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Eating an Organic Rainbow

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When looking to eat healthier, organic produce is a great place to start. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides (which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms. But while it is important to try to eat organic, it’s also important to get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. While we all know that eating fruits and veggies will keep us healthy, we often don’t really understand which ones are the most important to eat more of and for and for what reason, which is why you should start “eating a rainbow” every day.

Red foods have lots of lycopene, which is good for helping to protect against various cancers. These include: cherries, red/pink grapefruit, cranberries, pomegranates, red grapes, strawberries, watermelons, beets, red onions, red peppers, red potatoes, and tomatoes.

Orange and Yellow foods contain carotenoids, limonene, and bioflavenoids, which help to strengthen your immune system. These include: squash, turmeric, cumin, apricots, grapefruit, mango, papaya, pineapple, carrot, yellow pepper, sweet potato/yam, and lemons.

Green foods contain lutein and indoles for vision and help protect against various estrogen-related cancers. These include: avocado, green apples, kiwi, lime, green pears, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans, green pepper, and zucchini.

Blue and purple contain anthocyanins, which are great for cardiovascular health. These include blueberries, eggplant, Spanish onions, plums, and acaii berry.

Try to eat and enjoy a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. If you want to get really local, you can grow your very own organic rainbow in your backyard. Gardening expert Owen Reeves has these tips on growing your own vegetable rainbow (tomatoes, carrots, peppers, Swiss chard and beets):

Start with a plan and start early – Start thinking about your veggie garden in March. With organic vegetables, many varieties can only be grown from seed. For our rainbow selection, you’ll want to start the tomatoes and peppers inside around the end of March.  The beets, carrots and Swiss chard will be sown right into the containers outside towards the end of May.

Starting inside from seed – Head to your local garden centre to pick up supplies. For novice gardeners, talk to them about your plans and have someone show you the equipment. First, choose your organic seeds according to your tastes and available growing conditions (light, space, etc.). Keep the seed packets or stick tags so you know when to harvest and what you planted. Then, pick up a seeding tray with a clear plastic dome.  For the soil, you want a certified organic seeding mix for edibles (manufacturers like Fafard and Premier Tech have third-party certified organic mixes). Pick up a few small plastic pots for transplanting your seedlings later on. At home, find a warm, sunny place for your seeding tray. The seeds will germinate within a few weeks and you’ll need to water regularly. Once the seedlings are 2-3 inches high, transplant them into the larger individual growing pots. Fill the pots with soil and press down with your thumb to create a hole. Gently remove the seedlings from the cell packs, place them in the indentation, and compress the soil around them. Continue to water the plants, keeping the soil moist but not wet.

Choosing your containers – As we get further into May, you’ll want to pick up the outdoor containers. It’s best to choose something rectangular to maximize the space for your veggies. It’s also a good idea to plant your tomatoes in a separate round container due to their size. Make sure your containers have holes for drainage at the bottom.  If they don’t, drill three or four holes before filling them with soil.

Planting your seedlings and sowing seed – Once the risk of frost has passed in your area (check with your local garden centre for exact timing as this is very important), it’s time to plant your tomato and pepper plants and sow the seeds for your carrots, beets and Swiss chard. Pick a location with as much afternoon sun as possible and fill your containers with the organic soil mix and compress gently. Plant your beets, carrots, and Swiss chard in rows according to the package instructions. If you are planting more than one pepper, space them 2 feet apart. Plant three to four tomato plants on the perimeter of the circular pot, ideally about a foot apart (the tomatoes will need to be trained to grow up and there are many ways to do this so ask your local garden centre for options). You may need to prune the tomatoes through the summer, but the rest of the vegetables should be pretty maintenance-free.

Harvest according to the package indications and enjoy the incomparable taste of your own organic fresh vegetables.

 

Bryce Wylde
Is one of Canada's leading experts on natural medicine. He is the author of The Antioxidant Prescription and host of Wylde On Health on CP24. 
www.homeopathicdoctor.ca

 

 


Comments (2)

Kyanna
Said this on 11-24-2011 At 05:12 pm
God help me, I put aside a whole afertnoon to figure this out.
Reply to this Comment
friv
Said this on 12-28-2011 At 07:13 am

I try my best to eat bio but with the products in our days is really hard, especialy for chids.

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