You have now planted your own organic vegetable garden and have done everything that you can to get it started. Unfortunately the seeds have not started sprouting or your started seeds have not grown much if it all. Before you throw in the towel and give up on organic gardening there are a few things that you should try.
First of all, have you been hand weeding your garden daily? This might sound like a pain and stupid chore but it could make all the difference in the world. Make a point of visiting your vegetable garden each day and carefully checking for weeds. Do not let the children do it and do not rely on a glance from your back window to tell you whether weeds are growing or not.
Many gardeners have done casual checks and later realized that the sprouts they thought were growing in their garden were really weeds. Make a close inspection each day and weed by hand to make sure the job is thoroughly done. Throw these weeds away do NOT put them into your compost pit. In order to get the best results dedicate 20 minutes each day to pulling weeds.
If you have been weeding your garden each day and your plants still seem to be growing slowly start adding rich, aged, compost to the slow growing vegetables. Many plants just need a helping hand and some vegetables, corn, pumpkins, and squash, all need compost to provide richness and nutrients. Spreading some aged compost from your composts pits will help your vegetables grow properly.
After adding compost to your vegetables every few days leads to no results consider investing in some manure from your local garden supplier. They will often have organic manure on hand for your gardening needs and this will act as a stronger fertilizer than your compost. If you are afraid to try manure you can invest in some aged compost purchased from a nursery first. In many cases your compost pits will only be a few weeks old when you are trying to use them to encourage growth some older compost might just do the trick.
Do not be afraid to increase the amount of water that you are giving your garden. You should be careful not to over water your plants but you want to make sure that your plants are getting enough water to survive and thrive. When you water your plants in the morning always check to see if the soil appears dry. If the soil seems dry one day after watering you might want to consider increasing the amount of water you are giving them. The soil should always be a little damp around your plants.
Lastly, do not be afraid to spray your homemade pesticide or even a bit of diluted soapy water on your plants to get ride of insects. If you notice a lot of pests are attracted to your vegetable garden consider spraying once every ten days or once every two weeks. Also, spray diluted soapy water directly onto vegetables that have insects on them all the time.
SURPRISE! What we've actually just done is cooked all of the vital nutrients OUT OF THEM, actually changing the molecular structure of the food and rendered it TOXIC.
I know, hard to believe, right? But it's true. And here's why.
Raw or living food, which is food that has not been processed or cooked, contains enzymes. Enzymes assist in the digestion of foods. They are known to be the "Life-Force" and or "energy" of food.
From Wikipedia:
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions. In these reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products. Almost all processes in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are extremely selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.
That's a BIG definition, I know. To put it simply, enzymes help our bodies to digest and absorb food. Without them, our bodies function less efficiently by not properly utilizing the food we do eat, and even causing toxicity in the body. This is said to be a major reason why so many Americans are overweight.
SO WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
Raw or living food is a very viable way to ensure we are getting more enzymes and minerals into our bodies. Raw food is just as the name implies, living food that is never heated above 115 degrees, give or take 10 degrees, and is NEVER processed in any way.
True "rawists", as they are called, or "raw foodists", believe in eating only an uncooked, unprocessed and organic plant based diet. So what would a raw foodist grocery list look like?
Organic, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, grains and legumes in sprout form, seaweeds, microalgae (spirulina, chlorella, etc?), and fresh juices.
Some say a true raw food diet is 75% of the above raw foods, others argue it's 100% or nothing.
But?.as you know?.here at Moms Organic House we don't do "all or nothing", we do practical, every day. That means that if we incorporate even 1 raw food into our daily organic lifestyle, we are doing something healthy. When we do that something healthy, consistently, we are doing even better.
Organic fruits and vegetables are the obvious place to start if you are interested in exploring the benefits of raw food.
SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Raw foods are easy to digest, and they provide the maximum amount of energy with minimal bodily effort. Studies have shown that living foods have healing powers that can alleviate many illnesses from low energy, allergies, digestive disorders, weak immune system, high cholesterol, candida, to obesity & weight problems (weight normalization), etc.. Research and real life experiences have also shown that a person can prevent a body's healthy cells from turning into malignant cancerous cells by consuming mostly a raw food diet & whole organic foods!
Sprouts, according to happycow.net, are a great way to add fresh and vital nutrients to your diet. The sprouting process brings out many enzymes in the germinated seeds, legumes, and grains which makes them easy to digest. Raw sprouts, otherwise known as living foods, are full of pure vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll, as well as a good source of protein. Essential amino acids are found in some sprouts.
Sprouts are an EASY way to incorporate raw food into your organic lifestyle. You can eat them as a snack, use them in salads and put them on wraps or sandwiches.
Organic, raw vegetables and fruits is another very easy way to increase your raw food intake. Eating them raw, or juicing is something you can easily add to your daily routine and it will yield you huge health benefits.
RAW FOOD SAFETY
Raw foods are by their very nature, more perishable. There are some general guidelines to follow to ensure your safety:
* Wash your hands thoroughly before handling raw foods.
* Wash the raw foods thoroughly. Soaking in water with a tbsp. of vinegar and then 2-3 rinses is highly recommended, especially for store bought raw foods. Fresh from the garden are generally safest, but even then a few thorough rinses won't hurt.
* Remove any rotted or blemished parts of the raw food. If organic, leave the skins on as there are significant nutrient value in them.
* When juicing, prepare and drink immediately rather than storing them in the refrigerator. They quickly lose their nutrient value and they tend to spoil much quicker than you think.
You can easily and effectively add raw food to your practical, every day organic lifestyle and get some great nutritional value from it with a little less cooking and a few safety steps.
Both Juliet Spalding & Denise Palmer are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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