My Halloween Ghost Story

I don't usually have any stories to tell.  I kind of have little snippets of my life in these posts, but this actually happened to me this summer, so I will share it with you.

In July of this year my boyfriend Mike had a bout with kidney stones.  It was bad enough that he had to have surgery to remove or blast them or whatever they do.  So, I was picking him up from the hospital and had lots of time to kill because the surgery had taken longer than expected.

Right down the road from the hospital in Lockport is one of my favorite old cemeteries.  The Cold Springs Cemetery.  I have walked through this cemetery many times just because I love the way they took the time to make things so beautiful back before it was all function and boring.  There are always hills and stone walls and beautiful trees in old cemeteries.  Not to mention interesting headstones and mausoleums.  

So I was killing time, so to speak, and walking through the oldest section at Cold Springs.   I wasn't really there but a few minutes when the wind started to blow and the sky was already dark that day.  The trees above me, which have got to be 100 year old trees were shaking and blowing from side to side.  I remember thinking it was kind of cool because I love weather and storms.  

I took a few pictures of the headstones and the trees.  And I wandered.  About a minute later, the wind picked up, it almost howled and big drops of rain started to fall.  I got a little scared because of the massive trees swaying above me and I ran to my van, phone in hand.

As soon as I started to open my door, my phone went haywire and was taking pictures over and over and over.  I set the phone down in the console of the van and it was still taking pictures.  My hands were not touching it at all.

I thought nothing of this because it happened so fast and I was thinking a rain drop must have fallen into the phone somehow and made it crazy.  It continued to rain and I just drove out of there.

I went about the day and didn't think of it again until Mike was home and I was getting things out of the van.  My phone was still in the console and I grabbed it and thought I'd check out the pictures the phone took randomly.  I did this mindlessly, like doing dishes or something.  I looked at the pictures.  A couple of the ground, delete, delete.  One of my hand or something, delete.  Another one of the inside of the door, delete.  This one of half my head and trees above me, and I remember thinking, "oooh that one is creepy", delete.  And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was in the cemetery during a storm and my phone took creepy pictures BY ITSELF!  My heart was pounding a little.

Before I ran in to tell Mike I deleted the rest of the pictures.  I felt like I was compelled to delete them.  I usually leave pictures in my phone until it's full.  I never delete my pictures!  And you know I would have analyzed every single frame if they still existed.  I even googled how to get the pictures back after deleting them.  Too difficult.

So of course later I did an internet search to see if Cold Springs is haunted.  Of course it is!  And there are several websites claiming so.  There is a recurring story of a hitchhiker girl in the 70's or 80's (?) that was murdered or disappeared and people reported seeing her ghost in the road by Cold Springs.  Some one said they actually picked up a girl hitchhiker and turned to ask her a question and she wasn't there anymore.  There is also a few stories about people's electronic devices acting strange.  Hmmm...  Below are the only pictures I had left from that day.  They are all pictures from BEFORE the camera went batty.

Well, that's my ghost story for you on this beautiful Halloween morning.  Have an enchanted day everyone!

 

Picking Rosehips and What To Do With Them Once You Get Them!

When I first started doing floral arrangements for little country shops, I learned that some of the best flowers were the free ones.  Especially when I was first starting out and didn't have a big garden to grow them.  Rosehips are the queen of the country shop for florals.  You will always find them this time of year in some form.  You'll see them in bunches from a few vendors who are adventurous enough to pick them.  There are also dried rosehips in all sorts of country potpourris and simmering concoctions.  They are the perfect colors for the holidays, ranging from bright orange to red and to dark burgundy as they dry.

Rosehips are actually the seed pods from wild roses.  The roses get pollinated by bugs and bees in the summer and the petals fall off and start to make seeds.  I have so many memories of picking these shiny bright red treasures.  The rambling, almost vining stems the hips grow on are very very thorny, and they are usually not ready to pick until after a frost or when it gets cold.  I used to drag my poor mother out with me on days similar to this one, cold and rainy.  She lives in the southern tier and there are tons of nice quiet roads to pick from.  One of us would always get stuck in a rosehip bush and you'd either have to rip your skin and some of your hair out to get out, or you can cut your way out, leaving the thorns hanging off your clothes.  This is only for the die hard picker!  

Sometimes I just can't contain my excitement when I find a perfect bush to pick from, loaded with perfect berries, all in the same place and low enough to the ground to reach.  I call this the "Motherload". 

One year my mom and I were picking along the road and somehow went backwards into the ditch in water and mud up to our knees.  We laugh about this still.  That same year we also found these other red berries that we couldn't identify but they were so beautiful, we picked bunches and bunches of them to take home.  (My mother always has pruners and buckets in the trunk of her car just in case there is something to pick or dig up on a country road.  See where I get it?)  Well, I still don't know what those red berries were, but they stunk up the car so bad we had to toss them before we got them home! 

Well, I still pick rosehips every year.  The last couple of years I have had more of a reason for picking them than ever before.  Not only do they look great in wreaths, but they are also edible and medicinal.  I am lucky enough to have them growing in the wild areas on my property and I don't have to go anywhere to get them.

There are lots and lots of varieties of roses and I think all of them make "hips".  Rugosa roses are often cultivated for the hips and are made into jams and wines and such things.  Tea roses and garden roses aren't good for using because people so often use pesticides on them.  Plus you just don't get that many roses on them.  Wild roses are prolific and there are many different ones.  Once in awhile I find wild ones that are about the size of a nickle.  Those are treasures.

Rosehips have about 20 times more vitamin C than oranges and there are many ways to utilize their properties.  Making rosehip tea is probably the most common. You can even buy rosehip tea at the grocery store.  After you make the tea, there are a few uses.  You can drink it, and use it as a compress for surface wounds and scars.  There are syrups you can make with rosehips.  You can even make wine with it.  You will see it quite often in vitamin C supplements, so you can also take it in dried form, crushed up. 

I will give you my favorite sore throat remedy.  Every time I feel a sore throat coming on, I take a teaspoon of this and my sore throat vanishes.  Like magic!

Here's what you need:
A pint canning jar.
A cover for the jar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Rosehips
A sunny window sill

Add your rosehips to your clean jar.  I add them whole, because crushing them sometimes lets little hairs out that are on the inside of the rosehip, which cause irritation.  Cover rosehips with apple cider vinegar.  Make sure there is enough for rosehips to float in vinegar.  If rosehips are exposed to too much surface, they can mold.

Cover your jar with a lid.  I use coffee filters with a rubber band around the lid.  That way it can breathe a little but fruit flies can't get in.  Set your jar in a window and stir or shake once or twice a week.  After about a week, it's ready to use, but I keep my rosehips in there for several months.  The longer you leave them to steep, the stronger your medicine is.  You can strain them out after awhile.  Store in a cupboard and it will keep for about a year.

I like this better than syrup because there is no sugar.  But for children, syrups are easier to give and you can boil down sugar, water and rosehips to make it.  Then bottle and refrigerate.  Should keep for 4 to 6 months that way.

There are many other benefits to drinking rosehip tea.  The vitamin C  in them helps to raise your bodies immune system to treat sickness and infection.  It also helps your body make collagen.  Collagen helps our bones and muscles regenerate and stay strong.  Rosehips help our bodies absorb iron, which is useful for our general well being.

Rosehips contain the antioxidants carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins, and catechins.  All these antioxidants help prevent cancer and heart disease, as well as keeping us from aging.  Especially when consuming other antioxidant foods frequently.  Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms are said to be relieved by adding rosehips to your diet also.

Lots of skincare products contain rosehips and rosehip oil.  It helps regenerate new skin cels.  Using it topically and internally has a double effect.

There are a few cautions when taking rosehips, however.  Rosehips ability to absorb iron can interfere with prescription medications.  It can also interfere with blood sugar control, so it is not safe for diabetics.  Always consult your doctor if you are on medications or have an illness before taking any herb.  Also the tiny little hairs inside rosehips can irritate sinus and lungs so do not inhale powdered rosehips.

Wow, this was a long post.  I hope everyone has an enchanted day.  Thanks for following!

These pictures are from a couple years ago when Mike and I were behind the house picking.  And the scratches on our arms and legs to prove it!

Mike, struggling with the wicked thorns!

"I'll get you, my pretties!"

Scratched up arms!  And my little Pearl is in the background!  I miss that doggy!

That's not rosehip juice!  That's Mike's blood!  Is there anything he won't go through for me?

3 days to go...

Well... 3 days to go now.  I drank no coffee yesterday and had a wicked headache all day.  I woke up again today with one and so I drank one cup of coffee and surprise!  Headache gone.  I'll just have to have a little less every day so I don't get that retched headache.  That is going to be the hard part of this whole thing.  I think once I'm into it, things should be easier.

So, I really thought I was being sort of bitchy on my last post.  I had no intention of sounding like I was standing on my high horse telling people what to do.  It was not my intention and I hope it didn't sound that way.  Sometimes I see things on the stupid news or on the tv and I get enraged.  I know you guys are all with me on this, or you would not be reading a blog like this in the first place.  So if you felt offended I am sorry.  I am definitely not the perfect environmentalist or any such thing. I am not perfect at all.  I am not sorry about the way I feel however.  I can't help it.

Well, I'm sitting in front of our first fire.  It is a cold and damp morning and it felt like a good morning for a fire.  So I had to clean off all the surfaces in the living room to make room for all the cats that are going to want to take naps in this room all day.  I have been pricing Christmas stuff to take to Filomena's in November and it was all over the place!  Zuzu is on my knees laying her head on the keyboard right now and Cali is right behind her.  So my lap is full.  Little is on the back of the couch behind me and Charlotte has planted herself on Ruby's blanket on the floor directly in front of the wood stove.  This is what I love about cold weather.

If anyone has any ideas for different edible uses for squash, I'd love to hear them.  Remember I can't use sugar of any kind or butter.  I have very limited ingredients but I have tons of winter squash.  I can eat it plain just fine.  I really enjoy the flavor but I have so much of it, it may be something I eat almost every day and it may get boring...  So, I would love to hear some of your ideas.  You can leave them in the comments on facebook for me if you think of anything.

Well, it has been sort of a couple of uneventful days because of the headaches.  I watched several horror movies because Halloween is coming.  When I say several, I mean like 10.  I even like the bad horror movies made in the 60's and 70's with the bad acting and the even worse music.  Very entertaining.

So I will leave you with this short post.  I've got some great ideas for posts and some other interactive things I'm thinking about so some of you can experiment with me on my journey.  More about that later.  Until tomorrow then.  Everyone have an enchanted day.

Isn't this a pretty picture.  This is my hops growing up the side of the workshop.  I love this.

I can't think of a good title for this post. Let's call it "I don't want to move to Mars so I'm giving up pie for a year". ( I got up really early this morning).

Good morning all of you.  I have been awake for awhile on this chilly morning because my brain won't stop.  I find that sometimes I need to write things down that bother me and keep me awake so I can let them go.  This is one of those times.

I have been an advocate for the environment and Mother Earth for as long as I remember.  I think just in the nature of being close to the earth with gardening, teaching myself to be an herbalist, and being an animal person, I may be a little more sensitive to issues regarding our natural world than the majority of the population.  I say the majority of the population because that is what I see in the mainstream.  The television people watch, what people spend their money on, what people vote for.  Sometimes I feel I'm off somewhere on a different planet.  

But I'm not.  You and the rest of the people are on the same earth where I stand.  

I have never understood how someone can go to a place like Letchworth State Park and see so much natural beauty, and then go home and spray chemicals on their lawns to make sure the dandelions don't take root.  

I don't want to get political in this blog.  It's all been light and fluffy and cute like a puppy, but I can't turn my brain off.  I also know that I'm preaching to the choir here.  Most of my readers are not the ears I need to reach with this particular post.  You are already on board with being healthier, eating local, making a difference.  But I can't help but wonder what else I can do.  

I can only control myself and take responsibility for what I do.

How can I stop being angry that climate change is being totally ignored by mainstream media?  I see loads and loads of coverage of extreme weather.  Horrible fires engulfing people's homes.  Hurricanes, drought, flooding.  Thousands of people evacuating Florida.  Yep, the media is all over it because it raises their ratings.  But, how often do you hear about climate change being the cause of the extremes?  I know, we have always had hurricanes, floods and fires, but the warming of the planet is making it worse and more extreme.  

I'm sorry if I have offended anyone or lost readers by voicing my opinion, but this is one of the  major reasons I am doing this blog in the first place.  The earth is the reason I'm giving up pie for a whole year!  I really love pie.

Here is the good news.  Everyone doesn't have to give up pie for a whole year and do what I'm doing.  We all have the same voice.   And not everyone has to write a blog about it.  We can vote with our money.  What you don't buy is just as important as what you do buy.  Every dollar you don't spend is a dollar the huge conglomerations don't have to spend on lobbyists and buying politicians who are ruining this country.  Start buying local food. If you don't know where to go to get local food, ask someone.  Ask a hippie. Shop only the outer perimeter of the grocery store.  (the inside isles are full of processed food)  Cut down on plastic and use reusable bags and containers.  Stop buying chemicals for your lawn and garden.  Grow some food.  Don't waste water.  Put on a sweater and turn down the heat.  Plan your errands so you're not running around wasting gas.  You get the picture.

And the best one yet!  Let's irritate some politicians!  (Thank you Samantha Bee)  I'm going to start writing actual letters to people.  I'm starting with the EPA.  As you may already know, the jerks are trying to repeal the Clean Power Plan, along with other plans that will loosen restrictions on pollution from power plants.  I have written a letter letting them know I don't approve.  I think I may write one of these letters on a regular basis.  

Who cares if our country prospers if we have to move to Mars because we can't breathe the air and drink the water here on earth?

I'm attaching the address of the EPA below in case you decide you'd like to write a nice letter and catch up with the EPA as well.  I got this idea from watching the recent episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.  She also has a letter that you can download and print to send to the EPA on her website.

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC)

Mail Code 28221T

Attention: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0355

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20460

To me, having clean air, clean water and wild nature is much more important than corporations and politicians making more money.  Why do you think they've started thinking about putting people on Mars?  Because they are just going to throw away the earth and move on to the next planet they can ruin.  Imagine living with no trees, no squirrels, no beautiful lakes?  Earth is a beautiful place.  I want to stay here.  Let's take care of her.

Anybody like trees?

A visual journey... July through October

Here are a few photos from the journey from July through October.  Garden, food, dried flowers, Kitties, and Filomena's.

 

8 days to go... Sewing some sprouts in jars

8 days to go.  This is getting serious!  

I should be getting nervous, but I'm really just anxious for this thing to start!  The weather is cooperating really well and hopefully I will still have fresh leaves and things still growing in the garden to eat on November first when it all happens.  

I've been making lots of plans.  Watching lots of gardening and vegan videos on YouTube.  Collecting seed from plants in the garden that I can eat or sprout.  Amaranth, beans, sunflower seeds and winter squash.  

I have pretty successfully weened myself off sugar in the last week or so.  I've cheated a few times.  But this is one of the things that is the hardest for me because I have such a love/hate relationship with sugar.  My boyfriend Mike loves to cook, and he loves for people to eat what he cooks, so when he makes things like apple crisp, I just have to eat a little.  Last week he made lasagna.  I won't be having that for awhile, so I ate as much as I wanted.  Yesterday we went to Reid's in Lockport.  Reid's, for those of you who do not live near me, is Lockport's family owned Drive In Restaurant that has been there for 70 years!  It's a summer time favorite for most people around here and neither time, nor Corporate American have ruined it's charm.  I had to go just one last time.  I am human, after all.

I think a staple in my winter food consumption will be stuff growing on my kitchen counter.  I have started some sprouts and some micro greens that will provide me fresh greens all winter.  I feel like this is cheating a little, because I'll be buying some of the seed.  However I am growing them myself, so technically it counts.  I'm not just eating the seeds.  I'm growing them into sprouts or tiny plants, so it counts as food I've grown.

The difference between sprouting seeds and growing micro greens is that sprouts are "sprouted" in a jar, rinsed everyday with water, and take about 5 to 7 days to be ready to eat.  Micro greens are grown in flats or trays and left to grow 10 to 20 days depending on temperature, light and variety of seed to be grown. Sprouts are eaten with the seed attached to the sprout, and micro greens, you just cut the tops off like a small salad leaf or shoot.  Both are highly nutritious and really versatile.  Either one is good for smoothies, juicing, in salads, on sandwiches or burritoes.  Higher end restaurants use micro greens as garnish.  

There are also scads of different seeds to spout.  Sunflower seeds, radish seeds, lentils, peas, clover, grains and beans to name just a few.  Each seed has a different flavor when sprouted or grown for shoots.  Yesterday I started some sunflower seeds and some lentils in jars to sprout, and then I planted a few shallow trays with oats so I can juice the oat tops.  

It may be easier to show you the techniques for growing these in a video, so I won't go through every detail here.  I'll try to film something and let you know.

I'll keep you updated.  Have a wonderful day.

Drink Tea From Your Pantry: Common Herbs And Spices To Drink For Great Health Benefits

I thought I'd take a break from talking about my 365 day journey of eating nothing but what I grow, to something everyone can do right at this moment for really great health benefits.

This is so easy, anyone who can make simple tea can do it, and most of us have it in the kitchen already.  I'm going to talk about 5 simple herbs and spices that are really common, are used everyday in cooking, but most people don't know how healthy they are.  I'm talking about Black Pepper, Sage, Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary.  As a precaution, women who are pregnant, people with immune issues and people who are on medications should consult a physician before trying these teas.

A little about making the teas:  Just boil some water, add a teaspoon of each herb to the water and steep 3 to 5 minutes.  The more herb you use, the stronger the effect, so I suggest using small amounts at first, until you are used to the taste.  Another idea is to add it to the tea you drink already.  Add some to black tea and sweeten your tea the way you normally would and you may not even taste the additional herb.  You can also add ice to these if you like iced tea.

Let's start with Black Pepper.  Black pepper is something you probably don't even think about but it has become quite interesting to foodies and herbalists, for it's flavors and health benefits.  It reduces joint stiffness, gets rid of those pesky free radicals that make us age, and promotes weight loss.  In fact, taking black pepper, turmeric and cayenne pepper in a tablet is good for weight loss and reduces inflammation in your joints.  I have been taking that for awhile because it just works so well.  Another thing black pepper does is balances your bodies water content.  It also increases circulation, which helps all sorts of things.

Next is sage.  Sage reminds me of my moms stuffing at Thanksgiving.  It's the best comfort food in the WORLD and it's also medicinal because of the sage!  Go figure!  The list of sage's benefits are very long.  Of course sage has antioxidants, which combats free radicals that I mentioned before.  Promotes weight loss, and is a remedy for sore throats and coughs.  Drink sage tea with a little honey when you have a cold.  Sage also treats the following maladies:  hot flashes, painful menstrual periods, depression, insomnia, memory loss, and digestive problems.

Oregano is a favorite of mine.  It grows like crazy in my yard so I always have plenty of it.  These herbs I'm covering today have a lot of the same medicinal values in common, so you can take them together for added benefits.  Oregano lowers bad cholesterol, is antioxidant, relieves PMS and menstrual pain, is great for sore throat, congestion and colds.  Great for helping you sleep.  Great for all sorts of digestive complaints.  It's also antibacterial, so you can make your tea from it, and use it topically, or on your skin for acne and all sorts of other skin problems.  If you use antibacterial soap, (which you shouldn't!), you can add some oregano to your hand wash instead.  Oregano also slows the aging process because it has omega 3's that keep cells healthy and regenerative.

Thyme is another herb that has omega 3's.  Great antioxidant, treats bronchitis and coughs.  Promotes sleep, good for menstrual cramps, great for digestion and weight loss.  Very similar to sage and oregano.  

Last, but certainly not least is rosemary (for remembrance).  Rosemary has been studied as a preventative for breast cancer because it balances estrogen levels in women.  It is however, not good for women with menstrual difficulties because it stimulates the uterus.  We don't want that!  Rosemary also improves brain performance and memory, stimulates cell regeneration and improves overall skin tone.  It is calming and relaxing, so it's great for bedtime, and it detoxes the liver.  

So, the next time you're drinking your sleepy tea, throw a teaspoon or two of some of those herbs in.  It will turn you into a superhero.  Okay, that may not happen, but it's fun to enjoy the experiments!

Thanks for reading!  If anyone has comments, questions or would like to share experiences with me, I love to hear from you guys!  You can share these on my facebook pages or if you have a google account, you can add it to this blog post!  I try to respond to you all.

Pickles hasn't had an appearance in awhile, so here he is!!!

A response to some of the questions I've been getting...

Good morning everyone.  I have been getting lots of questions about this project over the past few weeks, and now that my journey is about to start, I would like to address these questions.  Most of these are answered in the first post about this subject, titled "a year of eating only what I grow;  the preparation"  on June 20th.  If you haven't read that post, you can find it in the margin to the right of this post.

The first one is about my water.  I am allowing myself to drink my tap water at home which I pay for and have not grown it.  I will use rain water if I can collect it safely enough.

Second is salt.  I will be buying salt.  There is a product called "Real Salt" that is salt that hasn't been messed around with and comes from the earth just the way it is.  I will be buying that because I cannot grow it or mine it myself.  I buy that from the amish store near my house.  I believe you can buy it from some grocery stores also.

Another one of my rules that I have made up for myself is that I can barter for some kind of food item once a month.  My bartering item has to be something I have grown or made, and the item I'm bartering for must be grown or made by the person I'm bartering with.  For instance, I can trade a wreath that I made for a gallon of milk from some one who has a cow.  The items cannot be from a store.  Luckily, I have several places I may be able to barter with.  I just have to hope they will want what I have to trade!  Lol.

Another question I get a lot is "Where are you going to get your protein from?"  Often, I answer that with (because I can't help myself) "Well, where does a horse get protein from?"  This is usually mind boggling for people because we've been taught for so long that you have to eat protein to have protein.  I do have my really great protein sources however...  I have my seeds, amaranth, for example is 15% protein.  Sunflower seeds.  Comfrey.  All are plant based proteins that will be totally sufficient.  This will have to be it's own post eventually because there is a lot to talk about here.

Calcium is another thing people think you can only get from dairy products, but spinach, and kale for example have loads of calcium.

Well, I think I've covered the questions.  I have 9 days to go.  I have been working the last few days on detoxing myself and weening myself off sugar again.  Tomorrow's post will be about how I do that.  It works for me.   I'm not an expert, but I know what works.  For me.

The weather has been warmer than usual for this time of year, so I still have fresh greens and stuff in the garden.  Hopefully my first few weeks I'll still be able to eat fresh stuff before I have to dig in to my reserves.  I'll keep you posted.

Charlotte peaking out from the corn stalks

What in the world am I doing this for?

Most of the time, I'm very determined and confident about the next year of eating only what I've grown in my garden.  I may be in complete denial or I have over estimated my will power or something.  I'll be healthier, thinner, I'll be helping the environment, I'll be proving that this can be done.  But then, there are moments, when I feel completely insane and I wonder where my head is.  This always passes, but I just wonder..   There may be days when I only eat squash 3 times a day.  Am I prepared for that?

I have gone weeks where I have eaten an all raw, vegan diet.  I have experimented with fasting, detoxing, high fiber, high protein, and juice fasts.  I was a vegetarian for 3 years when I was in my 30's.  I have successfully weened myself off sugar for long periods of time.  The thing that always kills me in the end is my hormones.  (Sorry to the men reading!!!)  It's my time of weakness that I feel my worst and therefore food fixes everything!  So, I'm a little worried about that.

One unique factor with this project though, is that I have you.  I have a lot of encouragement out there with all of you reading and I am not about to disappoint you with a little chocolate craving!  I am really grateful for everyone that is following me and I hope you continue.  I'll try to make it entertaining enough to follow.  

So, off I go, 11 days until it starts.  Thanks for being here with me!

Collecting Seeds, Amaranth Harvest & Coffee

I think my old stairs creak more when it's a cold morning than they do in warm weather.  Another thing I love about my old farmhouse.  I am enjoying my first cup of coffee early this morning, knowing that I won't be able to have real coffee for a year starting in about 12 days.  (!)  I have ordered myself an electric tea kettle for when I make my teas.  I normally drink sleepy tea at night, but I'll have to switch to my herbal teas from my garden for night time.  Catnip, lemon balm, spearmint, peppermint.  I have roasted dandelion root for a coffee substitute for the morning.  I also have a nice little stash of herbs for my morning teas that have lots of good vitamins and minerals.  The electric tea kettles use less electricity than my stove top kettle.  And it takes less time to boil water.  I found an all glass one on Ebay so I don't have any plastic or aluminum leaching in to my water.

Yesterday was a seed saving day.  Seeds are such powerful food sources.Think about some of the super foods out there being sold right now.  Chia seeds, flax seed, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and any seed you can eat as sprouts are so high in the good stuff, you probably could live on them.  Yesterday, I focused on collecting whatever seed I have available to me in the garden.

I started with my amaranth. Amaranth is one of the oldest cultivated grains, being used by the Aztecs and Native American People for a very long time.  Amaranth contains about 28 grams of protein per cup and has calcium, loads of fiber, phytosterols which lower cholesterol, and lysine that helps your body absorb calcium and helps your body metabolize fatty acids into energy.  The seeds or "grains" are edible and so are the leaves.  

Being a very lazy gardener, amaranth is one of my very favorite plants because it is beautiful, colorful, easy to grow and plants itself in my garden year after year.  Sort of like a weed. 

I planted amaranth about 5 or 6 years ago from seeds I bought from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and that first year, I let the seeds dry and fall where they wanted.  Now, every year, the very distinctive red seedlings emerge from the ground as soon as things warm up.  I can leave them where they are, or dig them up and move them where I want them.  They are happy in just about any soil, it seems and they grow taller than me.  

There are all sorts of different colors and shapes of amaranth, and all edible.  I had the burnt orange for awhile and that was really pretty in the fall.  I only ended up with one of those this year and I let the seeds drop so I'll have more next year.  

The leaves are great picked small for salads and I've used them in smoothies.  The smaller leaves are really dark in color.  You can also cook them as a green.  The seeds can be eaten raw, added to smoothies, cooked like a cereal grain or sprouted.

To collect the seeds all I did was shake them into a paper bag, pour that into a shallow dish and wait for the wind to blow away the hulls.  Easy.

Until tomorrow...