Wheatgrass isn’t necessarily one of those food items that’s on every table, but should be. Recently a friend brought me a tray of soil and a bag of wheat berries. After soaking them for a few days until they were starting to sprout, I spread them over the top of the soil in the tray.
I saved some of the sprouting berries and put them in a jar to toss into my salads. If you buy your berries from a health food store, you still need to check if it’s suitable for sprouting.
In order to keep the birds and cats away, I loosely covered the entire tray with foil tucked in at the ends so it wouldn’t blow away. Each day, I sprayed it with water and watched it grow! In just a few days, I had my own little 20” X 10” private lawn.
As the wheatgrass grows, clip off the tops for your use. Some folks simply add a little water and whirl in a blender, then drink for a taste of fresh spring. There are expensive wheatgrass juicers, but I find that your regular blender works just as well.
Why drink wheatgrass? It’s full of everything you can possibly think of that’s good for you! Check out a longer list here, or Google “wheatgrass” for recipes and more information. Basically, it is 70% chlorophyll and is a total protein, with loads of vitamins and minerals.
My favorite way to get all those goodies in one drink is as a wheatgrass smoothie. When I buy strawberries or other berries, I use a bunch while they are super fresh, then blend the rest of them into sort of a “sauce” to use over ice cream or cheesecake or pancakes or whatever. (Oh my!)
To make this smoothie, add strawberry puree, a little soy milk or fat free milk to make it more liquid, and a little organic agave nectar for sweetness. You’ll need to experiment with your own quantities of each for your own tastes. Zap it up in your blender until it’s just the way you want it. Pour and drink!
A special thanks and big hug to my brother, Hilton Jones, who was my guest poster while I was away from my blog for several weeks. I spent many years living in California at different times in my life, but I had not been there to really re-live some of those days in a long time. I’m back home now, full of stories and pictures of my trip to California to visit family and friends, so you’ll be hearing about it for the next few weeks while I catch up on my gardening here in Hawaii.
Part of my journey included chauffeuring a friend who had recently had total knee replacement. The first Sunday I was there, he wanted to visit his favorite breakfast spot in Palo Alto. To our surprise, California Street was closed off for a Sunday Farmers’ Market. We managed to find a parking spot, eat a hearty breakfast, then wander through the market to sample the many varieties.
There was almost too much to take in, and of course, there wasn’t much of it I could bring back home. Still, I had loads of fun talking with the vendors, buying a few things to eat while I was in California, telling them about my “gardening blog,” taking pictures to show my fans. This first post (there will be several) is about the variety of fruits I found there. I still didn’t get pictures of everything, even after making two Sunday visits to the market!
In 1997, the Urban Village Farmers’ Market Association was formed to provide local and regional foods. This page gives information on the other markets that are part of this non-profit association. Some are year-round markets, others are seasonal. If you are traveling through California, please stop and support this wonderful phenomenon.
One of the first stops I made was to the Triple Delight blueberry stand, since I try to eat blueberries every day. They are so delicious and super good for you. These were some of the plumpest and brightest blue I’d ever seen. I quickly got over my shyness and asked to take a picture of this lovely couple. I visited them a second time before I left to come back home to Hawaii. Both Sundays, there was a line-up of people waiting to get their blueberries. May they never run out of blueberries, because I promise to come back to visit again!
It was cherry season, and there were several varieties of cherries everywhere! Even after a big breakfast, I couldn’t resist sampling the sweet red cherries and colorful Rainier cherries . . .
Apricots have such a short growing season, so I was happy to be there on a weekend when they were on display. I had tried some from a local grocery store earlier in the week but they weren’t nearly as tasty as these from the market! Various vendors displayed combinations of apricots, raisins, cherries, and peaches.
Of course, we had to taste their fresh raspberry jam. My friend loves to make jam and calls it his “retirement therapy.” He bought a jar of theirs to take to his house. My luggage was already getting over-stuffed or I would have brought a jar home, too. Here you can see other products from the Prevedelli Farms.
I leave you with this incredible display of Prevedelli’s fresh, delicate and luscious raspberries, as well as a glance at some of their other products.
Since I can’t visit this market every Sunday, I invite you to go and check it out for yourself, then come back here and make a comment on your own reaction.
Today’s post is devoted to RED, the color for Valentine’s Day. Wear RED – and make a statement for women’s heart health.
Don’t forget to give your sweetie a gift card from Amazon! There are all sorts of garden tools, books, and chocolates available – whatever s/he might want. Check out the link in the right-hand column. It’s a great “last minute” gift for those of you who forgot (or are wondering what in the world to buy)!
Probably in the top five of my favorite fruits you will find strawberries. The ones shown above are grown here on the Big Island and are the sweetest I have ever tasted. This is just about the time of year when we expect to get the very best.
If you read my post in December on poinsettias, you’ll remember how huge they become here in Hawai`i. They are still in full bloom along the roads, by the way. It will be another month before they begin to fade.
