Roundup is a widely used herbicide whose main ingredient is glyphosate, and it has been shown to have harmful effects on plants. When applied, it can cause plant death and inhibit the growth of healthy plants. Repeated exposure to glyphosate can lead to long-term soil degradation, affecting not only the current vegetation but also the future health of the soil ecosystem. Moreover, non-target plants, including ornamental species, can be damaged or killed if they come into contact with the herbicide. This broad-spectrum action against plants underscores the importance of alternatives.
Category Archives: Gardening
Slow Living & Horseradish
A few years ago I received a message from a friend asking if I knew where she could find some fresh horseradish. Now, as it happened, I had planted a horseradish root, a left over from our Seder plate, a few years prior. Then I had forgotten about it completely until I got her message. So I happened to know the answer to her question. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Green Herb Sauce
At this time of year, fresh herbs are growing everywhere, and large bags of zucchini, tomatoes, and other fresh vegetables continue to appear in the coffee room at work or maybe on your front steps, seemingly from out of nowhere. So even if you don’t keep a garden of your own, this is a great time of year to whip up a batch of an herb sauce that will channel the magical properties of those gorgeous vegetables. Not to mention that it will increase the likelihood that you and your lucky friends and family will eat more of the nourishing and colorful phytonutrients hiding inside all those beautiful vegetables, especially the phytonutrients in the herbs and other deeply colored green leafy veggies. Continue reading
Whole, Intact Carbohydrates
I’ve been thinking about the fact that carbohydrate virtually never grows in nature without the fiber attached. Think about meadows, gardens, and orchards — all the vegetables, beans, fruit, and grains that grow in these places grow with their fiber matrix intact.
Why is flour that’s been stripped of its fiber and germ called “refined?” What’s refined about flour? If you look up “refined” in the dictionary you discover that to refine is to remove the course impurities. And that got me thinking.
Why would anyone want to imply that the oil-rich germ and fiber-rich bran are coarse impurities? Continue reading
Grand Celebration
Our brand new grandson was born into our family this past week, after which my son-in-law named it “Birthday Week,” not only for the fact of his own birthday and that of his newborn son, but also because we celebrated the first birthday of the infant’s newly promoted big sister! Birthday week!! In celebration of this newly expanded family, the week basically consisted of one wonderful meal after the next, all of which reminded me of a post that I wrote once upon a time about the meals at my parents’ small farm in the Watchung Mountains of New Jersey. The years have passed, and my own parents are gone now, but all our beautiful babies have been named in memory of my mother and father, and that has been a gift of its own. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Gazpacho!
If your counter looks anything like mine, it’s probably that time of year when you gather up your haul of tomatoes and turn them into soup. Tomatoes are best stored and eaten warm, so you’ll probably be starting with tomatoes at room temperature. Plan on making this recipe early enough in the day that it has time to cool thoroughly. It will be worth it, especially on these hot, humid, late summer days. Continue reading
Celebrating the Fourth of July
Below is one of my favorite posts, posted originally on July 4, 2010:
It’s the fourth of July today, and my family has converged on the family farm for the great annual bash. On and off since yesterday evening, strapping grandsons have been carrying cartons of beer, wine, soda, water, and iced tea up to the deck, where great drums of ice stand ready to receive them all. Continue reading
All Hail the 2021 Growing Season!
The first time I joined a community-supported agriculture (CSA) years ago, its kickoff late on a Thursday afternoon sent me racing out of the office at the end of the day. The first week’s bounty included lettuce greens, herbs, onions, kohlrabi, radishes. Adults chatted and children hopped around like bunnies as we waited for the strawberries to arrive. Continue reading
Something from Nothing: Gifts from the Compost Pile
Some years ago, when winter was coming to an end and spring was still soggy and cold, I discovered a lone organic potato in my kitchen. I have to specify that it was organic because conventionally grown potatoes are much less likely to root and generate offspring. This sad little potato was dried out, wrinkly, and way past edible. At least six little rootlets were beginning to form on the skin, and so I decided to try an experiment. I cut that little potato into six chunks, each containing a single rootlet. I dug a trench in the garden on the far side of our backyard, and dropped each of the pieces into the trench, about one foot apart. Then I covered them with dirt and waited. Continue reading
Real Food and the End of the Pandemic
For all the years I’ve written this blog I’ve talked a lot about real food, the kind our great-grandparents ate. Food that comes from the ground (or air or water). Unadulterated food, as opposed to “manufactured calories,” or “food-style products.” I’ve heard this idea expressed in different ways, like:
“Eat close to the garden.”
“Eat food that’s been through as few machines as possible.”
“Eat nothing that contains more than four ingredients.”
“Don’t eat anything your great-grandparents wouldn’t have recognized as food.”
“Be wary of foods that never go bad; if the bugs won’t eat it, it’s not food.”
I didn’t actually eat any differently this year, but talking about it on the blog felt like preaching. It’s not that the message was no longer relevant, but that it just didn’t feel nearly as important as usual. The most important message this year was to be kind to yourself, to do whatever it takes to get through the day. The worst part of all was that we didn’t know how long it would going to be that way. But this week I am feeling hopeful. Continue reading