Garden Shenanigans: How to Start

Ok friends,

Although it really doesn't seem like it, spring is coming. YAY!

As promised, I will share my first experience with gardening this year. Hopefully the adventure will be entertaining and informative. :)

Note: All information will be pertinent to ZONE 5. That is where I live. You can check your zone here. This will be important to choosing what to plant and when to plant it. :)

So here we go!

How do I get started?
Step 1: Determine the space you have. 
Estimated time: 10 minutes

Do you have a piece of land to work with? Do you have a patio, but no grass? Do you have a balcony? Do you have a windowsill? ANY of these can become a garden! Allocate a part of this space to become your garden. The amount of space will (obviously) determine what kind of plants you can plant. Don't be discouraged if you don't have much room! Look at this cute herb garden idea:

I recommend measuring the dimensions of your garden, whether it be in feet or in number of tin cans. :)

I have a slightly unusual situation, as the space allocated for the garden is near a black walnut tree. The tree roots emit toxins, so I will have raised beds (an extra layer of soil) to avoid plant homicide. We are all friends here!

P.S. I can't tell you how big my garden is ATM because it's covered in snow...

Step 2: Choose what you want to plant.
Estimated time: 20-30 minutes

There are two things to consider here: what you like to eat and whether you have the conditions to grow it. Here is a guide to how much space different plants need. Don't be afraid to try new things! Veggies that you grow yourself taste WAY better than the ones in the grocery store. Usually. But we will make sure we do it right! Yes? Good.


I will be growing the following lovelies:

• bean chinese red noodles
• tommy toe tomatoes
• German pink tomatoes
• Amish paste tomatoes
• cucumber muncher
• cucumber mexican sour gherkin
• arugula
• lettuce rocky top mix
• butterhead lettuce
• red romaine
• radishes
• beets
• peppers
• butternut squash
• summer squash fordhook zucchinis
• spinach
• snow peas
• Parisienne carrots

Don't they look delicious?

Step 3: Go get your seeds!
Estimated time: varies

Woohoo! You made it to the most fun part! You can find seeds online or in stores. I recommend Baker Creek Heirloom seeds and Burpee seeds. Even if you don't end up ordering online, it's super fun to see all the different veggies that you've never heard of. And some of them look ridiculous (and delicious).
You can also find seeds at Menards, Lowe's, Home Depot, and probably other places too.

Once you have your seeds, keep them in a dry, cool place (like the pantry). Next time I will share info on how to start your seeds!

Gardens Will Save the World

Have you ever had a garden? If yes, awesome! If no, I'm with you, friends. But over the past year, I have become utterly convinced that gardens will save the world. So this spring, I'm planting one. I'm going to go through the process step by step, with beginner instructions on how to do everything as it comes along.

I have the privilege of being guided by a master gardener, my boyfriend. (Hey boyfriend!) Because you may not know anyone who is a gardening buff, I am here to relate my learning experience to you, in the simplest way. So stay tuned for posts that start with the word "garden" (and every other post). :)

WHY GARDENS WILL SAVE YOU & THE WORLD 

1. A garden will save your wallet. Less trips to the grocery store means less money spent on gas and less time in the car. Now if you must spend time in the car and you happen to abhor it, please see this post. Also, you can grow fresh, organic produce in your yard/balcony, and pay a fraction of what it would cost at the store. Anything you don't eat during the growing season, you can preserve and enjoy in colder months.
2. A garden will save your health in two ways :)
1. Food. I'm assuming that if you grow vegetables, you will at least try eating them, right? The overwhelming message from doctors is to eat more whole produce. Just Google it. Honestly, I don't think that your main source of food should be from a processing plant. Is it even food if it has so many unknown ingredients in it? You can also avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides typically found in/on commercial produce.
2. Exercise. Maintaining a garden involves moving around. You'll be required to go outside and *gasp* even get some vitamin D while you're at it. Getting exercise by gardening has an advantage over going to the gym--you're getting fresh air rather than stale air. And no one is watching you. Except for GoogleEarth.
3. A garden will save your taste buds. Raise your hand if you know what kabocha is. You are missing out, my friend. It's a delicious squash, and while you may not like squash, there are so many varieties of all kinds of vegetables, you are bound to be astonished that these things even exist. Stores only carry a few varieties at most. You can grow a tomato that is so scrumptious, you can bite into it as a snack. You probably don't believe me. Please try.
4. A garden will save your social life. Make your garden a social project too. Get a couple of friends or family members on board. You can learn and share knowledge together. You can also split up the labor. Even better, recruit some kids. Your children, younger cousins, neighbors, etc. are the next generation. If we spread the awesomeness of gardening to them too, we'll be in even better shape for the future.
5. A garden will save the earth. This is the big one. So big I have to split it up! :)
1. Less garbage. This works in multiple ways. First, you can compost produce you eat now to make (yes, literally make) dirt for your garden. Then you can compost things from your garden (like it's feeding itself :)). Also, buying less food from the store will reduce the amount of garbage in your kitchen. Less plastic bags, less cans, less bottles, you get the point.
2. Smaller carbon footprint. By planting a garden, you are reducing your carbon footprint. I don't care if you believe in this or not, it is common sense that the less traveling your food does, the yummier it is going to be. So if you aren't doing it for the earth, do it for yourself.
3. Less pollution. I know I haven't discussed meat in this post at all, but this is relevant. By eating a more vegetable-based diet (and I'm not saying you have to go vegetarian or vegan or anything), you will be reducing the demand for CAFO animals. These are basically factory farms that are not sustainable and are creating a lot of trouble (including hyper-resistant disease and a lot of concentrated animal waste). With your saved money from having a garden, try buying Amish-raised meat, or find a local, sustainable farmer to buy meat from. Then you can see how things should be run. 
4. More variety. Every biologist knows that gene variety is important for resistance to negative events (weather, disease, etc.). By planting a wider variety of plants, you allow for greater variation among open pollinated crops. This actually increases food security. Also, if you were the earth and someone planted the same things in you all the time, you'd get pretty bored wouldn't you?
5. Appreciation. I truly believe that the key to taking care of the earth is to first appreciate it. My accounting teacher (of all people!) said something a few months ago that made my heart go thump-thump. wait. what? thumpthumpthumpthump. That probably doesn't make sense, but here's what he said, "We do not depreciate land. Why? Because it will always be there for you." It will always be there for us. We choose whether we return the favor.

If you are skeptical about starting a garden, I highly recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. You can get it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and probably your public library. It is also available as an audiobook.

If you are unable to garden, for any reason, then this website is a wonderful resource to find farmer's markets. You can also become a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and receive boxes of yummy vegetables as they come into season. If the link isn't working, the URL is http://www.localharvest.org/

TL;DR: Will you start a garden with me this year?

The Secret to Yummy Smoothies and Juices

Since my embarkment on a life-of-less-processed-foods, I have found several food blogs that

a) totally make me look bad,
b) but I don't mind because they're amazing, and
c) have I ever experienced such delicious, easy-to-make food?

This is one: http://www.choosingraw.com/
This is another: http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/
Here are instructions on making smoothies: http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/how-to-make-smoothies.html

You might notice that they all are based on raw, vegan food. Raw foodists do not cook their food (hence the name "raw"), although I believe there is some allowance to how much they choose to warm it. Vegan food basically means that there are no animal products. So for example, vegans choose not to eat meat or dairy. These are really basic definitions, but I thought I should clear that up for people who are confused by the many food-identities there are. :)

Well, I am not vegan, nor am I a raw foodist, but I do approve of making as much of your diet fresh produce, nuts, seeds, or what is called a plant-based diet. Remember learning how energy flows in an ecosystem? Plants convert sunlight into energy. This is the first level. The sun (how awesome is the sun? pretty darn awesome) drives the entire food chain. My not-so-secret wish is to be able to photosynthesize, but that's another story.

I started experimenting with smoothies and juices a few weeks ago. There was one major, catastrophic smoothie that I made. It had so many nutritious things in it, but it was eye-wateringly, sneeze-worthily, cringe-necessarily bitter. And I thought to myself, WHY CAN'T I DO THIS?!

It was really bad.

And so this is what I learned on my early journey into the world of smoothies and juices.

1. Look up recipes. You don't need to follow them. Just get an idea of what kinds of things taste scrumptious when you mix them together.
2. Purchase nuts and seeds. I realized that having things like hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts available make it easy to add thickness or texture (and nutrients!) to a smoothie.
3. Add a little at a time. This means both how much of something you add, and what you add. The infamous bitter smoothie that I made? I also made 4 giant glasses of it. Whoops. Don't do that. You can always save some for later, but if it's not-so-scrumptious, you're not going to want to.
4. Juice or smoothie? Realize what you're getting out of both. Smoothies will have all of the benefits of the entire fruit or vegetable. Juices leave behind the fibers. If you don't eat it, you can compost what is left after juicing. 
5. Experiment! I can almost guarantee that you will not always make a delicious smoothie. That's OK! After a disastrous attempt, you may become more cautious and thoughtful about what you are combining.
6. Enjoy. What is better than making a mouth-watering concoction? Knowing that it is good for you. :) Smile!

I am proud to say that my juicing and smoothing(?) experiments have been going much more successfully. Today I found some blueberries in the fridge, so I made a smoothie out of raw milk (more on this later), blueberries, vanilla, maple syrup, and chia seeds. YUM! Yesterday I used a few carrots, an apple, some lemon, and a bit of ginger to make some juice. Come on people. If I can do it, so can you!

Seriously good stuff. Background from mi9.com

TL;DR: Smoothies, juices, smoothie, juicy, smooth, juice, smooj. :)

Revolutionize Your Kitchen

Step 1.

Stop buying processed foods, immediately. During the few days (or a week for those of you hoarders) when you are revolutionizing your place of food storage, either live off what you already have, get (healthy!) take-out, and/or buy fruits and veggies.

Step 2. 

Take inventory. What, and how much, do you have? This could save you money--I recently found 3 bottles of the exact same seasoning. I recommend taking care of the fridge in one sitting. The pantry or cabinet can go one shelf per day if you need to. If you have a very busy schedule, don't panic, just make sure you mark where you left off the day before.

Step 3.
Is it expired? Throw it out. Empty bottles and recycle them. The easiest way to empty old salad dressing or sauce is to shake it first. If you can't find the expiration date, and no one remembers when it was bought, it's probably best to toss.

Step 4.
Check the ingredients. The fewer ingredients, the better. I cannot stress this enough. If the ingredient...

...is too hard for you to pronounce, get rid of it.
...cannot be easily spelled by anyone other than chemist, get rid of it.
...ends in -ose, it is most likely a sugar--get rid of it.
...is derived of corn or soy, get rid of it.
...is "emulsifier" (carrageenan is also one), get rid of it.

Why?

I (influenced by several food documentaries and articles) consider the simplest food to be the best for me. If I suspect an ingredient is highly processed, how am I supposed to know how my body (a body that has evolutionarily survived and thrived on foods found in nature, AKA natural foods) will derive nutrients from it? 

Ingredients ending in "-ose" are usually forms of sugar. The sugars you should be eating are the ones that are unrefined/unprocessed. Think that you're not eating that much sugar? Think again.

Gross!

Do you know how much corn products you consume? Probably way too many. Watch King Corn to understand how powerful corn is in American society.

Regarding emulsifiers, they are what keep your liquid/gooey products from separating. Seriously people? Have we gotten so lazy that we can't shake a bottle for two whole seconds? There are no proven health risks from emulsifiers, but there is no reason to be using them in the first place. Read. Key line: "Emulsifiers are necessary if you have oil- and water-based products. The real question would appear to be: do we need oil- and water-based products? Often, the answer is no." (Pat Thomas)

Whatever is left, keep!

Step 5.
Donate the food you are getting rid of. Yes, that means that someone else will be eating it, but in the end, artificial food is better than no food, and someone may not have the same opportunity you have to take the next step.

Step 6.
Go grocery shopping! If you are suddenly left with a few healthy jars of applesauce, almond butter, and coconut milk, here's your chance to change your life.

New and Improved Shopping List

• fruits
• apples!
• melons!
• berries!
• bananas!
• avocados!
• pomegranates!
• vegetables
• kale!
• spinach!
• carrots!
• beets!
• lettuce!
• radishes!
• cucumbers!
• seeds
• pumpkin!
• sunflower!
• chia!
• buckwheat!
• hemp!
• flax!
• nuts (and nut butters :) )
• almonds!
• walnuts!
• hazelnuts!
• cashews!
• macadamia!

My goodness people! There is so much DELICIOUS food out there. There are pinto beans and mushrooms (personally not my favorite) and lemons and zucchini. Don't put your body in extra stress from what you put in your mouth. The best part about this is that there are SO many options. You just need to find what you like, and the more looking you do, the more you will find. I promise.

A scrumptious snack of applesauce and cinnamon.

P.S. If you want a more gradual change into a fresh-food lifestyle, keep the processed foods you know you will eat. This way you can eat all the food you have and slowly introduce more unprocessed food! Yay!

If I Could Buy You This Movie I Would

Hungry For Change is my new all-time favorite movie. (Pirates of the Caribbean will have to move to second place.)

If I could host a screening at each high school, college, workplace, neighborhood, senior living facility, I would.

If I could force every American to sit and watch this movie, I would.

If I could be a dictator for a day, I would order everyone to watch this movie.

Everything I have been learning (might I add, outside of school?) about health for my entire life (granted, I'm not very old, but it is something I thought I should point out) is pulled together in this movie. The best part is that my discovery of this movie (and my sister's recommendation) is coinciding with a time in my life when I am able to make all decisions for myself, and take responsibility for my own health. Sugar, self-love, advertisements, juicing, stress, the business of diets--this documentary is so strong and stable in its content, if I could implant it in your brain, I would.

It reveals both the problem, and the solution. It has a realistic, and a positive, perspective. It is based on history, science, economics, and best of all, common sense. It does not have a bitter, nor belligerent, nor violent attitude to the perpetrators of the ginormous problem our society has with health. If you watch this, you can change your life for the better. If you let it sink in, you can change your life for good. If you decide it is your new favorite movie, you can encourage others to watch it as well.

"This isn't some little frou-frou new-age notion... this is hardcore science."
"Where does my food come from? What went into the food in terms of attitude or care or love or compassion? What is my intention of doing with the food?"
"Your body is designed to be healthy. Health is the natural state!"
--Hungry for Change


TL;DR: Hungry for Change. Go watch it now.

My Favorite Ingredients (to not eat?)

This summer I began cutting harsh chemicals out of my life. When I got to the part where I clean out my bathroom, I had to make some strict rules of what I keep. I love my yummy-smelling lotions and unnecessary hair products as much as any other girl, and I had to do my research to find substitutes. I was definitely on the path to becoming one of those women who buys a 3-ounce bottle of moisturizer for $50, because it contains "all the best ingredients." And what I found was that the natural stuff works way better than any product I've ever bought.

The most important thing to consider when using any product is that your skin is absorbent. The easiest rule to give yourself when using something is if you wouldn't put it in your food, you shouldn't be putting it on your skin. If for some reason you need convincing that your skin is absorbent, have you heard of nicotine patches? They release nicotine into your system, just by being on a patch that you stick on your body. Same thing goes for the birth control patch.

So here are my beauty secrets, although they aren't really secrets if plenty of women blog about them already. :) I'm not going to tell you why they help, I am not a scientist. I just know that they work, and they work for a lot of people.

1. Honey

• face/body mask
• breakout treatment
• sparkle like Edward Cullen in the sun

There are so many recipes for fancy, combinations of honey masks on our wonderful World Wide Web. Other ingredients probably help make things less sticky, but I don't mind. Keeps it from falling off my face! You don't need a lot at all. Just pour some honey (preferably local!) on your hand, and use your fingers to dab. Keep it away from your hair. I'm sure there are people who make honey masks for their hair, but I've never done it. It comes off your skin very easily with some lukewarm water. You can use it everyday! It will bring out the yucky stuff on your skin, so things might look worse before they're better. That's just how it works. :)

2. Coconut oil

• lotion/moisturizer
• lip balm
• hair mask
• soothing agent

Again, you don't need a lot. With all of the ingredients on this list, you don't need a lot. A little definitely goes a long way. If you put it in your hair, put conditioner on your hair for a few minutes before you wash it out. And wash it out with WARM water. Cold water, or weather, will make the oil harden, and that's the opposite of what you want. Shiny, soft hair. I use it on sunburn as well :)

3. Jojoba oil

• make-up remover!
• moisturizer

You can use jojoba oil on your reusable cloth makeup remover pads. ;) I like to also use it as a moisturizer when I get tired of coconut oil.

4. Baking soda

• scrub
• tooth whitener
• shampoo

It's a perfect, gentle scrub (no, I don't want no [harsh] scrub--looks like they need some jojoba oil). Mix it with water in a little bowl, just enough to make it mushy. You can brush your teeth with it too, although it doesn't taste very nice. I've used it as shampoo once or twice, but I don't know how I feel about it. 

5. Apple cider vinegar

• toner
• breakout treatment
• hair conditioner
• block out any other scent

I love this stuff. I put it on with my reusable cloth makeup remover pads (have I convinced you to get some yet?) after I scrub with baking soda. Once it dries, the smell goes away. (But if you start sweating you can smell it again! Solution: put it on before bed and rinse your face in the morning.) You can use it in your hair and rinse it out, and your hair will look shiny and feel soft.

Do I look like Edward yet?

For most of this post I've had honey on my face. I think a combination of using these things (along with a better diet) has decreased the early rosacea I had on my cheeks. The dermatologist gave me some chemical stuff, but I thought I don't even know what this is! Why am I putting it on my face?! You can also switch off using coconut oil and honey as a lip treatment. I have a tendency to bite my lips, and they really help.

TL;DR: Honey, coconut oil, jojoba oil, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar are your new best friends, my friends! 

Food: Use Your Brain

Given the complexity of the relationship Americans have with food, I would like to offer a simple solution to the ongoing controversy. And when I mean simple, I mean everyone could do this. I don't know much about diets or counting calories, but I do know what makes sense to me, and a lot of other conscious eaters out there. So here is my list for the day.

• Eat fresh, local produce. (Grow your own!)
• If you don't know what an ingredient is, don't eat it.

Yup. That's it. Yes, it's highly simplified, but I strongly believe in it. Processed foods make my brain go just as haywire as it does when I try to wrap my head around waste. Yes, I do like my cookies, but I would much rather make them, and know what and how much of it is going in them, than buy them from the store. (Also, mine are better. Fact.)

So I found this lovely website where you can learn what grows when wherever you are in the US or Canada (I'm sure something like it exists for other parts of the world as well). So here's what is in season during what time period in Illinois.

For the rest of the year, you can use the canned and preserved versions of these. Preferably canned and preserved by yourself. I also found something called The Meatrix on this website. Being a fan of The Matrix, I had to watch it, and it repeats what I've seen in more than one documentary. And the names are hilarious if you get the reference. The first movie: 

If you would like to read more about how intricate our animal-food relationship is, I highly recommend Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat, by Hal Herzog.


TL;DR: Processed food bad, fresh food good. *grunt grunt* Tarzan. Actually yes, eat like Tarzan.

P.S. My favorite cookie recipe so far is this one. Yummyyyyyy.

Food: An Introduction

Here's a quick video about supermarkets that blew my mind.

So, other than the indignation I felt about this video, I can now maneuver supermarkets amazingly well!
"Hey, where's the milk?"
"Oh, it's way at the back. Also, the peaches will be on the far right, and the brown rice is on the bottom shelf." (I have now done this in supermarkets I've never been to before. It's scary.)

I have recently become passionate about food. And I think everyone should join me on this. Food is literally what you fuel yourself with. It's what is making everything run, so yes, it is important. Forget about calories and the latest diet fads. Educate yourself and decide what food belongs in your body.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone wants to change something about themselves, and they don't do one thing to move in that direction. It makes no sense!
"I don't like my haircut that I got 3 months ago. I want to look hip and trendy, but instead of going to a salon, I think I'll just watch America's Next Top Model."

WHY?! Just go do it! And the most common thing I hear people complain about is their weight.
To friend: "I really should lose 15 pounds." To café server: "Yes, I'll have the double chocolate chunk caramel macchiato please. The largest size."

How sad is it that this is barely an exaggeration of what I have heard before? In real life? As in people literally say one thing, and do another? OK, it's a common problem, but if something is important to you, then go do it! You want to be healthier? Put down the Cheetos and munch on a carrot instead. They're both orange, and if you're watching the telly, you probably won't notice the difference anyway.

So here's my advice for today (and every day): If you want to change something, do it now. Maybe it's not such a quick switch as it is from Cheetos to carrots, but if you just start moving in that direction, maybe you'll gain some momentum. If you have been waiting for a sign, this is it. This is me, being your sign. Because I said so.


That was all quite rant-ish. I suppose you can expect more rants, and this was just barely touching the subject of Food (yes, it deserves to be capitalized).


TL;DR: Move your bum and go do what you've been saying you want to do!