Sustainable Gardening .101: Kitchen Gardens

Do you know where your food comes from? In the last few months there has been a flurry of books and articles on the subject of sustainable food. First Lady, Michelle Obama, helped break ground on a new White House organic “kitchen garden”. The White House kitchen garden will be the first working garden since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a so-called “victory garden” at the height of World War II. The Obamas’ garden with its proposed 55 varieties of vegetables sends a message about where they want their food to come from.

Home kitchen gardens can be one of the most sustainable food options for people who want to know where their food comes from. Kitchen gardens can provide a living tapestry of healthy vegetables and fruits, just steps away from your kitchen. My family's kitchen garden is an integral part of our home. It sits a stones throw from our kitchen out the back door. We know where to go when someone says, “I need chives for the soup” or, “Who wants to help with the salad?”

The French have been designing jardin potagers, or kitchen gardens, for centuries. Kitchen gardens serve as functional, practical and beautiful additions to many homes. These gardens are typically located outside of a kitchen and include herbs, vegetables and fruits. Some kitchen gardens contain medicinal plants and flowers. Having immediate access from the kitchen is optimal for harvesting while cooking. Kitchen gardens can be easier to tend because they have clearly defined beds and paths.

Creating a bountiful kitchen garden can be an economical and healthy addition your home. Planned kitchen gardens still have an element of trial and error, like all gardens, but worth the experimentation.

What you need:
• graph paper
• wooden dividers or an arrangement of pots
• watering supply
• trellises or stakes
• sunlight
• plants-vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers

Here are some things to consider when planning a kitchen garden:
• Divide each bed into rectangles (or whatever shape will fit in your space).
• Plot out on graph paper the types and numbers of plants you think you’ll be able to fit into the space. Raised beds will allow for a more efficient use of space.
• It’s said that vegetables are like people, they thrive on companionship. Vegetables may yield up to twice as much when they are surrounded with companion plants. Here is an article about companion planting that outlines which vegetables are best friends.
• Think about combining plants that will create patterns of color and texture: a square of red leaf lettuce with deep green basil in the middle; the ferny fronds of fennel surrounding the bold leaves of cabbage.
• Plan for the spread and height of each vegetable, so the beds don’t get too overgrown, and so you’re able to find and reach the vegetables as they ripen.
• Plant intensively and close together so that there is little room for weeds and the plants shade each other.

I'll post some more next time for would-be gardener's with small spaces. (Urban planners? Have hope!)

Happy Earth Day! - 7 Tips For Green Eating

It’s Earth Day. Which means that you might be experiencing a rush of media extolling the virtues of reusable shopping bags, the evils of single use water bottles, and the importance of organic food. And seasonal food. And local food. And so on. All important issues, but I’m guessing a lot of you know about these things by now. So may I interest you in some other ideas on how to make an impact with your food choices?

Don’t get me wrong. My closet’s packed with cheerleading outfits for the basic tenets of green eating: local, seasonal, organic. They are, in my opinion, vastly important. So I’ll pay tribute to them, quickly, in tip number one–and then cut to the chase with six other tips that see less of the spotlight.

1. Buy Local, Seasonal, Organic.
Shop locally to decrease the fuel consumption of transportation–shop at farmer’s markets, CSAs, food co-ops, and markets that sell local products. Even big box stores are hopping on the local food train. Eat seasonally, which essentially means that you are eating locally, which means that you are not supporting the fuel consumption of cross-country, cross-global transportation. This can be challenging for those of us living in, say, Brooklyn in the winter, but you’d be surprised by all the things you can do with dark greens and winter squash! Support organic agriculture. There, said.



2. Don’t Buy Organic.
What??? Organic should be first choice when it’s locally grown, but consider that shipping a pound of organic apples across the country increases fuel and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent more than if they had been consumed at their point of harvest. And much of the organic produce on the market is now shipped across the planet. Meanwhile, many local farmers practice organic methods but don’t certify organic because it is expensive and labor-intensive administratively. Since each type of crop needs to be registered, for a smaller farm growing a variety of food it becomes a Herculean task. If you shop at a farmer’s market, talk to your vendors and see if they use eco-friendly agricultural methods–many of the farmers I have talked to do so because they recognize the importance of keeping their land healthy. Consider buying non-organic locally grown produce over non-local organic produce, if you can determine that it was grown conscientiously.

3. Yes, Eat Your Weeds.
Dandelions, purslane, chickweed, stinging nettle, lamb’s quarter, burdock? Yum! Skip the herbicides, and celebrate your weeds instead with a hot pan and some olive oil. Many plants now maligned as bothersome invaders of the perfect lawn were long used as food greens. Just make sure that you identify the plant species correctly. I, for one, go absolutely shivery in the knees for dandelions–you could be, too, by looking at these pages:

Eating Dandelions
Cream of Dandelion Soup
Homemade Dandelion Syrup

4. Minimize Your Meat.
Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the plate. It takes much more energy, water and resources to produce a pound of meat, than a pound of grain or produce. (A pound of beef can require about 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes.) In addition, agricultural hormones and antibiotics lead to pollution of soil, air, and water.

If you eat meat, aim for meat from animals who were raised humanely; grass-fed, and without hormones or antibiotics. Try hard to avoid factory farmed meat which relies on large-scale industrialized and intensive agricultural practices that are focused on profit with animals kept indoors and restricted in mobility. Each industry has its own abusive practices, and some are much more cruel than others. For example, the chicken, egg, turkey, and pork industries tend to be far more abusive to animals than the beef industry. A growing number of producers are raising animals without intensive confinement. Refining your diet by choosing cage-free animal products, instead of the conventional factory farm products that fill most supermarket shelves, will help to reduce animal suffering. Happy animals are part of a happy planet.

Try slowly cutting out meat from your diet. Become the term that Mark Bittman of The New York Times has coined–a Lessmeatatarian! He is vegan daily until 6:00 PM.

And, trust me, this is torture for me - a die-hard meat-lover. The bloodier it is, the better. But there are benefits.

5. Eat Antiques.
Grow and shop for heirloom vegetables–varieties that have been around for a long time–to help promote biodiversity. Heirloom varieties can be knobby, speckled, bursting with flavor and loaded with character–they’re not industrially-raised supermarket produce designed for life in a truck and a shelf. With big agriculture growing only a small variety of the same bio-engineered (often patented and sterile) seeds, we run the risk of letting thousands and thousands of generations-old fruits and vegetables become extinct. The same goes for grains and beans. Heirloom beans are awesome; their flavor and texture do justice to their poetic names such as Black Valentine or Butterscotch Calypso.

Learn about heirloom beans and how to cook them here.

6. Mind Your Chills and Hot Flashes
Your refrigerator can be one of the biggest energy drains in your home. Here’s the cooling-efficiency cheat sheet cribbed from Sustainable Dave’s (much more comprehensive) post, Putting the Deep Freeze On Your Energy Loss: Do the dollar bill trick on the seal to check air-tightness; keep the fridge and freezer full; keep the fridge at 35 to 38F degrees, and the freezer around 0F; clean the coils; keep it in a cool place.

Meanwhile, keep the heat out of the kitchen by cooking outside–outdoor grills use less energy than your stove and keep heat out of the house, reducing energy needed to feed hungry air conditioners. And being outside is nice.

7. Love Your Coffee Farmer.
Lord knows I try to be good about my eating habits, but then, there’s coffee. I can manage to eat straight from my farmer’s market all winter long, but I can’t seem to shake the coffee. And until someone figures out a way to grow coffee beans in New York’s climate (which isn’t going to happen any time soon–fingers crossed), it’s a decidedly not-local item.

Especially with coffee, the consumer’s spending power can really make a difference. Coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity, behind only petroleum. Second, isn’t that interesting? Imagine the impact of our shopping? According to Global Exchange, there are approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers in over 50 countries involved in producing coffee around the world. Coffee producers are kept in a cycle of poverty and debt by the current global economy designed to exploit cheap labor and keep consumer prices low. Buying Fair Trade Certified coffee ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it, and has strong environmental standards built into its certification process that protect watersheds and virgin forests, help prevent erosion, promote natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibit GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. Look for the Fair Trade Certified label on your beans or in your coffee shop.

Recipe: Grapefruit Brulee

Here’s a simple dessert, a fit cure for wintertime blues. Simply broil the grapefruit slices until warm and irresistible. Follow them up with a strong cup of aromatic jasmine or Earl Grey tea.

INGREDIENTS
3 large pink or ruby-red grapefruits
6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter cut into tiny pieces
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1. Position oven rack about 5 inches from broiler; preheat broiler.

2. Slice the stem end and opposite end off each grapefruit. Stand the grapefruit, one cut-end down, on a work surface. Cut off the rind and pith with a sharp knife, making sure to remove all the white pith. Cut each fruit into 4 rounds, about 1/2 inch thick, by making slices parallel to the ones you made on the top and bottom.

3. Place the slices in a large baking pan in a single layer. Top each with 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar, dot with butter and sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg.

4. Broil the grapefruit until bubbling and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drizzle pan juices over each serving.

Serves 6.

Recipe nutrition per serving: 121 calories; 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 0g mono unsaturated fat); 5 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 2 g fiber; 5 mg sodium; 215 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Vitamin A (30% dv).

2 Carbohydrate Servings.

Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat.

Top 10 Superfoods for Fall

I, for one, love the idea that there are superfoods–certain edibles that go the extra mile in terms of nutritional chutzpah. They may not leap tall buildings, but superfoods are purported to fight the evil villains of heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer and a host of other diseases. Blueberries, for example, have become a superfood darling for their powerful punch of antoxidants–and I have to say, they do seem pretty mighty to me.

That said, I think some of the trendy superfoods are stealing the spotlight from the true heart of the matter–from the everyday heroes. It seems to me that almost any grain or produce that is grown organically, unprocessed and prepared gently, has much to offer. I just can’t see a list of ten superfoods that earn obvious rank. In fact, if you look at 10 “Top 10 Superfoods” lists, you will see that they vary widely.

The truth is, most good food from nature is pretty super. So with that in mind, I like taking a seasonal approach. Rather than debating the merits of acai berries over goji berries, I prefer to look at what’s in season, and work with the nutritional workhorses that I can get here and now. These are my favorites for fall, based primarily on nutritional variety and strength, but that also give me that primal, sensuous satisfaction that comes with eating what’s in season:

Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin
I go crazy for these flavors come fall, and no wonder: The dark orange vegetable family outdoes all others in vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium, and potassium. Other dark orange vegetable standouts include pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, and orange bell peppers.

Cruciferous Vegetables
Crucifers such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collards and turnips contain indole alkaloids that may help prevent cancer. They are also high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Along with their fabulous flavor, once you get the hang of cooking them, they may have an added bonus: they may help bolster memory as you age. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that women who eat the most of these foods are the least likely to be forgetful.

Pomegranates
Pomegranates have very high antioxidant activity, offering brain and memory protection. And research shows that drinking pomegranate juice may help with lowering the risk for hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis. And they're my personal favourite on the list!

Beets
The pigment that gives beets their super-beautiful fuschia depth-betacyanin-is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Beets’ potential effectiveness against colon cancer, in particular, has been demonstrated in several studies. Beets are also particularly rich in the B vitamin folate.

The Alliums
Garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, chives and shallots contain sulfur compounds that may protect against heart disease and some cancers, they can all help the liver eliminate toxins and carcinogens.

Beans
An excellent source of protein, antioxidants, folic acid, potassium, dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates, beans are flavorful, nutritionally dense, inexpensive and versatile. Read about heirloom varieties and cooking tips.

Olive oil
Several large studies suggest that the monosaturated fat in olive oil is good for the heart. Olive oil lowers bad cholesterol levels and increases good cholesterol. It is hgih in antioxidants–and is one of the superstars of the Mediterranean diet. Recent research shows that heart-attack survivors on a Mediterranean diet had half the death rates of those on an ordinary low-fat diet.

Tea
The caffeine content in tea is useful for stimulating alertness, mood and motivation, but is also a rich source of the antioxidant called catechins. Studies suggest that catechins protect the artery walls against the damage that causes heart disease and prevents formation of blood clots. It also does wonders for the spirit on a cool autumn day.

Red Wine
Grapes provide vitamin C, vitamin B1 and vitamin B6–red grapes also contain powerful phytochemicals (especially phenolics) that may help decrease risk of cardiovascular disease. These phenolic compounds are housed mostly in the skin of the red grapes, which is what makes red wine red. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic stilbene found in the skins of red fruits including grapes, may be responsible for some of the health benefits ascribed to the consumption of red wine. Resveratrol has been shown to have anti-oxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activity.