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Health Doesn't Happen by Accident

From Guest Blogger: Tiffany Edwards
I was a twenty-year old bride eager to occupy the kitchen, even if I didn’t have a hot clue where to begin or what to do. Here I am, twelve years later with six hungry mouths to feed on a single income. My number one goal is to be healthy and not to go broke doing it. I write to you not as one with a lofty education, stellar credentials or a gourmet kitchen. I come simply because I want to people to know that eating healthy on a budget is not only possible, but enjoyable.
             While there are endless ideas concerning healthy eating and money saving, I have chosen my top five tips. No two situations are the same, so modify as needed. Although much may be different, one thing is the same: we must make healthy choices in order to live healthy lives. Here are five ways that I try to do just that:

1.) Have a plan

Healthy eating and healthy money habits don’t happen by accident. Healthy choices are things we do on purpose to benefit our bodies, families and communities. Shopping on a budget and eating healthy meals are things that can’t happen unless we make a plan.

 

Here’s how to do it:

• find a few recipes. Call a friend, peruse Pinterest, check out a cookbook from the library. Find recipes that fit your budget and schedule, and write them down.
• make a menu. I plan my menu for two weeks at a time. I do this with my calendar in hand so I can see what is happening in life and what I need to plan meals around. You can do your menu for one week at a time or one month at a time, whatever you prefer. Arriving home late with hungry kids and no dinner plan is never fun. Planning ahead will keep you away from fast food and often prevents overspending.
• make a shopping list. I am a person that will go into a store and come out with $100 worth of condiments and a half gallon of ice cream if I don’t have a list. I will have a little of this and a little of that, which leaves me running to the store to get the one more ingredient I need for dinner. Then I buy another $80 worth of ‘good deals’... You get the picture. Take your menu and make a shopping list. Shopping lists save so much money if you stick to them.

2.) Shop sales

I was standing in line as the woman in front of me was checking out. The cashier rang up a bag of oranges. She was alarmed by the high cost and asked the cashier to check the price. He verified the cost and she shrugged as she put them in her bag. I had purchased the same produce at a different store twenty minutes before for a fraction of the cost because they were on sale. I knew this only because I had looked at the sale ads and made my list (and my menu) based on what was on sale.

I understand this can mean shopping at more than one store, and for many that is a challenging task. There are days I do and days I don’t because life is always different. I will say however, that if you want to eat healthy and save money, the best option is to shop multiple stores to capitalize on the sales.

Notice that I didn’t mention coupons. I don’t have an issue with coupons and I will use them as often as I can. Many times however, if you are not careful, coupons can cost you money. I will see a coupon for a product that I don’t typically buy, but because I am saving thirty-five cents, I clip it and spend the $3.25. Also, coupons are typically for name brand items when often, the generic brand, which is comparable in quality, is still significantly less. While this is not true for all coupon situations, be careful of coupons as you don’t always come out ahead.

3.) Stack your meals

One of the first things I did when we got married was find women I could learn from. My friend Cristy had two children and a full-time student for a husband. She knew how to cook and she knew how to save. She introduced me to a simple concept that literally changed my life: stacking meals.

I remember her showing up at my house with a whole chicken. What in the world are we going to do with that? I wondered. She explained the concept of boiling a chicken until it fell apart. We added the wilted celery and the forgotten onion from the dark corner of the fridge. We added the wrinkled carrot, a few bay leaves and enough water to cover the chicken. We turned it on medium and let it simmer itself to perfection. After letting it cool, we removed all the chicken, shredded the meat, discarded what was unwanted and transferred the broth to glass bowls to put in the freezer. I then planned two or three meals that used shredded chicken (chicken pot pie, a chicken salad, chicken soups...the possibilities are endless!) I also used the chicken broth for recipes calling for chicken broth. The first time I got three meals out of a $4 chicken, my life was forever changed.

Watch for sales on whole turkeys, hams or chickens. Roast, bake or boil. You can freeze what you don’t use right away if you want more diversity in your menu than eating chicken for three nights straight. This works for veggies too! If you enjoy basil, but find basil to be expensive, buy it and plan several meals that call for basil. This concept works with any ingredient.

4.) Avoid pre-made meals, snacks and drinks

As I navigated the aisles of my local grocery and writing this article in my head, I was asking myself what I did differently than others that allowed me to feed a family of six on a meager budget. I observed other carts and other shopper’s choices and there was one major difference I saw: I don’t buy snacks. Boxed ones that is. I don’t buy soda or pre-made beverages. I don’t buy the pre-made pot stickers or expensive microwave popcorn. I buy a limited amount of breakfast cereals and avoid things like breakfast bars and instant oatmeal packets. These things add up really, really fast.

These choices are often high in sugar, sodium, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup and more. Purchasing a bag of old fashioned popcorn kernels and popping them in your own pot at home is much healthier (you choose the amount of oil you add) and so much cheaper! It only takes a few minutes longer. Pop some extra and put it into small containers for an easy snack or lunch addition. Cheap and healthy.

We have a saying on our house: If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry. Snacks are not only expensive, they are often unhealthy. Take a bag of baby carrots for example. A bag of baby carrots will sell for around $2 while a bag of chips or box of crackers will cost $3 or more. Not only will the carrots benefit your body, brain and waistline, they will also benefit your checkbook. Save your money, boost your health and avoid the junk-food aisles.

5.) Do ahead

I understand that being healthy, making a plan and shopping multiple stores require more than intentionality, they require time. I understand that cooking a balanced meal and having healthy snacks available for growing kids with busy schedules requires a lot of time. Because I understand this, I not only plan ahead, I make ahead.

Take a Saturday morning or a Wednesday evening to brown meat, chop veggies, make granola (super easy!) or shred cheese. Purchasing things like pre-made bacon or shredded cheese only adds cost to the product and often sacrifices quality. Spend less and purchase the block of cheese or the pound of bacon to prep ahead of time and freeze what you don’t plan to use right away. You can boil a dozen eggs, peel them and put them in a well-sealed container. They will keep several days in the fridge. Easy snack. Healthy breakfast.

Buy a five pound bag of carrots and a bag of celery. Wash, peel and chop. Place them in a container, add a little water (to avoid drying) and just like that, you have a vegetable side for dinner, a lunch addition or an easy snack. Healthy and usually less than $5.

 

Plan ahead by planting a vegetable garden -- in containers on your porch, in a small patch of soil, or in a community garden. A few weeks or months later, you'll reap the benefits in extra veggies for meals and snacks.

 

Thinking ahead and acting ahead is a huge stress reliever. It will not only save you money, but you will stay healthy in the process.

Here’s to saving money and eating well!

Cheers!

Celebrate Food Day and Volunteer With Us October 24th!

Celebrate Food Day 2014!

We all love food, so spend your Food Day making a difference at a garden workday and potluck, next Friday October 24th! 

Come support community gardens and have a good time working outside! We will be completing projects at Vinewood Park Community Garden and Village Circle Community Garden.

Where?

Meet at the Gardens Project office at NCO 413 North State Street in Ukiah, and we will carpool out to the gardens

When?

Friday, October 24th. Meet at 9 am

Lunch back at NCO from noon to 1pm

Lunch?

To properly celebrate Food Day, we will provide a harvest soup to share, bring a potluck dish to share if you are able!

What to bring?

Please bring a water bottle, work gloves, and good working shoes.

Bring your friends, family, or neighbors to share in the fun.

Please RSVP to Jessie at jruff@ncoinc.org or call at 467-3200 ext. 399 

RSVP-ing helps us greatly with lunch planning!!

See you there!

Can't attend this time but still interested in volunteering? Click here. Or give us a call!

To read more about the gardens in Ukiah, click here.

Want to enjoy your garden for an extra couple of months?

Join us this Saturday!

Cover Crops, 'cause you gotta plant something!

Are you looking for a simple way to renew your soil this winter? Plant a cover crop! 

A cover crop will add nitrogen and organic matter to your soil while preventing erosion and weeds. Over the winter, instead of the rains washing away all of the hard work you've put into the soil, the cover crop roots will keep those nutrients and soil in your garden, and also help retain water. When Spring comes around, your garden will be ready for another bountiful growing season. Some common cover crops include fava beans, vetch, oats, buckwheat, and ryegrass. 

Cover cropping is super easy! Many garden supply stores sell a mix of cover crop seeds. All you do is broadcast (scatter/spread) the seed evenly over your garden bed, cover it with straw or a thin layer of soil (to keep birds out and moisture in), and let the rain work its magic. When the cover crop produces flowers just chop it up and turn it in to your soil. 
If you can’t chop up the cover crop before it goes to seed, make sure the seed gets incorporated into your soil as the seeds will now store most of the nitrogen. 

How does this work? Some cover crops are plants which add nitrogen to the soil by a process called nitrogen fixation. These plants have a symbiotic relationship with special bacteria that live in their root nodules and fix nitrogen from the air. These nitrogen fixing plants include fava beans, vetch, and clove among others. 

 

BUCKWHEAT

If you do plant a fall garden, don’t fret! You can still cover crop after your fall harvest. Buckwheat is an excellent cover crop which is not frost tolerant, so it works great as a mid-season option.

Looking to learn more about fall and winter gardening? Come to one of our garden workshops!

A Year in Review

We are often asked, "How many Gardens do you have?"
Our Reply? "NONE!"

However to this date, the Gardens Project has facilitated the development of 34 community gardens in Mendocino and Lake counties. 

Just in the past year, we've developed two new community gardens in Ukiah, hosted leadership development training for gardeners, updated and expanded the capacity of several existing gardens, and strengthened partnerships with many.

Here's a summary of all the fun we've had in the last year!

Coastal Garden Leaders at their first meeting in Janurary 2014, they graduate next month! 

Garden Leadership Trainings
Over the last three years, we've trained 60 gardeners in Mendocino County to become leaders for their community gardens, increasing the sustainability of gardens and building community. Since January, we've worked with 20 of those leaders of on coast, and a group of leaders in Willits from our 2013 training have continued to meet. The Willits leaders hosted a garden tour on August 25th.

The capstone project of a year long leadership training is the Photovoice Project. Participants take photos from their gardens and add captions to capture aspects of their garden experiences to share with community members and policy makers. Click here to view Photovoice Projects. 

Pinoleville Youth Build Students working at Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves Senior Apartments
20 new raised beds were created in Early Fall 2013 for Autumn Leaves. The Gardens Project partnered with and the Pinoleville Pomo Nation YouthBuild Program to create the raised beds. North Cal Wood Products donated redwood and Cold Creek Compost donated compost to fill all the new beds. All three have donated their time and resources to many other gardens working with the Gardens Project.  See all the photos of the beds being constructed by these resourceful youth at our Autumn Leaves Photo Album!

Vinewood Park at the Peak of the Season!

Vinewood Park Community Garden
Vinewood Park Community Garden is a collaboration between the City of Ukiah and The Gardens Project. The Garden is located along the North end of the park, along the fence line in an area previously underused and covered in ivy. The garden provides 12 wheel-chair accessible raised beds serving the Walnut Village Senior Apartments as well as 16 additional beds for neighboring families and individuals. Pinoleville YouthBuild, our most valuable partner in garden construction, built the fence, raised beds and communication board for the garden. See more pictures of the garden!

Village Circle Gardeners, October 2014

Village Circle Community Garden
Village Circle Community Garden was developed in partnership with private land owners. This garden is one of the largest community gardens in Ukiah with 49 plots, second only to the State Street Garden which currently has 54 garden plots. Gardeners from the Cleveland Lane Community Garden have transitioned to this new garden in preparation for their garden closing due to expansion of the Grace Hudson Museum.  Directly south of the garden are the Summer Creek apartments, who's residents are also participating in the garden. Thank you to Jason Dolan and Dark Horse Farming Company for providing labor and materials for the fencing, and also Ukiah Natural Foods for awarding the Gardens Project with a $2,000 grant to purchase fencing.

Tons of information for gardeners to see on the new boards.

New Communication Boards
 Five boards were created for gardens to post communications, gardening information by the students of the PinolevilleYouth Build Program.

Seed Starting and Transplanting Workshop, March 2014

Gardening Workshops
Starting in Janurary 2014, the Gardens Project started a series of workshops that take a new gardener step by step through the gardening cycle. We are so thankful for all of our workshop presenters, and are looking forward to the ones still to come!

Past Workshops in 2014
Janurary: Planning your Garden with Brooke Wilder
March: Seed Starting and Transplanting with Carolyn Brown
April: Water Conservation with Linda Macelwee
May: Bed Preparation with Luke Howerter
June: Drip Irrigation with Peter Reynolds
July: Natural Pest Management with Dan Storm

Upcoming Workshops
Oct 11th:Composting with Luke Howerter
Oct 18th: Row Cover Season Extension with Gloria Jarrell

Anderson Valley Harvest Party!

A great way to support local small, sustainable agriculture!