Artificial food coloring as a risk factor for UC

https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/news/20221221/study-says-food-dye-red-40-can-trigger-bowel-problems

UC symptom: Fatigue

Some resources on fatigue. Fatigue/brain fog has been more prominent for me in the last year. Mostly related to nutritional deficiencies i.e. iron, but auto immune conditions can cause fatigue even in between flare ups.

 
1. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ulcerative-colitis-and-fatigue-whats-the-link#how-can-ulcerative-colitis-cause-fatigue
"Several aspects of ulcerative colitis can cause fatigue. For example, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation indicates that IBD can lead to fatigue because of:
arthritis, which is a common co-occurring condition with ulcerative colitis
- inflammation
- anemia
- poor sleep
- nutritional deficiencies
- medication side effects
Fatigue is a common effect of these factors.
People with ulcerative colitis often have folate or vitamin B12 deficiencies.
Several medications to treat IBD — including AZA, 6-MP, methotrexate, antidepressants, narcotics, and steroids — can also cause fatigue."

2. "Fatigue in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Etiologies and Management"

"... looked at some of the potential causes of fatigue in people with IBD. The researchers noted some additional causes, including:

changes in the gut microbiome
psychological conditions, such as depression
complications from active disease
persistence of active disease"

3. "Psychological distress, iron deficiency, active disease and female gender are independent risk factors for fatigue in patients with ulcerative colitis"

"Another study, this time from 2018, noted that females with ulcerative have a higher risk of experiencing fatigue. The researchers also noted that iron deficiency, which can lead to anemia, is also associated with ulcerative colitis-related fatigue."

4. Thiopurines, a previously unrecognised cause for fatigue in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

5. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/Publications/fatigue-and-IBD.pdf

Cheeka's Choc Puris (not Paleo - has sugar and gluten)

 

1. Lay out all the puris on a tray(s) that is lined with parchment/wax paper or foil. Poke holes in each puri. Tray should be able to fit in the freezer.

2. Melt semi sweet chocolate chips (guittard chips are good) in a microwavable bowl, 30 seconds at a time. Do not overheat chocolate as it will burn. One bag of chips is good for 30 puris. I usually melt 1/3 of the chocolate chips at a time, roll/dip ~10 puris with a spoon, and then do the next batch, because the chocolate hardens quickly after melting so you need to roll quickly. Guittard also makes dairy free chips. You can also try sugar free chips.

3. Roll each puri in the melted chocolate and place back on tray. Make sure they are not touching each other or they will freeze together.

4. Place tray in freezer. It only takes 5 minutes to harden. 

5. While puris are in freezer, prepare candied pecans. Crush pecans (can use a nut chopper). Melt a little butter and brown sugar on low in a pan and saute crushed pecans until coated for a minute. Do not saute too long or they will burn. Alternatively, can use honey (or sweetener of your choice) and oil for sugar free and dairy free.

6. Once the puris are frozen, fill each puri with 3/4 tsp of candied pecans. Put back in freezer if not serving immediately.

7. Take puris out of freezer prior to serving. Puris can stay out for a little bit if weather is not hot. Otherwise serve immediately as the chocolate can melt. Full puri with spoon of ice cream (vanilla is classic!) and eat immediately. Alternatively can present puris on shot glasses of melted vanilla ice cream.. it looks great but frozen ice cream tastes better.

Puris will taste great out of the freezer even a week later (covered), but ideally make this closer to serving day/time.

Garden - how to choose a fruit tree variety

Some of my friends ask me what type of fruit trees to get. When I first started out, I wanted "one of each". One plum, one nectarine, etc.. until I found out there are a 100 varieties of plums, 100 nectarines, and even a 100 varieties of hybrid Frankenstein fruit like peacotums (peach+nectarine+plum)! 

When getting a fruit tree, I recommend the following:

How to choose a fruit tree

1. Buy a variety that you can't find in stores! The store varieties are grown for commercial use, because they can be picked early, and transport and store well. But that leaves out so many varieties that taste better, and that you can't find normally! The good news is that you can grow them in your backyard.

2. Low chill (if in California, Arizona, etc) - this means that the fruit does not need a lot of "chill" hours to set fruit. In general, you need to select varieties that grow well in your local area.

3. Pollination - does it need a pollinator? If so, perhaps consider a multi-graft tree (2 or more varieties that pollinate each other on the same tree) or plant two trees within 50 feet of each other. You can even plant two (to four trees) in one planting hole!

4. Disease/pest resistant varieties

5. Rootstock - Dwarf (eventual height is 10-15 ft) vs Semi-dwarf (15-20 ft) vs Standard (25+ ft). Any tree can be kept to a manageable size if you prune it. Even a standard tree can be kept to 5 feet tall. The difference between dwarf and standard is that dwarf trees survive 15-20 years while standard are 35-50 years. Dwarf also do not have to be pruned as often and fruit in a couple years instead of the Standard trees which fruit in 5-6 years. 

6. Sun requirements: Most fruit trees need a lot of sun, at least 4-8 hours. Some fruit trees, like plums and pears, are a little more shade tolerant.

Here is a list of fruit trees I have/want/recommend:

Stone fruit orchard:

1. Fruit salad tree - this was my very first tree, when I initially thought I'd only be getting one tree.. lol. It is a "multi-graft" tree and has 4 fruits on it - Santa Rosa Plum (this is a good plum variety that pollinates other plums and pluots), Gold dust peach, Independence Nectarine, and Bleinheim Apricot. These varieties were grafted by the growers because they are all self-fertile and do not need a pollinator. If you only have space for one tree, then fruit salad is a good one!

2. NectaZee - this is a dwarf nectarine (won't grow taller than 5ish feet) and is adorable. If you do not have a lot of space and you do not want to prune, a tiny dwarf tree is great. It can be grown in a pot as well. Another good stone dwarf tree is the 2-in-1 peach/nectarine mini trees, which have both peaches and nectarines.

3. Multi-cherry tree - this one has 4 cherry varieties in 1 tree. It was the one tree my Dad chose because he likes cherries. I do not have recommendations for cherries because I am not a cherry person.

4. Donut peach - I pre-ordered mine and can't wait until next year when it arrives! Donut peaches are sweeter than regular peaches. And go for $1 each at trader joes!

5. Nectaplum - nectarine/plum hybrid which has burgundy colored leaves and apparently tastes good

6. Aprium - this is an apricot/plum hybrid that has more apricot in it. There are a lot of varieties. I hear the cot n candy variety is good. 

7. Pluot - this is an apricot/plum hybrid that has more plum in it. There are a lot of varieties. I hear the Flavor Grenade and Flavor King varieties taste the best. They also pollinate each other and are low chill varieties, suitable for California. Flavor grenade also sets a lot of fruit, so can be maintained at a small size, and it can be pollinated by santa rosa plum variety, if you don't want to get 2 pluot varieties. You can also find a multi graft pluot with 4 varieties of pluot on it. The same goes for any stone fruit (4 apricots on 1 tree, 4 peaches on 1 tree, etc).

8. The above include the more popular hybrid stone fruits, but there are other ones you can explore like peacotums and pluerries (plum+cherry). 

Deciduous trees:

1. Apple - I'm not big on apples, but I saw one in San jose recently that was no taller than 3 feet and had 50 fruit growing 6 inches up from the ground. It was adorable and I will be growing one against our 3 foot wall and pruning to that height as an experiment. For apples, make sure to get one that is low chill for our California climate. Apples prefer pollinators so you can consider one multi-graft tree, 2 apple tree varieties, or a self-fertile variety. An espalier apple tree with 4-6 apple varieties on it could be great. Apples also can be bought as columnar trees, which grow in columns.

2. Pears - I plan on getting a multi-grafted pear tree. There are self-fertile pear varieties, but generally they fruit much better with a pollinator. Similar to apples, you can grow them as espalier.

3. Asian pears - I love asian pears! We have a couple varieties that are 40 years old and now declining, but still pumping out some fruit. I hope they last a long time, but at some point, we may need to replace them. Asian pears can also be found as a multi-grafted tree. I believe there are also some self-fertile ones, but they do better with a pollinator. Some Asian pear varieties can be pollinated with (European) pear varieties.

Apples, pears and asian pears are prone to coddling moth and other pests. Pears are also prone to fireblight. I would recommend keeping the trees small and manageable so you can spray them with organic pesticide (neem oil is good, or pheromone traps for moths).

4. Jujube - these are small fruit, a little bigger than grapes and popular in Asian culture. They grow on a thorny tree and are a bit like apples. The cool thing about jujubes is that they can be eaten fresh or dried. If they are left on the tree or shelf, they shrivel and turn into a date-like chewy fruit. Jujubes have invasive roots which can shoot up thorny suckers 30 feet away. I am growing mine in a pot, but I know it would do better in the ground. I'll have to prune it to keep it small so it does not get root-bound quickly - roots grow big when you let the tree grow big. The most common, popular variety is the Li variety. More recent sweeter ones are Sugarcane, Honey jar, and GA866. I have a honey jar because it is supposed to be slightly more compact so I thought it would do the best in my pot. Jujubes are somewhat self fertile but do better with a pollinator.

5. Pomegranate - I am trying out the "Eversweet" variety. It is supposed to be nearly seedless and very sweet. Pomegranates can be grown as shrubs.

6. Fig - I like panache fig, which is a beautiful yellow fig with green stripes, tastes like strawberry (apparently) and makes a good jam. Popular varieties are also black mission and brown turkey. Figs can have invasive roots but I see them planted on sidewalks and near home buildings all the time. Better to plant away from buildings to be on the safe side.

7. Persimmon - we have super tasty Fuyu persimmons that are now 40 years old. Persimmons grow well, and I highly recommend any Fuyu variety. They ripen in the fall before Thanksgiving time, and are nice to have during the holidays. Also store bought ones are ridiculously priced, are harvested when still green and small, and don't taste great. If you have to buy persimmons, please buy good ones from a farmers market.

I really like Hachiya persimmons, which can only be eaten when they are super over ripe and soft, or the bitterness will leave you reeling. It still has a mild bad bitter aftertaste (to me) when super ripe, but it is probably the tastiest fruit I have ever had, like candy! My sapling is currently in the shade under the Fuyu canopy, so I will have to see how well it grows with such little sun.

Citrus circle:

I will be growing my citrus trees as fruit shrubs, no taller and wider than 3-5 feet. Citrus are great for a front yard or in front of a window as they are evergreen. Most citrus can also be grown in pots.

1. Lemon - if you want a standard lemon tree, then an improved meyer lemon is a solid choice. I went with a pink lemon because the leaves on this tree are variegated, and the inside of the fruit is pink.

2. Lime - I recommend a limequat! They are a lime-kumquat hybrid, and are basically like yellow oblong small limes. They look nice on the tree, and your visitors will all ask you what it is! Normal popular limes include Bear and Key lime.

I got a Key lime (also known as Mexican Lime) from someone's home nursery on facebook marketplace. I had gone to purchase some clivia plants, but then saw a tiny lime for $10. They had a humongous beautiful lime tree in their front yard and grafted several branches for sale. This tree is now growing more successfully than all my other nursery bought citrus.

3. Palestine/Indian sweet lime - this was a request from my Dad, as they eat a lot of sweet limes in India, specifically in lemonade. Sweet lime does not have/is low on acid so it is sweeter than other limes.

4. Mandarins

- Kishu mandarin - this is a cute mandarin variety and great for kids. The fruit are bite size and peel easily. 

- Golden nugget mandarin - this was the highest rated one on the Menlo growers website. I'm looking forward to eating these, in a couple years!

5. Meiwa kumquat - kumquats are interesting fruit. The peel is sweeter than the inside, so you eat it with the peel. They are very good for your health. My acupuncturist recommends making a tea with the peel. Most people have the oval shaped nagami kumquat. The meiwa kumquat is round and is the sweetest one. Kumquats grow well in pots.

6. Orange tree - I do not have a recommendation for an orange because I do not find them interesting. But we have a navel orange which we use for juice. If you want an orange, tangelo, etc, please check out Menlo Growers nursery citrus page for descriptions of over 100 varieties of citrus, including orange. 

7. Pomelo - I saw a pomelo in our local produce store, and was super intrigued as it's a huge fruit/citrus fruit! The variety I have is Tahitian. It is like a grapefruit but minus the bitterness, and tastes good. Pomelo and grapefruit interact with a lot of medications.

8. Oro Blanco grapefruit - if you want a grapefruit, Oro blanco is the sweetest variety because it's a Pomelo-grapefruit hybrid. I gave it away because pomelo and grapefruit interact with a lot of medications, so our household cannot eat them. 

9. Kieffer (makrut) lime - these limes are not eaten, but the leaves are very fragrant and used in cooking, particularly Thai food. We cook a lot of Thai food so I got one of these and keep one in a pot. They can be kept in the house in a sun facing window and treated like a houseplant or herb. You can also plant outside like any citrus, but I am not sure it is worth the space as you only need a few leaves when cooking. Unless you own a Thai restaurant!

Guava hedge:

1. Pineapple guava - this is an interesting tree and getting quite popular, especially as it can be pruned into an edible hedge. The beautiful pink flowers are edible and taste like marshmallow. You can eat the petals and leave the flower, so that it still turns into a fruit. The leaves are a silvery blue. The fruit itself are tiny and taste decent. I found it to be a little gritty.

2. Pink tropical guava - there are so many varieties of tropical guava. This was another one that my Dad wanted, as they eat a lot of pink guava in India. I got the Ruby-X variety as it is more disease and pest resistant. The skin is thicker on the fruit and more resistant to fruit flies which plague guava trees.

3. White tropical guava - I think the variety I have is a Mexican cream called Diamond. This was early in my fruit days when I didn't know about varieties, but it was recommended by the nursery as the most popular variety of white guava. I have found nothing on the internet about a "Diamond" variety so this is now my mystery guava tree.

4. There are also guavas called strawberry guava, lemon guava, etc. I am not sure how these taste, but let me know if you try one!

Guavas, like citrus, can be grown in pots.

Tropicals/sub-tropicals (tougher to grow):

These trees are evergreen in tropical regions, but a few may drop leaves in our winters.

1. Loquat - loquats are trendy right now, and grow easily. They have beautiful large evergreen leaves and apricot-like fruit. They make great front yard trees. Champagne, Big Jim and Golden Nugget are popular local varieties. 

2. Longan - I killed two lychee trees in our heat waves:( Apparently longan is somewhat similar to lychee and a little better suited to our climate. They are brown colored on the outside instead of pink like lychee. Fingers crossed it survives!

3. Avocado - I have a lamb hass tree, which is a fairly self fertile. A lot of avocado varieties are self fertile but do better with a cross pollinator. Avocado varieties come in "Type A" and "Type B". Type A and Type B varieties pollinate each other. The lamb hass is a more compact avocado tree and produces a lot of fruit. Avocados need to be a little protected in our summer heat or they will get sunburn, so plant in a slightly protected area, or protect the tree until it is older. Avocados have extensive roots so do not plant too close to buildings.

4. Carabao mango - this is a popular Philippine mango, and seems to be very happy and snug under all the mulch I have on it. Mango roots grow really wide and can be invasive because the trees grow up to 100 feet in the tropics. That should not be an issue here as they won't grow that big due to the cold. Just don't plant it next to a building wall. Mangoes can also be grown in large pots.

5. Alphonso mango - I have been searching for this tree for a while now. It is the most popular Indian variety and I'll be surprising my Dad with it, whenever I can find it!

6. Nam doc mai mango - this is the most popular Thai variety. I need to stop getting fruit trees, but I can see myself getting this in the future because I can't help myself.

7. Sapodilla (chikoo) - this is a popular fruit in India that produces brown egg sized fruit and tastes like brown sugar. It is a very slow growing tree. I have the hasyo variety which should be good.

8. White sapote - this fruit is supposed to taste like custard, and is related to the persimmon tree. This is also an invasive tree as it grows huge and the roots extend wide. It should be in some shade when it is a young sapling. Mine is not growing well, but they are supposed to grow well normally and may be a fun tropical experiment.

9. Moringa trees - not a fruit, but it is a tropical tree. Google "Moringa leaves". They are AWESOME. A bit tough to grow here, but can buy cheap saplings on fb marketplace and experiment. I've seen some youtube videos of Arizona home orchard gardeners who grow them as a shade trees to give a canopy to other fruit trees. Fruit trees love sun, but heat waves over 100 degrees F are too tough on them, so they can use a little protection. The moringa tree can grow 20 feet in 1 year! Even with that type of growth, the roots are not supposed to be invasive.

 

10. Banana! - these can grow in our area but do not easily fruit. Just keep them protected in winter and mulch heavily. I have a cavendish banana and an ice cream banana, which produces bananas that taste like vanilla ice cream. Let's hope I can get it to fruit at some point!

11. Annonas (atemoya, cherimoya, sugar apple, etc) - I have a cherimoya because someone was selling one for $12 on fb marketplace. It's growing well, but apparently these have to be hand pollinated in our area as they are not bee pollinated... not happening. 

12. Jamaican cherry - they are tiny berries like the size of cranberries, and taste like cotton candy. I've already killed one. Now on my second, wish me luck. These grow in the Philippines. They are invasive and can sucker 30 feet away. They can be grown in a pot, which is better for our climate as they can die when the temps get below 40 degrees F, so pots can be brought inside on those days. 

13. Ice cream bean - this is another fun experimental one I am growing. It does not like when temps get low in winter and can die down. But once established, it grows to a giant size. Roots are extensive but not totally invasive. The fruit are actually legumes and are long green pods that you crack open. The inside fruit is a white fluffy substance which tastes like cotton candy.

14. Dragonfruit - very popular in Bay area home orchards.

15. Starfruit - I do not have one, but if you like the taste, these can grow in our area.

16. Jaboticaba - these are interesting trees that can grow in this area. The fruit grow on the tree trunk/bark.

17. Papayas and pineapples - I've tried.. and failed.

There are so many tropical fruits! Just go on facebook marketplace and start browsing a few local home nurseries. Tropicals are harder to grow in general than stone fruit, citrus fruit, apples, etc.

Berries:

1. Mulberries

- Pakistan mulberry tree - I first had mulberries some years ago and they are super tasty!! The roots on this tree are invasive so plant far from buildings, and prune it before the trees grows into a 30 ft monster! I plan on keeping mine 6 feet tall.

- Dwarf everbearing mulberry - this is a smaller mulberry tree that can also be trained as a shrub.

2. Fall gold raspberry - yellow raspberries! These can be grown in part shade, and will appreciate that in our summer heat.

3. Blueberries - I think any variety you find in the local stores is fine. Blueberries like acidic soil, and can be grow in pots.

4. Blackberries - these can be grown in part shade, and will appreciate that in our summer heat.

5. Goji berries - these grow well even in extreme heat.

6. Loganberries - a hybrid raspberry and blackberry. One of the few berry plants that survived for me in the spring and summer heat waves.

Fruiting vines:

1. Grapes - they like sun! At Alden Lane nursery, I saw them grown them in pots and trained up a trellis arch. It was beautiful. 

2. Passion fruit - these produce the most stunning flowers. Passion flower vines grow rapidly and can take over an entire area. Ours is somewhat in check because it's in partial shade instead of full sun which it prefers. The lifespan of a passionfruit vine is 7-8 years.

3. Kiwi - I realllly want to grow hardy kiwi. They are kiwi but the size of a grape, fuzzless, sweeter, and can be eaten with the skin. They also can be grown in and prefer shade/partial shade.

This list changes frequently as I learn about new varieties but I hope it helps. Please use it as a starting guide and do some online research before getting any fruit tree!

Garden - year 1

Like the 20 million other new gardeners this last year, gardening has been very therapeutic for me during covid. Here are some highlights.

Starting with a blank slate (summer 2020)

We decided to replace our mostly brown lawn with fruit trees and drought tolerant plants. Dad tilled up this area in just 1 hour! 

We used the sheet mulching method to kill off any remaining weeds and lawn: we laid down cardboard and placed 3 inches of compost and mulch on top of the cardboard. The cardboard will eventually break down into compost and replenish the earth with carbon and nutrients. If you use this method, remove all tape and only use cardboard with no color ink.

We felt it was more organic to use cardboard than landscape fabric. But we'll see if I feel the same way in a year or two when the weeds are back.

We have a large camphor tree which makes it hard to plant anything else. Camphor tree roots are notoriously aggressive, breaking up concrete and stealing water from other plants! So we will be sinking 25 gallon pots in the ground and planting (citrus) in there to protect the plants.

Work in progress, stay tuned!

Succulent garden

I discovered these sculpture like plants while on a drive (if you are ever wondering who the stranger taking photos of your plants is..), which my plant app identified as artichoke agaves. I later found some being sold for a steal on craigslist! The only catch was that they were very heavy and extremely thorny - we used a combination of ropes, a ramp, and cardboard to roll them from the car to our yard.

Here they are planted. Aren't the artichokes beautiful!? You will also see some kalanchoe paddle plants. I love plants with dramatic leaves, and used a mix of blue, red and green leafed plants for this area.

Check out this adorable frog my friend got for my bday! Namaste!

Clay soil: a gardener's worst nightmare

We have a small south facing patch with direct sun, which made it a perfect spot for fruit trees. But it was mostly being taken up by another beautiful camphor tree...

whose roots were so invasive, that they were breaking up the driveway 

so the tree had to go.

It took one tree pruner, 2 stump grinders, and 20 hours of sifting out rocks and mixing in compost to turn this rocky, root filled clay soil, into plantable soil. Gardening was different from what I imagined.

And I now own a growing rock collection that I neither need nor want.

We also removed an old orange tree here, that was experiencing dieback no matter how much we watered or fertilized. When we dug up the tree, we found the culprit. Do you see that orange colored root in the below photo? That is a camphor root that traveled 15 feet and grafted itself under the orange tree base, cutting off half the orange roots. That camphor tree was no joke!! 

The orange tree was still producing fruit though, so we gave it to someone who could give it a better home. 

When we ground down the camphor tree stump, it produced 2 truckloads of shredded wood, which was useful mulch for the new garden! Mulch is any material that is used to cover soil and helps with water retention. Never leave soil uncovered! The sun will destroy the quality and structure of your soil. The best soil is crumbly in texture. You can also use compost as mulch. Mulch will break down into compost anyway after a year or two. Do not place wood mulch within 3 feet of a home because it can attract termites. 

We finally mixed in compost and chicken manure to add nutrients to the very nutrient depleted soil, and topped off with 3 inches of... mulch!

We also replanted a row of lily of the nile plants. The lilies were so old, that they had developed a large mass of unnecessary roots, raising the plants a foot above ground level. In this photo, you can see the plants we de-rooted on the right, and the plants we still had to remove on the left. 

Apparently, you are supposed to divide lily of the niles every 5 years.. oops!

This patch now has loquat, honey mandarin, and lychee trees, each 6 feet apart. Loquats are popular sidewalk trees, because they are evergreen, ornamental, and have delicious fruit. As for lychee, it would have been hard to grow this tropical tree 20 years ago, but thanks to climate change (booo!), the weather is now hot enough.

I usually buy small 5 gallon trees/saplings, but you should buy the biggest tree that you can afford. The benefit of buying a small tree though is that you can keep it small and prune into your desired shape when a plant is young. Below is a photo of the small fruit tree culture.

Growing our own food for the next apocalypse

Dad built a raised veg bed, by stacking up 4 layers of brick. We did not cement them. We put chicken wire on the bottom to prevent gophers, lined it with cardboard, and then put compost in. 

A year later, we (I) changed our mind and decided to remove the bed and plant veggies directly in the ground so that we have more flexibility and space. (Sorry Dad!)

Add a soaker hose, and look at those veggies grow! Tomatoes, radish, okra, zucchini, magic beans! We planted marigold and onion seeds around the perimeter to prevent pests and insects. I also will stake the tomato plants instead of using cages.

We made teepees out of branches from the camphor tree that we cut down. The teepees will eventually be covered in green bean stalks. And we planted blackberry bushes on top of the retaining wall, so that they trail over. I can't wait!

We've been mixing in chicken manure (from home depot) when planting anything. This is a great natural fertilizer which adds nitrogen back into the soil. You can also use manure from cows, sheep, etc..

Preparing to start my smoothie franchise

I started with 1 fruit tree a year ago.. and ended up with 30 trees, 8 berry plants, and 3 vines (kiwi, passionfruit, grape)! I'm a fruit tree addict! We are not going to let any of them grow taller than 7 feet. Backyard orchard culture/high density planting is for people who want a variety of fruit and just enough fruit to eat.

The first tree we planted was a fruit salad tree. Our family friend gave me a gift card to a local nursery and asked me to plant a tree in Mom's memory. I chose a fruit salad tree, because I know Mom would have gotten a kick out of it, as it makes for a great talking piece. This fruit salad tree has 4 grafted branches on one tree! Peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots! Note how the blossoms are different on each branch.

Under the fruit salad and multi-cherry trees (4 types of cherry grafted on one tree), I created round beds and planted companion plants. Companion plants are synergistic plants that are beneficial to each other i.e. onions and nasturtiums deter pests under cherry trees. 

We topped off the beds with mulch to help with water retention. Within a month, the texture of the hard clay soil improved so much, that I was seeing earthworms moving in! The downside was that there were grubs moving in too. I sprayed the ground with neem oil mixed with water and dishwashing liquid for a natural insecticide, and overturned as many grubs as I could to let the birds have at them.

Mission fig and tiger fig trees planted in the same hole - an example of high density planting.

After 6 months of digging holes and breaking pipes, I realized I needed help so I roped in my gardener. 

He is awesome and is the same person who cut down our camphor tree in 20 minutes with a machete!

 

Here he is cutting down another tree to make way for 2 banana trees. 

We planted a dwarf cavendish and an ice cream banana, which apparently produces blue bananas which taste like vanilla ice cream! 

Planning

I spent a year planning before planting anything in the ground. Even when I planted initially, I sunk pots into the ground so it would be easier to move, if I changed my mind!  

Here was my plan, created in google docs:

As you can see, there's still a lot more to do. If you made it to the end of my post, I owe you a fruit basket! Thanks for reading, and Aloha for now!

Veg lasagna

Makes 2 lasagnas

Garlic - 6 cloves

Chopped mushrooms (optional)
1/3 onion

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

2 24 oz marina sauce of choice

Handful of basil

1 16 oz box of lasagna noodles (normal) or eggplant/zucchini slices (keto/paleo)
Spinach

32 oz ricotta (not SCD or Paleo), or SCD friendly cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella (not SCD or Paleo), or SCD friendly cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese (not Paleo)

Optional: chopped green bell pepper, zucchini, broccoli

1. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil.

2. Add marina sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add red chili flakes, chopped basil, zucchini, bell pepper and broccoli.

3. Saute spinach in pan. Chop the spinach and mix in with ricotta.

4. Boil lasagna noodles according to instructions on box. 

5. Cover bottom of tray with sauce. Add layer of noodles, layer of ricotta, sprinkle parmesan cheese, layer of sauce, layer of noodles and repeat. Final layer should be parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top of sauce.

6. You can put in fridge overnight before baking, or bake right away. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes.

7. Lasagna tastes best the next day after sauce has marinated.

Orange cake - Paleo, SCD

This cake is dense and spongy

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 6 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup coconut milk*
• 6 tablespoons raw honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• juice of 1/2 medium orange

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure out coconut oil and place in an 8″x8″ pan. Place the pan in the oven to melt the coconut oil.

While the coconut oil is melting, whisk the eggs, coconut milk, honey, vanilla and orange zest together.

Combine coconut flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet.

Add melted coconut oil (make sure it is slightly cooled so it does not cook the egg) into the batter and mix until all lumps are gone.

Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 pan and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Place the cake on a cooling rack.

After the cake has cooled a bit, but is still warm, poke holes all over the top with a fork. Juice the orange half right over the whole cake, making sure to evenly distribute the juice.

Orange Coconut Oil Frosting

Be sure to melt your coconut oil in a glass bowl. I do this by putting the bowl over a small pan of simmering water.

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted in a glass bowl
• 9 drops of liquid stevia (alternatively, you could use a couple of teaspoons of raw honey
• 1 packed teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients into warm coconut oil. You are now going to place the bowl into the freezer in order to cool it down. It is very important to check on it every couple of minutes to catch it before it gets too cold. You want to take it out of the freezer right when it starts to get cloudy.

At this point the cold bowl (and your cool kitchen) will continue to turn the liquid oil into a solid. Continue to whisk the frosting as it gets cloudier and cloudier and eventually turns into a whipped butter consistency. The idea is to get a bit of air into it.

Once it is to a whipped (very soft) butter consistency plop it onto your cooled cake. Frost it very quickly before the coconut oil hardens. It will seem like a pretty thin frosting, but it is just enough.

*Use 1 teaspoon of coconut cream concentrate for every 6-8 oz of water for coconut cream milk. Mix together and use as directed or make homemade coconut milk.

Recipe from Coconut recipes.

SCD Kung Pao Chicken

  
         Recipe from wegottaeat                   Goes with cauliflower fried rice

Cauliflower Chinese egg fried rice

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 eggs
4 cups cauliflower rice
1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (no corn)
2 green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons coconut aminos or soy sauce

1. Heat remaining sesame oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over high heat.

2. Add cauliflower, green onions, and frozen mixed vegetables then stir fry until cauliflower is just beginning to turn tender, 3-4 minutes. 

3. Add garlic, season with salt and pepper, and then continue to stir fry until garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds or so.
4. Push mixture to the sides of the wok to create an opening in the center then add the eggs and scramble. Toss mixture to combine then drizzle in gluten-free Tamari and mix again to combine. Serve hot.

Adapted from iowagirleats

Marilyn's SCD Chocolate Cake

© 2010 by Marilyn L. Alm
Marilyn Alm is a veteran SCD expert and the owner and mentor of the international SCD Yahoo group (BTVC-SCD@yahoogroups.com). This “Chocolate” Cake Recipe is intended to be formally published in Louisiana SCD Lagniappe.

This is the tastiest SCD cake! It is like a flourless chocolate cake. Thank you Marilyn for creating this recipe!

   
Straight out of the oven and fluffy!          Once it cools, it is more dense.


16 large Medjool dates
6 ounces (171 grams) pecans
4 ounces (113 grams) cocoa butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) salt
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 milliliters) finely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) legal vanilla extract
1 jumbo egg (71 g or larger)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
2. Pulse pecans in food processor to make pecan flour. Add salt and pepper. Process to mix well.
3. Pit the dates and chop, by cutting lengthwise and then crosswise, and crumble the date pieces into the food processor. Process for several minutes until dates and pecan flour are well mixed.
4. Melt cocoa butter over stove or microwave. Add the melted cocoa butter and vanilla. Process again for several minutes. The date/pecan mixture and the cocoa butter will slosh around in the food processor and will not incorporate with each other – but you need this processing to really chop up / puree the dates.
5. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg and the baking soda and process again. It’s rather amazing to see how this mixture suddenly turns into a very chocolate-cake-looking batter. You may wish to scrape down the sides once, and process a second time until very smooth.
6. Pour batter into four well-buttered mini-Bundt pans or one well-buttered 8” (20 cm) circle cake pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool cake(s) and turn out. The mini-Bundts can be topped with vanilla half & half yogurt and cherries for a to-die-for dessert. The cake tastes even more chocolaty if it chills over night before you eat it.

Posted from gutharmony.