The Best Resveratrol Sources and How to Find Them

Let's face it, you have probably heard a lot about Resveratrol in the press these days, but what are the best Resveratrol sources and why?

It is found in natural foods and in dietary supplements. The most famous source is in red wine, after the media told us it was now a healthy drink! That is true apart from the side effects of the alcohol.

The fact that it is found in red wine and is one of the best Resveratrol sources is because it is found in grape skins, both green and white. Red wine has a high content as the grapes are fermented in their skins for a longer period of time.

It is also present in blueberries and peanuts, though to a smaller extent. The most potent source comes from the Japanese Knotweed plant, and it is this that is used in many quality supplements.

Resveratrol is being hailed as possibly the best compound found in modern times to combat cancer and the aging process and more and more discoveries are being made all the time. It seems it really can help us to live longer!

Experts agree that the most effective way and best of the Resveratrol sources is to take it in a combined health supplement. When combined with other synergistic ingredients, it will deliver significantly more health benefits than if taken alone. This is synergy at work.

For example it reacts well ginger and green tea extract and this helps it enhance its ability to help reverse the aging process.

You should also ensure that these Resveratrol sources only use natural ingredients, with at least 20mg of the natural 50% trans type, which is the most active one, and will give the most benefits.

You would need to drink well over a liter of the right red wine a day to gain the benefits you get from the supplement! Perhaps a few could manage it, but for the rest of us, supplements give you the peace of mind knowing you are getting the correct dosage with no side effects.

Though still relatively young in discovery terms, this wonder nutrient has a long way to go and a lot to prove, and I hope this article on Resveratrol sources will spur you on to include it in your daily routine, and hopefully live a longer, healthier life.

Visit my website today if you would like to learn more about the synergistic health supplements which I personally take, including Resveratrol.

Take a moment to visit my site now at http://www.natural-supplements-site.info

Ric Hawkins is a dedicated researcher of nutrition, diet and Resveratrol sources Discover the very latest and effective anti-aging health supplements Ric recommends after extensive research.

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Discover the Best Quality Vitamin Nutrition Supplements

Quality vitamin nutrition is essential today as the falling nutritional value in our food leaves us needing to supplement our diets. However, with the vast array of products out there, how do you find the best ones?
 
Did you know for example that many of the foods we consume today like spinach, carrots and tomatoes only contain about one sixth of the vitamin and mineral content that they used to? This means that even if you are careful about what you eat, you are still at risk of becoming vitamin and mineral deficient, and so a quality vitamin nutrition supplement is fast becoming essential.
 
The very best supplements will contain a mix of synergistic herbs, amino acids and vitamins that complement each other, giving you the maximum benefits. You should look for only natural ingredients, as some like vitamin E in a synthetic form can actually harm your health with long term use.
 
When the right combination is used, high doses become unnecessary. For example piperine from black pepper can increase the absorption rate of many nutrients by up to 2000%! A quality vitamin nutrition supplement will also have a special coating.
 
These are known as enteric coatings and protect the contents from being destroyed by the stomach acid and instead allowing safe passage to the upper intestine where the full impact can be had. Most on the market have cheap veggie caps to save the company money, but you lose most of the benefits.
 
It is best to always use a GMP (good manufacturing process) compliant product as this means there are no harmful additives and that the supplements are safe and reliable to use. Again many of the cheaper products are full of additives like food colors and flavors that can actually harm your health, and are present just to boost the company's profits.
 
It is a shame these days that we cannot get quality vitamin nutrition from our diet as in days gone by, but at least we have some good natural dietary supplements to counter act this, and in our fast moving world, they are the only solution to help us maintain optimal health and prevent us getting many of the diseases later on in life.
 
Indeed many benefits like clearer skin, improved eyesight, better sleep and more resistance to colds and flu have been reported by people using high quality nutritional supplements. This shows the short-term benefits to be enjoyed while giving you back your peace of mind about your future health and well-being.
 
Quality vitamin nutrition is essential and easily attainable if you are serious about living a long and healthy life!
 
Visit my website today if you would like to learn more about the synergistic health supplements which I personally take. 

Discover the best nutritional health supplements today.

Ric Hawkins is a dedicated researcher of nutrition, diet and quality vitamin nutrition Discover the very latest and effective nutritional health supplements Ric recommends after extensive research.

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Discover How Much Turmeric to Use and the Best Way to Take It

There is a lot of conflicting advice around today concerning how much turmeric to use when it actually comes down to the delivery method, the purity and the amount you take. Discover the facts here to get the most from this natural wonder.

The most important point with how much turmeric to use is to ensure you get the maximum absorption (bioavailability).

This spice can offer many important health benefits including prevention of cancer, better liver function, stronger immune system, improved cardiovascular health, treatment of type 2 diabetes and arthritis and much more including preventing Alzheimer's.

As the body cannot absorb it easily, it is best to combine it with other nutrients to increase the amount that gets into your bloodstream. Piperine from black pepper helps to really improve absorption by up to an amazing 2000%!

Studies have shown that even if you take 5000mg on its own, just a small fraction of that gets into your bloodstream.

Other ones that help include olive leaf, green tea and resveratrol.

On the subject of absorption, it is also important to only use supplements with an enteric coating. This allows the contents to pass safely through the stomach and into the upper intestine where they are released with the maximum effect. If not, most of the benefits are lost to the acid in the stomach.

So you should avoid the high doses in single supplements and powders as they will not provide you with much benefit.

Concerning purity, it is best to use only 98% pure curcumin extract (the active ingredient that provides the benefits) as you will find many companies use a lot less to increase profits.

If you get these factors right, you will gain the maximum benefit from just 50mg a day when combined with other synergistic nutrients. Higher doses as you can now see provide little benefits and are unproven and also expensive.

Now you know how much turmeric to use and how to get the best from this natural wonder, why not include it in your daily routine and enjoy better health now and importantly, in the future too.

If you would like to learn more about the nutritional supplements I personally take that contain turmeric extract, visit my website below.

Discover the best nutritional health supplements available today.

Ric Hawkins is a dedicated researcher of nutrition, diet and quality health supplements. Take a moment to visit his site now at www.natural-supplements-site.info and discover the very latest and effective ones he recommends after extensive research.

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Become Healthier, Become Fitter

If truth be told most of us want to be a lot fitter then we are. It is something we should all be aiming for, a better level of fitness. So where do we all start. Well a quick internet search reveals too many pages to provide a good and reliable source of information, and there is a great deal of in formation provided on the TV channels, books, newspapers and countless fitness DVDs. To be honest there will always be something out there that will help, or maybe you can take a little information from each one to build your own fitness regime.

Are there any benefits to being fitter? Guess what the answer is. Yes, fitter is better. Fitter equals less body fat as this is something that is burnt off during exercise and exercise is how to become fitter. You could just diet to become slimmer but your chances of loosing weight will be much greater if you exercise as well as diet.

A fitter person has a lower heart rate which improves your well being and as you will be breathing harder during exercise this will increase your lung function so you will enable your body to absorb more oxygen to feed your brain and muscles.

If you have hypertension, being fitter can help to lower this and can positively affect both diastolic and systolic levels. This has helped me recently as I am suffering from hypertension and one of the side effects of my medication has been to lower my heart rate. A lower heart rate means less oxygen circulating round my body, and less oxygen means less brain food. This explains why some days I have been slightly confused and somewhat forgetful. I decided to raise my overall fitness level and have been working out for several months now. My confusion has gone, my weight is down, my excess body fat is dropping and my hypertension is much better.

Being fitter can also have a positive effect on cholesterol levels, reducing LDL cholesterol, (which is good), yet helping to raise the HDL level, (which I understand is also good). Greater fitness can also help your heart and lower the chance of having a stroke. I used to smoke which wasn't good for my heart and found exercise very hard. I decided to stop smoking and coupled with a fitness regime I now feel much better and a lot fitter.

My stamina and strength has increased greatly since working out and this is even more important to people as you get a little older.

A great way of developing a fitness regime is to seek help and your local gym should have a personal trainer, (or you can find your own). These will advise you on the best way to become fitter and remember they are the experts. A personal trainer knows the things we don't and it is sensible advice to listen to their advice. They will not set up a fitness regime that is so strenuous that it will kill you on day one. A personal trainer will help you build up your strength and stamina by developing a sensible program of exercise. To develop a sensible fitness program we need to consider 4 important areas.

Aerobic exercise is a form of exercise which is low in its intensity but lengthy in its duration. Put simply this means not too hard but goes on a long time such as walking, swimming and aerobics on your own or in aerobic workout classes.

Another way of getting fitter is to pull weights which is known as resistance training. My experience of this training is limited but to do it sensibly start with low weights and build up the weight as your fitness builds up. Remember, be sensible and don't over do it as you can damage your body easily with unsupervised weight training.

You could take up a fitness regime involving flexibility exercises such as yoga. Remember though you still need to eat a properly balanced diet of sensible foods as part of your fitness program.

Getting fitter can be easy, just do easy exercises a little at a time and then do it properly and intensively. To get fit quick though, consider being advised by a specialist fitness trainer, either a personal one or one based in a gym. They will help you find out what is best for you. Books and web sites can give you guidance as to how to get fitter and this is what a personal trainer will do, but a book or a web site cannot tailor the advice to you and your circumstances. A personal trainer can, and will, do this. Another thing they can do, which is usually something I need, is they can help to motivate you in order that you can develop your own fitness regime. Becoming fitter takes time and time is something that many of up are short of in today's modern world. Just remember that you need to keep working at a fitness regime to develop a better level of fitness. Fitness is not something you can buy at the supermarket. In order to become fitter you just need to take things steady at first but there has to be a first, you have to start somewhere. Just look at me. I used to be a heavy smoker and drinker; I was grossly overweight and had hypertension. Now, I am much fitter, can jog miles without problems, the hypertension is much more controlled and my waistline has shrunk. How, well I started a fitness program which was easy at first, and just built up from there. Start small and build up to a more developed program. Good luck. I did it and so can you.

Ric Wiley is an internet writer and gardener. His latest website about High Density Gardening can be found at http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html

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Raised Bed Gardening - Getting the Soil Mix Right

OK, you have built your raised bed but now you have to fill it with a soil mix. This is where you need to be thinking before you build your raised beds of how deep to make them. A 3 foot deep bed takes six times the soil mix than is needed to fill a 6 inch deep bed so get your planning right at the start. I am going to discuss what I did when I sent my first High Density Gardening raised bed up.

My beds are 6 inches deep and I am amazed at what I grow but these are on the top of an old lawn. I would think about a deeper bed than this if you are building on a concrete base.

If you followed the square foot gardening method, it recommends a third peat, a third vermiculite and a third home made compost. If you want to be organic you should not use peat and although it is 100% organic it is not a sustainable product. The other problem you will have on first starting up your raised bed garden is that you are unlikely to have any home made compost. Finally, vermiculite is made from a rock and is heated to a high temperature to expand it into the state we are all familiar with. I guess this is organic but the use of the high temperatures, over 1000 centigrade is not very environmentally friendly.

What I did when I built my first raised bed in my High Density Garden plot was to create a mix of the following ingredients. Top soil, peat, coir and well rotted horse manure. I mixed these in roughly equal quantities of a quarter each.

The top soil is just soil I had lying around from earlier gardening projects but I also bought a couple of bags from a local garden centre to finish the top of the raised bed off. However, do not make the same mistake I made. My father decided he would help out by brining me some top soil. He lives about 20 miles from me and what happened is that I ended up with weeds in my raised bed which do not grow round here. The topsoil I bought in bags had been sterilized so there were no weeds there.

The peat I used was old peat I had used in the greenhouse to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in. I know I should not use it and this year I have tried organic growing medium but I am not as impressed with it as with peat. I only used peat when setting up the raised bed vegetable gardens and this was peat I had used in the greenhouse to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in. I now grow my toms and cucumbers in organic growing medium and reuse this in the garden as well.

The coir I used is great stuff and is made from the waste product during coconut harvesting. It is 100% organic and is fully sustainable. I buy it in compressed blocks and re-hydrate it. The coir also has a great moisture holding capacity and this helps in your raised beds.

I used well rotted horse manure in the bottom of the beds. This is put down in a thin layer and then the other ingredients added on top and I just mix it all together as best as possible but at the same time trying not to disturb the horse manure in the bottom of the bed.

Every time I now add a new crop I just mix some of my home made compost in to the soil mix which does two things. The first is that it adds a source of food for the plants and the second is that it make up for settling of the soil mix and soil mix lost on plants.

By using a soil mix like this one it is very light and very friable or easy to work. Plant roots can easily grow down into your soil, moisture gets down to the roots easily and the added coir helps to retain moisture in the soil mix and the final thing is that it is very easy to pull weeds out as they do not have a good hold in this light soil mix when young. If you get the soil mix for your raised beds right it makes gardening much more enjoyable and easier and your crops will be healthier for it.

One final point is to get your home made compost pile started as you will need to use this in the future to add to your soil mix. You can download a free worksheet on how to build a hotbox composting bin from the High Density Gardening website here.

Ric Wiley is an internet writer and gardener. His website about High Density Gardening can be found at http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html and his latest ebook is High Density Gardening.

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How Are Your People Management Skills?

How would your employees rate your people-management skills?

Here is an interesting find from a recent Hackett Group survey of 200 global organizations (source: HR Professional, Aug/Sept. 2008) when asked to discuss talent management practices:

More that 75% of participants rated people-management skills as very important.

I bet that you are not surprised. Me either. The fact is almost everyone, whether employee, employer, entrepreneur or customer can see the benefits of good people-management.

So here is the next part of the survey results:

Only 19% of senior managers, 10% of mid-level managers and 8% of supervisors were rated highly effective at managing people!

WOW.

Why is there such a discrepancy between what we know we want and the actual results of managers in the workplace? This leads to many questions that you can ask yourself when self-evaluating.

1 - Am I as a manager trained in people-management skills, or advanced communication skills? What is available to continuously improve?

2 - Do I have a way to find out what my employees really think of my management skills or the other manager's skills? Can an anonymous survey be done?

3 - What do my employees really want? How do they define people-management?

4 - Do my employees feel comfortable coming to me to discuss their needs without feeling intimidated or out of line?

The topic of people-management deals with issues like communication, interpersonal skills, leadership, assertiveness, conflict and many others. If you know of a highly effective manager maybe you can find an opportunity to sit down and pick their brains on how they developed their style. Ask them what books or courses they would recommend, or to tell stories of managers that influenced them. No matter what position we are in at work, we are all in pursuit of excellent management skills.

Ric Phillips
Communication Coach & Trainer
3V Communications - Communication Skills for Success!
http://www.CommunicationCoach.ca
Explore free articles and ebooks in the Communication Resource Centre:
http://www.communicationcoach.ca/pb/wp_94bfb567.html?0.4796019758003023

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Communication Skills - Not Just English Language

Recently I was talking to a new immigrant to Toronto who admitted that she usually does not speak to people that are in the service industry, during day to day transactions. I was surprised by this admission and of course wanted details, because, although English is her second language, she and I spoke easily together. She is not a beginner by far, and has already studied and worked in Toronto where English is the common tongue. She said and I quote "That's what I love about (multicultural) Toronto - no one has to talk to each other."

I do not share her view or reasoning on this, but to be fair, let me explain a bit further.

What she is really saying is that many people here have accents and varying levels of English, and it is quite common to meet someone who does not have a great command of English, but still we all are able to buy our groceries, get a taxi ride, go to the corner store and eat a great meal. She feels she fits in nicely and does not want to rock the boat. She doesn't have to stress herself out in speaking unnecessary English and all is forgiven if she makes a mistake.

I agree that people should not stress out about a mistake here or there, as the important thing overall is being understood. But I also had another message to give her.

Here is what I told her. It's not about accents or level of language proficiency. It's about human-to-human communication skill. The person who is comfortable smiling, chatting, reading other people's emotions and body language etc. is in a much better position to be happier and more successful in this or any other city. Those with excellent communication skills transcend language. I will say that again. Those with excellent (interpersonal) communication skills transcend language. They are charming, witty, memorable, viewed as friendly, confident, attractive and a positive influence on another person's (perhaps boring) day.

Think about your actions the next time you are buying something or have an everyday errand to run. Do you want people to be kind and friendly to you? Are you being kind and friendly to them, regardless?

On a final note, I would like those of you living in a city that celebrates the Christmas season (regardless of religious background or beliefs) to notice how the majority of people tend to be a bit kinder and friendlier to each other during this season (not including Boxing Day shoppers, of course! Ha ha...). Why is that?

To steal a line from a famous Christmas carol - "If everyday could be like Christmas, what a wonderful world it would be!"

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Ric Phillips, Communication Coach & Trainer
(3V Communications)
http://www.CommunicationCoach.ca

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Resveratrol Recommended Dosage - Guide to Finding the Right Balance

If you are like me, you probably find it bewildering the different Resveratrol recommended dosage levels that you find. Well the truth is there are no set levels to work with, only guides.

Many companies out there will have you believe that if you take 200mg a day, you will lose weight overnight and the list goes on.

Resveratrol is a natural and wonderful nutrient, and no side effects are known to date, so you cannot overdose. But it is important to find a quality supplement that uses natural 50% trans Resveratrol, as this is the most active type. Resveratrol recommended dosage can only be estimated but from my research 20-50mg a day for adults seems to be the norm. It will perform even better if it is combined with other synergistic ingredients, like ginkgo biloba and green tea extract for example.

This is by far the most effective method as the combination of other natural nutrients will provide far more benefits than a stand-alone pill could ever achieve, and help to prevent a greater number of potential threats to your health.

You may not notice the effects immediately when taking the Resveratrol recommended dosage, but if the research is right, and millions of dollars are now going into it, it could really help you to live a healthier and longer life. If taken with a quality multi supplement, you will quickly notice things like improved vision, sharper memory and more energy as I have, differences you would not get from a single Resveratrol dosage.

The Japanese have long known about it healing powers, getting it locally from the Knotweed plant and now we here in the West are finally waking up to the awesome powers of this nutrient. The future certainly looks bright as it is already being linked to preventing cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and heart disease to name but a few.

If you get the right Resveratrol recommended dosage, in the right supplement, your future health can only benefit immensely, and many serious health problems can potentially be avoided.

Visit my website today if you would like to learn more about the synergistic health supplements which I personally take, including Resveratrol.

Take a moment to visit my site now at http://www.natural-supplements-site.info

Ric Hawkins is a dedicated researcher of nutrition, diet and Resveratrol recommended dosage Discover the very latest and effective anti-aging health supplements Ric recommends after extensive research.

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Simple - Part One

Sometimes it's easier to define what something is not, rather than what it is. This is one of those cases.

As stated in the Prologue and used in the The Keys: The Textbook to a Successful Life, simple does not mean a life of lack or living on the cheap, in the broadest sense. Rather, it is really used to mean abundance at a place and level few people have ever experienced. The first level is economic and lifestyle simplicity.

As defined by Dictionary.com, simple means easy to understand, deal with, and use, not elaborate or artificial but plain.

True, a simple life does mean the lack of things, but they are the things we don't need. Let's stop right here for a moment and take a look at that concept. One of the things you have to do to lead a simpler life is to be able to define needs versus wants. It's amazing how little we really need. When you get beyond the basics, everything else is a want.

In Western culture we suffer from the great disease of More. We have the desire to own a lot of "stuff." This desire to acquire things is so prevalent that as the late comedian George Carlin said, "We have to buy a bigger house so we have a place for all our stuff." And one of the most insane businesses is storage units, where people can put the stuff they don't use and don't have room for at home. Personal finance expert, Suze Orman says one of the dumbest things we do in life is buy things "to impress people we don't like, or don't know."

What's behind this need to have all this stuff? Basically, it's the inability to nurture relationships. In other words, replacing people with possessions. But things aren't very satisfying, so there is the feeling that to fill that void, we need to buy more stuff. Things don't talk to you, share your joy or your pain and never give a hug. They just sit there. There is a point at which you become possessed by the possessions.

We also feel that the stuff we have is an indicator of our status. An interesting question comes up here: why do you care what other people think of you and what you own? Social status is a major contributor to the disease of More. We brag and boast about things we have when in fact no one really cares.

By choice I don't own a lot of stuff...live rather modestly, and yes I do have some things I don't need, but make life more pleasant. The things I do own I've acquired based on three principles. The first as taught by speaker Virl Mento, who said that, other than seasonal things and decorative items of high quality (good art and collectibles or things having a real sentimental value, and not couch art and cheap things that take up space and have to dusted frequently), if you don't use something at least once every 90 days you have no business owning it. Think about all the things you have around your house and in other places that you never use.

The second criteria I use is that, other than food and personal items, I think about a purchase 72 hours. In that span of time I either have forgotten about it, or have decided not to buy it, although there are times I do.

The third criteria is, especially for household things, is it something I want to have to dust, wash or mess with. Right there is a major killer.

Think of all the money you've spent buying things you don't use, don't want, and may even have to pay to store. How crazy is that?

Financial experts say the best way is to live by the 80-10-10 Rule. Learn to live on 80% of your net income (that's after taxes), use 10% to pay yourself for investments and savings, and the final 10% is for charitable contributions, emergencies and life's little luxuries, that you'll use frequently.

Think about a few things: How much house do you really need? Are you buying that luxury automobile instead of a more economical model simply to impress? Why are you paying extra money to buy clothes with some company's name on it? If they want you to advertise for them, shouldn't they be giving away the stuff, or paying you? These questions, and others like them, are not as crazy as they appear on the surface.

I do believe in buying the best quality you can afford for many things. Buying a high-end mattress not only contributes to better rest, but really will last longer. Cheap furniture does not hold up well or for very long. Spend the extra money, if you can afford it, to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and meats for your family. They are better for you. 

There may come a time when you will feel the need to simplify your life, and I highly encourage you to do so. There is one good thing that can come from all of this: what you don't want to keep, sell it in eBay. You'd amazed at what people will buy, and rather than owning the junk, you can have the cash to pay off a debt, or have a nice weekend away.

I am Ric Morgan, author of The Keys: The Textbook to a Successful Life. The book is about the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple and Smart) philosophy and talks about three major keys...thought, choice and action...plus a smaller secret key, and a set of lessons that will help you learn how to live a smarter, simpler and saner life. It retails for $15 (plus shipping) on Amazon.com, but you can buy it for $10 (shipping included) at http://www.thekeysbook.com There are several editions available including one in large-print, an e-Book and one called The Keys for Teens. The short (80 pages) book has been called, by John Fleming of WDRC in Hartford, Connecticut, a condensation of the "Wisdom of the Ages in an easy to read book with a lot of clarity. The amount of wisdom is astonishing."

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Speakers Gold Talent Search

I recently was invited to attend a local speaking competition, held on June 21st, here in Toronto. I was in the audience of about 40 people, and there were 10 speakers, who each had only 3 minutes to express themselves in a way that impacted the audience, and their 3 judges.

The first 2 speakers had English as a second language, and so right off the bat I want to say how brave they are! Public speaking is never easy, even for seasoned pros like me, but to use a second language? Wow. My hat goes off to them.

I noticed a lot of speakers were talking about overcoming their own personal tragedies in life, and using it to empower or motivate others. This reminded me more of a Life Coaching seminar, of which I have attended a few. (Studying Life Coaching actually brought me to starting Communication Coaching...).

Effective public speaking has certain rules of engagement, like getting the audience involved, building rapport with them, eye contact, moving around the stage, and building sympathy or empathy. Although I felt at times that some of the participants were 'guilt-tripping' us in the audience, perhaps that was just due to their 3 minute time constraint. Had this event been billed as "Speaking of Courage" or the like, it would have been perfect.

Nevertheless I want to say that everyone did a great job, and there were a few outstanding speakers, which I really enjoyed watching. I wondered to myself if they get nervous like I do, right before they go on stage? I'll never know for sure, because a good public speaker always remembers the golden rule: It's okay to be nervous. Expect it. But never let them see you sweat!

Anyone interested in attending an upcoming Public Speaking & Presentations workshop with 3V Communications, please email me your interest, and then watch for the next workshop date and time.

Have a great week and enjoy your upcoming long weekend! Happy Canada Day! (July 1st for those out of the country)

Ric Phillips, Communication Coach & Trainer
(3V Communications)
http://www.CommunicationCoach.ca

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Volcanic Eruption in Iceland - Can it Affect Your Garden Or Your Vegetable Patch?

Will the recent eruption of the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland affect my garden or my vegetables? The simple answer is that it could do, bit I personally think it is a long shot, in other words it is something unlikely to affect your vegetable garden.

Let's start by looking at the facts. A volcano has erupted in Iceland. An ash cloud is currently drifting towards Europe and has caused the UK, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Norway and Denmark to close their airspace, something not even 9/11 did. The ash is being driven eastwards by the upper atmospheric winds, the jet stream, which aircraft use to fly in to gain speed and fuel economy. The eruption is still continuing.

OK, those are the basic facts, and remember here that I am a gardener and not a scientist so everything that follows is my view and not scientific fact.

The volcano has erupted and is still continuing. There is also worry that this eruption could cause a far larger volcano which is nearby to erupt which could make the situation much worse. Well there is nothing we can do about this. If it is going to happen it will and we can do nothing about it and if this does happen there will be even more ash ejected into the atmosphere.

Whilst this ash maybe causing problems for jet aircraft as is shown by the fact that a lot of European airspace has been closed will it cause problems for my garden? Well you may think the ash is in the atmosphere but remember that this will eventually fall to the ground. We have all seen disaster movies on the TV which show choking ash falling and collapsing the roofs of buildings but this ash is dispersed high in the atmosphere and when it does fall to the ground it will dispersed on the ground.. We will not have a covering of ash inches thick covering everything as happened locally when Mount St Helens erupted in the US several years ago. What we may have is covering of ash which is not noticeable and will lie on the top of your soil. However, will this cause problems. We all know that volcanoes are linked with toxic chemical such as sulfur, but I have some sulfur powder which I use to dust bulbs with when storing them over the winter so this should not be a problem. As for the ash it is unlikely to be thick enough to cause problems.

Indeed it will probably not be noticed when it finally falls to the ground. I have also read some research which shows it may even be beneficial to your garden. Everything in your garden is growing in soil, or something which is derived from soil. OK, so you may be growing something in peat but that has grown in soil as has whatever your peat free compost may be made of. All the soil in your garden is derived from molten rock at sometime. At one stage the earth was a molten ball of liquid rock and the crust has developed from this. You may argue that your soil is very sandy, and sand is from the sea. Yes, but it only got to the sea bed by being weathered from rock made, at some stage, by volcanoes. So somewhere down the line, your soil is derived from volcanic rock. I have even seen it stated that volcanic ash is a better additive to clay soil than sand. This is due to the surface area of volcanic ash as opposed to sand and it helps break up the clay quicker and more efficiently. It is also good at retaining moisture, much better than sand. I have also read that because volcanic ash is made from burst bubbles of molten rock it is effectively small pieces of glass and slugs hate crawling over it. I want some, and I want some now to help deter my slugs.

The two final points to note are that it depends on where you are as to whether there may be an effect on your garden. In the US it looks like you will escape the effects of this eruption. Western Europe will be affected but it does not look like this will be a problem. Further east there will be little or no effects. My brother lives in Australia and I doubt he will notice anything as he is a long way from Iceland and also in the opposite hemisphere.

Finally there could be some change to the weather but at this stage it does not look likely. When Krakatau erupted in 1883 it was a massive eruption which could be heard over 2000 miles away and was the largest eruption in modern history, (I think). The affect on the weather was noticeable for 5 years with temperatures being lower. So this eruption could also block out some sunlight for a while. Note the use of the word some, but if it does it shouldn't be much.

On the whole, I do not think it will have any noticeable effect on your garden so you can forget about worrying about any large or long term effects from this eruption.

You can learn more about growing your own vegetables by checking out http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html which also has free downloadable worksheets on building hotbox compost bins. There isn't any advice on dealing with volcanoes though as this is not a normal gardening hazard.

Ric Wiley is an internet writer and gardener. His website about High Density Gardening can be found at http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html and his latest ebook is High Density Gardening

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Mariah Carey Pop Music CD Review

Mariah Carey is the latest release from Pop Star Mariah Carey, and is another great one from this talented musician.

Mariah Carey launches with a great track, Vision Of Love, that I suspect will be heard on radio stations everywhere, and deservedly so. It really is a very nice track.

Mariah Carey is a pleasantly varied, mix of 11 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly superb artist. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Seemingly drawing from what I can only imagine are her own personal experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions like love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

If you're even mildly into Pop music you'll enjoy this CD. Overall Mariah Carey is an a great release. I give it my double thumbs up. You will not be disappointed with one single track.

While the entire CD is really very good some of my favorites are track 2 - There's Got To Be A Way, track 9 - Sent From Up Above, and track 11 - Love Takes Time

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 - Vision Of Love. What a nice track!

Mariah Carey Release Notes:

Mariah Carey originally released Mariah Carey on May 15, 1990 on the Columbia label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Vision Of Love

2. There's Got To Be A Way

3. I Don't Wanna Cry

4. Someday

5. Vanishing

6. All In Your Mind

7. Alone In Love

8. You Need Me

9. Sent From Up Above

10. Prisoner

11. Love Takes Time

Personnel: Mariah Carey (vocals); Jimmy Rip, Vernon "Ice" Black, Chris Camozzi, Bob Cadway, Chris Toland, David Williams, Michael Landau, Nile Rodgers (guitar); Richard Tee (piano); Walter "Babylove" Afanasieff (keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion, programming); Louis Biancaniello (keyboards, bass, percussion, programming); Ben Margulies (keyboards, drums, programming); Rhett Lawrence, Rich Tancredi (keyboards); Marcus Miller (bass); Joe Franco (drums, percussion, percussion programming); Narada Michael Walden, Omar Hakim (drums); Ren Klyce, Ric Wake (percussion, programming); Fonzie Thornton, Billy T. Scott, Jamiliah Muhammed, Haven Clayborn, The Billy T. Scott Ensemble (background vocals).

Producers include: Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden, Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies, Walter Afanasieff.

Engineers include: Bob Cadway, Rhett Lawrence, Dana Jon Chappelle.

Recorded at Cove City Sound Studios, and Shakedown Studios, New York, New York.

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Tomato Gardening - The Best Way to Grow Tomato Plants

Now is one of the best times of the year to start your tomato plants. Why, well you want to give them the best start to life and tomatoes need a long growing season to produce a good crop. I can hear you saying, it is too cold or too wet to start my tomato plants in the ground. Yes, I agree for the Northern hemisphere but you need to start your plants off in very early spring to be sure that they are good croppers. This applies in both the North and South. It is just that Spring happens at different times in the year in different parts of the world.

You need to judge when to start your tomato plants and mine go in during January. These will be potted on into larger pots and eventually put into the growing area of a greenhouse in May. This is giving me about 4 months of growing before they go into their final planting position and I would expect to start cropping my harvest sometime during July, probably towards the beginning of July. I will also be able to keep these cropping until late October and this is a growing period of nearly 10 months.

First of all you need to identify the best seed for what you want to produce and there are many different types of tomatoes to choose from. The seed type will also affect when and where to plant your seeds.

There are 2 main types of tomatoes to choose from and these are indoor or outdoor tomatoes or a type which will grow indoors or outdoors. I grow both but start these off at different times of the year. You also need to look at whether to grow small, medium or large tomatoes. Small tomatoes are often known as cherry tomatoes and bushes are often weighed down with the number of tomatoes growing on their vines. I tend to grow these outside in my high density garden and there is nothing I like better than just eating one when out gardening. The other types of tomatoes are medium and large tomatoes. The large tomatoes are often called beefsteak and are great sliced on sandwiches.

So how best to grow them? Well I start these off in flats. As I do not need many tomato plants at as time, I use a quarter size flat, (or seed tray), and I fill these with a multi purpose compost. There are specialist seed composts, soil based composts and peat free composts. We should use peat free composts and for most things I do, but for sowing seeds I find a peat based compost is best. Press the compost down a little but not too much so it becomes hard and the seedling roots will develop better in a looser soil than a harder one. Once I have done this I sow the seeds on the surface of the compost. As I only need 6 of each type for the greenhouse I sow 10 seeds in 2 rows of five in a quarter size flat. Once I have done this I cover them with a thin layer of vermiculite. This is a useful product to cover seeds with as it is lightweight but retains moisture. Finally water the flat. I do this by placing the flat in small container of water and let the compost absorb the water. You can tell it has absorbed the water as the color of the vermiculite changes.

You then need to place the flat somewhere warm. I usually use a windowsill and put the flat inside another flat with a plastic cover over it to make a mini greenhouse. I often use a heat pad underneath this just to start things off and give the seeds the ideal conditions to germinate. As soon as there is any sign of germination remove them from the heat and grow on until large enough to pot into 3 inch pots.

I find that by starting my tomato seeds now, I get a better crop earlier in the year, and just as important, a heavier crop later on.

You can learn more about High Density Gardening and growing tomatoes by checking out www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html which also has free downloadable worksheets on building hotbox compost bins.

Ric Wiley is an internet writer and gardener. His website about High Density Gardening can be found at http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html and his latest ebook is High Density Gardening.

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