Breaking It Down To Build It Up

This life is a series of circles. We're all slowly breaking down, slowly moving toward the beginning of the bigger circle of life. As an American in the human race, I'm fortunate to have advanced medical science at my finger tips. One can buy whatever is necessary, either perceived or real, to prolong life. Be it supplements, hiring nutritionists, dial a doctor and they will prescribe something to keep you  happier, living with less pain, make your eyelashes longer, and on and on and on. As we have been catapulted into this age of science with a "pill for every ill", somewhere along the line we've sacrificed our own health for profit. Doesn't it all come back to being what we eat?

There is a "whole foods movement" slowly taking hold in our American culture and that's fantastic. We're all thinking about the chemicals, the preservatives, the poisons we've put in our food and the potential long term consequences. We've already come to see what growth hormones are doing to our young kids, girls especially, with puberty hitting at younger and younger ages.

After a minimal amount of prodding from a dear friend who believes very strongly that food is medicine, I begged Mr. O for a juicer for Valentine's Day. What better way to say I love you than through healthy beverages? I had done a lot of research and found the best reviews, for the price point I had in mind, were for the Breville Compact Juice Fountain. Now, there is a lot to consider when looking for a juicer, and for me, I knew that I was in the centrifugal line of things, versus the masticating end. When you start to get into masticating juicers, the price point spikes. The advantages are getting down onto the molecular and cellular level of the plant extract, and while that would promote optimal health and healing properties, I'm thinking I'm still benefiting from centrifugal juice.

Here's the Breville set up and waiting to massacre a batch of celery, apple, grape juice. (I didn't have any other greens that I could sacrifice.

So, here's what it looks like after it's made short work off that pile of veggies you just saw. The machine comes with a lovely little tool that works perfectly to scrape all the bits out of the cracks and crannies, and whatever it doesn't get, I spray out with my sprayer. The other end of the tool has a hard bristle brush to scrub the screen out. It's neato. The components are dishwasher safe, but only top rack, and my top rack is not big enough to handle the stuff. Maybe you could get away with bottom rack, but I don't find it difficult to clean AT all. No more so than any of my other small kitchen appliances.

Beautiful to look at, pretty darn tasty, and VERY healthful. It was my mid morning snack.

The benefits of juicing are many, and if you're interested, I'd highly recommend doing a little online research, and see for yourself. A perfect Mother's Day gift to yourself, or for a loved one would be this nifty juicer. It really is convenient, and it helps recycle those veggies that aren't appealing for salads anymore. It works well with leafy greens, all sorts of hard veggies, fruits, and berries. It's a great investment in your health, at around $100, it can't be beat.

The other wonderful benefit to juicing is the ability to use the produce to it's fullest by either using the pulp to cook with, which, I don't find appealing, or composting. Composting is a fantastic way to continue the circle of your day to day household life. It takes all your paper towels, paper products, veggie scraps, lawn clippings and leaves, and makes a rich humus to fertilize the garden with. I strongly recommend composting if you haven't started already. It feels great to eliminate so much waste from our weekly garbage, and I'm eager to start using the compost I've created. It takes minimal effort to turn the compost, and with some sun, and help from Mother Nature, dark, loose soil can be apparent in less than 6 months. (At least that's been my experience so far, turning regularly with my "Garden Claw")

Here is my compost bin, which is kept on the kitchen counter, next to the coffee pot. All of the remaining pulp from my juice making goes into the bucket, and then out to the big compost bin in the yard.

Coffee grounds, egg shells, paper towels, grape stems, banana peels, et al.

My modest compost bin at the back of the  yard, behind the play set. Easy to get to, but out of sight for the most part. I find the "Garden Claw" to be a handy device for turning compost, and it's really sped up the process.

The interesting part about the composting for me so far is that I can see usable compost in the middle and at the very bottom, and you're supposed to be able to slide those doors up and scoop it out to use. HOWEVER, the leaves and dry "brown" parts slide over to the side. Maybe it's my technique. It's an ever evolving process and rather amazing to watch. Last summer, there was a point where I thought "hm, this is filling up kind of fast", and literally the next time I went out and turned it, it had reduced by at least a foot. It grows as we add to it and then shrinks away. I got very fortunate that I put it over a spot where we'd cleared a pile of lumber, and the bug life and worms were teaming there. So, they've been a huge built in help for digesting and breaking down the good stuff.

Break down all the unused stuff, to build up a strong, fertile, abundant garden!! Let's get growing.