Alternative Community Farmer/WPB.FL

Have you ever wandered in the wilderness searching for a wild edible weed /vegetable to eat?Man's best friend the dog does that.

Unless it is advertized or certified or recomended or imported or whatever,people wont eat it ..because it is wild or weird to them.

Introducing the indegenous Wild  Spinach Amaranth,Calalou "en Francais" or Kelite "en espanol".

This highly valued vegetable dates back to the times of the Incas and ancient indeginouspeoples of India and South Asia.

Mention Popeye and you will remeber Spinach.Now the wild Amaranth Calalou is MUCHO loaded with protein and  Vitamins like :A,C,D and the B chain .It is also known for its abundance with minerals like IRON ,calcium,magnesium.This has been known for ages to ancient INDEGINOUS peoples of the Americas, India and the Caribean nations .

It helps the immune system by charging the body with essential nutrients as mentioned earlier.It has some beleivers who swear by its VIAGRA like potency for stimulating the libido.DISCLAIMER:Remember that this plant is not a medicine or herb or drug.It is just a  vegetable grown for food purposes ONLY.It does not cure any disease.You need to check out FIRST with your health professional when in doubt apriori !

Here are some Calalou Food recipes:

Calalou Soup:

Steam a handful of cut calalou with half an onion diced.

Choose any favorite beans.Soak beans overnight.Cook beans after draining water for half an hour.

In a cast iron or stainless steel pot with two Table spoons of extra virgin olive oil:Saute garlic, half bulb,Half onion, half Table spoons of:Cuban oregano,cilantro,basil.Add pinch of sea salt and cayenne pepper.

Cut and dice:Two carrots.one green pepper,one unpeeled sweet potato or any other favorite veggies.

Boil half full of water pan.Add the above ingredients(except calalou) and simmer for fifteen minutes.Add steamed calalou at the end .Serve hot at end of meal.

Bon appetite.

Calalou Spinach salad:

Cut and peel stem of whole FRESH Locally grown Calalou bunch.

Cut/Mix the following locally grown vegetables and herbs in bowl: One Romaine Heart,TwoTomatoes,one cucumber,half onion,one tanle spoon of Cuban oregano,half cup of parsley,quarte cup of mint.

Combine the above together .Prepare a Tahini* salad dressing and mix with the Calalou salad.Refrigerate for ten minutes.Serve cold.Serve fresh at beginning of meal.Enjoy

*Tahini salad dressing:Two Table spoons of sesame paste(tahini).Half a cup of extra virgin olive oil.One lime or lemon.Pinch of salt.Crushed two garlic gloves.Mix all salad dressing ingredients.Add to salad upon serving fresh!

Last week we had a RARE visitor to South Florida:RAIN.

Mother Nature rained with a vengeance .Luckily , I am experimenting with a Flood/Draught Tolerant Container Garden .This reminds me of a friend who wanted to garden in a shallow area and I advised her to use  RAISED BEDS BORDERS to counter flooding.She did not want to listen. Imagine what happened to her vegetables? All oversoaked and lost.TOO much water is as bad as NO water at all.The ROOT system of the plants can be destroyed by either way:  Flooding or draught.

It is best to safegaurd against inclement weather , by implementing safe procedures  to protect the plants.

Here are some thoughts to share with you from my experience in gardening in South Florida areas prone to inclement weather hardships.

1-It is HELPFUL to consider PROFESSIONAL ADVICE from a local farmer/gardener before you attempt to start a veggie garden.

2-It is a MUST to study and measure the topography and the nature of the area intended for a veggie garden.Is there a slope or other hidden obstacles in the ground like :Pipes,entangled thick roots, toxic debris, etc?.Is the soil PH right ?Is it Alkaline or is it Acidic?

3-It is RECOMMENDED to get some LOCAL Gardening Education  by attending a  class or workshop and cultivate an INNER AWARENESS before you start DIGGING and cultivating the ground.Ask yourself: What kind of gardening methods to follow?What is best for your location: Raised Beds?Double Dig?Containers?Organic / Conventional?Ask questions.Read locally oriented gardening books.Check out and visit vegetable gardens in your area.Knowledge is power.ACTING on your knowledge is SELF EMPOWEREMENT! Do not let Ignorance or Fear interfere with your Passion to garden. JUST DO IT!

Here is what I do to safegaurd my garden against flooding and draught:

1-I choose native plants and  SEASONAL rotating crop- planting .

2-I build a protection border around my plots .I make sure that the location I choose is not prone to flooding.

3-I use  trenches for draught tolerant gardens .I  harvest  rain water by using rain barrels. I safegaurd against top soil erosion by using raised beds especially in areas that are subject to flooding.

Practice makes perfect and mistakes are our best teachers.

In an economic reckoning or meltdown or crunch or whatever you name it , the best bet is to save money if you can not make more !

Penny saved is a penny earned.

Now we who shop for Organic produce at an "X" health food store know how EXPENSIVE is the PRODUCE TAG. There are so many of us who are labeled "Green Thumbs"and  outdoor lovers , have opted to start a veggie Organic garden to replace the unproductive lawn in our front/backyard to save on the grocery bill.Others ,who do not garden, imagine that they have a "BLACK" thumb and go outdoors only to shop for their produce at the grocery store instead of growing it.Here is an easy way to harvest produce that is FREE for the grab for both categories of the imagined "Green and Black" thumbs .To save on the grocery bill ,shop for FREE at your front/ backyard  for NATURALLY , LOCALLY and LEGALLY grown Weeds! What inspired me to write this article is a book which I read recently  by Pamela Jones: "JUST WEEDS" !

 I recommend you READ it if you really want to have a full grasp and learn more about edible weeds.I hereby try to give some highlights and qoute selected excerpts  as a sample to invite your appetite!

Important note:.If you are suffering from a health condition , please check with your health professional first. The below information   is only meant to educate about wild edible weeds  considered by some as invasive  to be rounded up and eliminated from the garden.They are  NOT  to be used for whatsoever reason as food or medicinal alternatives to your doctors recommendations.They are only mentioned for informative and educational purposes and are NOT  recommended or intended to heal or cure any disease or condition.It is your sole responsibility to do whatever you choose to do on your own.

1-Couch Grass/Dog grass/Dutch grass (Agrpyron/triticum repens): "A perenial with both culinary and medicinal use.Part used is the root.The World famous Herbalist Nicholas Culpeper describes it:"The stalks are jointed like corn,with the like leaves on them,and a large spiked head ,with a long huskin them ,and hard seeds in them.If you know it not by this description,watch the dogs when they are sick , and they will quickly lead you to it."Europeans have long prepared juices or teas from the rhizome/root to purify blood.Also recomended, the dried and ground rhizomes by a French Dr.Cazin ,for gout,gallstones,hemorrhoids,scaby skin conditions,acne.."

2-Watercress (Nasturtiumofficinale):" A perenial aquatic weed that is usually located at springs,brooks,freshwater ponds...It is said to have high content of iodine and iron,as well as vitamins A,B2,C,D and the minerals calcium,copper,potassium and magnesium.

3-Purslane/Pussley/Pursley/Pigweed (Portulaca oleracea):"Annual weed that grows intermittently throughout summer in fertile and sandy sunny areas.It is used for culinary and medicinal puposes...According to Euorepean world famous Herbalist  Icholas Culpeper :...the seed expels worms..also Purslane soothes the heat of the liver...when applied to the eye it takes away inflammation".

Recently it was discovered that puslanes is rich in OMEGA3.

4-Dandelion (taraxacum officinale):" A perenial that grows at road sides,meadows,lawns,fields,waste places.Parts (leaves,flower and roots) are used for culinary ,medicinal ,cosmetic and commercial purposes.Nicholas Culpeper found it very effectual for the obstruction of the liver,gall, and spleen,for jaundice,urinary infections..."

Spring is in the air and weeds are everywhere..

Be aware of what is edible versus what's NOT and  terrible!

It is good to KNOW :what 's  legal to GROW!

When markets CRASH , just stash your CASH!

Most people look you in the eye and check out your color ,your accent and your clothes then they give you a label or a stereotype of what kind of a person you are according to their own standards..People in general judge and have preconceived ideas and want to know about WHERE other people COME FROM..They in contrast do not ask the grocery store produce clerk where their FRUITS and VEGGIES COME FROM !!!

DRAUGHT TOLERANT PLANTS....Which actually is a creation term of our own imagination, just like any other stereotype labels , keep the fashion of promoting and circulating the innocent LIES we learned or created.

Best thing to identify  people is  by their  culture /environment /earth or soil where their roots developed.The environment:Earth or soil and climate are the major differential  that gives us an identity of who we are and where do we belong to grow.The food which we  grew locally harvested and consumed tell the tale about our body and mind constitution. Apply the same concept to plants.Input equals output.Feed oneself trash and junk and be what you eat.Feed your GMO plants synthetic chemicals and pesticides and reap the same .

The soil ,the humidity,the temperature construe important factors that determine which plant or person fit in which land or soil.Those factors are so interdependent and interrelated to both  humans and plants.So I find the people who come from the desert or the tropics eat food that fits into their nature and the environment where they grew up.

We hear stories about Global Warming and people start repeating those stories.Hear this: The Farmer Almanac - 2009 is talking about Global Cooling...how many of us beleive it is the opposite that is going on.

So , back to the LABELED"Draught Tolerant" plants. .FIRST, Look for those pointers :Good soil preparation and drainage,mulch,organic matter,Shade,Good Root System and the dooubledig/trenches/raised beds dimensions depending whether your garden falls in areas prone or not to flooding!

Then pick a native plant and grow it.So many garden books describe native shrubs and ornamentals and ignore to list any veggies or herbs, for example.

I will make an exception and give  you a sample of what I grow in the draught of Florida summer, as an example:

A)Veggies: Okra , beans,eggplants, cherry tomato, tubers like sweat potato,cacti,kalaloo or caribean spinach,corn and Armenian cucumber.

B)Herbs: Cuban oregano,aloe vera,rosemary,lavender,lemon grass,NEEM Tree,Bay Tree.

C)Fruit: Watermelon,mango tree,papaya tree,pineapple

Practice makes perfect and the more you garden or farm the more of an expert you become.There is a learning curve to cover and local HANDS ON workshops offered by your local farmer or gardener are the best to check out first.

Since Rodale wrote his first article on ORGANIC GARDENING back in the 60 's we have evolved tremendously in the way of our consumption into more of ORGANICALLY GROWN PRODUCE.

Now in the 21st century with the inauguration of the second presidential Organic Garden in recent memory in the WHITE HOUSE ,we are ready to hit the ground and start growing our own.

First let us emphasise the importance of geting a  HANDS ON EDUCATION .

I was reading lately an article from the OPRAH Magazine June 2009  edition number 55 titled " Yours for the picking".What caught my attention in the article is the EASY and SIMPLE way it sounded how gardening is versus the general  public opinion of HOW HARD IT IS .  .It is not so EASY neither  so HARD if we learn the KNOW HOW from a professional gardener or farmer.Only the professionals who have experience and education can teach us how to garden.There are tons of books and magazines and thousands of web sites that we may refer to , but we need to pay attention to the location and the zone we live in.There are different climates and different seasons and different crops all depending on the LOCATION .That is why it is important to buy and grow LOCALLY besides getting a local gardening education as well!

It is more convenientand  easy to read a book or an article on gardening while in bed or behind a desk or in the comfort of air conditioned indoor environment, but the best way is to learn HANDS ON right in the garden OUTDOORS.

There are so many of us farmers and gardeners now offering workshops and classes to educate the public.Switch on to the blog sites like the one of \\\\ localharvest.org/blogs   , for example and search the   local events .It makes a difference.Tell a friend or bring one with you.

Gardening and farming was one of the first occupations since man took residence on earth.The ancient  Greeks built a garden first and later constructed the home around it.Villages and towns in ancient Egypt and Mesopotemia sprouted around fertile lands by "the Rivers of Babylon " and the Nile Delta.The Romans invented the canals for drawing water to arid lands.Recently the modern Gulf States are cultivating the deserts and farms are sprouting out of the sand!

What happened to this occupation in our culture of the push buttons and hi-tech cyberspace?As an after shock to the recent economic meltdown,people want to start a garden right now because that is the only job oppening close to home after being laid off!Also , it makes sense to follow the path of the Victory Garden which was introduced back in the 40's with a similar economy of  meltdown melieu / environment.Take deep breath and do some home work.Take it easy and have some patience.Gardening is a process and it starts from cultivating self before digging and cultivating the ground.

Here are some personal conclisions gathered from various workshops fascilitated on local organic gardening topics:

1-People have phobias of the outdoors in Florida.It ranges from fear of bugs ,sun,snakes,dirt to gardeners/farmers strangers with a different color or accent or class or you name the stereaotype you want..

2-People want your labor intensive expertise for less and want to grow the plants that they are used to from other states .Hello, we are in the Tropics..the land has a distinct and different taste of  HOT REGION PRODUCE.Get to know your locally grown and forget about taste and being picky.If you want to adjust just start talking to your nearest local farmer , visit his/her garden and get acquainted with what he/she grows or  knows .Get educated.Attend a class or a workshop for a start or read a  local veggie garden book ,if you can find one!Be pro-active!

3-Have ready a garden gear: Hats,gloves,boots,water,sun glasses

4-Lack of gardening knowledge is called ignorance not a BLACK THUMB.Have a hands on training session .Learn more about garden ergonomics .Ask questions related to the garden not about NATIONALITY or ethnic backgrounnd!

5- The times of affluence are over and now is the time to do it yourself and grow your own.Allow a transition period to re-adjust behavioral traits ,like learn how to meet people whom you have never imagined to meet  before because they are different from your already preconceived set of human standard.Respect makes no offence.Humiliation and judgement and intimdations are the worst tools to make the best of human relations .

6-Learn how to deep breathe when you are in the garden .It will open your lungs and also your mind will receive more oxygen and you will feel tired no more.

7-Listen .Learning the gardening process starts with an open mind and ear.

8-Just do it after you have learned it.Do not procrastinate beyond this point.

For more directions read my other blogs to further construe the cognitive as well as the constructive attitude to follow towards fulfiling the PRODUCTIVE GARDEN DREAM!

The journey of thousand miles starts with a mile.Bon Voyage!

I have more than eight peacocks that are protected as wild endangered species here in Florida .Lots  of other animal kingdom wild friends like IGUANAS also roam the garden freely and still I have vegetables to eat.The secret is grow what those friends do not like to eat.For example.I grow on the boundaries pineapple .They have spikes and so I use them as natural fence to discourage animal ( or human)trespassing !

Another technique I use is feeding the birds in certain area away from my garden so they get to know me as their friend and know that the dinning table is away from my garden.Animals have feelings just like plants and offcourse HUMANS do! So we get along and by respecting each others feelings we get by.

I found out that Tomatoes also can be a good safe crop at least for myself.The peacocks stear clear of the tomato plant because they know that the leaves are poisonous.They did find out about my Kalaloo spinach though and had plenty of free meals and I had to put a net around those spinach to save them.

The spuirrels ate all my sun flower seedlings once so I decided to distract them away from the garden and had some plates of nuts and sun flower seeds next to water bowl and man it worked they left my seedlings alone !

We need to learn our lessons from the plants and animals on conflict resolutions withoyt using FORCE POWER! I beleive offered food can be used as a good tool to make new friends with those animal intruders at the garden.How about feeding the hungry of our fellow human beings .I donate to a local soap kitchen and share my extras with those needy who I happen to know or who volunteer at my garden.I do not THROW AWAY FOOD in the dumpster.You will be surprised how many of us DUMP good food in the TRASH!

Those days of excess are gone and now we have less whether in money or resources.Let us make use of RECYCLING and COMMUNITY SHARING and renew the olden habits of the past which were passed to us by our mothres/grandmothers, fathers and grandfathers.History repeats itself and the lessons we learn and apply can make life more enjoyable and worth living.Giving is the key word.Acting on this word makes a DIFFERENCE. 

Remeber your mother this Mothers Day with a gift from the garden.Buy her an herbal botanical gift like a basket with living AROMATHERAPY PLANTS!

In an economy where the going is "WE BUY GOLD"..Turn the other way.Go back to mother earth to remember your mother.Create an herb garden for her.Take her out to a garden restaurant.

We have so much love to give back to her so why not say it in a GREEN WAY! I am inviting all my friends to a raw food buffet in the garden to celebrate Mothers Day.I am also fascilitating a class on growing Veggies in the Florida Summer at the same time!

My mother was my first  GARDENING TEACHER.75% of farms and gardens are owned or raised by WOMEN.They are the co-creators .They are the life givers . 

Lot of people I met who wanted to start a garden they told me they wanted to dedicate it to their mothers memory.Most had their mothers are gardeners and most wanted to follow through.Love is in the garden and in the air.Let us celebrate .

We need some humor to run our lives after so many waves of shocks and after shocks starting with the bail out to the ones who have and ending with the swine flu...so let us create some laughs.

Imagine yourself on the road with a shovel and a sign saying Nomade farmer on the move.Will work for organically grown food .

Or have a new dream of being given more money to stimulate the local economy and buying loto .

Imagine.....

1-A VEGGIE/FRUIT GARDEN REDUCES THE CARBON FOOT PRINTAND GLOBAL WARMING.

2-REDUCES THE CONSUMPTION AND THEREFORE PRODUCTION OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS AS LESS DEMAND WILL BE FOLLOWED BY LESS SUPPLY.IT INCREASES THE CHEMICALLY FREE PRODUCE THOUGH!

3-IMPROVES ON THE HEALTHY DIET OF ALL THE FAMILY AS IT INTRODUCES HOME GROWN ORGANIC FOOD HARVESTED RIGHT FROM THE BACKYARD.

4-SAVES ON THE GROCERY BILL -AND MEDICALL BILL AS HEATH IMPROVES -AND  GROCERY SHOPPING DROPPS.

5-BEAUTIFICATION IMPACTS ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD INCREASES AS MORE GARDENS ARE PLANTED.THEY BEAUTIFY YOUR CITY!

6-QUALITY FAMILY TIME INCREASES AS MORE MEMBERS COME ALONG WORKING THE GARDEN .COMMUNICATION AND SOCIALIZATION EFFECT PAYS IN BETTER FAMILY INTERACTION.

7-COMMUNITY GARDENS AS WELL AS HOME GARDENS FOSTER BONDS BEYOND THE FENCES.THEY PROMOTE DIALOGUE,CULTURAL DIVERSITY,TOLERANCE AND PROVIDE HEALTHY GREENS TO FAMILIES OF LESSER INCOME AND MEANS!

8-GET THE LOCAL YOUTH AT SCHOOLS AND HOME ENGAGED IN PRODUCTIVE SOCIAL PROJECTS WITH LESS TIME SPENT ON tv,INTERNET GAMES ETC.pROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN ABOUT RECYCLING,LEADERSHIP,DIVERSITY,SUSTAINABILITY ETC

9-pROVIDE AN EDUCATIONAL GROUND TO LEARN ABOUT OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT ARE PRODUCTIVE LIKE GARDENING SKILLS,COMPOSTING,

10-SUPPORT THR ECHO-SYSTEM,CREATE BIODIVERSITY AND BE A PRO-ACTIVE MEMBER IN THE NEW PARADIGM  OF PERMACULTURE,SUSTAINABILITY AND GREEN ECOLOGY

I have recently had  tooth  absess and boy with no health insurance..the pain was multiple.I endured and rushed to my garlic and herbs that grow in the garden.With no anti-biotics and no access for medical care I had to take care the \nature way and IT WORKED.JUST ADD GARLIC.

Now we have to worry about the new disease coming from the south border.Remeber the BUBONIC PLAGUE which happened in France back in trhe 17th century.Refresh your memory with GARLIC and go googling the miracle which saved the lives of the felons who were given the job of collecting human carcasses from the streets.THEY CRUSHED GARLIC and consumed it in a potent high grade grain alchohol.Keep a bottle of TEQUILA-CRUSHED GARLIC on hand!!!

Here I am absess free and back on track digging and planting.

Until you read the news you wont find out that there is an epedimic in Mexico.They want to stimulate the economy selling vaccines and masks to the WORLD.

Today in the news, the Mexicans are blaming WHO for being slack on taking action.WHO or the Worls Health Organization is denying it and it is the Mexicans who to blame .WHO Is blaming who...and the story  goes on and on.We must learn from history and start taking health into our own responsibility.I went to my garden and harvested all those organic greens and garlic and ate and juiced.Now I am feeling well and wellness really comes from home.Rest helped and most of all Garlic!

Stimulate the economy with ALL AMERICAN GROWN GARLIC from  GELROY CALIFORNIA.NOT The garlic imported from China.Stimulate your immune sysyem with GARLIC locally and organically grown.IT has been proven scientifically and in the lab that it works.Find out for yourself.Go to the internet and type "BENEFITS GARLIC" and you will be swamped with articles and studies that say so.This is not a medical advice.Please consult your physician before you eat garlic or any kind of food or whatever goes in your body!