Wellness Wednesday: Spring has sprung!

Bulbs that needed relocating found a home in a pot. 
Hopefully they last! 

It’s been a while since I have updated everyone on my adventures in home ownership so I thought I would share what we have been up to as of late. When we first purchased our home back in October the yard was extremely overgrown. The past five months or so have been spent tearing down a rotted out structure and shed, ripping out overgrown and crowded shrubs and trees, and slowly gaining control of the plants we intend to keep. I recently fed our 20-plus rose bushes and relocated some of the never-ending supply of bulbs like daffodils, irises, hyacinth, surprise lilies and summer snowflakes. Spring has most definitely sprung and our yard will soon look like an Easter basket explosion – no complaints here since the tidying up process has prevented us from planting the flowers, fruits, and vegetables of our choosing. I like to call our yard ‘the secret garden’ because everywhere I look there’s a new plant I failed to see the time before. My most recent discovery were the three avocado trees (plus the shoots of a million other avocado trees at the base of the full-grown ones) and the two or three apricot trees. YUM! Those should hold me over until I can begin my raised edible garden. 

This beast of a plant took forever to get up!

An edible garden has me so excited that I often find myself smiling and wandering aimlessly at Gazebo Gardens. Like I said, it won’t be a while until that project gets off the ground but it is an important project to me. Health is my main priority (hence Wild Ginger Wellness) because if you don’t have your health you can’t enjoy life to the fullest. Good nutrition is the springboard for good health and one of my greatest passions is experimenting in the kitchen. I recently whipped up the most delicious arugula and kale pesto (to go atop my homemade pizza dough along with zucchini, tomato, and creamy goat cheese) and can only imagine how much more satisfying it will taste when the ingredients come from my own backyard. 

kale-argula pesto

Homegrown (or simply locally grown for those who do not have or do not want to have a green thumb) foods are not only more nutritious for you but they are also better for the environment. The farther a food has to travel the less nutrient dense it will be by the time it reaches you. Additionally, the farther a food has to travel the more petroleum (i.e. gasoline) that will be required to transport the food from the farm to the processing plant, packaging plant, grocery store, and finally your home. An incredible amount of energy and greenhouse gases are expended every single step of the way. The less effort and energy that is required to get food to your plate, the better for you, me and the environment. 

While my yard is only likely to produce a few ingredients here and there this coming spring and summer, I will take what I can get (and hopefully make loads of guacamole) and in the meantime I will look forward to what the future holds!