You are due some sort of an explanation. 

You will have to keep reading to find out what the explanation is.

First I just have to tell you that I went to the library today.  Very dangerous.  I heart books.  So when I go to the library and am surrounded by free books to bring home . . . I bring them home. 

Not just a few.

A lot. 

They weren’t books for children either.

They were . . . gardening books.  After a vacation from my summer hobby, I *think* I am ready to dirty my hands in the soil.

This year I have so many possibilities.

With four years of gardening under my belt, I have been given the opportunity to start from scratch (again) with slightly questionable soil.

The field has been mowed and is hibernating under a dense pile of snow trodden leaves.  It is awaiting a deft hand to turn the microorganisms upside down and a layer of Mel’s mix (1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost) poured on top. 

I desire to employ the square foot gardening principals that have worked so well under my tutelage, but with a twist. 

Slow foods style.  I call it that because I saw a Slow Foods garden that I wish to copy. 

Meandering.  Whimsical.  Heirloom.  

The perfect place for a constitutional.  (Thanks, Renee.)

I’d really like to have someone come and design it for me, like William Alexander did in his book, The $64 Tomato, which I am reading right now.

However, one has to have time to drool, to plan, to organize unused seeds, to order new seeds . . .

Which brings me to what I need to explain.

I’ve been blogging a lot about food.  Nourishing food.  Fermented food.  Grain Free food. 

The reason is because if you already thought we were in deep with eating traditionally – you haven’t seen anything yet.  Whole foods eating, once uncovered, is like the rabbit hole.  Not only do you uncover an amazing world of taste, but also of health. 

I don’t know that I will be doing the whole liver thing, though.  Or brain.  Can’t go there. 

And this time, health (though taste has been a perk) is the reason we are getting out our shovel and digging deeper. 

There is some surmising that the Granola Family is suffering a bit from The Fall.  You know . . . the one in the garden.  Of course, we all have stumbled due to this fatal bite of fruit, thanks to two certain people which shall remain nameless (ahem . . . Adam and Eve). 

Some of us fell harder.

What I have come to realize is that sometimes NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO sometimes you can’t completely overcome the obstacles in your health without some outside intervention and strict attention to what you are ingesting and using externally.

Because I have had to make serious changes in certain family members diets . . . I have been doing a lot of research on food  and on food preparation.

I discovered that I need help.  I need one thing less to plan.

I signed up for the Nourishing Kitchen meal plans.  Three dinners a week are planned, providing plenty of leftovers for the remaining nights.  Included in each week’s packet are one ferment and one soup.  And because these meal plans are set according to the season . . . I am hopeful that I will be able to use the produce from my garden to supplement our grocery budget.  Hence the reason I was telling you about my garden.

I discovered that my thyroid needs healing. 

The particular thyroid disease that I have is triggered by an inflamed gut.  Though I have been eating relatively well the past 5 years, it hasn’t been well enough to heal my thyroid. 

Had I been living more of a SAD (Standard American Diet) the past 5 years, there is no telling what my health issues might be. 

This is where my love of fermentation has been encouraged.  Health begins in the gut.  A healthy gut is a happy gut.  Fermented foods, when eaten in reasonable amounts, act like a natural medicine.  For this reason, I am super–duper excited about Jenny’s Get Cultured e-course. 

By the way – you can still sign up.  Classes don’t begin until March 4th.  BUT on March 1st the price goes up to $199 (currently it is $149).

Then . . . the bomb got dropped on me.

A health professional strongly encouraged us to avoid all grains . . . unless properly prepared . . . and then only sparingly. 

I didn’t and I don’t have the time to research the GAPS diet.  So, I am relying on Cara, from Health, Home, and Happy, to guide us through this learning curve by subscribing to her menu plans for our breakfasts and lunches.  (By the way, it is rare for the Nourished Kitchen meals to contain grain.)

And so . . . my friends . . . that is why I have been talking about food . . .

A Lot.

There is your explanation.  A rather long one.

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