Global Juice Feast Day 87!

I Love Tumbleweed! (in my juices when it is young and green, before it dwarfs a bench!)

Juice Feast Day 87

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, parsley, cilantro, baby tumbleweed, carrot, ginger and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple, and one quart of watermelon, apple, lime, and ginger, and one quart of watermelon, apple, raspberry, and ginger (OUTSTANDINGLY GOOD AGAIN!)

TOTAL JUICE: 7 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, MSM and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, Max Stress B, coconut oil, DHA/Flax/Evening Primrose Oil, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

We just got in from a sunset walk through the fields, where we picked a huge bag of tumbleweed to be put in the dehydrator to later blend into green superfood powder!! I was asked recently what the nutritional benefits of adding young tumbleweed to juices is.

I found limited young tumbleweed nutritional information on line, but I also found this about eating the little green plants, also known as Salsola (I like that name!)

Salsola as food:

The leaves and shoots of many species are edible, especially when young and tender, and some are grown as vegetables, often used for salads, sushi, or as a garnish. The most commonly eaten European species is Salsola Soda known in Italy as Barba di Frate or Agretti. In Japan, S. komarovii is a crop of moderate importance, known locally as okahijiki (literally "land hijiki").

The seeds are also edible, although difficult to collect in quantity, and are sometimes ground into flour.

(From Wikipedia.com)

I like it that it is known as "land hijiki" in Japan, a kind of desert seaweed!

One thing I did find out is that tumbleweed is about 12% protein, which makes higher in protein, gram for gram, than meat!

As far as I am concerned, any plant that can survive and flourish in this arid land is full of life force and vitality, and I am thankful to the little salsolas for their tender greens shoots. When I was working at the Tree of Life, at this time of year there was always a bowl of salsola shoots on the lunch buffet table, to be added to salads. I also discovered several recipes for tumbleweed soups on line, and one person claimed that it makes a soup very similar to split pea soup. Might be worth a try to create a raw salsola soup!

Till tomorrow, may your juices and dreams be sweet!

Katrina and David