Asparagus, My Medicine of Choice

"Our food should be our medicine, and our medicine should be our food."  Hippocrates

Thoughts of asparagus are constantly passing through my mind.  I look out upon the garden and see the three-foot tall stalks/fronds and yearn to eat them but...it is only year two for the asparagus plants.  Gardeners are advised not to harvest the asparagus crop until year three.  It is easy to see why.  This year the size and number of stalks certainly has increased and a couple of the purple have appeared.  (The majority of the roots planted were Jersey Knight but 5 roots of the purple were also planted.)   

Recently, I discovered an interesting website, NutritionData: know what you eat.  Once you have chosen your food to research, information such as Nutrition Facts, Estimated Glycemic Load, Inflammation Factor, and Protein Quality, is provided for that food.  Because of my arthritis, I am particularly interested in the Inflammation Factor of foods.  For example, the Inflammation Factor of asparagus is 41 (mildly anti-inflammatory), whereas raw garlic is 4863 (strongly anti-inflammatory) and edamame (raw, green soybeans) is 0.  I can imagine this internet site becoming my favourite tool when planning foods to eat based on my arthritic condition.    

Talking about arthritis, I recently discovered a wonderful pain relieving cream, Tiger Balm's Arthritis Rub.  It brings warmth and some relief to my hands and the smell soothes and relaxes me....great for applying after a day in the garden.  

Yesterday was a hectic day of seed sowing for Barry....Orca, Jade, Black Turtle Soup, Tanya's Pink Pod, Ruckle, Red Hawk Kidney, Nez Perce, Ireland Creek Annie, Six Nations, Odawa, Dragon's Tongue (bush beans), Brita's and Neabel's (pole beans).  My favourite beans based on their colour is Neabel's, Odawa, and Orca.  We have to wait for harvest to know which one will be our favourite for taste, quality, and quantity.  The day before he sowed a complete 30X3 foot bed in Edamame beans (soybean)...we already know how much we like them!   Barry intends to sow the Scarlet Runner Beans when he plants out the corn...apparently they are good companions.