Growing and finding your own food.
Important Facts About Chlorophyll
Foraging for Food in the Winter
Window Sill Herb Garden
Tag: edible plants
bookmark_borderHow To Grow Ginger
Ginger is a great plant to grow indoors. Ginger takes about 10 months to grow and does not tolerate frost. During the winter months it should be brought inside. Another reason why it is a good plant for indoors is its ability to grow in partial sunlight.
There are several plants that usually grow well that can be purchased at your local grocery store. Ginger (onions, horseradish, potatoes, garlic, cherry tomatoes and others) can often just be planted in the ground or a pot and covered with soil.
Plant a piece of root horizontally in a shallow pot after soaking it over night. Pieces can be cut off for cooking, brewing tea, or herbal remedies.
bookmark_borderIs Kale Bad For You?
In an article for The New York Times, Jennifer Berman reports on the problems with kale:
“Imagine my shock, then, at my last physical, when my doctor told me I had hypothyroidism, common in women over 40. When I got home I looked up the condition on the Internet and found a list of foods to avoid. Kale, which I juiced every morning, tops the list, followed by broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and collard greens — the cruciferous vegetables I consumed in large quantities because they are thought to prevent cancer, which runs in my family. And flax — as in the seeds — high in omega 3’s, that I sprinkled on cereal and blended in strawberry almond milk smoothies. Also forbidden: almonds and strawberries, not to mention soy, peaches, peanuts, corn, radishes, rutabaga and spinach.”
This is based on a study by Oregon State:
“Very high intakes of cruciferous vegetables…have been found to cause hypothyroidism (insufficient thyroid hormone) in animals (68). There has been one case report of an 88-year-old woman developing severe hypothyroidism and coma following consumption of an estimated 1.0 to 1.5 kg/day of raw bok choy for several months. Two mechanisms have been identified to explain this effect. The hydrolysis of some glucosinolates found in cruciferous vegetables (e.g., progoitrin) may yield a compound known as goitrin, which has been found to interfere with thyroid hormone synthesis. The hydrolysis of another class of glucosinolates, known as indole glucosinolates, results in the release of thiocyanate ions, which can compete with iodine for uptake by the thyroid gland. Increased exposure to thiocyanate ions from cruciferous vegetable consumption or, more commonly, from cigarette smoking, does not appear to increase the risk of hypothyroidism unless accompanied by iodine deficiency. One study in humans found that the consumption of 150 g/day (5 oz/day) of cooked Brussels sprouts for four weeks had no adverse effects on thyroid function.”
Q:What should you do?
A: Avoid juicing with kale and most importantly cook kale.
NPR advises:
“The goitergenics properties of kale become dramatically lessened when kale — or any other cruciferous vegetable — is cooked. (Other veggies in this category include: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kohlrabi, mustard, rutabaga, turnips, bok choy, and Chinese cabbage. Arugula, horse radish, radish, wasabi and watercress are also cruciferous vegetables.)”
bookmark_borderMedicinal Plants
DESPITE INCREASES in the production of synthetic drugs, natural plant drug materials are still economically significant in the united States, and large quantities are harvested in the southern Appalachian region each year for medicinal purposes. A 1962 survey of 328,599,000 new prescriptions written in the U. S. showed that 25 percent were for drugs from natural plant products. However, during the past 30 to 50 years, fewer and fewer people have been harvesting wild lants in Appalachia, which is the principal American source, mainly because of families emigrating to more prosperous areas. Between 1950 and 1960, the southern Appalachian region lost through emigration more than a million people, nearly a fifth of the population. Increases in local blue-collar employment opportunities, a growing reluctance to work in the fields and forests, scarcity of some plants because of over-collecting, and land-use changes have also reduced the natural plant harvests for drug materials.
To locate, collect, and prepare plants for market is time-consuming work. Some collectors do not know all the useful plant species and the best markets for them. This manual was prepared to help collectors identify, collect, and handle plants, plant parts, and pollen.
Not all the plants listed are marketable at all times; so the collector would do well to write to one of the collecting houses listed (table 1) for prices and information about market demand. Buyers of such material are helpful in providing other useful information on collecting.
bookmark_borderHealthy Eating Tips
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests:
A healthy diet can help protect you from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Get tips on how to eat healthy on a budget, plan ahead to save time, and eat healthy away from home.