Gardening For Health

We installed our new garden.

It was our thought that we should grow as much food for ourselves as we possibly could. I've tried my hand at gardening in the past with mixed results. Results were mixed mainly because there were times I was really into the garden and other times I was non-committal or downright negligent. I didn't have a sense then just how nutritious and satisfying growing food for my kitchen table could be.

These days, with things like genetic modification and rampant use of chemicals and pesticides, it is comforting knowing first-hand the real quality of your lettuce or carrots. Growing your own food also cuts into a great deal of your grocery bill, which of course never hurts.

We decided to loosely follow the tenets of square foot gardening. My partner, handy as he is, was able to effortlessly construct a 4 x 8 raised bed. But this was only our first bed. After planting things like chili peppers, herbs, tomatoes, lettuce and the like, we got the bug for more. He constructed another bed, 4 x 4, and then pulled some untreated wooden boxes from the sheds for use as planters.  We also re-purposed a couple of unused trash cans for potatoes.

It still wasn't enough. He constructed another 4 x 16 bed and pulled out more planters and items for re-purposing from his sheds (things like bookshelves and cabinets). We utilized all of these, planting, in addition to our first bed, the following items:

broccoli
strawberries
Brussels sprouts
leeks
sunflowers
blueberries
red onions
bib lettuce
salad greens
spinach
more tomatoes
and then even more tomatoes
salvia
artichokes
carrots
radishes
all manner of squash
watermelon
a GIANT pumpkin
sweet bell peppers (red, yellow, orange)
...and so much more.

The end result looks like this:

Just look at all the re-purposed items:

Seriously, we used left over wood, makeshift trellises, trashcans, discarded shelves, forgotten planters and a lot more. What we created was a wonderful little urban garden that has the potential -- should we care for it -- to produce a lot of wonderful food. 

Me, I'm looking forward to all the greens. Kohlrabi, kale, arugula, chard ... there's a lot. A good amount of cruciferous vegetables, too, because they are so incredibly nutritious and wonderful for you. We have fruit trees on the land, as well: things like peaches, plums and apples, and I have lots of yummy plans for those. 

Anybody can garden, even apartment dwellers. It really does give you an immense measure of satisfaction when you plant a garden, tend it, watch it grow and harvest. 

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this year's summer gardens. 

Eating Raw While Cabin-Camping

I'm going away on a one-week camping trip (not full camping, but camping-with-cabins-and-showers, which I much prefer) and am trying to figure out what I will eat. There will be a community refrigerator (yay!) and perhaps a stove or oven, as well, which I will not need, except for tea -- which would be nice.

I'm not sure I can maintain 70-90% raw while I am away; I think I will have to depend on some cereals and foods like tortillas, hummus and the like. I think I'll probably be eating more like 50% raw, sticking to only those fruits and vegetables that will keep for a week. Things like:

apples
bananas (probably less than a week)
nectarines/peaches
broccoli
some lettuces/spinach
cabbage
avocado
onion
tomatoes (probably less than a week)
sprouts

I'll also include raw dehydrated fruits as well as nuts and seeds, a staple in any raw diet.

This week camping will potentially involve something like...hunger. This might be good for me, probably, as I've been too liberal with myself for the last one or two months due to moving and the rehabbing of a new house. In truth my raw percentage numbers have been pitifully low. This is evidenced rather predictably in frequent gastro-intestinal distress: the only time I am ever, ever regular or comfortable is when I eat raw. If I do not eat raw I either have a hard time going to the bathroom at all, or else get sick after every meal. Needless to say, it's a real drag.

My meals will consist of organic cereals and rice milk in the morning, raw fruit (dehydrated and otherwise), nuts and seeds during the day, and hummus-and-veggie wraps in the evening. I might include some raw cheese in the wraps just for excitement.

I'll check in after the trip to report back on how I did.

McDonald's is not the temple to which I am referring

Today I recovered.

I wanted to throw up all day. Talk about misery. I am perpetually amazed at my body's lack of tolerance for all the food American's typically eat. My body beat me up over my recent bad choices. And I get it, I really do.

Did I even eat today? I'm trying to think. Jesus, I'm not even sure. Wait, I think there was a banana, and I know I supplemented (including coconut oil and enzymes). That's really all I could keep down. The rest of the time it was lukewarm water (the best way to drink it, I'm sorry to inform you) with lemon. I did have coffee, insomuch as I paid five whole dollars for one cup of it, then had to throw the whole thing away because as I sipped I almost vomited it right back into the cup. I know you love reading this, and honestly? It's for your own good. If you're eating that way, you're treating yourselves terribly!

The body acclimates to wellness. The body in fact loves to be well and seeks physical attunement and wellness and health in general. And so when we allow the body to be well and to achieve balance, and if we then maintain this balance for a significant amount of time, the body literally forgets what it is like to be out of balance. It comes to rely upon the fine way we have been treating it.

Until of course, one fateful weekend where bars and friends and Metallica cover bands converge, when you find yourself drinking unnecessary amounts of liquor and ingesting whole piles of grease laden french fries. And then the body suddenly forgets all the wonderful things you've done for it and becomes punitive, seemingly wanting to hurt you. And so it does.

Aspire to 80% raw, I am telling you. Stop drinking carbonated drinks, too, because they kill your insides and deplete your bones. Drink water: half your body weight in ounces is a good place to start, and tea and other beverages do count toward your total water intake. Also please throw out your iceberg lettuce, because its nutritional value pales in comparison to other, far superior greens, such as romaine and even better, spinach. Spinach will improve your eyesight, provide vital vitamins and minerals and much, much more. Throw raw seeds and nuts into the spinach just for crunch and pleasure. Dress it with a nice olive oil and balsamic mix, super easy to make, adding a little honey (which happens to be a superfood, not unlike the spinach and nuts) and some orange juice. This makes for a delightful meal, and is chock filled with zinc and b vitamins.

And please, I beg of you, stop eating at McDonald's (or any other fast food place). McDonald's is simply swill dressed up as "food". It is worse than dog food actually, and also addictive. How many times do you put that stuff into your bodies? Truthfully? 

STOP IT.

Instead eat whole foods that actually occur in nature. For example Nutri-grain bars do not actually grow on trees. Nor do Fritos. These things are processed in plants where people probably sneeze right onto them or else wipe fecal-matter-hands all over the things they are handling.

Make the promise today that you will only eat whole and natural foods, in the most clean and organic state possible. And then just do it.

YOUR BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE.

Hard Things

It's been a little while since I've posted on this blog. Since last you heard from me I got divorced, moved from Chicago to Denver, entered and left a relationship and just entered a new relationship with, I daresay, the love of my life.

It's been a long road but I am happy. Wiser to be sure, but confident now that I can do the Hard Things, as I've done so many of them already.

How's my eating? Lackluster. Do I still struggle with my eating disorder? Yes, and I do believe I always will. But I'm dealing with it, in therapy and in my own day to day life. I'm writing a book about spiritual nutrition and still believe strongly in the raw way of life, for the most part. I also believe in having fun, which means cocktails, hot chocolate, cake and some barbecue. It's about not being crazy.
It's about moderation.

I'm better. Well. Sleeping and healthy.

I'm happy.

Five Nutritarian Meals That Taste Good

Nutritarian Meals

1. Vegetable wrap -- Whole grain tortilla with homemade bean paste or hummus, avocado, tomato, dark greens, onion, mushroom, feta/bleu cheese
(substitute wrap with sprouted grain bread or sprouted pita)

2.  Vegetable barley/lentil soup -- homemade vegetable stock, garlic, onion, mushroom, spinach, beans, lentils/barley, black rice

3. oatmeal -- steel cut oats, almond/coconut milk, chia/flax (or both), cinnamon, vanilla, raw honey, raw nuts, fruit of choice, coconut oil

4. hummus -- homemade hummus, vegetables such as cucumber, celery and carrots with which to eat, or whole grain/sprouted grain pita, toasted bread sticks (sprouted)

5. fruit smoothie -- organic frozen fruit, high quality Greek yogurt, raw honey, coconut oil

Insomnia is full of suck

Easy Veggie & Hummus Sandwich

Remember that raw hummus recipe from yesterday? I hope so, since it was only yesterday.

ANYWAY, here's me using that hummus in a easy-breezy veggie sandwich why btw? Totally tasted awesome. I had to make seconds for everybody which is kind of amazing when you realize that it was HEALTHY.