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| Here I am with my sunflowers in last year's garden. They grew to over twelve feet tall! |
Okay, I'm not even going to talk about how long it has been since I last posted a recipe. In my defence, I have not been cooking that much due to the heat. I have also been socializing when I feel well, actually going out in public to restaurants, bars, parties! (Oh my!) My life looks a lot different than it did a few months ago. I could get used to this!
Today is a special day for me, it is the anniversary of my first post for Sheena Cucina! To celebrate, I am going to try to get my butt in gear and start posting more recipes! Speaking of my life looking different...the difference between my life a year ago, and my life today is astonishing. If this is the kind of progress my health has made in a year, I can't even imagine what it will look like in the years to come.
Something that has changed for me a lot since developing allergies is my view of food and the food industry. I do not eat anything artificial; no preservatives, additives, or colouring. I try to eat as many vegetables as possible, and try to make as many of them local and organic as I can afford. I am a huge fan of the back-yard food movement, and over the past couple of years have developed quite a large vegetable garden. The idea of being self-sufficient and providing my own food is extremely appealing to me. I have learned that food is medicine, plain and simply. So I try to grow as much of it myself.
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| Golden Detroit Beets |
In keeping with a local mindset, I purchase most of my seeds from an Ontario seed company called The Cottage Gardener. They have a wonderful variety of heirloom seeds to choose from, and I have had great success with these seeds. I can (and have) spent hours looking over their catalogue. Check them out, or try to find a local seed distributor in your area.
I started out small, and over the past few years I have increased the size of my garden. This year I am going to preserve some food for the winter by canning and freezing. I am also going to try to put some of my produce like squash, beets, and radishes into cold-storage in our basement.
Some of my veggies are a little late this year, I wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the summer so I couldn't get them in the ground as early as usual. However, this year for the first time I am planting a second crop of some quickly-growing and cold-hearty veggies! In this crop there will be things like beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes and Swiss chard. What do you have growing in your garden this year?
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| Ronde de Nice Summer Squash |
Arugula
Beets: Golden Detroit, Chioggia, Bull's Blood, Cylindra
Beans: Contender Snap Bean
Carrots: Yellow, Purple, Red, White
Cucumber: Double Yield Cucumber
Fennel: Florence Fennel "Zefa Fino"
Kale: Black Tuscan Palm Tree, Russian Red, True Siberian
Lettuce: Buttercrunch
Onions: Green
Parsnips: Harris Model Parsnip
Peas: Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea
Pumpkin: Small Sugar Pumpkin
Purslane: Golden
Radishes: Black Spanish Round Radish, Cherry Belle, French Breakfast, Plum Purple, Ruby Red, White Icicle
Rapini
Summer Squash: Black Beauty Summer Squash, Yellow Crookneck, Ronde De Nice Zucchini, Benning's Green Tint Bush Squash (a patty pan)
Sunflowers
Spinach: Bloomsdale, New Zealand, Strawberry Spinach
Strawberries
Winged Pea/Asparagus Pea (not actually related to peas or asparagus)
Winter Squash: Buttercup, Waltham Butternut, Golden Hubbard
Herbs:
Chives
Coriander/Cilantro
Dill
Mint: Peppermint, Mojito
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage
Savoury
Thyme
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| Golden Purslane. Many consider it a weed, but it is delicious as a salad green! |
