As companion planting creates a beneficial bond or “friendship” between plants in the garden, there are also plants that pose as foes to other crops.

Crops to Plant Separately

These plants may hinder or stop growth as they compete for nutrients or space.

Here are some examples of plant combinations that do not work in the garden.

• Tomato and Cabbage

  Cabbage will stunt the growth of tomatoes and compete for soil nutrients. Plant relatives of cabbage — including cauliflower, collards, and kale — will also hinder the growth of tomatoes.

• Asparagus and Onions

  Onions and similar plants like garlic will compete for space and can slow or stop plant growth. These plants should be placed far from each other if planted within the same garden.

  Avoid growing asparagus near potatoes for similar reasons.

• Bell Peppers and Fennel

  Not only is there a competition for space and nutrient that may cause these plants to die or slow in growth, but these plants need different growing conditions.

  Other foes of bell peppers include kohlrabi, walnuts, and apricots.

  Fennel does not do well with other plants and should be placed on its own whenever possible.

• Cucumbers and Potatoes

  Avoid planting cucumbers and potatoes in the same space or garden bed as they are known to be very competitive for soil nutrients.

  According to SFGate.com, potatoes release substances while growing which will harm the growth of the cucumber.

• Corn and Tomatoes

  These plants are prone to common fungal infections that may occur in the garden. They also attract insects like the tomato fruit worm and the corn earworm.

Whether you’re growing vegetables, fruits, or flowers, the last thing you want to do is use pesticides that can harm you, your children, your pets, and the environment. North Americans use approximately 136 million pounds of pesticides on lawns and gardens and in their homes each year—that’s three times the amount farmers use.

Consider safe, natural controls for garden pests instead.

Put Nature to Work Against Pests!

If pesky invaders show up to dine on your prize plants, enlist the aid of natural predators. Beneficial insects such as ground beetles, ladybugs, fireflies, green lacewings, praying mantis, spiders, and wasps will keep hungry insects from devouring your plants. Attract insect friends in the following ways:

Surround yourself with flowers. Flowering plants, especially those with small flowers rich in nectar, attract beneficial flies, wasps, and other insects to your garden (see “Flower Power” below).
Plant herbs. Herbs interplanted with vegetables help attract pests’ natural enemies. Let some of the herbs go to flower since it’s the blooms that do the attracting.
Encourage birds to visit to help control garden pests. Welcome them with trees, berry-bearing shrubs, birdhouses, and water features.

Spray Your Garden Safely

If munching garden pests damage your plants, control them with some simple homemade recipes. Bad bugs won’t know what hit them.

1. For aphids, mealy bugs, mites, and other soft-bodied insects: Mix 1 tablespoon of canola oil and a few drops of liquid soap into a quart of water. Shake well and pour into a spray bottle. Spray plant from the top down and from the bottom up to get the underside of the leaves. The oil smothers the insects.
2. Another choice for mites and other insects: Mix 2 tablespoons of hot pepper sauce or cayenne pepper with a few drops of liquid soap into a quart of water. Let stand overnight, stir, pour into a spray bottle, and apply as above. Shake container frequently during application.
3. For insects and fungal diseases: Combine 1 table-spoon of cooking oil, 2 tablespoons of baking soda, and a few drops of liquid soap into a quart of water. Pour into a spray container and apply as above.
4. For weeds: Spot spray with common, full-strength household vinegar on a sunny day.

When Not To Spray Your Plants

Don't spray in the full sun, when the temperature is above 90 degrees or the humidity is very high. Make sure your plants are not drought stressed and do not repeat the spray too often.

Attract Helpful Insects to Control Garden Pests

Beautify your yard and control harmful insects at the same time by planting flowers, herbs, and vegetables that attract helpful insects. Members of the mint family (lemon balm, pennyroyal, thyme), carrot family (dill, parsley), and cabbage family (radishes, mustard, broccoli) draw beneficial insects.

Other plants to consider? Angelica, aster, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, calendula, candytuft, cilantro, clover, daisy, dill, evening primrose, fennel, goldenrod, parsley, sunflower, sweet alyssum, valerian, and yarrow.

One of the best things you can do to live a long, healthy life doesn’t require a visit to the doctor, a change in diet, or a new supplement regimen. It’s all about social connections.

“Social” Science

Get connected: It’s not just common sense that physical and mental health is enhanced by having a supportive network–family, friends, faith community, knitting group, poker buddies, or whatever. It’s backed by an array of scientific evidence.

“Wide-ranging research suggests that strong social ties are linked to a longer life. In contrast, loneliness and social isolation are linked to poorer health, depression, and increased risk of early death,” reports News in Health from the National Institutes of Health.

Numerous experiments going as far back as the 1970s show that people experiencing positive emotions are better at being socially engaged, at including others socially, and at showing consideration, trust, and compassion. People who have broad and varied social relationships that are rewarding are more likely to be in good physical health and to live longer.

An analysis of more than 140 studies that looked at a combined 300,000 people concluded that, in terms of mortality risk, a lack of social connectedness is comparable to other major risk factors including smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, and lack of exercise.

A Sense of Belonging

Emma Seppälä, PhD, science director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and author of The Happiness Track, defines social connection as “The subjective experience of feeling close to and a sense of belongingness with others.” She lists its benefits as longer lifespan, stronger immunity, lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem and empathy, better regulation of emotions, and “a positive feedback loop of social, emotional, and physical well-being.”

Low levels of social connection, on the other hand, can lead to higher inflammation, higher susceptibility to anxiety and depression, slower recovery from illness, and increased antisocial behavior, Dr. Seppälä writes.

The Costs of Isolation

Social connectedness rates are dropping in the United States, with one survey indicating that more than a quarter of people have no one to talk with about personal problems. For aging adults, loneliness is a serious health risk.

At a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, experts noted that feeling isolated from other people can cause insomnia, elevated blood pressure, spikes in the stress hormone cortisol, gene changes in immune cells, increased depression, and a lower sense of well-being.

Researchers pointed to three dimensions of healthy relationships:

• Intimate connectedness, or having someone in your life who affirms who you are.
• Relational connectedness, or having mutually satisfying in-person contacts.
• Collective connectedness, or feeling part of a larger group.

Don’t Lose Touch

It’s not about living alone: risks to health and lifespan come not from physical isolation but from feeling isolated. So if you’re feeling disconnected, or if you want to maintain connections as you age, consider a few approaches. Retiring to a warmer climate may mean fewer weather hassles, but staying where your support network is may outweigh that.

Reach out to others by volunteering and offering acts of kindness. Be sure to ask for help when you need it–if you don’t ask, people will assume you’re OK. Turn casual or online “friendships” into real ones by inviting a friend for a walk or a cup of tea.

Finally, don’t just seek a friend: be a friend.

Reduce Your Child’s Chemical Exposure

The best way to protect your baby’s skin is to avoid the harmful or irritating chemicals found in many of today’s baby care products. A baby’s delicate skin quickly absorbs anything applied to it, and the fragrances, chemicals, and dyes in many products can lead to rashes and skin irritation.

The safest care for your baby’s skin is the simplest and most natural. At bath time, use only chemical- and fragrance-free soap, or simply rinse with water.

Skin Care Ingredients To Avoid for Infants

• Parabens

  These chemicals—appearing in about 85 percent of personal care ingredients according to the American Chemical Society—have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems as well as damage to the endocrine system.

• Fragrances

  Synthetic fragrances may include a wide variety of irritating or even harmful chemicals derived from petroleum or coal. Mineral oil Manufacturers add synthetic fragrance to this petroleum byproduct.

• Propylene glycol

  Used in many commercial applications, including antifreeze, this chemical is found in many baby wipes under the initials PEG or PPG.

• Talc

  This standby baby-care powder has been used since long before grandma’s time. Unfortunately, in addition to being an irritant to the lungs, talc may sometimes contain small quantities of asbestos. Look for baby powder made from cornstarch or tapioca starch instead.

• Triclosan

  A common ingredient in antibacterial products of all kinds, including soaps and body washes, triclosan is an endocrine disruptor.

• Triethanolamine

  TEA is an irritating alkaline compound used to control pH levels. TEA, DEA, and MEA should all be avoided.

Safe Alternatives for Infant Skin Care

• Coconut oil

  Coconut oil is soothing, effective in treating rashes, and antifungal.

• Chamomile

  Helpful in treating diaper rash, as well as being antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory, chamomile is gentle and soothing.

• Shea Butter

  Naturally anti-inflammatory, shea butter has antifungal and yeast-killing qualities.

• Calendula

  This herb is a natural antibacterial agent that promotes rapid healing.

As a wellness expert and working mom, I’m often asked how I find time to maintain a healthful routine.

First, focus on what that means.

The Pillars of Wellness

For me, wellness combines three lifestyle pillars—a healthy diet, taking vitamins and supplements to fill nutrition gaps, and being physically active. Getting plenty of sleep is essential, as is balancing other areas of my life, like stress and caffeine intake.

But I also know it’s important to be realistic. You’ll fail if you choose unrealistic personal goals.

It’s only when you know where you are that you can make a plan to get to where you want to be.

Setting Wellness Goals

Educate, Evaluate & Execute Your Plan

So how do you educate and evaluate yourself, and execute a plan without getting discouraged?

I suggest starting with a wellness assessment—there’s a good one from Simon Frasier University called The 7 Dimensions of Wellness.

It's meant for students, but it’s fun, fast, and free. Take a few minutes to find out where you rank on a wellness continuum based on current habits.

Areas include physical, social, spiritual, and environmental. Your answers—which remain private—will tell you where you stand.

When you take your wellness assessment, don’t be discouraged if you have a ways to go. Think of gaps as opportunities for improvement.

Consider discussing your results with your healthcare practitioner, dietitian, or personal trainer to start the dialogue about how you can best practice wellness.

Small Changes Make Big Improvements

We often get discouraged when we bite off more than we can chew. So don’t revamp your entire life at once. Small, proactive changes add up to big improvements.

For example, if you’re eating too much saturated fat, start by using just one pat of butter on your morning toast instead of your regular two.

If, realistically, you can’t get to the gym every day, take the stairs or incorporate more walking into your schedule.

If you occasionally forget your daily supplements, try taking them at the same time every day so they become an automatic part of your routine.

You don’t have to settle for being an OhWELL; there’s an AlphaWELL in all of us.

Every hour on the hour I’m reminded to stand. If I haven’t exercised by midafternoon, I’m again reminded to get off my butt.

Who’s always in my ear? Well, I can’t afford a personal trainer, but I did splurge $429 for an Apple Watch. Leery of overusing technology, I won’t deny that a digital watch is a duplicative item because I already own a smartphone. My Apple Watch, after all, operates in sync with my iPhone. Initially, I couldn’t justify why I bought the watch. I got it only because it looked cool. I felt guilty as soon as I left the Apple Store.

Pondering the Sport-Gadget Market

Within days, I’d realized that the watch has real value and would improve my health and outlook on exercise. As a 48-year-old freelance writer and the father of two young children, I’m busy. I not only don’t have time to spend an hour at a gym, but I’ve also skipped exercising at home for a few years now. I’m lucky to have a beautiful nature trail alongside my house, but some days I just look at it from my window in between paragraphs of a story.

The Apple Watch monitors how often I stand, how much I move, and how frequently I exercise. Three overlaying broken rings move to form a closed circle to measure my progress, and the watch sends notifications when I’m not close to closing the rings. I now have a new source of guilt: not meeting the day’s challenge. But I’m feeling healthier and realize that most days I do indeed have time to exercise, even enough for a brisk walk.

The Right Gear for The Right Lifestyle

If I can do it, so can you. Here are some tech gadgets that are motivating others and may prompt you to exercise too.

Pick Your Smartwatch

Smartwatches are popular for their functionality and fashion, particularly because they’re not obtrusive while exercising. The Apple Watch works with third-party fitness apps, allowing me to also track how restfully (or restlessly) I sleep and how many miles I run. But Apple doesn’t have a corner on the market. Polar’s M600 smartwatch gets great reviews for tracking daily workouts, steps, sleep, heart rate, and calories, and at around $300 it costs less than an Apple Watch. Fitbit’s Versa and Ionic have both earned the praise of tech observers for their fitness features and long battery life.

Wearables for Everything

There are all types of wearable devices that have a narrower focus than the typically costlier smartwatches. Fitbit was among the first activity and fitness trackers, monitoring everything from aerobic exercise to yoga. But the market has since exploded with niche wearables. Consider Amigo’s fitness bracelets. With one on your wrist and another on your ankle, you can more closely track your movements. Not to be outdone, a smart sock by Sensoria uses, yes, sensors to gauge your running mechanics.

Choose Your Smartbottle

It’s not just watches and socks that are “smart.” Several companies offer cups and bottles that use technology to measure how much you drink. Obviously, hydration is key to proper exercise. Ozmo’s smartbottle is catching attention for how it vibrates as a reminder to drink. It displays how many more gulps are needed to reach your goal, which can be set on fitness apps that connect, via Bluetooth, the bottle to your smartphone.

Ever Heard of a Smart-Fork?

Eating quickly can make you eat more, and it certainly isn’t good for digestion. If you’re looking to eat well before and after exercising, take some bites with HAPIfork by Slow Control. A built-in accelerometer tracks hand motion to measure the time between bites. It will vibrate if you’re eating too quickly.

For something that’s present pretty much everywhere inside the body, fascia has received remarkably little attention from researchers—until recent years.

Considering that, as Runner’s World magazine put it, “Fascia is a major player in every movement you make and every injury you’ve ever had,” it’s about time.

What is Fascia?

A network of connective tissue that literally holds the body together, fascia weaves around organs, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, bones, and organs—encasing, connecting, and protecting you and all of your parts. It’s made of collagen and is both fibrous and mucous. Picture a spider web, cling wrap, fabric, or film that continuously adjusts as you move.

Why is Fascia So Important?

Consider this: “Injuries to the fascial system cause a significant loss of performance in recreational exercise as well as high-performance sports, and could have a potential role in the development and perpetuation of musculoskeletal disorders, including lower back pain.”

That’s from a consensus paper on fascial tissue research, developed by experts following a sports medicine conference and published in the August issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The paper calls for continued research into fascia, and it’s easy to see why. Damage or tightness in the fascial network can lead to stiffness, poor posture, headaches, and muscle, neck, and back pain. If you sit too long, stand too long, or don’t stretch enough, your fascia may tighten up. Intensive physical training can cause fascial tightness, too, as can chronic inflammation and physical trauma like surgery or injury.

How to Keep Fascia Healthy

Healthy fascia is pliable; it stretches and returns easily to its initial shape. You can keep it flexible—or restore its flexibility—by being mindful and following a few guidelines.

• Gentle Stretching

  Take time every day to really stretch. Try rolling around in bed in the morning and working all your muscles. You can also stretch your fascia by holding gentle stretches for three to five minutes.

• Stay Hydrated

  Keep your fascial tissue lubricated and working smoothly by drinking plenty of water.

• Use a Foam Roller or Ball

  Use a soft foam roller or a small ball to gently and slowly work your fascia. In places where you find tension, hold pressure for three to five minutes. To ease discomfort in the plantar fascia (the bottom of the foot), gently roll your foot over a tennis ball.

• Soak with Epsom Salts

  Loosen up tight fascia in a warm Epsom salt bath. Soak for 15 or 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of light activity.

• Fascial & Myofascial Therapy

  Consult a specialist. A variety of practitioners offer fascial or myofascial therapy, using techniques that range from massage to Rolfing to stretching and exercise.

Changing Your Way of Thinking, Your Body is NOT a Machine! 

Tom Myers, coauthor of Fascial Release for Structural Balance ($34.95, Lotus Publishing, 2017), notes that bodies are often described in mechanical terms, their parts chugging along like individual components in a well-oiled machine. “The error comes when we start thinking that humans are actually built that way,” he says.

A better metaphor for the body than a machine, he says, is a plant. “We are grown from a tiny seed—a single cell, or fertilized ovum, about the size of a pin prick—not glued together in parts.” Rather, he says, the parts grew together within the glue, or fascial web.

Once you understand and really feel the body as a whole organism, Myers says, you can move with more integrity—like a plant, not a machine.