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.

[img]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa267/adaba/12966_315789250706_902035706_972912.jpg[/img]

From what I read these are packed with nutrients. For a better look check out the Nutrient section [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry]here[/url]


This is a very neat [url=https://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search]search engine[/url]

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. [url=https://www.living-foods.com/articles/sprouts.html]Check it[/url] 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

[applestar]

I gave my neighbor some lambs quarters in a bag of mixed "salad greens"

[The Helpful Gardener]

In Northern India it is considered a mast food source, and is often the "spinach" in Sag paneer; one of my favorites... mmm... Indian food...

HG

[HealthyAt4n]

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.

Its interesting to have this Wolfberry inside our garden too.. I never knew that this dried fruit is rich in Vitamin C.

Agree with you in your idea, to achieve the full nutrients of the plants it should be feed naturally (organic food).

[Sage Hermit]

In my study I have an old edition of the Weed Cookbook ( the one that details edible local weeds). Its been in my possession since I was a kid. Dandilions pack lots of calcium.

Super Food Number 2:

[url=https://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/3001/2]Sweet Red Pepper[/url] : NUTRIENT BALANCE & PROTEIN QUALITY Charts


[img]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa267/adaba/untitled-1.jpg[/img]
Ranked 82 out of 100 for completeness! Just wow!

Super Food Number 3:

[url=https://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2]Spinach[/url]

[img]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa267/adaba/aaa.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa267/adaba/popeye.jpg[/img]

[Dixana]

That's awesome news for cuz I LOVE red bell peppers. I have five plants for them and almost question if that's enough as I'll sit and eat two whole peppers like they're candy. YUMMMMMMM
I have some yellows too, but mainly for our stir fry.
Toss EVOO, LOADS of garlic, and onion in a pan for a few min.
Meanwhile in a bowl mix red, green, and yellow peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley (I sneak in a tad of cilantro if the hubby isn't looking) all chopped into pieces of course. Throw in the pan 5-10 min then add grape tomatoes.
Best and easiest dish on the planet to make. Makes an excellent sidedish for cookouts too. Or add shrimp or cooked chicken while it's cooking..........Now I want veggies NOW

[The Helpful Gardener]

I am leading a weed walk tomorrow in Glastonbury CT with my good griend Lindsay Roepelle, where we are going to talk about wild foraging as a healthy and inexpensive alternative to factory foods. Should be a lot of fun. I have walked the farm before and there is a lot of wild food going on there; fiddleheads, blueberries, chokeberry, serviceberry, lambsquarters, purselane, dock, evening primrose, jewel weed and more.

Perhaps all not exactly superfoods, but take jewelweed; not only is it good eats, but it is medicinal for treating itches and poison ivy. That's pretty super...

HG

[Sage Hermit]

Scott I wanna tell you that I admire you very much. Its been a real pleasure. After talking about herb salads and reading the data on sage and mint and basil, this is the data I am trying to find .

By my definition Mint is almost a super food and Blueberries Strawberries and Raspberries make a superfood. What the Blueberries lacks the Strawberry has and so on and so forth. There is far greater data on the commercially grown foods than on our weeds. Let me know any neat details from the walk. Learning how to make antidotes for things is another quest. Last night I was reviewing some notes from school lectures on aromatherapy and remembered our skin can absorb Molecules in essential oils from plants.

The best definition of a super food is any food that fights a certain ailment well. It doesnt have to be high in all the elements and nutrients. Ginger is a very good anti inflammatory. Acai is one, Pomegranates are one, Blueberries are yet another. You mentioned in my photo journal about Currant too.

[applestar]

You can eat JEWELWEED?! Remember the 3~4 cu.ft. I pulled and threw out (hopefully for bioremediation of the herbicided/pesticided area)? I have MORE! Not as much, but enought to harvest and eat in safe areas. Any tips on how to eat?

Also, I always get confused -- so it's Chokeberry and NOT Chokecherry that is good to eat? I was about to buy a plant to a native plant sale, then had to back off because I couldn't remember. (put it back on the list for next year )

Robins are eating my serviceberries (fruiting for the first time this year) at red stage -- doesn't look like I'll get to taste the fully ripe unless I protect them.

I wish I could join you on that walk -- sounds like a lot of fun!

[applestar]

I've read that cattail pollen is high quality vegan protein worthy of being called "super food".

Last year, my kids brought home a couple of cottoning cattail stalks from a lake where we went fishing, and we decided to tie them up on their garden fence for the birds to use as nesting material. Well, some of them must have blown into my rice paddy because I have several cattails growing there.

If I had the space, I'd love to grow and experiment with cattails -- as it is, I've had to cut them down, but this is the right time of the year to harvest the cattail hearts. I just had some in a mixed salad and they were delicious.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yep, jewelweed. Impatiens capensis. You can take the whole plant up until they are about six inches tall, but I'd recommend just the leaves after that. Not a great raw nibble or salad plant, but a good cooked green...

In it's more mature state it is a famous remedy for any itch and dries out poison ivy blisters nicely at the same time. Who needs calamine?

By the by, plaintain weed fills the same bill, being great for any manner of itch, absolutely famous for bee stings (I just chew the leaf and apply that as a poultice; stops the pain almost instantly), and to top it off, it is a good salad herb or cooked green! And show me a property where I can't find some and I'll show you someone using WAY too many pesticides...

As for chokecherry and chokeberry, both are edibles, if a bit tart (hence the names). Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a tree with clusters of black berries; Thoreau says "... they are not quite palatable. However, finding some once near the end of August, dead ripe, and a little wilted, they were tolerable eating-- much better than I had ever tasted, yet the stones were much in the way." They were a regular addition to pemmican, in the same manner as serviceberries...

Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia) are the black and redfruited blueberry imposters. While the fruit is tart beyond belief even at full ripeness (August around here), Thoreau notes "December 19th, 1850. The dried chokeberries so abundant in the swamps are now quite sweet." I have tried mine around this time of year and concur, but if getting the prime antioxidant is your goal, suck it up and harvest ripe (and I would suggest the black form as the darker the fruit, the higher the antioxidant levels in general). The antioxidant levels of Aronia rival the expensive and remote tropical berries we hear so much about... and these are free for the finding around here...

We tend to ignore our wild foods, treating them as "survival foods" or weeds, familiarity breeding open contempt. Yet some of these plants we walk by daily or rip from our gardens hold secrets and treasures just as valuable as tropical berries from the other side of the planet. Research your local plants and I am certain you will run across some wonders you were unaware of.

Sage, thanks for all the head swellin' praise, and go find Aronia melanocarpa on your farm (look in the lowlandy wet spots). Bet you have some... ain't this a fun thread you started?

HG

[ronbre]

you can propagate your raspberries by laying them down in the row in the fall ...the new canes for next year..cover the NODES with dirt and in the spring you should have baby plants at every single node..

I have heard that there may be certain ones that this might not work with..but it works with the ones I have.

if you have black raspberries it works really well, also if you are to allow the tip to touch the ground it will root with black raspberries and a few of the others.

I have hundreds of kinds of native berries and fruits growing on my property and have always eaten the "whole grain, fresh fruits and vegetables" way with very little meat and fat..however..when I found out that I was starting to have prediabetes..I had to eliminate nearly all carbs for a period of time to get the blood sugar under control..so I went on a diet to where I could only have 20 net carbs per day and basically living on meat and fat.

so those of you that are younger and are following the "healthy eating" plan of lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables"...please remember..that if you are doing that you are setting yourself up for diabetes..you have to be very careful to not overdo the carbs.

someone said they are eating 80 % carbs and 20 % protein..that diet will cause alzheimers..you must have fat to feed your brain cells..

just a warning..I thought I was doing the right thing too..but now with a lot of study and changing my diet, I found out how wrong I was.

there is good information out there if you search for it and study it you will find out that the entire high carb low fat low protein thing was brought about in the 1970's by George Mcgovern and that it has since been disproven wrong but there are so many people making big money off of the so called heart healthy diet..and low fat diets, and diet pop etc..that you won't be hearing about the truth unless you search for it.

yes whole fruits, vegetables and grains are good..but not to the exception of meat, fish, eggs, and fats that you have to have to remain healthy

I ate the way you are talking about for nearly 60 years..and wasn't until after that that I found out I was wrong..I'm not trying to come down on anyone but you really need to find out the truth for yourself

[The Helpful Gardener]

A concentration on fruits might lead to a carb imbalance, but if you are focused on greens (with the higher fibre side scouring out your innards and passing through without huge nutrient inputs), there should not be an issue...

If we look to Nature, which provides huge amounts of greens, fair amounts of fruits and lesser amounts of proteins and fats, it stands to reason we will not go far wrong...

HG

[DoubleDogFarm]

"Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia) are the black and redfruited blueberry imposters. While the fruit is tart beyond belief even at full ripeness (August around here), Thoreau notes "December 19th, 1850. The dried chokeberries so abundant in the swamps are now quite sweet." I have tried mine around this time of year and concur, but if getting the prime antioxidant is your goal, suck it up and harvest ripe (and I would suggest the black form as the darker the fruit, the higher the antioxidant levels in general). The antioxidant levels of Aronia rival the expensive and remote tropical berries we hear so much about... and these are free for the finding around here..."


This is a photo from my forest garden. Aronia "Viking" an improved variety. I eat them fresh of the bush

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Aronia003-1.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Aronia004-2.jpg[/img]

I have about 60 fruit trees and about as many fruiting bushes.

Seaberry, highbush cranberry, honeyberry, strawberry, blackberry, currant, gooseberry, filberts, blueberry, goumi, elderberry, serviceberry, and adding more every year. Many of these are dual purpose plants. Fix nitrogen and produce food. A healthy orchard should have 10% nitrogen fixers spread throughout.

I also raise lean source of meat. Rabbit and Muscovy duck.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Nice pics DDF!

I am growing 'Autumn Magic' myself, but have heard of 'Viking' and it looks like a doer. Fresh off the bush you say? Doesn't pucker your whole face? (My suggestion for fresh aronia would be juicing and sweetening with your sweetener of choice (I'd use agave).

HG

[DoubleDogFarm]

Fresh off the bush you say? Doesn't pucker your whole face?

It's hard to describe. Not sweet, not tart. We have them in our pancakes. If you want something that makes your toes curl, eat a highbush cranberry. They hang through the winter. The birds won't even eat them.

Eric

[applestar]

I've read that it's the European V. Opulus that is the toe curler. True American V. Trilobum is supposed to be tasty and the northern V. edule is said to be the sweetest.

I bought V. Trilobum 'Wentworth' this spring thinking it's a native selection, but I've since found it described as V. Trulobum var opulus 'Wentworth'

[DoubleDogFarm]

I went to look on Raintree Nursery site. I have 4 of these from them.

(Viburnum trilobum) A beautiful 10' tall, shade tolerant ornamental with showy white spring blossoms. The red fruit is attractive to birds and can be used to make preserves, syrup or wine

I would not call them tasty

I find the bird part not to be true.

[ihateweeds]

I never gave a thought about growing those expensive health drink ingredients at home. Maybe I'll search the internet for some seeds. Great Idea

[applestar]

Well, I planted my V. trilobum. If nothing else, it will replace part of the existing Rose of Sharon hedge and provide a screen from the neighbor's side yard, though I'm seriously disappointed that its native status is in question though. I guess I'll find out if the local birds like the berries.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I have always been told V.trilobum was native and my two definitvie sources agree. Don Leopold's Native Plants Of The NorthEast lists it as V. trilobum, and my buddy Bill Cullina's Trees, Shrubs, And Vines lists it a V. opulus var. americana (syn. V. trilobum).

So while there appears to be some scientific discontinuity on whether it is a variety of V. opulus or it's own seperate species, there is no doubt that American cranberrybush is American...

HG

[Sage Hermit]

https://oracvalues.com/sort/orac-value

Oxygen
Radical
Absorbance
Capacity

antioxidants measurement scale

Sage> goji
Cloves> all

In China, cloves were not only used for cooking but also for deodorization; anyone having an audience with the Han emperor had to chew cloves to prevent any undesired smell.

[garden5]

https://oracvalues.com/sort/orac-value

Oxygen
Radical
Absorbance
Capacity

antioxidants measurement scale

Sage> goji
Cloves> all

In China, cloves were not only used for cooking but also for deodorization; anyone having an audience with the Han emperor had to chew cloves to prevent any undesired smell.

Interesting stuff, SH. Who knew that cinnamon was such a great antioxidant?

As far as nutrients go, I'm a firm believer that food grown in an organic home garden is more nutritious than the commercially grown foods.

There were studies that were done on corn and it was found that the mass grown corn has lower nutrient levels then the home-grown kind. Why? Because the inorganic farming methods stripped the ground of many nutrients and minerals....thus lowering them in the vegetable.

Home gardens, on the other hand, which are amended with compost and have crops rotated, don't suffer as bad from this "nutrient drain."

Note: I'm recalling this from memory, so some things may not be exact, but this was the underlying concept.

[Sage Hermit]

cloves are 12.4 x greater in antioxidants than goji and nearly 50x greater than strawberries


Here is my antioxidant tea:

Boiling water+any tea you like
Sage - (Salvia elegans) + (Salvia officianalis) Pineapple + culinary
Mint - (Mentha spicata) Spearmint
Cinnamon - Half a stick or if you are out powder.
Cloves - 4 or 5 whole cloves

When you added all the ingredients let the tea bag sit over the leaves pressing it all under water. Add honey when not boiling.

My friend from UAE showed me how to make his countries tea.
Base:
1 boil water.
2 let settle on low

3 add sage. (its an over powering herb)
4. add a teaspoon or two rosewater. Arabic: Ma-ward
5. add just a table spoon of sugar
6. add mint or any of your fav tea bags.
Add: Sugar / Honey / Cream as you like.

Very wonderful tea. I have no other use for rosewater than this special tea

[farmerlon]

,,, As far as nutrients go, I'm a firm believer that food grown in an organic home garden is more nutritious than the commercially grown foods.

There were studies that were done on corn and it was found that the mass grown corn has lower nutrient levels then the home-grown kind. Why? Because the inorganic farming methods stripped the ground of many nutrients and minerals....thus lowering them in the vegetable.
...

I believe that you are right.

An article in the latest Mother Earth News magazine, stated that about 80 million tons of grain are exported out of the USA every year, along with all of the soil nutrients (NPK, etc...) contained in those grains... creating a constant slow drain of the inherent fertility of US cropland.

[csvd87]

Interesting thread, just got a cranberry plant the other day, I already have a couple huckleberry bushes along with salmon berries and wild raspberries, we also have salal berries and oregon grapes growing nearby. Oh and I bought an Alpine Strawberry, see how it does (its on my back porch in a 5 gallon bucket, if I put anywhere else the deer will eat it.

I love huckleberries when I'm camping, add them to cereal or in pancakes.

I was also just googling Mountain Ash and finding that the berries are actually edible, we have a loaded tree right now and its typically there for the birds.