Home Produce
If you’re like me and you enjoy the refreshing tastes of a fresh salad or seafood ceviche, then I couldn’t encourage more strongly the concept of growing your own veggies at home. Whether you decide to grow your produce indoors in a hydroponic garden of some kind or outdoors in a more traditional garden you will not be disappointed. In fact, once you start growing your own vegetables it’s only a matter of time before you begin growing your own herbs and fruit as well.
These days, pretty much all of the cooking I do involves homegrown produce and the taste difference is absolutely astounding. Otherwise decent meals are now out of this world, and all because I’ve began growing and keeping my own garden. Once dull Asian stir fries are now enjoyable taste explosions and ordinary pasta dishes are now freshened up with fresh chopped herbs like basil and oregano. Even things you wouldn’t imagine, like microwave or frozen pizza, can be given a little life and an extra dash of flavor from fresh garden grown hot peppers or mushrooms.
In addition, keeping a fresh garden will allow you to make your own salsas and tomato sauces from scratch and, if you keep a decent selection of species in your garden, there are virtually no ethnic or other cooking styles you can’t match in your own kitchen. So if you like to eat well and you have the time I suggest you plant a garden today; your appetite will thank you.

Tulips are some darn cool plants. I have been to Amsterdam twice in my travels now, and have been lucky enough to see a whole mess of tulips while there. The sheer amount of colors and varieties on display was staggering. Funny thing is tulips are not native to Holland, which seems to be what everyone thinks; they are actually native to Turkey. Their name originates from “tulbend,” which is Turkish for turban, because they thought the flowers looked like turbans.