Get growing!
For locally grown food, look no further
than your own backyard. Find a sunny spot in the garden, containers on the patio,
or even a patch at a community garden. You can even collect rainwater in buckets
to water your seeds and seedlings. Try these six easy-to-grow, heart healthy
veggies. You'll love how good they taste; and you can be proud of growing them
yourself!
1. Tomatoes. Packed
with the antioxidant lycopene, tomatoes come in different sizes, ranging from
small cherry tomatoes to larger beefsteak varieties. Plant your tomatoes from
seed or seedling in containers or right in the soil, and use stakes or wire
cages to support them as they grow. Get the kids to help you pick the ripe tomatoes
off the vines. Then, add your harvest to a summer salad or make your own spaghetti
sauce.
Nutrition Information: 1 small tomato or ½ cup cherry tomatoes = 15 calories,
0.2 g fat, 1 g fibre, 5 mg sodium.
2. Carrots. Plant
your carrot seeds about one inch (2.5 cm) apart so that you won't have to thin
them out as they grow. Carrots taste best when they're still young. Because
this root veggie grows underground, look at the green tops for your clue to
harvest time. When the tops are about ¾ inch (2 cm) in diameter, pull
your carrots out gently by hand. Like all orange coloured veggies, carrots are
rich in beta-carotene and other carotenoids, which the body then converts to
vitamin A. One large carrot counts as your daily serving of an orange vegetable
in Eating
Well with Canada's Food Guide. Enjoy them raw with a low-fat dip or
make this dish of Orange
Glazed Carrots.
Nutrition Information: 1 large carrot = 30 calories, 0.2 g fat, 1.8 g fibre,
50 mg sodium.
3. Green beans. Remember
the story about Jack and the beanstalk? Your bean plant won't grow nearly that
tall, but it will reward you with fresh, flavourful and fibre-filled beans in
about two months. Push stakes or sticks in the ground near the beans to support
them as they grow. Harvest beans when they are about pencil thick. Just half
a cup of cooked green beans is a source of folate and counts as your recommended
serving of a green veggie for the day.
Nutrition Information: ½ cup boiled green beans = 23 calories, 0.2 g fat, 1.6 g fibre, 1 mg sodium.
4. Cucumbers. Cucumbers
are a warm-weather crop, so make sure there's no chance of night time frost
before you plant them. Give them lots of room if you want them to vine along
the ground, or plant them near a trellis to allow them to grow upwards. Harvest
cucumbers when they're about 6 inches (15 cm) long. You'll have a bountiful
harvest, so make a batch of Cucumber
and Roasted Tomato Rounds as a heart healthy appetizer that's perfect for
summer entertaining.
Nutrition Information: ½ cup
sliced cucumbers = 9 calories, 0.07 g fat, 0.5 g fibre, 1 mg sodium.
5. Lettuce. If you
love eating salads in the summer, then grow your own Boston lettuce, romaine
or colourful red leaf lettuce. It's an easy veggie to grow and you can tear off only as many lettuce leaves as you
need. Toss in your garden-grown tomatoes and cucumbers, add a low-fat
salad dressing, and it's ready to eat!
Nutrition Information: 1 cup lettuce leaves = 9 calories, 0.15 g fat, 0.8 g fibre, 8 mg sodium.
6. Peppers. Peppers
like hot weather, so you may need to wait until June to plant them. Harvest
bell peppers anytime but for sweeter flavour, wait until they turn red. While
all peppers are nutritious, the red ones will have more beta-carotene and vitamin
C than green ones. Add raw peppers to your veggie platter or toss them in a
stir-fry. Spice up your food the fat-free way with easy-to-grow hot chili peppers.
Nutrition Information: ½ cup chopped raw sweet red pepper = 20 calories,
0.24 g fat, 1.1 g fibre, 2 mg sodium; 1 hot chili pepper - 18 calories, 0.09 g fat, 0.7 g fibre, 0.14 mg sodium.
And finally, don't forget about growing
some fresh herbs. Plant them in your backyard, in a patio container, or even
in a small pot on your windowsill. Use herbs to boost the flavour of all of
your dishes without adding any extra fat or sodium. Try fresh basil and oregano
in whole-wheat pasta salads, rosemary with skinless chicken breasts, and dill
over grilled fish.