Gardeners hurray!
Now you can add black raspberries to your list of must-have garden plants. Later in the summer, when youre chowing down the yummy fruits of your labour, take a moment to consider what these little berries are doing for you and your body.
Theyre shoring up your immune system, stimulating your cells to grow healthy and strong, detoxifying your body, leveling off your blood pressure and neutralizing those pesky free radicals that collect in aging bodies.
Black caps, as theyre sometimes called, contain hefty doses ofvitamin Cas well as a plant chemical called ellagic acid. These compounds pep up your bodys immune system so that viruses and bacteria have a tough time moving in to slow you down with irritating things like the flu.
Black raspberries also containanthocyanins. These flavonoids carry good news for your eyesight. Theyll also help you remember when you need to prune those raspberry canes and provide support during your cardiovascular workouts.
Whew! thats plenty for a teeny tiny berry!
But wait, theres yet another major anti-aging advantage to munching on these sweet and tangy berries. Scientists are discovering that black caps can prevent the onset of certain cancerous tumours.
Although theyre not as familiar as their red counterparts, black raspberries are relatively easy to grow. Theyre not often found fresh in grocery stores since they dont transport very well (you may be able to find the frozen variety) so if you have a few spare meters of backyard, try growing the canes. Green thumb not required. Theyll grow copiously for any one so long as your garden is in the correct planting zone.
Fresh or frozen are your best bet for securing all the health benefits of this tasty little fruit. Freeze-dried capsules contain almost no real berries so avoid them.
Treat black raspberries as you would any other berry. Toss them into shakes, sprinkle them on oatmeal, bake them in pies or pop a few berries fresh from the vine into your mouth.
And if youre thegardeningtype dig in!
Wild Black Raspberry Sorbet
Thanks to Lisa Robbins @www.thegoodwitch.ca
Ingredients
2 cups wild black raspberries
Raw honey or Stevia to taste
4 tablespoons Hemp or Flax seed oil oravocado
Method
1.Prepare fresh fruit for freezing, spread over a cookie sheet and freeze until firm.
2.Drop frozen fruit into a blender with oil and honey.
3.Add just enough water to blend thoroughly.
4.Freeze the sorbet in a container, or in popsicle molds for children.
