Mint ~ Not Just For Fresh Breath! PLUS! Soup recipe!

It is widely known that mint is wonderful for providing fresh breath. Our toothpaste, gum, and breath fresheners all have the benefits of mint. My favorite ice cream is mint-chocolate chip and I also love peppermint patties, but did you know that fresh mint has many more benefits than that? 

Cold season is fast approaching, for some of us it is even already staring us in the face. Mint can help give relief if a cold does strike you and your family. The strong aroma of mint provides great relief of congestion and irritation in the nose, throat, and lungs. This means you can breathe easier when you have a common cold or even ongoing respiratory disorders, like asthma. That being said, do not overuse mint for these purposes because too much can cause irritation.

Now that shorter days are coming, some people may feel the Winter Blues. This is a very real thing, but mint can help you combat it. Mint is a natural stimulant. Sometimes, just the smell alone can kick your brain back into high gear. When you are feeling tired, anxious, sluggish, or even depressed try fresh mint or essential oils. Add some to your tea or coffee, take a deep whiff, or even dab some on your skin. You will notice a quick, refreshing recharge. 

Even though insects are not as prevalent during cooler months, they will be swarming us again before we realize it. Mint has anti-pruritic properties, which are wonderful when used to treat insect bites such as mosquitoes, wasps, hornets, and more. Mint provides a cooling sensation which will calm the itching sensation these bites cause and a natural anti-inflammatory to bring the swelling down. Mint is also a wonderful repellant for bugs because the smell is unappealing to them. The same properties that give you relief from insects will also help with acne. It will soothe pimple irritation as it helps swelling and itching go down.

Mint aids in weight loss in a natural and healthy way. Not only does it stimulate your mind, mint also stimulates your digestive enzymes that absorbs the nutrients from food and consumes fat to change into energy. This means when you add mint to your diet, you are aiding in turning fat into energy. Not only will you feel like being more active, you will burn more fat while you are active. That is a win-win to me!

Growing Mint is simple. You don't have to have a lot of space to do it in either. I love the Nancy Jane Stacking Planter. It allows you to grow many different herbs and plants all at the same time. You can have a full blown herb garden in less than a foot of space! Maybe you would like to spruce up a drab wall or railing, Wallpots are perfect for that. Attach them right to your wall and start growing!

 If you would like to start your herbs from seeds, then a Seed Sprouter is just what you need. It takes

up very little room and you can keep an eye on those precious seedlings.

 

If you plan to use fresh walnuts that you gather yourself, then we would like to help you gather and crack them. Use a Nut Wizard to roll right over them, even in grass, so you don't have to bend over to gather them. We also carry a nice selection of quality Walnut Crackers so you can put that hammer down! 

All of these items and so much more are available on our websites. 

www.VerticalGardeningSystems.com

www.855sheller.com

www.GardenHarvesters.com 

 

Cilantro: Natural Healer

Did you know that some of those herbs you have planted are wonderful for more than just great flavoring in your favorite dishes? I love finding natural alternatives to use in place of some medicines and over a few blog posts, I want to share various ones with you. Today I will share about Cilantro. It is one of my favorites and I use it often. I especially love a fresh homemade salsa with Cilantro added.

Cilantro, also known as Coriander, is a wonderful cool weather herb. It thrives in a cool, moist garden, while it doesn't linger around in hot weather. You may recognize Cilantro from the unique flavor the leaves give when added into your favorite Mexican or Thai dishes. Cilantro seeds are also known as Coriander, which is a prime ingredient in Indian curries. It is noted to be one of the oldest spices in the world, dating back to 5,000 BC. Aside from a wonderful and refreshing flavor, Cilantro is a powerful digestive aid. Its cleansing properties are capable of removing heavy metals as well as other toxins from your body. Cilantro is also known to be a strong antioxidant, good source of calcium, and increase levels of HDL while lowering LDL. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antibacterial, anti-nausea, and antimicrobial properties. There are many more benefits to this little herb. I highly suggest adding it to your garden or herb box if you haven't already. Here is a simple recipe to use Cilantro. I am using the one from RealSimple.com that I enjoy. Eat this pesto on toast, in pasta dishes, and more for a refreshing flavor.

When I am growing my own herbs, I like to start seeds in a Sprouter. It helps me keep an eye on their growth and progress. I like to use the Victorio Seed Sprouter because it comes with 4 trays, so I can grow different types of seeds at one time. When they are ready, transplanting into a container is simple when you just remove them from the sprouter and into your rich soil. 

My favorite planter is Nancy Jane Stacking Self Watering Planter. This is a little planter that acts like you have plenty of space. 3 stacking planters offer 9 unique spaces to plant in. You can plant a wide variety of flowers, herbs, and vegetables all in the same planter, yet you don't have to have a lot of room.

To chop my ingredients for Pesto before adding them to the processor, I use a Food Chopper so I can get a smoother consistency without having to run the processor as long. If the Cilantro gets too heated, it can start losing the beneficial properties. 

You can find these items and more on our websites:

www.verticalgardeningsystems.com

www.855sheller.com

www.lawn-gardening-tools.com

Cool Weather Herbs and Rata-stoup-ie

I love to have fresh herbs on hand for all of the wonderful soups that come with cool weather. There is nothing quite like sitting around the table with loved ones to share a hearty and filling meal, unless you know that most of those ingredients came straight from your own bountiful garden. Seeing others enjoy the fruits of my labor always puts a smile on my face that is usually accompanied with a deep, content sigh.

You don't need much room to plant a little herb garden. Even if you are limited on space, you can still have fresh herbs. A few that do really well in mild cold weather months are Parsley, Cilantro, Mint, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Chives, and even Lavender. Fall is the perfect time of year to plant them since they are hardy and will grow quickly. Even better than that, you can plant them all together in the same container, or use beautiful green parsley and cilantro to spruce up existing flower gardens that are brimming with beautiful Winter flowers.

Now To Use Them!

I came across a wonderful Rata-Stoup-Ie recipe from Rachael Ray that is just delightful. It will use some of those fresh herbs you have lovingly planted and a few other garden fresh vegetables that you can also grow in small spaces. I hope you love this hearty soup as much as my family does!

Rata-stoup-ie

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 lb potatoes quartered (ANY variety works, but I prefer small red potatoes)
• 1 eggplant, chopped, skin on
• 1 zucchini chopped, skin on
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh Thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
• 4-5 leaves fresh Sage, thinly sliced
• 30oz tomato sauce
• 1qt chicken both
• Parsley, generous handful
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Bread of choice 

Preparation:

1. In a large soup or stock pot heat your olive oil and tilt pot around to cover the bottom and then add garlic over medium heat.
2. Add potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and onion. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 min.
3. Add Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth, stirring thoroughly. Cover an cook over medium heat for 15 minutes; stir occasionally.
5. Remove from heat. Discard Thyme and Rosemary stems (leaves remain in soup and will have fallen off. You can omit this step but plucking the leaves before adding.) Stir in Parsley.
6. Serve with bread and enjoy!

I use vegetables from my garden and even make my own tomato sauce. For this particular recipe, you can use everything straight from your own garden except for the chicken stock of course. I like to make my own chicken stock when I boil chicken for other things and then I flavor the leftover water and can or even freeze it for later. While preparing everything, I like to have a little kitchen help. Here are the gadgets that help me prepare soups like this. You can find ALL of these wonderful helpers on our website www.lawn-gardening-tools.com or you can click right on the name to take you straight to the product. 

I have a special chopping board with knife that makes chopping all of these vegetables a breeze. One board, one knife, simple clean up and storage. I love my EZ Cutting Board. For smaller tasks, I sometimes use my Food Chopper. Either will work just as well and save you time.  For fresh tomato sauces, juice, stock, etc I use a Tomato Press.  I love to gather my garden fresh tomatoes and spend a day making puree, stocks, sauces, and marinara, then I freeze them so I can pull them out all during the year to enjoy. If you would like to can your tomatoes or make your own chicken broth, I highly recommend our Multi-Use Canner. It even has a built in thermometer. How neat is that?!

We even have you covered when you are ready to plant. Check us out at www.verticalgardeningsystems for a wide variety of container planters.