Maximizing Nutrition.
Vegetables and herbs vary in their nutritional value as well as their taste and texture. If a gardener wants to get the most food value from a limited growing space, the combination of plants below can create a powerhouse garden--providing significant levels of vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.
Greens. Pound for pound, dark leafy greens--especially kale, collards, turnip greens, and spinach--have the greatest nutritional benefit. Raw or cooked, greens are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals and contain more fiber than any other food group except beans. Most greens are cool weather plants, growing best in the spring and fall. However, New Zealand and Malabar spinach, Swiss chard, and sweet potato leaves (yes, just pick off leaves here and there to keep the plant alive), are hot-weather options. All greens can be harvested over an extended period by simply taking off a few leaves at a time from different plants. This "cut and come again" option maximizes the food you can get from your plants.
Beans and peas are loaded with slow-metabolizing carbohydrates as well as fiber and micronutrients. One advantage of peas and beans is that they can be dried, frozen, or canned and stored for months, providing food during the winter when the garden is least productive. Field peas (aka, cowpeas) are extremely hardy, tolerant of hot, dry summers and pest-resistant, growing well even when neglected in the garden. Green peas and snow peas are cool weather plants that can be planted successfully in Georgia as early as February.
Onions and garlic.
Potatoes, especially sweet potatoes.
Blueberries.
Greens. Pound for pound, dark leafy greens--especially kale, collards, turnip greens, and spinach--have the greatest nutritional benefit. Raw or cooked, greens are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals and contain more fiber than any other food group except beans. Most greens are cool weather plants, growing best in the spring and fall. However, New Zealand and Malabar spinach, Swiss chard, and sweet potato leaves (yes, just pick off leaves here and there to keep the plant alive), are hot-weather options. All greens can be harvested over an extended period by simply taking off a few leaves at a time from different plants. This "cut and come again" option maximizes the food you can get from your plants.
Beans and peas are loaded with slow-metabolizing carbohydrates as well as fiber and micronutrients. One advantage of peas and beans is that they can be dried, frozen, or canned and stored for months, providing food during the winter when the garden is least productive. Field peas (aka, cowpeas) are extremely hardy, tolerant of hot, dry summers and pest-resistant, growing well even when neglected in the garden. Green peas and snow peas are cool weather plants that can be planted successfully in Georgia as early as February.
Onions and garlic.
Potatoes, especially sweet potatoes.
Blueberries.