By Dr. Summer Beattie, ND | In August I wrote about “nesting” as we were expecting a new baby – and now she’s here! Born February 09, 2014 at the University of Washington Medical Center, it truly is as Elizabeth Stone said, “…forever to have your heart go outside your body.” In these early days, my life as I knew it is very much a shadow, as I eat, drink, sleep and breathe only of her all day – all night. So you can imagine, I could not come back to write without mention of her. The focus of this article however is not her story, but a thought that evolves from the inspiration she and our other daughter spark – leave our world a better place.
Due to medical concerns that only a hospital staffed with perinatologists and a NICU could manage, we had moved back to the Seattle area to wait for her to arrive. Most people either love or hate a “big city”. I always feel torn. Born in Alaska and growing up in Hoonah, there is a gravitational pull that keeps you wanting to come home to someplace small and uncrowded. I also loved living in Seattle and especially Bellingham. One of the things I missed most was not the amenities however, it was the agricultural community. Puget Sound hosts a mindset of people that embrace and a geography that easily supports organic, sustainable, and local farming. Farmer’s markets, a variety of whole food restaurants, grocery stores, community and home gardens, and more – they all make natural food easily available. I see holistic food as the foundation of health and therefore a critical part of the home.
What’s exciting is that Southeast Alaska too now offers an increasing number of resources for those wishing to live a more environmentally and health conscience lifestyle. In turn, consumer demand has risen and been better able to support those businesses offering organic, fair trade, sustainable and local products. Remember Orsi Organic Produce that was highlighted by Southeast Living Magazine last July? They participate at food events hosted by the JAHC and in Second Saturday, a market in the Valley for local wares. There is also the Juneau Community Garden next to the Mendenhall glacier, as well as other resources. We have a rich community and some very talented individuals – we just have to find them! Please, go on line to www.seakliving.com or the facebook page and comment – help create a resource list of your favorite holistic home products and food sources available in Juneau. April is the perfect month to make a fresh start on health in the home. It hosts among other big dates to remember: World Health Day (April 7), Easter (April 20), Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 25). These are all meant to encourage vitality, newness, refreshing, a coming to life for ourselves, others, and our planet. How will you embrace opportunity this spring?
We started composting for the first time this year, and all winter I’ve been thinking about my Seattle Tilth book. It’s a roadmap for Maritime gardeners, but probably not perfectly suited to Alaska’s climate. I’m hoping to find some local Master Gardner classes, veteran strangers willing to coach me, or friends to just jump in and help me get my first real food garden in Juneau started. Tilth means: cultivated land; the state of aggregation of a soil especially in relation to its suitability for crop growth. I hope by starting in our own backyard, we’ll be setting an example for our girls to learn to live organic, sustainable, local…. We’ll be showing them that we are making even small changes to enhance our tiny piece of the world. Together we can all make a big impact on the “Tilth” of Juneau…the cultivated space we live in, making it suitable to raise the next generation in….. Leaving it better place.
Dr. Summer Beattie, ND is a graduate of Bastyr University. She has over 8 years experience as a Naturopathic Doctor specializing in women’s health with an emphasis on environmental medicine. Having served two terms on the board of directors for the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians, she has also worked in the medical aesthetics field since 2008. You can reach her at onehealingcenter@gmail.com or
907-209-4611.