You want me to live ...by a Primal Blueprint?

First a Weed Salad – Follow Up

I was out picking my greens for my weed salad….no I’m not.

Honestly, my yard is starting to look like a dessert. I don’t think it’s rained here more than once since I made the claim that I was going to eat a weed salad soon. Point being, not even the weeds are growing in my yard so I can’t comment on a weed salad because I haven’t eaten one yet.

Do you think my yard looks dry? Here’s a picture of my backyard, I was thinking of adding a sprinkler system…..

You will have to admit that eating weeds while it may not sound appetizing for cultural reasons, it does make sense. Why should we spend time, money and carbon creating poisons to kill nutritious plants. …if nothing else, you will have to admit the idea is …dare I say, “thought provoking”?

If you enjoy thought provoking websites (like mine LOL) …then you need to check out this one.

Primal Blueprint

http://www.marksdailyapple.com

It is the blog of Mark Sisson, called Mark’s Daily Apple (MDA).….TRUST ME ON THIS…if you have ANY interest in nutrition or fitness YOU MUST VIEW his blog. Everyday I read something that interests or intrigues me…you know, provokes more thoughts.

I will not attempt to explain what MDA is all about, I’d just mess it up anyway. The clips below are from MDA’s website.

What is your health philosophy?

Really, my health philosophy is surprisingly simple. I generally follow a diet based on an understanding of evolutionary science. I think it’s more important to eat, move, and live according to how humans are designed and not according to society’s artificial developments of the last 100 years. Fortunately, this regimen is not only incredibly healthy, it’s quite simple.

In a nutshell:
- fresh, organic, unprocessed food – no junk!
- daily activity – whether it’s the gym or a walk along the beach, it all counts
- plenty of quality sleep
- plenty of water, no soda or sweetened drinks
- antioxidants galore – the key to limiting stress
- a good fish-oil supplement
- essential fats, reckless amounts of vegetables, and lean, clean protein
- time for fun – don’t take anything too seriously – ethical behavior – because what goes around comes around
- taking responsibility for yourself and your life – openness to new things and ideas

** Full disclosure – Mark owns a nutritional company and he has written a book on Primal living called “The Primal Blueprint”. IF YOU BUY THEM…I don’t make a cent.

I have no business relationship with Mark…I just enjoy his site and the thoughts he provokes. I hope you will take a moment to check out his site, I think you’ll enjoy it.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com

Steve

Save the Planet...Eat weed? (no not that kind of weed)

For the record, I KNOW how to maintain a nice looking lawn…I just choose not to. Why spend all that time and money to make it grow....just so you can spend more time and more money on cutting it….it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Earlier in my life, I played the game. I'd work hard in my yard so I could “show off” my lawn…so others would ask me “Steve, how do you do it?”. But now, that just isn’t an important enough reason. These days, I’m GOING GREEN by lowering my carbon footprint (and expenses) by not attempting to grow a beautiful weed free lawn. My wife would say it’s because I’m just too lazy…and she has a point. I am conserving my energy for the P90X workouts. :)

While I was taking some pictures of my yard, I noticed that I had more weeds than grass. This wasn't a surprise, just an observation that reminded me of an article I read some time ago about edible weeds. Then it hit me...you, me, we all can eat edible weeds from our yards!

This would reduce our carbon foot print, save money, save time and save our planet!

YES!!!

How would this reduce our carbon footprint you ask?

1) We would not use herbicides (Herb for one will appreciate this)
2) We will not need fertilizers, lime etc, weeds don't need them to grow.
3) Reduce gas & oil useage, less mowing.

There are many varieties of weeds that are edible.

• Purslane
• Dandelion (picture)
• Honeysuckle
• Shotweed
• Many, many more.
  

Eating WEEDS, what a great money and planet saving idea!!!!

(the appreciation and accolades will surely come pouring in now).

I am going outside as soon as I finish this sentence to pick some w…

Oh, what’s that? Ok, a few things to keep in mind….in Red.

1) Don’t eat weeds near animal droppings.

I place this right up there with the sage advice of...

“don’t eat yellow snow”. LOL!

But seriously …what is the minimum distance from droppings…you know, to be safe??? Also, you can see droppings…but what about animal urine??

On to #2 (no pun intended)

2) Only eat the edible parts of the plant.

….some plants have edible parts but the rest of the plant can be toxic? I am starting to have large concerns about eating edible weeds at this point.

3) Don’t eat poisonous plants, some look similar to the non-toxic varieties.

Ok that’s it…..so if this isn’t difficult enough….some poisonous plants look like non-poisonous plants…whose cruel joke was this!! I bet it was Cheney…no not even Cheney has that kind of pull….I bet it was….Satan?

After reading #3, I called Al Gore and had him cancel the “Save the Planet, Eat Your Yard” campaign blitz we were planning. WHEW, that was close. That could have been as bad as the “Save the Planet, Eat Your Shorts” campaign….

Lastly, if you didn't see the Al Gore and the Man-Bear-Pig episode on SouthPark...YOU MUST SEE IT...I am serial. (not that's not a typo...watch the episode).

L8r t8r,

Steve

PS - These websites had some good info and pics if you are interested. I am interested and will eat a weed salad soon. Many weeds are related to their garden cousins and are high in vitamins and minerals. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

http://www.wisebread.com/free-food-in-your-yard-edible-weeds

http://weblogs.newsday.com/features/home/gardendetective_blog/2007/05/weeds_if_you_cant_beat_em_eat.html