Looking for another excuse to eat your avocados and broccoli? A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that good levels of vitamin B6 — found in those vegetables as well as whole grains, fish and meat — may cut lung-cancer risk by as much as half. In a study of nearly half a million Europeans, some of whom smoked, researchers looked at the B6 levels in people who did or did not get lung cancer after five years. While there were undoubtedly differences in diet, the B6 connection was profound and unequivocal, even for the smokers in the group. That doesn’t mean smoking is safe if you take a supplement, but it does offer a good reminder about the importance of eating right regardless of your other habits. (Via CNN.)
Thyme for flavor and health
photo by orna izakson.
New Year’s day was as one of those perfect Pacific Northwest winter days — 45 degrees, misty and soft. The kind of day that smells and feels like earth.
My garden is pretty much hibernating. A long spell of deep cold knocked back the last of my greens. There’s a fairly even layer of deciduous leaves covering the ground, punctuated by bare limbs and decomposing stalks.
Still, it was a day to survey. And one of the bright points was indefatigable thyme, sprightly in the day’s gloom at the base of a fig tree.
Herbalists often like to play around with favorite herbs lists: If you only had three (or five, or ten) herbs to work with, which would you choose? On my lists, thyme always shows up. It’s incredibly easy to grow, tastes fantastic and makes powerful medicine. (more…)
six great reasons to start gardening
My favorite seed catalog came in today’s mail.
What’s new for 2010: organic Floriani red flint corn, green meat radish, Bolivian rainbow pepper, purple pac choy, ruby streaks mustard.
This is why I started gardening – I was awed by the incredible diversity of life I could sustain on my little corner of earth.
There were other reasons too. After my urban upbringing, I longed for the pastoral and bucolic ideal of self sufficiency and thriftiness. And certainly there were the political reasons: getting off the corporate food trough while promoting biological diversity and personal health.
But what really pushed me past reading and into action was a full-color catalog that arrived one Winter’s day. I saw purple carrots, speckled lettuces, striped snappy string beans, and a bright orange tomato that turned out to be an eggplant! If your vegetable education came largely from mainstream supermarkets as mine once did, you’ll understand my shock. Who knew there were purple potatoes, or that we could grow Thomas Jefferson’s beans or the Anasazi’s corn?
These days I’m a passionate gardener and my garden supports over 100 species. Here’s why you should tend a garden, even if it’s just a couple of plants: (more…)
