Green thumb
Growing and eating a variety of food for good health
Arecent survey of Australians showed that only 6 per cent of us are eating enough fresh vegetables which dietitians warn could lead to major health problems. Leafy green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli are nutrient dense and loaded with fibre, vitamins and minerals which are antioxidants.
Orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin are high in beta carotene, an antioxidant that helps prevent cancer.
Red vegetables like tomatoes, red leaf lettuce and capsicum are a good source of lycopene, vitamin C and potassium. Lycopene strengthens the skin to prevent sun cancer and improves heart health. Purple vegetables like red cabbage and beetroot are full of fibre, folate and manganese. Beetroot juice is drunk by athletes to improve performance.
Although vitamins can be bought as a tablet they are more likely to be taken up by the body when consumed from fresh vegetables.
An unhealthy population is very costly to a nation but perhaps more importantly it is costly and often devastating to an individual. The warning that only six per cent of us are eating enough fresh vegetables is a recipe for chronic disease, not only in the distant years to come but as soon as tomorrow.
Fresh vegetables can be grown at home, and on a small scale – even in a small unit. Alternatively, community gardens not only provide the opportunity to have an allotment of your own but a community of friendly people to show you what and how to grow.
Gardening can start in the kitchen with sprouts, and this is fun to do as the reward can be reaped within a few days. There are hundreds of edible seeds suitable for sprouting: alfalfa, beet, mung beans, wheat, sunflower, mustard, broccoli and many more.
The most important thing to remember when buying seed for sprouting is that you buy seed that has not been treated with a fungicide. Almost all seed sold for sowing in the garden is treated with fungicide. Purchase edible sprout seed from an organic sprout seed source or supermarket.
Sprouting seed in a humid area like the Wet Tropics needs to be done in an open colander or strainer – not in a sprouting jar, which can grow mould in warm humid areas.
It’s so easy to grow sprouts. Soak seed overnight in a bowl. In the morning drain seed into a fine plastic strainer and cover with damp kitchen paper or a clean tea-towel, place the bowl close to a window. Rinse the sprouts in the strainer under tepid water, morning and night, replacing the cover each time. When the sprouts start to grow, remove the cover. Remember it’s important to continue to rinse them twice a day.
The easiest and cheapest sprout to grow is mung bean, as it will grow ready to eat within two to three days, depending of temperature. One kilo of bean sprouts is about $5 and will make sufficient sprouts for a family for weeks.
A sunny veranda or patio can be used to grow a wide range of herbs and vegetables. Parsley, chives, mint, thyme and oregano can be grown in old tubs in great quantities. A few cups of freshly cut herbs added to rice, pasta or potatoes with a little splash of dressing is a very satisfying meal.
Carrots grow long and strong in a container.
Find an old leaky bucket, fill it with enriched compost and sprinkle some carrot seed sparsely on the top; cover the seed with a little sand. Insert three old plastic straws around the edge of the bucket.
Meanwhile make some liquid fertiliser; soak some old garden weeds in a bucket of water and add a little chicken manure and cover. When the carrot seed is 10cm high, insert a small funnel into the straws and water the carrots with the liquid fertiliser every week. Add a little tap water on a daily basis to keep them moist. The carrots should be ready to eat in 60 days.
Sweet potatoes, dwarf beans, lettuce, pakchoy, capsicum, radish and many more vegetables can be grown in containers and be immediately available to feed the family.
Fresh vegetables are easy to grow – it’s fun and a great hobby; and it makes it so easy to prepare tasty nutritious meals for the family.