Broccoli Christmas Tree

 It's finally time to start eating out of the freezer because any remaining vegetables in the garden are frozen. (I'm ignoring the turnips, the Jerusalem artichokes, and the small kale leaves.) I've been preparing my freezer for this day, and it is brimming with possibilities. 

Oops, my sweetie went to the food coop and saw the organic broccoli Christmas tree. He had to buy broccoli. We are having broccoli for dinner. The freezer will have to wait.

Desire strikes. Fresh organic broccoli looks so much better than a cold frozen vegetable.

Maybe tomorrow.

Worm Castings

At the Seed Celebration yesterday, i bought 3 bags of worm castings. To put it bluntly--worm poop, which looks like really rich soil. Perhaps we could call it worm cast-offs?

Many people use worm castings to fertilize their seedlings, but i'm putting mine directly into my houseplants.

The sustainability movement is built on the assumption that what goes around comes around. I call that karma.

Out in the garden, i want to use organic products because i can see it's a very short step from what goes into the ground nourishes what comes out of the ground--and goes into my mouth.

One woman's trash is another woman's treasure. Or in this case, one worm's trash is this woman's treasure.

The Clean 15

If you want to save money and buy non-organic fruits and vegetables, then these are the ones that are safest:

• Avocados
• Sweet corn
• Pineapples
• Cabbage
• Sweet peas (frozen)
• Onions
• Asparagus
• Mangoes
• Papayas
• Kiwi
• Eggplant
• Grapefruit
• Cantaloupe (domestic)
• Cauliflower
• Sweet potatoes

Some of these make sense, because they have heavy rinds, like avocados, pineapples, and cantaloupe. For the rest, you'll have to delve into the research of the Environmental Working Group.

As a localvore wannabe, i've been saying No to produce from the tropics. The cabbage and onions at my food coop are local and organic, so that's what i buy.

Oh, those tropical fruits look so delicious.

A line from the chant on loving-kindness says

contented and easily satisfied,

...and frugal in their ways.

This is one way we can practice loving-kindness toward all beings--by being contented with what we have, feeling "contented and easily satisfied," even with second best. Like when we choose cabbage instead of lettuce leaves in a plastic container.

Being "frugal" in our ways is absolutely counter-cultural. We are not frugal in order to be stingy; we are frugal so that there is enough to go around. Enough for everyone.

We want to practice loving-kindness to all beings.

12 Fruits and Vegetables You Really Should Buy Organic

According to Andrew Weil, there are 12 fruits and vegetables you really should buy organic, due to the heavy pesticide loads these non-organic produce carry:

• Apples
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Celery
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Sweet bell peppers
• Nectarines (imported)
• Cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Snap peas (imported)
• Potatoes

 No matter how much you wash these vegetables, you can't wash the pesticides out of them. And when you start thinking about potatoes--potato chips, french fries, hash browns--just how much pesticide do you want to eat?

Saying "No" to big beautiful California strawberries is not easy. Our sensual desire overwhelms us and whispers delicious rationalizations into our ears. We suddenly want to treat ourselves; we don't want to deprive ourselves of a big, beautiful, pesticide strawberry.

Sensual desire hinders our meditation and hinders our best intentions. But we want to see things as they really are. Look closely. And look again. Feel desire in your body.

You may be saving money by buying non-organic, but you are spending your health, your immune system, your very body.

The Organic Composting Handbook

The Organic Composting Handbook has arrived! Authored by Dede Cummings, I wrote the Introduction and 32 of the sidebars.

This handbook is a comprehensive guide to composting with some reality-sidebars thrown in to make you smile.

Eat Your Weeds

My friend, Trudy, age 88, recently self-published a book of her watercolor paintings of edible weeds. She offers wild weeds as a free source of organic vegetables. Her freezer is full of nettles, sorrel, and fiddlehead ferns. She digs up dandelion roots and keeps them in her refrigerator crisper drawer where they sprout green leaves all winter. Her kitchen is a veritable den of red clover blossoms, sumac staghorns, and who knows what else.

Nature can be our outdoor grocery store. Shall we eat healthy, natural food? Or shall we consume junk food?

What healthy "food" are your senses consuming these holiday days?

What "junk food" of TV, shopping, internet, etc. are your senses of sight, sounds, touches, smells, and tastes consuming?

Take a walk outdoors, perhaps a mindful walk. Look at the weeds alongside the road. Eat/see/feel your weeds.

Daily Sustenance

We have a beautiful farmstand (www.walkerfarm.com) with organic vegetables just 2 miles away. I drive past it every time i go to town and again when i come home.

Beginning in July and continuing through August, i stop every day to buy 3 ears of corn and a pint of blueberries.

I feel quite grateful to have good and trustworthy food so close by.

A good and trustworthy spiritual path beckons us. It is as close as our own body, our very breath. Our path begins with a daily trip to the cushion (or to your meditation chair--or sofa, in my case :)

This daily foray into quiet reminds us of what is most important in our lives.

Take a moment now.
Right now.
Close your eyes and listen.
Close your eyes and feel the body.
Close your eyes and notice your breath.

Nourish yourself with the daily sustenance of natural food and natural meditation.