Veggie Landscape Garden
By Catherine Haug, Jan 21, 2017 (photo, right, from Mercola (2))
I am viewing the online docu-series: The Truth About Cancer, by Ty Bollinger, and I’m picking up on a few of garden/landscape tips that yield healthy plants and a healthier you when you eat them.
One of the things I’ve learned from this series is that cancer cells have more insulin receptors (that initiate take-up of sugar from the blood) than normal cells, and that cancer cells get their energy (life) from only two sources: sugar and glutamine (amino acid). So if you want to protect yourself from cancer or slow tumor growth, avoid sugar.
However, that doesn’t mean to avoid whole-food sources of sugar such as fruits and vegetables, because in whole-food form, the sugar is part of a larger matrix of fiber, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals that protect you. (Caveat #1: fruit juices don’t provide this protection because the matrix is broken, so eat your fruits whole; caveat #2: those fruits and veggies should be organically grown for maximum benefit).
But I digress. The purpose of this posting is to collect gardening and landscaping tips. I will update this posting as I learn more.
Gardening and landscaping tips
- If you’re going to spend all that time – and water – on your landscape, why not make it edible with fruit shrubs/trees, beautiful leafy greens, and so on.
- Grow them organically – do not use toxic chemicals. Enrich your soil with good manure and compost. Also protect exposed soil with organic mulch.
- Resist tilling the soil, as it weakens/destroys the essential microbiome that is required for the plants’ roots to take up nutrients from the soil
- The ‘blood’ of plants is chlorophyll. The hemoglobin in your blood, and the chlorophyll of plants are nearly identical; the only difference is the ionic metal at the center of the molecule: in blood it is iron (Fe); in chlorophyll it is magnesium (Mg). Plants cannot live without a good source of magnesium, just as humans cannot live without a good source of iron in the diet. An excellent source of magnesium for your garden/landscape is epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). Tip: mix a handful of epsom salt in a gallon of water and pour over in the root area of the fruit trees/shrubs in your landscape, or over your garden soil. (1)
- Just like humans, plants have their own immune system to protect their health – and that immune system can strengthen your health as well, when you eat from the plant. But if raised on chemical fertilizers and exposed to chemical herbicides and pesticides (as are GMO crops), those chemicals weaken and destroy the plants’ immune systems so they can no longer ward off pests. If raised organically, the plants will thrive and be mostly free of pests. For example, cherries and grapes create substances called phytoalexins (e.g., resveratrol) that are toxic to fungus – if the fungus starts to eat on the fruit, the fungus will die. But fruits not raised organically don’t produce as much of these phytoalexin saviors and are thus vulnerable to the pests. Among the great benefits of phytoalexins is their cancer-fighting ability! (1)
References
- The Truth About Cancer (TTAC): thetruthaboutcancer.com
- Mercola (photo): media.mercola.com/ImageServer/Public/2014/April/veggie-garden.jpg
