Friday Food – Garden Talk, Reading Labels, Comics

Posted on by Prior...

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Happy Friday readers.

Starting with a throwback picture:

Friday Flashback: We removed blackberry bushes (few years ago) because they were taking over the back area.  They were getting messy with old, moldy stems – and just not something we wanted to have around anymore. Every other year we had a huge crop of blackberries (and the third year was the biggest crop ever) – but they had to go. This was the LAST root to come out. Reminded me of life – and how sometimes when we make a change – or when we have to fix something – we might be dealing with a huge tap root – or we might have an embedded fibrous root system that will take time to eradicate. Can we be patient? Can we NOT grow weary while chipping away at progress? Can we stay strong and refresh as needed? Yes, we sure can. Yes, you can. 🙂 

 

 

Now for Current garden photos. 

My husband has his own raised garden bed this year. 

I am trying to give him space to experience the bits of gardening that people learn as they go. I did help trim a few things and helped stake a few plants- but it is fun to see him explore.

One thing I am not sure about (maybe a gardener out there knows) -is about leaving the veggies on the plant. 

How important is it to have vine ripe? 

Sometimes vine ripe leads to cracking and so I wonder if it is any better to let them ripen in the window or to be left on the vine?

The cucumbers are easy to grow and this one is thriving. 

My husband watered my flowers for me while I was gone up north 

And on the way home from up north (linked to #julysquares) – I was wondering how my liatris bulbs were doing. 
These liatris bulbs did not do as well as the two other sections I planted. (The white little curled leaves are liatris.)
These liatris leaves indicate they are happy there. They will get really tall soon. Keep you posted – I used to have a lot of liatris and I miss this tall, easy to grow flower. Butterflies love them and they add some nice height to a flower bed or container. 
liatris – source – Google images

MISLEADING LABELS

 

My husband has this saying for dangerous foods- he calls them the UNHOLY TRINITY: sugar, grains, and industrial oils. 

If you are ill and want to get well, may I suggest that you seriously think about getting off of these three items.

Or if you want to preserve your health – I invite you to explore how bad these three foods can be for immune function. 

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A few months ago, I grabbed a bag of these chips because they had Avocado oil advertised on packaging. However, the manufacturer snuck in some corrupted processed oils and this is no bueno.

I found a better brand, called Boulder Canyon, that uses pure avocado oil, but not this brand. And tsk, tsk, tsk for the misleading label! Canola oil is bad news for the human body – so is processed sunflower oil… 

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Another misleading label – this soap has no essential oils at all, yet the label makes it seem natural — as if it has rosemary and lavender. 

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Well that is all for today. 

 

wait, it is has been a while since I shared a few comics – so let’s have some Friday Funnies

 

P R I O R H O U S E 

2 0 1 9 

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51 thoughts on “Friday Food – Garden Talk, Reading Labels, Comics”

  2. Happy Friday – I enjoyed your previous post, too, by the way! I smiled at the cute little cucumber. Your garden photos were fun to see. Also, like your blue photo from the plane. Hope your weekend is wonderful and that you get time out in the garden to spend it enjoying the fruits of your labors! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Well I did not want one this year – but hubs has a raised bed and he really wanted to explore – and now I am
      Glad he has it going – oh and don’t forget you can do herbs indoors and cherry tomatoes in a container on the price – and small peppers 🌶

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Tomato cracking is usually too much water causing the fruit to swell. Pick them so they don’t get insects in the cracks and rot. Ripen in the window or wherever you ripen your fruit. Like the funnies too. It is lovely to see a new gardener getting down and dirty Yvette 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks so much BB-
      Good tips – and my brother – but if a master Gardener – lets them ripen in a window
      And some things he just has to learn as he goes – reminds me of holding back to let teenagers live and experience – but also staying in tune to help as needed –
      😉

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Lovely captures.

    As for the labels, ugh! Would it kill these companies to practice the preach? Why in the name of expediency do so many companies look to deceive rather than conceive better ideas?

    Happy Friday!

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Well said – and think it is cutting corners to save a buck )greed) because fake and synthetic are cheaper than real –

    Like

    1. Well for some of us we get sick from chemicals – that is how
      I knew the chips had bad ingredients – I felt like crap after eating a few – something was “off”
      And thanks for the comment 😉

      Like

  9. I read labels, too, Yvette. It’s important. I wanted to give you four thumbs up on your blog yesterday but I understand why you didn’t allow comments. But preaching to the choir here. 🙂

    janet

    Liked by 2 people

  10. I don’t have much knowledge about gardening but I know about one benefits. I think vegetables from your own garden can be much much safer than from the market.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. It is so important to read labels, just like reading the best before date. It should be mandatory. We have to know what we are putting into our bodies.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi – thanks for chiming in – and I heard that labels can sometimes legally leave things out too – so it is likely more important to also use brands we trust that have a good reputation – eh?

      Liked by 1 person

  13. I was going to buy some licorice in a natural store in Berlin a couple of weeks ago but it had that carnauba wax in it when I read the label. Of course, you remind us to skip the sugar but car wax? Yuck.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Ruth – inheard that the way is not digested by humans and it is deemed as harmless (“Carnauba , also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the palm”) but then again – it might be one of those cheap refined versions to make the product cheaper – like ice cream companies adding thickeners and so called “natural flavors” – I am like you and try to east without any of those questionable additives and so I would have skipped that licorice too

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Jill – good point about the crazy use of sodium – and it is not like they use good
      sea salt with trace minerals – – they are likely using the refined stripped down stuff – and I once heard someone say our culture mostly has salty and sweet – not enough sour – not nearly enough bitter and we need more umami

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh I know –
      And I just read a quote a quote about watering that made me
      Think of your comment —

      Woodland Gnome 2019 posted tbis:
      .
      “The master of the garden is the one who waters it,
      trims the branches, plants the seeds,
      and pulls the weeds.
      If you merely stroll through the garden,
      you are but an acolyte.” By Vera Nazarian

      Liked by 1 person

  16. I have never had a veggie garden and that’s because we have a lot of squirrels and birds around here. My father planted tomatoes one year and between the birds and the squirrels taking a peck or a bite out of them and casting them aside, that was the first and last time for a garden at this house. My friend in North Carolina used to grow a lot of the baby tomatoes and she had the same problem with squirrels taking a bite and throwing them on the ground, so she painted each tomato with tabasco sauce – hmmm. a lot of effort for tiny tomatoes. Last year my neighbor’s cucumbers grew out of control, creeping over the chain-link fence and into my daisies, what’s left of them after the Polar Vortex of 2014. The vine choked the poor things who would have cried our “help” if I had inspected them before they were under cover of cucumber leaves and weighed down by cucumbers. That scenario is not as funny as your cartoons Yvette. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can imagine your friend with the Tabasco and my- that would be a lot of effort to do so many small tomatoes – but I bet she had some flow —
      Also – we lost a lot of perennials during the polar vortex – and sorry about your daisies – and the invasive cucumbers – maybe next time you could cut it back – because I think if it is on your property you can do that –

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I did it last year and the cucumber has a mind of its own and has climbed the four-foot chainlink fence and shown up like a bad penny. I was amazed my friend painted Tabasco on those tiny tomatoes too – she eventually gave up because the squirrels and the birds were in them constantly – they’d take a little bite and throw them all over the place as they didn’t like the taste. I’m surprised that my roses are coming back because last Fall we had so much rain each weekend and then a hard freeze the last week in September, that we had snow before I pruned them for Winter. They were beautiful in the icy crystals but it made me feel kind of sick seeing them like that Yvette.
        These are some pictures of my poor roses in the snow:
        https://lindaschaubblog.net/2018/11/14/jack-frost-nipping-at-your-rose/

        They are coming back, but slowly.

        Like

        2. Yes, it is and to keep peace in the neighborhood I keep my mouth shut, but my perennials, what is left of them, are smothering beneath cucumber leaves that continue to wind and trail all over the place. They are as bad as the weed called “Purple Nightshade” which continues to invade my backyard with a vengeance.

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  17. Good for you Yvette. I too am a label studier. It’s amazing how misleading product names can be 😡. Don’t u just live it when the produce is fresh and local?!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Wow, the garden looks to be thriving this year. Those tomatoes look really ripe and lovely to hear the cucumbers are coming along. I heard tomatoes are one of the easiest fruit to grow. Labels can be misleading alright. A lot of fragrances and essential oils don’t have a drop of what they claim…often all made of up fragrance or perfume which is so bad for skin. When you speak of grains being no good for us. I am taking that you are referring to processed and refined grains. Then again, too much of anything is bad for us.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi M- well I do mean even those “whole grains” can also be tough in the digestive system – but this goes against what is conditioned in our culture – and hey – I say to do what makes someone thrive – and so if eating whole grains leads to health – then go for it- but the opposite is what we see in the lit and with folks we know – getting off the grains (and sugars and industrial oils) and the immune system is not suppressed and the bio terrain gets stronger and stronger –
      Oh and I have also heard that tomatoes are easy to grow –
      And we find it is true – along with cucumbers – and peppers – so many pepper plants seem to grow themselves –

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Different things work with different immune systems. Maybe over time we will evolve and be able to tolerate certain kinds of food better, or maybe not and we’re better off eating as less processed as possible. Don’t forget getting off the sodium too…too much of it is equally as bad as sugar.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Hi – thanks for coming back –

      and actually – regarding the sodium –
      we have come to find research that shows salt is getting blamed as the bad guy when it is sugar and to many carbs and lack of exercise pulling from health.
      salt is an essential nutrient from health – and sea salt (or unrefined Celtic salt) is vital to health – can feed cells and can also rid pathogens (my spouse sips sea salt water some mornings as part of his electrolyte recovery)
      and so I disagree with the blaming of sodium on blood pressure spikes – partly because usually the person with blood pressure issues has a systemic problem and so while some sodium (maybe the cheap refined salt that is added so processed food to stop it from spoiling) gives them red cheeks – or tries to heal their system – but some are so quick to make salt the bad guy – but then sugar and corrupted grains are allowed and never slammed.
      sugar is the bad guy but in our culture we get defensive about it.
      Processed food is the bad guy – stripped down – pulls from life – and does not nourish –
      and the fat free diet was the worse thing to ever be put forth – we need fats and oils for body functions and Brian health – and the beautiful slat in the diet feeds the cells – allows enzymes to fire – and has so many other benefits – as it flavors food.
      sorry – there are just some serious myths in our culture – and I am a huge fan of sea salt in the diet for health and longevity – along with good fats and oils

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That is a very interesting perspective, Y. There are different kinds of salt out there and refined salt as you inferred seems to be the one to avoid as much as we can. Healthy food choices come to knowing where our ingredients and food come from and how they are made.

        Liked by 1 person

  19. Yvette, I can’t answer the vine-ripened tomato question, but in the case of Jawja or South Calina peaches, ripening on the tree makes a huge difference. This is the time of year that I look forward to wonderful, juicy, sweet peaches at the local farmers’ market and I’m usually not disappointed. If, on the other hand, I buy them from the local big-box grocer, they’re usually hard and after a few days in the window, they go from rocks to rotten overnight. I have absolutely no scientific proof for this, but I wonder if the tree and it’s root system give the fruit essentials that it can’t get from sunshine alone. Same with tomatoes? ~James

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Great job on clearing out your black berries! That is a laborious, thorny project, but I bet it feels good now that they are gone. I love what you said about change and getting rid of the root system. It’s true it takes time to acclimate to changes. I am going through this process myself. I love your garden! I just started gardening and I love it. Mainly just pulling weeds right now. I hope you are having a wonderful summer!

    ❤ Alana

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Hubby’s green fingers? 😉
    You’re spot on with the advice on the so-called healthy foodstuffs manufacturers stuff into their products…
    As for the grains, sugar and processed oils… I usually tell people to avoid GPS… that way it is easy for them to remember… grain, potatoes and sugar! Imagine living in Ireland and suggesting people should avoid potatoes!! FUN!
    😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. the health folks i know would love your GPS idea and wouidnfulky agree !!
      and i cannot imagine how hard that is in ireland – lol
      and people can get very defensive over food!
      i am shocked by how much!
      and what posses me off (besides this horrible auto correct that slows my writing down as it changes my words too much) well it pisses me off that fat is the bad guy – not sugar!
      and they (“they”) slam SALT in the diet but never mention the sugar! the immune suppressing sugar that is making people depressed
      (read Dr Kelly Brogan to get how depression is often connected to sugar and grain diets) but most folks i talk to who got drugs for depression – were NEVeR told to look at sugar ingestion connection – they were not even told to exercise and to learn how to engage parasympathetic NS using bresthijng – some
      folks get CBT and proper electric help – but there is a covering up of his in the mainstream
      healthcare system!

      Liked by 1 person

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