The taste of home grown vegetables is way better then the commercially grown produce you get in the store. Have you heard people complain that tomatoes no longer have any taste? They will have that taste when you grow your own….in fact anything you will grow will have that taste. That is what I missed the most when I had decided not to grow my own garden for a few years. The lack of taste with the commercial garden is not all the fault of the growers, as they are under pressure to produce a crop, of uniform size and colour, to the schedule of the wholesale market, and ultimately the supermarket. You will be growing to your own schedule and just the beauty of watching things grow..

The freshness of your own crop is a big plus. Vegetables I have bought from the store, have started to become inedible after a few days. I have had home grown produce like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions….your salad stuff….. still fresh in the refrigerator after 2 weeks! Root vegetables like carrots and potatoes will last the winter stored in a coldroom that is kept basically the same temp as a refrigerator. Other vegetables like beans, peas, corn, beets, yes even spinach can be canned or frozen.

Your garden can produce a generous yield. It’s like having free vegetables. Summer is usually a time of abundance, even glut, as family and friends leave your place with perhaps more produce than they had expected to see. A tip – when giving away fresh produce, try to limit your generosity – it is better to give a small amount to many rather than to give to the few more than they can actually use.

This may be your first garden…wanting to know more….. browsing the bookstores, you will find hundreds of books on the topic – which do you buy? Look for the simple, basic information. Do not bother with those full of jargon – you will learn the technical terms as you go. If you want after you have experimented…learned on your own…..then want that extra knowledge…..then yes do buy the book(s) full of the extra info.

You will hear ‘all the extra tips’ from the family, such as “Uncle Bob always put … (you name it) … on his … (name it again)”. Folklore is part of our heritage, there is no guarantee of its usefulness……but it is fun and interesting to give it a try. We have.

You will hear from the genius, who has done nothing, but still knows all the answers – nod wisely, and then ignore him. Plants evolved millions of years before humans, and they actually want to grow. It has been said that in many cases plants grow despite what we do to help them. If you provide the basics, and these are reasonable nutrition and regular watering, Mother Nature does the rest – let her work for you……enjoy the beauty of growth and the bounty of the harvest.

Here are some that I have tried and like…..you may too. You can find them at a health food store, and online, you may even find them at regular your grocery store.

Sources of protein I have added and now enjoy.

Garbanzo beans (chick peas) are a favorite of mine that you can roast or add to a salad. For a meatless meal they are packed more iron than any other bean. I used to only think of these in baking but now have added raw almonds and walnuts to my diet. A small handful of these a day are a great source of sustainable protein and healthy fat also good for the heart. Which brings us to whole grains that we have tried; like brown rice bread and sprouted whole grain bread that I’m told is good to avoid allergies, mental fog and weight gain. Buying a bread machine has made this easy for me…we have a different loaf each day or so. Have used different flours….like millet, tricale, spelt and kamut that I add as part of the flour mixture I use in my bread.

Having a Quinoa plant close by we have tried and like this. Has a lot of protein.

It’s very delicious in soups and salads, full of fiber and B vitamins and one of the least allergenic foods.

I grow my own garden have tried growing some of the following produce. Some I have had success with….others I just buy in the store. These I have grown leeks, red radishes, green onions which are powerful fat emulsifiers. I want to try growing broccoli sprouts this spring With having a sister in law that is battling breast cancer…I have recently found out that the sprouts have 10 times more cancer-fighting ability than mature broccoli. It’s never to late to add things like this to your diet. I also grow my own carrots, beans peas, green bean, corn, swiss chard, lettuce, beets –love the greens. Turnips are anothe favorite for a low carb in stead of potatoes that we also grow — grow mostly red as they are healthier. We do like the white for baking and the occasional dish of fries. Yes the once in a while comfort food is OK. Kale is something I had thought was more ornamental then anything then I find out it’s the most powerful source of absorbed

calcium than any other food. That will be a must try for me to eat and maybe grow.

During the colder months I rely on the bagged mixed greens that I like sprinkling with fresh lemon that is a powerful internal detoxifier.

As you can see we have tried and like a lot of different things. Other things we tried and liked are mangoes, avocados, star fruit, pomegranates, papaya…..to name a few. I can remember my mom always saying try it you won’t know if you like it or not unless you do……