JJD Ranch

We at JJD Ranch are so delighted to see the new food pyramid. This is what we think a healthy meal should look like. The lamb was grilled. The patty pan was sauteed in olive oil and spices. And, those purple sweet potatoes just need a big dollop of grass-fed butter to make this a complete meal now!

We have been promoting eating heirloom style for years now. Thank you MAHA for catching up and recognizing that this IS the diet we need!

In case you have not yet seen the MAHA food recommendations, check them out at:
https://realfood.gov/

Of all of our remarkable foodstuff that we have at JJD Ranch, this is definitely one of my favorites. The yucca (not to be confused with the yuca that grows a potato like tuber) is a native to the US. These gorgeous spikey barrel shaped plants grow from Panama to southern Canada, and they are often used in landscaping along roadways and at development entrances. They are perennial and evergreen, and they require very little care. They don't need much water. They are in the agave family. The only real downside to them is that those long "leaves" have sharp ends which is why people often confuse them with cacti.

But about every other year, each one puts out a glorious stalk that grows from the top and stands tall above the plant. This stalk is covered with delicious white blossoms. If you can get to them without too many wounds from the spikey leaves, you are in for a real treat. They are crunchy and full. They taste a little like artichoke. And, they make a wonderful addition to things like tuna salad! But, they are also good to just munch on.

There is not a lot of information out there about using yucca for anything but decorative landscaping ... and we would not recommend you picking any of the blossoms from plants that have been used in that way because who knows what kind of chemicals have been used on them .... but if you do have access to a safe yucca, it is likely that, much like agave, we will eventually come to know of and appreciate many benefits of this plant!

https://www.rxlist.com/supplements/yucca.htm

We think our rosemary is simply remarkable because it is such a beautiful and resilient plant. Less than 4 years ago, this guy was just a tiny start with a couple of stubby little branches. And now it has almost overgrown its great big deep 14 inch pot. It has survived scorching sun; snow sleet and ice; super high winds; and pretty severe drought conditions. It has lived from days when it was almost 110 F to days when it was barely 10 F. It is an evergreen, and it has blessed us with gorgeous pale purple edible flowers. It just keeps on growing no matter how much of it we cut to use in our foods.

Rosemary is a wonderful spice whether you use it fresh or dried. One of our favorite ways to use it is to toss lots of it with some olive oil, garlic, and quartered baby potatoes and then bake it all until the potatoes are creamy soft in the middle and nice and crispy on the edges.

But rosemary is apparently not just a yummy spice. It seems to have a plethora of health and beauty care uses. From helping wounds to heal faster, to increasing memory and mental processing, to aiding with asthma, to repelling fleas and ticks, this is a plant that just keeps on doing great things for us.

There are some potential health risks with using large amounts of rosemary such as taking supplements or using rosemary essential oil, so you should always check with your own health care professional before using large amounts of it. But using it as a spice regularly on your food seems to be considered safe for almost everyone.

We are not medical professionals or nutritionists, so as always we will post in the comments some links to sites that will help you understand both the benefits and the risks involved with rosemary. And coming soon, we will be launching a section of our website called Ranch Recipes. We will be sure to post some of our favorite ways to spice things up with our rosemary there when as soon as we can.