Gardening Topic for October 2004
The Colors of Summer:
A Link Beween Gardening and Nutrition

Provided by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
www.wmassmastergardeners.org.

Our passion for gardening enriches our lives with beautiful displays of color throughout the summer. It is a purposeful passion providing physical exercise, mental health, and creative expression. Gardeners are also rewarded with the nutritional benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. An increased knowledge of what's actually in these colorful fruits and vegetables puts optimal nutrition at a gardeners' fingertips.

Nutrition is "the process by which plants and animals take in and utilize food material". We all know the foundation of good nutrition is eating a balanced diet consisting of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. For optimal nutrition we should eat from all the food groups and increase our consumption of fruits and vegetables. The recommendation of five servings of fruits/vegetables has now increased to at least ten servings daily.

While all fruits and vegetables have some nutritional benefit to recommend them, the deeper the color, the more disease-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals present. These nutrients provide anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, and anti-aging properties. Researchers confirm that fruits and vegetables are more beneficial if they are whole and colorful.

So, doesn't it make sense to link your passion for gardening with an opportunity for optimized nutrition? Here are some color-coded ways to grow the fruits and vegetables that can help keep you healthier, longer.

Fruits and vegetables are divided into five color categories: red, yellow/orange, blue/purple, green, and white. The next section describes the particular benefits of each color category and gives specific instructions for the easy-to-grow options.

Red: strawberries, beets, red peppers, tomatoes, raspberries, red apples, watermelon, radishes, rhubarb - provide health promoting lycopene and anthocyanins that protect against heart and lung disease.

Strawberries - Select plants adapted to our growing area. The plants like a rich, acidic and well-drained soil. Soak the plant roots in water several hours before planting on a cloudy day. Dig a hole 6 inches wide and a few inches deeper that the roots. Mound the soil in the center of the hole and spread the roots evenly over the top. Water thoroughly. Be sure the plant crown is neither too deep nor too shallow. Pinch off flower buds the first season on the June bearing plants; on the ever-bearing, remove the buds through July 1st. Feed the strawberry plants in the summer with compost enriched with bone meal.

Tomatoes prefer well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter and near neutral pH. Dig a hole one foot wide and put a layer of compost or well rotted manure mixed with a handful of bone meal and one tsp. Epsom salts. Space the plants about two feet apart. The soil should reach the first set of true leaves, so bury the plant deeply. Give the tomato plant support. Use a low nitrogen fertilizer like 4-8-4 and mulch with hay, straw, shredded leaves. Prune by pinching out the suckers.

Yellow/Orange: carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, winter squash, corn, cantaloupe, peaches, yellow beets, rutabagas - provide Vitamin C, Vitamin A and carotenoids that protect against free radicals and prevent heart disease.

Carrots - Sow seeds as thinly as possible, three to four seeds per inch. Bury 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Thin the seedlings, leaving two to three inches between plants. For straight tender carrots, plant seeds in a raised bed in full sun. For sweeter carrots, apply a fertilizer high in potash and low in nitrogen. Water seedlings regularly and gently.

Winter squash prefers a rich soil and sunshine. Dig a hole large enough for a bushel of cow manure or compost and top with good garden loom. Plant five seeds per hill, thinning to three seedlings after they develop true leaves. Harvest once the rinds are firm, cutting the stem two inches above the fruit.

Green: spinach, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, green peppers, snow peas, peas, green beans - Provides lutein for eye health. Spinach is one of the best vegetables you can grow and eat!

Spinach likes it cool, so plant in the spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. Spinach matures quickly - sow short rows every two weeks. Sow 1/4 inch deep, one inch apart in neutral soil that is enriched with manure or compost. Keep the plants well-fed and watered.

Green peppers need warmth to thrive. Transplant seedlings outside a month after the last frost date. Plant in well-aerated soil that is enriched with compost. Transplant on a cloudy day and protect the seedlings from the scorching sun. Water with drip irrigation as overhead watering will wash away pollen. Mulch pepper plants with grass clippings or hay.

Blue/Purple: blackberries, blueberries, eggplant, concord grapes, purple cabbage - Provide anti-aging and antioxidant properties and protection against chronic diseases.

Eggplant - It is best to buy established plants as seed starting needs ten weeks of growth before transplanting. Space the plants eighteen inches apart in a sunny location.

Blueberries - require acidic soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5. The soil should be well-drained and rich in humus. Mix one or two buckets full of acidic peat moss with the soil in the planting hole. Fertilize with soybean meal, cottonseed meal or ammonium sulfate. Mulch the plants with pine needles, wood chips or sawdust. Plant more than one variety - early, midsummer and late varieties are available. Plant in as much sun as possible. Blueberries will tolerate some shade. Water the new plants well the first year.

White: cauliflower, garlic, onions, white potatoes, turnips, white corn - Contain photochemicals such as allicin (found in onions and garlic) that benefits the heart and has anti-tumor properties.

Onions are an easy-to-grow white vegetable, but onion seeds can take five months to mature, so look for onion sets that available in nurseries and through catalogs. Plant onion set bulbs about one inch deep and four inches apart. Water and feed with high-nitrogen fertilizer early in the season. Cut back water and food midsummer as the bulbs will ripen better in drier, less fertile conditions.

Nutrition is at your fingertips! Enjoy the colors of summer! Healthy gardening and healthy eating!

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Provided by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
www.wmassmastergardeners.org.