[ back ]
A Juicy Garden
No matter what size garden you plant eventually youll have a bunch of vegetables and fruit that you need to do something with. Usually that something is eating them. So, if you garden, you need to know (or learn) how to cook. Not a bad skill to have, especially as the products of industrial farming become more and more suspect, both in nutritional value and in safety.
While you are learning to cook, or when the weather gets too hot to spend large amounts of time in the kitchen, you might consider doing something Ive just begun exploring—juicing! In fact, much of the produce from your garden can be juiced to provide refreshing summer beverages or nutritionally dense smoothies. My favorite right now is raspberry lemonade.
Ive discovered that all brands of frozen lemonade that are available in the supermarket contain high fructose corn syrup, which has been scientifically shown to cause obesity. So, if you want to avoid all of the additives, chemicals, and even inedible items added to processed food (like sawdust that is added to bread and cellulose added to parmesan cheese to prevent caking) youll have to rely on what you grow yourself or what you can purchase from a local Farmers Market.
Of course, you want to make sure that what you grow is as pesticide and herbicide free as the organic produce from the Farmers Market, so stick to gardening methods that avoid the use of products from Monsanto, Dow Chemical and other chemical companies. Isnt it interesting that chemical companies, not food producers, manufacture many of the processed food items that line grocery store shelves?
So juicing is a great way to kick the chemical additive habit and change to more healthful eating. If youre like me, I encountered a bit of sticker shock when I looked around to purchase a juicer. Generally, the kind that have enough horsepower, are easy to clean, and extract the pulp into a separate bin are very pricey—over $200 in many cases. However, by keeping a lookout for a used one, especially on Craigslist.org, you can pick up a good one at a fraction of the price of a new one. I just bought an Omega 4000 (retail price $250.00) for a mere $60.00!
Already Ive juiced some lemons and raspberries for the above-mentioned raspberry lemonade—yum—and oranges for the best tasting orange juice Ive ever had. When the spinach in the garden gets a bit bigger, Im going to try some of the vegetable juice recipes that I snatched off the Internet. Just some of the vegetables suitable for juicing include: carrots, spinach, melons, beets, kale, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, and cucumbers. You can even add herbs, like parsley and cilantro or make fruit and vegetable combinations.
Since I also put up much of my excess produce by canning or freezing, Im beginning to see the possibilities of using the juicer to make preparation of fruit for jams and jellies easier and less time-consuming. This past year I had an overabundance of raspberries that I would have made into jelly, except for those pesky seeds. Instead, I froze most of them and used what I could of the fresh berries as a garnish for ice cream or other desserts. This year Ill juice the bunch and let the juicer spin those seeds right out into the pulp bin. Voilá seed-free raspberry juice for jelly!
When you look for a used juicer to purchase, the most important part of the equipment is the blades, so make sure they are sharp, clean and in good condition. Check the housing for cracks and damaged gaskets, and ensure that the electrical cord isnt frayed. A good juicing book or some Internet searching for recipes and tips are all you need—beside good organic produce—to get started.
For me this year will be the beginning of a juicy garden. I hope you have some juicy experiences in your own garden, too. Happy gardening!
[ back ]
