Raw vegan lunch + vegan veggie meal +【 how much veggies should I be eating??】 ⌬ Vegan meals ⏎

Vegan meals = lots of raw food. 

Vegan lunch.... yesh eh.

What we have in this pic is one lonely strawberry, some boysenberries, some blackcap raspberries,
Kale, nasturtium + flowers, pansy flowers, cucumber, large bunch of parsley, large head of redina lettuce, one poblano, some rainbow swiss chard, pineapple mint, basil, sugar snap peas, mesclun mix, white icicle currents, mini tomatoes, an apple, frozen lemon, frozen jackfruit, and frozen blueberries.

(everything homegrown except the lemon, jackfruit and blueberries)

By the end of this smoothie Im buzzin, while it did not taste the best, that was not my concern.
Its been about 2 weeks now since the switch to a high carb vegan diet and honestly the change has been phenomenal, the amount of energy gained is undeniable, My brain seems to be more on point and the colour of my skin is golden even without tanning.
( Im not even eating many carrots ).
This lunch was comprised of my daily vegetable portion as recently I've been following the 80/10/10+ trying to watch my oxalic acid intake after finding out it can cause kidney stones.
Not the biggest issue to worry over, just not a good idea to go overboard on the kale shakes.

( oxalic acid can be found in Kale, broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, and many of the brassicas + more)

I will most likely add herbs in at dinner and go with potatoes, rice or gluten free pasta,
other then this its all fruit,
everything from kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, jackfruit, soursop, bananas,
currents, lemon/limes/orange/hybrids, guavas, tomatoes, pineapple, peaches, cherries, etc,
etc.
In Canada there is no shortage for vegans, with organic seasonal items being best and easiest to find, there is still a number of retailers selling exotic rare fruits and veggie at comparable prices to other parts of the world, but lets be honest, ITS A HELL OF A LOT OF $$$$$₡₡₡₢₢₨₨₨₩₩₩₪₪₪₫₫₭₭₮₮₮₯₯¤¤₰₰௹௹௹௹฿฿฿฿¥¥¥¥££££££££₤₤₤₤₱₱₱₥₥₥₥¢¢¢¢¢¢¢.... AHHH TOOO MUCH!!!

Thats why in my personal opinion its only economical if you grow the food yourself and just supplement from time to time with the really rare or hard to grow things ie, jackfruit, soursop, kiwi's.
Always go for the ( organic ) stuff on sale because fruit is easy to freeze, and when kiwis come in at $2 a basket its easy to just bundle up a whole bunch, gobble some down, dehydrate a few jars and freeze the rest.

Parsley Aquaponic system

Depending on how hardcore you are with your smoothies, this could provide a family with a constant supply of parsley or 2 people on a detox/smoothie a day lifestyle. Parsley is great at pulling heavy metals out of the body and with the ever growing amount of these particulates in the air its almost essential to be eating your herbs daily.

Parsley aquaponics system 

Vegan smoothie 

vegan smoothie 

I ended up straining the pulp and mixing in some organic cane sugar and ceylon cinnamon, dropped a few spoonfuls onto the dehydrator sheet and now I have a snake for a few days, I know there not the nicest looking things but hey, should that be what I care about right now?

Vegan desert ( dehydrated veggie/fruit pulp with sugar and cinnamon )

Bed of aquaponic parsley

Turmeric rhizome + Crape ginger from seed + Hydroponic and soil grown Turmeric starts

Turmeric rhizome 

AT LAST!! our turmeric rhizome has arrived!!, It was purchased online from a supplier in india, unfortunately there was a little mix up and We never received our shipment.
So, we contacted them back and they quickly sent out a replacement package, but I tell ya,
I wasn't holding my breath.
I've heard of people purchasing turmeric online and by the time the rhizome arrives its covered in mold. I can imagine they wouldn't last forever in the dry air but to mold that quickly through shipping makes me think it was never good to begin with. Now after reading all the reviews/horror stories online you can understand my unease. Thankfully!! all that worry was for nothing as when I opened up the packaging ( turmeric being the first thing I had to check )
it was like it came out of a grocery store.

At first I thought they screwed up and sent me ginger but after a little rub of the rhizome I could smell the turmeric, DEAR LORD THANK YOU BABY JEBUS! I thought with a Homer Simpson voice.
There was even a bud of the leaf stalk coming up on one, so I figured I would use the one with the bud for the soil grown test and the one without for a hydroponic start.

While most of the gingers, galangal, cardamoms, and turmeric are spread by rhizomatic functions, the crape ginger can easily be started from seed, or so Im told. This gives me an opportunity to add to my medicinal rhizome collection, one that I've been building for many years.

Turmeric root

syrian rue,  crape ginger,   

Ben and Jerry's are going GMO FREE! ➲ lets send them a BIG thank you!! ➲ YOU GUYS AND YOUR WHOLE COMPANY ROCK!

GMO FREE ICE CREAM 

Open letter to Ben and Jerry's

THANK YOU! Ben and Jerry's for everything you have done ( and will do ). This means a lot to everyone, its been a hard battle, and were nowhere near done, BUT THANKFULLY, Were just starting to see companies waking up to the fact that GMO's are causing health problems like a plague.
Your companies actions speaks volumes to our defense, and We cant thank you enough for it.
I find it exciting to know I will be able to try your ice cream one day!
Keep on fighting the good fight and we'll stand by you 100%.

Now, if you could possibly also consider tossing out the artificial flavours, colours and modifications you'd be a hero!.
( yes, were talking about the alkalized cacao, hydrogenated soy bean oil, and corn syrup )

If you would like to send them a digital thank you card, you can do so through this link.

http://action.sumofus.org/a/ben-jerrys-gmo-free/3/2/?akid=1889.1528400.k50pOK&rd=1&sub=fwd&t=2

THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER!

Bees dying in Canada + Insecticide ban petition Canada + How you can help !

If you dont already know the severity of this issue please take a moment to inform yourself, as this issue is one that affects us all. All I am doing is passing on the news for the best way to solve this issue, we need as many people as we can to sign this petition! its not one of those hard ones to fill out, it will take a mere minute of your life and you could help save the people of Canada, NO BULL, NO HIPPIE DIPPIE BRUH HA HA, this is SERIOUS. These (neonicotinoid) pesticides are the worst idea to continue on with but if we dont speak up, nothing will be done, so lets put all our effort into spreading this page and getting the word out.



Ban the use of neonicotinoids in Canada – elizabethmaymp.ca – July 4, 2013

Exotic fruit in Toronto ⨸ Rare fruit seeds ⨸ ◈ Tropical fruit Toronto ◈

Rambutans, Tamarind, Persimmons, Soursop, Sweetsop, Rose apple, Jackfruit, Mangosteen, fruits in Toronto

So, Your looking for exotic fruit?  Well, Toronto Canada is where its at!
Im sure most people around the world might laugh if they were told Canada is the place for exotic fruit, but thanks to our multicultural communities, our connections spread across the globe, this in turn leads to hard working entrepreneurs finding a way to bring a taste from back home to our little slice of heaven here in the Toronto. While foodies can drool over the selections of fresh durians, mangosteens, jackfruit and rambutans. The health nuts ( which I am!! )  get to experience medicinal food such a soursop, soursop leaves, sweetsop, galangal, etc. etc..
There never seems to be a short supply and prices are not to bad, even with the jack fruit.
The area We scouted was the kensington market, We made our way over to spadina and then headed down towards dundas st, along the way there is shop after shop selling rare and unique fruit/veggies. The main store We were heading to was lost after being bombarded by the large selection of food before it.
(We will post another update on the trip to the new store!)

Rambutan fruit

Tamarind seeds ( these are like rocks, nearly took a tooth out )

Sweetsop seeds

Soursop seeds

Jackfruit seeds ( they are edible once prepared )

Allen gardens ⦗⧈⧈⦾⦾⦿⦾⦾⧈⧈ ⦘ ⫷ Toronto greenhouses ⫸

Banana fruit at Allen gardens 

We recently took a trip to allen gardens to see the flowering variegated century plant, with a time span for flowering once every 30 years ( and for Canada its around 70 years ), you can understand why its important to see it while you can. While everything was great, flowers were all in bloom,
I couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of info on plants, heck.. the majority of the time there wasn't even a name tag, am I wrong for wanting more I thought ?
There was one fruit tree labeled ( kinda surprised there weren't more edibles really, only 6 fruit trees in the whole place ) And surprisingly, a lot of the cacti, bananas, and orchids are very common nowadays.

I don't know, maybe I was expecting to much, Just thought that a place with such history would have some really REALLY rare plants,  maybe being a foodie didn't help either, I was hoping to much for something Ive never seen.
Ahh well...
I should look on the bright side, they had a very impressive set of bananas ( good 30/40 ft ), some were flowering!. there jade vine was stunning, we got to see a turtle, They have a cacti that looks like it came out of mario bro's!, I realized how much I want birds in my greenhouse AND how much I want a waterfall in my house.

My closing statement.
I call for a renegade labeling of Allen gardens, label everything you can!!, if you know a lot about plants lets get this done! WE CAN DO IT!

Musa Banana fruiting at Allen gardens

Strawberry guava fruiting

Some type of datura, Do you know?

Bougainvilla AKA Paper flower tree - (THANKS FOR THE HELP CINTIA!)

Jade vine AKA Strongylodon macrobotrys flowering

Jade vine flower ( I want this plant! unreal looking flower)

Crown of thorn red flowers

Agave filifera AKA thread agave

No name on cacti

Crown of thorns yellow flower

Variegated century plant AKA Variegated agave Americana 

Variegated century plant flowering stalk

Allen Gardens century plant (agave americana) flowering, took roughly 70 years to flower

Mountain aloe

Mountain aloe (base)

No name cacti, If you know what this is please help.

Fig tree with fruit

Fig tree to the left ( can you spot the kale and olive tree?)

If it wasn't for the fact that I grow most of these myself Im not sure how others would know what they were looking at, as nothing here was labeled, shame.

Another pond with a few goldfish

?????what is that blue flowering plant?????

Nothing here was labeled either, but a few I could decipher, there was a Calamondin in the back and a kumquat of some kind beside it ( its the tree with orange fruit at the far left in the back ) Everything else I have no clue ( except for some type of cycad right under the blue flower )

There was no name on around the plant, if anyone knows what this is please chime in

Waterfall display ( is it wrong I want this in my house?, lol ) 

Queen sago fern 

epiphyte AKA areophyte or air plant

Epiphyte flowering ( air plant flower )

Turtle getting some sun on a rock

Heliconia