Grow your own greens and live healthy

Summer in New York is pleasant for someone used to tropical weather. That’s why we took that opportunity to spend a whole day in the New York Botanical Garden at Bronx. My husband Mark and I walked amid majestic trees, beautiful and verdant gardens, profuse hedges of blooms, and even an indoor tropical garden that even showcased a plant or two from the Philippines.

I have always loved flowers. The outburst of color increases my creativity and never fails to uplift my spirit.  Though I do not have a green thumb, or have not yet tried, I make sure that our gardener maintains and enhances our blooming plants.  I want to see a splash of color on a canvas of green.

Our trip to the New York Botanical became more memorable because there was a special exhibit called “The Edible Garden.” Vegetables and fruit-bearing plants as well as herbs were creatively planted together in garden plots and even just terra-cotta pots.

Imagine growing your own greens and your own fruits, harvesting them, and immediately serving them for everyone to enjoy. What a thrill this must be! Two years ago, we started by planting herbs in pots that we scattered around the perimeter of the house. It is not unusual for us to snip a few herbs before cooking or even while something is already simmering on the range.

One such garden on display was Martha Stewart’s herb garden. It was not only beautiful, it was also aromatic!  I found myself just sitting quietly on the bench admiring the herbs and how they were planted together. Beside my bench were patches of lemongrass, common chives, sweet marjoram, and thyme.  Across me were bunches of peppermint, rosemary, dill, parsley, cilantro, oregano, basil, lemon balm, and anise.

Oprah is right. There is a different feeling eating your own produce. The satisfaction is not merely physical. It also nourishes your soul.

Planting Your Own Vegetable Garden

As my husband puts it, everything starts with good soil.  To grow successfully, vegetables need sun, soil, and water.  A sunny spot in your balcony, deck, patio or backyard is a good place to grow vegetables.  If you are creating beds, make sure there is room for growth and paths in between beds for you to reach over the plants without stepping on the soil. Raised and mounded beds they say provide better drainage.

You may also plant in containers such as wooden barrels, plastic tubs, buckets, and terra-cotta pots with holes in the bottom for drainage. Bigger vegetables like tomatoes need large, deep containers, New York Botanical literature reminds us, while small veggies and herbs can be grown in shallow pots. The top soil should be loosened and mixed with compost.  The soil should be fertile and well-drained (that means it holds enough water for the plants but will let extra water run through).  It might be best to buy prepared soil mixes if you are doing this for the first time.

At New York Botanical, we marveled at a family “pizza” garden.  It is a circular vegetable garden with six plant beds shaped like pizza slices and arranged like a pizza.  One slice had basil on the perimeter, then onions, and finally three tomato plants.  Another had a combination of wheat and oregano on the edge and three eggplant shrubs. Still one had basil on the edge, then leeks plus three pepper plants.  One had wheat and oregano combined with three tomato plants.  Another had three eggplants with onions and basil by the edge while the last one had three pepper plants lined by oregano and wheat on the rim.

You Can Juice Them, Too

Any of the vegetables in your garden can be juiced, too, if you prefer to have your vitamin and nutrient shots that way.  One that is receiving a lot of attention these days, of course, is wheatgrass.

While some experts and even Dr. Andrew Weil, an authority on natural health and healing, still feel that there is a lack of concrete evidence of the numerous health claims, nothing and no one can prevent its advocates who swear by its potency from growing wheatgrass and extracting chlorophyll for daily shots.  The debate is always on the super claims such that one shot of wheatgrass juice can replace two kilos of vegetables, or so.  In the end, if you like the taste and feel the good effectsm then keep it up.

Since chlorophyll is the basis of all plant life and wheatgrass is 70-percent chlorophyll, it is touted as having rejuvenating and even healing properties (Dr. Ann Wigmore supposedly helped people get well from chronic disorders for 30 years using wheatgrass).  While chlorophyll can be extracted from other plants, they say wheatgrass is superior because it has over 100 of the elements needed by man and when grown on organic soil absorbs 92 of the 102 minerals from the soil.

As early as 1940, Dr. Benjamin Cruskin in the American Journal of Surgery recommended chlorophyll to clear up foul odors, neutralize strep infections, heal wounds, cure chronic sinusitis, reduce varicose veins, and heal leg ulcers, among many other benefits.

Dr. Max Bircher, a research scientist and inventor of muesli, referred to chlorophyll as concentrated sun power and said that “chlorophyll increases the function of the heart; affects the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus, and the lungs ... It is therefore a tonic which, considering its stimulating properties, cannot be compared with any other.”  He further commented that nature uses chlorophyll as a body cleanser, rebuilder, and neutralizer of toxins.

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Basic Necessity Salad Time — yes, the same one that made packaged salad greens affordable and readily available in supermarkets — sells wheatgrass as well as the wheatgrass juicer.

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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.