New to the Raw Food idea up for the challenge

[tirose]

I am active and have noticed that my enegy levels are sinking, I have also been having an increase in the amount of times I get sick. I think this is due to the toxins in my system from the everyday encounters of life and I am turning to raw foods as a way to adopt a healthier overall lifestyle that will stop me from falling into the perscription drug overload of today. I am starting my own garden for vegetables and herbs so if anyone has any hints or words of wisdom I may need some

[rawhippie]

i started my own herb garden this year in pots.
the only advice i can give is make sure you give lots of space between seeds for basil, mine grew about an inch and stopped. i'm pretty sure because the're overcrowded. cilantro and chives grow quick and seem to be doing well. i'm pretty sure cilantro is a perenial, which is cool.
good luck with your garden and with raw food!!!

[elizabethh]

my words of wisdom are very simple: GET YOUR GREENS and DON'T GO HEAVY ON THE NUTS!
biggest mistakes raw fooders make is eating too many nuts (a high fat diet isn't good for anybody) and not getting enough greens (green smoothies, which are discussed in detail in victoria boutenko's "green for life")
good luck!

[waxpoetic]

I have a rather urgent question. Today I'm dehydrating basil. Why is it that, in preparing for drying (snipping leaves off, rinsing), I get brown spots on the leaves? Is it the trauma of snipping them? Maybe the water is too cold? I switched to warm water, but it's still happening. Any help would be greatly appreciated! We might get frost tonight (I'm in MN) and my basil will get zapped if I don't get it in the house. Help!!

~Julie

[SnowBunny]

Rawhippie~I grew some basil like that and it grew about 2 inches and it's still a whopping 2 inches high. whoo! So I brought then already partially grown, about 16in and those puppies are still growing like crazy and I eat off of them all the time and barely seems to do anything. Plus I have basil right about and don't have to wait for the seeds to pop and grow

Not sure about the brown spots though, I've never had that happen before. But since I grow it myself and generally don't wash it. Just snip and add to recipe

[waxpoetic]

I grow it myself, too, as well as many other herbs and veggies. But, whether I'm using it fresh or drying it, I have to wash it. Where I live, I have a gravel driveway, and dogs and cats, and kids. So, I never know if the kids are listening to me when I tell them NOT to shake rugs anywhere near my herbs, or if my dogs aren't sniffing around the ones nearest the fence. Plus, with flower particles falling off, and the possibility of insects, I wouldn't dream of not washing all my herbs. I don't mean to sound rude; you must just have better growing conditions than I do. I have a feeling I'm getting brown spots just from handling it. I know that basil is very delicate, so I'm super gentle with it......I guess not gentle enough!

~Julie

[greenbunny]

I'm a gardener. There are 3 things that affect your herb garden, what will grow and how. First is where you live, second is your soil and third is the season that you are gardening in. There are warm weather and cool weather herbs, there are annuals and perennials (things that live only one season and things that continue through the winter or come back in the spring) and there are plants that will grow where you live and plants that simply won't. There are some herbs that will grow in pots on window sill. Every plant has it's own culture and it's own demands for spacing, depth of sowing the seeds and soil/water requirements. Here in Texas there is a great book called herbs for Texas by Howard Garrett. There are probably similar books for every area of the U.S. If you are really into growing your food, the easiest, most time efficient and enjoyable way to do it is to get a good book and follow the instructions. Most libraries will carry such books.

Basil is a warm weather herb. It is coming up to the end of its season soon in many parts of the country. Here in Texas it still has a while to go if I keep picking off the flower heads. It's too late in the season anywhere to expect basil to give enough production from seed at this point. You can still get plants in pots though.

Almost all seedlings will need to be what is called "thinned". You plant a lot of seeds and pull out the ones that are weaker leaving just the best ones as far apart from one another as the instructions on the see pack indicate. Most plants do not like to be crowded. Some plants simply won't stand for it.

About the bruising with water. Maybe try a more gentle wash and more gentle handling. That has never happened to me either. The place right where you pinched I imagine could get bruised, but it's strange that it happens when washing. If gentleness doesn't change it then I would try washing in distilled water and see if that makes a difference. Maybe it's something in your particular water supply.

Happy gardening and happy raw munching!

Greenbunny

[greenbunny]

waxpoetic - you're online while I'm writing to you. if you want we can go to the shout area down below and talk!

Greenbunny

[waxpoetic]

greenbunny, are you online? Sorry about that; I'm always online, but stepped away to harvest more basil! If you're there, let me know.

~Julie