This liminal moment: summal, fummer? August 35th?

Good morning September.... it's slowly becoming August lite here. Still hot, rapidly whirling toward my birthday and the equinox. I have been gathering the late summer bounty- tomatillos, peppers, tomatoes.
I've also begun sowing the fall bounty and back to work in the gardens....





Here is what I'm doing: I'm picking up clearance annuals. I've planted dill plants and ornamental peppers and nasturtiums! They are beautiful, enjoy the heat/cool dynamic we will be rocking out with for another few months (?) or weeks.
On August 15, I planted my first crop of the fall garden. I planted green bibb lettuce and red leaf lettuce. I also planted a row of Ruby Red chard, pulled out my old kale, planted a small plot of carrots and some rows of spinach. As usually happens in this liminal moment, this threshhold moment, some seeds were so fertile and ready to grow that the 90 degree days didn't phase them. The spinach promptly told me to go to hell, though. So I replanted more this weekend. I can take rejection.

Seed germination basics: they don't like hot weather and will germinate more evenly in sub 85 degree days! Keep the seed bed evenly moist. If the seed dries out, it's dead. I watered every late afternoon- not ideal, but it works for me. Once you see dichots, keep the watering even and don't let them dry out. They are very tender. If they are being attacked by critter (insect, pests, birds), use a floating row cover to protect. Choose seeds that are meant for the time you are growing. Don't start tomato or basil seeds in late summer for a fall garden. Don't start melons. Here is a great list of what to start when! It is from K-State and is the gold standard. The first pages are how many seeds to plant for the yield you want. Page 3 is the calendar.

My sweet potatoes and okra are happy. My calendula needs cool and looks burnt out. The comfrey offered a second bloom and I collected it! The wild original roses, the old ones, are putting on the second show. The nasturtiums like it dry and coolish- so they offer their bubbly presence. And the freaky, perennial rosemary?? It's decided to bloom. I mean, this plant shouldn't be wintering over. But it's moved into sub-shrub territory!

On the docket this fall-- I'm going to interview my yoga teacher, Sharyn, and get the good info for you on some of the poses that have been reinvigorating me. What about stimulating the thryroid by locking my throat bandha, jalandhara bandha? What poses might support my liver, kidneys and adrenal glands? Also, I found this wonderful article on the psoas muscle. It's a profound eye-opener for me, one of those muscles that does so much.

Have you read this much-shared article about the link between gut flora (pro-biotics HEEEYEEE!) and mental illness/ mental health? It is really good support for the notion that we, adults, should support our gut flora in as many ways as we can. We should identify and eliminate foods that are allegens to us and which make us feel crappy. Then, we should help our guts repair themselves by eating lots of probiotic foods/ probiotic supplements. I don't actually take any supplement but I do give them to my kids. The second part of the article is that gut flora is made or broken in childhood. FEED YOUR KIDS FERMENTED FOODS- like good unsweetened yogurt, kefir, kombucha, fermented vegetables (uhm, good luck?). Or use a probiotic supplement.

Update on RAGWEED (which I keep writing as rage weed. Yes. Rage. Weed.): the ragweed tea, not infusion, is very helpful to me. I do not have intense ragweed allergies this year. The tea has kept my histamine reaction to a minimum! What I did was make a large jar of it. I pruned off ragweed leaves and put them in hot water. Very complex. Then I steeped it for  20 minutes or so. I drank a couple cups every few days. Pleasant. Surprising.]
I know that some people who have bad allergies to Ambrosia (that's the botanical name for all ragweeds) should NOT DO THIS. But for those of us with sneezing and itchy eyes who seek relief without pills, it's pretty nice. 
[Please consult someone knowledgeable before picking random leaves....  I mean, you know that. But consult me, send me a message with a picture if you don't know ragweed by sight. I'm here to help!]


Again a list of what I've linked above:
The K-State garden calendar. All pertinent info about vegetable seeds, when to start, how to gauge yield, perennial/annual status, warm/cool season crop and a basic calendar.
The yoga, psoas muscle article.
The link between gut flora and mental wellness.

Use what you have, love the one you're with, blah, blah, blah.

It's cold. And my plants aren't moving very fast. I'm antsy and want to enjoy and harvest and eat and tend! Wow, says Mother Nature, that's really want-y. You might want to slow down and leash up your expectations a bit. 

So here is what is available to me right now. Just Stinging Nettle tops.... barely enough for a cuppa. But so beautiful! And her stings are so subtle at this stage or maybe I'm just that primed.
Do I need to sing the praises of stinging nettles? Country folk can't believe I even touch them but they are good food, especially early in the spring. They are called for if you have systemic arthritic or inflammatory diseases (Hi, John H.). They really help the build-up in the joints that happens... now herbs aren't magic bullets, are they? They are not super charged, lab-generated gel caps. You have to invest, ingest, think health and be your own health. It isn't always anything. But it is all you. It's also all not you- it's not in your control, really. I believe in practice, like yoga, where you visualize your health and well-being. 
But also, when you're thinking of having a baby (Hi, Cass! Hi, Sam!), this high amount of iron, selenium, Vitamin K is perfect for the uterus. It isn't raspberry leaf (a prime uterine tonic that works LIKE A CHARM- drink your infusion please preg ladies!)- but remember all those stories of rupture and bleeding after birth and trauma to baby and vitamin K shot? I do. In Greer's birth, I drank large amounts of nettle infusion and it helped me not get anemic (a big issue with Myrna's birth) and I turned down the vitamin K shot because her levels were wonderful. As well, large amounts of vitamin c which help with the absorption of iron. 
Miss Cass asked last year how to identify nettles for sure: the serrated leaves, opposite position (one on each side, instead of alternate) of the leaves and the sting. They are easily wildcrafted in Shawnee Mission Park, along hte streamways trail. I spend years in KC, using this in the spring to get my nettles. Look for partially shaded, moist areas. You might find a perfect morel as well!  
If wildcrafting them isn't available to you, go to a bulk herb store. Call Whole Foods and see if they have cut nettle leaf. I know they have it at Phoenix Herb Co on Boradway, near the Plaza. Work on making a nice, rich infusion. Make a quart. Drink it in 3-4 days. Keep refrigerated! 
Here is what Dr.Christopher's website says: It is a slow-acting nutritive herb that gently cleanses the body of metabolic wastes.  It is one of the safest alteratives, especially in the treatment of chronic disorders that require long-term treatment.  It has a gentle, stimulating effect on the lymphatic system, enhancing the excretion of wastes through the kidneys.  


I'm going on the radio this weekend (About the House with Jeremy Taylor) to talk about the opening of the Lawrence Farmer's Market- oh yay! I'm also talking about planting blooming trees- picking the right one, the ones blooming now, care and feeding. Join me on KLWN at 10:00 to talk with Jeremy Taylor, of course, but also John Pendleton! 

So expect an apprentice update- her name is Sarah, she told me I could share it. :) I think I'll show her a friendly, sticky, clingy friend this week. You never know where your ally will show up....

Anti inflammatory

This is the beginning of a longer conversation about this topic: anti-inflammation food, supplements, herbs, etc.
First question (for many): why do we need anti-inflammatory anything?

Diet

Apropos of nothing: myrna, squash!

--Part of the answer is diet. Our diets consist of lots of processed food. Even unprocessed food can be grown in ways that add to inflammation in our bodies (pesticides, preservatives, GM seeds, etc.). Inflammation is linked to basically every single disease that shortens your life. So, strokes, heart disease are big ones- arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and blood that doesn't circulate well. Slower mental functioning, even learning disabilities, depression, and all age-related decline is linked to inflammation. Obesity, arthritis and diabetes (type 2) are affected by inflammation. Also, many skin issues are caused/ exacerbated by inflammation in the body (dermatitis, eczema sometimes). Basically, human decline is made worse by diets that inflame.

--Why does our diet inflame our bodies? One answer is an imbalance between Omega 6 oils and Omega 3 oils. Omegas 6 are very available to us with nut and bean oils (soybean oil is the most prominent in fast food and in our American diet). Also, highly refined and hydrogenated oils are used to preserve things and make boxed food. Omega 3 oils are unstable and scarce- coldwater fish, flaxseed. That seems simple... it can get so so so complex.

--These are essential fatty acids- our bodies do not make them and we must get them from an outside source. Omega 6 oils increase cell proliferation and blood clotting as well as complicated hormone creation. Omega 3's stop blood clotting. So we eat and get a ton of Omega 6 oils in everything we do. Our ratio really needs to be 1:1 for them or 1:2 (O6:O3). Get what the issue is? This is why people pop fish oil like it's going out of style. Here is a Dr. Weil bit of documentation on it.

dr. weil's creation. not mine. but good info.

 What do I do to limit inflammation in my body?
--I take a high quality fish oil supplement. Because of the risks of tainted fish (especially in coldwater oily fish), it is best to use a highly purified oil from a quality source. I take Mega EPA from Vitacost here. This is a good ratio for EPA to DHA. Higher EPA is reportedly being found to lower inflammation, cortisol and lower symptoms of depression more rapidly. Really, all the info I've found tells me there is NOT a definitive answer about how much EPA v DHA. But DHA is vital to brain development. EPA for lowering stress hormones and inflammation. My recommendation is 3:2. Widely available sources support this.
--[To further complicate matters, I need to bring up web information sources here. Many web sites that are vitamin based are trying to sell you supplements. Duh. But they often have good information on them. Often doctors and wellness practitioners are great sources and speak from experience in a holistic way. Sites that I take with a grain of salt include hippy, healer, fringe sites and weight lifting sites. Both of these can offer vital info for me but are often so highly charged that the information is more opinion than fact. Sybil, a good friend of mine, asked about a new inflammation fighter called FlameOut. The only info I could find was on weight lifting sites because the charge of this supplement is to offer a reversed ratio of EPA to DHA. Giving tons more DHA, which is supposedly more useful to men and folks with higher muscle tone. Interesting. That being said, if you are drawn to a supplement and feel like the recommendation is a good one (weight lifting or hippy healer), try it out.]

wki picture of turmeric plant!

--I also take Turmeric. Just like you add to the Indian dish you are making. Turmeric the spice. It is a wonder "blood pressure lowering" addition. It is an old fashioned anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory that has been shown to lower rates of Alzheimers and lower people's c-reactive protein (this is why you take NSAIDS like ibuprofen). Many people take this as Curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric)- a therapeutic preparation of turmeric from a lab. I just take turmeric because it helps lower all sorts of weird stuff that pops up (strange fungus, etc) and is supportive of the liver. This also has a good affect on my skin. Much of the reason I take anti-inflammatory supplements is because aging (you're not 17 anymore?) skin gets thrown out of whack by the smallest things- a night of too many drinks for instance! Turmeric is very skin friendly- it is even reported to impart some of its lovely color to your face. Not yellow but you get the point, no?!? It is good for joint pain and arthritis and abolishes free radicals in the body. Also, most of the information I've read suggest that not only is it a liver support but it supports BILE production. Any of you with gall bladder issues need to take note! You need to foster your liver and work on your bile production- bile is produced by the liver for the benefit of the gall bladder. (If you have non-critical gall bladder issues, get thee to a health food store and consult some good holistic sources. You can help yourself before you have to get an operation! No more processed food!)

anti-inflammatory- good fat, oolong tea, blackberries

Alright, that's a lot of words. I hope someone cares about this. I vacillate between feeling like I want to share this info and feeling like it is way way too much for anyone to care about or read. Not that it is emotional sharing but still, it's information and lots of it.
For my last act and chapter, I'd like to offer this: it is always a better idea to try to get your nutrition and support from food sources. Things made in a labs, isolates, are isolated (duh) from their context. That means that they can easily be sources of overdose or cause reactions in our bodies that we didn't expect. Eating/ drinking your herbs is simpler, cheaper usually and safer. It's not always possible (I just can't buy and eat enough cold water fish- I will always take fish oil supplements. And those are very whole anyway) but I try. Here is a great recipe using black eyed peas and turmeric (enjoy the website too. Rebecca Woolfe, mommy blogger and her mommy, the good cook).
xoxo- Laurel

Here is a P.S. I am not trying to be judgmental about food. Eat what you like. But it is a choice and I, personally, am trying to become NOT ADDICTED to processed crap. It is an addiction and a cycle. So I feel ya when you fall prey to the Taco Johns. Shut up- that is NOT a bag in my car. Gawd.

Next time: burdock and cod liver oil. My skin looks a lot better than it did 6 weeks ago. That ought to get your attention. Also on tap: healthy fats. I eat a lot of fat, always have. Fat doesn't make you fat. High cholesterol food does not cause high cholesterol. I eat fat cuz then I don't eat crap. I eat half an avocado, cheese, nuts and then don't crave ice cream. It's good. I also eat butter. It's pure. I trust that. Hearts!!