The Real Food Challenge

I wanted to share this right away. My household is joining in on this challenge within the next month. I'm pulling together the details and will share them as soon as possible. In the meantime, I thought our readers would like to check it out as well. Please click on the barcode for more info...

There's More to Life than Chicken Nuggets

A blue jay visited our garden this week and left us a feather to remember him by. River was ecstatic to find it, as you can see by his toothy grin!

Our five varieties of tomatoes are getting a great start. They're not fruiting yet, but I know it wont be long!

It's not edible, but I was so inspired by this little flower that volunteered to grow in a crack in the garden wall. River lovingly placed rocks in front of it for protection.

This snap pea looked so poetic I just had to take a picture one morning, and I was almost late for school.
The beauty of the garden speaks for itself.

I heart Harvest Time

We're just finishing off our harvest of snap peas. They've been providing a nice little snack before school for about a month now.

I never really know what to expect from the harvest... you can plant so many things and some die or fail to yield a harvest because of strange weather conditions, insect damage, or... who knows.

So I took a trip down memory lane (thank you, iPhoto) to see what last year was like and get excited about what's to come...

Swiss chard. Bright lights variety.

Tasting the school garden. River just getting started on a cabbage leaf.

Nothing better to load up a dump truck with than a bountiful harvest!

Working Together to Grow

It just so happens that I have a prime location for my apartment garden. It receives full sun all day on the edge of our parking lot. And it just so happens that my nearest neighbor loves to garden as well.

Halida and her family are from Bosnia and we have a good time chatting about our little hobby. "What you call?" she asked me one day, pointing at carnations. "Karanfil," she told me.

We've developed quite a little friendship over the years I've lived here, and it's all because of our love for the garden.

Last year I realized that nobody in my apartment complex talks to one another. "What is this about," I asked myself. We live in such close proximity, yet people don't even say hello when they crisscross in the parking lot on the way to the dumpsters or the mailboxes. I'd chalked it up to cultural differences when an Asian man from an apartment across the way flat out ignored my smile and friendly "hello!"

Determined to hasten change, I talked to the apartment manager, rented out the "community room," knocked on doors, left invitations, and posted flyers for a potluck. I heard children scuffling on the other side of the door, but nobody answering... "What are they afraid of?" Only a couple families came, and imagine the odds, two of us brought lasagne! But it was still a success because it did increase the community bonds for the people that did come.

After that event was when I realized, Halida and I have a relationship with one another because we're outside tending to our gardens! The others rarely go out except to hop in their cars and zip away, zip home, and shut the door on their private lives.

My relationship with Halida has been beneficial in other ways, too. When I go on vacation, she's the one that will keep my garden alive and feed my cat. What would I do without my community? Do my non-gardener neighbors even realize what they're missing?

Help for Parents of Picky Eaters!

What do I do if my kid rejects vegetables?

1) Keep offering. It's biologically natural for kids to show a preference for salty and sweet foods. However, it can take many tries to get them to accept a new flavor if it's neither salty nor sweet. Ask children to try one new thing at meal times. Remind them that they don't have to like it, just try it. Ten or more tries is pretty standard. Don't give up.

2) Let them choose a new vegetable at the store or, better yet, the Farmer's Market. Let them use their senses to find something colorful, or beautifully textured. If you don't know how to cook it, ask the vendor for their recommendations. Kids often just want to feel in control. It's that simple.

3) Let them grow it. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, just letting kids have a hand in producing their food increases their chances of eating it! After all that love and care, planting the seeds, the excitement of watching it sprout up, watering it, and watching it sprout big and turn into something will make them want to at least taste it. Fresh food (right out of the ground) always tastes better and the nutrients will be more plentiful. That's right, the vitamin content of foods can decrease within the first hour after it has been harvested. Kids will associate this excitement with great flavor - and they wont even know they're tasting VITAMINS, which they can be trained to crave.

These are just a couple of ideas... More to come.

Like Peas in a Pod

Eating together as a family matters. You've heard it before, right?

I recently had got the opportunity to sit down with my son, just the two of us, and enjoy a meal together. This is a bit rare in our household because, as a single mom, it's hard enough to get his dinner prepared (gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free) after our long day at school, eat, and get the kitchen cleaned up before hurrying upstairs for the bedtime routine. So, I find myself sitting for a brief couple minutes, and then I excuse myself to bang around the kitchen so that after-hours can be all about homework before I get some rest myself.

I'd given myself plenty of guilt about what my son was missing: time with mom, some company at the table, the extra experience of witnessing how adults act at the table, the list goes on... But I had forgotten what I was missing. River is good company. He is my baby, growing big right before my eyes. I don't want to miss anything. When I forgot about what wasn't getting done and just sat and shared an entire meal with my son I finally felt full.

Then came the icing on the cake. He took a tiny little sideways glance at me and said, "Mama?" before returning his gaze to his plate. "I love you. Thank you for my yummy food."

Three Nutritious Things I Recommend You Grow

1) Flax seed: Yes, those tiny little brown seeds that speckle the top of breads can be tossed out into the garden for a stunning display and a nice little harvest. Once you've tossed them out, maybe just rake the surface of the soil a bit, water them in, and then just sit back and watch the show! Their healthy oil content is impressive and so is their inch-wide flower! Additionally, the brilliant blue hue will attract bees to pollinate your other plants and increase yields. At the end of the season, you'll see the seed pods drying out. Just rub them with your fingers and a few seeds will fall out of each pod. Magic!

2) Artichokes: I recommend buying a plant from the nursery. It will save you time and a whole lot of trouble instead of growing them from seed. Artichokes are especially known for helping the body detox and also aid in digestion. Plant artichokes in a sunny location with plenty of space. There are two reasons for this. First, especially if they survive a winter and live into the second season, artichokes will take up a LOT of space. They can grow five feet tall and six feet in diameter. Second, artichokes command some good real estate in the garden because they are SO beautiful and will stun your neighbors with their beauty. You'll harvest one big artichoke from the main stem and a few "baby" artichokes from side stems. Be aware, if you plan on eating them, cut them off the stalk before they start to open up as they are not edible once they've opened into showy, thistle-like flowers!

3) Salad greens: Salad greens are a good way to introduce kids to eating veggies when they usually shun anything green. They do quite well in pots and can grow without full sun if you find your garden limited on space or sun. It doesn't take but a month or two to grow them, so they're what I call "short attention span" plants. Letting kids plant the seeds, water them occasionally, and oversee the harvest is a good way to let kids experience the garden. If you have a child that refuses salad on a normal basis, this is your ticket right here.

Have fun!