Store bought produce isn’t as nutritious as it used to be. Showing a steady decline since the 1950s, modern farming practices have valued the size, yield, growth rate, and pest resistance of fruits and vegetables over and above basic nutrition.
You would need to eat eight oranges today to obtain the same amount of vitamin A as a single orange would have provided just two generations ago.
The main causes of nutrient loss are growing foods in soil that is depleted in nutrients, cultivating fast growing varieties that are harvested before maturity.
When we grow our own food, however, we have much more control over the process. We can enrich the soil with organic matter, we can harvest food when it reaches peak maturity, and we can choose to grow cultivars that give us the most nutritional bang for our buck.
1.WATERCRESS – 100/100
Watercress is a fast growing, semi-aquatic plant that forms bushy colonies in flowing streams. Its green rounded leaves and hollow stems have a peppery taste.
With a perfect nutrient density score, watercress is very low calorie but provides an insane amount of nutrients.
Watercress is a great micro green, which can be grown indoors and harvested while they are young sprouts.
2.BOK CHOY – 91/100
A type of Chinese cabbage, bok-choy is a cruciferous vegetable within the mustard family. It is mild in flavor, with crisp white stalks and tender green leaves that are a wonderful addition to soups, salads, and stir fries.
It has Vitamin-A, Vitamin-C, Vitamin-K, Folate, Calcium, Vitamin B6 and very few calories. It grows best in a partially shaded spot that receives 3 to 5 hours of sunlight each day. There are many varieties of bok choy, but most are ready to harvest in 45 to 60 days.
3.SWISS CHARD – 89/100
Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable with vibrant stems that range in color from white to yellow to red, depending on the cultivar
It Contains Vitamin-K, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-C, Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium, Iron, and Copper.
Requiring full sun to part shade, Swiss chard is a cut and come again plant that can be harvested continually throughout the season
4.BEET GREENS – 87/100
Closely related to Swiss chard, beetroot is definitely a medicinal food. While it is best known for its swollen red taproot, the leafy beet greens that grow above the soil are rife with vitamins and minerals too.
Eaten raw or lightly sautéed, beet greens are tender and have a slightly earthy taste. Beet greens are also a source of betalains, an antioxidant unique to members of the Caryophallales family.
Beets are non-fussy and really easy to grow –it’s like getting two great crops in a single plant.
5.SPINACH – 86/100
Spinach might be prized for its iron content, it is also enriched with vitamins K, A, C, and B9.
To grow spinach in the garden, sow seeds in spring and fall. Spinach is a quick growing, cool season crop that requires six weeks of cooler temperatures from seedling to harvest.
