Amnesty International Group 133
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of per
Amnesty International Group 133 is one of the 1,500 Amnesty groups in the US, providing opportunities for human rights activism for concerned individuals in the Somerville, Arlington, Cambridge area of Massachusetts.Since Group 133's founding, the group has worked on behalf of prisoners in Indonesia, Ghana, the former USSR, Chile, the former East Germany, ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Feb 07, 2008
Updated: Feb 25, 2008
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Dark Energy Foods and Defiant Gardens
The Cooerwull Plantsmen are getting together a collection of super food plants. In this context I mean dark coloured foods which are high in Anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds which have very efficient anti-oxidant power.
In these degenerate times we need to be aware of foods that we can eat on a daily basis that provide efficient 'mop up' functions because there are so many stresses coming from new directions that we were previously not subject to. As permies we need a rethink of what a good diet is. These 'dark energy' foods include Black Currant, Jostaberry, Blackberry (incl. Loganberry etc), Blueberry, Black Damsen Plums, Red Grapes, Eggplant, Black Tomato, Red-Purple Cabbage and Black Kale---can anyone suggest some others?
Shiso----Perilla frutescens var japonica is a purple leafed shrub chiefly used by the Japanese to preserve and colour foods esp the best known is Umeboshi plums. It is a very potent preservative , is rich in vitamins and minerals , stimulates interferon thus boosting our immune system , and has anti inflammatory properties. The seeds and flowerheads are used as flavouring and the leaves as the colouring and preservative component. Interesting and attractive little plant .
In Autumn we will be selling Black Kale 'Nero de Toscana' from our nursery gardens in Lithgow---which we will be opening by appointment only.
On the subject of degenerate times and new stresses I am reading a terrific book called Defiant Gardens by Kenneth Helphand which describes gardens created in extreme environmental, social, political, economic or cultural conditions. He describes in often harrowing detail how people use gardens to survive under sometimes horrific circumstances such as gardens built by soldiers in the trenches of WW1, gardens built by those living in concentration camps and ghettos during WW2, plus gardens in Greenland and those in the Sahara Desert.
I think that our gardens will have to be increasingly defiant due to shortages of resources and land and an urgency to survive . More community gardens are required urgently as a means of ' edging the world'.
Brian Coates
Comments (1 - 5 of 5)
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Flag comment for removal csalter 8 months ago
I've deleted the post Brian Coates, all the info has been incorporated into this article
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I've added the recent posting on Shiso that was added as an article "Brian Coates". Will discuss at next meeting, and will proposed that the previous article "Brian Coates" be removed from this listing. |
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Thanks for this article Brian, for your story Maryanne, and for your hyperlinks Celeste. I've added a few dark energy foods, and I recommend that people check out the Defiant Gardens link for extensions of the book, eg in Afghanistan.
I don't know if the plums on the old tree in my garden are Black Damsens or not, but their clusters look marvellous amongst the leaves. And they're just about ready to pick! I can't wait to get some of their dark energy for myself. |
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Interesting article Brian - adds pieces to the story of how important the dark coloured fruit is to our diet.
Pat |
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Dear Brian, My mother's family sustained themselves through part of WW2 in Yugoslavia by growing fantastic food and raising chickens, rabbits, pigeons and pigs. None of their neighbours were interested in gardening or had the skills. Mum said that her father would plant e.g. a hundred lettuce and sell the surplus at the gate.
The rented house and garden were in the city... half an acre? and had a mulberry tree and many other fruit and nut trees. The family ate well and bottled and preserved for the cold winters. Just goes to show that renting should not be a prohibitive to growing food!
Mum, her two sisters and two brothers and the parents left their home when the Russians were about to invade and then the neighbours moved in... I don't think they kept up the garden.
Yes, those were difficult times. My mum now lives in Springwood and she's sowing capsicum seeds and growing tomatoes! She has outlived all of her siblings and puts her longevity down to good food and goats milk when she was a child.
Good to read your post Brian... keep them coming. Ciao from Maryanne. |
