Are Beets Good For You

You can still make a difference in your garden

River Valley Extension District David Coltrain, an avid vegetable gardener, offered tips for people are gardening this summer at Tuesday's Lion's Club meeting.

Coltrain said vegetables are basically divided into two categories -- warm and cool vegetables.

Cool vegetables, which include broccoli, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, turnips, onions and potatoes, beets and potatoes, have two growing seasons in the spring and fall and he advised gardeners not to miss out on the second fall growing season.

Warm vegetables, which include tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes, and vine plants (watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumbers) don't like to get below freezing and are grown primarily over the summer.

Coltrain said that composting and adding organic material to the soil to build good soil is vital for a productive garden. He also advised people not to work soil when it's wet.

He advised gardeners to use drip irrigation systems over sprinklers, which use a third less water and have additional benefits.

He also said most plants need an inch of rain a week to grow. If it rains less than that, you should water them, he said.

The extension office gets a lot of questions about saving seeds. People ask what they should save and for how long. Generally saving hybrids isn't a good idea because they're a cross-breed of two strains and because of that you won't necessarily get next year what you got the year before. Most seeds are hybrids or the result of cross pollination, he said.

You can save seeds for three to four years and they'll still germinate, he said.

To extend the season of warm weather vegetables he suggested laying down black plastic mulch as an insulator, which can add up to a month and have the additional benefit of aiding in weed and pest control. Some plastic mulches can be used again several times he said. Red plastic mulch is better for tomatoes, and clear plastic can be used for cool-weather plants such as corn. Low tunnels, hot caps and hooped systems can also add to the growing season.

Sweet corn has three labels people should be aware of SU is basic sweet corn developed in the 1930s that is fairly similar to field corn; Sh2 is sweet corn that is two and a half times as sweet as SU; and Se is sugar enhanced, the newest variety.

He also advised gardeners to space out planting and not plant everything all at once.

Are Beets Good for You? | Health Related Articles

Most plants or vegetables are always considered by many to be healthier in comparison to animal products. Aside from its low cholesterol content, these vegetables contain a lot of vitamins and nutrients that could help maintain our health in tip top condition. Some of the most popular vegetables that are considered to be rich in health benefits include broccoli, spinach, carrots, squash and most of the green leafy types. However, some root crops are still unfamiliar to many people in terms of their benefits and health advantages. These crops include none other than the beet roots. So now we ask the question; are beets good for you?

Beets are usually considered as the complete package type of vegetables. This is because beets are generally edible from roots all the way to its leafy tips. The green leafy tops of beets are perfect for a lot of recipes and can also be used for juicing. In fact, some studies have shown that beet tops are even healthier than its roots. These greens do contain more vitamins and minerals such as iron, potassium, calcium and vitamin A in comparison to its roots. Nevertheless, beets are still considered to be good for all of us whether we are using its roots or its leafy portion.

Aside from those mentioned above, beets are also very good for our health since they contain natural health components such as iodine, copper, vitamins B1, B2, C and bioflavonoids. Beetroot juices also contain natural sugars which is not harmful for the body compared to the regular table sugar. This makes the juice naturally sweet and undeniably healthy. Others are even fond of mixing beetroot juice with other vegetable juices such as carrots and cucumber, which are both excellent for kidney and gall bladder nutrition. In addition to these wonderful benefits, beets are also great in providing better functioning of our digestive system. It is even effective in eliminating constipation and it can also increase the fiber bulk in our diet thus enhancing the peristaltic movement of our intestines giving us a normal and healthy bowel movement.

Aside from being healthy, beets can also be prepared in a lot of different, yet scrumptious, ways. Some prefer beets to be baked while others can even try using them in salads, which is definitely mouth-watering. Red beets also contain large amounts of magnesium while its greens are excellent sources of beta-carotene and other healthy minerals. These are just some of the healthy benefits that beets can give us. It is no wonder why these root crops are considered to be both healthy and tasty at the same time.

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