From the Editor

By Vicki Leeper

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to garden. Enjoying a variety of weather outdoors growing flowers, fruits and vegetables. Now I didn’t say I was very successful at it! But I do love it.

And I think about how I would change things to accommodate any disability I may get as I age. I have a scooting bench already, and have started putting in raised beds with the help of my husband. And I know all about the different rakes and shovels and other implements of destruction that are built to accommodate a variety of disabilities. So I know I will garden well into old age.

When I am successful, eating food that I grew, without chemicals and preservatives, is the best. And anyone can do it, anywhere. Root vegetables are a crop that provides its own list of health benefits. Since they are grown underground, they absorb a large amount of nutrients from the soil and are excellent sources of concentrated antioxidants, Vitamins C, B, and A, as well as iron. Full of fiber and slow-burning carbohydrates to make you feel full, they also help regulate blood-sugar levels and keep your digestive system in good shape.

You can even start your own root vegetable garden from leftovers; carrot tops, onion root ends, and old potatoes with the funky little sprouts (called eyes) or any other root vegetable you may have like garlic and beets.

Start by rooting them in water, you remember this from grade school and starting an avocado! Plant those little or outdated garlic cloves in a pot and it will eventually grow a plant you can use all the parts of in cooking.

We received a bunch of seed potatoes this spring, and I am proud to say the ones I cut up and planted are doing well. I should get a lot of potatoes from the 2 rows I planted. But I could have easily just plant 5 or so in a 5 gallon bucket. These can grow on your balcony or by your front door. Beautiful star shaped flowers make them a pretty plant, and in the crisp autumn days it’s easy to upturn it on a shower curtain or tarp and harvest your bounty! Get growing