Growing Indoor Greens

By Donna Philippe

Several years ago, before even building our B.E.L.L. home, Kevin and I discovered a "primal diet" which requires very little cooking or the use of recipes. As we worked on our ability to successfully live in a small shelter such as the B.E.L.L., we discovered that a predominately cooked food diet was too complicated for the easy, relaxed kind of lifestyle we wanted. So we began experimenting with our diet until we came up with one that is nutritious, eliminates the need for a large, traditional kitchen, and provides better health.

After being on this diet for only six weeks, my body completely healed itself of an illness called Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction, which I had for a period of twenty miserable years. I spent most of my days laid out on the couch, accomplishing very little. I had symptoms of severe fatigue, headaches, fevers, body aches and depression. Through the years, I tried every kind of treatment I could afford, seeking the help of the mainstream medical establishment and many different alternative therapies. Nothing worked, until I tried this diet. It was a 100% raw food diet of sprouts, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds that gave me back my health. I have since been able to re-introduce about 25%-cooked foods without any further symptoms of the illness.

The most important aspect of our diet is our ability to grow almost 50% of our food on the windowsills of our amazing little B.E.L.L shelter. We grow sprouts in jars, and the best tasting "buckwheat lettuce", sunflower greens and wheat grass in pots or small trays of potting soil. We buy the seeds in bulk for our indoor gardening from an organic source and keep a steady supply of these life-generating, nutritious foods growing throughout the year, regardless of what is going on in the outdoor garden. This way we have a steady, reliable supply of fresh, organic produce on hand at all times. These indoor greens are the foundation of our diet. Following are the instructions on how we grow indoor greens (excepted from Part 2 of our book entitled "Primal Conscious Living").

Growing Wheat Grass, Sunflower or Buckwheat greens:

• Fill any size pot or small tray with soil that has been mixed with peat moss. This will assure good ventilation and drainage for developing roots. You may fertilize the soil with one tbsp. of kelp per pot (optional).

• Soak the wheat berries, sunflower seed or buckwheat seed overnight. For best germination results, allow seed to drain 8 hours before planting.

• Wet the soil in the pot or tray thoroughly.

• Spread a layer of seed over the soil. Each seed should touch another on all sides, but should not have any others on top of it. In other words, all the seeds should have access to the soil, and form a thick carpet covering the soil.

• Cover this layer of seed with a piece of plastic to prevent the seeds from drying out. Allow plastic edges to drape over the pot, do not tuck underneath, as the seeds need air to grow.

• On the fourth day, remove the covering and water the greens (this will be their first drink).

• Place the pots in indirect sunlight, either inside on a windowsill or outside in a shady spot. Water the greens daily, once a day. On the seventh day, the greens will be at their peak. The buckwheat and sunflower greens will be from 5-7 inches tall, the wheat grass, about 7 or 8 inches tall.
• Cut all greens as close to the base as possible. This is where the majority of vitamins are stored.
• Compost the used soil and reuse when it has decomposed.

It is simple and economical to grow salad greens and wheat grass in our homes. The cost of homegrown organic salad greens may be one-tenth of what we pay for commercial salad greens, which have little nutritional value. The growing of indoor greens takes little space and only 15 minutes or so of daily care.

The wheat grass can be snipped very fine and sprinkled on salads, sandwiches, soups, or it may be added to cooked foods. Wheat grass is a complete food; it is high in chlorophyll, which is a protective, cleansing food, especially for toxic city living. Studies have shown that chlorophyll in living food can greatly increase the life span of people who have been exposed to lethal radiation. (People living in cities are exposed daily to radiation from x-rays, fluorescent lights, iodine, B1 and radioactive pollutants.) Chlorophyll has been shown to regenerate the bloodstream and is a powerful blood cleanser. Pots of wheat grass growing on the windowsills will help to help purify the air in the home.

Buckwheat greens are an excellent, mild-tasting lettuce. They are fresh because they go from the soil right into your plate and are loaded with live enzymes, which are needed by every process in the body. These greens are a rich source of rutin, which is a blood builder and lecithin, which helps eliminate excess cholesterol. Lecithin is also a brain food. Buckwheat greens are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, with good amount of B-vitamins such as riboflavin.

Sunflower greens are vitamin-rich meat substitutes at one-quarter the price of meat and actually supply more protein than the body can use. They can be used in salads, sandwiches, and soups or added to any food. These greens are a good source of vitamin D and B complex, and minerals, especially potassium, calcium and iron, and of course, a rich source of chlorophyll.

The indoor greens that we grow inside of our B.E.L.L. home are inexpensive, easy to grow and are truly natural sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and amino acids (protein). They are also biogenic (meaning life generating) and provide the body with a form of living energy.

AFTER SOAKING SEEDS OVERNIGHT IN A JAR, WET SOIL AND COVER WITH AN EVEN LAYER OF SEED. THEN COVER WITH A PIECE OF PLASTIC	LET SIT FOR THREE DAYS OR UNTIL THE SPROUTS BEGIN TO PUSH UP THE  PLASTIC COVERING	REMOVE PLASTIC AND PLACE IN INDIRECT SUNLIGHT, WATER AS NEEDED. HARVEST AFTER 8 TO 14 DAYS

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