Food by the Inch - part one: SPROUTS

Growing your own food does not have to be a big production. The challenge is to make growing food part of your lifestyle. I have experimented with Square-foot Gardening and love the raised beds. Now I am looking for more ways to grow my food especially in what would  traditionally be the down season. My goal is to find as many ways as possible to grow my food inside and outside the home.

This is where square-foot gardening becomes square inch gardening. It is the micro garden!

Sprouts are a natural way to easily grow your food in all seasons of year. You probably have most of the equipment you need already in your kitchen. I use canning jars or other widemouth food jars saved from canned peaches or pears. I've also purchased food grade rubber bands which I use to attach a cut square of cheesecloth to the open mouth of the jar. Beyond this all you need is water and organically produced non-GMO seeds.

To begin my seeds sprouting adventure, I purchased a sampler pack from www.Wheatgrasskit.com. I have found that it is super easy to grow my own sprouts and have been enjoying sprouts this past week in sandwiches, salads and juiced with kale, cider and grapes.

My Great Green Juice
One cup unfiltered apple cider
Two handfulls chopped fresh kale
15 to 20 large red grapes
One cup clover sprouts
Eight ice cubes.

Add all ingredients to a Vitamix or comparable food processor and blend until liquified.

How to Grow Your Own Sprouts
Supplies:

• One or more wide-mouth canning jars or other reclaimed glass container
• Cheesecloth
• Rubber bands
• Organic non-GMO seeds
• Water
• One or more berry boxes, optional

Buzz it up

Back to the Garden!

I went through a blog storm starting in 2007 when I created several blogs. One of my blogs was about simplicity which is quite ironic since I was actually complicating my life - blogging, working, family and sometimes sleep. I was blogging sustainability, gardening, politics, faith, etc. I even created a website which is now defunct as I gave up the URL. It was exciting to have a public voice and it gave me a platform on which to think and explore my beliefs about myself and the world around me.

After taking a long sabbatical, I return to the Garden where so many of life's metaphors and activities are found, to continue my story. I will talk about what I am doing related to food but you will find that integrated in my story is all of life because food is spiritual, practical, political, scientific, artistic and the sustenance of our existence.

Many faiths speak of the garden. As a Christian, I think in terms of the Bible. The Bible begins with the macro creation story and then brings it down to a garden. Everything needed for life was found readily in the garden. God created Adam from the dust of the earth and Eve from Adam's side. Adam walked with God and named all the creatures of the air, land and sea. The story continues with Adam and Eve being cast out of the garden as punishment for disobeying God, but even then they are commanded to till the earth by the sweat of their brow so, though no longer in the perfect garden, humans were still given the task of husbandry - the management and conservation of resources, the care, cultivation and breeding of crops and animals.

In the most beautiful of Christian sacraments, Communion, we celebrate the fullness of the Gospel, the salvation of our souls, with food in the basket of bread as the body of Christ and the cup of wine, His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. The first sin of Adam and Eve involved disobedience regarding food and it is with food, the body of Christ that we find our salvation. The garden is our origin and our sustenance and even the resting place of our physical bodies when we perish.

What happens with our food effects us dynamically. Developing a good relationship with our environment, our garden, is the essence of sustainability. Caring for nature preserves our ability to live long and prosper. Life is food and food is life. All of life is connected to the Garden.

Buzz it up