It is the year 2012, the much-talked about 2012. Who knows what the new year will bring? As you read in last January's newsletter, I don't make resolutions anymore. Instead I rely on inspiration.
A couple of inspiring things have occurred recently. I learned that Pantone has declared Tangerine Tango the color of the year for 2012. This was exciting news for me because I love the color orange! It brings a smile to my face most every time - hunter's orange being the exception.
 The second inspiration occurred as I was reading the Forward in my husband's 1974 version of the book How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method by J.I. Rodale. It occurred to me that the one of the things that can improve everyone's health is to garden - get their hands in the dirt. Thus the theme for this newsletter was born.
The immense sense of satisfaction and pleasure from growing one's food cannot be underestimated. I feel spoiled by the fact that I can walk out of our kitchen door and harvest fresh vegetables and culinary herbs for dinner - a very short trip from "farm" to table!
There are many options to getting your green thumb on. You can start a culinary herb garden in a window box or in a sunny spot outside of your kitchen, convert the whole backyard to a vegetable garden (bees will love you for it), do a little container gardening on a deck or patio, or secure a plot in a community garden.
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Why Do I Garden? by C.L. Woodridge
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 | | Kazel resting in the shade of the parsnips |
C.L. Woodridge penned the Forward for Rodale's book on organic gardening. He gives six very good and charming reasons for gardening - of which I wholeheartedly agree.
Mr. Woodridge's second reason for gardening is my favorite:
Second: There is the matter of physical exercise. Most of us would rather watch skillful athletes perform strenuously than weary our own muscles, or else we would rather overexercise one afternoon a week at our favorite sports. But we know that moderate daily exercise is far more beneficial than either, in developing the sparkling eye, the feeling of vigor, the sound sleep and the trim waistline.
Check out all six reasons here.
I have an additional reason for gardening. In Chinese medicine, all digestion is attributed to the Spleen, and the Spleen is associated with the Earth. By simply working with the earth one can help strengthen their Spleen energy. The soil is a rather magical mixture, and it contains beneficial bacteria which can benefit our health as well. So in the summer you can obtain your probiotics from working in the soil rather than from a glass bottle from the co-op. |
The Seed Catalogs!
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 Oh. . .those seed catalogs. They start arriving in your mailbox in December. . . the oh-so-dark days of December. . . with their colorful pictures of fruits and vegetables beckoning you buy seeds of everything.
My husband, Dan, plans out our vegetable garden, but I provide plenty of "Honey, can we grow this too?"
Here's a short list of the seed companies we've had success with:
Territorial Seed Company
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Bountiful Gardens
Abundant Life Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange (pictured above)
For medicinal herbs my go-to catalog is Horizon Herbs.
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Inspiration/Resouces
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 Two of Dan's favorite books for vegetable gardening:
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman and Straight-Ahead Organic by Shepherd Ogden.
If you're really serious about your soil health, then Acres USA magazine is for you.
We send a sample of our soil to Timberleaf Soil Testing for evaluation of organic matter and mineral status. We feel pretty geeky about how excited we are when our soil test results arrives in the mail.
I love to support small neighborhood garden stores. Fortunately Eggplant - Urban Farm Supply is just a couple of miles from our house. They carry seedlings and plants, books and all sorts of supplies.
Dan started a blog about Our Homestead in the City if you'd like to check out what goes on in our backyard.
Gardening Matters has a Garden Directory to help you locate a community garden in your area.
If you need help preparing your soil or advice on starting your garden then Russ Henry of Giving Tree Gardens is your man. He also writes a very informative newsletter, The Seed, that contains tons of tips on gardening.
Jane Hawley Stevens of Four Elements Herbals gave me a great tip this past summer when I was lamenting that my rosemary plants don't do well in the fall when I dig them up to bring them indoors for the winter. She suggested planting a small rosemary plant in large clay pot and then burying the pot in the soil. In the fall when it's time to move the plant indoors, you just dig up the pot and all - thus no shock to its root system
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Recipe of the Month
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Crispy Kale Chips
 Once you've grown some amazing greens, you'll surely want to know how to cook them up into something delicious.
Greens Glorious Greens! is a fabulous book that I can honestly say has changed my life. Many years ago my acupuncturist recommended that I eat more green leafy vegetables. At the time I avoided that part of the vegetable aisle because I didn't know what to do with them - their leaves were SO BIG!
Thankfully a lovely woman at Barnes & Noble hooked me up with this book. Now I am hooked on kale and collards - I just can't get enough of their mineral-rich goodness.
Greens Glorious Greens! is the book I recommend most in my practice. Each green has its own chapter that includes a line drawing, how to shop for it, store it and many easy recipes that were kid tested.
Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, collards, cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, etc. are loaded with minerals. Kale is known as the king of calcium. And I recently learned from Anna Dvorak (retreats, classes and wellness) that the leaves to all cruciferous vegetables are edible. This means that you can get a double harvest from your broccoli or Brussel sprouts. We cooked up the leaves from our Brussel sprouts after we harvested the sprouts for Thanksgiving. The leaves looked like collards but tasted like kale. Num.
The Crispy Kale Chips recipe is not from Greens Glorious Greens!, but you can start making these delightful (and I might add guilt-free) chips right away.
Preheat oven to 375 F
2 bunches of Kale (curly kale works great)
2-3 tsp of Olive Oil
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Remove the thick stem from the kale, tear into bite-sized pieces, and
place on cookie sheet(s). Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes or until chips are crispy and lightly browned around edges.
Optional:
Sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese for Cheesy
Kale Chips or sprinkle with a small amount of smoked paprika for
Smoky Kale Chips. |
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As Always. . .
Your First Wealth Is Health, Katherine Krumwiede, L.Ac. Diamond Stone Oriental Medicine, Inc. 612 872 9133
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Tip of the Month
Burn Remedy
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If you burn yourself while cooking immediately apply a thick layer of salt over the burn. Leave the salt on for a few minutes and then rinse it off. Apply a few drops of Lavender essential oil to the burned area.
The salt prevents the burn from blistering and Lavender essential oil heals burns marvelously.
You'll be amazed at the speedy healing of the burn.
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Newsletter Archive
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There's a wealth of health-inducing information contained in past issues of my newsletter.
Newsletter Archive
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Gift Certificates Are Available
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Give the gift of good health to your friends and family.
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The Benefits
of Acupuncture
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De-stress
Alleviate pain
Improve concentration levels
Lift the cloud
of depression
Get a better night's sleep
Improve digestion
Boost energy levels
Insure success with smoking cessation
Excellent preventative medicine
And many more. . .
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