Pa pa pa pa, who loves the sun?

Not everyone, but sunflowers sure do! Sunflowers flare their bright petals out like the Sun's rays, they thrive when it's warm, and they will turn their huge heads to face the Sun as the day goes by (actually, I think all flowers do, but it's very noticeable with these giants).  
Two of the several sunflowers Lily and I planted have bloomed, and I just had to post this picture I took today. The sunflowers we're growing now are third-generation descendants from a bag of seeds I bought the summer after Lily was born.  I highly encourage growing sunflowers if you have kids.  Watching them grow, and then harvesting, roasting, and planting the seeds is a very satisfying gardening experience.  Kids need plants that either grow fast or grow big, and sunflowers do both. 

In addition to their beauty, sunflowers have a lot of nutritious value.  They are high in iron, and if you're trying to cut down on your meat intake, sunflower seeds are a good source of protein and fat.  In addition, an ounce of sunflower seeds contains half of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin E, which serves as an antioxidant, helps skin to look younger, and also aides brain function. 

If you successfully grow one sunflower you'll never have to buy seeds again.  One sunflower can yield, at the very minimum, hundreds of seeds.  This is plenty for roasting and planting, as long as you protect them from the birds.  I do this by hanging a paper grocery bag over the flower head when they start to droop from the weight of the seeds.  When the back of the sunflower head is yellowish, I lop it off and  let it dry out before harvesting the seeds by rubbing the heck out of the flower head with some sturdy work gloves.   

To roast sunflower seeds, spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast them at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Test them out occasionally by trying out a seed, and also look for small cracks down the side of the shell.  When they are ready, let them cool, and then start snacking.  Sidenote:  you cannot plant roasted seeds.  If you want to save some for planting, do this ahead of time. 

My favorite way to eat sunflower seeds is to sprinkle them on a salad (like a nutritious beet greens salad).  They add flavor, texture, protein, and fat to my high fruit and vegetable diet. 

Dandelions: Getting to the root of the problem

Kids love dandelions because of how easily those fluffy seeds float away with the slightest puff of wind. Gardeners despise them for the very same reason.

Dandelions have a very effective seed dispersal system, which means you will always have the chore of pulling these god-forsaken weeds out of your holy garden. Before you toss these weeds in the green waste, however, think about what this unwanted guest may have to offer.

Dandelion leaves serve as a diuretic, and can be a healthy addition to your salad. This is any easy way to help rid your body of excess sodium, which can lead to high blood pressure. It's easy to take in excess amounts of sodium because of its use as a preservative in a lot of processed and fast foods. Consider adding dandelion leaves to a salad to help counter this trend and improve your cardiovascular health.

The dandelion root is also beneficial as a detoxifier. It cleanses the liver and aides in kidney function to remove wastes and toxins from the body. It does this by helping the body get rid of liquids by way of urination and defecation, so stay relatively near a bathroom if you drink dandelion root tea.

You could very well by dandelion tea at the store, but since you will have an ongoing struggle with this plant in your garden anyway, save your money and treat this weed more as friend than foe.

I found this four foot behemoth hiding in my star jasmine bush yesterday. Of course I removed it, but I'll be mixing the leaves with some recently harvested beet greens. I'm going to make a tea out of the root and throw in some peppermint and spearmint for flavor.

When it comes to dandelions, try to see the silver lining. Perhaps it will make weeding your garden a little more gratifying.

Happy harvesting! Cheers!

Random acts of gardening: Garlic

As I was taking a friend's advice and preparing to sautée some beet greens with garlic and butter, I found this nice little surprise in the vegetable basket.

My heart leapt with joy as my mind immediately planned for which pot and location to plant this welcome surprise. I've never grown garlic before, so I'm glad for the opportunity. I am also very much anticipating a future harvest and propagation of garlic in my garden.

Garlic is good for the heart and helps maintain healthy blood circulation. Perhaps less known is garlic also enhances the immune system. When garlic cells are disturbed by cutting or bruising the clove, allicin is produced, which serves as an antibiotic and inhibits germ growth and reproduction.

It also tastes great! Garlic is like the bacon of vegetables. You can add it to any meal and your food will taste better, but unlike bacon, garlic helps the heart work better.

As part of the allium family, garlic will benefit from a high nitrogen diet, so this little guy will be getting plenty of coffee grounds to aide its growth.

If you want garlic of your own, the next time you buy garlic at the store, save a clove for your garden and experiment with growing it yourself.  

Happy harvesting! Cheers!

Bake Your Beets

Beets are a great vegetable to grow at home. In addition to the color they add to your garden, beets are packed with potassium, antioxidants, and sweet, sweet flavor. Recently I wrote about using beet greens as a nutritious and colorful salad or soup supplement. Today I'll be writing about another recent discovery of mine - baked beets.

Until last year, I always boiled my beets, and I was left with a feeling that a lot of the nutrients must have been lost in the water because that's where a lot of the color went. To remedy that, I drank the water just in case my hypothesis was right. Also, my beets lost the deep purple color that I love, and turned a little whitish.

The solution? Bake the beets.

Baking your beets takes longer (about 45-60 minutes for two or three big beets), but you retain flavor, nutrients, and color, and you don't have to peel the beets beforehand. Those are all worth the extra time to me.

I've created an illustrated cooking guide for the visual learners out there, and for the linguistic learners, I'll also list the few easy steps for baking your beets.

1. Harvest your beets (or let your kids do it - it's loads of fun for them to pull stuff out of the ground) when the root is starting to show above ground. I use this rule of thumb for carrots, too.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Wash the beets and remove the tiny ancillary roots.

4. Remove the greens.

5. Place the beets on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with oil (I used olive).

5. Seal up the beets in the aluminum foil.

6. Bake for about 45-60 minutes. This is a great time to prepare your beet greens for a salad. Your beets will be done when you can cut through them easily with a fork.

7. Peel the skin off the beets. This can be done easily using your fingers.

Now your beets are ready for eating. If you want to use them in a salad, simply let them cool off first.

Beets are really fun to grow, and a tasty addition to your table.  Have a good time in the garden.  Happy harvesting.

Cheers!

Bold, beautiful beet greens

Beets have been one of my favorite vegetables since I was a kid. They're colorful, sweet, and they're a healthy way to add great flavor to a salad.

Growing up, I didn't even know that beets had leaves. I should have figured it out, since it's basic plant knowledge that they all have roots, stems, and leaves, but it wasn't until I started growing my own vegetables that I discovered the lesser known, but just as edible beet greens.

Beet greens have a lot of good things to offer. First of all, they add a slightly sweeter taste to your salad. The taste of the greens is similar to the root, and if you've never had beets before, the taste can be compared somewhat to that of corn.

Aesthetically, beet greens add color to your salads, because they aren't totally green. The deep red veins in the leaves are a beautiful contrast to all the green in most salads. In addition to a little color, the slightly thicker beet leaves will add a little texture to your salads. This sturdiness also allows the greens to be cooked, and they would be great in a soup or boiled and served as a side dish.

Nutritionally, beet leaves pack a punch. One cup of raw greens provides almost half of the daily intake of vitamin A (good for vision, skin, and antioxidants) and almost twice the recommended daily intake of vitamin K (good for brain and bone health, and helps against cardiovascular disease). In addition to these benefits, beet leaves are a good source of fiber and potassium.

Final analysis: beet greens are awesome and deserve a place on your lunch or dinner table. Add the fact that the leaves can be harvested sooner than the root, and you've got a winning addition to your recommended rainbow of fruits and vegetables to eat each day.

Happy harvesting!