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Veganism from the Latino's Perspective.

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Gardening

We’ve Got Collard Greens

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Collard Green plants

For a major part of the year last, I was reading about the leafy greens that were going to give us a nutritional boost. My mission was to find as many leafy greens as possible. I wanted collard greens but they did not sell them at the local stores and read about the benefits of eating kale but did not have any luck getting them at the supermarket either.

Talking to a few of our friends we found greens at the local organic market that we visit every first and third Sunday. When we first started purchasing seeds, we bought them from a farmer called Raul Rosado who owns Desde mi Huerto. He has all types of seeds that he grows and sells. You can also buy the seedlings from him via his website or from the organic market.

Collards we encircled with bricks

I decided I wanted to start with collard greens and planted them with Daniela. Well our dog JuanGa decided that the planter was a toy and spread the seeds around the yard. I told Raul not to be surprised if something sprouted somewhere. Well several weeks passed by and we finally had some much needed rain. After the rains came, I noticed a bunch of thick leaves in the corner of the yard.

I told Raul that they looked like the collards we planted in a pot and the ones we had been purchasing. Well we confirmed what we thought. We had collard greens growing in the ground thanks to JuanGa. They were actually bigger than the ones we had re-planted in another pot.

Our first time picking collard greens

Raul and I decided that we were going to start growing the rest in the ground as we saw how quickly they sprouted. So far we have eaten from them three times. Just recently one of the plants started sprouting flowers. I see more collard seeds to be planted in the near future.

What have you planted recently and what have you made with what you have grown?

 

Plant, Grow, and Eat!

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This is a guest blog post by our friend Dwight Santana. @Slayerkun on Twitter. 

Margarita

Lately I have discovered a passion for plants. Throughout the process I realized that I can plant, grow, and depending what seeds I purchase, eat. Mostly I have been planting flowers and other type of decorative plants, until I tried to grow some plants with actual purposefulness. I mean not to underestimate the miracle that are flowers, but they are mostly decorative, and I wanted something more with a purpose.

Sweet Peppers

Plant and Grow

So on my “gardener” journey, I started experimenting with cultivating some plants that are either edible or they grow some type of produce. I planted herbs, a tomato plant , lettuce, peppers (Regular and sweet), culantro (coriander), mint, “Yerba Buena” (that stuff that looks like mint and it is use to make mojitos but its not mint), “Anis” and Albahaca blanca” (white basil.)

Sweet Peppers Bail Me Out

At first I thought it would just be cool to plant them and grow them and make it a hobby. Until one day I  was cooking a potato salad and I realized I had not bought some peppers. In my frustration that I’d have to change to mashed potatoes, I remembered that my sweet pepper plant had flourished!

It had green, red, and some yellowish ones. This was perfect I thought, so I picked them, really cleaned them with some water and soap, an proceeded to use them. Let me just say they were delicious and fresh. But a different kind of fresh; a fresh you can only get from just picked produce.

Coriander or Culantro in Spanish

The fruits of my labor

Then I realized that this hobby had turned into something else, something with an actual purpose. This plant completed my meal and it saved me from running out to the store to buy peppers. This part about not going out saved me gas, supermarket parking fee, time (important) and having to actually buy the peppers that would have costed me around $3 dollars. I thought I could be onto something. The thought that I had was not just in the monetary savings; I knew that they had grown naturally without any help of fertilizers or everything else they are used at the farms. It was easy, fun, and the space I used for them is minimal.

Where I live there’s not that much space for planting but I used pots and they are doing really well.

Grow what you can in limited spaces 

I also thought this might be a good resource for saving some money and if you are vegetarian it helps a lot since organic food at places like “Freshmart” are  more expensive.

Here is an opportunity to  actually see  what you are growing and what you’re going to eat.

Some plants that can grow fast are: beans, pumpkin, corn and a variety of vegetables. And here on the island many of them have a perfect weather to grow.

Orange Roses

I may not be vegetarian, but fruit and vegetable are a great part of my meals, so slowly I might change and start  a project, where I can eat just what I plant. I’m betting I’ll be saving a lot when that happens, and the best part, I really don’t need a farm, just some time, pots, and good weather.

All Photo Credits thanks to Dwight Santana!