The value of a zone 1 kitchen garden or the benefit of “gardening from the back door out”

I am housesitting a house. The house is nice with lots of gardens, chooks, fruit trees and a large garden. There are lush herbs and greens growing in said garden. However, the garden is not right outside the door, its a tiny walk to the other end of the house, up a path and through a gate. Maybe 30-40m from the back door; tops. Not far right?

But what if you’ve just scrambled some eggs and need some herbage to sprinkle on top? Extra snappy mind, you don’t what cold eggs and toast! In my case, I don’t really want to go on a miniature mission to get some herbs, I’ll just go without, after all its only one meal. But, this happens all the time. I make some food inside, and then I’m thinking “fresh greens! Its not a meal without some”. Then I start skipping the fresh greens unless I have the forethought to harvest a days worth in the morning. And I can’t stand refrigerated greens that you buy and leave lying around for days. In my opinion greens need to be fresh otherwise they’re shit. Tasteless, limp and sad.

So I have come to realise the importance of my zone 1 kitchen garden. Zone 1 referring to the area on my property that is visited the most. This area is essentially right outside the door. When I make food at my house, I just whip out the door a few steps grab a load of leaves: chives, parsley, sow thistle, dandelion, purslane, brahmi, lettuce, sorrel etc. give ‘em a rinse and munch ‘em down with lunch. This practice ensures that I get all the goodness fresh leaves offer and most of my daily vitamin and mineral requirements in a form that is most easily available to my body. Fuck vitamin tablets, that’s what plants are for.

Now if my zone 1 kitchen garden were at the back of my yard and through a gate I would probably be inclined to do this less. And I think most people (not health die hards!) would act similarly. A small kitchen garden, even if it is just some easy herbs and greens right outside your door, allows us to pick nutrient dense food to fortify every meal. A garden right outside your door massively increases the likelihood of you obtaining the extra little bits of nutrition that are so important with every meal. Parsley and dandelion are two of the most nutrient dense herbs on the planet, chives are also one of the best for bioavailability of nutrients to people. So grab some pots or some seeds or whatever and plant food right next to your door!

Smiley face bean!

I grew this little guy last summer. 

"I just bean having a good time, you know"

Sustainable toothbrush alternative- Licorice Root

"Its soo simple.." (Owen Wilson as Hansel from Zoolander): when stick becomes toothstick

Did you ever wonder what people did to clean their teeth before the invention of toothbrushes and toothpaste? I used to for a long time. I just idly wondered what people did to clean their teeth. Then, sometime later, I happened to read a caption on a photo in an anthropology book about how healthy the pictured stone-age tribespeople were. I think they were Africans. The caption remarked upon the fact that the people in the tribe had very good teeth and that tooth decay was very rare amongst them. It also mentioned how the people were able to meet the needs of each other so well (indicating a healthy young toddler in the picture and an elderly man), in a desert environment ‘civilised’ man would call positively hostile. I then read about the use of tooth sticks in “Making it” by old Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne. I then saw a Youtube video of a guy brushing his teeth with a licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) and hearing his anecdotal claims of it helping to heal a cavity in his teeth!

 

From that point on I decided I would be crazy to buy another plastic toothbrush, what with these awesome alternatives available.

 I believe toothpaste and plastic toothbrushes are made for profit not for dental hygiene. Well, maybe that’s not the whole truth. Though it is probably the guiding principle with regard to toothbrush existence.

 

So what to do? I have been trialling the use of licorice root as a tooth brush for the last two and a half years. I don’t think I will ever buy a plastic toothbrush again. Even my dentist was impressed at how effective my humble root was. However, it was difficult to get her to admit this; entertainingly so.

Here is a short list of the pros and cons I have found with using a licorice root

Pros-

·         Cheap, can be free if grown, can be organic (very much desired)

·         tasty

·         gain all the herbal benefits of licorice (improved digestion, calming, better sleep, ween from sugar etc)

·          returns to soil

·         gentle on gums

·         allows for thorough cleaning of each tooth

·          interesting conversation starter prop (simply brush your teeth in class, after smoko or lunch or on the bus to or from work/school)

·          disconnects your dental hygiene from the globalised capitalist matrix of terribleness; every little disconnect counts!

Cons-

·         Slower than conventional toothbrush.

·          Can be expensive to get in Bunbury and regional places, in East coast and Europe/America is cheap.

·         You may look like a drooly doofus if you forgot to brush your teeth the night before and end up brushing your teeth at work/school/on the train etc.

Of course there are other ways to brush your teeth too. 

A small sampling of plants that provide toothsticks include:

·         Oak trees (Quercus spp.)

·         Liquidambar styraciflua

·         Some Birch varieties, esp. Black, cherry and sweet.

·         Possibly some Melaleuca varieties

 

Traditional cultures around the planet have always used toothsticks so it should not be a problem to find some in your local area, barring that, you can grow your own and order from your local health food shop until your plants are big enough.

You can also make your own toothpaste with simple cheap ingredients. My housemate uses one involving clay powder. I am happy with my licorice root so I haven’t explored much other teeth cleaning techniques. At the very least I think everyone will benefit to a transition to compostable toothbrushes which are now widely available.