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.

Green Bean Casserole

Well, I’m not posting a recipe here. Instead, I’m directing folks to a real, from scratch, recipe I just found for that casserole everyone seems to love. This recipe uses real food. Doesn’t that look wonderful?

So, if green bean casserole is a must have for your Thanksgiving dinner, why not try this (instead of that standard french fried onion mushroom soup variety)?

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.

Progress?

I had picked up some raw almonds and actually got around to soaking them and baking them in a warm oven for 24 hours to make Crispy Almonds (Nourishing Traditions recipe). It’s not much, but having those almonds in the pantry ready to snack or use in a recipe feels like progress. I actually used some tonight in some veggies.

And that’s not all. I have been doing some research on what resources are around here and am finding some. I found a local farmer’s market and went out this week. And there I found a source for grass-fed beef! Yes! I ordered a variety pack to pick up next week so we can try them out. I am also on a waiting list for fresh, minimally processed, milk from a grass-fed dairy! They may be able to take me on as early as next month. Yeeha!

These are small steps, indeed. But steps they are – and in the right direction. It makes me feel that I might actually pull off that revolution in the kitchen I’ve been striving for. I have some budget work to do, as well, to see if I can utilize an organic produce service that delivers. How cool would that be? All this has the wheels turning in my head, and plans are starting to develop. Let the revolution begin!

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?

That’s Interesting

I watched a PBS nature show with my son yesterday. Sorry, I don’t remember what the title was. One segment featured the Tasmanian Devils of Australia. Apparently they are being ravaged by a disease that is threatening their population. Their numbers are dropping dramatically because of it. Although they didn’t make any mention of possible causes of the disease, they did mention one of their habits is dumpster diving. The little devils like to snack on discarded people food. After that they named the disease they had been referring to – lymphatic cancer.

They briefly mentioned that they were raising some orphaned devils in captivity, meaning their diet is more controlled – no dumpster diving for them. And so far, those devils have remained free of the disease. Hmmmm. This was a short segment without much detail. But I couldn’t help but wonder if there might be some connection between the dumpster diving habit and the cancer. I don’t really know anything about how food is processed in Australia, whether they have similar issues as we do here in the US with how crops and animals are raised for our food. I couldn’t possibly be the first person to wonder if there’s a connection. Surely it’s being considered. But, I thought it was interesting.