Grow and Live Healthy: 6 Healthy Vegetables to Grow in Your Garden

By Peggy Elliot

Growing a vegetable garden is, by far, the best and safest way to have the freshest produce possible. Planting a garden at home may result in using your money or other resources more carefully, as a single mistake could mean the end of your garden. Statistics show that an average family would only spend around 70 dollars on their garden but ends up with vegetables that could easily retail for more than 600 dollars.

Gardening is a perfect way to save money, and if you’re a beginner, you should start small. It’s far better to be excited about your small garden’s production than to be disappointed by all the time and commitment required by a bigger garden. So, here’s a list of healthy and beneficial vegetables that you can grow in your garden to save money and stay healthy.

Asparagus

Scientifically known as Asparagus Officinalis, the asparagus is a healthy consumable vegetable that can be recognized quickly for its pointy and long spear-like shape. Preparing the vegetable can be done either by steaming, grilling, or roasting. Growing asparagus in your garden may require patience as it may take three to four years to produce an edible spear.

Gardeners highly advise that you should plant asparagus crowns in the fall as cooler temperatures tend to be more beneficial for the plant. Moreover, asparagus crowns can grow as either all-male or male/female. The varieties have different pollinating capabilities and can substantially minimize their overall productiveness in making spears for food.

All-male cultivars are the type of asparagus that are typically preferred by gardeners. It’s proven to be more beneficial since all-male cultivars don’t pollinate themselves or diminishing the capacity to produce new stalks by redirecting all the energy away from it.

Broccoli

Belonging to a plant species known as the Brassica Oleracea, broccoli is a healthy green vegetable that is, more or less, resembling a tree. It’s closely related to Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, and cabbages. The vegetable is one powerhouse of a plant as it’s filled with nutritional vitamins, fiber, minerals, and antioxidants.

Broccoli has three main varieties: Calabrese broccoli, Sprouting broccoli, and Purple cauliflower. To consume broccoli, you can either cook it or eat it raw. Both methods are beneficial; however, the nutrient profiles it provides are different depending on the method you prepared the broccoli.

Kale

Considered to be one of the superfoods of the century; however, not everyone has tried kale. Over the past decade, kale has made its way from being a plain decoration under bowls for other dishes to becoming one of the market’s sought-after vegetables. Thanks to health experts, kale is highly promoted as it’s a terrific source of antioxidants and nutrients.

Health experts and enthusiasts have proved kale to be highly beneficial as it’s one of the most nutritious vegetables among any food in the market. Kale is high in nutrients as it supplies over a hundred percent of the RDA of numerous vitamins such as vitamins A, C, and K. Moreover, kale has a variety of substances that helps fight cancer.

Spinach

Health experts have dubbed spinach as a superfood as it has many nutrients in a healthy package with low-calories. Also, there are numerous possible health benefits when consuming spinach, including the massive improvement of blood glucose, improvements in overall bone health, minimizing cancer risk, and providing a wide range of vitamins.

Moreover, spinach has different varieties: the savoy spinach, semi-savoy Spinach, and the flat Spinach. The Spinach’s flexibility in flavor has made it possible to be accompanied by almost every dish, and it’s served either raw or cooked depending on the consumer’s preference. Spinach can be added to your daily diet as it can be served fresh, frozen, canned, raw, and cooked.

Carrots

Scientifically known as Daucus Carota, carrots are root vegetables that some health experts claim to be the perfect food to boost your overall health. Aside from the carrot to be highly nutritious, it’s also tasty and crunchy, and it’s a potentially convenient source of fiber, vitamin K1, antioxidants, potassium, and beta carotene.

Carrots are generally carbs and water; however, the carbs may contain sugars and starch such as glucose and sucrose. The vegetable can be a perfect source of plant compounds, and especially a specific antioxidant called carotenoids. Also, carrots can provide health benefits as it’s also a good source of lutein and beta carotene.

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are popularly known to be tiny cabbages, and it’s one of the most popular vegetables that kids would love to hate. Brussels sprouts are closely related to the cabbage family, and it’s high in vitamins A and C. Also, the vegetable is an adequate source of iron.

Takeaway

Gardening is all about harvesting your vegetables. Numerous vegetable variants would make it possible to harvest numerous times throughout the year or the growing season. For instance, Leaf lettuce will continue to grow after snipping some of its young and tender leaves. Rule of thumb: if it’s already looking good enough to, then it probably is.

Peggy Elliot is a writer and a nature lover. She enjoys writing about the natural wonders all around us and loves sharing it with her readers. Peggy is also fond of gardening and is a big fan of organic veggies. When not writing, you can see Peggy tending to her backyard vegetable patch or reading books.

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