It is 2018, TheGardenLady hopes your New Year’s resolutions includes gardening.
Catalogs are arriving in my mailbox and my wish is that I could add more vegetables to my garden. Living on a wooded property means that there is limited space for sun-loving plants, especially vegetables. Most of the sun in this garden is near the street. I am afraid of growing anything edible near this street where there is exhaust from the cars that drive by.
Because this GardenLady is trying to go vegan, I would love to grow and eat my own vegetables.
Why is this GardenLady trying to go vegan? More and more evidence is that a plant-based diet is the healthiest diet one can be on. But more important than my health is the health of our wonderful planet. There is more and more evidence that animal agriculture is polluting and causing harm to our environment.
TheGardenlady knows how difficult it is, in our meat-based culture, to become a vegan. However, with the growing global population, according to scientists, there may soon be so many people living that there will not be enough food to go around if we continue raising and feeding so many animals for food.
So how can we, who love gardening, help? Well, for one thing, we can cut back on meat/dairy or poultry products by using smaller amounts and planting and eating more vegetables. Make meat products the condiment of your meal instead of the main item on your plate and make vegetables the main food of your meal. Read this.
Or if you can, have one vegan day each week. On one day a week do not eat any animal product-no fish, fowl, meat or dairy. Here is what the results of going vegan 1 day a week would be if everyone did that dietary change.
Now back to how a vegan diet can affect your health, please watch the whole-food, plant-based diet video above or read about Forks over Knives that has a video, too.
While it is too early to start planting outdoors, you can start planning your vegetable garden by reading all the catalogs and choosing the vegetables you want to plant this year. If you are really eager to get started, read up on how to start seeds indoors so that you will be ready when it is time to start seeds in your temperature zone which is about 6 weeks before your last frost date and a chart.
Save a pig, eat vegan bacon: My granddaughter found this yummy fake bacon recipe that my carnivore son said he loved. I would add a little maple syrup to this recipe.
Do readers out there have any favorite plant recipes that do not use any animal by products like butter or eggs or meat? Would you share it with TheGardenLady readers? Let us all become creative vegetable cooks.