Saturday 25 May 2013

Yummy Fruit In Disguise

Well, ok, covered in something! These are/were one of - if not - the sweetest fruit on earth. Sad they went to waste. Yet the overly hot last summer, combined with the dryness weakened the fruit dramatically. So reply what you think they are!

  




A Wild Plant Full Of Iron And Fights Allergies

Nettles [Urtica dioica] - a prickly - very! - and wonder-ful food and medicine. The tops can be eaten - especially in the spring. Fresh or dried, the leaves are a wonder-ful medicine. They are full of iron and help to fight allergies. They strengthen and support the whole body.  They are helpful in childhood, and all forms of eczema. For any haemorrhage in the body - including nosebleeds - their astringent quality is helpful.


Urtication is the use of plants to stimulate circulation to the skin. The nettles can be intentionally brushed on arthritic areas to achieve this purpose. But beware - the tingling can go on for hours! Even last night my leg felt like there were little insects crawling on it from this! Fun!

Nettles can be taken for allergies to strengthen the body - but some have slight allergic reactions to them also - so be ware!

As a food: steamed and then served with organic soy sauce [non-GMO] and sesame oil is delicious. They can easily be thrown in any soup or stir fry for added flavour or nutrition. And they're free!

Saturday 11 May 2013

Look, Smell, Touch, Eat, Heal With Flowers

My land is surrounded in bliss-full colours! The fruit trees look like they are snow covered - even in the dark! All the blooms scream for attention. And on the ground, the poop gong yin: see  http://123poopitout.blogspot.ca - are be-ing oh so wonder-full! And we also have what we can see here:


The violet and celandine flowers are edible and yummy! And the leaves are medicinal. Aren't these more interesting than boring, non-native mono-cult-u-r-e lawns? These provide food and medicine for humans and food for insects.

Thursday 9 May 2013

Kimchi: Save The Garlic Mustard Campaign!

I say "if you can't beat 'em - eat 'em"! This applied to garlic mustard. A super plant which fights cancer, this should be loved - not scorned! While research is showing it may harm forest trees, we certainly do know it invades and takes over the forest as well. But so have humans!

Like other members of the mustard family [such as cabbage, broccoli, komatsuna,...], this contains isothiocyanates, one of the chemopreventive constituents of the mustard family plants. It also has allyl sulfides - the cancer preventives found in garlic. James A. Duke also notes that it has been found to have twice the chemopreventive betacarotene of spinach!

And kimchi, the Korean ferment, preserves without killing the enzymes/life of the plant - as vinegar, boiling, canning do. Here's how:

You need:
garlic mustard - about 8 or more cups - chopped into mouth sized sections
salt - the darker the better from the sea
large piece of ginger
lots of garlic
onions/chives
hot pepper
fish sauce if you like

1. Cut up gm and place handfull into crock or big bowl
2. Sprinkle salt to lightly cover
3. Continue alternating till done
4. Put a plate and weight on top over night to squeeze out the water
5. Next day combine chopped other ingredients and add to gm
6. Put in sealed mason jar and crush down with pestal or other tool
7. If not enough liquid to cover, make a brine of 5% salt solution: about 1 T/1 Cup of H2O
8. Twice a day press down the veges, keeping at room temperature
9. After 2-3 days, put in fridge and should last a year or more...
10. Enjoy and do w/ other veges too, or mix gm with other veges.


Sunday 5 May 2013

Koreans Eat Squid - Not Doritos!

Here's a typical snack for many Koreans. Taken on the island of Cheju-do, revealing a much healthier diet than the chubby Canadian/American one. Certainly is verified GMO free [a later discussion]! You can buy packaged, dried squid in convenience stores. What can you buy here in c stores? Crap - super processed, chemical filled, denatured fats...YUMMY!

At least in some gas stations in MN, U.S., you can get some basics for very cheaps: bananas, onions, a few veges, milk...

 

I must say, though, after watching the film "The Cove" - an excellent film about dolphin killing and capturing in Japan - the squid are living beings and hence should only be eaten in very small quantities/if at all. This applies to all animal products. And of course to eat grass fed, roaming animals if you do eat them.

Saturday 4 May 2013

Garlic Mustard - Free, Gluten Free, Vegan and Fights Cancer

This amazing plant, though incredibly invasive and destructive is super nutritious and yummy. See the ferment, kimchi, in a future post.

Not only does this plant fight cancer - having both garlic and cabbage family properties, it is free! Get out there and pick preferably before the plant seeds. And seed it does! There can be 100,000 seeds per square meter!