Monday, July 30, 2018

How to Care For Your Septic Tank

Organic Septic Tank Treatments

If you happen to live in a rural area, then you probably use a septic tank system. A septic system is basically your home’s own sewage treatment system. One is used when access to a municipal sewer system is just not available. These systems remain out of sight and can be completely odorless when cared for properly. You can keep your septic system clean and odorless by following a few simple rules.

Some of these rules include, being mindful of what your family puts in your septic system. These tanks can be sensitive so it may not take much to upset the balance within it. Watching what is put in it can extend the life of your septic tank. To make your septic system trouble free for many years, take a look at some useful rules to follow.

Tips & Organic Septic Tank Treatments

Keep in mind the following recommendations:

Mindful Water Level

Careful not to put too much water in the septic tank. This can upset the balance within the tank and hinder the ability to work properly. Having too much water can also cause it to back up, which can cause an undesirable experience in your home.

Use Organic Septic Treatment

Another rule to follow is not to use harsh household chemicals. Many of these products contain fillers and not a lot of active ingredients. However, organic septic tank treatments, such as EM 1, can improve the balance in a tank caused by the overuse of harsh cleaners, soaps and detergents. Many of these products can make its way into a septic tank even if not directly put in there. EM 1 can be used on septic systems, boats, buses and portable toilets. The organic septic tank treatment can also help eliminate odors, improve drainage, prevent groundwater pollution and control odors from sewers.

Watch What You Put In The Drain

Household waste like coffee grounds, cooking fats, heavy duty paper towels, disposable diapers, facial tissues and cigarette butts will not decompose within the tank. Putting these things down the drain will only fill the tank and plug up the system. These materials won’t decompose, will fill the septic tank and will plug the system. A high quality toilet paper is a necessity when using a septic system. The toilet paper should be able to break up easily when wet. Otherwise, it will just clog the system.

Absolutely NO Grease

A big no-no when having a septic system is dumping grease down the drain. The grease may plug the sewer pipes and build up in the septic tank. An alternative to throwing it down the drain can be keeping a separate container for the waste grease and throw it out in the regular garbage.

How Often You Should Clean Your Septic Tank

How often one should clean out their septic tank relies on a number of things. The size of the tank, the amount of water that is waste and how many solids are in it all play a part in necessary cleaning. Some other signs that your tank might need a cleaning is if there are any foul smells coming from it, if there are any slow drains or drains that are completely plugged. Call a septic system professional whenever your system show any signs of distress.

Fermented Foods: How They Can Benefit Your Health

What are Fermented Foods?

Fermented foods might be something that sound a lot more unappealing than they actually are. Fermented foods are any edibles or beverages that have undergone the fermentation process. Many foods are fermented with sugars, yeast or bacteria cultures. When you think of fermented foods, what are the first things that you think of? Yogurt or sour cream? Many people first turn to what they are familiar with when it comes to fermented foods. However, there are so many different types of fermented foods out there that you may have not even thought about before. Fermented foods can include items such as: kombucha, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, tempeh, miso and so many more. Do a lot of these names of foods start to ring a bell to you? Fermented foods aren't always as exotic as they sound, and are often found in a lot of the foods that we eat everyday. Fermented foods are a lot more than just something to eat, they do a lot to improve digestion, the immune system, and harbor a number of other health benefits.

How They Help Digestion

Fermented foods serve many more purposes than just being food that we like to eat. Fermented foods have been proven to help improve digestion, balance the gut and immune system, and offer a number of other health benefits to those who eat fermented foods. Fermented foods are so beneficial because they often contain a variety of helpful bacterias that help fight off a lot of the bad bacteria in our guts or in our body. Did you know that the majority of your immune system lives in the gut? Yep, that's right! So, if you're not taking care of your gut the right way, other parts of your health could be suffering as a result. By eating fermented foods, it helps balance the bacteria in your gut to improve digestion and function. With improved digestion and function, you might notice that you start to feel better in a lot of different ways. Simply adding fermented foods more regularly in your diet can help improve your health. By taking it a step further and adding a probiotic into your diet, you're on your way to a clean gut and feeling better.

Fermented Foods at Home

Fermented foods can easily be found in a number of different grocery stores, but did you know that you can also ferment your own food at home? Fermented foods can be easy to make as long as you have all of the right ingredients and a little bit of patience! Fermented foods take a while to actually ferment, so you want to be sure you're not in a rush. To find out recipes and how to make your own fermented food at home, head over to our recipes page of our website for ideas! You can even incorporate our PRO EM 1 probiotic into a variety of fermented food recipes for an even easier approach. Think about giving fermented foods a try!

Why Soil Conditioning Is Important For Healthy Gardening

A soil conditioner can be useful for improving soil structure and drainage. It can eliminate unpleasant smells in the home, improve water quality in aquariums and ponds, and accelerate composting. Organic soil inoculants are a type of bacteria that can be added to the soil. A healthy ecosystem will include hundreds of millions of beneficial microorganisms in each teaspoon of soil. Soil that has been depleted through the use of chemicals, human alteration or pollution may lack these useful microbes. This soil fails to offer plants the nutrients they need to grow and flourish.

Thankfully, there are methods of introducing these critical microbes back into the soil in a natural way. Composting is extremely helpful, providing a significant number of these necessary microorganisms. Unfortunately, there is never enough compost available to satisfy the needs of our gardens. That's when we turn to economical and effective inoculants to improve the quality of the soil, control plant predators, bring water to plant roots, and convert nitrogen from the air and minerals from the soil into forms plants can use.

Microbial Inoculants: A Natural Conditioner

Garden soil is complex, and the biology of it goes hand in hand with keeping agricultural systems healthy and productive. A sort of society of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes work together and influence the chemical and physical properties of the soil. When these bacteria are depleted, plants suffer. Microbial inoculants are a naturally-fermented, live microbial products that can condition the soil to provide a helpful growing environment. This product is a green alternative to synthetic chemicals, and is completely non-toxic and safe for all plants, soils, animals and humans.

Gardens Rely On Microbes

Soil inoculants rely on beneficial microbes to boost plant health. They promote plant growth by stimulating hormone production and improving nutrition. Studies have shown that inoculants can generate Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) to common crop pathogens such as powdery mildew, take-all, leaf spot, and root rot. SAR sounds complicated. What it means is that the entire plant will benefit from a greater defense against a wide range of harmful pathogens. Powdery mildew is well-known to most gardeners, and is one of the most widespread plant diseases. It looks like a powdery growth and attacks a broad variety of vegetable plants. Root rot attacks mainly ornamental trees and shrubs. The tree may survive a few years before the disease eventually kills the whole plant. This fungi can spread through contaminated soil, garden equipment, splashing rain, irrigations water and runoff water. Leaf spots are round blemishes that may result in complete defoliation of a plant. Take-all root rot is a soil-borne fungus that results in brown dead areas in turfgrass.

As a gardener, anything you can do to safeguard against disease and promote plant health is worthwhile. The introduction of microbial inoculant is a simple means of guaranteeing richer soil for faster growing, greener and more rewarding results from your garden.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

How to use the Bokashi Recycling System

What have you heard about composting? For some, the idea of composting can be a bit intimidating and even unpleasant. You may have seen the waste recycling units, and come to the conclusion that they’re cumbersome, require constant upkeep, and cause bad smells or swarms of insects in your home or garden. Contrary to these beliefs, composting is a relatively simple process and requires little maintenance after setup. Plus, everything you compost is one less thing in the landfills, so it’s great for the environment!

The Bokashi Recycling System

Composting is an effective method of reusing organic waste from your kitchen. In only two weeks, you'll have valuable organic matter for your garden. Starting your own food waste recycling system is easy and affordable. You can either make your own compost kit with Bokashi bran or purchase a unit from a specialty retailer like TeraGanix.

A store-bought Bokashi food waste fermenter kit includes a sturdy plastic bucket and lid. Each recycling bucket has a spigot on the front, and inside, a durable strainer to separate solids from liquid. Each kit also comes with a bag of Bokashi bran mix.

How to setup a Bokashi Food Waste Fermenter

If you recently purchased - or are planning to purchase - a Bokashi recycling kit, use these tips to setup your unit and start composting:
  1. Place the strainer at the bottom of the bucket.
  2. Sprinkle a handful of the Bokashi mix inside, taking care not to clog the holes in the strainer.
  3. Add kitchen scraps to the bucket. Break down larger food scraps into smaller pieces, and pierce the skin of grapes, tomatoes and similar foods.
  4. Fill the bucket approximately two inches with food scraps, then sprinkle another handful of Bokashi mix over the top. Place a heavy plate on top to compact each layer and release air.
  5. Continue to alternate layers of organic material and Bokashi bran until the bucket is full or you run out of scraps.
  6. Completely seal the lid when finished and leave for at least two weeks
The sealed bucket can be kept in a convenient place with easy access, such as the cabinet under the sink or even in a closet. You can add all types of food scraps to your Bokashi recycling kit, including meat and dairy. Do not add inorganic materials like foils or plastics. If you start to notice an unpleasant smell, add more bran mix to the bucket. There should be a slight brine smell, like pickles, but no bad odors.

Every few days, use the spigot to drain off the liquid at the bottom of the recycling bucket. This liquid is known as Bokashi tea and can be used around the house or garden. You can pour the liquid down sink and tub drains in your bathroom, kitchen or laundry room. The Bokashi tea helps to unclog drains, keep pipe interiors smooth, and eliminate unpleasant odors. You can also use the liquid as a very powerful fertilizer for your plants. Just add one cup of Bokashi tea to four gallons of water and spray over plants!

Once the composting process is complete, bury the contents in your garden. Composting is a great way to reintroduce healthy microorganisms back into your garden and repair damaged soil. Learn more at last week’s blog post: Natural Remedies to Repair Damaged Soil.

The Negative Effects of Pesticides

Using pesticide lawn treatments are a common way for gardeners and farmers to keep unwanted pests and insects out of their fruits and vegetables. However, these chemicals can have a negative effect on our lives. Fortunately, organic repellents and treatments, such as EM 1, are becoming more popular and available over the past few years, making a healthier garden more available to us.

Just how do these chemical pesticides affect our lives? Check out some of their potentially harmful effects on our heath and children.


Although pesticides are not the sole cause of autism, they may be a heavy part of the equation. The condition has been arising in mothers that were exposed to chemicals while she was pregnant and in the early years of childhood. Scientists believe that too many chemicals are affecting the neurology bugs, such as staying off of your plants or causing them to die, it is probably affecting the neurology of children too.


Cancer has been linked to many chemicals that assist in agricultural growth. Scientists have found that these pesticides have been associated with not just one, but many types of cancer. By simply applying these chemicals to their garden, one is exposing themselves to the risk of breast, prostate, brain, bone, thyroid, colon, liver and lung cancer.

But even when one is exposed indirectly to pesticides, such as through parental use, it has been found to affect children in a terrible way. A study has shown that when a woman is pregnant with a child and is exposed to the pesticides, it can increase the risk for brain cancer in the child. Parental exposure includes before the child’s conception, during gestation and after birth. When the parents are exposed to the pesticides may also play a role in the different cellular changes for themselves that lead to cancer.

Infertility and Birth Defects

While we are the topic of pregnancy, one of the most well-known negative effects of pesticides is infertility. Infertility is commonly and consistently found to be a result of exposure to pesticides and agricultural chemicals. A popular weed killer that is used on golf courses and agriculture is Atrazine. Atrazine has been found in the tap water of many homes. This may be a reason why miscarriage and infertility rates are on the rise. Roundup has also been found to cause various birth defects in pregnant women. Pesticides do not only effect women. That same chemical in Roundup has also been known to damage or kill testicular cells in the first 48 hours of exposure. Other chemicals affect males too. The chemical used in strawberry fields and apple orchards have been found to lower testosterone levels.

So how can we avoid pesticides and pesticide exposure? Do not use pesticides on your garden and buy organic food. If your budget does not allow you to eat all organic, try to just buy organic fruit and vegetables. Making a small change can make all the difference in your life and in your children’s life!

The Health Benefits of Probiotics

We hear the word probiotics tossed around quite a bit these days. Whether it is at the grocery store or the doctor’s office, probiotics seem like an important topic about your health. However, what exactly are probiotics and how do you get them? Probiotics are a group of good bacteria that occur naturally in your body. Although they are naturally found in your body, they also can be found in common foods, like yogurt and over the counter liquids and supplements. These “good” bacteria are there to help control the harmful bacteria in your digestive system. Probiotics aids in digestion, bloating and is also known to help those who have irritable bowel syndrome.

There are two ways that probiotics are believed to protect our body. The first way is that they play a huge role in our digestive tract. Our digestive tract needs the right balance of good and bad bacteria, however, sometimes our lifestyle choices get in the way of that healthy balance. Sometimes, things like food choices, lack of sleep, stress, drugs and alcohol can influence and shift the amount of bacteria that is in your system. A healthy digestive tract will filter out any sort of toxins to prevent from damaging it. When it comes to healthy nutrients, the digestive tract will absorb it and help deliver it to necessary parts of our body.

However, bad bacteria does still play a role in our bodies so our digestive tract cannot eliminate all of it. There is a need for both the good and bad bacteria to be perfectly balanced in our bodies. When the balance is off or shifted, that causes problems such as diarrhea, muscle pain or urinary tract infections.

Probiotics also have a major impact on our immune system. Our immune system is vital when protecting against harmful toxins like germs. When it doesn't function properly or is weak, we can suffer from allergic reactions, autoimmune disorders, and infections. By maintaining the correct balance of probiotics and bad bacteria, our system should be able to protect against these disorders and infections. It is never too late to restore the balance in our immune system, anytime it is reestablished, our system can benefit.

An easy way to get the good bacteria in your system is by taking a daily liquid probiotics such as PRO EM 1. PRO EM 1 is a powerful liquid probiotic that is dairy, wheat and soy free. It is made from all natural and organic ingredients. Unlike yogurt, it has no added preservatives, added sugars or dyes. PRO EM 1 is friendly for almost any diet. This liquid probiotic supplement uses three groups of live, beneficial digestive enzymes to cleanse and remove toxins from your body.
PRO EM 1 daily probiotic cleanses and supplements utilizing a cutting-edge technology known as EM Technology. This EM technology involves using a broad spectrum of beneficial bacteria, digestive enzymes and all of their metabolites produced during fermentation to provide a more complete probiotic and benefits to the digestive system.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Probiotics Help Beyond the Gut

Where Probiotics Can Help

Probiotics have notably been advertised to help cure a number of tummy troubles and digestive issues, but did you know that their benefits can extend well past your gut? Although most people who take probiotics are taking them for digestive reasons, some people are noticing other benefits they have received as a result of taking probiotic supplements or cleanses. With all the talk of the benefits of probiotics, many scientists are now studying the wide range of probiotics abilities to improve health in different areas of the body. We do know that probiotics help balance the amount of good and bad bacteria in the gut, which helps with a number of digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, diarrhea, absorption and more. The majority of our immune system also lives in our gut, so many people are also experiencing immune support from taking a probiotic supplement. However, with such success in these areas, there is a lot of research going into the ways that probiotics can help balance different parts of your body as well.

Organic Supplement Studies in the Works

Some of the recent claims from probiotic users are that probiotics can help with acne, allergies, diabetes, anxiety, mental clarity, and hormone balancing. Although many of these areas are still being studied, there is a clear connect to the way our gut functions and affects our whole body function. If probiotics can help in a variety of areas, you may seem them being used more widely to treat a variety of health issues across the board. The gut controls the absorption of nutrients, so if you're not getting the nutrients you need, don't you think that this would affect your mental clarity? Many of our hormones are balanced from our guts and the food we eat as well. Ever notice after a junk food binge that you don't feel good, are cranky, and breaking out more than usual? This could definitely be a sign of how the food we eat and how we digest it really affects much more than just our stomachs. With all of these studies in the works, you can certainly expect more uses and benefits for probiotics in the future.

Adding Probiotics to Your Routine

Adding a probiotic to your daily routine is easy! There are a variety of probiotic supplements, foods infused with probiotics and probiotic drinks. Probiotics are easy to find at many grocery stores, health food stores and for purchase online. You'll want to find a probiotic supplement that you can easily work into your daily routine. At Teraganix, we offer our Pro-EM 1 Probiotic for sale on our website! You can try our probiotic cleanse and see how it works for you! You will certainly start to notice the benefits of taking a probiotic once it's been added to your routine. If you think that taking a probiotic will help you, make a plan to start adding probiotics to your diet. Our Pro EM-1 Probiotic is a great place to start!