Best For The Garden

What are the best vegetables to dry?

I’ve always been into gardening, but have jsut recently gotten a food dehydrator, so I was looking for a few good crops to try. Please be specific on types. For example, instead of saying ‘tomato’ say ‘Roma’ or ‘Brandywine’ tomato. But more than just tomatoes please.

I’ve dried a lot of veggies (for cooking while hiking). The tomatoes and peppers always seem to develop a flavor I don’t like - they work ok, just don’t like ‘em as much as fresh. Sorry, I can’t give you specific varieties of any particular veggie - mostly I don’t think it matters much, except that, for example, a Roma would dry faster than Beefsteak.

Things that have worked best for me are onions, celery, chives/green onions, carrots, peas, cabbage, mushrooms, and corn. I think the carrots work better if they’re parboiled first to soften them up a bit, but you can get by without it. Potatoes work, but dehydrated potato flakes are so cheap it’s really not worth doing for me. For that matter, you can find dehydrated veggies pretty cheap, so it’s more for personal enjoyment to dry your own, or making up your own mixes/creations is fun (e.g. - dried corn, with or without spicy or sweet seasonings make a nice crunchy snack).

I think the biggest bang for the buck is dried herbs - you can grow them cheap but they often cost an awful lot in the stores.

I’ve bought several diff types of dried veggies from Harmony House, with good results. Prices are fair, quality is good: http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/ - just in case you want to sample what can be done and have something to compare yours to.

How to Pick Fresh Fruits and Vegetables at a Store

What are the best fruits and vegetables for guinea pigs?

What are the best fruits and vegetables for guinea pigs? I want some vegetables that I can give my guinea pigs on a daily basis and some fruits and vegetables I can give them as a treat. If you have guinea pigs what are their favorites?
Me Mysel- Guinea Pig, not hamster.

My guinea pigs favourite vegetable is cos lettuce/romaine lettuce, and his favourite fruit is watermelon.

Daily vegetables:
> Cos lettuce/romaine lettuce
> Carrot
> Carrot greens
> Cucumber
> Celery
> Celery greens

Daily fruits:
> Apple
> Grapes
> Watermelon

Vegetable treats:
> Parsley
> Spinach
> Capsicum

Fruit treats:
>Strawberries
> Cherries

Best of luck

Please be sure to check out my website dedicated to guinea pigs, and become a member for free:
http://guineapighut.webs.com/

What are the best vegetables to eat for losing weight?

I know veggies like peas, corn and potatos have a lot of starch but which can I eat as much as I want?

If you are eating fresh fruits and vegetables, you can feel pretty good about them. They have complete vitamins and minerals within them that are made for the digestion and usability of each. Apples are considered a very good food for health, and diet, too. Corn and potatoes are considered pretty starchy, and starch is converted into "fat" in the body. Potaotes in moderation are considered good for you, but better if you eat them boiled or baked, and also eat the skins. That is where the nutrients of a potato are mainly stored. French fries are really not potatoes, anymore, but a prepared food that contains tons of hydrogenated oils, highly heated, and that is very detrimental to the health. If you go for the brightly colored fruits and vegetables like green, orange, red, or dark colored ones, they have lots of nutrients in them. Iceburg lettuce is considered lacking in nutrition, as can be seen by the rather "anemic" appearance of the leaves. Since chlorophyll is important in nutrition, the greener veges will give you more benefits. Try to look at it like this: fresh is the very best (as in not cooked or heated), then frozen is next best, and last would be canned or packaged prepared items of any kind. Canning involves heating and other chemical processes that destroy many valuable nutrients. Once this has happened, you are really not benefiting as you might be leading yourself to believe. Put a bowl of fresh fruits on your table for easy access. Then, try cutting up some of your favorite raw vegables and place on a covered tray in your refridgerator. If you need dip to choke them down, that would certainly be preferable to not eating them, or finding a less nutritous option. If you have these things handy, and more of them around than the packaged things, chances are you might eat them more. But . . . don’t just rely on fruits and vegetables. You need to provide yourself with lots of high quality protein for the health of your body. Chicken, beef, pork, and fish are very important for health and even skin, beauty. Not fried. Baked, broiled, etc. is the very best. Now, you are probably going to say, "I asked about dieting, not healthy eating," but the two go hand-in-hand. If you eat non-nutritious foods, you will have a tendancy to gain weight, and also to be less healthy. Try to eat for health, and that may be easier than to always be thinking of how to loose the weight. To learn more, go to your local health food store and ask for a book or two about healthy eating. You will learn tons.

The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables

What are the best vegetables to plant in your garden in michigan?

I am just wondering which veggies give you the biggest bang for your buck and time. Also, what tend to grown the best in Michigan. I only have a small garden, about 5 feet by 20 feet.

Green beans are the simplest to grow. The seeds are cheap and the plants will grow in almost every location. Tomatoes are also a good option. Peppers, peas, zucchini, acorn and butternut squash, cucumbers would also work well. Just look for bush varieties or space-saver varieties to maximize your garden space.

The following link has lots of good info about garden planning and soil prep. They also have tons of good tips and advice for planting, watering, fertilizing, harvesting and storing a wide variety of different vegetables. There’s even stuff about diagnosing and curing common pest and disease problems, along with recipes, etc… Good luck!

http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/index.html

What are the best vegetables to juice?

Have just bought a juicer because I dont eat veg apart from carrots and wondered what tasted good juiced. Have seen recipes but would like some personal recommendations.

I love carrot with an apple. 3 carrots and 1 apple Mmmm…
Be careful with beet juice though. When it says cleanser. They aren’t joking. Broccolli is good. Pineapple and strawberry, yummy. Or celery with tomato. You can’t juice bannanas

How to Buy Fruits and Vegetables on a Budget

Eating fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to maintain good health. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. They contain vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals that can protect your body from diseases like diabetes, cancers, and heart diseases. Ideally, you should consume five kinds of vegetables and two kinds of fruits each day.

Doctors and health practitioners recommend increasing the fruit and vegetable servings at your table. But, it sometimes proves difficult on your household budget to purchase increased amounts of vegetables and fruits.

These tips can help you to fit a variety of vegetables and fruits within your existing household budget with some planning and foresight.

If you live near a farm, purchase your weekly supply of fruits and vegetables from the farmer. Alternatively, you can plan your shopping for the end of market day.

Normally, vendors prefer selling their wares at discounted prices at the end of the market day rather than taking the leftover produce back home.

Always buy the seasonal produce of fruits and vegetables. These are comparatively cheaper than out of season produce. Clementines or tiny tangerines are cheaper during Christmas while pears and apples are cheaper during the fall.

Some farms offer sale of produce through a program called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Pay the annual fee up-front to become a member of this program.

You may then receive boxes of the growing produce regularly, such as every week.

Most grocery stores offer weekly sales. Try purchasing only the fruits and vegetables available on this sale list to benefit from the discounted prices or through special rebates available on this produce. You get to enjoy a variety of fruits and vegetables without it being a burden on your budget.

Another way of saving on grocery budget is to make bulk purchases. Most wholesalers offer heavy discounts if you purchase fruits and vegetables in bulk. Go shopping with a neighbor or a friend and split your purchases. You get to enjoy various fruits and vegetables at much lower prices.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are sometimes cheaper than fresh vegetables and fruits. Many are under the wrong impression that frozen fruits and vegetables are low on nutrients. The nutrient value is claimed to remain much the same in frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables.

When choosing and buying frozen fruits, it is best to go for store brands. Most stores run sales most of the time when you may get your stock of vegetables and fruits at nominal costs.

Sometimes, it may be best to get frozen fruits and vegetables if they are not grown locally and have to be shipped from great distances.

If you purchase both frozen and fresh produce, make sure that you use your fresh produce earlier than the frozen ones. Frozen ones will stay good for a much longer period than the fresh fruits and vegetables.

Another way of saving on your grocery budget is to buy fruits and vegetables and chop it yourself instead of purchasing pre-chopped vegetables.

Purchase vegetables without any seasonings like salt, butter, or sauces. It is always best to add all seasonings just before you have your meal, or according to your taste.

It therefore is not any extra burden use these tips to include more vegetables and fruits in your diet.

Just plan carefully and make your purchases accordingly to get the best out of every dollar you spend on your fruits and vegetables.

To find out more fabulous information about how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle with more fruits and vegetables order your copy of Fabulous Fruit and Vegetables today.

Georgina Cundall
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-buy-fruits-and-vegetables-on-a-budget-701044.html

what are the best vegetables and plants to grow during the summer?

The best plants are the ones that you like. Don’t bother growing zucchini, for example, if you don’t like to eat it, because you will probably get more than you know what to do with. During the summer, you can grow tomatoes, corn, bell and hot peppers, beans, squashes of all sorts, melons, carrots, beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, and lots of herbs - chives, basil, dill, rosemary, cilantro, etc. In most places in the US, it gets too hot during the summer to grow greens such as lettuce, or cool weather crops like peas. Broccoli and cauliflower also prefer cooler temperatures.

As far as other summer-loving plants, there are lots of different kinds of sunflowers, which grow quickly. Some make great colorful bouquets, others have big seed heads that people and birds both like to eat. There are lots of other quick growing annual flowers (meaning the plant lives its entire life cycle in one year and won’t live over the winter) that are great in bouquets - zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, cornflowers, dahlias (which may come back if you live in a warmer climate, or you can save the roots and replant next spring)…. The list goes on and on.

What are the best vegetables and fruits to grow in fall?

I’m located in San Antonio, TX.
Please list as many as you can - personal experience please!

Check out this link: http://www.palmers.co.nz/gardening_calendar/march.cfm

The seasons are 6 months out because this site is from the southern hemisphere (NZ). So for your autumn, check out this NZ site’s March.

Plant seedlings of beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach and silverbeet.

Sow seeds of carrots, parsnips, radish, lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, beetroot (mild climates only), swede and turnip directly into the garden. These will need thinning later. Seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are best sown in trays for planting out later.

Plant herbs in pots or the garden. Parsley can be grown from seed sown now. Perennial herbs such as chives, mint, thyme, rosemary, sage and marjoram can be divided and replanted. Basil, a summer annual, should be harvested
before the cold weather. It can be dried or frozen.