not mean get a DNA test necessarily, what I do mean is talk to parents, Aunts and Uncles, etc and try to collect allergies, diseases, etc that may affect you through genetics. Not only are we what we eat, but we are also a product of our DNA.

I hope you enjoy the journey. Please let me know what you are interested in and I will research it for future blogs.

Carol Rondeau

This is Cedar Ridge Farm of Abbeville. We are a small farm in South Carolina. My goal is to use natures products for natural health. Much of what I will write is based on personal anecdotal experience. I have been pursuing natural medicine for over 14 years starting with my throat cancer diagnosis in 2006. My personal goal is to use natural remedies. Thank you for joining me on my journey.