Oranges too from two different orange trees. This is my small but mighty super-dwarf orange - planted almost 30 years ago, fruit is small but very sweet.
Christmas amaryllis that is just blooming now:
And, from my neighbors front yard garden:
Since every third thread I’m pinged to on FR these days is dealing with food shortages, supply line issues and rising inflation , I thought a good topic for this week would be getting the most bang for our buck when it comes to the home garden, saving money while gardening, which veggies are the most nutrient rich and planting for the biggest harvest.
With that said:
The Most Nutritious Vegetables You Can Grow
When it comes to growing our own food, we often think in terms of yields—how much, how big, how often. Fair enough, but putting the nutritional value of homegrown fruit and vegetables at the fore of a planting plan makes good sense; after all, healthful foods are the goal. Here are the some of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow (and eat!).
A garden rich in nutrients is chock-full of “powerhouse” (the latest buzzword) fruit and vegetables, with watercress, cabbage, and beet greens topping the list. Ideally, such a garden includes one-third leafy greens; one-third colored vegetables, such as carrots and sweet potatoes; and one-third sulfur-rich vegetables, like brassicas and alliums.
Sometimes referred to as a “superfoods garden,” this is one in which you will find produce that provides the ultimate combination of nutrients. There are 17 critical nutrients for optimal health; potassium, calcium folate, and vitamins B12, A, and D are tops among them.
https://www.almanac.com/most-nutritious-vegetables-you-can-grow
Zucchini (which surprised me!)
Green Beans
Spinach
Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Broccoli
Raspberries
Blueberries
Garlic
Kale
And since no one agrees on ANYTHING these days, here’s another list with some overlap, but other vegetables added for various reasons:
https://draxe.com/nutrition/winter-vegetables/
Jerusalem Artichokes (these can be invasive!)
Broccoli
Kale
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Escarole
Cabbage
Beets
Carrots
Fennel
Winter Squash
Chicory
Oranges too from two different orange trees. This is my small but mighty super-dwarf orange - planted almost 30 years ago, fruit is small but very sweet.
Christmas amaryllis that is just blooming now:
And, from my neighbors front yard garden:
Any advice for growing garlic in Florida? I try every year using Store bought garlic cloves and it sprouts but I never get new garlic bulbs or I never see the new garlic bulbs re-sprout after the green leaves die off.
Pinging the Prepping ping list on this one. Gardening for the most nutrients.
Where’s the taters? They’re considered a staple.
As you say, a lot of food shortage articles as of late and #EmptyShelvesBiden has trended on twitter recently. Here’s the most recent; https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4029516/posts
I don’t know how bad the supply chain - food shortage issues really are but we all saw it in early 2020. Probably the first time since the Great Depression that every person in the country was affected.
We had an additional problem where I live. It’s a weekend haven for people from the St Louis area so during the 3 week lockdown we had, most of them came down for the whole 3 weeks and shopped at our grocery stores while they were here. Many own land here so even after the lockdown, they would come down to be mask free on the weekends so by Sunday afternoon, grocery store shelves were empty. I’m pretty sure some were bringing food back home with them.
Luckily, when I saw empty shelves in Italy and knew the virus would make it here, we finally got that little chest freezer we’d been wanting for years and I filled it. I also bought TP because I’ve seen that on prepper lists of the first things to run out. Canned goods too of course.
Speaking of canned, after 10 years of not canning anything, I finally broke out the pressure canner the other day and canned some chicken broth using carcasses I’d saved up for a year in the freezer. If you’re going to grow a bunch of food, you might need to preserve some of it and canning is one way. For better nutrition preservation, blanching and freezing does better but that takes up freezer space which you may not have. Drying/dehydrating is another way to preserve.
Here’s the link to my prepper library; https://permasteader.com/cloud/index.php/s/H8iLwmfLHiGFyjG which includes quite a bit of gardening info.
Here’s the USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation website with downloadable PDFs.(Canning, Freezing, Curing, Drying, Fermenting & Pickling)https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
I mentioned taters being a staple. Unless you have a root cellar or want to can them, they won’t last forever. Rice, another staple will last a long time in nothing more than a bucket. I get the round frosting buckets from the bakery dept at the grocery store. The round ones have a rubber gasket that keeps the bugs out. I keep sugar in them too. Rice and sugar are cheap and easy to stock up on and store. Likewise with dry beans.
Rice & beans make a complete protein as well but meat has more nutrition/protein than any veggie or combo of. If you live in a suburb and can’t keep large four legged food or even chickens, many people keep rabbits for a high quality animal protein. There are meat breeds so you don’t want to get them from a pet store because that’s probably not what they’ll have.
Californian, New Zealand White, American Chinchilla, Flemish Giants are probably the most common meat breeds but there are many. They’re prolific breeders, quiet, small enough to eat in one sitting so require no preservation and can live off of lawn clippings(no fertilizer or pesticides) and veggie scraps.
That list looks like they were going by “nutrients per calorie”. Which gives you completely different results than “nutrients per volume” or “nutrients per square foot of garden space”.
That explains why potatoes aren’t on the list. But, taken per-volume or per-square-foot, potatoes are a superfood! They are one of the most concentrated natural sources of potassium around, and are chock-full of other vitamins and minerals as well. And if food is in short supply, those calories will literally save your life.
There are lots of ads and pinterest posts about how, if you keep adding dirt, the potatoes will grow more spuds along the vines. I have NEVER found a potato variety that will do that, and neither have any of the plant-breeders I know. Instead, the plant had to put so much energy into replacing the buried leaves, that they produced LESS than potatoes grown conventionally.
A potato plant will form spuds pretty much horizontally from where the seed potato was planted. Hilling is done to keep the growing spuds covered so they don’t turn green and toxic from sunlight.
The easiest way I’ve found to grow big crops of potatoes is to use straw. Lay the seed potatoes on top of the ground, then cover with a thick layer of straw. And I mean a THICK layer! 6-8 inches is good. Don’t worry, the potatoes can handle it. You could use spoiled hay instead of straw, but make sure to inspect it closely first, as hay often carries viable seeds with it and can make weeds worse.
If you’re gardening in a windy area like I am, top the straw with a piece of mesh fencing laid flat, and pin it down securely. That should hold the straw in place without interfering with the potatoes.
If the straw was thick enough, you shouldn’t need to do any hilling. By the time harvest season comes around, the straw that was closest to the dirt will have broken down into a nice, soft duff. Pull off the fencing, sweep away the straw on top, and sift your spuds out of the duff. No digging required, no hilling required, and if the straw does its job right, no weeding required either!
Many years ago, I put together a list of menu plans that would provide 100% or more of all macro- and micro-nutrients, using real food. My original research got lost between computers, but 2 of those menu plans were written down, so I still have those. The plants portion calls for:
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Peas
Carrots
Parsley
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds
Flax seeds
Those plants, plus meat, milk, and eggs, can provide everything the human body needs. Personally, I would also grow squash, beans, corn, garlic, and a long list of other things. But, if you want to maximize nutrition from a small space, those would be the plants to focus on.
I think I found a good way to freeze tomatoes.
Cut off the top part where the stem was, Lay them all flat on a cookie sheet, And freeze.
When ready to use run them under some warm water and the skin will peel off easily.
Note that they are only good for soup or chili at this point Not sandwiches.
I am not sure about long term storage after frozen, I used them up too fast. But they had to be in the freezer like that for almost 2 months. And they had a nice fresh taste to them.
It would probably be better to put them in a bag and suck all the air out before freezing.