Tag: Centuries

Discover How Coffee Lovers Are Growing Coffee

Farms that have been growing coffee for years, sometimes as long as two centuries, have the growth, cultivation and processing of coffee down to a fine art. But some coffee lovers like the challenge of do-it-yourself, or their interest in coffee leads them to try their hand at growing their own coffee plants. You can grow coffee from seed or purchase small plants, if you want to give this growing hobby a try.

While it’s unlikely that you’ll grow enough to keep yourself in coffee year round, growing coffee can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Unlike fruits and vegetables, you can’t simply pick the coffee and drink it. When coffee growing, your satisfaction will come more in that you actually grew a beautiful coffee plant, than the coffee it produces. And it is a hobby that requires a great deal of patience, as it can be years before the coffee berries appear.

Growing coffee isn’t difficult once you coax the seed to germinate, so even someone who hasn’t quite developed a green thumb can probably produce a lush and beautiful coffee plant. Coffee is easy to take care of, and is quite a lovely and dramatic plant to grow. The most ideal way to start is with a freshly picked coffee cherry, but it’s unlikely that most of us will ever have to access to one. Instead, purchase green coffee beans, the freshest and most recently picked as possible.

The reason the beans need to be fresh is that coffee can only be germinated from about 4 months after picking. While it can happen after that, it’s unlikely. Fresh seeds generally take between 2 and 3 months, so it’s a lengthy process that requires patience, even if you manage to find fresh beans.

To start growing coffee, soak the seeds in water for about a day then put them in damp sand or even vermiculite which you can find anywhere you can buy seeds. Make sure it’s wet but well-drained with no standing water. After the seed has germinated you can replant it in good soil that will drain well, and fertilize it. Water it every day to make sure that the soil is moist, but beware it staying too wet. A little too much water, or too less, and the seed will die.

When you first begin growing coffee, germinate several seeds and keep track of your watering each one so you can get a feel for the right amount of waterand you’re more likely to end up with a plant instead of just a few dead seeds! Artificial indoor lighting works great for coffee plants. Once you have a plant, water about twice a week and fertilize once. In two to three years, if you care for the plant properly you can expect flowering and cherries, and if you choose, you can learn the rather detailed process required to allow you to drink the coffee your plants provide. If not, a coffee plant makes a wonderful conversation piece.

Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners

Although sugar has been part of the dining table and kitchen for centuries, people know that too much of it also is not good for the body. This is especially true with people who are either diabetic or those who are trying to lose weight because of obesity problems.

But with the high levels of sugar content that are found in the foods that we eat right now, especially those that are processed and those that are bought from fast food joints, it seems that it is extremely hard, maybe even next to impossible, to be able to avoid consuming excessive amounts of sugar. Besides, it is not called sweet if it is not sweet tasting and ultra delicious.

Because of this need to lessen the amount of sugar content in the body but still retain the sweet tasting flavor that one has grown accustomed to having in their everyday meals, science and commerce developed substitutes to sugar that can answer both problems. Some of these alternatives to sugar come from natural sources while others are artificially made in laboratories.

Recent years have seen the mushrooming of these artificial alternatives to sugar. This is perhaps because of the fact that America has become really body conscious. This time, low calorie sugar substitutes were developed to answer the need of women (and men at that) who want to diet.

Perhaps the oldest artificial sweetener in the market is saccharin, which was discovered back in 1874. It has been granted a GRAS (Generally recognized as safe) stature in 1958 but was withdrawn in 1972 when studies have linked the sugar substitute to cancer. Still, FDA allowed the use of Saccharin as a table-top sweetener but is no allowed to be an ingredient in mass manufactured products.

Another allegedly dangerous artificial sweetener is the aspartame, which up until now is still with the jury. Although the sugar substitute is already being used by people, there are still murmurs that the sugar can cause headaches and epileptic attacks.

Although there is really no evidence that suggests that these artificial sweeteners are dangerous, there are still doubts on the safety of using it especially by people who are in delicate conditions. Many health organizations suggest the limited use of these products.

It is recommended that you only limit your use of sweetened foods in your diet to only 2 or 3 servings daily. This will translate to about half a cup of pudding, an ice cream or a gelatin product or one bowl of sweetened cereal.