I first began the Meat Out Mondays Program about a year ago. At first it was exciting to find new vegetarian recipies to experiment with. Not that this excitement wained any but I quickly found myslf having two meat out days per week then three. Of course this change took place over a matter of several months. I notice on the days that I did not eat meat, I had more energy and less digestive distress. On these "meat-out" days I felt light as air, happy, and free. O.k. maybe a bit whimsical for some of you carnivores but I am not totally vegetarian, at least not yet.
Today I payed a visit to a local home improvement store. I purchased an overgrown, root bound garlic chive plant. Now most people would have passed this by. It was starving for water and nutrients, on the brink of collapse really. I brought the pot home and placed it in water. The roots were so entangled it two hours just for the water to penetrate the little remaining soil. At first I tried pulling the roots apart but as little as they were, collectively they were quite strong. I asked the plant how can I transplant it without causing it too much distress (gaining consent from nature) and the answer I recieved was "be gentle". I thought of my own curly hair becoming entangled after a long night of tossing and turning. Except poor plant had been trapped intits plastic bucket that even the very edges of the very edges were peeping through the drainage holes. As a child with a tangled head of hair I patiently worked it until I could free multible bulbs. The roots were so long, I wondered if my transplanting pots were even big enough.
The scent of the plants were so strong that after only a very short time my entire home smelled like, well not quite garlic but a fresh plant with a very distinctive scent. I just had to go to the fridge where I had the Hair as I refer to it, the green of the garlic, the grass, soaking in vinegar water. Oh my goodness, it is soooo good. The garlic flavor is strong but the fresheness of the greens is yet cooloing. Watch out vampires, I have my own potion!
Why just sampling the fresh greens was the same of having a fresh clove of garlic resting upon my tounge. It was so wonderful. I haven't counted but I feel confident in saying that by buying "the underdog" in the nursery that I rescued about 20 garlic plants. There was enough to provide garlic chives for a week during pruning. Ooh, delectible is all I can say! Grocers certainly do not carry this great garlic chive with such freshness.
This is just the beginning of my garden. I am actually coordinating a freindly meeting between my closest friends to start a community garden. Now my take on community gardening goes like this; I grow some herbs and vegetables while another friend grows other varieties, and yet another friend grows diverse varieties, and in the middle we meet, to share of our bounty. Well it hasn't all come together just yet but it is a good idea in the making.
The less I depend on meat the more I come to love herbs and vegetables. It hasn't been an overnight transition, actually I am about a year in the making of becoming semi-vegetarian. Meatout Mondays gave me the head start I needed to become a healthier, happier, and more independant woman. I don't need to buy Uncle Sam's cereal for I can grow my own, Thank You very much. I feel good about that.
Making my own household cleaners and laundry soap from plant bases, enjoying organic herbs and vegetables, life really is good. You don't have to look very far, just open your eyes!
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