Garden Planning with Canning Jars
April 24, 2009|Comments (2)
Who doesn’t love to peer into another person’s garden? What did they plant? How did they get produce so quickly? Oh, the joys of gardening! But wait… what is this? Garden planning and a giveaway? We must be in heaven. Read more
Gearing Up for Gardening
February 20, 2009|Comments (21)
I love gardening. I love every step and stage of planning, planting, composting, mulching, tilling, harvesting, drying, and eating. Honestly, who isn’t instantly comforted by carefully tended rows of glowing produce with the gentle hum of bees and the occasional squawk of a free-ranging chicken? Forget the old adage of the doctor telling his/her patient to go home and get a dog — why not go home and plant a garden? This stuff is photosynthesized Prozac, I tell you. Read more
The Healing Power of… Purple?
November 13, 2008|Comments (26)
Okay, children of the eighties unite… don’t these babies look like they will open to reveal a rather ugly-faced doll with a signature on the hind end? These are the fruits of fall gardening labors. Aren’t they gorgeous? Don’t you just want to stuff them and stick them in a casserole dish? The best part? The color. Check out these Chinese eggplants!
I adore purple vegetables! Actually, purple vegetables are really amazing sources for cancer-fighting nutrients. Purple fruits and vegetables carry more anthocyanins and phenolics than any other fruits and vegetables. Not to mention that they are exceptional and exquisite… I feel like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch right now.
But it gets better. This beauty isn’t skin-deep. These two antioxidants (which are a direct result of a purple crop’s phytochemical signature) have been at the heart of much of the hype over blueberries as cancer-fighting agents. Laboratory tests suggests that anthocyanins can slow the growth of colon cancer cells. But anthocyanins are not just in blueberries… any purple or blue produce has a hefty dose of these antioxidants, which are also proven to help prevent and battle obesity, memory loss, urinary tract health, and the basic effects of aging. Who wouldn’t want a cure for those?
Keep in mind that purple produce isn’t the only cancer-fighting produce. This is the first in a series of posts about the amazing healing properties of fruits and vegetables that you can grow in your very own backyard. Many of us sail past certain fruits and vegetables in the produce section simply because our parents never fixed them for us or we don’t think they can be covered with Ranch dressing/cheese (or we don’t know how to pronounce them properly and dread the checkout person asking us what the are). Whatever our reasons, many of us are less than adventurous when it comes to our veggies.
So, I challenge you to find a fruit or a vegetable that you have never heard of or tried before. Purchase it (or plant it) and prepare it as a side dish. Consult this list of culinary vegetables and this list of culinary fruits. Email me if you need help finding a recipe.
What’s the most exotic dish you’ve ever consumed?
