springtime

it's mid-april and that means a lot is changing around here. it has been unusually sunny for this time of year, which gets everyone in a fuss: shopping for shorts/sunglasses/swim suits, sitting with the masses on restaurant patios enjoying margaritas and bloody marys even though it's still only 58 degrees out. the weather tricks us every year by giving us just enough of a taste of sun in order to keep us/remind us why we're in portland before the rain comes back: summertime.

when the sun is out is when i'm the most productive. cleaning long forgotten dust bunnies, finally getting rid of clothes i'll never wear, mowing the lawn, planting the garden, transplanting house plants, saying yes as often as possible... i feel like myself again.

speaking of the garden: my seeds are sown! i still have some beautiful rainbow chard that thrived through the winter, despite (or perhaps in spite of) my negligence. in my 6'x4' bed, i have now planted kale (both dino and curly), broccoli, spinach, carrots, and lettuce. in my 4'x4' bed i have zucchini (i took a chance planting it early, hoping the last frost has passed) and onions. i have one large pot for strawberries and i have yet to plant cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, and peppers. i hung two long plastic containers on my fence for my herb garden: parsley, sage, cilantro, etc. and i have starts for rosemary, lavender, peppermint, and spearmint (seen in the photo above). clearly i'm more interested in vegetables than flowers, but the one flower i do want to grow is calendula, which is a beautiful bright orange flower that is a potent anti-inflammatory.

speaking of herbs, i have exactly 5 weeks until school starts. i went by the ACHS apothecary and picked up my materials for my first classes!

now, the herbs were an understandable component of the kit. but i've never had a class require me to purchase a bath brush! having some knowledge of dry skin brushing and the benefits to circulation i can understand the need, it just looks a little weird. these materials are for my introductory class on nutrition, bodycare, and herbalism. my first of three anatomy/physiology courses only has books.

lastly, there are only 3 weeks until my 6 day vacation to new orleans! it's in the 80s there this week, so i can only imagine how amazingly miserable it will be in may :) i can't wait. 

lil baby sprouts

alfalfa sprouts: day 2

how are these little legumes so delicious? i think 99% of it is texture. man do i love that crunch. i guess it doesn't hurt that they're packed full of nutrients like beta carotene and isoflavones (antioxidants, yo. they help protect cells from damage), as well as vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and potassium. and they maybe, just mayyyybe, can lower cholesterol and blood glucose. Also, due to their size and taste you can eat hundreds of sprouted seeds at a time, each of which may contain all the nutrients of a full grown plant. So, in a sense, you can get all the goodness of eating hundreds of fully grown plants in one meal!

the long and the short of it? they're good for ya.