Gardens and More!

We're here! After one busy weekend, including many trips up and down six flights of stairs, we've settled into our new home and are loving it. The place is an adorable 2-bedroom house with a little yard out back. It's a big change for us, going from living a mostly "urban" lifestyle in Oakland where we could walk almost everywhere to a more suburban town where we mostly drive everywhere, but after having a kid, I've come to appreciate the suburbs and what they have to offer. Also, no words can adequately describe how happy I am to finally have a washer/dryer and dishwasher in our new place, after going two years without either of these amenities. As anyone who has a children knows, these things become infinitely more important once there's a baby in the picture (because, let's face it, baby = lots more laundry and lots more dishes).

One thing I was sad to leave behind was the little community garden plot that I've been working on with a good friend of mine for the past two and half months. When I found out we were moving, I neglected it a bit and it went kind of wild after the rains, but I went back one last time to say goodbye and here is what I found:

After just two months, I had several delicious radishes ready to be picked, a BUNCH of arugula, green onions, and a very happy potato plant. So, not too bad for my first real gardening extravaganza!

I'm so excited to start gardening in my very own yard. So much so, that I went out a splurged on a nice compost bin and a cute little lemon tree today! I know I need to focus my efforts on unpacking and acquiring new furniture before I do anything in the yard but....


P.S.: I'll post pics of the new place once we're a little more moved in. It's still mostly boxes as of right now. :)

Food Cures From the Garden

I picked up a wonderful book at the library the other day called Rx from the Garden: 101 Food Cures You can Easily Grow Now written by Kathleen Barnes. Though the only gardening space I have right now is on my small deck (using containers), I still want to get an idea of what I would try to grow if I had a yard. I also would like to learn more about which foods can be used to treat--or at least alleviate the symptoms of--certain common health issues. The first half of the book outlines the different foods and herbs you can use to treat ailments such as arthritis, high/low blood sugar, headaches, stress, depression, hair problems, eyesight deterioration, and more. The second half of the book provides instructions on how to grow the corresponding vegetables and herbs in your own garden.

Garlic and onions are two of the most prominent players in this book, which is no surprise since they are so loaded with many health-giving nutrients. Garlic is a powerful antibiotic and both garlic and onions have been shown to stop or slow the growth of a variety different cancerous cells.

I was also glad to see chili peppers listed as valuable vegetables in treating a variety of health problems because I love cooking with them! Chili peppers contain capsaicin, "...a powerful painkiller that is relatively unique in the plant world because it provides quick relief. In many ways, it works like aspirin without the potentially harmful side effects and it temporarily blocks a compound called 'substance P' that transmits pain signals along the nerves to the brain" (p. 24). Some of the ailments it is supposed to help with include: osteoarthritis, back pain, bronchitis, and colds/flu.

I recommend this book for anyone who would like to learn more about how certain foods can serve as medicine. Why not first resort to natural cures before loading ourselves up with the potentially harmful toxins and side effects found in most conventional Western medicine?

 "One of the biggest tragedies of human civilization is the precedent of chemical therapy over nutrition. It's a substitution of artificial therapy over nature, of poisons over food, in which we are feeding people poisons trying to correct the reactions of starvation."  
 -Dr. Royal Lee, January 12, 1951

Starting Seedlings Indoors

By far the cheapest way to grow your own food is to start your vegetables from seed. You can buy a whole pack of seeds for less than you would spend on a single vegetable plant. Granted, it does require a little more effort, time, and patience to start from seed, but I think the the final result is well worth it. By starting from seed you can also guarantee that your vegetables will be raised organically. Growing from seed is the ultimate way to have a complete say over where your food comes from and how it was grown from seed to harvest.

Below is a picture of my tomato seedlings. I started these from seed a few weeks back and they're doing great so far. As soon as the rain stops and the weather is warm enough, I'll transfer them to containers outside. All I did with these was cut the bottoms off of a few containers (you can use old plastic water bottles, milk containers, etc.), poked a few holes on the bottom, and filled them up with a nutrient-rich potting soil. I used cherry and grape tomato seeds from Botanical Interests.

Looking forward to seeing how they do when I transfer them outside! There's really nothing better than a sweet, juicy, freshly-picked tomato on a hot summer day!

"The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition." -Thomas Edison