I haven’t been writing too much on my blog lately as I’ve been busy on my allotment. First I was busy planting it, then I was busy keeping the insects off it, and finally I was busy harvesting and juicing it because there was far too much to munch.

So it’s the middle bit I’m writing about today… keeping the insects off. There are a few methods I used:

Making the plants strong

We made the vegetable bed from top soil and compost from the land. I enhanced it by watering the plants with Maxicrop, a seaweed solution. I also used a very dilute amount of my urine when I first planted the plants to get some Shazzie into all of them. Finally, I sometimes used a mixture of nettles and comfrey, steeped in water and then poured over with a watering can. I planted all my plants with love and did Reiki on them every time I watered them.

The seaweed and herbs provide more minerals to the soil and make for a stronger plant — one that doesn’t send signals to insects to be eaten. If you’ve read my book Detox Your World, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

When your plants have correct nutrition, they’ll not only be able to withstand harsher conditions and insect attack, they’ll pass the nutrients on to you in a form you can use, too.

Netting and cloches

Despite your best efforts with brassicas, if there are pigeons lurking, they’ll pick every last leaf if you don’t net them. My allotment neighbour has a scarecrow which also offers some protection. I netted most of my kale and broccoli, and put long bamboo in the soil next to the rest, so the pigeons couldn’t get near it. As I planted seeds, I’d use cloches until they were big enough to brave the outside. However, my mustard spinach was severely attacked by flea beetles while under the cloches. This is my first gardening attempt since moving to the South East, and I’d never had flea beetles where I lived before. But now I know their pattern, I’ll be on to them quicker next year.

Companion planting

As well as keeping the earth diverse in nutrients, adding some plants you’re not going to eat helps the strength of plants you are going to eat. Some companion plants repel pests, and some attract ladybirds who eat pests. Many people use marigolds, garlic and thyme. I have herbs and country flowers in amongst our edbile foods.

Essential oils

When the flea beetles didn’t respond to my friendly requests to leave, I added a few drops of neem oil to my watering can and showered them. It kept the numbers down a bit and allowed me to share that particular crop with them.

Then the slugs became a bit greedy, and after researching many options, I opted to sprinkle the allotment with water and a few drops of pine oil. Apparently cedar oil works as well. Slugs just don’t like pine and go elsewhere. it doesn’t hurt them. Interestingly, pine also keeps weeds down, so it was doubly handy. I only used it a couple of times before my garden was so abundant I was begging the slugs to come back!

I estimate that I’ve saved over £100  a week since having my allotment. I may not fare so well in the winter, but am excited about trying it. I now only go to the stupormarket about once every two weeks, and I don’t buy much for myself. Evie’s loved having an allotment, and is still looking forward to her sweetcorn, spaghetti squash and runner beans.

I hope you’re also enjoying a summer of earth under your feet and on your vegetables. Here are some pictures of my veggies for you.

Caged kale

A day's harvest

Beetroot

Sweetcorn

Rocket

Lettuce

Celery

Mange tout

Bliss U

The competition to win a copy of my latest book Ecstatic Beings (which was published late last year) saw about 75 of you inventing and sharing fab new words!

Thank you all so much for your ecstatic, crazy and mind-altering new words in my latest competition. I’ve had a right proper laugh reading them. They were all so amazing in their own right, but, as they say on Blue Peter, there can only be one winner and that winner is:

Brenna. Congratulations! We will send a copy of Ecstatic Beings to you as soon as we can. Please let us know what you think of her!!

And the winning word?

Mirthquake: It’s when you’re so full of glee that you’re vibrating!

Bliss U

PS: Have you signed up to Passion ezine yet? It’s written by a team of health and wellbeing experts and is full of offers right now to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Sign up here, now: http://www.detoxyourworld.com/

PPS: We have had many comments about Ecstatic Beings. Here’s just one:

“This is the bestest best book that I have in my collection of zillions! I really really love this book. Big larfs! Finally a book that makes sense of my world but in a very silly way. Love it!!”

– Jodi Merrett Whitby, by email

PPPS: Look out for another competition soon. Hope the sunshine is enjoying you right now!

What can I say about my 5th baby. I mean book. No, I think I do mean baby. You know when you write a book, it takes forever to gestate, the labour is more intense than you remember the last one being, and the end result is so beautiful, you (in an oxytocin-induced state) can’t stop staring at it?

Well, I’m still in the babymoon phase with Ecstatic Beings (which was published late last year) and want to show her off in her perambulator.

Isn’t she just beautiful?

Yes, she’s defo a girl, but boys love to play with her too.

Do you want to win a copy? Great, read on…

I have one copy to give away (worldwide) to the best answer (in my unhumble opinion) to this question.

In Ecstatic Beings, we have a chochonary, a female heart-led version of a dictionary where we’ve invented a few hundred new words already in circulation.

What is the best word you’ve ever invented, and what does it mean?

The smallprint

In the interests of me being able to track the answers, only answers posted in the comments section of this post are valid. Please don’t post on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or on other comment sections of this blog.

Competition closes at midnight Tuesday 6th July 2010 UK time.

Competition open worldwide.

You can enter as many times as you wish.

Tell your friends!

Bliss U y suerte

PS: Have you signed up to Passion ezine yet? It’s written by a team of health and wellbeing experts and is full of offers right now to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Sign up here, now: http://rawcreation.com/contact/

PPS: We have had many comments about Ecstatic Beings. Here’s just one:

“This is the bestest best book that I have in my collection of zillions! I really really love this book. Big larfs! Finally a book that makes sense of my world but in a very silly way. Love it!!”

– Jodi Merrett Whitby, by email

Gosh, we’ve suddenly built up a database of 100 juice recipes, thanks to you guys! Check out my previous post, and all its comments and bookmark it for any time you need Juicy inspiration. Amazing job, guys. I really enjoyed reading them… the variety, the non-juices that were so yummy, the hardcore juices, and the love juices.

You are amazing, I so love playing with you!

So I had to pick a winner! I have to admit, it wasn’t easy, so I selected all my faves and stuck a pin in the donkey on those. This is the one:

Well done to Grace! Grace says:

Our daily juice, which is what super powers us on our healing journey.

Wellness Warrior Juice

All Organic:
Nettle tea
Cucumber – lots and lots
Celery – about 1/2 as much as cucumber
Broccoli – for luscious green goodness, and all the calcium.
Kale – as much as you can fit. We LOVE kale
A little bit of apple, if you need it.
Add Cinnamon sprinkled in it gives such special sweetness and makes it so easy to enjoy – this is the special bit!
Lemon juice – extra alkalizing!
Loads and loads of love and Reiki, poured into it
Home grown greens and herbs, lovingly planted and picked in the sunshine, before breakfast juice begins
Juice and add to gorgeous glasses and enjoy.

Be here now. Listen to the birds and feel the green juice working its healing magick.

Such a fab juicy job! Grace, Jennie is contacting you to get your address, and will post you a box of raw organic chocolates! Well deserved for this gorgeous recipe.

Thanks to all who entered, let’s keep that post alive so we can be inspired to juice whenever we want.

Bliss U

PS: Did you know, there are thousands of people waiting to join Shazzie’s VIP Room. Will you be one of the first in there? Sign up now!

You may remember that we did a juice cleanse a few months ago. Hundreds of you joined in and we supported each other throughout.

So, we’re about to do it again! This Wednesday 12th May 2010 sees us getting juicy with it. And I’d love you to jon in! In fact, I’m going to give you a really good reason to join in… CHOCOLATE!

Yes, there’s a little competition looming

All you need to do is comment on this blog post with your favourite juice recipe. Easy!

I’ll pick ONE recipe that encompasses our juice cleanse frenzy and send the winner a box of raw organic chocolates, 1 of each flavour. Closing date is UK midnight Wednesday 26th May. Competition is open worldwide and you don’t have to participate in the juice cleanse to enter the competition.

Getting juicy?

Feel free to use my facebook, twitter or blog comments for chatting with one another and general support. You can start now, and you can cleanse for as long as you want, though the support will be mainly there for ten days.

Some of your questions, answered

What do I drink?

Raw, organic, freshly juiced vegetables and fruit. I aim for 60% green vegetables (high on the celery), 30% non-sweet fruit (high on the cucumber) and 10% sweet fruit.

How much do I drink?

Aim for about 5 litres (about 5 quarts) of juice a day. Your size, activity level and metabolism will determine the exact amount you need. It may also vary over time.

Can I eat anything?

This isn’t a contest, it’s just for you to feel the benefits of supported juice cleansing. If you want to eat, too, then choose from the following if possible:

• chlorella tablets
• marine phytoplankton
• non-sweet fruit
• fresh smoothies

Can I drink anything else but juice?

Yes! As much fresh clean water and as many herbal teas as you want.

I’m working, how do I juice?

It does depend on the job you do, but you can juice enough to take in a flask to see you through. Juice that isn’t drank immediately can degrade, so consider adding a spoonful of ionic silver to it to prolong its life.

I’m pregnant or breastfeeding, can I do it?

I fasted for 7 days on water when I was pregnant (I didn’t know I was pregnant at the time) and so I know it’s not dangerous, but the choice has to be yours. Consider green smoothies instead of juices, and adding chia mylks to your menu. If you don’t feel right, stop the cleanse immediately. We have about 5 pregnant or breastfeeding mums on board, all doing a variation of the full juice cleanse to suit their needs.

What else should I do?

• You may feel cold while cleansing. Keep extra layers of clothes handy, and enjoy blankets and hot water bottles if you need them.
• Feel free to do a castor oil pack on your liver.
• You may want to take MSM and liquid zeolites to assist your cleanse.
• Have plenty of hot baths with salt, magnesium or epsom salts in.
• Go to bed early. Give thanks. Meditate. Love. This cleanse is a prayer in action.
• Exercise gently: walking, yoga, small weights and pilates.
• I personally will keep taking the supplements I take daily, vegan DHA and reishi extract being two of them.

That’s it?

Yes, that’s it. It’s simple. Juice as often as you like and as much as you like. If you feel hungry or weird, juice more. I’m really looking forward to doing this with you all, and am so glad we’re here to support each other.

Bliss U

PS: Have you seen what Passion is all about? We invented Passion, you know!

You know you’re onto a winner when you do something that breaks your current system… Well, we’re onto a winner with Passion ezine because… yep, system. broken.

So many of you have subscribed to Passion and love it so much that our current mailing system can’t cope. As a result, many of you aren’t even getting Passion! And everyone deserves a bit of Passion in their lives, don’t they? We’ve found a solution and it’s a pretty one but it’s also a bit messy.

We are migrating all our current customers to our new system but it requires that they “opt in” to an email we sent or are to send (we can only do 2,000 a day so it will take months for us to complete this!). Same with my personal newsletter. So if you’ve received emails from us and wondered if they really are from us, yes they are! If you want to keep getting my newsletter and Passion, then you must click the link in the email you got, otherwise we can’t send you it. If you’ve deleted it, then see below to start from scratch.

Now, I didn’t make this system up but it’s to protect people from spimmyspom so I can understand it. Though you would have thought in this day and age it would be easier, wouldn’t you

Anyway, if you haven’t already signed up, then it’s easier for you.

Click here to sign up for Passion ezine

Click here to sign up for my newsletter

And that is that. I’m off to ride on my brand new bike to subside this left-brainitis. I’ve been promising myself one for ten years and finally I’m giving myself what I deserve. Hope you are too!

Bliss U

PS: Have you seen what Passion is all about? We invented Passion, you know!

Those amazing guys at Raw For 30 Days are having a special offer that you will want to take advantage of. The groundbreaking film shows several people who are diabetic get CURED within 30 days of following Dr Gabriel Cousens’ diet and regime.

And until the 30th of April, it’s got a whopping 50% off. Just for you.

Think diabetes can’t be cured because Big Pharma tells you so? If you cured everyone with diabetes, what would Big Pharma do with their drugs? How would they make their money?

The secret to good health is no longer a secret. Pass it on, for health’s sake.

Here’s the link:

http://tinyurl.com/no-diabetes

Bliss U.

PS: Are you following Shazzie’s VIP Room on Twitter yet? It’s gonna get inspiring in the next few days! More free love from us. Yey!

There’s a cloud over England and Europe that came from a volcano in Iceland. It’s layering dust all over our stuff outdoors. No aeroplanes have polluted our skies for three days and counting. Food destined for the UK is rotting in warehouses. Even if aeroplanes can fly tomorrow there will still be food shortages for the next two weeks.

What will we be able to eat? Oh yeah, DUST! At least it’s low in fat, so the fruitarians will be happy.

Solutions if you don’t like eating dust…

• Grow your own
• Move to a more sustainable climate
• Live on light
• Hoard canned food

What’s your suggestion? Funny or serious, gimme, in my comments section!

Bliss U

I know people look at me funny when I say I don’t do politics. But I don’t do it in that apathetic “I don’t do politics” advert sort of way, I don’t do it because I don’t have any feelings of reality towards those people who think they are in charge of my life and my country, and indeed the world. Maybe this is why I created my own stamp. When you become King or Queen of your world, what others do really makes no difference to your life.

So as the UK elections approach and so many people suddenly are doing politics, here is a refreshing thought. Vote for yourself. If the party political manifestos do nothing for you, create your own manifestationo. U know u can.

There is an alternative to politics, and that is taking responsibility for your own life. If you don’t yet know how, read Ecstatic Beings, the 21st Century guide to blissful living.

And while we’re at it, as a tribute to Malcom McLaren, the single Anarchy In The UK is being re-released. Download on 26th of April for maximum effect on the elections. Get it to number one by downloading it at this time only.

Bliss U.

PS: Shazzie’s VIP Room is almost ready. Sign up now to be the first to sparkle in it.

Mr Punk, the man behind the explosion of saftey pins, tartan, Sex Pistols and so much more than most of us will ever know recently expanded his physical body.

Revel In Paradise, Malcom, you are in amazing company.

I wrote this version of Anarchy In The UK for my book Ecstatic Beings. Anarchy In The UK was a pivotal song for many teenagers at the time. Ecstasy in the UK, my version, is what it all means to us now. No more rebelling, no more protesting, just giving it all as much love as often as possible.

Extract from Ecstatic Beings

Here is a very early version of Anarchy In The UK, kind of before they got it.

Note this was before Sid joined, so Glen Matlock is on bass. In later videos (and the one below) you will see the beautiful Sid.

And this is the version we know and love (though a bit quiet)! Classic.

Blissings.