Eat Your Greens by David Kennedy

Author:David Kennedy [Kennedy, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781550925678
Publisher: New Society Publishers

Beets, Beta vulgaris

Loose sandy soil is preferred for roots, but heavier soil is fine for growing beet greens. Yield is reduced in acid soils. Beets can be planted every 2 inches in rows 10–16 inches apart. When they are 2–3 inches tall or when they begin to look overcrowded, they may be thinned, and the thinnings eaten in salads or stir fries. Beets are a good container plant as long as the soil is at least 12 inches deep. They can be replanted every three to four weeks during the growing season to maintain a steady supply of small, tender beetroots and greens.

The strong red color present in most beets and some beet greens comes from betacyanin. This pigment is thought to have cancer-fighting properties, especially against colon cancer. Beet juice is sometimes used as a natural food coloring. Though beets are a very healthy food, they can cause alarmingly red urine (which is totally harmless).

Beet greens can be grown as a separate crop or as a by-product of growing the roots. Beetroot yields are usually acceptable even when up to one-third of the leaves are carefully harvested for greens. Cold weather and nitrogen-rich soil favor production of leaves at the expense of the edible roots. Compared with their roots, beet greens contain more than triple the iron, seven times the calcium, six times the vitamin C, and 150 times the vitamin A activity. Beet greens have a slightly coarser flavor and texture than spinach, but they can be prepared and enjoyed in most of the same ways.

Garlic (Allium sativum)

Garlic originated in Central Asia and has been cultivated in Egypt for over 4,000 years. It is now grown throughout most of the world. Garlic is a close relative of onion, and it also has a distinctive pungent flavor and aroma. The people of China and Korea produce over 70 percent of the world’s garlic and eat enough garlic to consider it a vegetable, rather than a flavoring agent.

While primarily used as a flavoring for a great many dishes, garlic also has a rich history of use as a botanical medicine. Unlike many herbal medicines, garlic has held up well to scientific investigations. Among documented effects, garlic inhibits bacterial and fungal infections, lowers blood cholesterol, and reduces the risk of stomach cancer.

Garlic forms a bulb, normally comprised of a cluster of 5 to 20 cloves. It is propagated by planting the cloves individually. Garlic prefers a light loam soil and does not compete well with weeds. Frequent shallow weeding or mulch will increase yield. It is susceptible to soil acidity.

As with onion, the green leaves provide the garlic grower with a bonus vegetable. The leaves will have greater nutritional value for the same weight, especially of vitamin A. They contain most of the compounds that give garlic its characteristic flavor and its medicinal properties. Garlic leaves are easy to dry, and powdered garlic leaves make an excellent addition to the kitchen spice rack. Combining garlic leaf and bulb harvest is one of the productive food strategies waiting for more experimentation.

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