The Health Benefits of the Potatoes you are Growing in your Backyard garden

Potatoes grown by David Janssen

 

Who doesn’t love to eat potatoes?  Whether you are making grandma’s aged old casserole dish, mashing up a sweet potato recipe, or simply making a baked potato, there are limitless choices to what you can do.  But are they healthy?  

Like you, I grow potatoes in my backyard.  Each year I will grow a different variety than the previous season so I am always mixing it up.  Which varieties are the best for your health, and exactly how should they be implemented into a healthy eating plan?

I recently asked some industry leading dietician and nutritionists what home vegetable gardeners like yourself should be looking for when it comes to health and the types of potatoes you should be growing.

“Every potato has something of value,” says Caryl Ehrlich the author of Conquer Your Food Addiction.  “The skin of the potato notoriously contains potassium but there are many vitamins and minerals within the potato as well. A yam is a wonderful source of Vitamin A and has good fiber, both necessary for good nutrition.”

Sharon Palmer, a registered dietician and author of The Plant-Powered Diet, goes onto say, “Some potatoes are higher in glycemic index; waxy potatoes seem to be lower in GI than the fluffy ones. In addition, purple potatoes are very high in anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant. And sweet potatoes are high in carotenoids, powerful antioxidants linked with heart health. Including the skin increases the nutrient and fiber load.”

The consensus among the experts seems to be that you can’t go wrong growing any type of potato to add to your diet, and while some have benefits over others, it really comes down to how you prepare to eat your potatoes.  Loading them up with high fatty cheeses, sour cream and the likes, increases the amount of unhealthy fats you take in and neutralizes any of the benefits that your home grown potatoes provide.

“Baking and steaming in jackets are the best way, to keep skin intact and maximum nutritional intake,” says Sharon.  “I also recommend a home fried potato with skins and cooked in a very light amount of extra virgin olive oil.”

Given that potatoes are high in starch, I asked the experts if they should be paired with something on the dinner table to make digestion and absorption much easier for the body.  Caryl’s opinion is, “a starch should not be eaten alone but rather with a dark vegetable (roasted or sauteed) or a small tossed salad, a nice combination of hot and cold.”  Sharon seconds that sentiment adding, “Sweet potatoes taste great when paired with kale, collards, or any other dark leafy green.”

So how much should you limit your potato intake for a day?  If it were up to me, I could eat potatoes all day, but of course the carbs would have me packing on the pounds faster than you can say Idaho Potato.  “All portions should be 4 ounces,” says Sharon.  “If a salad or vegetable is a melange (more than one . . a mix) then a handful on a flat plate. . Bowls are deceiving about the amount of food you're consuming. If the potato and the salad (or vegetable) are on flat plates, it encourages you to slow down while eating and to savour the foods being consumed.”

“Remember, the suggested portion size is ½ cup of cooked or half of a medium potato,” chimes in Caryl. “Most people eat far more than this. People are afraid of potatoes, but they are fine in moderation. You are better off including a range of other colorful veggies in your diet in addition to potatoes, but you don’t need to give them up altogether. Try to limit your selection to one serving a day so that you gain the benefits of a diet filled with a variety of foods.” 

About the Author 
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us. Be sure to join Mike`s vegetable seeds mailing list. 

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Weight Loss: Grow Your Own Health and Nutrition in Your Backyard

We all at some point would like to drop a few of those extra pounds we put on, whether it was from mom’s thanksgiving dinner, or an extra piece of that birthday cake, over time they all add up around the waist line.

Lucky for all of us we have the power to do something about it. No it doesn’t mean that you will spend countless hours in the gym training as if you were getting ready for the Olympics, it means we can implement a healthy eating plan today and start losing weight right away. The best part is you can grow some of these foods right in your backyard which saves you some money too!

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat right, drink plenty of water and do some physical activity. In this article I am going to focus in on the eating right portion.

For optimal weight loss you need to eat small well balanced meals throughout the day. In other words you should consume one meal every two and a half to three hours everyday. Each meal should consist of equal portions of proteins, carbohydrates and green vegetables grown from your own garden.

You might be wondering just how much a portion size is because even too much of any of those can be more than enough right? Well, yes and no. You should limit yourself to a portion size, more on that in a moment, for your proteins and carbohydrates, however for your green vegetables you can consume as much as you want.

Instead of using a scale or counting calories a good way to remember a portion size is to make a fist. Your clenched fist should be the size of a portion that you are going to consume. This is also the same amount of green vegetables that you should at least eat, although as mentioned earlier you can eat more of them.

The reason why you can eat more green vegetables than proteins or carbohydrates is that they are very low in calories and high in minerals in nutrients your body needs, as well as they can fill you up. So if you ever find yourself hungry, reach for a nice big tossed salad of greens.

I mentioned earlier how you can grow your own nutrition. What I mean is all of the green vegetables that you can consume, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, lettuce and others, can all be grown right in your backyard. By growing your own vegetables, not only will you be growing the food that will help you lose weight, but the amount of money you will save by eliminated that cost from your weekly shopping trip will add up quickly.

To maximize your weight loss, remember to eat frequently throughout the day, six smaller equally portioned meals. Eat one meal every two and half to three hours each day. Make sure each meal has one portion of healthy proteins (chicken breast, lean meat, fish, egg substitutes), one portion of healthy carbohydrates (multi grain breads and cereals, brown rice, potatoes), and at least one portion of green vegetables grown from the garden in your backyard. Follow these simple tips and you can lose 5 to 10 pounds in no time.

Just remember to obtain a complete physical from your primary care physician prior to starting any type of physical fitness program or nutrition eating plan.

About the Author
Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds.

Composting: Helpful Tips to Creating Nutrient Rich Compost

Composting is the process of organic material breaking down. The process of breaking down is more commonly known as decomposing. There is an entire ecosystem of earthly creatures, some you can see like worms, and many you can not like bacteria, that are working hard for you to give you great compost.

With that said there are still some things you can do to either speed up the process or make it more efficient. I have listed some of my tips below that have helped me with my gardening adventures and I am sure they will help you as well.

Ventilation & Aeration
Oxygen is required by all living organisms. For humans we need it to breathe and stay alive. The ecosystem in your compost pile is the same way. They need oxygen to live, throve and prosper. So when you build your compost bin, whether it is a wooden box or a store bought one, make sure there is plenty of ventilation holes in it so oxygen can get in.

Temperature
There is an optimal temperature range for compost to decompose efficiently. Starting at 90 degrees Fahrenheit up through 135 degrees Fahrenheit has been shown to be the best. Although some experts will say it can go as high as 155 degrees Fahrenheit, if you keep it within the range above you should be ok. Invest in a compost thermometer to monitor the temperature of the middle of the compost pile. When that temperature starts getting near the top range it is time to work the pile by turning it over. This keeps the center a nice level for your decomposing ecosystem to work.

Water
Your compost pile must remain moist. Let’s face it, worms, bugs, bacteria and fungi all like it a little more wet than you and if you want to excel at decomposing your organic material then misting down your pile is a great way to go. You do not need to drench it, but only apply enough water to where the pile remains moist and damp.

Reduce
Would you pick up a entire steak and put it in your mouth? Or an entire zucchini for your vegetarians out there? Of course you wouldn’t, or at least I hope not. Well your earth workers do not want to shove an entire egg shell in their mouth either. What I am getting at is if you want the optimal performance of decomposition shred or grind your material before you put it in the bin. It makes it easier for your workers and will speed up the process.

Mixture
Get a good mixture of various organic material together. You could make compost out of just grass or just leaves, but by combining them you are creating a compost that covers all of the nutrients needed by plants in your gardens. Your compost bin should consist of leaves, grass, twigs, pine cones, newspaper, paper junk mail, and old cotton clothing (all metal and plastic removed of course).

As you can see they are straight forward tips and advice that you can start implementing today for better compost.

About the Author

Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds.

Compost Tea: The Natural Elixir of Gardening that Mother Nature has Perfected

One of the best natural solutions to make your plants healthier is through the use of compos tea. Compost tea is the process by which you use compost to brew a liquid solution that you will then “feed” to your plants. Compost tea can be applied to vegetables, trees, bushes, flowers, or in short anything that you grow that you want to get healthier.

The first step is to get compost. You can buy compost from a local nursery or garden center but the better option is to make your own. You make compost from organic material. In other words grass, leaves twigs, and food waste to name a few.

You then take the compost and mix it with water. After about an hour of soaking you can use the compost enriched water on your plants and you will get excellent benefits, but if you really want to get the most out of your compost tea, you have to brew it.

To brew compost tea you simply add an air pump to pump in fresh oxygen into the water as well as one to two ounces of molasses. What you are doing is creating an environment where bacteria that live in the compost will thrive.

After brewing for a couple of days separate the compost from the liquid with a strainer such as cheese cloth or an old screen and you are all. Put the liquid in a watering can or sprayer and let your plants have it. It is the most natural type of fertilizer you can ever apply to your plants that no chemical can reproduce.

Compost tea introduces healthy minerals and nutrients into the soil as well as “good” bacteria that work hard in the underlying ecosystem to create an environment for the roots of your plants to thrive.

Compost tea has also shown to prevent many diseases found in plants due to the microbial population found in compost tea.

You should apply compost tea first thing in the morning and if you are putting it directly into the soil it is ok to apply during rainy conditions, however if you are applying it directly to leaves then you should wait for a dryer day.

Studies have shown it is best to use your compost tea within 4 to 6 hours after you brew it. Remember you have living organisms in that tea and having it sit around too long can kill them and render your tea useless. Besides you have been waiting 2 days to use it while it’s been brewing.

As you can see compost tea has many benefits. Whether you are an avid vegetable, flower or shrub gardener, or are new to gardening altogether, then you should get to know how to brew compost tea, and start applying it to your gardens immediately.

About the Author

Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds.

Three Reasons why You should be Adding Vermicompost to Your Soil

Vermicompost, also known as worm castings, is the end result of worms feeding off of organic material such as food waste. Vermicompost has shown in studies that it contains much needed water soluble nutrients your vegetables, fruits and flowers crave.

You can either make your own vermicompost by adding worms and food scraps to a ventilated container or buy vermicompost commercially. Either way is fine and if just adding nutrients to your soil is not enough proof to use vermicompost than read these three other ways to justify its purpose.

Soil

I have mentioned this already and that is vermicompost adds much needed nutrients back to the soil. Each growing season your plants will use certain nutrients in order to flourish. If you do not replenish those nutrients, your plants will eventually stop growing or die. Also, vermicompost enriches your soil with various micro-organisms by adding enzymes such as phosphate and cellulase. Vermicompost also more deep burrowing earth worms already in the soil and will actually increase your soil’s water holding capacity.

Plants

Your plants love vermicompost obviously for the nutrients it provides but also for the fact that vermicompost has been shown to enhance germination and increase crop yields. Recent studies have even shown an improvement in root growth and structure of various plants.

Economic

Since you are using your food waste to create vermicompost, it goes without saying that you when you do this you are adding less garbage to local landfills. And because you are not simply throwing the food away, it reduces the amount of biowaste which in turn reduces potential contamination in our streams and waterways. Also in some parts of the country, in large scale production centers for vermicompost, jobs have been created. Somebody has to do the work right? Vermicomposting is a low cost way to create natural fertilizer, thereby making it possible to add much needed nutrients to the soils of a lot of less developed agricultural regions.

Large scale productions of vermicompost have been shown in some studies to have a higher yield of valuable soil microbial probably because of the feedstock waste available. This does not mean that your homemade vermicompost is not adequate enough for your gardens though.

You should definitely start implementing a process in creating your own vermicompost so that you can add it to your soil so your plants can start enjoying all the benefits mentioned above and more. If you want to learn more about the vermicomposting process there are a number of good books on the market and you can visit the Cooperative Extension Service website which is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The COE is an informal educational program that exists only within the United States that was designed for the sole purpose of helping people with research based knowledge.

Vermicomposting is a must for any gardener that wants to improve their plants and the soil that their plants grow in. If you are a gardener or an aspiring one, and you are not creating your own vermicompost, then you should be. Start your vermicompost bin today.
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About the Author

Bruce is the co-author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds. To learn more about Mr. Tucker you can visit: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Adding Vermicompost to Your Soil will Increase Vegetable Gardening Success

Vermicompost is the end result of organic material such as food waste after it has been digested by some species of earth worm. Commonly referred to as worm castings, vermicompost contains water soluble nutrients and bacteria that make a great organic fertilizer for your garden.

The process in which you feed a worm organic material and turn it into vermicompost has an actual name called vermicomposting.

Although every worm produces worm castings, the worm best for the job to produce quality vermicompost for your garden’s soil is called Eisenia foetida or the red wiggler earthworm. Most of North America will use this species of worm, but if you live in a tropical part of the world, look towards Perionyx excavatus (Blue worms) and if you have a more acidic soil then use Eisenia hortensis (night crawlers).

Vermicompost can be used to brew compost tea, a rich elixir that is sprayed on the plant’s leaves and stem as well as added to the soil so the roots of your vegetables can absorb the tea’s nutrients, and vermicompost can be mixed directly in with your soil.

You can buy vermicompost at many nurseries or garden centers, but you can actually make your own with a box, some worms, and a little water and some time.

The easiest way to make your own is to buy a large plastic or rubber container (similar to one you would store household items in), drill holes in the lid, and the sides for air ventilation, and drill holes in the bottom for water drainage. Then put down two inches of shredded newspaper, followed by shredded leaves, grass clippings (in limited quantities) and your food left scraps followed by another two inches of shredded newspaper.

To get some worms just look on your sidewalks or in the street after a heavy rainfall. They will be crawling everywhere. Their homes get flooded and they go to higher ground where it is wet but more tolerable.

You simply put the worms on top of your shredded newspaper and put the lid on. The worms will work their way down through the newspaper and find the food waste. It is very important that you keep the contents of your bin moist. Worms need a moist environment in order to thrive. A simple misting of the contents of the bin on a daily basis should suffice. As a side note, place something underneath the bin to catch any water drainage. Any moisture you capture you should then be dumped back into the bin.

You will know when it is time to retrieve and harvest your vermicompost by simply seeing that very little or no food scraps remain. There are a couple of ways to harvest the vermicompost. The first way is to dump the entire contents out, and remove the worms by hand. The second way is to divide your rubber container in half initially by only placing food scraps on one side of the container. Then when it is time to harvest the vermicompost you add food scraps to the other side. When you do this the worms will move to the side where there is food leaving you with a near wormless side of quality vermicompost.

Vermicompost is a great way to add much needed nutrients to your garden’s soil and the best part is you can do make it right in your own backyard all year round.

About the Author

Bruce is the co-author of the book "Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us". It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds. To learn more about Mr. Tucker or to inquire about the book you can visit: http://www.averagepersongardening.com/.

Check Out These Five Garden Vacation Getaways

Gardening doesn’t simply have to be just your flower bed or vegetables growing in your yard anymore. Now it can be a full fledged vacation. Here are some destinations that you can travel to if you want to get away and still enjoy your love for gardening.

The Butchart Gardens
Nestled on 55 acres on Vancouver Island, it ranks as one of the world’s greatest garden spectacles. Started in 1904 by Jennie Butchart, she began sculpting the landscape to meet a Victorian style. The Butchart Gardens boasts 26 greenhouses, and a variety of flowers that bloom throughout the year. You can go on self guided and group tours as well as eco-friendly boat tours. They boast a gift shop where you can buy seeds of the flowers they grow as well as a knowledgeable staff to help you in your own gardening ventures. If you love gardens, this is a great one to see.

National Gardens in Washington, DC
Beyond the many historical and governmental attractions of the nation’s capitol sits the newest addition to the botanical gardens which opened in October of 2006. The National Gardens has four gardens, which consist of a seven bed regional garden, a first ladies garden, a formal rose garden and a butterfly garden. The gardens have a great backdrop of the US Capitol and best of all there is no cost to go in to see them.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
When you think of Africa most people right away think of safaris as a vacation getaway, but located in Cape Town South Africa are the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. These gardens only grow indigenous South African plants. Located on 528 hectares, the gardens also boast a natural forest. Founded in 1913, it boasts a well staffed visitor center, and educational facilities to learn about all of the plants being grown there.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden
The Sissinghurst Castle Garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West (poet and gardening writer) and her husband Harold Nicolson. It is one of the most well known and renowned gardens in the entire United Kingdom and draws visitors from all over the world. The garden is designed to look like a series of rooms of which each room has its own unique design and theme. First opened to the public in 1938, Sissinghurst boasts Garden suppers, lecture luncheons, estate walks, local food events, a literary festival and monthly farmers’ market. It also has a fully operational vegetable garden that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the restaurant on the premises.

Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden
As if you needed another reason to go to Hawaii right? Located on the Kona side of the island 22 miles south of Keahole Airport, this 15 acre botanical garden focuses on the study of Hawaiian people and the plants they grow. The garden boasts over 200 species of plants, self guided and group guided tours that can last for up to an hour. Also, if you hit the gardens at the right time of the year, you will get to experience their native insect house that features the Kamehameha butterfly one of only two butterfly species native to the island.

After visiting these five garden destinations your eyes will be opened up to a whole new world of gardening that you never thought or knew existed.

About the Author

Bruce is the co-author of the book "Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us". It is a practical easy to follow book that teaches gardeners everything from composting techniques, aeration and frost conditions, to choosing the right tools and picking the right seeds. To learn more about Mr. Tucker or to inquire about the book you can visit: http://www.averagepersongardening.com/.