Most people love pizza, right? With just a few big containers or a few feet of garden space, you can have the freshest, tastiest, healthiest organic pizza sauce you’ve ever eaten. It’s easy and fun to grow these ingredients, and you’ll eat great pizza all summer. Here are some great tips, thanks to Rodale.com.
What You Need:
Look for tomato seeds that are of a plum or paste variety, such as Roma or Amish paste, which produce oval, meaty tomatoes with few seeds that are perfect for cooking into sauce. Then you’ll need a packet each of basil seeds and seeds for the pepper or peppers of your choice (choose from sweet bell types or spicier ones, depending on your tastes). Pick up a small bag of organic seed-starting medium or potting soil, also organic. If you can’t find organic, look for one with no added synthetic fertilizers. The store may also have a selection of pots, pellets, and other pricey paraphernalia for starting seeds. Leave it all on the shelf! You’ve already got plenty of things to repurpose at home in your recycling bin. Any container you can punch holes in the bottom of for drainage can be used as a plant pot. Put your seed-starting containers or pots in a watertight tray or dish, or use those clear-plastic clamshell containers that salads or takeout dinners come in. The lids make perfect built-in greenhouse tops, which help keep the soil moist until the plants get too tall.
Starting Your Seedlings:
Once you’ve got your containers filled with planting medium (two pots each for tomatoes, basil, and peppers), poke two seeds into the center of each pot and cover with loose planting medium. Seed packets usually tell you how deep to plant your seeds, but for these, about a quarter inch below the surface will be just fine. Water each pot enough that everything is nice and moist but there isn’t any standing water in the bottom of the tray after a few minutes. (If there is, pour it off if.) Close the clamshell if you are using one, and put it in a warm place, such as on the top of your refrigerator or on an electric heating pad set on low. Ideally, you’ll want to keep the germinating seeds at 80 to 90 degrees F, but 70 to 80 degrees will work, although it may take your seeds a bit longer to sprout.
Your seeds won’t need light until they start to sprout, but once they do (tomatoes take about a week, peppers and basil almost two weeks) — move the tray to a sunny windowsill. Lacking a sunny windowsill? Place the seeds under a lamp outfitted with a “full-spectrum” bulb—a desk lamp with an adjustable arm is a good choice—and keep it a few inches above the top of your seedlings, and turned on 12 to 14 hours a day.
Keep your seedlings’ potting medium moist (but not standing in water), and turn the pots periodically to keep the little sprouts from stretching in just one direction. Once the plants get their second set of leaves, carefully snip off the smaller seedling in each pot, leaving just one per pot. Gently brush your hand over your little plants every day, which keeps them from getting tall and leggy—and it releases their yummy summery smells!
Moving Your Seedlings:
When nights are staying above freezing and there is no frost in the 10-day forecast, you can get your seedlings adjusted to the sun and wind. Move the tray outside for part of the day and bring it back in at night; keep this up for a couple of days. When the risk of frost has passed, put your seedlings into a prepared garden bed or some large containers, and water well enough that the soil is wet or water is coming out of your containers’ drainage holes. Keep an eye on the weather so you can cover the young plants with a sheet if an unexpected late frost threatens.
Source: Rodale.com
Another way to be good to yourself is with a gentle, healthful Vegan Flush. It’s a two-week cleanse that will clean the toxins from your body and leave you feeling better than you have in years. No pills or starving yourself, just healthy vegan food. Give your body a chance to regenerate itself. Click the link to Vegan Flush to read more about it. You’ll be so glad you did.
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I don’t make these very often, but every now and then I have a craving for them and cave in. I usually use vegan cheese slices, but didn’t have any so I used Daiya cheddar instead. They were so yummy
This is the time of year when we start thinking about our gardens. But even if your garden is the window sill in your kitchen, you can grow herbs for cooking and for health. All you need is some sunlight and some seedlings or, if you’re brave, a package of seeds. You can get them at any garden store. It’s rewarding and fun to watch the pots come to life as the seeds begin to grow. Here are some of the herbs you could grow.
Aloe Vera
Grow it: Plant in pots placed in full sunshine. Water well.
Use it: Break open the thick leaves and apply the gel that seeps out to your skin to soothe sunburn. “It’s 96 percent water and 4 percent active ingredients, including amino acids and enzymes that nourish damaged skin,” says pharmacist Margo Marrone, founder of The Organic Pharmacy in the United Kingdom.
Basil
Grow it: This sweet, fragrant annual is ideal for growing in pots. Pull off the white flowers as soon as they appear to keep it from going to seed and your herbs from tasting bitter.
Use it: Rub crushed leaves on your temples to relieve headaches. Pour boiling water over basil leaves for a pain-relieving footbath.
Lavender
Grow it: This sun-loving plant needs good drainage. Use a small pot filled with gravel and a light soil.
Use it: It has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Crush a handful of the heads and add to a bowl of boiling water to use as a steam bath for your face. You can also dab the oil from the flowers on blemishes, says Marrone.
Lemon Balm
Grow it: Pot it, or it will colonize your garden.
Use it: Use for healing and preventing cold sores. Also, rub leaves directly onto skin as a natural insect repellent or to soothe bites.
Mint
Grow it: Use a sunken pot, because it grows vigorously.
Use it: Ideal for treating the collywobbles, which you might know as butterflies in the stomach. Sip tea made with fresh peppermint leaves to soothe stomach cramps, nausea, and flatulence. For a natural decongestant, place a fistful of mint leaves in a shallow bowl and cover with boiling water. Lean over it, drape a towel over your head, and breathe the steam.
Parsley
Grow it: Thrives in a pot in the sun as long as the soil is kept moist. Feed with organic fertilizer.
Use it: Immune-system booster. Eat one tablespoon of chopped flatleaf or curly parsley daily. Chewing parsley neutralizes mouth odors.
Rosemary
Grow it: This hardy perennial loves basking in sunshine.
Use it: Tea made from a thumb-sized piece has been known to lift spirits in people suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and hangovers. Infuse warm red wine with rosemary, cinnamon, and cloves to soothe winter colds.
Sage
Grow it: Needs full sun and a dry sandy soil. Sage means “to be in good health.”
Use it: Gargle with a broth made from a quarter-cup of leaves (and cooled) to relieve sore throat.
Thyme
Grow it: Plant in dry, light soil. Needs sun.
Use it: A powerful antioxidant as well as an antiseptic. Drink a tea made from lemon thyme to treat colds before bed. Warning: don’t use thyme when pregnant.
Spring is a great time of year to give your health a boost with a vegan cleanse. Try Vegan Flush. It’s a gentle, two-week detox that will clean out your system and make you feel better than you have in years. No diet pills, no harsh laxatives, no starvation. Just healthy vegan food. Vegan Flush is the best thing you can do for your body. Try it. You will feel the difference and be glad you did.
Source: rodale.com
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This year, Easter and Passover fall on the same weekend. So while the festivities and dishes may differ, the common thread can be that we all want peace and happiness with our families and friends and perhaps, we can make both green! Check out some fun and simple tips on how to green your Easter and Eco your Passover!
Easter
Paint wooden or ceramic eggs. A night out at a place like Color Me Mine is a great alternative to dying eggs at home. No real eggs and no mess! Put them out later for your egg hunt and use them year after year.
Buy vegan, local and fair trade candies to build the healthiest and most eco-friendly Easter basket ever!
Look for paper basket grass as opposed to the plastic kind. This “green” paper kind can be used year round for other gifts, packing materials, etc.
Bake vegan easter cakes in egg and bunny shaped molds. These are great in gift baskets, are healthier and cheaper than ordering stuff online that requires shipping.
Give children great illustration heavy books like pop-ups instead of toys they will grow out of an create more waste. Books nourish their minds and create wonderful memories.
Skip the candy and give creative gifts this year. Re-use a basket by covering it in left over, festive fabric. Fill basket with paints and crayons, small sketch books, stickers and blank t-shirts or socks to personalize. Add some seed packets and celebrate spring with a new garden!
Passover
Let’s Start With The Matzah – There are a bunch of options for organic spelt and organic whole-wheat matzah. Like the following:
Handmade Shmurah Matzah made with 100% certified organic spelt from Matzahonline.com.
Haddar 18-Minute Organic Spelt Matzah and Matzah Meal from KCKosherCoop.com
Chicago’s Original Organic Matzah. It’s made in the U.S. and it’s certified organic and free of any GMOs.
Organic Spelt Matzah from Chabad of greater Dayton
And be sure to keep it green by wrapping your organic matzah in an organic cotton napkin when you hide the afikomen.
Don’t Forget The Wine - Go organic as well as kosher! Organic Kosher wines exist and here’s the list:
Yarden Chardonnay Odem Organic
Odem Vineyard in the northern Golan in Israel has been farmed organically since 1998. You can buy it online at Kosherwine.com for $16.99 a bottle.
Four Gates Winery. Four Gates, located in the Santa Cruz Mountins in California, produces organic and Kosher chardonnay, merlot, pinot noir, and cabernet franc. The grapes are certified organic by the CCOF and the vines are not irrigated.
Baron Herzog Wine Cellars. Ranging from cabernet sauvignon to brut champagne, Herzog Wine Cellars produces Kosher and Mevushal wines. While not certified organic, many of the wines use grapes that have been sustainably grown.
The Quintessentially Eco Seder Plate
Horseradish for Maror – Check out Silver Spring Organic Prepared Horseradish. It’s certified organic by Oregon Tilth as well as kosher. Or make your won with all organic, natural ingredients.
Parsley for Karpas – Opt for local as well as organic.
Charoset – Use your favorite charoset recipe and be sure to make it with organic and locally sourced ingredients!
Eggs for Baytzah – For vegans, go for an organic chunk of pan fried or baked tofu instead of the hard boiled egg.
The Meal – There are all sorts of great Kosher recipes for Passover. From matzo ball soup to vegan gefilte fish, there are lots of ways to green your Passover menu. But the best rule of thumb is simply to get as many organic and local ingredients as possible, regardless of where you get your recipes. Beyond that, if you’re looking to lower your impact, try serving a vegetarian or better yet, vegan meal! Check out this week’s recipes!
The Service – If you can, try to use reusable cups, wine glasses, plates, and silverware. This way, you’ll have the least amount of disposable waste — and of course, make sure you put your dishes in the dish washer! It’s far more water efficient than washing by hand.
If you are looking to pick up something new for the occasion, check out eco-friendly tableware like glassware made from recycled glass such as trycycle or plates made from bamboo. If you do go with something disposable, look into biodegradable and compostable plates, cups, and utensils. For something a little less formal, check out the offerings from WorldCentric or the compostable cups from Greenware. For something with some eco-chic to it, check out VerTerra’s plates, bowls, and platters made from nothing but fallen leaves and water.
No matter what holiday you celebrate, make it a healthy, happy and green one!
