Why is corn so sweet?

Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health is a must-read for anyone interested in eating more nutritiously. Author Jo Robinson has compiled 10 years of research and data from historical documents, scientific journals, nutritional studies, academia, and other referenced sources to present a simple guide to choosing the most nutritious vegetables and fruit as part of our everyday diet.

This book explains how the wild ancestors of today's common fruits and vegetables were far more healthful than our choices today. Natural selectivity and the intervention by hunter-gatherers, farmers, scientists, and big business agriculture have bred nutrients out, often in favor of other qualities. Aren't these supposed to be the most healthy parts of our diets? Modern varieties are less bitter, not so chewy, larger, or in other ways more appealing to the human palate. They ship better and farther, ripen more evenly, or grow to a uniform size, making commercial successes. But science can now measure micro nutrients and analysis shows that these selective interventions have also depleted essential phyto-nutrients (ie. nutritional value in plant substances) from today's popular and most widely grown and marketed fruits and veggies.

Still, there are so many types of fruits and vegetables and so many varieties within each type, that - armed with the knowledge from this book - we can still fill our plates with the most nutritious choices. With each chapter concentrating on one vegetable, Robinson shares info and tips such as:

• how the vegetable or fruit evolved from its wild ancestor plants
• how our mega food industry grows, harvests, ripens, stores and delivers produce
• specific varieties which are the most nutritious and why
• what parts of the veggie or fruit you should eat
• how to select, buy, clean, and store the freshest choices
• the shelf life of phytonutrients
• good alternatives to some of the most "popular" vegetables and fruit
• how to prepare, cut, cook and eat to maintain the most nutrients (some recipes included)

This book is a real eye-opener. Without even considering genetically modified foods (GMOs), Robinson's  accounts of how our crops have been and are currently being mutated, modified, hybridized, and treated are astonishing, and, in some cases, disturbing to me. Check these tidbits:

CORN: 95% of the sweet corn grown today traces back to two mutant strains, one of which occurred when scientists exposed corn seeds to intense radiation during atomic bomb tests in the Marshall Islands in 1946. A geneticist later discovered, rather by accident, that this resulted in an intense "sweetness" to the corn kernel, and crossed it with other corn varieties to create a viable plant.

GRAPES: Since the 1960s, Thompson grapes, the common seedless green grapes sold at supermarkets, have been grown with the spraying of a plant hormone called gibberellic acid, for the sole purpose of elongating the grape and making it 75% larger than normal. Our grapes are "gibbed."

ORANGES, TOMATOES, BANANAS & OTHERS:  Many of our fresh produce selections are picked long before ripening, subjected to gassing in warehouses to make their skins turn the color of ripeness, then sold to us as fresh picked. I've cringed when reading labels on oranges which also confess to "added color."

Read this book (I'm starting through it a second time, taking notes now) and you'll learn things like:

• currants are a healthy alternative to raisins
• red and pink grapefruit are sweeter and nutritionally better than white varieties
• 2000 types of bananas are grown worldwide, but Cavendish is the only one commonly sold in the USA
• more mangoes are eaten daily around the world than apples
• why dried plums are the new prunes
• broccoli needs to be eaten soon after harvest to preserve its cancer-fighting properties
• canned blueberries are better for you than fresh ones

Sweet potatoes I grew in '13 (clockwise): All Purple, Beauregard, and O'Henry

 I just finished the book, and I've been changing my vegetable choices based upon what I've learned from Eating on the Wild Side. I selected the varieties to plant in my new asparagus bed based on Robinson's recommendations. I've tried and enjoyed a new recipe for Garlic Roasted Cabbage. I've developed a delicious black bean soup recipe, made in my pressure cooker, and a yummy recipe for Braised Red Cabbage (I'll share these soon). I'm adding Haas avocados to more dishes - when they are not too expensive! I tried and like dried plums and even chopped some fine to add to my granola, discovering a tasty and nutritious alternative to raisins in future recipes. I am giving more points to the "all purple" sweet potatoes I grew last season, even though they are a bit drier when cooked than the typical orange-fleshed varieties. I understand better why picking your own garden varieties and buying from local farmers markets is so advantageous over buying supermarket produce. Do I prefer eating a pink lady to a granny smith apple? Sure, but my future choices will definitely to be swayed by what I've just read.

Thanks to my "wildside" friend Cathy for recommending this book to me! Put it on your reading list soon, and start getting more health benefits from the fruits and vegetables you eat.

View a video interview with the author, Jo Robinson.

A Kindred Spirit

It's rare that I encounter someone who shares my combined passions of preparing nutritious foods, gardening organically, and foraging for wild edibles. Last night I had the pleasure of not only meeting such a person, but hearing his presentation on "Eating Between the Rows for Nutrition and Sustainability" - a title which would get a yawn from many, but which grabbed my attention from the moment I read about the presentation in a local paper.

Jeff Ross is the Garden Manager at Blackberry Farm, an all-inclusive, all-exclusive luxury resort for those more rich and more famous than me, which is hidden away on 5000 acres about 90 minutes from where I live.  Unique to this resort is that fact that it is a working farm, with the products of its gardens, orchards, stocked waterways, pastures, chicken coops, and wild acreage being used fresh, dried, preserved, and otherwise in the resort food preparation. The website says "The passionate pursuit of our farm generates a range of heirloom produce from the garden, wild flower honey, farm-fresh eggs, and artisan cheeses from East Friesian sheep. Sustainably harvested ingredients are the essence of our celebrated Foothills Cuisine, and the Farmstead is the gathering place for people and products of the farm. While you are here, we encourage you to take part in the farm activities, which will increase your understanding and therefore appreciation of the relationship that we have to the land and to the food it provides us."  Jeff's business card lists his phone number at the "Garden Shed," which I suspect looks a lot different than the image those words conjure up! I'd love to visit it.

I was proud of myself during the lecture, in that I could identify most of the photos Jeff showed to illustrate the wild and cultivated nutritious foods he grows, harvests, gathers, loves to eat, and uses in cooking. One of my favorites he spoke of is wild Chickweed, which grows in abundance for me during the cool months. I love it raw; its taste reminds me of fresh corn on the cob. Here is info I gathered from a good online reference to wild harvesting food:

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Chickweed
Scientific name: Stellaria media
What: leaves, stems
How: raw or cooked
Where: sunny, shady disturbed areas
When: winter, spring, summer
Nutritional Value: Rich in iron, potassium, other minerals, and vitamins A, D, B, C, and minerals
Dangers: Chickweed contain a small amount of saponins (soap-like) chemicals. Excessive quantities of it can cause stomach distress.

Chickweed sprouts were a common source of greens on early navy ships and helped prevent scurvy before the discovery of vitamin C. Their small amount of saponins help give dishes containing chickweed a creamy texture, especially when diced finely and simmered in pasta sauces. It's also tastes wonderful in pesto, salsas, and raw food/vegan "green drinks" as well as greatly increasing the nutritional value of these foods.

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Jeff talked of some of my other favorites, like elderberry (medicinal against viruses), sumac (berries make a good lemonade), Jerusalem Artichokes (great raw or cooked), and garlic scapes (good lightly sauteed). He introduced me to gathering the young spring stem tips of hemlock trees (he says they are full of Vitamin C), using the stringy roots of onions to quick-fry into crunchy threads, eating the first green leaves which emerge in the daylily patch (an asparagus flavor, according to Jeff). He mentioned using parts of plants not normally harvested, as I have discovered and written about in this blog, such as all the green growth of English peas, leaves of sweet potato vines, and young flower bud clusters from mustard-family plants like kale and collards. And he psyched me up about planting field [aka crowder] peas, lovage, and sorghum in my garden in 2013, which should do well in our hot humid summer growing season. I'll also be on the lookout for lamb's quarters and purslane, both of which I think I've seen growing wild around my property, since he spoke so highly of their nutrient values and delicious tastes.

One cooking tip Jeff shared was his favorite way to prepare roasted fresh beets:
Harvest the whole beet, leaving about 1/2" stem. Wash, dry, and arrange in a baking pan. Cover totally with kosher salt, then roast at 400 degrees, probably about 1 hour. The salt seals in the moisture. Jeff says the salt will fall away as a big piece after the cooking is complete. The skins rub off easily when cooked. Sounds yummy to me, and I'll be sure to try it when I harvest the Bull's Blood beets currently growing in my winter garden.

Keep yourself open to trying new and unusual "green" foods, particularly those grown locally and organically, and I guarantee you'll discover delicious tastes you've never before experienced.

I'll Never Buy Garlic Again

Fifteen pounds - that's my recent harvest of garlic which I planted last September. Even for someone like me, who cooks from scratch and loves garlic, that's a lot! I had planted a few different varieties, including many cloves of elephant garlic. Many say this is a less strong type, but mine tastes just as potent as any garlic I've ever tasted, and the giant cloves are so easy to use. (Click here for my tips on growing garlic.)

I dug up the garlic beds in two sessions, since it takes a lot of time time to peel all the cloves and to prepare such a big haul for using over the next 12 months. Since curing, drying, and hanging garlic doesn't work so well for me (the cloves shrivel up over a few months), I've come up with other ways to store it… so many that my list starts to sound like Bubba's description to Forrest Gump of how to prepare shrimp!, here's what I now do to store garlic for future use:

Pureed garlic, frozen in ice cube trays, then bagged

Pureed Garlic Cubes - I run peeled whole cloves of garlic through the food processor with organic extra virgin olive oil. Since the garlic is fresh, it holds a lot of moisture, so it purees into a thick paste. I spooned this mixture into ice cube trays, froze them, then popped out and bagged the cubes, to save freezer space and free up my plastic trays for other stuff. When I add garlic to recipes, most often there is some oil in whatever I am making, so this mixture is very helpful to have on hand. I always keep a small jar of minced garlic in the refrigerator, and when I've used it up (in my Caesar dressing, hummus, salsa, soup, stirfry or other favorite recipe), I just replenish with a garlic ice cube from the freezer. You'll notice in the photo that I labelled the cubes; I've learned to label everything, since there are just too many things in my brain to remember, and it helps avoid errors. I don't want to mistake a garlic cube for a pineapple cube!

Garlic Powder - I use the largest of my harvested cloves for this purpose, putting them through the food processor with the slicing blade. I spread the slices in a single layer on the trays of my electric dehydrator and dry these "chips" to a brittle stage. These are then stored in a cool, dark place in jars, and ground into garlic powder easily in my designated herb/spice [coffee] grinder. I save the moisture absorbing cylinders from vitamin and supplements I purchase, and I always place one in with a jar of dried foods, to be sure moisture doesn't form. Also, I don't grind it  into powder until I need to, since some of its potency might be lost unless I vacuum sealed the powder.

Whole cloves in oil

Dehydrated garlic "chps", which I grind to powd

Whole Cloves - preserved in organic extra virgin olive oil, refrigerated in jars. If you don't plan to use these cloves for a while, you might add Hollywood brand safflower oil, which is 20% vitamin E, a natural preservative.

Potent cough syrup

Cough Syrup - In a workshop for natural home remedies I took years ago, the instructor made a cough syrup by filling a jar with chopped garlic, chopped onions, and honey. I added some dried elderberries to my version of this cough syrup also, since this is a natural flu virus remedy. This concoction gets stored in the refrigerator, and after about 6 weeks the mixture is strained, discarding the vegetables and reserving the potent syrup as a cough remedy, again storing it in the refrigerator. Why this combination? A 2007 study (reported in Science Daily) proved that honey outperformed dextromethorphan (cough suppressant) in suppressing nighttime coughs. Onions are anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and antiviral. Elderberry tincture tested in the laboratory and in double-blind human studies cut the severity and length of Influenza A and B measurably and significantly. Garlic is a naturally powerful antibiotic, effective against toxic bacteria, viruses, and fungus. Garlic can relieve conditions of asthma, hoarseness, coughs, chronic bronchitis, and other disorders of the lungs, because of its powers of promoting expectoration. As for the medicinal benefits of garlic, see "More than a food ingredient" below. So this is a very potent syrup, strong tasting but effective.

Insect Repellent - I took any cloves which were not perfect for storing, as well as the chopped up main stems of the garlic heads, and spread them on the soil throughout my vegetable garden. Garlic is an organic natural detractor of insects, and I think it helps in my garden. All the other parts of the garlic plants went into the compost pile.

When I dug up all this garlic, attached to the root strings and/or below many of the heads were individual round cloves, especially on the elephant garlic. I call these the "garlic babies". They readily air-dryed, and I've stored them to replant my garlic bed in the fall. I am quite certain that I didn't unearth all these little cloves, so the garlic will likely replant itself in the old bed too. I'll have a great harvest again next year, after using up all the preparations described above!

MORE THAN A FOOD INGREDIENT:
Not only does garlic add loads of flavor to my cooking, it has widely recognized health benefits. As I've read online: "Garlic promotes the well-being of the heart and immune systems with antioxidant properties and helps maintain healthy blood circulation. One of garlic's most potent health benefits includes the ability to enhance the body's immune cell activity. The active component in garlic is the sulfur compound called allicin - a chemical produced when garlic is chopped, chewed, or bruised. Allicin is quite powerful as an antibiotic and a potent agent that helps the body to inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. There are now over 12 studies published around the world that confirm that garlic can reduce cholesterol. Garlic is known to stimulate T-lymphocyte and macrophage action, promote interleukin-1 levels, and support natural killer cells. Strong activity of these key cells promotes healthy immune system function, and strengthens the body's defenses. Garlic has germanium in it. Germanium is an anti-cancer agent, and garlic has more of it than any other herb. In lab tests, mice fed garlic showed no cancer development, whereas mice that weren't fed garlic showed at least some. In fact, garlic has been shown to retard tumor growth in human subjects in some parts of the world. 

Garlic "babies" to plant next fall

Another benefit of garlic is it helps regulate the body's blood pressure. So whether you have problems with low or high blood pressure, garlic can help equalize it. Garlic helps strengthen your body's defenses against allergies; helps loosen plaque from the artery walls; helps regulate your blood sugar levels; and is the best choice for killing and expelling parasites such as pin worms from the human body. In addition to all these health benefits, garlic is packed with vitamins and nutrients. Some of these include protein, potassium, Vitamins A, B, B2 and C, Calcium, Zinc and many others. In a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, allicin powder was found to reduce the incidence of the common cold by over 50%."

Try planting garlic in your garden next fall. It's easy to grow, pest-free, delicious, and good for you!

The Numbers Are In…

As you know from my writings, I am a big proponent of a good nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle. One reason why I share my recipes, my choices of ingredients, and info on growing organic food is to help others. Certainly genetics are a factor in our health; reducing stress is important, and making time for laughter, good friends, and fun activities has positive effects. But I lean heavily in favor of a healthy diet and regular exercise. Is it ok to eat a bowl of ice cream or side of fried onion rings once in a while? Of course! But by maintaining a basis of every-day good eating, you'll most likely never need to "diet."

I just got results from a medical checkup, and I am pleased to be able to brag. I don't take any prescription meds, and, at age 56, my weight is about the same as it was 30 years ago, my blood sugar is 85, my total cholesterol is 184, my LDL (bad) cholesterol is 102, and my blood pressure is 100/70.

So thanks for following this blog and I hope the information helps you maintain or start a healthier life!