Adventures in Green Living-Gardening in the High Mountain Desert

In these parts, gardening can be a pain in the *$#   challenge. We live in an arid mountain desert in which our “soil” is more of a hellish sand/clay mixture. It’s lovely for growing! In spite of all of these factors, I decided that 2011 was going to be The Year of the Garden. Since deciding to eat animal-free, I subsist mainly on plants. (such a coincidence!) Even with weekly CSA deliveries, I wanted to ensure that I was getting quality, nutrient dense produce (in large quantities) all summer long. I was also interested in the cost savings of gardening. As I’ve shared, I love to cook; which means I buy a lot of ingredients. Mostly organic ingredients, to boot. This gets expensive. No shock there. I really wanted to see how much I could save between a garden and a CSA share. I spent about $50 on supplies for the garden and my CSA share breaks down to $12.50 per week. Depending on how well my garden fares, I think I will spend next to nothing on produce for many months to come. I also plan to can and freeze anything/everything I can. My mother is an AVID gardener, to say the least, so I immediately went to her for guidance. (My mother and sisters operate a CSA farm in my hometown. She is legit.) Although she has been growing in a drastically different climate, she was able to offer me some very sound advice on how to get started. My local nursery has also been an invaluable source for advice on what I can grow here. They have been more than helpful throughout this process! If you are just dipping your toe in the gardening waters, go to your local nursery. They know stuff! They can help! They are awesome at growing things! With the weather that mother nature through our way this “spring”, I needed all the help I could get. Case in point; here is my garden as of 10 days ago:

What is that you say? That doesn’t look like a garden to you? You think I’m making this whole garden thing up? I understand, this looks like nothing more than a pile of dirt covered in snow. (Which, let’s be real, that’s basically all it is.) Before I put anything in the ground, and when it wasn’t snowing, I turned the soil until my fingers bled. Literally. I added local compost and grass clippings and essentially treated the soil like the delicate organism that it is. I also started composting myself! Yay! I’ll obviously have to wait a while for my compost to….well, compost. Once it’s ready, I will add to soil regularly. I also throw my grass clippings on the soil each time we mow. (Another tip from Mom.) I hope this will keep my garden very happy and keep me veggie-rich! Eternal optimist, I am.
I did some research on what would be my safest bets in the veggie department. I went with two different varieties of carrots, both butter and green leaf lettuces, spinach, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, potatoes, beets, bush beans a few hearty herbs. Everything but the potatoes has come up, which pleases me to no end. We shall see how well things go from here. I will keep you posted. PLEASE share tips and success stories in the comments section. Only your success stories, though. Please be kind and spare me any stories of your epic fails in the garden, I’m only allowing positive garden thoughts to travel through my conscious mind.
Oh and ps. The snow is *finally* gone. For now, at least. The kind gentleman at the garden center shared with me that our last snow day in 2010 was June 23rd. So we are not out of the woods just yet. I’ll keep that thermal blanket at the ready. If it does snow, I will find comfort in the wise words of my mother: “Snow is poor man’s fertilizer”.

Holy Exploding Watermelons! One More Reason to Avoid Chinese Produce

We’ve been pretty harsh critics of products from China on This Green Earth and this is further proof that our criticism is justified.   Today we learned that watermelons are exploding in China because they were given high levels of a growth hormone, among other additives.  Apparently, the Land Mine Melons were given the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron.  This particular growth hormone is deemed “safe” (okay, sure, whatever), but the exploding melons have raised other concerns about Chinese farming practices.

According to this Yahoo article, “[i]n March last year, Chinese authorities found that “yard-long” beans from the southern city of Sanya had been treated with the banned pesticide isocarbophos. The tainted beans turned up in several provinces, and the central city of Wuhan announced it destroyed 3.5 tons of the vegetable”.

There is also widespread overuse of food additives like dyes and sweeteners that retailers hope will make food more attractive and boost sales.  Last year, there was an extensive study of arsenic in apple juice that found arsenic in almost all commercial apple juice but found particularly high levels in apple juice coming from China.
The bottom line is that the Chinese are just starting to police their food system, so it’s unclear what is being added to Chinese food.  Read your labels, don’t buy Chinese and buy local when you can.

In the meantime, it’s sad that these inexperienced farmers have lost their crops due to this growth hormone.  The crops have been ruined at alarming rates and they’re now using the watermelons as fish and pig feed.  I sure hope we don’t see exploding fish and pigs out of China next week!

Agave Nectar: Can You Handle the Truth?

I have used agave nectar in the past and still occasionally use it in place of honey or maple syrup.  That is, until my sister recently shared with me some little known facts about agave nectar. Perhaps they are not little known at all and most of the free world has already been privy to this information, but this was certainly the first time I’d heard agave nectar compared to High Fructose Corn Syrup!  Not exactly something I like to hear about products that I use.  Naturally, I had to do some research.  I’ll share with you some information I found, and please feel free to share any additional findings in the comments section.

In an article posted on the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website, Ramiel Nagel and Sally Fallon Morell wrote:  “Agave nectar is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from the starch of the giant pineapple-like, root bulb. The principal constituent of the agave root is starch, similar to the starch in corn or rice, and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of chains of fructose molecules.  Technically a highly indigestible fiber, inulin, which does not taste sweet, comprises about half of the carbohydrate content of agave.  The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into nectar is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS.  The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites.”

So take that as you will.  It appears that most agave nectar is neither “natural” nor “raw”.  When I first began using agave syrup, I conjured up images of the stuff being “boiled down” like the maple syrup of my childhood.  I guess I thought that the plant had been “tapped” and consequently harvested in the same manner as the maple trees on my family’s property.  Instead, it seems that most agave is really no different from any other refined sugar on the market.  Bummer.

I did find some evidence pointing to a discrepancy in fructose levels depending on the temperature at which the syrup was processed.  Roger Clemens, a professor at USC and spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists, whose research has focused on functional foods, food processing and nutrition says that such a high fructose content isn’t typical of all agave products. “Depending on how the syrup is processed, it may or may not contain more fructose”.  If you can find truly raw agave (it’s considered raw if it was not processed above 118 degrees farenheit) it seems like a great alternative to other refined sugars.

I found Ohgave raw agave at my local Whole Foods and I’ve been using that here and there.  As I mentioned above, I’d love to hear some feedback and any other relevant findings on agave.  It seems to be a sticky issue  (internal dialogue: I wonder if anyone else will find that as funny as I do).

Green Recipes: Yam Falafel with Pinto Bean Spread

As I divulged yesterday, I am eating animal-free. My lovely boyfriend, Nicholas, is entirely supportive of all the positive sustainable living changes I’ve made over the course of our relationship. With the exception of eating vegan. This one has been a bit more of a tough sell. Nick (like me) grew up in Southern Maine eating lobster and clams and fresh fish and all things seafood. He then attended college in the south where he grew to love pork and pig and swine and all things hog. So, needless to say, this hasn’t been an easy switch for him. His mother raised him right, though. He sure will eat whatever I put in front of him; all the while complimenting my cooking and wishing it was meat enjoying it. As I shared yesterday, I have to dig deep to find creative ways to cook without animal products. It becomes increasingly difficult when you are cooking for others. If cooking for myself, I am happy just tossing any combination of vegetables in a skillet and eating them over greens or grains. Any veggie, any flavor, with or without tofu, I really am not hard to please.  But I do try to take Nick’s palate into consideration when making meals for the two of us. I try to remember his favorite foods/flavors when planning meals. Something he loves are yams and sweet potatoes, and I find these to be such great vegan substitutes. I find myself incorporating those into as many dishes as I can. Last night I again turned to yams for inspiration. I made baked yam falafel. I followed a recipe from 101 cookbooks  and made a few minor changes. (Heather has a large collection of both vegan and vegetarian recipes on her site. It’s been a great help.) I also made a bean dip to serve with the falafel and served it over greens.

Recipe *slightly* adapted from 101 cookbooks Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

2 Medium yams
2 Teaspoons ground cumin
2 Small cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Teaspoon ground coriander
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup garbanzo bean/chickpea flour
Splash of olive oil for oiling the pan
Sesame Seeds for topping falafel
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast yams at 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour.
Peel the potatoes when they have cooled enough to handle.
Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and garbanzo bean flour into a large bowl. Add as much salt and pepper as you prefer and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until firm. Heather says that because the water content in yams varies drastically, you might find your dough to be slightly wet instead of the desired “sticky” consistency. She instructs you to add more garbanzo bean flour if this is the case. I found the 1 cup to be sufficient.
Form the dough into ovals about 2 inches long.
Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Bean Spread:
1 Can pinto beans
2 Cloves garlic-roughly chopped
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Tumeric
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon agave nectar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency. (I  like mine with bits of beans and not complete mush.)
I placed a dollop of bean spread over each falafel and served over greens lightly dressed in fresh lemon juice and olive oil. I added a few homemade croutons and slices of avocado to the salad and served roasted asparagus on the side.

Green Recipes! Nicole’s Awesome Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew

Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew

3 Sweet Potatoes – cut into bite size pieces (feel free to use yams if you prefer. sweet potatoes are lighter skinned than yams)
1 Large Onion – diced
2 Cloves Garlic – minced
Splash of White Wine – optional
3 Cups Vegetable Stock
2 Cups Lentils – (I used red)
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 Bay Leave
1/8 Teaspoon Coriander
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in dutch oven or heavy bottom sauce pan. Add diced onions and saute for approximately 10-15 minutes. Onions should be medium-dark brown in color. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add splash of wine to de-glaze the pan. Add vegetable stock and bring to low boil. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Add lentils, bay leaf, cumin, coriander and nutmeg. Cook for at least 15 minutes or until lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with organic whole wheat tortillas.

*Editor’s note: I think it goes without saying that I try to find the best organic produce I can find for my recipes, but I’m going to say it anyway.

**Editor’s note 2:  Katie renamed Nicole’s stew to Nicole’s Awesome Stew.  Nicole is not so inclined to brag.

On Being a Veganist

I’ve decided to try something. And I’m still seeing how it fits. Veganism. I’m hesitant to call myself a true vegan, I don’t know if I’m quite there yet. I do feel that I can call myself a Veganist, though. I’m totally stealing the title from Kathy Freston, as I feel that I can most relate to her ideas and ideals about being a vegan. She talks about easing into a plant-based diet, which is precisely the path I feel I’m on. It’s been an interesting journey so far, but one that I feel good about daily (for a plethora of reasons) and one that I am proud of. It’s not been without its challenges and I can’t lie and say I’ve been 100% faithful. Forgive me father for I have sinned. I have cheated on Veganism. To be honest, though, it’s extremely rare that I veer off course. It has been infinitely easier than I ever would have thought. My biggest challenge has been kitchen creativity. See, I *love* to cook. I’ve been cooking for most of my adult life. It’s my creative outlet, it’s cathartic for me, it’s how I show love, it’s my lifeblood. So when I made the switch to animal free, I was stumped. I’m a foodie (Obnoxious term, I know. But it’s all I’ve got) so naturally I love things like real butter and fresh cream and grass-fed beef and seafood…oh how I miss seafood. So finding new ways to cook without these ingredients has been tough. For a while, I was at a roadblock. I was eating mainly veggie burgers. Yeah, those don’t get old quick. (It’s opposite day.) I started perusing every vegan blog and cookbook I could find and slowly started to create a cache of ideas and recipes. I’ve learned to love tofu and there are few veggies that I haven’t experimented with. I’ve not had great experiences with meat/cheese substitutes, so I’ve steered clear.  I hear great things about seitan but it has yet to find its way into my kitchen. Please let me know in the comments section if you have had success! One of my mainstays has been lentils. I find that they virtually disappear in stews and in stir fry; they almost act as a thickener. I also think that lentils give you that “complete meal” feeling. Just a bit more substance than a plate full of green. One of my favorite ways to use lentils has been in my version of Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew. I made the recipe up as I went and you are welcome to follow suit if you wish to mix up some of the flavors. Cooking is about experimenting and finding out what tastes good.  And what doesn’t; those meals are always super fun. I hope you like the stew and please feel free to share your favorite vegan recipes!

Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew
3 Sweet Potatoes – cut into bite size pieces (feel free to use yams if you prefer. sweet potatoes are lighter skinned than yams)
1 Large Onion – diced
2 Cloves Garlic – minced
Splash of White Wine – optional
3 Cups Vegetable Stock
2 Cups Lentils – (I used red)
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 Bay Leave
1/8 Teaspoon Coriander
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in dutch oven or heavy bottom sauce pan. Add diced onions and saute for approximately 10-15 minutes. Onions should be medium-dark brown in color. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add splash of wine to de-glaze the pan. Add vegetable stock and bring to low boil. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Add lentils, bay leaf, cumin, coriander and nutmeg. Cook for at least 15 minutes or until lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with organic whole wheat tortillas.

*Editor’s note: I think it goes without saying that I try to find the best organic produce I can find for my recipes, but I’m going to say it anyway.

(*photo (yes, that is tofu jumping over the fence) courtesy of extramsg.com)

Canning for Blithering Idiots. Learn to Can! You Can!

I found the greatest website that I mentioned on our show yesterday  www.pickyourown.org.  It’s a fantastic resource for canning, freezing and making jams and jellies.  Canning now has the added benefit of technology in the form of water canners and pressure canners.  Pressure canners get to a high enough temperature so that you can can (not to be confused with the cancan) fruits, vegetables and even meats without having to worry about botulism.  Pressure canners are inexpensive at under $100.  Basically the drill for the pressure canner is this:

• Fill your clean jars
• Put some water in the canner and put it on the stove
• Put the filled jars in the Pressure Canner
• Turn it on
• Take the jars out
• Done

You now have no excuse not to can.  There are more detailed directions about exactly how to use the pressure canner on the website.  The website also includes information on how to freeze anything and has vegetable by vegetable directions on how to ‘blanch’ the items before putting them in a bag for freezing.  This is great information to save for the summer months when all the produce will be here.  Start saving your jars!

If you do the cancan while your canning and send me a video, I will post it here!

Toxic Take-Out: Styrofoam Boxes, Food & Cancer

We’ve posted a tip about styrofoam, but I wanted to reiterate the importance of getting styrofoam out of your life.  Styrofoam is not only bad for the environment, but it’s bad for you.

Styrofoam is hazardous to human health.  It contains the neurotoxins styrene and benzene, which are widely accepted to be carcinogens. These toxins can leach into food that’s acidic, warm, alcoholic or oily and into the environment after exposure to rain and other weather.  This means that it’s critical that you don’t microwave food in styrofoam or put hot food into styrofoam containers.  Out of an abundance of caution, you shouldn’t eat from styrofoam at all.

Ask restaurants to wrap any leftovers in foil or if you are super organized, bring your own container.  Don’t be afraid to educate restaurateurs about the health and environmental hazards associated with styrofoam.  There are great alternatives out there, such as sugar cane based products, recycled paper products and corn based products.  For packing peanuts, there are now biodegradable  corn starch based packing peanuts that dissolve in water.

In 2006, 1,460,000 tons of polystyrene foam were deposited in landfills in the United States.  Also known as Styrofoam, polystyrene foam is the worst of the packaging offenders. It’s made of non-renewable petroleum and once manufactured, it’s not biodegradable.  As soon as polystyrene is contaminated by food (like crumbs or grease from your french fries) it is no longer recyclable, and very few recycling facilities accept it even when it’s clean.

Many cities, like Portland, San Francisco and Freeport, Maine, have banned polystyrene both because of the threats it poses to human and environmental health and because it can choke wildlife when swallowed.  You might be interested to note that this year, when Congress changed from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority, the coffee cups were switched from an eco-friendly paper back to, you guessed it, styrofoam.   Needless to say they also switched the compostable corn based utensils back to plastic.  They claimed cost savings and that everyone was frustrated with the inability to use the other products.  I claim that they must be morons if they can’t figure out how to use utensils and cups.  Oh, wait, maybe I’m on to something.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! Canned Tomatoes & BPA (Bisphenol A)

Another day, another food to scratch off your list.  This one is for any of you purists who insist on making your spaghetti sauce (or gravy) from scratch and use canned tomatoes.  In fact, I’m going to suggest doing your best to avoid canned products altogether.  The reason for this is that the lining of most cans contains plastic made with BPA (Bisphenol A).  Tomatoes are particularly problematic because the acidity of the tomatoes causes the BPA to leach into the tomatoes themselves, and thus the BPA is transported most effectively and efficiently into your unsuspecting belly.

BPA contains estrogenic properties and has been linked with obesity, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, increased sensitivity to drug abuse and brain development problems in infants and small children.  In general, plastics that are marked with recycle codes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 are very unlikely to contain BPA.  Some, but not all, plastics that are marked with recycle codes 3 or 7 may be made with BPA.  Canada and the EU have banned BPA in baby bottles, but the United States has not.

Bottom line: avoid killer canned tomatoes (buy tomatoes in glass jars or can your own, instead), minimize your use of canned goods (especially for children) and look for the BPA free logo.

 

*photo courtesy of Monster of the Day Halloween Drawings

When Popcorn Attacks! Microwave Popcorn, Infertility & Cancer

Popcorn is a topic near and dear to my heart.  I consider popcorn, chocolate and coffee to be the three major food groups.  Popcorn is basically neutral as far as food value, but how you consume it is important to your health and the environment.  You should always buy organic raw popcorn kernels instead of microwave popcorn bags.  Here’s why:

1.  Why You Shouldn’t Buy Microwave Popcorn until 2015

This year Americans will purchase 3 billion bags of microwave popcorn, at their possible peril.  Microwave popcorn is a convenient (I almost said cornvenient, ugh) , inexpensive snack that can be low in calories.  Americans love their popcorn so it should be safe, right?

A few years ago,  popcorn factory workers became concerned with a condition known as ‘popcorn lung’ caused by an airborne butter flavoring chemical called diacetyl.  This was a fatal condition for factory workers, causing thickening and scarring of the lungs.  It wasn’t considered a big  problem for those of us who aren’t exposed to it at such high levels; however  there was a story of a man who ate 2 bags of microwave popcorn a day who developed popcorn lung.  Major brands eventually removed diacetyl from their popcorn.  Some states such as California have banned the use of diacetyl.  It’s not clear whether it’s been totally removed from all microwave popcorn bags, so it makes sense not to inhale the popcorn vapors when you open the bag.

The present concern about microwave popcorn is this:  microwaving can cause the chemicals in the lining of the bag, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), to vaporize and leach into your popcorn.  According to the Environmental Working Group (home to the Cosmetics Database) PFOA’s are part of a “class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA” and they stay in your body for years and accumulate there.  PFOA’s at a certain level cause cancer in laboratory animals, so there is concern that these chemicals could similarly build up in humans and cause cancer.  DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but until then, it’s buyer beware.  For now, I suggest avoiding microwave popcorn.

2.  Why You Should Buy Organic Corn Kernels

Corn is bad for the environment because it requires so much land and energy to produce.  The increase in traditional corn harvesting has resulted in massive deforestation across the world.  The widespread use of chemical fertilizer on corn fields in the U.S. has created a massive “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico – a 7,900 square-mile area patch of water that is so oxygen-depleted that sea life cannot survive.  Organic corn still requires a lot of land and energy to produce, but doesn’t rely on chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  Finally, buying organic kernels helps avoid the packaging associated with microwave popcorn and is less expensive.

3.  How to Make Awesome, Yummy, Easy, Healthy Popcorn

Okay, you likely can’t make this at the office, but it’s super easy to make at home.  (If you don’t like using oil, you can always use an air popper.  I like soy sauce on air popper corn and someone else suggested cinnamon).

• Find a large pot with a lid that fits
• Put enough Grapeseed Oil (healthiest because it doesn’t oxidize when heated.  Oxidization is linked with free radicals, which, in turn are linked with cell mutation or cell death and also with aging) to cover the bottom of the pan.  About a half a centimeter or less.   You can certainly use other types of oils, but Grapeseed is the safest.
• Put three kernels in the pot and wait until they pop.  Be careful to wait for all 3, or a kernel could pop just as you’re opening the pot.
• Cover the bottom of the now hot pot with popcorn kernels and stand by while they pop.
• Put on salt or your favorite seasoning (Cajun seasoning, Tabasco, soy sauce, dill, sesame seeds, lemon pepper, garlic salt, whatever you like) and voila!  Yummy, healthy popcorn that doesn’t even need butter.

Happy Popping!