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Lesson #385 | Regenerative Garden: Saving Seeds & Drying Herbs Want to learn how to grow an abundant, nearly self-sustaining garden in the high desert while harvesting fresh vegetables, saving seeds, and preserving incredible flavor for year-round cooking? In this inspiring Lesson #385 - Regenerative Garden Tour: Saving Seeds Drying Herbs, Julie Marie takes viewers on a tour of her thriving regenerative organic garden in Dammeron Valley, Utah, where she demonstrates harvesting Napa cabbage, drying herbs naturally in paper bags, saving seeds from tomatoes, melons, peppers, and other crops, and using no-till gardening practices to build healthy soil and support pollinators. Along the way, she shares practical tips on companion planting, drip irrigation, composting, pest management without chemicals, preserving tomatoes and herbs for winter use, and propagating plants to make future gardens virtually free. Blending gardening wisdom with her plant-based Protective Diet philosophy, Julie shows how thoughtful stewardship of the land can produce an abundance of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers while creating a resilient, beautiful ecosystem that nourishes both people and nature.
Lesson #384 | Farmer’s Market Ingredients Cooking Demo In Protective Diet Education Lesson #384, Julie Marie highlighted seasonal July produce from gardens and farmers' markets, sharing practical ways to enjoy green beans, cucumbers, peaches, grapes, zucchini, herbs, berries, and other summer harvests. She demonstrated how to perfectly steam green beans, corn, and other vegetables in the Instant Pot using a basket and a zero-minute pressure setting with a quick release to preserve texture and nutrients. Julie also showed how to make a simple protective diet cream cheese, then used it to build a fresh summer sandwich featuring whole wheat bread, cream cheese, peaches, cucumbers, pickled jalapeños, sauerkraut, and optional herbs and sprouts. Throughout the lesson, she emphasized the health benefits of beans and resistant starch for gut health and butyrate production, discussed storing herbs properly, freezing grapes for a sorbet-like treat, and choosing ripe bananas for baking rather than frozen desserts. The conversation included gardening tips, appreciation for local farmers’ work, ideas for seasonal recipes such as peach buckle, summer spaghetti, zucchini dishes, and homemade sauerkraut, along with encouragement to eat abundant fruits and vegetables rather than relying on supplements. Julie, Jerry and PD community members also discussed day fasting and one-meal-a-day eating, with participants sharing positive experiences related to energy, mental clarity, mood regulation, reduced food focus, and overall wellness. The lesson concluded with encouragement to enjoy peak summer produce, celebrate healthy habits, share meals with the Protective Diet community, and recognize the power of Protective Diet practices in supporting long-term health and disease prevention and/or progression.
Lesson #383 | Pint of Beans Live Q&A In Protective Diet Education Lesson #383, Julie Marie demonstrates her “Pint of Beans” recipe, showing how to pressure-cook organic dried beans directly in glass pint jars using an Instant Pot with only a few minutes of hands-on time. She explains that this simple system creates the equivalent of canned beans for a fraction of the cost—about $0.39 per pint for organic beans and $0.52 for chickpeas—while eliminating concerns about can linings, metallic flavors, water quality, and unwanted additives. Julie emphasizes beans as a microbiome-supporting superfood and shares detailed instructions on measuring, rinsing, jar-filling, pressure-cooking, refrigeration, and freezing. During the live Q&A, she answers questions about storage, freezing, using bean liquid in recipes, and Instant Pot settings, while also discussing seasonal produce, gardening, meal ideas, and the value of keeping a food and wellness journal or "Calendar Of Achievements". The conversation expands into broader wellness topics, including menopause, hormone therapy, stress management, vertigo, mood regulation, and intermittent fasting, with Julie encouraging participants to research health decisions carefully, reduce stress, trust their bodies’ natural processes, and focus on long-term lifestyle habits that promote vitality, affordability, and overall well-being on a Protective Diet.

Responses

  1. Where do I start with this journey? My husband and I moved across the street from J&J about a year ago. We found them very engaging and friendly. I thought of them as the “vegans” next door. I didn’t have a great desire to ever be a Vegan. J&J were the perfect mix of best neighbors ever and shared many of their harvest and homemade treats with us.
    Fast forward 11 months….. after listening to and seeing the example they present …. We were intrigued enough to give their program a try. My husband and I are about 5 weeks in. Brian has lost 13 lbs a pant size and surprisingly very committed. ( he loves milk, candy and chocolaty baked goods) Julie designed him some chocolate milk which by the way may have really convinced him to give PD a try.
    I returned from Cambodia and Thailand after spending a month eating fresh without processed foods and I had a hard time adapting back to our diet here in the US, consequently I lost 25 lbs by not drinking coke and processed food. ( in a 4 month period) when I started our PD journey I mostly was hoping for my inflammation to subside and just overall be healthier.
    I never expected to feel the results so quickly. I’m down another 10 lbs but the real benefit is far better than weight loss. My joints are vastly improved. After my detox which was hell, I haven’t had a headache, I’m sleeping so much better, my mood is lighter, I have more energy and this will sound weird, but when I’m outside working and sweating I no longer feel like I have acid dripping into my eyes!

    All of Julie’s recipes are right on point, easy to make and delicious. With a small upfront investment in healthy foods, a instapot and jars we are seriously noticing a huge saving on our food bill, and no waste!

    I know this was long, and we’ve only been at it for 5 weeks, but I can’t imagine going back to junk food and all the chemicals in our foods. We are blessed to be so close to J&J but I’ve met awesome followers on line that seem to have all the tools they need to succeed. I’m an excited student.

    Jodi and Brian

  2. Do you know how excited I was to receive a phone call from Jerry a few weeks back? Oh my gosh! I had been thinking about “J&J” and then to have a phone call, on ultra running of all things. Amazing! Very glad to still be part of an amazing community with two incredible and healthy individuals. Thank you so much for everything you do. I am excited to check out a lot of these new recipes and get into milling my other berries for bread. Impressive…

  3. Hi Julie, I am sending a new student to you. Her name is Maureen Carmichael. She has several things wrong medically and she is texting me a lot about food. So I suggested she join PD. Fingers crossed she joins

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