Gardening for Special Diets

Look at this cake! Gluten-free homemade cake by my lovely sister-in-law Arielle. Her blog, Arielle Clementine, is usually about gourmet cooking but right now she has a story up about her garden and my pickle loving nephew.

Growing your own food is healthier and tastier than store brought produce for everyone but homegrown food has a special place in the hearts of people with special diets. I personally can not eat gluten. It makes me (and a lot of other people) really sick. It is tiring checking all the ingredients in packaged foods and challenging to eat out. There is a fear that products have been mislabeled or cross contaminated and I will end up ill There is such a  simplicity in walking out my backdoor to pick fresh, healthy food that I can be certain has not been cross contaminated by anything. I know exactly what I am eating and that includes all the pesticides, sugars and dyes I am NOT eating.

People on all sorts of special diets can enjoy this "simplicity" benefit. I know gardeners who grow their own food for the paleo diet, vegan and vegetarian diets, raw food diets, peanut allergies and so on. People who are attempting to eat only organic can save money by growing their own produce. If you or a loved one has a special diet, you will love how growing your own food puts you back in control of your health.

I also highly recommend herb gardening for professional and homegrown cooks. Fresh herbs can be outrageously expensive to buy at the grocery store but are one of the easiest things to grow in Texas. No need for special runs to the store to make your favorite tomato sauce or pesto. Try a kitchen herb spiral!

I've been sleeping so strange at night
Side effects they don't advertise
I've been sleeping so strange
With a head full of pesticide

-Bright Eyes