Friday, September 19, 2014

Growing carrots in 5 inches of soil!

If you select the correct variety for shallow soils like Burpee's Short and Sweet – carrots can be easily grown just about anywhere! This 70 gram specimen was harvested on this posting date for steaming as part of a mix of carrots and broccoli for my dinner.

Carrots are extremely nutritious to eat as one 10 year study revealed the effects of eating this vegetable on heart disease;

“We are fortunate to have the results of a new 10-year study from the Netherlands about carrot intake and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)—and those results are fascinating. Intake of fruits and vegetables in the study was categorized by color and focused on four color categories: green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white. Out of these four categories, orange/yellow (and in particular, foods with deeper shades of orange and yellow) emerged as most protective against CVD. And even more striking, carrots were determined to be the most prominent member of this dark orange/yellow food category. Participants who had the least carrot intake had the least amount of CVD risk reduction, even though they still received risk-reducing benefits from their carrot intake. However, participants who ate at least 25 more grams of carrots (with 25 grams being less than one-quarter of a cup) had a significantly lower risk of CVD. And the groups of participants who ate 50- or 75-grams more had an even more greatly reduced risk of CVD! We're not sure how any study could better demonstrate how easy it can be to lower disease risk by making a food like carrot part of the everyday diet in such achievable amounts.”

Of course, some of the carrot went into a nice romaine salad creation....

Thursday, September 4, 2014

First day of Autumn coming!

Well, Summer is pretty much over, even though we can expect some 90 days to sneak in now and again. The meteorological beginning of fall began on Labor Day while calendar-wise it is September 23rd. So, the small raised bed areas that grew some terrific veggies this spring and summer are now in decline. That said, I'm hoping for a few more peppers and even a tomato or two before it's time to pull the plants and prepare the soil for the coming winter.

Speaking of winter – this graph from Firsthand Weather, seems to have a pretty good handle on what to expect over the nation! It looks like some folks might have quite a wild ride coming.