When it gets to that point of the year, when the sun starts to disappear, and the days start to get a little bit colder, you have to start thinking about your garden and the things you can grow, especially if you grow a lot of your own vegetables.

Growing up, my mother always grew her own vegetables and when I could, I would help her. She would send me down to the bottom of the garden to the Plastic Shed she kept all of her gardening tools with the mission of getting her a shovel and me a trowel. I wouldn’t really do anything important, but I’ll always remember feeling proud when I had helped her dig up the various vegetables that we would be eating that night. It’s a tradition which I have continued and will hopefully pass on to my children when the time comes.

My love for all things fresh and natural has continued and is a key focus ofmy life. In this article I want to focus on a particular area I like to talk about – The health benefits of vegetables.

Now, most people know that vegetable are “good for you”, but don’t look into it much further than that. Many vegetables contain vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that are not only vital to good health, but also capable of helping you recover from a multitude of ailments*. I like to call these vegetables super-foods. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite five.

1. Beet Root

Beet Root is the derivative of Sea Beet, which is also known as Wild Spinach, which was native to the coasts of Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Asia, and some shores of Great Britain. Beet Root contains high levels of Magnesium, Vitamin C, Potassium and Betaine.

Betaine in particular is very beneficial in cardiovascular health. By working with Folic acid, Vitamins B6 and B12, as well as S-adenosylmethionine, it reduces the concentration of Homocysteine, which is part of the Cysteine family – naturally occurring amino acids that can be harmful to blood vessels, and are known to contribute to Heart Disease, Stroke and Peripheral Vascular Disease[1].

Recent studies have also shown that Betaine, is effective at protecting against Liver damage related with excessive drinking and Diabetes. It also increases stomach acid, which can aid sufferers of Hypochlorhydria – a disease in which sufferers experience abnormally low levels of stomach acid[2].

Many external issues such as Eczema, Acne, Fatigue, Bloating, and Rosacea can be the result of an internal issue, especially when your digestive system and liver, filter out many of the toxins in your body.

Sometimes people focus on treating these symptoms, instead of treating the cause and although eating Beet Root is unlikely to simply just cure your ailment, it can go a long way to easing or preventing the symptoms.

2. Carrots

The humble Carrot is famous for the urban myth, perpetuated by the British Air Force during World War II. The myth claimed that carrots were being eaten by all of the pilots and could therefore see at night to shoot down enemy aircraft when in fact it was the newly developed radar systems that allowed for this. The myth was designed to promote the idea of growing carrots to the citizens during times of ration. They’ve been a staple of the British diet ever since.

The strange thing is carrots do help you see well. Not in a night vision sense though. See, Carrots contain a high level of beta-carotene, which is converted to Vitamin A by Bile Salt found in the intestine. A lack of vitamin A can cause blurry vision, which can be fixed by returning Vitamin A into the diet.

3. Garlic

Well known to the ancient Egyptians, garlic has been found to have originally come from Asia and most of the Mediterranean before spreading throughout Europe. Garlic is claimed to prevent Heart Disease including high blood pressure, and high cholesterol as well as Cancer[3].

The Cardio-protective benefits of Garlic could be down to the production of Hydrogen Sulphide gas. Red blood cells can take the Sulphur containing molecules in Garlic and use them to produce the Hydrogen Sulphide gas. This gas causes blood vessels to expand, which keeps blood pressure in line.

There are also claims that Garlic helps fight the common cold. This theory has centuries of herbal medicinal uses behind it, especially the Cherokee, who used it for the prevention of coughs[4].

Garlic has also been found to help regulate blood sugar levels and prevent some complications of Diabetes. Although it is not recommended that diabetics take medicinal levels of Garlic without consulting a doctor first.

It’s also worth noting that many forms of processed Garlic cannot be used by our bodies and that it is much more beneficial to receive Garlic in food form.

4. Onions

I think if I had put these in order onions would have been my number #1. The beneficial power of onions seems endless. Onions are good for things such as: asthma, influenza, colds, insomnia, pneumonia, obesity, blood pressure, fighting worms and parasites, sinus conditions, and vertigo as well as the skin, hair and nails.

High in vitamin C, fibre and folic acid, onions also contain a high level of calcium, iron, and protein.

Onions contain quercetin, a flavonoid - a category of antioxidant compound. Studies have shown that quercetin helps to destroy free radicals in the body, to inhibit low-density lipoprotein oxidation (an important reaction in coronary heart disease), and also protect and regenerate vitamin E.

Some studies show that the consumption of onions may be beneficial in reducing the chance of certain diseases. Eating a large amount of onions may prevent stomach ulcers by fighting free radicals and preventing the growth of the ulcer-forming microorganisms.

American researchers found that pungent onions exhibit strong anti-platelet activity. Platelet aggregation is associated with atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

5. Broccoli

Broccoli is the descendant of a wild Cabbage plant found throughout Europe. Since the Roman Empire it has been a valued Italian vegetable. Rumour has it that it was introduced to America by Italian Immigrants during the 1800s, but did not become widely popular until at least 1920.

Broccoli is often cooked, and many people are actually unaware that many of its health benefits can be lost through cooking and, in many cases; it is recommended that it be eaten raw.

Broccoli is extremely high in Vitamin C as well as Selenium, Glucoraphanine and Diindolylmethane; the previous three being known anti-cancer minerals. Broccoli is also beneficial for innate immune response system as well as being anti-viral and anti-bacterial.

High intakes of broccoli have been known to reduce and prevent the risk of aggressive Prostate Cancer and Heart Disease[5]. High intakes of broccoli have also become popular with Acne sufferers with very progressive results.

Broccoli sprouts (3-4 day old sproutings) have been proven to be even more beneficial than fully grown Broccoli due to an abundance of Sulporaphane – a known and effective anti-oxidant. Although medical research in regards to Broccoli and Broccoli sprouts continues to grow, and common opinion seems to be in agreement, the US FDA has not reached any conclusion on the health benefits of Broccoli.

*I would like to state that I am not a medical professional. My knowledge is gained through research over time, or given to me by the school of life. I have tried to reference as many medical studies that I can in relation to the points I have made to back up my statements, but please understand that unless stated most of what I say should be considered opinion, please accept at your own discretion, or that of a medical professional (which again, I am not). What I have written is advice, these are not cures for diseases and any treatment needed for any mentioned condition should be sought from a doctor.

A garden shed doesn’t just have to be used for gardening; it can be your own private area of serenity, your little home from home and your ticket out of doing housework. I'd like to explore the standard conventional uses of garden sheds and the wilder more creative sides to this wooden house of fun!

Who says sheds are simply for storage of garden equipment?

Well not Reg Miller, thats for sure. He was voted to have “The Best Shed 2010” - which is really something when he was competing against some really esoteric and crazy designs.

And it’s not just Reg getting involved. People all over the country are having a go and attempting to “Pimp” their shed to really get the most out of it. More recently we've seen John Earl - aptly dubbed 'Shed Zeppelin' - win the 2011 competition with his World War One billet: where he features live bands and films them for his website 'Songs From The Shed'. John even boasts that he's had a "26 strong gospel choir" play his renowned shed!

Picture from The Independent.

Even if you’re not into “Pimping up” your garden shed like Reg or any of the other competitors, you don’t have to conform to the standard conventional method of having to “use the garden shed for garden related issues”. There are many other uses for your lumber dream house. For example: Alan Cook in Market Harborough (UK) has created a really modern and hi-tech shed; Sky HD Television, Games console, Fridge, Lazeeboy Chair, Broadband and now a mini gym are just some of the kit he is packing in his tidy timber hut. He claims his wife was against it at first - but when she realised that she had the run of the house for cleaning etc, she loved the fact that he wasn’t under her feet!

If your needs aren’t satisfied by this, then look toward possibly the family incorporating use of the garden shed, possibly a “play time” area for younger children, or even a homework area for teens revising for their exams. However, not everyone has children - so how about a miniature pub or a miniature library? Get some mates round or kick back with quiet novel.

At the end of the day: it’s your shed, it’s your choice!

With the summer sun well upon us, it's time for the avid green fingered gardeners to prepare their garden.

In order to find the best community base to prepare us for the summer, we have launched a competition to find out the best gardening blog of 2011!

After months of research the following 10 blogs & communities were identified (in no particular order):

1) The Guardian Gardening Blog

The Guardian's Gardening blog has been around for many years, and is regularly updated by popular gardening editors with useful gardening related content.

Find one of their recent posts here.

2) Digging

This United States based gardening resource is owned by Pam, a Texas based gardener. She has developed her garden environment for many years, and regularly posts content on her gardening journey.

Find one of her recent posts here.

3) Veggie Gardening Tips

Veggie Gardening Tips is a gardening portal for useful tips and advice on how to grow vegetables naturally and organically, the blog has some excellent guides on how to grow certain vegetables effectively.

Find one of their recent posts here.

4) Gardeners World Blog

Gardeners World is a BBC owned gardening portal. World gardening experts regularly update the blog with essential tips and advice for gardening related matters, making it a very trusted resource for gardening enthusiasts.

Find one of their recent posts here.

5) GrowsonYou

GrowsonYou is a gardening based community & blogging resource where members can share their gardening tips and tricks with one another.

Find one of their recent posts here.

6) Guerilla Gardening

Guerrilla is an interesting community base, which encourages the creation of gardening in public areas such as on side streets and roundabouts. The blog is frequently updated by members who have come across attractive looking public gardens and flower patches.

Find one of their recent posts here.

7) Cold Climate Gardening

Cold Climate Gardening is a unique gardening resource which offers tips and advice for gardeners who live in cold climates. The blog has a wide range of posts relating to cold climate gardens and how they can be brought to life despite their unfortunate cold temperatures.

Here is one of their recent posts here.

8) Gardening Gone Wild

Gardening gone wild is an internationally recognised gardening blogging community in which aims to 'inspire and inform' its readers with a global perspective on all things gardening.

Find one of their recent posts here.

9) A Way to Garden

A Way to Garden is maintained by garden enthusiast Margaret Roach, she was earlier awarded best garden book of the year in 1998, and her success has continued with her gardening blog, which has a high number of regular subscribers.

Find one of her recent posts here.

10) Garden Rant

Garden Rant is a well known gardening blogging network which has won a number of best blog awards in the past. The blog is regularly updated by four gardening editors who have created a huge following among the gardening network.

Find one of their recent posts here.

To cast a vote for your favourite gardening resource, simply use the form below to vote.

The end date for the competition is  29^th June 2011, so make sure your vote counts! Once the results are collected, the top garden blog of 2011 will be revealed!

Now the weather is starting to pick up and we are starting to sweat, many of you are starting to plan BBQs. The idea of a BBQ sounds very simple, but it is in fact a complex Art, with you and your ideas being the key to success. Throwing any event can be risky business, potentially opening the eyes of your friends to the fool you may actually be (I’m only joking here, they probably know that already). Getting a BBQ right can, at least for an evening, make you seem like you are the greatest person in the world. So here it is, what I hope will be a nice and fun (yet informative) guide to throwing a BBQ party.

Planning

The first place to start is planning your BBQ. Poor planning has the potential to be fatal, not literally fatal, but at least socially. You need to figure out what you need, the minimums of which are:

·       A BBQ

·       Food

·       Drink

These may seem simple, but you will be surprised how many times I have seen friends get these wrong. I’m going give Food and Drink their own little section as they require quite some depth when discussing. First I will start with the BBQ.

You don’t really want a disposable BBQ you want a real BBQ, those disposable ones make you look like you don’t care for the environment, by using a more permanant BBQ you are still burning coal, but not throwing away as much cardboard and foil in the process. Plus they don’t stay hot for long, definitely not long enough to cook food to any sort of edible standard. What you need is something very big, something that will cook a lot of food. A product built to last.

(I think that maybe, just maybe, this may be a little too far)

When everyone arrives they will all pretty much want their food straight away. I am not an impatient person, but find me at a BBQ and I’ll probably be circling around the food like a vulture. As soon as the possibility of your food being cooked arises you will quickly find yourself getting very hungry, and so will your guests. This happens to more people than they realise. The quicker you can get the food out once your BBQ starts the better.

Timing is your next, very important, factor to planning. A great deal of this is which day you plan to do your BBQ. I recommend a Saturday. Each day of the week has advantages and disadvantages, so it’s all about working out which one is right for you. Monday through Friday, for many of your guests, will be days that they work, if you don’t finish until five o’clock and the traffic doesn’t allow you to get home until at least six o’clock, you will probably find yourself still setting up at eight o’clock, struggling with the instructions for an incredibly complicated and frustrating gazebo. The advantages of a Friday though is that it allows your guests to drink with the knowledge they are not at work the next day, the only other day that really allows this is Saturday, which you have to be very unlucky to work. There is one key issue with a Saturday though, which is pretty much unavoidable - sport.

Saturday, is synonymous with sport, at least for certain friends of mine. Ask them to do anything at three in the afternoon and the only response I get is “I’m sorry, I can’t, I’m watching the game” this is fine though, not really a big deal, you could if you like, even centre your BBQ around ‘the game’. This leaves you with the question of what to do with your non-sports-fan-friends, they probably won’t enjoy ‘the game’. The answer is simply inviting them and make sure you don’t forget about them, maybe make sure there is a little group of non-sports-fan-friends to entertain each other.

Another alternative is simply organising your BBQ to be after anything, which may be taking place in the afternoon that people may find difficult to avoid doing. A good time to aim for is about six o’clock in the evening. Six o’clock is good because it allows for different people’s eating patterns. I know many people who eat their evening meal around five and those that eat around nine. This way your BBQ should be hot and ready by around seven, making it equal for both extremes. Tell your guests to arrive for six. You may be thinking ‘won’t everyone turn up early?’ but, no, they won’t. A few will, but these will typically be those people, like myself, who don’t mind turning up early, we’re used to it, in fact, we like to turn up early, you can expect most people to run late, but arrive just in time for BBQ being ready at seven. These early comers will more than likely also help you with any tasks you still have left before everyone else arrives. It makes us feel good.

You want to make your garden have atmosphere for the BBQ, somewhere your guests feel like they can enjoy them selves. Gazebos are good because if the worst happens and it rains (and it always does!), your friends have somewhere to huddle and wait it out if they can’t make it indoors. Chairs are a must. If your friends are drinking, there will probably come a point were it is best for them to sit down, I usually have a seating area within the gazebo, I find this often helps with preventing your friends turning into lobsters. One word of advice, don’t try to BBQ under the gazebo (or next to a garden shed for that matter).

Food

The main ingredient of any great BBQ, kind of speaks for itself, but is often taken for granted. You have too opposing options when it comes to the food – economy or up market. I suggest something in the middle. Why this middle ground you may ask. Well, going down to the supermarket and buying the cheapest food you can, has obvious advantages. But if you want to impress, you want to provide food people will actually enjoy. This doesn’t mean buying the best you can from an organic butcher’s shop though because at the end of the day, your guests are more than likely going to drown the poor thing in ketchup. A nice middle ground offers burgers and sausages that won’t be several times smaller than they first appeared whilst making your guest feel less guilty when pouring that mustard in. You can always tell people to bring their own food, leaving the choice of quality up to them, but this often leads to chaos and confusion about who’s food is who’s and a mad rush to get theirs on the BBQ first. You can also guarantee that some people will just not bring any. By buying your own you have complete control and can just keep cooking away.

I would recommend asking any vegetarians you know to bring their own food. This isn’t some sort of anti-vegetarian statement or anything; it’s more of allowing them their personal preference. I was vegetarian for many years and throughout this time there were many brands I encountered that were very nice, but also many brands that weren’t. If I turned up to a BBQ and the host had bought vegetarian food for the vegetarians, you could guarantee it was going to be one of the brands I didn’t like.

Next on your list, are sauces. Everyone loves a good sauce, yet everyone differs in their favourites. Classics such as Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Mustard, Brown Sauce, and Relish are all musts. What I like to do is throw in sauces that may surprise people, throw them off guard. These include, Sweet Chilli Sauce, Horseradish, Salad Cream, Hot Pepper Sauce, Pickle, Piri Piri, Reggae Reggae and strange variations of traditional sauces, this way you allow your guests to create whatever they want. You will be surprised at some of the concoctions and this will ultimately start many conversations.

(Just thinking about BBQ food makes me very hungy.)

The other decision you have to make with food is elements such as Salads and side dishes. This comes from knowing your guests, but I have never thrown a BBQ were these were really eaten. I often fall back on the classics such as coleslaw and potato salad because at the end of the day, any leftovers I will happily eat on my own. Thinking about salads I am always reminded of a Simpsons episode with a wonderful song “you don’t make friends with salads”. I have to admit, The Simpsons are right.

Drink

No party is complete without drinks, whether these are alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Many people, like with food, will not bring any, but I have generally found that most people will. It does help to be stocked up. If you have drinks to offer your guest, you will instantly win friend points (more than likely you will also be able to get them to return the favour), creating a better atmosphere. Stick with the classics – Cider, Beer and Wine for the alcoholic and Cola, Lemonade and Juice for the non alcoholic. You may also need some extra of these non-alcoholic drinks for those that like to drink spirits. Always buy much more than you need and keep a reserve. This way your guests will not be able to abuse your generosity and you will be able to offer more if the supply has run down, but your gathering, is nowhere near over. Like the food, don’t go for anything too cheap, I would usually go for drinks that I like, so any leftovers are there for me to enjoy.

Don’t forget the ice. Ice alone will make you a legend.

Music

I left this from the list earlier, because it is an almost strange anomaly. Sometimes you need music, sometimes you don’t. If conversation is booming, music can often end up being a distraction, getting drowned out in the background. Sometimes the music is the life of a social event. I have to agree with the latter. The problem with music though is that everyone like something different and you can’t please everyone with the same genre (it is things like this that make people so interesting and fascinating). I find nostalgic music is your best bet. Music from a specific time gone by that you all have connections to, not only sparks conversation, but makes people very happy. Whenever I hear a song from my youth for example, I just want to dance. When I hear this song with my friends, we do dance. Find these songs for your group of guests and run with it, trust me on this, I’m an expert.

And there we have it, a guide to throwing the perfect summer BBQ. Have fun and remember, to wear sunscreen because as well being more embarrassing than you realise, sunburn can have very serious long-term effects.

Thom M

(Thom holds no responsibility for your BBQ not being a success)