ALAN TITCHENAL: EAT YOUR "WEEDS"

Alan Titchenal (plot #12) with his amaranth "weeds"

You never know who you’ll run across in the garden and what gifts they may hold for you!  Alan Titchenal is one of these treasures. We’re so lucky to have him among us. 

Alan is Associate Professor of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  He is also the health columnist for Star-Advertiser.  Check out the links at the bottom and enjoy his answers and wonderful quotes. 

Hi Elsha,
Thanks for doing the garden blog. 

Here are my answers to your questions: 

How did you get into gardening?  Did someone teach you?

My father always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees growing where ever we lived. As part of the family, helping with the garden was just something you did. I learned quite a bit about gardening from just watching and helping out.

Why do you garden?  What do you get from it?

I live in an apartment and find that having at least a small portion of earth to grow food helps to keep me "grounded." I enjoy the agricultural experience of caring for plants and incorporating their edible products into my overall food supply.

What is the best or most interesting thing you’ve ever grown?

This is a difficult question to answer. It seems sort of like, "Which of your kids do you like best?" I really find all plants to have their interesting and unique characteristics. One interesting plant in my plot is what some people call Chinese spinach (a variety of amaranth grown for greens). Every year around February, it comes up in my garden like weeds. It is a delicious steamed green that I like much better than regular spinach. So, I let this "weed" grow. I eat plenty and give away plenty of it for 3 to 4 months, let some of it go to seed, and wait for it to come up the next year. 

Do you actually cook and eat what you harvest?

Yes, I eat plenty of produce from my plot and share a good deal of the surplus with friends. It is amazing how much even one good eggplant can produce!

If you could have it your way, how would you improve the garden?

Since my work as an Associate Professor in nutrition at U.H. Manoa and a Star-Advertiser health columnist is very time consuming, I really enjoy the garden as a "hang loose" type of refuge from the daily work demands. Plants and the critters around them are always full of surprises.

Do you know of any interesting, funny, inspiring or curious things that have happened in the garden?

Perhaps the most surprising experience I had in the garden is running into an old friend who I hadn't seen for perhaps 10 years. He was caring for the garden next to mine while the gardener was away. What a great surprise.

Anything else you wish to add?

Although I don't currently have time to volunteer much for garden activities, I really appreciate those who work so hard to keep it all together.  Mahalo! 

Thanks,
Alan

LINKS:

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hnfas/
http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/gotnutrients (subscribe to daily email tip)
http://www.nutritionatc.hawaii.edu
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hnfas/individualPages/titchenal.html (CV)
See "Health Options" newspaper columns at http://staradvertiser.com/

QUOTES:

Don't believe everything you think!
                                        -- Me

"A state of doubt is unpleasant, but a state of certainty is ridiculous."
                                        -- Voltaire

"Learning without thinking is useless.
Thinking without learning is dangerous."
                                        -- Confucius

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth."
                                        -- Franklin D. Roosevelt