What to Garden in Hard Times Part II

“The holistic garden” by Clinton R. Kraft, Part II – “The Super Seven Of Nutritious Plants”

‘The Super Seven’ (plus corn):

1. Potato: “Only one vegetable grown both in the desert and 14,000 ft up in the mountains … a nutrition expert says one food will sustain life longer than any other” (Boyd).  I have found more references to the potato with respect to nutritious, high yields per sq. ft. than any other plant. John Seymour recommends devoting 40% of a garden to the potato.”
2. Turnips: “In retrospect, when the potato crop started to fail, the Irish could have planted turnips; … Why turnips? Turnips are incredibly nutritious, fast growing virtually anywhere, and largely immune to most insects and diseases. … the nutrition in a turnip is essentially in the leaves, not in the root! (But the calories ARE in the root!/PH)
3. Parsnips: “ … parsnips are a real vegetable heavyweight. I’m amazed at how many parsnips can be produced in a small space. … David Duhon lists parsnips as the most efficient in area efficiency (nutrition efficiency by area) in calories, carbohydrates, and panothenic acid.”
4. Sweet Potato: “The sweet potato is a tropical plant that is one of the world’s most widely-grown plants, … . The sweet potato is a good producer in poor soils and is reasonably drought tolerant once established. The orange-fleshed varieties when eaten in conjunction with the leaves may yield more nutrients per sq. ft. than any other crop in sufficiently warm areas. Another favorable aspect is that they, like potatoes and grains, are able to be stored for long periods.”
5. Garlic: “… garlic is certainly one of our Super Seven for nutrition per sq. ft. … perhaps John Seymour said it best “Garlic can be added to almost any dish … eaten cooked or raw … it can even chewed by itself. …”
6. Collards: “… I have read so many references to the nutritional value of collards (They’re high in nutritional value!/PH) …Collards and soybeans are excellent nutritional complements to each other in protein, calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin and Vitamin C.”
7. Soybeans: “Soybeans were considered one of the ‘five sacred crops” of the ancient Chinese along with rice, wheat, barley, and millet. Soybeans, which are legumes, are distinguished from most plant foods because they contain all of the essential amino acids (Duhon 105). … Soybeans must have special preparation for all their protein to be digested by humans when eaten as the primary component of a diet.”
   

   (PH Note: It is our understanding that: 1. soy beans are considered a high yield crop with the bean being about 20% fat and 30-50% protein, 2. that it is used as a meat and dairy substitute in many parts of the world, and 3. green soy beans should be eaten out of the shell.)

Corn: “Corn is never listed in the references as nutritionally efficient per sq. ft. like potatoes and turnips and cannot, by itself be considered one of the super seven of nutritional plants.  However, I will include a discussion here because almost everyone in the USA who has problems growing potatoes in their area could grow corn. …the celebrated Native American trio corn, beans, and squash (“the three sisters of life”) can actually provide all twenty amino acids necessary for complete protein (Raver). And, “ … the secret to our survival is agriculture in harmony with nature.”

Next time, we’ll continue our review and commentary on “The Holistic Garden For Small Spaces” with Part III: “The Honorable Mention Of Nutritious Plants” – Mr. Kraft’s Chapter Two and the last chapter we will cover in this depth in our review.

Mea Culpa: Last week in Part I we stated that the world’s population had already reached 7 billion when in fact the 7 billion number is not expected to be reached until 2011/Population Reference Bureau’s 2009 World Population Data Sheet.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.