What are Green Smoothies?

Leafy greens are some of the best vegetables you can eat. They are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, phyto-nutrients and all sorts of other good stuff. Getting more of those vegetables in your diet should always be a big nutritional goal. They make great salads, you can add them to soups and stir-fry, or steam them and have them as a side dish with dinner.

Those are all great options, but even so you don’t end up with a whole lot of greens in your diet. The fact is that vegetables are best consumed raw and it’s hard to consume several cups of greens a day without starting to feel like a rabbit.

Thankfully there’s an easy way to consume several cups of greens in one meal … and it’s tasty too. I’m talking about green smoothies. If you haven’t tried them, you’re in for a treat. If you have tried one or two and didn’t like them, you just haven’t come across the right green smoothie for you yet.

There are recipes out there for any taste buds from sweet and refreshing, to savoury and spicy, and even some thick, rich smoothies that almost make you think you’re having a milk shake.

At its most basic a green smoothie is a mixture of green leafy vegetables, other fruits or veggies and water. Everything is thrown in a blender and blended until smooth. The end result is a thick smoothie.

Drink a green smoothie first thing in the morning to get a healthy breakfast on the go and start your day with a few servings of vegetable and fruit. Or blend up a smoothie for lunch instead of your usual salad. Of course green smoothies make great snacks as well.

If you’re on the go a lot, invest in a smoothie bottle. You can blend, pour and take your smoothie with you. You can even make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to a day before drinking. Once you get in the habit of making green smoothies there are really no excuses for not eating healthy.

The Benefits of Drinking Green Smoothies

Green smoothies are delicious and something you should try simply because they taste good and help you get more veggies in your diet. But the good news doesn’t stop there. Getting in the habit of blending and drinking one of these smoothies a day has quite a few beneficial side effects.

Green Smoothies Help You Get More Veggies In Your Diet

Let’s start with the obvious. Green smoothies are a great way to sneak more veggies into your diet. And not just yours. Get your whole family to enjoy these yummy drinks.

It may take a little sweet talking to get the kids to try them, but if you load their first few smoothies up with lots of fruit (like bananas and apples or using apple juice to replace some of the water), they’ll quickly come to love them as much as you do.

Of course, coming up with a cool name like mean green monster drink, or ogre juice doesn’t hurt either.

Green Smoothies Give You a Vitamin and Mineral Boost

Along with all the veggie goodness, you get a nice big boost in vitamins and minerals with each smoothie. And that’s a big deal. Plant and real food based nutrients are much easier to absorb and better for you than that multi-vitamin you swallow each day.

Green Smoothies Have Lots of Antioxidants, Phytonutrients and Chlorophyll

In addition to those nutrients, green smoothies are also full of antioxidants, phytonutrients and chlorophyll. Scientists aren’t completely sure what all those phytonutrients do, but the consensus is that they’re good for us and something we need.

Antioxidants of course help bind and remove free radicals coursing through your system. The end result is better health and possibly a reduced risk of cancer.

Chlorophyll isn’t something that’s talked about very often, but science suggests that it can give your immune system a boost. There are even claims that it helps purify your blood.

In any case all those extra nutrients result in better health, mental clarity and focus, and you may just start to look better too.

Green Smoothies are Full of Fiber – Better than Juicing

We know we need to get more fiber in our diet. The typical western diet is sorely lacking in this “ingredient”. Fiber is important for proper digestion and since it’s slow to impossible to digest, it helps keep you full longer.

Getting more fiber in your diet can be a challenge, unless you get in the habit of eating a lot of veggies and some high fiber fruit like berries. Both work perfect in green smoothies. Try adding frozen berries to your smoothies to thicken them and keep them ice cold.

Whenever you bring up green smoothies, there’s usually some talk about juicing as well. The big benefit of blending this smoothies that include the entire fruit or vegetable (or in the case of leafy greens, then entire leaf or even plant), instead of just the juice. This means you’re getting all the good fiber along with all the other nutrients.

Green Smoothies are Great for Weight Loss

Last but not least let’s talk about weight loss. Green smoothies are fairly low in calories and if you’re working towards cutting down on the fruit you add, pretty low in sugar as well. Instead they are full of fiber and various nutrients your body needs.

Enjoying a smoothie a day (or even two), can help cut down cravings and fill you up with low calorie food that’s good for you. The end result is almost effortless weight loss. Give it a try and see if green smoothies aren’t the thing that helps you lose those stubborn extra five pounds.

With all these great benefits to be gained when you start drinking a daily green smoothie, I’m sure you’re anxious to get started.

Getting Started with Green Smoothies

Making green smoothies is surprisingly quick and easy. All you need is a blender, greens, fruits and veggies, and some water. You can make your smoothies sweet or savoury. Try a few different combinations until you find the smoothie that’s right for you.

Pay attention to texture too. Some people prefer a rich, creamy smoothie that’s more the consistency of a milk shake. If that’s you, add some banana, avocado, or crushed ice to your smoothies to thicken them up. And go light on the water or any other liquid you’re adding.

If you prefer your smoothies thinner, more like the consistency of orange juice, stick to greens, a little fruit and water-rich produce like cucumbers or melons for example. Add plenty of water or juice as you blend your smoothie.

Here are a few simple smoothies to get you started. Feel free to mix and match ingredients and come up with your own variations.

Banana and Greens

Blend one banana and one head of romaine lettuce with enough water to get the consistency you like in your smoothie. Pour and enjoy!

Spinach and Berries

Blend 2 cups of spinach, ½ cup of frozen berries, 1 cup of orange juice and enough water to get the consistency you like.

Gazpacho “Green Smoothie”

Blend 2 cups of mixed greens, 1 tomato, ½ a small cucumber, ¼ of a green pepper and a small chunk of onion with water or chicken broth. Season with pepper or hot sauce and enjoy!

Kale & Pineapple Smoothie

Toss 1 cup chopped baby kale, 1 cup fresh pineapple, and 1 cup diced cucumber in the blender and blend with enough water to get the consistency you like.

Kid-friendly Green Smoothie

Blend 1 frozen banana (cut into chunks), 2 cups of baby spinach, apple juice and water until smooth. Play around with the juice to water ratio. More juice results in a sweeter smoothie. Start them off with more juice than water if they need the sweetness, then slowly start to cut back.

As you start to play around with these green smoothies, you can get adventurous and add other ingredients. Ginger is nice. It gives your smoothies a little kick and it’s good for you. Soaked chia seeds are another great healthy add-on.

Or, try a little ground flaxseed meal. As you get more into green smoothies, learn more about the different super foods and add-ons that can improve your green smoothies.

Growing Your Own Greens and Micro Greens for Smoothies

Green smoothies are amazing and I’m sure you can tell by now that I’m a big fan. The only problem is that you need a steady supply of fresh greens to make them. That means frequent trips to the grocery store – which can get quite pricey. This is particularly true if you’re sticking to mostly organic, local product.

Thankfully there’s an easy solution for this. Grow your own greens and micro greens for these smoothies at home. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Here’s a quick and easy way to get started and get your green thumbs wet. Go buy some organic heads or romaine lettuce at the store for your next batch of smoothies. Cut off the stalk end and set them in a small glass container. Add enough water so the light, stalky part is well covered. Sit then in a sunny window and watch fresh new romaine lettuce grow.

You can stop there and harvest the new growth after a week or so for your smoothie, or if you’re seeing roots develop, plant the stalks in some potting soil and grow entirely new heads of lettuce.

That was quick and easy, right? How about something almost as simple – growing your own micro greens. Micro greens are tiny little leafy green seedlings that are just a little bit more grown up than sprouts. Grab some lettuce or radish seeds and a hallow container for planting. Fill it with potting soil and sprinkle your seeds over it. Gently cover with a little more soil and water until the soil is well moistened.

Keep your planter in a warm spot and before long you’ll see little sprouts appear. Next the plants get their first two leaves. After that, real leaves start to appear and once you see 4 or 5 of those, you can start harvesting your micro greens. Add more seeds and repeat the cycle.

Of course you don’t have to stop there. You can grow lose leaf lettuce in a bowl or pot on your window sill in the same manner. Or grow your seedlings indoors and then transplant them into a container or garden bed outside. Or weather permitting grow your lettuce outside from seed to harvest.

And don’t stop with the lettuce. Grow some radishes, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, peppers and even berries at home. It’s a lot of fun and a great hobby to get into. And I promise your smoothies will taste even better when you start to grow your own produce.

Tower gardening is the latest trend that allows people to grow their own food at home. If you’ve wanted to grow your own fresh produce, but you don’t have a large yard, this is the answer you’ve been looking for.

What Is a Tower Garden?

A tower garden is a type of vertical garden, but you use it to grow food aeroponically. That means that you grow without soil using only air and water to grow your plants.

You can grow a large variety of plants vertically – saving space. You can grow your tower garden on a roof, patio, or balcony without having to haul heavy soil. Even if you have a yard, you can save space by growing a tower garden.

Tower gardens are also attractive and can provide you with a functional way to beautify a small space.

With the price of produce rising and the safety of many commercial farms a concern, a tower garden is an investment that will pay off. This is perfect for the gardener who’s interested in producing organic food for his family.

The Benefits of a Tower Garden

There’s obviously a benefit of being able to grow food in a small space with a tower garden. However, it has many other benefits when it comes to gardening. If you’ve ever grown food in soil, you’ll appreciate the ease of a tower garden.

When growing without soil, you can eliminate most garden pests. Without soil, most insects that would attack your plants are not an issue. You may occasionally have to deal with some insects, but it will be on a much smaller scale.

Weeding is another task that’s much less of a chore when you have a tower garden. It’s not impossible for weeds to find their way to your garden, but you’ll find that there are fewer than you would have in a traditional garden.

Because you’re growing vertically, you’ll also have less bending and stooping than you would have when working with a typical garden bed. This is especially helpful if you have back or knee problems that make gardening difficult.

This is also a cost effective way to grow your own food. You’ll have to make an initial investment in equipment to grow your garden, but you won’t have to spend much after that. And the money you’ll save on produce will more than pay for the cost of the garden.

And another added benefit of tower gardening is that your food will grow to maturity in less time than it would in soil. That’s less time for you to wait before you can begin enjoying the fruits of your labors.

How Does a Tower Garden Work?

A tower garden is made of a large plastic column that has hydroponic net pots placed throughout it. Internally, a pump keeps water moving over the roots of the plants that you grow.

The tower garden also has a reservoir that contains a liquid fertilizer that helps plants get the nutrients they need so that they can continue to grow. You’ll still need to make sure your plants get plenty of sunlight so that they can thrive.

When you purchase a tower garden kit, you have to put it together. The process is simple and easy and usually takes about a half hour. You’ll have to grow your seedlings separately, but tower gardens come with a seed starting kit to help you with that part of it.

Once you have seedlings that are mature enough to be transplanted, you can add them to your tower garden. After that, you’ll have to perform some routine maintenance to care for your plants.

You’ll need to test the water in your tower garden to make sure the pH is correct. You’ll also need to clean the filter that keeps debris out of the pump. You’ll also need to make sure you don’t have any weeds or insect problems, though these are rare.

In a few weeks you’ll be able to harvest vegetables and greens from your garden that you can use right away in your kitchen. Fresh produce will just be a few steps from your back door.

The Cost of a Tower Garden

At this time, there’s one manufacturer of the official tower garden where you can purchase this system. One tower that includes everything you need to get started, including seeds, will cost you around $500.

This tower will give you the space to grow up to 20 different plants. You can also purchase an extension that allows you to plant up to 28 different plants. Starting with one tower is a great way to get started.

But if you have a large family and cook frequently, you may want more than one tower. If you purchase the Tower Garden Family Garden package, you’ll save money by purchasing three towers at once.

You can also purchase supplies separately if you need accessories or replacement items. You can also purchase a heater if you live in a cold climate so that you can still grow in cooler temperatures.

Many people wonder if the garden is worth the upfront costs. If you’ve been to the supermarket lately, you know how much it costs to feed you family fresh produce.

While you’ll have to spend money up front with this system, you’ll save much more than you spend by not having to purchase produce at the market.

What Can I Grow with a Tower Garden?

You may be wondering if a tower garden will really provide you with the types of foods your family eats. The good news is that a tower garden allows you to grow a wide variety of foods.

You can grow vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, lettuce, peas, and spinach. You can also grow tomatoes, strawberries, and melons to add sweetness to your garden.

If you love to use fresh herbs, a tower garden can help you enjoy your favorites. When you grow them yourself you get the freshest flavor. Herbs you can grow include basil, chives, cilantro, cumin, dill, lavender, oregano, parsley, sage, and thyme. But you can grow almost any herb.

And if you prefer to grow flowers, or you just want to place a few different flowers in your vegetable garden, there are many flowers that grow well. Some of the most successful varieties are marigolds, salvia, pansies, and sunflowers.

If you love gardening, you’ll be happy to know that you can grow almost anything you would grow in a traditional garden using less space and fewer natural resources. You’ll also get a large crop in less time.

Is Tower Gardening Organic?

Most people who grow their own vegetables are interested in the practice of organic gardening because they want to avoid harmful chemicals including fertilizers and pesticides.

Tower gardening is not technically considered organic gardening because it doesn’t use soil – and that’s a key principle of organic gardening. However, you can eliminate the need for herbicides and pesticides by using this garden.

You will have to add a fertilizer solution to the plant roots because they won’t be in soil to get nutrients. Because this type of gardening takes less space and fewer natural resources than traditional gardening, it’s a good alternative that’s eco-friendly and safe for your family.

How Will Produce Taste from a Tower Garden?

If you’ve never had fresh food from a garden, you’ll be surprised when you take your first bite of something you’ve grown. By the time your local supermarket gets the produce grown commercially, it’s been picked for days, weeks, and even months.

Food is often harvested before it’s truly ripened to extend its shelf life. When you eat food from your garden at home, you can pick it when the food is really ripe and you’re able to experience a new level of flavor.

If you enjoy specific flavors in vegetables or fruits, you’ll find those flavors are magnified when you eat homegrown produce. Tomatoes will be sweeter, peppers will have more intense layers of flavor and berries will be juicer.

Once you’ve tasted produce from your own tower garden, you’ll never be satisfied with produce from the grocery store again. If you grow more food than you can eat in a short time, you can freeze, can, or dry it in order to preserve those fresh flavors.

Is the Plastic in a Tower Garden Safe?

One of the greatest concerns people have with the idea of a tower garden is that it’s made from plastic. As you may already know, plastic can leach chemicals into surrounding water and soil if gets heated.

Naturally, you don’t want your food to contain extra chemicals that are dangerous or can cause illness. The good news is that this type of garden is treated with a UV protector that helps keep the plastic from breaking down.

You can rest assured that your garden will grow healthy produce unaffected by chemicals that leach from the plastic because of this protection. The plastic also helps keep the roots of your plants cool and prevents the growth of algae.

Can Children Enjoy a Tower Garden?

One of the best ways you can entice children to eat healthy foods is to allow them to have a role in growing it. Tower gardens are wonderful ways to introduce children to the world of food production.

Many kids who grow up in urban areas have no idea where food really comes from. They simply see it at the store and some even believe that it’s made in factories.

A tower garden is perfect for urban areas to give kids who live in a city the ability to see how food is grown and to enjoy the process. It’s a good idea to let kids choose some different varieties to grow and watch what happens.

This is a great way to bring healthier foods to your table and give your children an education about safe and environmentally responsible food production.

Tower Gardening Is Healthy Gardening

Now that you understand some basics about a tower garden, it’s important to also understand the health benefits for you and your family. Many people don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables. This is sometimes because of the cost, but it’s also about the flavor.

When you grow your own food, you’ll be saving money and you’ll have foods that are better in flavor. You’ll spend less time and energy on grocery shopping and more time enjoying food that grows outside your back door.

You’ll also be able to enjoy food that’s free from toxins. Many researchers suggest that pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers can cause problems with inflammation, weight gain, cancer, and auto-immune diseases.

When you grow your own food, you can eliminate anything that you don’t feel is safe. The fertilizer used for this system comes from minerals, rather than harsh chemicals that can be dangerous.

The time that it takes food to travel from a large farm to a grocery store produce section is time for the nutrition to dwindle. When you eat fresh food from your garden, you’re getting more vitamins and minerals than supermarket produce provides.

You may have thought you could never have a garden because of limited space or the inability to bring in soil, but a tower garden makes it possible to have a garden in any area that receives sunlight. You can also add a grow light if your patio doesn’t get at least four hours of sun each day.

A tower garden is a cost effective way to enjoy fresh produce throughout the year. You’ll enjoy the ease of use, the speed of growth, the fresh flavor and the nutritional quality of the foods you eat.