Cauliflower Greens!

I thought they were collards and cooked them…

Today’s harvest

I grew up on NYC. My Mom had a garden when I was a kid — tomatoes, eggplants, mint, and roses. I knew what those looked like. I also know what spinach, kale, etc., look like. And cabbage!

As someone fighting cancer, I’ve been growing a garden for the last couple of years. There are several reasons for this:

• Nutritional health — I know my produce is pesticide free, well fertilized, and typically cooked the day of harvest
• Financial health — while the initial cost to buy supplies, seeds or baby plants, etc., can seem daunting, you actually save money over the course of the growing season. Instead of paying $4 for an organic red pepper or organic heirloom tomato, you pay a lot less per plant, each of which produces several veggies.
• Emotional/spiritual health — there is something about nurturing a garden that nurtures yourself. At least I have found it so
• Social health — I pay $15 a year for a plot in a communal garden. The gardeners are a community. Experienced gardeners have helped me, a novice. When I have been sick, they have watered my plot for me. And we give 10% of what we harvest to the local food pantry.