Long Island, NY + Cold Spring Harbor Spring + Dr. Gonzalez ++

(Courtesy of GoogleMaps- "A" is New York City... a nice drive)

Recently, we had a lovely day driving through and visiting Long Island. I had never been there before and it was quite lovely. I imagined it to be so hoity-toity (the Hamptons), but even as it was filled with one gorgeous home after another with perfectly manicured lawns and fantastic hedges, it was nice and chill and just what we needed... a day out of the city!

(located in Watermill, Long Island)

Our first stop was at The Green Thumb Organic Farm. They have a cute little market, lovely flowers, and some nice grounds you can have a picnic on. While there I ran into Mary Woltz of Bees Needs. She was bringing some first of the season "black locust blossom honey" to stock and she let me take her picture. Unlike, many other bee (including "organic") keepers, Woltz does not use sugar syrups in the Winter so the bees feed off their own honey. This just shows she is taking some extra TLC in tending to them. We liked that Woltz refers to the hives as "she". :)

(Mary Woltz of Bees Needs)

We also had a nice visit with Steve Storch who runs a biodynamic farm, Natural Science Organics. It was really cool to see as this is was our first visit to a biodynamic farm. Anthony set up the Storch visit and on rawmodel.com you can find out the details (we got the grand tour)- thanks to Mr. Storch!

(Anthony and Steve Storch)

What I will tell you is the biodynamic (also known as demeter + beyond organic) apples I had in Berlin were crazy tasty. Very strong and distinct - so much so it was the highlight of our trip there. It also got us wondering how much "taste" is missing from our day to day food. Additionally, it got us thinking about our relationship with plants and animals... how we are connected in a true symbiotic partnership. Its all about biodiversity. The more variety of life present, the stronger the whole ecosystem becomes. To be conscious of the interconnection is a true gift. More on this below...

(Mary Woltz of Bees Needs- tending to the bees on Storch's Farm which were about to swarm)

(Cute little fruit stands with lovely flowers were everywhere- reminded me of Bali)

(Flowers Everywhere!)

On the way back we found another spring... Cold Spring Harbor (also the name of the town) which is right off the road. The TDS meter read 20. We didn't have a thermometer but could tell it was not as cold as Stokes in New Jersey. Very good though. Lots of people came by to fill up and that is always a good sign.

(You can see the pipe at the bottom right- across the street is the library)

(Here is another view)

The Cold Spring Harbor Spring is on the opposite side of the library (side note- the library is pretty stunning) and if you see a parking lot where people are unloading their boats into the water- you are close by. There were a bit of cars parked in front at first so we missed it but it is off of the main road as shown in the first picture.

While driving around we listed to an audio podcast from Patrick Timpone's OneRadioNetwork, with Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez. Side note: If you haven't checked out Timpone's interviews -you must! They are really fun and informative; encompassing a nice range of heath, wellness and personal freedom topics.

(Image from oneradionetwork.com)

I was especially interested in this interview, because Dr. Gonzalez is my doctor's doctor. He is well know for his holistic nutritional approach and many successes in treating cancer. Gonzalez is big on diet, supplements, proteolytic (pancreatic) enzymes and detoxification.

For those who believe that we all can do without animal products - well...as I learn more and more, I disagree more and more. As Gonzalez points out, "not everyone is the same"... some of us are more acid, others more alkaline- neither being more good or bad, right or wrong, but this strongly helps to determine what kind of diet you should eat.

If you are more on the alkaline side, generally you will not feel good if you eat more alkalizing foods (such as citrus or leafy greens). Our bodies strive for balance so if you are generally more alkaline- you would feel better eating a diet rich in "animal products". In turn, the same goes if you are on the more acid side... you generally feel better if you eat citrus and tons of leafy greens.

(Good intention, but a bunch of baloney. Acid is not dangerous!)

This made allot of sense... and immediately I thought of Amanda Love . Love told us about her journey with food and how she did not feel good eating vegan and raw vegan diet even though she thought it was the best diet and fought her body for many years- sacrificing her health. Only after the urging of many doctors (holistic, alternative, etc) did she (and at her dismay) begin to add "animal products" (the good stuff- ie grass fed, organic, etc), back to her diet and is now feeling better than ever. I gather from what Gonzalez said- Love was already too alkaline and the additional alkalinitiy was not good for her. Gonzalez had patients who naturally were alkaline and they would get depressed when they ate too many alkalizing foods and vice-versa.

(harmony)

This brings me back to exploring our relationships with plants and animals. Being on these farms and the more I learn... well, it has definitely been eye-opening for me. I feel more conscious of nature's reality. It's terrible that today's "normal" is factory farms and GMO foods, and I can see why we shun away from animal products. But have we gone too far? Is it a reaction to the extreme to go to the other extreme? I think as we continue to learn, we are finding and fine tuning a healthier natural balance. Just a reminder to try and be open minded... one-size doesn't fit all. Don't limit yourself. Keep exploring! :)