Spring is upon us. The sap is rising, bursting out in bloom and bud. (Northerners, I promise—she’s headed your way). Participate! Plant a broccoli seedling, or a few spinach seeds.
Here are some good reasons:
1. These vegetable-friends are loaded with nutrients that are anticancer and antiviral and antioxidant. You can spend a lot of money at the health food store to get these qualities in pills. Wouldn’t it be nice to pick them from outside the kitchen door instead?
2. Do something for the earth. OK, imagine standing in front of the produce section choosing your broccoli. That one you have your hand on most likely grew someplace far away…maybe even on another continent…and maybe was produced in a way that is depleting to the environment. It spent a lot of time and energy getting to your store, losing its freshness and using up fossil fuels. (For more on this, see http://michaelpollan.com/) Now imagine stepping outside your kitchen door to pick it so you can eat it *really* fresh. Think of that step as one small push of the pendulum away from the devastation of industrial farming in favor of the planet. How cool is that?
3. Take a couple of seeds on your fingertip. Press them gently into embracing contact with the moist molecules of some soil. Sprinkle with water and watch for the shoots that will become your dinner.
Connect with life! It’s the most antidepressant thing going.
The broccoli seedling I planted in my kitchen garden yesterday.
There was much garden prep going at our house yesterday. The garlic shoots are pushing up through the straw mulch and Tomato Medicine got pressed (by two-year-old fingers) into rock wool. We’re on our way!