Super foods And Organic Gardening.

[Sage Hermit]

In my journey along the gardening path I have learned that the best forms of gardening come from Organic methods. These methods not only bring the best yields but also they form a bond with nature which has its own rewards. The next step is finding which foods pack the highest amounts of nutrition and grow them and eat them to clean up our bodies.

When we think of healthy food we generally associate what we know to be healthy and what we are used to hearing about. When I personaly think of healthy food I think of organic food that has the optimal level of nutrients. It could taste bitter but so what. It is time to focus on our own needs as living organisms for a moment while we are attaining knowledge in how to grow.

To get the ball rolling I just want to intoduce one super food:
Wolfberry, (Lycium barbarum)

I have several plants growing now in pots and will see how they do in the soil. they are commercially grown in china but are also grown in AZ so we will see. No fruit as of yet though the leaves and stems have developed and bark has shown up on the canes.



From what I read these are packed with nutrients. For a better look check out the Nutrient section here


This is a very neat search engine

I did a search for the highest levels of foods with beta cerotine and turns out red peppers pack the highest punch.

[garden5]

Thanks for the resources. I think that one of the main reasons that most people have gardens is to have a more nutritious diet.

[Cerbiesmom]

I plan on buying some goji berry plants when I expand my garden. So, hopefully next spring.

I have been eating more fresh greens since I've been harvesting my chard, parsley and mustard greens. I've been splitting it with my iguana. They're nice additions to my salads. But yes, my garden is intended for me to be eating better, but for the most part, the bugs are eating a lot better, and I'm eating a little better.

[farmerlon]

I think that one of the main reasons that most people have gardens is to have a more nutritious diet.

Yes, I second that!

I always hear that Blueberries and Strawberries are "super foods", packed with antioxidants and other good stuff.
Currently, I should be the Antioxidant King! , as many Organic blueberries and strawberries as I have been eating from my garden.

mmm ... I love 'em !

[The Helpful Gardener]

FL raises a good point; I have friends very into the superfood thing and buying (and shipping across the planet) plants like acai berries and such...

Right here, growing around us in the wild, are plants like blueberry, chokeberry, serviceberry and such, with incredibly high antioxidant values, perennial crops with good wildlife values and native vigor, yet we ignore them for the fad foods that the "cogniscenti" are raving about...

Perhaps we need to self educate better on native foods before we spend valuable treasure and resource to ship unsustainable crops around the globe, to attain the same effects. FL has the right idea; the plant in your garden or backyard has more values in the overall picture than some fad food with a few more points of this nutrient or that. Overall health should include planetary health as well...

HG

[gixxerific]

I third the above 2.

Acai berry just what is that?

I have blueberry's and sweet potatoes now that's super food in my own garden.

[Gary350]

I try to eat 20% protein and 80% carbohydrates and vegatabes for every meal. I eat a lot of raw vegatables there are a lot of enzimes that are very good for your body that are killed by cooking. I make all my own food I don't buy much that is factory made. I do a lot of canning in mason jars so I have garden vegatables all winter.

[Dixana]

We grow a garden to eat healthier too, but unless you want to spend a TON of $$ on groceries around here you have to. Even right now green peppers are $2.57 a piece. For ONE pepper. I can buy a pepper plant cheaper than that. The cost of fresh food is absurd yet people wonder why they see families blowing through McDonalds drive through. It's shameful that it's cheaper to feed your kids fast food garbage than cook them a fresh meal.

[Sage Hermit]

Trust me when I say I know about the fads and trends in healthy food diets but do your own research on what foods you need to be eating and what you need to avoid. Native foods like peppers and strawberries and sweet potatoes are all indeed super foods and listed as such. Its my goal simply to spread awareness not fan the flames of certain new age hype.

Personally I am trying to propagate my raspberries on a massive scale on my farm. I could really use some advice on that. My no till beds that I am transplanting the raspberries into seems to doing ok but I am digging up first year canes and transplanting them in and I am seeing them wilt a little. Any advice on how to better get these fruits going? They have anti Cancer value and many other great values and I have them growing everywhere.

Also I have recently discovered eating sprouted greens are very healthy. I sprout sunflowers and eat them. Check it out.

[Dixana]

I like this idea of sprouts. What do you do buy seeds in bulk and do em? I have some containers that would awesome for sprouts too.
What plants can you eat sprouts from? Do you eat them as soon as the first baby leaves emerge from the seed or do you wait longer? Do you cut them or pull root and all? I'm ver curious and prepared to order seed in bulk!
I love love love sprouts on salads and sandwhiches but they don't even sell them around here.

(lets all pretend I know how to spell/type today seeing as I cannot breathe and suffer massive coughing fits every 5 minutes....)

[Sage Hermit]

Get a Jar.

You need a breathable lid. Mesh/ cheese cloth/ Industrial screen tied down/cloth.

Fill. 2/3 water. Use filtered water. research water.

Add. 1/4 tea spoon of good salt. Organic sea salt or any highly valued salt from around the world stressing the quality.

Fill. 1/3 Bean - Seed - Whole Grain

----- --- --- ----- --- --- -----


So now you have your Jar.
Allow this to soak for a few hours. What ever you decide to sprout you must research the number of hours each needs. You are looking @ the 8 - 12 hour range. Just search online or at the library about sprouting ( Mung bean ex. ) and you should get a bunch of directions.

Drain your Water 1- 2 Daily.

Eat when ready. Any questions send a message.

[Dixana]

The seeds don't rot in a mason jar of water?
Lentils, beans, and sunflowers can be eaten as sprouts?
I probably should started a new thread for this....

[The Helpful Gardener]

Sprouts is a new thread for sure with a lot of things to talk about...

Good thread Sage; this topic deserves a lot of thought. I am leading a weed walk this weekend, and we will talk about some that are darn good foods in their own right. Lambsquarters and purselane are both common, nutritious (high in mineral values), and easy to grow, yet because they are common weeds we ignore them. Familiarity breeds contempt and we believe we need these tropical wonderfruits, when something like a blueberry is a complte food; you could live off of just them alone.

I don't get it myself... eat local, I mean really local, like native... a lot of it is FREE and that's a good price point...

HG

[Dixana]

There's a problem with that for some of us though HG. I wouldn't even THINK about eating the weeds in my lawn when the nasty dog pees ans poops everywhere then walks it everywhere else.
YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!!
The only critters wandering through my garden live on nuts, so their poo is like free fertilizer.

[The Helpful Gardener]

True, which is why I have started giving some weeds some prime time spots in my beds (which really freaks some folks out)...

I dug sorrel out of a clients garden and potted it up; you should have seen the looks... And the wife is incredulous that I transplanted purselane and lambsquarters into the beds... even more cagey when I try to feed them to her...

HG