World Vegetarian Day October 1st 2024 from https://happyeconews.com/
World Vegetarian Day is an annual event celebrated on October 1st to promote a vegetarian lifestyle’s ethical, environmental, health, and humanitarian benefits. It was founded in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) in 1978.
The date of October 1st was chosen because it is the birthday of the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, considered one of the earliest advocates of vegetarianism. Pythagoras believed all living things were sacred and should not be killed for food.
Vegetarianism has a long history dating back to ancient civilizations. It has been practiced for religious, ethical, and health reasons. There has been a growing interest in vegetarianism in recent years due to concerns about the environment, animal welfare, and personal health.
World Vegetarian Day is a time to celebrate the many benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. It is also a time to learn more about vegetarianism and encourage others to consider vegetarianism.
See also: Carbon Footprint and Climate Shadow: A Holistic Perspective to Face the Climate Crisis.
How to celebrate World Vegetarian Day:
- Become a vegetarian for a day.
- Start with Meatless Mondays.
- Try the meatless option at a restaurant.
- Shop at a farmer`s market.
- Support animal rights organizations.
- Have a vegetarian potluck.
- Watch a documentary about vegetarianism.
Fun Facts:
- Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat.
- 10% of the world`s population is vegetarian.
- India has the lowest per capita meat consumption in the world.
- Vegetarian diets provide a viable answer to feeding the world through more efficient use of grains and other crops.
- A vegetarian diet is good for your body because it contains fibre, folic acid, vitamins C and E, magnesium, unsaturated fat and phytochemicals.
- An acre of land can produce more food for vegetarians than meat-eaters.
May 10, 2024 – Unearthing the Art of Composting
Did you know that 25% of what Delawareans send to the landfill is food waste? It’s International Compost Awareness week and we have easy tips to keep food waste out of the garbage heap where it will create harmful greenhouse gases, and reroute that powerful decomposition in our favor with nutrient rich soil.
Saturday May 18, 2024 Join the Lewes Community Garden for an engaging talk about composting with Brigid Gregory from the Delaware Community Composting Initiative (DCCI). Brigid will provide a beginner’s guide to backyard composting as well as share about vermicomposting (aka worm composting) and the DCCI’s community composting program. She will share tips and tricks for managing your compost pile to prevent any pests or odors, as well as tips for explaining the benefits of composting to neighbors and HOAs. Brigid will also discuss Plastic Free Delaware’s other programs and how Delawareans can reduce their overall waste and dependence on plastic.
For more information on how you can start your composting journey, visit the link below for tips fro Elevate Packaging, our trusted experts in creating eco-friendly brand experiences with recycled, compostable, and recycle-friendly packaging.
May 1, 2024 – Bridget Sunday
Spring is an overwhelmingly abundant time of year for the wild food enthusiast. Foraging is an amazing way to supplement your diet with delicious, flavorful, nutrient-dense foods. Here’s a top ten list of my favorite common spring plants to forage:
Nettle. Rich in iron and minerals, this plant just keeps on giving. It will thrive in a bit of moisture and pairs well with elder shrubs in the garden, as their needs are similar. I love a potato and nettle soup, nettle pesto, or sauteed greens on their own. The best spanakopita of my life was made with nettles!
Chickweed. She’s been out for a few months now, and with the hot weather ahead will bloom and seed quickly, so get it while it’s good! In the latter half of my pregnancy with twins, I craved, and ate, a giant bowl of chickweed salad almost every day that spring. Its nutrient profile is similar to that of spinach, much more nourishing than cultivated lettuce.
Daylily Greens. Daylilies are prolific and somewhat weedy in the garden. Young leaves, buds, and flowers are all edible and are a traditional and cultivated food in some regions of China. Some people are sensitive to daylily greens, so saute up just a bit first and try them out to see if you experience any ill digestive effects.
Purple Dead Nettle. Not a nettle, really, and a rather fuzzy little plant friend. Some folks cook them up or add to salads, but I’m not a huge fan of fuzzy in my mouth. I tend to collect and dry dead nettle for nutrient dense winter infusions when most wild greens aren’t available.
Cleavers. Also known as Bedstraw, this sticky plant is a gentle, cleansing lymphatic herb, helping wake our bodies up from a deep and stagnant winter. Taken as a tea or blended up in a bit of water and frozen into ice cubes, I find this traditional spring tonic is a great treatment for poison ivy.
Plantain. Ubiquitous and hardy, both broad-leaf and lance-leaf plantain are used interchangeably. Young leaves are best, as they are more tender and less fibrous. I tend not to eat plantain as much as dry it for tea and topical applications. It’s well known for its first aid properties, but plantain is also a great gut healer and all around mucosal heroine.
Dandelion. Never waste an opportunity: the lesson of the dandelion growing through a crack in concrete! Leaves are deliciously bitter, aid digestion, and support healthy kidney function as a mild diuretic. Roots are great liver, skin, and immune support. Don’t forget the flowers! They can be added to salads, dried for tea, or made into wine, jam, and any number of treats.
Violets. A personal favorite, I love the mild mucilage of violet. Tasting a bit like spinach in a salad, they pack a nutritional punch as well as gentle lymph cleansing action (seeing a pattern in these spring plants?). Those gorgeous little flowers are also edible, but the most entertaining way to drink them is in a violet infusion lemonade. Brew up leaves and flowers, add lemon juice and sugar, then watch your green infusion turn violet!
Yellowdock. At this time of year both roots and leaves can be utilized. Young leaves have a mildly sour lemon flavor a bit like sorrel because of their oxalic acid content. For this reason, I prefer them gently cooked. The roots can still be harvested at this point and make a lovely digestive bitter, slightly milder than autumn-harvested roots.
Sochan. Also known as Cut Leaf Coneflower, Sochan is a yellow blooming Rudbeckia species, well known as a cornerstone of Cherokee cuisine. Beginning with the first shoots of spring, it can be enjoyed throughout the year. Its celery-like flavor grows stronger the older the plant gets, so I’ll eat pure Sochan in early spring, then begin to mix the stronger flavored greens of summer into other, milder greens like kale or sweet potato leaves. A quick sauté will get the job done.
And one more bonus plant!
Sassafras Roots. Sassafras trees love to grow in groves, so if there’s a large tree around, chances are there will be many wee sassafras saplings in your yard or garden each year. I like to dig up the roots, wash, and then cut them up before drying. When they’ve just begun to dry you can begin to simmer them for tea. Where I grew up deeper south, this is a well-known and commonly used spring tonic for “cleansing the blood.” Ok, so our blood isn’t dirty, but Sassafras is yet another one of those plants that stimulate our bodies’ post-winter cleansing actions and metabolism. It’s also excessively tasty and refreshing.
“Ecovillages are human-scale, full-featured settlements in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, and which can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.”
—Robert and Diane Gilman
Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities, 1991
To learn more about Earthaven, visit their website: https://www.earthaven.org
To learn more about foraging, consider Sam Thayer’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
Compost: Reducing the Impact of Wasted Food
The vegetable donations that we get on a weekly basis from our own gardens, farmers’ markets, and other charitable partners, are at their peak of ripeness so we end up with a ton of vegetable trimmings and scraps that would otherwise go into our local landfill.
Instead we transform it into soil gold with a simple composting process/recipe.
Freshly cut vegetable scraps go into the first tier (nearest in the picture) where they are mixed and turned under with dirt, dead leaves, grass clippings, small branches, etc.
Once that tier is full we start a new tier to allow the previous one to “cook” and worms find their way into the each fresh batch because they love that stuff and are an important partner in the decomposition process.
At the end of this process we end up with many emerging “surprise” plants from the seeds that were mixed in with the trimmings. At first, we tried to rid the trimmings of all of the seeds which was a real pain in the neck. Now, we just roll with whatever plants we get, and identify them when a tomato, squash or cucumber pops up!
Separately, we maintain a “worm farm” for red wigglers to cultivate castings (worm excrement) that adds more important nutrients to the soil. The watery runoff from that is used to feed both indoor and outdoor plants.
“There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together.”
– Dr. Charles E Kellogg
At the beginning of this adventure, we sought to make small changes that collectively contribute to larger cultural shifts. Composting is a great example of how one can personally contribute to larger societal goals.
Thank you for your continued support and always remember that small steps together can make a big impact.
-Cass & Teresa Ripley, Executive Directors
SPROUTS!
Sprouts are full of nutritious omega-3 fatty acids, vibrant B-complex vitamins, and packed with iron. And did you know you can sprout almost anything right on your kitchen counter? Add crunch to your salads and sandwiches using a mason jar and some sunlight. A fun little science experiment to feed the mind and the body!
“Food is the problem and the solution.” – Ron Finley
Areas without access to nutritious, high quality, affordable food are known as Food Deserts, and they affect the healthy eating habits of over 25 million Americans.
But what exactly is the “food” in Food Desert. It’s not necessarily that people living in food deserts don’t have access to plenty of calories. In fact, these areas tend to be oversaturated with convenience stores, fast food and other establishments that sell highly processed foods containing excess levels of sugar, oil, salt, and artificial ingredients. There is no shortage of cookies and snacks, crackers and soda but nutritious foods that nurture the body and mind, not so much.
Around the world, there is a direct correlation not just between poverty and hunger, but also between poverty and obesity. The reality is that being a person of low income makes it difficult to feed your family and even harder to provide them with healthy food. People living in food deserts are seven times more likely to have a stroke before the age of 45, double their risk of heart attack, and have four times the risk of kidney failure. And if you’re eating poorly and suffering health problems, it’s awfully hard to get ahead in life.
While this issue mostly affects low income areas, it may be tempting for those of us with plenty of food to think that equality in access is not your problem, but the truth is we are all impacted. The Milken Institute found that treating the seven most chronic diseases in America, costs the US over a trillion dollars a year. And even the most modest changes to unhealthy eating habits could prevent 40 million cases of chronic illness annually. That’s a lot of savings!
So what can you do to help? The quickest and easiest solution is to grow your own produce if you’re able and to share that bounty with your neighbors and community. Consider creating a Free Little Pantry, just like Free Little Libraries but filled with extra produce and personal care items. Donate your excess produce to a local food pantry or neighbor in need. Educate yourself on the reasons why food deserts are more prevalent in communities of color. And support those establishments that educate and cooperate with community members, such as our friends at the Lewes Community Garden and Richard Allen School.
Or get creative like Ron Finley. Tired of having to drive 45 minutes to his local grocer he decided to turn the 150ft by 10ft street median in front of his house into an edible garden which he shares freely with all who pass by.
Real food can bring us all real change.
For more inspiration find Ron Finley’s TED Talk HERE.
Consider wild game. Wild game meat such as venison is a natural, low-fat, high-protein, nutrient-rich red meat that efficiently fuels your body. In fact, eating venison instead of beef can help build lean muscle, regulate your metabolism, and reduce the risks of heart attack.
Due to human encroachment, deer populations have blown dangerously out of control. High populations in a system that cannot support them, and few to no natural predators in most areas, lead to poor health through the herd. Culling the population and harvesting the meat balances and supports the health of the local ecosystem. In addition to the benefits of eating venison, reducing our beef consumption is also a healthy choice.
Cattle farming became a major source of greenhouse emissions tracing back to the 1950s when its consumption skyrocketed. The animals are raised in high-density, inhumane conditions, and they are fed corn and other carbohydrates that fatten them up, but are not part of their natural diet, creating an excess release of methane gas from the cow’s digestive system. Next, trucks ship the meat for potentially long distances in plastic packaging. On top of these factors, we recently saw what something like COVID-19 can do to the supply chain when we as a society rely so heavily on meat manufacturing: Slaughterhouses became overloaded and workers were forced to work in unsafe conditions to keep up with demand resulting in illness and sometimes death.
Locally caught and harvested wild game meat makes sense in so many ways, it can sometimes even be more sustainable than organic pasture raised beef when we account for the carbon footprint of all these factors combined. Venison deserves a place in our diet and on our tables! With alternative protein sources, our dinner can make us feel good inside and out.
Try these delicious wild caught recipes at your next gathering!
Venison Sliders with Tomato Jam: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/new-zealand-venison-sliders-with-tomato-chile-jam-recipe-2111895
Venison Quesadilla: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/venison-quesadilla-recipe-2104933
Prepping your garden for Spring planting takes just a few minutes to plan but will reward you tenfold! Here are a few quick tips that can help you get the most out of your harvest.
- Carefully consider what you will plant. You’ll not only want to think about your hardiness zones, but make sure you choose something you like to eat! If you plant six tomato plants, you’ll be having tomatoes with every meal, all summer long with leftovers to can! So, be sure to vary your crops to match your dinner table.
- Pick a good spot. Most vegetables need 6-8 hours of full sun a day, but think about the sun’s intensity as well. Accidentally burning your crops can leave you with low yield and stunted roots.
- Test your soil. Residential soil almost always needs a boost, especially in neighborhoods with new construction where topsoil has been stripped away. The answer is easy: Add organic matter. The addition of a 2 to 3 inch layer of compost, decayed leaves, dry grass clippings, or old manure to the soil when you dig or till a new bed will redeposit the minerals that vegetables love most. Essential nutrients can be boosted with the addition of earthworms, which can be bought at local hardware stores or you can hunt for them yourself after a nice rain.
- Cass has discovered that using a covering mixture of pine needles and dried leaves as a quick and easy mulch blend, placed around the base of your plants, helps them to retain moisture between waterings.
- Here’s a tip from our friend Tony Mattox of Three Maples Farm: “When watering, make sure you water the roots of the plants rather than the leaves.” It is the most efficient way for your plant to absorb and utilize the nutrients it needs.
Let us know how you’re prepping your plot for the upcoming season!
Have Potatoes spuds growing on your potatoes? Cut off the growth and stick it in water. When you see roots, it’s time to plant. FREE Potatoes!
Plant the new growth in the ground or in a pot and let grow. Water regularly. Harvest the potatoes when the plant leaves turn brown.
Here are the some potatoes from the picture above.
Don’t through out lettuce bases. Stick in water and watch new lettuce come up. When you see roots, it’s time to plant. FREE Lettuce!
Keep it growing! Change water every day for better results!
Have a seed and want to grow it? Cover the seed in a wet paper towel and let sit. Keep paper towel wet, when you see growth, time to plant.
Need a little extra heat for a small greenhouse or the hoop house?
Here is a great little heater to keep those plants from freezing on those very cold winter nights! I use a ceramic bread bowl and two ceramic plant pots, one bigger than the other, and some candles. The heat from the candles warms the bowls on top. As the candles burn out, the ceramic bowls will keep the place warm for a while.
