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!
