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Friday, May 23, 2014
What Nutrition Is In Your Garden?
July 2013
We have learned a lot about gardening in the last five years. Now this year, we have focused our planting on vegetables that have grown well here before, that we like and that the animals like. As I was out working in the garden today a question came to mind. If we had to survive on what we are growing and preserving this summer until the harvest begins from the garden next summer, what kind of nutrition and caloric value do the vegetables we are growing have? Would it be the right combination and quantity to keep us healthy? Would it provide us with the energy and stamina we would need to not just survive but live fairly well through the winter? Hmm...the answer is, I don't know.
June 2013
The garden this summer has been simplified. I am frequently guilty of having too many things growing to do any of them very well. This year I forced myself to simplify. Some of the things we are growing are for people and animals, so I planted more than we would need. Last year we grew too many of some things, like cucumbers, and some things we didn't grow enough of, like carrots. So this year, I am trying to adjust the amount we get to better suit our needs.
July 2013
Now, out of the main crops we are growing and canning, freezing or drying for ourselves, I need to figure out how they will nourish us through the winter and spring until the next harvest is available to eat in enough quantity to sustain life. Where do I start? With a list of what is growing. Then I need to research nutrients and calories for each item. The unknown in this equation is how well these plants are going to produce and how much we will be able to preserve and store. Another unknown is the actual nutritional value of vegetables grown in our soil, so I will have to go with basic average nutritional content.
May 2014
So, going east to west across the garden, here are our current vegetables: Peppers, Carrots, Green Peas (which I picked for the first time today), Tomatoes, Okra, Yellow Crookneck Squash (which are blooming and have tiny squash on them), Purple Hull Peas, sweet Corn, Sunflower Seeds, Cucumbers, Beets, Onions, Potatoes, Green beans, Cabbage, Broccoli and Sweet potatoes. Then, for the fall garden we hope to grow: Cushaw Squash, Turnips, potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, spinach and brussel sprouts.
May 2014
Now, I have some work cut out for me. I will post the results of this research and let you know if I think our garden choices will be adequate. In my quest to simplify and produce more consistently, I hope the choices I made were good ones when it comes to nutrition. There are subtle layers involved in every type of learning situation. First I had to learn to garden. Then I had to learn to compete with bugs, birds and bunnies. Next, I had to learn how to preserve our harvest. Now, I want to be able to sustain life, not just supplement it, so I need to delve into another layer of knowledge about vegetables.
This type of learning can be applied to just about everything from radio communications to cooking to raising goats and making cheese. Everything has a basic level of knowledge and many layers beyond. Your level of expertise will depend upon how much you want to learn. Interesting, huh? Where are you on your learning scale? Where do you want to be and what are you doing to get there?
Hi Fern, good post. I am at the point in my gardening journey where I must learn how to compete with bugs. I do not put any pesticides or fertilizers on my gardens. The fertilizer I use is from compost with help from my sheep and chickens. I end up getting most of my canning produce from our farmer's market or local farmers. Have you/how have you conquered the bugs and pests?
I don't think I will ever really conquer the bugs, Shannon. One of my favorite techniques is to encourage predatory insects. If you go to the "Our Gardening Adventures" page and find the post, "Hooray for the Assassin Bugs!" it will give you a start. There are several other posts about insects, the good and the bad. I'm sure I will run into some more this summer and I'll let you know how the battle goes. Some of them I feed to my chickens, like the ones that showed up on the kale that was going to seed. I just pulled up the whole plant and let the chickens make short order out of it. Good luck!
I commend you for your thoughtfulness in providing enough nutrition for your family from your garden. But, don't over think it. Concentrate on the major nutrients - Vit A from deep yellow and dark green veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Vit C from sweet peppers, tomatoes & cabbage. B vitamins are found in dark green leafy veggies like spinach, kale & collards. Calcium and protein from diary, etc. A quick Google search will list best foods. Remember that a diet rich in variety will provide the best nutrition. Winter veggies besides those that can overwinter like carrots would be sprouts - sunflower sprouts are grown in soil but others just need a jar. For next year's garden looks for seed descriptions that emphasize nutrient values especially carrots & tomatoes.
Good information, Bellen, thank you. I don't really see changing the things we are growing, but I do think I need to have a better handle on how well we are covering our nutritional needs. Beans and potatoes can go a long way to feed a family, especially with eggs, dairy, butter, cheese, chicken and chevon.
Nutrition and basic food needs are not always in tune! Your post is "food" for thought! {yes I had to go there}. One thing that we don't think of as a necessity is fat. Good fat not trans fats. Also we need fat to cook with, although not in excess. Ralph and I have discussed this and have been learning about rendering lard from home raised hogs. Squash [winter types] are excellent for storing, eating and feeding livestock as well as ourselves. When we get our farm...the winter squash are going to be put in any place that has little value. This post has me researching more vegetables that we like. Thank you.
I hope our chickens and goats will be able to provide the needed fats. Between milk, cream, butter, broth made from goat, chicken or pork, along with rendered fat, I hope we will do well.
Some folks from church raise hogs and we have been able to buy one and have it butchered for the last two years. I have saved the fat each time. This summer will be the time for me to learn to render lard. It probably sounds kind of funny, but I'm excited. Another very useful thing for me to learn. Then, I want to make soap! Stay tuned. You never know what we are going to try next. Thanks again, Fiona.
Hi Fern! I'm in the beginning of the learning scale, it seems. I am always learning new things about gardening and taking care of our homestead. We've been gardening for several years, but have yet to produce a really successful garden. I hope this is the successful year for us! We, like ya'll, want to be able to grow enough to sustain us through the next growing season. That may take us a few years to acquire, though. Reading your posts certainly helps us to make progress in this area! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight so we can learn, and have the light shed in areas we may not have thought about! Blessings from Bama!
Felecia, life is learning, and gardening is definitely full of life! Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I think if I live to be 100, I will not learn everything there is to know about gardening. Just keep at it. I try new stuff all the time. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But you know what? I learn something every time. Blessings to you and yours.
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Hi Fern, good post. I am at the point in my gardening journey where I must learn how to compete with bugs. I do not put any pesticides or fertilizers on my gardens. The fertilizer I use is from compost with help from my sheep and chickens. I end up getting most of my canning produce from our farmer's market or local farmers. Have you/how have you conquered the bugs and pests?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I will ever really conquer the bugs, Shannon. One of my favorite techniques is to encourage predatory insects. If you go to the "Our Gardening Adventures" page and find the post, "Hooray for the Assassin Bugs!" it will give you a start. There are several other posts about insects, the good and the bad. I'm sure I will run into some more this summer and I'll let you know how the battle goes. Some of them I feed to my chickens, like the ones that showed up on the kale that was going to seed. I just pulled up the whole plant and let the chickens make short order out of it. Good luck!
DeleteFern
I commend you for your thoughtfulness in providing enough nutrition for your family from your garden. But, don't over think it. Concentrate on the major nutrients - Vit A from deep yellow and dark green veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Vit C from sweet peppers, tomatoes & cabbage. B vitamins are found in dark green leafy veggies like spinach, kale & collards. Calcium and protein from diary, etc. A quick Google search will list best foods. Remember that a diet rich in variety will provide the best nutrition. Winter veggies besides those that can overwinter like carrots would be sprouts - sunflower sprouts are grown in soil but others just need a jar. For next year's garden looks for seed descriptions that emphasize nutrient values especially carrots & tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteGood information, Bellen, thank you. I don't really see changing the things we are growing, but I do think I need to have a better handle on how well we are covering our nutritional needs. Beans and potatoes can go a long way to feed a family, especially with eggs, dairy, butter, cheese, chicken and chevon.
DeleteFern
Nutrition and basic food needs are not always in tune! Your post is "food" for thought! {yes I had to go there}.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that we don't think of as a necessity is fat. Good fat not trans fats. Also we need fat to cook with, although not in excess. Ralph and I have discussed this and have been learning about rendering lard from home raised hogs.
Squash [winter types] are excellent for storing, eating and feeding livestock as well as ourselves. When we get our farm...the winter squash are going to be put in any place that has little value. This post has me researching more vegetables that we like. Thank you.
I hope our chickens and goats will be able to provide the needed fats. Between milk, cream, butter, broth made from goat, chicken or pork, along with rendered fat, I hope we will do well.
DeleteSome folks from church raise hogs and we have been able to buy one and have it butchered for the last two years. I have saved the fat each time. This summer will be the time for me to learn to render lard. It probably sounds kind of funny, but I'm excited. Another very useful thing for me to learn. Then, I want to make soap! Stay tuned. You never know what we are going to try next. Thanks again, Fiona.
Fern
Hi Fern! I'm in the beginning of the learning scale, it seems. I am always learning new things about gardening and taking care of our homestead. We've been gardening for several years, but have yet to produce a really successful garden. I hope this is the successful year for us! We, like ya'll, want to be able to grow enough to sustain us through the next growing season. That may take us a few years to acquire, though. Reading your posts certainly helps us to make progress in this area! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight so we can learn, and have the light shed in areas we may not have thought about! Blessings from Bama!
ReplyDeleteFelecia, life is learning, and gardening is definitely full of life! Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I think if I live to be 100, I will not learn everything there is to know about gardening. Just keep at it. I try new stuff all the time. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But you know what? I learn something every time. Blessings to you and yours.
DeleteFern
I agree so much with the premise in this post; gardening for calories and nutrition!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to have cukes for pickles and celery for seasoning...but nothing beats potatoes, carrots, dry beans and winter squash for hard core calories.
Just me
That's a real good way to put it. And, by the way, I like your name, Just Me.
DeleteFern