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Don’t all the best vegetables grown somewhere warmer than
here? Some plant foods will never grow in northwest
Ohio/southeast Michigan like pineapple, star fruit, mango,
citrus fruits, coffee and cocoa beans. This is not to say
that you cannot enjoy food that only grows in tropical
areas. The good news is that many varieties and kinds of
vegetables do grow here! Some vegetables are more popular
than others and some are easier to grow but there is a wide
selection of local dark green vegetables, red and orange
vegetables, starchy vegetables, dried beans and peas and
other vegetables.
There are many advantages of either growing your own
vegetables or buying fresh, local produce. Some advantages
include cost, nutrition and taste and environmental
concerns. Growing a vegetable can be a great way to save
money on fresh produce. Also, when in-season, produce is
usually a good buy. In addition to benefitting the household
budget, there is benefit to the local growers and therefore
the local economy.
Also, when produce is picked in-season it is high in both
flavor and nutrition. Lastly, there are often environmental
advantages to growing and buying local produce. Sometimes
fresh produce is packaged in disposable containers like
tomatoes on styrofoam trays with a plastic wrap cover or
plastic boxes for berries. It is not common to find all of
that packaging material when buying directly from the
grower. That packaging is non-existent for garden produce.
Scraps from the fresh vegetables are a great addition to the
compost.
Since there isn’t an exact start or end date for seasonal
produce – some vegetables are in-season in the springtime
like spinach and asparagus; others are in-season in the
summer like tomatoes, sweet corn and beans; others are
in-season in the fall like sweet potatoes, collard greens
and radishes and some vegetables store well into the winter
like onions, root vegetables and winter squash. Have a game
plan to best use whatever fresh vegetables are coming from
the garden or market.
·
Raw – wash them, slice them up and serve with a healthy dip.
Or thinly slice vegetables and pile on top of a sandwich or
wrap.
·
Quick steam in the microwave – add fresh vegetables, a
little water, some fresh herbs and cook in the microwave for
a minute or two.
·
Stir fry – lots of color and taste!
·
Salsa – although the most traditional ingredients in salsa
are tomatoes, peppers and onions, add some fruit,
tomatillos, and other additional vegetables.
·
Salad – the most traditional salad is based on a bed of
lettuce but try different colors of fresh greens and top it
with a rainbow of other chopped veggies. Don’t forget
coleslaw salads which can include many shredded vegetables
in additional to green or red cabbage.
·
Smoothies – fruit is often a main ingredient in smoothies
but it’s easy to add some mild flavored fresh greens in the
springtime or cooked pumpkin in the fall
·
Pasta – whether its macaroni and cheese or spaghetti
noodles, add some color of sautéed vegetables.
Is fresh always the best option? Most people agree that you
can’t beat the taste of just-harvested produce, whether it’s
a tomato, berries or greens and everything else from apples
to zucchini! Since we are in Ohio and not a southern part of
the United States or a tropical region of the world, there
are many months out of the year when we cannot grow all of
the fresh vegetables.
Fortunately, local growers are experimenting with season
extenders such as hoop houses or special row covers to offer
local, fresh produce like greens and root vegetables for
more months out of the year. In addition, different forms of
preservation, like canning and freezing offer a nutritious
way to use local vegetables any time of the year.
How do the nutritional values of different vegetables
compare between fresh, frozen and canned? Some of that
depends on the type of vegetable. For example, lightly
cooked and canned tomatoes are a good option for optimizing
the phytonutrient lycopene. In general, produce that has
been harvested and frozen retains most nutrients. This means
that canned and frozen vegetables (without added salt or fat
such as sauces in frozen vegetables) make a very nice
complement to in-season produce. |
