Are You Feeling Chilly?
I was always pretty sensitive to the cold. I am a native of Florida, and for most of my life I would grab for a sweater if the temperatures got down into the 70s. Back then, I didn’t take any sort of multi-vitamin. But now I am comfortable going barefoot, even when it’s almost freezing.
What has made the difference? I believe it is mainly due to good nutrition. Before you go reaching for a bottle of vitamins, check out some of the other articles on this site regarding the dangers of synthesized nutrients.
Currently, most of my nutrition comes from years of eating from my garden and my small livestock. Since some of you might not have your gardens in full swing yet, and buying from the farmers market may not be in your budget, what can you do?
Read more: Prepare Your Body for Winter
An Inexpensive Option for a Fresh Multi-Vitamin
Have you ever heard of wheatgrass juice? You can grow varieties of wheat that are selected specifically for juicing the young grass. It makes a very powerful liquid called wheatgrass juice.
If grown in a rich organic soil, young wheat absorbs 92 of the known 102 minerals from the soil. Drinking the juice is like taking a super-vitamin that is easily absorbed by the human body.
And best of all, it only costs pennies a day. You can find several resources on the web, or leave a comment below and we’ll give you some recommendations. A good starting kit including a juicer only costs about $135. Oh, and for you apartment dwellers, wheatgrass is a great option for growing indoors in a small space.
Getting the Most Out of Your Wheatgrass
Azomite Trace Mineral powder is an inexpensive natural rock amendment made from volcanic deposits in central Utah. Azomite has 67 major and trace elements, and its name means “A to Z of Minerals Including Trace Elements.” That is pretty much every element that’s beneficial to plants and animals, and other elements (micro-nutrients) that scientists believe are essential.
I like to grow my wheatgrass in a mixture of my homemade compost and some Azomite. As the wheatgrass grows, it absorbs and transforms the minerals into a more digestible form for the human body. It’s more beneficial to eat wheatgrass grown in the powder, rather than simply taking the powder – although sometimes I simply take the powder straight.
The Best Multi-Vitamin That’s Not in a Bottle
An ounce of wheatgrass juice a day is about all you need. I can’t say I am particularly fond of the taste. And note that I don’t take wheatgrass juice continuously all year long, as it really is a strong medicine. But wow, you just can’t beat the cost effectiveness of this high quality source of nutrition.
Someday I’m going to do one of those polar bear swims and jump into the ice cold water. My friends back in Florida won’t even believe it!
Marjory Wildcraft is an Expedition Leader and Bioneer Blogger with The [Grow] Network, which is an online community that recognizes the wisdom of “homegrown food on every table.” Marjory has been featured as an expert on sustainable living by National Geographic, she is a speaker at Mother Earth News fairs, and is a returning guest on Coast to Coast AM. She is an author of several books, but is best known for her “Grow Your Own Groceries” video series, which is used by more than 300,000 homesteaders, survivalists, universities, and missionary organizations around the world.
COMMENTS(0)
I responded to an email from Marjory Wildcraft about the “free” gardening deck of cards. I went to the recommended site and ordered the cards and as she said it also tried to sell you several other ebooks each of which was progressively more expensive. I ordered the first one offered for $7.00 about vertical gardening. After placing my order I was supposed to have access to their website by setting up a password. However, it is impossible to access the site. I did get on a comment section and found many others had the same problem and were calling the site a scam. Several had placed orders for much larger amounts than me. I don’t know how to contact Marjory but she needs to let other people know before they also lose their money that this is a scam.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your post. I did like the playing cards – and they were quite a good deal. Yes, they did try to sell you much more.
I don’t think I will do business with these folks again. You know, the vertical gardening report claims you can feed a family of four in just four square feet of space, and really – that is ridiculous.
looks like you are being ignored or else she is privately getting in touch with you!
uh oh boy did I ever stick my foot in my mouth!!
Is wheatgrass an option for those of us who cannot tolerate wheat? It seems as long as I don’t eat the grain I should be okay, but I’m not sure. I’ve also heard that swishing the juice in your mouth before swallowing is excellent for one’s dental health.
Any extra info would be great.
Hi Camille,
I can say for me that wheat grass juice is not at all the same as eating wheat. I guess it is because it doesn’t have any gluten in the grass juice.
I have mixed emotions about wheatgrass juice. It is a very powerful medicine. I’ve done a pretty good bit of it and felt it helped me a lot. I am Thinking about doing some more this winter. But it is really strong stuff. It hits my bloodstream right away and I know it. I sometimes wonder if it is too strong a medicine.
Camille,
Perhaps your intolerance for wheat is actually a reaction to the glyphosate with which the crop is sprayed just before harvest. Farmers do this to “dessicate” or “dry off” the crops to make harvesting easier and slightly increase the grain yield. The trouble is that glyphosate is a systemic herbicide, which means it kills the plants from within the plants’ own systems. Once the glyphosate is sprayed on the crop, the plants take it into their roots and leaves and it spreads throughout the plants, INCLUDING THE SEEDS. As the plant dies, it puts its last-gasp survival energy into its seeds, along with an extra-strength dose of glyphosate. Once the toxin is IN the seeds/grain; it cannot be washed off or soaked out. You get the full dose when you consume the harvested, processed grain. Read up on glyphosate; it can cause cancer, disrupts the endocrine system (sleep/wake cycles, fertility, enzyme regulation, and many other bodily functions), weakens the immune system and damages DNA. Despite becoming “one with the plant,” glyphosate is not required to be labeled as an ingredient. You’ll find it in most grains grown in the USA unless they’re certified organic. Even if you grown your own, your land might already be contaminated with glyphosate, which binds up the available minerals and makes them unavailable to the plants. Glyphosate contamination can last for years and cost you plenty in extra fertilizers, as well as degrading the mineral content of the food you grow.
Hi, I would like to know how to get advice on which wheats to use to sprout.
I have no known allergies, but would just like some feedback about which varieties are the best nutritionally, and of course, we’d all like the one that tastes the least bad!
After decades of chronic health issues and cases of “excellent quality supplements” the thing that finally warmed my blood and got my energy level way up was not just the physical activity of gardening but also the wholehearted enjoyment of being outdoors, touching living soil and collaborating with creation to produce beautiful,healthy plants with, of course, the highest possible food energy. When we began to homestead up North I found that shoveling snow kept my circulation up all winter, and constant cold feet and dreading the chill of night is a thing of the past. In response to the increased physical activity our bodies increase the density of blood vessels in response to the greater demand o our muscles and bran activity. My thought is that we are not just burning calories, but making use of the great pool of life force that we forget about when sitting in front of a computer or being stuck indoors all day. Little kids can run, laugh and play pretty much non-stop. We have the goal of a crop and learning to manage the enormous details of developing and managing a property, but the foundation of that is charging along in the glow of a good life!
Just checked on Amazon and noticed that at least one of the Azomite products contained an anti-caking agent calciutm aluminosisicate. Aluminum??
Hi, Marjory: I read somewhere last week that wheatgrass juice DOES contain gluten after something like 14 days. So, for me (I don’t tolerate wheat gluten), I cannot do the wheatgrass juice. Do you know if something like alfalfa would work, as an alternative. But, yes, I do know you have to be careful to buy organic alfalfa seeds or they may be GE seeds!
I am interested in starting kit plus juicer. Also, what type of wheat are you talking about? May I have your recommendations please.
I grew and juiced some wheatgrass last year, but the whole thing seemed like too much trouble (I was told that you should only cut and use it twice before planting a fresh batch, also not wanting to buy an expensive dedicated juicer meant blending and then straining) I am always taking on too many projects for the time I have and really need things to be simple and self-maintaining once established (isn’t that the permaculture way?).
So, my questions are..is it really necessary to replant every 2 uses, or would a continuously growing patch of it be as nutritious…and secondly, what are the benefits of just eating the leaves as opposed to juicing it?
Thanks!