It’s Time, It’s Time!

Actually, here in Texas, I’m already behind the curve. But I’m just itching to get out there and start digging and planting. So, since I got to go to the library by myself today, I browsed through the gardening books. It’s looking like this will be a “me, myself, and I” project – well, me & the kid – so I felt I needed some help. I’ve never done the from scratch part. Right now, where the garden will be, is lawn, grass. Yeah, I don’t know what to do with that. My husband always does that part. But, since he’s completely consumed with work and March is over this week, I have to get in there and figure out how to get started. I found a nice stack of books that look like they will be helpful.

The one I started looking at this evening is absolutely hilarious. I am literally laughing out loud while I read. It’s The 20 Minute Vegetable Gardener (Gourmet Gardening for the Rest of Us) by Tom Christopher & Marty Asher. Check out the “Pledge of Allegiance” (minus the explanations):

1. The 20-minute gardener makes every minute count by growing high-impact crops.
2. The 20-minute fruit and vegetable gardener gauges success not by the size of the crop but by the amount of pleasure it delivers.
3. The 20-minute fruit or vegetable must offer a significant improvement over the store-bought alternative.
4. Twenty-minute gardeners don’t fight Nature (they know who will win that battle).
5. Twenty-minute gardeners plant in rows only when planning to harvest by tractor.
6. Twenty-minute gardeners nurture their dirt.
7. Twenty-minute gardeners don’t weed. . . they never let weeds into their gardens.
8. The 20-minute gardener never applies anything to his garden that he would be afraid to get on his hands.
9. The 20-minute gardener can do this because she rarely has to confront bugs.
10. The 20-minute gardener recognizes that the hose is his most important gardening tool, and so wields it with the care it deserves.
11. Mellow gardeners grow better-tasting vegetables.

I can’t wait (rubbing hands together in anticipation).

Here’s a list of the other books I checked out that look helpful, but I haven’t begun to read yet:

• Dirt Cheap Gardening – Hundreds of Ways to Save Money in Your Gardenby Rhonda Massingham Hart
• Texas Gardening – Vegetablesby Dr. Sam Cotner
• Gardening with Children by Beth Richardson
• The Budget Gardener – Twice the Garden for Half the Priceby Maureen Gilmer
• An Illustrated Guide to Organic Gardening – How to Garden in Harmony with Nature by the Editors of Sunset Books

One should be able to find similar books in the local library, if not these. Definately look for the 20-minute gardener. That looks to be a fun read, and tremendously helpful to little ‘ol me. While I’m on the subject, I picked up another wonderful book from Paperback Swap on Herb Gardening: Herbal Remedy Gardens – 38 Plans for Your Health & Well-Being by Dorie Byers. So many ideas and so little time (not to mention budget). None-the-less, I hope to be able to report some progress this time next week. Happy digging in your little plot of the world!

A Little Reminder

Many have said that when you set a new course for yourself that requires major changes it is important to make a list of your reasons for setting the course in the first place. Then, when you find yourself feeling discouraged or losing your motivation, you can review the list and thus re-energize your cause. I suppose I should follow this advice as I find myself losing motivation at times, or getting discouraged at how difficult it can be to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But, alas, that rejuvenating reminder usually comes along in one form or other. Tonight, I am reminded why I purchase pasture-raised, all grass, all the time, beef: USDA Orders Nation’s Largest Beef Recall. Although much of the meat has already been consumed, I hope this raises the awareness of the general public of the issues regarding factory farming.

Pickled Okra

This was our last week here for Farmers Market. But, I did pick up some more okra so I could have another try at pickled okra. The first go round went pretty well. Although I was a little disappointed at first as the flavor was pretty weak. But now, two months later, they are pretty good – good enough I want to do it again. I could not find an NT recipe for lacto-fermented okra, so I had to improvise. I used the basic pickle (cucumber) recipe from Nourishing Traditions for the”brine” and searched around for pickled okra recipes to get an idea on the spices.

• About a pound of small okra
• 1 jalapeno – seeded & quartered lengthwise
• 2 cloves garlic peeled & halved
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 cup filtered water
• 4 tbsp whey

Wash the okra well and place in a quart-sized mason jar. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the okra, adding more water if necessary to cover the okra.The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

As I mentioned, it takes several weeks for these to really develop their flavor, so you have to be patient. And the flavor is not at all like the commercial variety, where the okra is pickled in vinegar. But once they have aged properly, they are very good – at least if you like okra. Now a bit from Sally Fallon on lacto-fermentation:

Lacto-fermentation is an artisanal craft that does not lend itself to industrialization. Results are not always predictable. For this reason, when the pickling process became industrialized, many changes were made that rendered the final product more uniform and more saleable but not necessarily more nutritious. Chief among these was the use of vinegar for the brine, resulting in a product that is more acidic and not necessarily beneficial when eaten in large quantities; and of subjecting the final product to pasteurization, thereby effectively killing all the lactic-acid-producing bacteria and robbing consumers of their beneficial effect on digestion.  Nourishing Traditions, p. 90.

A Glimmer of Hope?

On the One Hand . . .

. . . there’s more money in this farm bill for nutrition programs and, for the first time, about $2 billion to support “specialty crops” — farm-bill-speak for the kind of food people actually eat. . . There’s also money for the environment: an additional $4 billion in the Senate bill to protect wetlands and grasslands and reward farmers for environmental stewardship, and billions in the House bill for environmental cleanup. There’s an important provision in both bills that will make it easier for schools to buy food from local farmers. And there’s money to promote farmers’ markets and otherwise support the local food movement.

On the Other Hand . . .

But as important as these programs are, they are just programs — mere fleas on the elephant in the room. The name of that elephant is the commodity title, the all-important subsidy section of the bill. It dictates the rules of the entire food system. As long as the commodity title remains untouched, the way we eat will remain unchanged.

A Glimmer of Hope

What finally emerges from Congress depends on exactly who is paying closest attention next week on the Senate floor and then later in the conference committee. We know the American Farm Bureau will be on the case, defending the commodity title on behalf of those who benefit from it most: the biggest commodity farmers, the corporations who sell them chemicals and equipment and, most of all, the buyers of cheap agricultural commodities — companies like Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.

In the past that alliance could have passed a farm bill like this one without breaking a sweat. But the politics of food have changed, and probably for good. If the eaters and all the other “people on the outside” make themselves heard, we just might end up with something that looks less like a farm bill and more like the food bill a poorly fed America so badly needs.

These are excerpts from a fantastic article by Michael Pollan (author of the Power Steer article under “Important Stuff” in the side bar). It’s a great wrap-up of what’s been going on with the Farm Bill these past few weeks. He provides some good insight into just how things have been working on Capitol Hill, and how things are beginning to change. Just maybe there is some hope. Eaters unite!

An Observation

I recently read a great post by healthycookie about MSG and learned some things I hadn’t heard before. It appears to be a well researched and thought out post. Here’s a tidbit, that will hopefully inspire you to read more:

MSG is not a preservative, vitamin, or mineral. MSG goes by dozens of different names and is a highly addictive and destructive drug. A drug that attaches to glutamate receptors located on major organs in our body including the pancreas and heart, as well has the potential to cross the blood bran barrier (protective barrier around the brain).

Having that on my mind, I recently observed my son’s eating behavior with certain foods.

When at any of the grandparents, B generally is up before anyone else, and therefore consumes boxed cereal for his breakfast. I’d noticed that he often refilled his bowl multiple times. At home, if I buy boxed cereal, it’s usually some organic variety, although those aren’t exempt from suspicion. However, I noticed he seemed more satisfied with those, usually, and didn’t have so many refills.

I mentioned before trying some homemade cereal recipes. My most recent was an oat granola that turned out quite well. B had a bowl of that yesterday, and that was all. Just one bowl. This morning, he opted for a boxed ‘o’ shaped variety offered by the grandparents, and had no less than three refills. In light of the MSG article I found that very interesting.

This link has a list of aliases for MSG.The cereal B had this morning had modified corn starch in the list of ingredients. I wonder if that is the same as modified food starch in the alias list. I think I need to learn a bit more about this little additive. Thanks, healthycookie, for the heads up.

Almond Alert

I first saw mention of this by a commenter on one of my previous posts. Then, a few days ago it was posted on the discussingNT group. Almonds grown in California will soon be required to be “pasteurized.” In addition, these almonds will still be allowed to be labeled raw. I’ve also learned that “pasteurization” includes fumigation, using a potentially carcinogenic chemical. And no labelling is required to differentiate “pasteurization” method.

For full details, go to the Cornucopia Institute. There is a link to the full news story, an Almond Fact Sheet, an Action Alert and sample letters you can use to voice your concern. The new rules were originally to take effect September 1, but now may be delayed to March, 2008, to give the industry time for implementation. As I read, it seems the rules have been established more to protect the large scale producers from lawsuits than the consumers.

These new rules are a reaction to a couple of incidents of salmonella contamination (linked only to large scale producers). While reading about this, I recalled a similar incident not too long ago involving spinach. Will fresh spinach soon be required to “pasteurized” in the same manner? What else may this be applied to in the future?

My sick child just came in and crawled in my lap, so I guess that’s the end of this post. I hope this gives folks food for thought and brings more awareness regarding our food industry.

Happy Friday.

S. A. D.

That stands for Standard American Diet. And, it really is quite sad. I was just catching up over on Through the Cooking Glass and found this post, a great summary of what is wrong with our American way of eating. Have a look, it’s not too long.

Afford Life

More than one has made the comment as they return one of my health/nutrition books that “we can’t afford to eat that way.” I usually just nod. Really what can you say? You can’t argue with someone’s pocket book. But I really believe we can’t afford not to strive for the ideal. Once you come face to face with serious health issues, your priorities can change and what you can afford shifts perspective.

But, I never want to insult my friends by questioning their priorities, so I just leave it alone. Well, today I came across a blog post on that very subject: Food and Money. It speaks of how our priorities effect how we spend our money. I suppose each family or individual must consider their own priorities and go from there. But it is definitely something I challenge folks to do. If you’ve read about food and health, and really believe what you read, what are you going to do about it?

In this post I list a few of the books that have influenced my view of food and health, if you’re interested in the subject. As I’ve said here many times, I am a long ways from the ideal. Sometimes, I’m even a hypocrite, buying and consuming stuff I know better. But I keep on trying and do the best I can – most of the time. There is always room for improvement. I want to be a good steward with the body God has given me and take good care of my health, and the health of my family. Shouldn’t that be a priority as we decide how to spend our financial resources? Not THE priority, but one of the top 5 maybe? What do you think?

Hanging in There

All my plans for planning had to take a back seat while we moved to a new community. I’m still surrounded by boxes in some rooms here. But I’m very slowly starting to etch out a routine in our new home and community. That’s tough with a 4 yo and a soldier who’s been in and out (more out than in lately).

On my other blog I just posted about getting homeschool planning done and putting some chores on a schedule. Once I get that nailed down and settled into a routine, the meals come next. Boy do we need to get back on track with the food! Aaack! Then I have to figure out when to squeeze in some Pilates. It doesn’t look like we’ll get to the garden this year. Watch for that next year.

All that to say that I’m still here and hanging in there. I’m working my way back to this blog and some healthy living.

The Saga Continues

I’m not real sure what to do with this information, yet, but here are some links with more information about the melamine contamination – very interesting . . .

• Tainted Feed in Indiana
• FDA Alert
• Link Between Pet Food, Kidney Failure

So, yesterday I switched Rusty from commercial dog food to a more dog-appropriate raw meaty bone diet. But due to budget constraints, I purchased big name chicken from the grocery store. I’m a little frustrated to find that the chicken I purchased could possibly have issues, as well, due to the feed they were given. Aaaargh!

But, if we manage to avoid any of this conaminated food and he survives the next few weeks (tongue in cheek), we’ll be able to join a co-op after we move that purchases grass-fed, organic, and natural meats for feeding our canine and feline friends.

So far, Rusty is loving the chicken. We’ll add one new protein each week, so eventually he’ll have more variety in his diet. If you’re thinking about changing your pet’s diet, here’s a link to a Yahoo group that is very helpful: Raw-Lite. They answer questions and are very supportive, AND non-judgemental about whatever feeding style you might choose. I am certainly very happy to have found them.