I am very conscious of people that have only small sections or live in flats, retirement villages and apartments which means they have either no land or very little land to grow food in.
For people in those places they need to make the most economical use of their land available and also to grow the most highly nutritious food possible.
This is particularly so now as a draconian Government has passed the therapeutic bill which means they control what natural remedies, vitamins, minerals and supplements that you are allow to purchase and use for your well being and health.
Traditional remedies that their parents and grandparents used to keep them healthy is now only available at the whim of some bureaucrat whom likely has a big Tax Paid salary and less knowledge about health than most of us gardeners.
So far they have yet to try and stop us from growing our own healthy food and high health products.
Recently I wrote about growing sprouts on a window sill and using Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) in the water that you are sprouting the seed with.
Spouts are very nutritious and when you sprout the seeds with MBL they become super nutritious.
Now let me tell you a little story about what I discovered over 20 years ago that made a big difference to my health and well being.
I had learnt about MSM (Organic Sulphur) which is a white crystal powder from pine trees that you dissolve in a vitamin C fruit juice and take morning and night.
Your body needs a regular amount of sulphur daily and back 40 plus years ago you would have got your daily sulphur dose from your purchased (once upon a time) very healthy food chain.
(Not any more unless you are growing your own vegetables naturally and putting sulphur into the growing soil in the form of gypsum).
MSM I learnt about from an authority on the subject whom is living in America and was sent 500 grams to try it.
I did and the first thing I noticed was that my memory improved significantly to the point that I could go into any room and know why I was there.
Reason being is sulphur helps carry oxygen to the cells and they function better.
Great relief for sore joints, arthritis and many other health issues.
Sulphur is also natures beauty element and often woman that take MSM notice an improvement of hair, nails and complexion. It is also anti-aging. (I think mainly because of the continual detox MSM does when taking regularly)
I also learnt about that same time after reading about Sea 90 that wheat grass and barley grass are two plants that will take up all the 114 known minerals and elements if they are present in the growing medium.
(Tomatoes want 56 different minerals and elements which they take up).
I was well aware of the fad referred to as drinking wheat grass juice for health and had even tried some once from a juice bar and found it bitter and not nice to drink.
But if the wheat grass takes up all the minerals and elements given to it when it grows then there is some great benefit in growing it and juicing.
There are four sources of mineral rich products, Ocean Solids being the minerals from the ocean along with the sodium chloride (salt which is about 95% and the other 5% is the other 113 minerals and elements.
Minerals from powdered rocks which is called Wallys Unlocking your Soil and the MBL which contains the minerals from prehistoric times when the young planet was mineral rich.
BioPhos for the phosphate which we use as a building block for several important substances including those used for cell energy, cell membranes and DNA.
I then started growing wheat grass with all the above minerals and even if you do not have much land to grow stuff you can do this also.
I obtained some polystyrene boxes from a fish wholesaler (Also some supermarkets give them away)
I filled the boxes which are about 400mm by 28 mm wide and about 200 mm deep with Daltons Value Compost to about two thirds full; after putting some drainage holes in the sides of the box
(Just up from the base. Reason being is some water will be under the mix as a reservoir to help keep mix moist).
Over the compost I sprinkled Ocean Solids, BioPhos and Unlocking your Soil; then just covered that with a little more compost.
On top of that I spread the wheat seeds very thickly like many were touching each other then I sprayed them with the MBL mix.
I watered down with non chlorinated water and placed a sheet of glass over the box to keep mice and birds from getting in and eating the seeds. Keep the mix moist with regular watering.
When the box had a good show of germination of the grass I then did the same process to a second box to enable more grasses to be cut and used continuously.
When the grasses were well established I then removed the glass cover and once they reached a height of about 150mm it was time to harvest and juice. You can spray the grass with MBL for added benefit.
Now this is very important you need to use a manual type juicer which you turn the handle to squeeze the juice out of the grass.
Electric ones will destroy some of the goodness and antioxidants as they heat up while juicing and are hard to cleans because the green juice really stains.
With a pair of scissors you a couple of handfuls of grass off just above soil level and run them through the juicer. The liquid will be sweet as it has a high brix level which also indicates its full of goodness.
I started juicing once a day and it made a big difference to my well being.
Back then I was still a smoker and and would over indulge in my favorite spirit at times.
I used to suffer from chronic indigestion if I ate ice cream in the evening and pastry foods before bed, waking up later, in a bad way.
The wheat grass fixed that completely which I figure was caused by an unbalance in my body and I have hardly ever had indigestion since.
Some people prefer barley grass to wheat grass and there is no reason not to grow both together for added benefits of the barley. You will find barley juice is a little bitter when compared to the wheat juice.
I wrote about juicing many years ago after having found great health benefits from it.
One chap told me that he took the wheat grass juice 3 times a day while under going chemo and he did not lose his hair and sailed through the treatment with little side effects.
Many people have improved their health from this easy to grow grass.
An alternative to juicing is to put the grass into a high speed blender with other things to make a super healthy smoothie.
If you prefer; you can grow in a raised garden or open garden simply follow the instructions for growing it in the boxes.
Image credit: Taryn Elliott
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Products mentioned are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz
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