What I learned this week

1. According to nationofchange.org:

"The nutritional value of foods is at risk, with the amount of nutrients found in fruits and vegetables having diminished greatly over the years. One apple today may carry half the amount of nutrients as an apple produced 50 years ago."

2.  Obesity is the most common reason for ineligibility to join the army.

3.  We don't have any salad greens, and I don't know what to do.

4.  Kyoto is a brassica offered through Johnny's that is: "Similar to standard mizuna, but the attractive, finely-divided leaves are bulkier and less deeply cut."  Sounds good to me!

 

Comparing nutrient density in lettuce (aka Lettuce Smackdown!)

When people think of salad greens usually they think of lettuce.  Even I do, despite the fact that I have a mediocre opinion of it.  But lettuce is what people like and know - so what kind is the most nutritious?  Happily someone else has already thought that question and found the data.  No Baloney, a dietitian and nutrion scientist duo, have compared looseleaf, romaine and mesclun mix.  I know, I know - mesclun is made of more than just lettuce, which may be why they declared it the winner based on nutrient density.

For the full face-off see the article here. 

Stressed out greens

I came into the greenhouse on Monday to find I wasn't the only one stressed out this week.  I'm working on finishing lengthy term papers for the end of the semester.  The greens are stressed out because they are running out of nutrients.  In some varieties stress is shown by leaves turning purplish, in others the leaves bleach to bright yellow.  The tokyo bekana, kale, arugula and tat soi above are all brassicas that were first to reach harvestable size (Mizuna was as well, but I didn't take a picture of it looking stressed out).  So, it makes sense that they would use up all their nutrients first.  I am growing the greens in compost, which should provide all the nutrients needed.  If I were growing these to eat, or for sale I would have harvested them last week before they got stressed out.  

Happily, the lettuces still look good.  Most of the year I am not a supporter of lettuce - it is bland, or bitter and doesn't have as many nutrients as other greens.  At this time of year though, it is perfect!  All green and leafy tasting.  Lettuce is in the Aster family, along with dandelions.  I don't think they are close taxonomic relatives, but I do think that lettuce smells a bit like dandelions.