Fancy creating your own supply of juicy fruits, crunchy vegetables and fresh salad greens? This selection of great foods sprout more-or-less like magic out of the ground—with the minimum of effort. Whether you’ve only a windowsill, garden or balcony, get planting today. Here are ten of the easiest fruit and veg you can grow, with step-by-step instructions from the experts at Garden Organic.
Salad
Lettuce, rocket and other crunchy leaves are easy to grow. Cut them and they keep coming back!
Super-easy to grow indoors all year around
Constant harvest – leaves can be picked over and again and they’ll grow back
Pick’n’ mix your favourite flavours, textures and varieties – peppery rocket, crunchy lettuce, exotic oriental saladini
Complete growing directions
You can grow salad all year inside. Try mixing different lettuces or adding rocket. Oriental varieties work best for winter use – sow in September and they’ll last you until March.
Fill a seed tray with compost.
Toss over about a quarter of a teaspoon of salad seeds.
Cover with a sprinkling of compost, water it carefully and place it on a sunny windowsill.
Don’t let it dry out.
Hint: Try stretching cling film over the top of the tray to keep moisture in. Take it off as soon as seedlings start to appear.
When the plants are about 3in tall you can start cutting them and they’ll keep growing back again and again.
Alternative method: you can grow salad in 12 inch pot or directly in the soil in your garden.
Watering
The easiest way to tell if something needs watering is with your finger: poke it into the soil to test.
If the soil is damp just under the surface, don’t water. If it is dry up to the first crease of your finger then you need to water.
Seeds and seedlings need care when watering – use a fine-head watering can so you don’t over-water them.
It is better to water well infrequently than to sprinkle a little every day.
Composting is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms your kitchen and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden. It’s easy to make and use.
“Just like you I am keen to do my bit for the environment and at the same time help my garden. All you need to do is follow the advice on this website and you too can get the best out of your bin and start giving Mother Nature a helping hand”
Each fruit or vegetable has a prime time when it’s at its seasonal best. Some are great for over half of the year; others only hit their peak for a month. Either way it means extra flavour, extra crunch, extra juiciness—all super-fresh and great value. Use our guide to find out what’s in season this month and how to bring out its best.
Winter is coming: shorter, colder, darker days are coming. If you are like me, getting depressed because the sun is not shining as it used to, is not warming as it used to… then you’ll find these articles super interesting and useful. There is a solution, and is in the food:
Find out what you can eat to help diminish Seasonal Affective Disorder’s effects
Common symptoms of SAD include extreme tiredness—the kind that makes you just want to curl up under the covers and sleep until spring—an intense craving for carbs (especially sweets), irritability, weight gain and the desire to avoid social situations.
Proponents of VITAMIN D supplementation as a therapy for SAD note that many of the contradictory studies used doses that were too low or used D2, a form of vitamin D that is weaker than the recommended D3. A 2010 comprehensive review of existing studies that looked at the effects of vitamin D on different kinds of depression and anxiety concluded that treating vitamin D deficiencies in people with depression might be an easy and cost-effective way to improve mental health.
Some results suggest that SAD is less common in those who consume more OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS, such as Icelandic people, who eat plenty of cold water fish. One of the largest studies ever conducted assessing omega-3s’ effectiveness in treating major depression (published in 2010 in the Journal ofClinical Psychiatry) looked at 432 people with major depression. Half the participants took a high-concentration fish oil supplement (1,050 mg of EPA and 150 mg of DHA); the other half took a similar-looking placebo. The researchers found the omega-3 supplements effective, comparable to results with conventional antidepressants.
Food Sources of SAD-Friendly Carbohydrates: GOOD SNACKING CHOICES include popcorn, pretzels, shredded wheat squares or low-fat biscotti. When it comes to meals, Wurtman recommends making dinner your main carbohydrate-containing meal. That’s because evening is usually the time when the symptoms of SAD are at their strongest—and so is the urge gorge on cookies. Eating healthier carbs, like lentils, brown rice and potatoes, may help fight that urge.
Indoors, try natural full-spectrum lighting and use light-colored fabrics, walls and rugs.
One of the most effective treatments for SAD is regular (usually daily) exposure to a specially designed light box, one that provides enough intensity of light to positively affect SAD symptoms (the light needs to be at least 10 times the intensity of regular household or office lighting)
Watch What You Eat
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BASMATI RICE. The sugar in this rice is slow to release into the bloodstream, which helps blood sugar levels stay constant instead of going through highs and lows. Drastic changes in blood sugar can lead to weight gain, which is a side effect of SAD. Other foods with a similar effect on blood sugar are rye bread and pasta.
BOUILLON. When the carbohydrate craving is just about to defeat you, drink some hot bouillon or broth. Hot liquids in the belly are filling, and consuming them before a meal is an old diet trick that reduces food consumption. Better the bouillon than the banana cream pie.
CEREALS. Cooked cereal, unsweetened muesli, and bran flakes are slow to release sugar into the bloodstream, which helps raise serotonin levels.
FRUIT. Apricots gradually raises serotonin levels and helps keep them there, as do apples, pears, grapes, plums, grapefruits and oranges.
Limit Alcohol and Caffeine
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Any herbal tea is a better choice than teas with caffeine. Your reduced energy level may cause you to turn to caffeine for a boost, but it can also cause anxiety, muscle tension, and stomach problems, so opt for herbal. Chamomile, peppermint, and cinnamon are pleasant-tasting choices. Drink a cup instead of giving in to your carbohydrate cravings.
You can also keep your body’s clock in sync by rising and retiring at the same time each day, even on weekends or days off from work. When you can’t get going no matter what you do, try sucking on some ice. Its chill can give you a wake-up call. Or, splash your face and wrists with ice water.
Another option is to steep peppermint or lemon oil in water and inhale. These are stimulating oils and may give you a little extra zip.
Take a Vacation
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If possible, move to a sunnier climate. Most people can’t just get up and relocate. But for those who can, moving to a sunnier area helps SAD symptoms disappear. Indeed, SAD rarely affects people living within about 30 degrees of the equator. Otherwise, plan to take a trip during the winter months, whenever possible, to warm and sunny climates.
For most people with SAD, it takes two or three days of bright sunshine to elicit a reversal of symptoms.
How To Clean Fruit & Vegetables Using Apple Cider Vinegar
If you are like me and don’t have easy access to organic food (or refuse to spend $3 on a tomato) and don’t enjoy eating pesticides and chemicals then you should definitely be cleaning your fruit and vegetables. It is really easy, takes little time or effort and uses one simple and cheap ingredient: apple cider vinegar.
ACV has so many different uses. I use it a lot in vegan mayonaise or sour cream recipes to give it that tartness. But ACV is also excellent for cleaning and medicinal uses because it’s anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial.
I have been using this method of cleaning my fruit & veggies since my Dad told me about it 6 months ago. You only need to wash veggies that you plan on eating the skin of, like: greens (spinach, kale, lettuce), tomatoes, capsicums, cucumber, zucchini, pears, apples etc.
My favourite brand of ACV is Braggs ACV. Use the code ZIV994 at iHerb and get $5 off your first order.
How to Clean Fruit & Vegetables Using Apple Cider Vinegar
Step 1: In a big bowl, cover veggies in water and add 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar
Step 2: Let the veggies sit for 5 – 10 minutes (I usually skip this step, I’m too impatient!).
Step 3: Scrub the veggies with a brush (make sure its a brush dedicated for this purpose only).
Step 4: Wash scrubbed veggies with water.
Step 5: Let veggies sit on a tea towel and dry, or hand dry them.
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