🌱 Today We Begin: As We Grow With Purpose

Today we are planting seven plants, marking the start of a new growing series connected to As We Grow With Purpose.

You may notice that one plant (H) is already growing. This is intentional.

There are two types of Plantain:

• Broadleaf Plantain (Plantago major) – being planted today • Narrowleaf Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) – already growing

We have seeds for both and wanted to show the difference right from the beginning.

While we have many types of seeds available, we narrowed the list for this project. The goal is to keep things simple, practical, and educational, creating a strong starting point for people who want to explore natural health and wellness options.

The six core plants were chosen carefully. Together they provide a solid foundation for learning how plants can be used in everyday life.

These plants can be used in many ways:

🌿 Teas 🌿 Spice powders 🌿 Nutritional additions to food 🌿 Balms and lip balms 🌿 Other simple wellness preparations

For example, I created a winter lip balm using plants we grow. It helps reduce chapping and supports overall lip health. Anyone who spends time outdoors understands how painful cracked lips can be in winter, and simple plant-based solutions can help prevent that suffering.

This is part of why I chose plants like:

🌿 Mullein 🌼 Dandelion 🌱 Peppermint

By learning about their nutrient profiles and beneficial plant compounds, we can better understand how plants may support our health and wellness in practical ways.

These are the plants I personally use for my own health and wellness, which is why I added a seventh plant specifically for my own needs.

I do not just talk about growing plants — I actually use the plants I grow.

This project is about helping people increase their knowledge and awareness about natural health options, free from corporate influence that often decides what we are told is or is not healthy.

The truth is that many of these plants have been used for centuries across cultures.

Today we are often told health must come from factories and chemicals, but that is only one option. Everyone has the right to learn and decide for themselves.

For me, learning about these plants was not optional. After my stroke and heart surgery, many of the options doctors recommended were simply not affordable, and support programs did not provide the help that was needed.

So I had to learn. I had to take responsibility for my own health.

What began as necessity has become something I now share freely with others who want greater independence in their health and wellness.

Helping others is simply part of who I am.

Community should be about:

❤️ Supporting each other 🌱 Building each other up 🤝 Creating options for everyone

—not dividing people into groups based on income or access.

How This Series Works

This project connects two sections of FIFE – Food Is For Everyone.

🌍 As We Grow With Purpose Public educational articles about each plant, including nutrient profiles, wellness profiles, and traditional uses.

🔒 My Kitchen Today / My Tent Today / My Harvest Today These sections are members-only.

There are important reasons for this.

First, I will not allow censorship of what I am sharing. These sections document real-time growing and real-life use of plants for health and wellness. I will not allow outside influences, corporate policies, or changing platform rules to decide what I can or cannot share.

Second, these sections help protect the space from people who waste time, scam others, or act without love and compassion. Unfortunately, those behaviors are common online.

By keeping these sections for members, we create a respectful environment focused on learning, sharing, and helping others.

Members will see the plants in real time — from seed to harvest, including how they are actually used in everyday life.

Together, the public and members sections create a living educational resource, showing both the knowledge and the real-life application.

Looking Forward

This growing project is also helping build the foundation for Wellness Without Barriers Oshawa — a future free community space for growing, learning, and nourishment for everyone.

A place where people can learn to grow food, understand plants, and create simple wellness products without financial barriers.

Today’s planting is just the beginning. 🌱

You will find that only members can see the FIFE - Food Is For Everyone tab "With Purpose." The sections that have "My Tent Today" and other My xxx Today posts are members only, and you have to be a member to see and participate in this section.