By Heather Nicholds
I’m in withdrawal right now after having a constant supply of fresh herbs, greens and vegetables right outside the door in Phil’s garden for quite a few weeks. The lettuce and parsley in the grocery store, even when it’s organic and fairly fresh, just aren’t quite the same.
So this is a reminder that if you have some space for growing your own vegetables, greens and herbs, take advantage of it! It might not be the time to start planting right now, but you can always start planning and learning for next year.
Growing your own vegetables is the best way to get more nutrients in a healthy eating plan. That is, if you grow them properly. The health of the soil is directly related to the health of your plants, and consequently your own health.
If you need help or want more information on how to get gardening, Phil has lots of great tips and videos on his site www.SmilingGardener.com.
Nutrition data that you look up online doesn’t take the health of the soil into account, and nutrient values of our foods have been sliding downhill over the years.
In my last post I mentioned the higher nutrient values of organic food over “conventional” (don’t get me started on that word…), and this article gives an overview of how nutrient values have fallen over the last century with the significant changes in agricultural methods, lower biodiversity and soil degradation – Is Conventional Produce Declining in Nutritional Value?.
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A healthy vegan diet is great, but if our veggies don’t have enough nutrients we’re all going to be in trouble – vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters alike. That’s why I generally recommend taking supplements, to make up for poor quality foods. I would much prefer that we all get nutrients from our foods, and growing your own vegetables to be really nutrient-dense is a great way to reduce your dependence on supplements.
If you don’t have space to grow outside, or even if you do, you should try sprouting. Fun, easy and excellent for getting a high-quality source of nutrients year-round. Watch my video on growing alfalfa sprouts at home to see how easy it really is.
The other withdrawal I’m trying to cope with is from Phil, since he’s still at his parents’ place filming in his garden… feel free to leave me a comment to cheer me up! What do you do to keep yourself from missing someone too much?
