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Ten Nutrient-Packed Vegetables You Can Easily Grow in Your Home Garden

Few diseases fill people with more fear today than cancer. While numerous factors are involved in your overall risk of developing cancer, eating a healthy diet is one way to reduce yours. That consists of filling your plate with various fruits and vegetables with diverse nutritional profiles.

For the overachievers, it’s even better to grow these cancer-fighting vegetables yourself. Not only does doing so ensure you will have easy access to them as soon as you want to start cooking, but it guarantees you get some exercise throughout the growing season—another proven way to lower your cancer risk.

Not all fruits and vegetables are created equal. Some have more cancer-fighting compounds than others. Here’s a guide for ten stellar options of produce to grow at home to ensure your diet is giving your body the best chance possible at both preventing and beating cancer.

(Notice: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.)

Arugula

Arugula (Eruca vesicaria) is an annual cool-season vegetable with peppery-tasting leaves. It will grow from 12 to 18 inches tall. It is often eaten in salads. The flowers and seeds are also edible. It prefers full sun to partial shade and tolerates wet soil and light frosts.

Broccoli

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is a nutritious, cool-weather crop in the cabbage family grown extensively worldwide, both commercially and in home gardens. It is eaten as a nutritious vegetable, raw or cooked, and is frequently added to salads, casseroles, or vegetable platters. Its name comes from a similar Italian word that means “the flowering crest of a cabbage.”

Brussels sprouts

Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera) are grown in cool-weather vegetable gardens to harvest their miniature cabbage-like buds. It’s thought the common name comes from this vegetable’s popularity in Brussels, Belgium, which dates back at least to the 1300s.

Horseradish

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) is a perennial plant in the same family as mustard and cabbage; like its family members, it is widely cultivated for culinary purposes. The large white root of the Horseradish has a distinctive spicy aroma and flavor and is used as a condiment in many dishes.

Carrot

Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is the domestic version of its wild relative. This ubiquitous vegetable is closely related to parsley, fennel, and dill. The orange root can be eaten cooked or raw. The Carrot is self-fertile and is pollinated by flies and beetles, who use its flowers as a food source.

Common turmeric

Common turmeric is a member of the ginger family, and the roots of this plant are often used as cooking for a seasoning agent. They can be used fresh or ground after boiling and drying. The distinctive orange color of the ground-up root is an identifying trait; Tumeric can also be used as a dye.

Citrus

Citrus (Citrus) are a large group of tropical and warm-temperate flowering plants that are of tremendous culinary and commercial importance to humans. Citrus include some of the most popular fruits in the world, including oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, and tangerines. They are thought to have been cultivated since at least 3,000 BCE – that’s 5,000 years ago! In addition to being grown for their fruits, these plants are also grown as ornamentals or as nectar-providers for bees.

Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) is an extremely popular garden plant because of its use for flavoring dishes, as well as its ease of care and growth. It is traditionally planted in autumn and harvested in mid-summer. This plant is also called the stinking rose, and it is useful as an insect repellent in gardens. Garlic is important to Korean creation myths, and is believed to ward off vampires and other spirits in European folklore.

Spinach

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible plant species that is often considered a ‘superfood’ due to its high content of vitamins, folate, fiber, iron, magnesium, and other nutrients. Spinach is grown in gardens around the world and provides an important food source.

Beet

The Beet (Beta vulgaris) provides a variety of uses for food products and garden growth. The roots are commonly consumed as nutrient-rich vegetables, the body of the sugar beet is used to make table sugar, and the leaves are harvested as a separate vegetable: chard. In 18th-Century Silesia, an area that is now part of Poland, the first-ever beet sugar extraction plant was created by a royal decree from the king.

The Top 12 Vegetables to Grow At Home for Superior Bone Strength

The Top 12 Vegetables To Grow At Home for Superior Bone Strength

As you age, bone health becomes increasingly important. Without strong bones, you run the risk of suffering from falls and fractures that can severely limit your mobility—and future quality of life.

There’s never a better time than today to start taking your bones seriously. A healthy diet is one of the best ways to combat the effects of aging on your bones and ensure they stay strong. It’s important to eat a broad range of fruits and vegetables to ensure you get adequate amounts of calcium, potassium, boron, copper, iron, and many more.

Make healthy nutrition easier on yourself by growing bone-strengthening vegetables at home. These twelve varieties are packed with nutrients and are easy to prepare for dinner. Grow them in your garden, and you’ll guarantee your family has easy access to a variety of healthy options for promoting stronger bones.

Brown mustard

Brown mustard (Brassica juncea) is an annual herb that will grow from 12 to 18 inches tall. It can be invasive in some areas but its favored for its edible qualities in other locations. The leaves and flowers are edible and have a hot mustard taste. Young leaves are flavorful in salads while older leaves are best as cooked greens. Seeds are harvested from summer to fall and provide a spicy mustard flavor to dishes.

Globe artichoke

Globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus) is a popular vegetable that has been cultivated for thousands of years in the Mediterranean region. Its blossoms are harvested before blooming, at which time they will bloom with hundreds of purple tendrils. The Globe artichoke’s flowers are nutritious when cooked, and are found in many Italian dishes as well as teas.

Collard greens

Collard greens is a sub-species of cabbage that does not have a central head. The name ‘acephela’, draws attention to this characteristic since it means ‘without a head’. This hybrid bears a closer resemblance to its wild parent than cabbage. This nutritious’s vegetable is rich in vitamins and other essential nutrients.

Lima bean

The lima bean is an annual bushy or creeping, perennial herbaceous plant whose stems can reach lengths of 2 to 4 meters. The petals are usually light green, sometimes purple.

Potato

The Potato is native to North America and in the United States. Potato products are the second most consumed food. This starchy tuber is a staple in diets around the world and is considered the fourth most important worldwide crop.

Sweetpotato

While most assume that the Sweetpotato is a potato, it is not considered nightshade. However, sweet potatoes and potatoes both belong to the order of Solanales. Its culinary use is wide and can be fried, baked or boiled.

Beet

Kiwi fruit 'solo'

The long-lived vine kiwifruit has white to gold flowers. The fruits have both health and nutritional properties that make them great additions to salads or eaten raw. The attractive fruits thrive in temperate gardens, and they are sold commercially all over the world.

Brussels sprouts

Spinach

Watercress

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is an aquatic perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It attracts insects and pollinators but especially flies. Watercress is valued as an ornamental plant in gardens, and for its ability to float in water.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a deciduous shrub or small tree, native to western and southern parts of Asia. It has a long history of cultivation and rich symbolism in polytheistic religions. Fruits of Pomegranate play an important role in many West Asian cuisines. Aside from culinary uses, this fruit-bearing shrub is also cultivated for ornamental purposes.

Picky Eaters? The Top 10 Kid-Friendly Vegetables for Your Garden

Feeding kids at home can be a challenge. Sure, they might seem to thrive on mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches, but you’re sure to want to feed them the occasional vegetable as well. Unfortunately, it’s the rare child that willingly eats Brussels sprouts without a fuss.

You don’t need to give up on healthy eating completely with your kids. Growing fruits and vegetables at home is a proven way to get picky eaters to experiment with new flavors, and you’ll likely find that they’re willing to help in the garden as well.

Some fruits and vegetables have a better track record with kids than others. Here are ten of the best options for getting picky eaters excited about produce.

Peppers

The Peppers is a plant that produces bright red pepper vegetables. This chili pepper is commonly used for cooking in places such as the Southern U.S. and Central America. Most are moderately spicy, though because there are so many variants, the spice level can vary dramatically. Cayenne powder is also a popular seasoning product made from Peppers plants.

Sweetpotato

Squashes

Squashes are vining plants, many of which are commonly cultivated as a food crop for their fruit and seeds. This group includes squashes, gourds, and pumpkins. The fruits are good sources of vitamins and nutrients such as niacin and folic acid, and their flowers attract important pollinators such as bees.

Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum is an annual or perennial herbaceous vine native to Central and South America that produces a large, juicy, edible fruit known as Tomato. Today there are over 10000 cultivated varieties. Although tomato is the world’s most popular vegetable, botanically it is a fruit.

Carrot

Field pumpkin

Field pumpkin are most commonly seen as decorations throughout the autumn and during the Halloween holiday, when they are carved and used as traditional jack-o’-lanterns. While the taste of Field pumpkin flesh may not be ideal, eating the seeds after toasting them with a bit of salt can be a delicious treat!

Garden pea

Garden pea (Pisum sativum) is an annual vegetable that makes a hardy, cold weather crop. Also known as the green pea or garden pea, it grows from 1 to 1.5 feet tall. Peapods form after the first year and both peas and pods are edible and can be eaten cooked or raw. Excellent in stir fry, tender tips, called pea shoots, are also edible.

Cucumbers

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a creeping vine native to South Asia. It has a long history of cultivation – mentions of its use are found in various ancient scripts, including the Bible, Epic of Gilgamesh and Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History“. Today, Cucumber is one of the most widely cultivated vegetable species in the world.

Wild radish

Wild radish is a plant that is entirely edible, with a flavor that is described as peppery and earthy. The leaves and greens can be consumed boiled or in salads, while the roots can be cooked and consumed after the tough outer peel is removed.

Garden strawberry

The Garden strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) is an edible plant species. Each plant produces a quart of strawberries during the growing season. The Garden strawberry fruit becomes ripe during the early spring and summer months. The Garden strawberry was first cultivated during the middle of the eighteenth century in France. It’s a hybrid between a North American strawberry (F. virginiana) and a Chilean strawberry (F. chiloensis).

Ten Easy-Harvest Vegetables to Grow At Home

Ten Easy-Harvest Vegetables To Grow At Home

You’ve done the hard work of prepping your garden space, planting seeds, and nurturing your vegetable plants. Now it’s time to start bringing in the harvest. While many assume that this is the easiest step, gardeners often find harvest time to be overwhelming. Not only does everything seem to ripen at once, but it can take many days of tedious effort to bring everything in.

Here’s the good news. Some garden plants are easier to harvest than others. You may be able to pull out the plant at once, or they might be forgiving enough to let you go a week or longer between harvests.

If you want to reduce the chance of getting overwhelmed, then it’s best to commit to plants that are more manageable. Here’s a guide to ten garden vegetables that take almost no time to harvest and helpful hints for ensuring the entire process is painless.

Radish

Radish (Raphanus sativus) is a plant species that represents a food staple in many cultures around the world. The Radish has a wide range of variations, including variants that grow in the spring, summer and winter. The root is generally eaten raw and can be used in salads or as a garnish.

Common bean

Common bean is one of the most widely produced cash crops in the world, with 23.6 million tons grown in 2016. China is the largest producer of the Common bean, accounting for 79% of the market share. While the Common bean is known as a staple food source, the leaves can be used to trap bedbugs and the beans are widely used in a type of fortune-telling called “favomancy”.

Field mustard

Field mustard (Brassica rapa) is a plant that is widely cultivated and produces oilseed. Canola oil is made from the Field mustard oilseed. Field mustard attracts white butterflies who gain nutrients from its flowers.

Cucumbers

Kale

Kale (Brassica oleracea var. viridis) is an edible green in the cabbage family that’s cultivated as a vegetable. Kale is also called walking stick kale or collard greens. This species is pollinated by bees.

Onion

Onion (Allium cepa) is an onion species commonly known for its ubiquitous culinary applications. The Onion is toxic to a variety of animals. Aside from its many culinary uses, the Onion is often used to teach students how to use a microscope because its cells are very large and easy to visualize.

Bok choi

Bok choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is grown worldwide for its leaves, which are eaten in many East Asian cuisines both raw and cooked. It has the most cold-resistant of the Brassica species, making it a popular vegetable to grow in colder regions. The Bok choi plant is a hermaphrodite and is pollinated by bees.

Okra

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is a nutritious, edible vegetable that contains folate, vitamins, and antioxidants. Okra is native to Ethiopia, but now grows commonly throughout the world. Okra is commonly prepared by frying, stewing, roasting, and grilling.

Lettuce

Lepidium sativum is a fast-growing, edible herb that’s referred to as the Garden cress, distinguishing it from similar plants that are also called cress. It’s genetically related to mustard and watercress, and it shares their peppery, tangy flavor. It’s commercially grown in Europe.

Carrot

Hate to Wait? 12 Fast-Growing Vegetables for a Speedy Harvest

Hate To Wait? 12 Fast-Growing Vegetables for a Speedy Harvest

You’ve plowed the garden and planted your seeds. Now it’s the hard part—waiting for that first harvest. Garden plants range considerably in how long it takes them to grow. Some are ready to eat within a few weeks, while others take one hundred days or longer.

If you’re looking for some quick victories to keep you motivated, it’s important to plant some fast-growing produce. Not only do they make it possible to start eating from the garden as soon as possible, but they are well-suited for places with short growing seasons that don’t provide enough time to let slower produce fully ripen before winter sets in.

These twelve varieties are an excellent place to start. You’ll practically watch them grow before your eyes in real-time, ensuring there’s minimal time to wait before they end up on your plate. Best of all, most allow for multiple harvests, meaning you’ll be enjoying their bounty throughout most of the growing season.

Rocket salad

The Rocket salad is a type of arugula that is regularly incorporated into salads and other dishes for its spicy, bitter taste. This plant was first cultivated by the Greeks and Romans and continues to be harvested by home gardeners and farmers alike.

Collard greens

Collard greens is a sub-species of cabbage that does not have a central head. The name ’acephela’, draws attention to this characteristic since it means ‘without a head.’ This hybrid bears a closer resemblance to its wild parent than cabbage. This nutritious’s vegetable is rich in vitamins and other essential nutrients.

Mizuna

The Mizuna or Mizuna is excellent as a salad ingredient. Its edible green leaves have a mild mustard flavor. The leaves are ready for harvest when they are about 10 cm tall and can be enjoyed with a bit of balsamic dressing or olive oil.

Bok choy

Bok choy is one of the most popular cultivated forms of Brassica rapa and its tightly clustered leaves make quite a contrast to its loose-leaved parent. It is one of East Asia’s most common leafy vegetables with a pleasant earthy and slightly spicy taste. Being winter-hardy, this plant is now popular in Northern Europe.

Beet

Beet (Beta vulgaris) provides a variety of uses for food products and garden growth. The roots are commonly consumed as nutrient-rich vegetables, the body of the sugar beet is used to make table sugar, and the leaves are harvested as a separate vegetable: chard. In 18th-Century Silesia, an area that is now part of Poland, the first-ever beet sugar extraction plant was created by a royal decree from the king.