April 23

With spring comes new life. Birds and their nests, buds on the trees, bees looking for nectar. I always fantasize about the garden I would love to grow, and maybe someday I will have that garden. But for now, I will stick to the simple (easy) growers, like sprouts, zucchini and tomatoes. If you are like me and do not have a garden, but would love to grow something to eat, try choosing one or two super easy veggies that produce well and have amazing nutritional qualities that will boost your health!

Eating tomatoes and broccoli sprouts give you a good source of Lycopene - the super antioxidant fighter that will help keep you in the best health!

Broccoli Sprouts Order a bag of organic seeds, there are many sites to choose from. I like to grow my sprouts on a cookie sheet, I like to use a piece of organic cotton batting you can buy at fabric stores. I bought a package, and I still have some from last year. If you don’t have the batting and want to go super simple - use 2 layers of fluffy paper towels (no ink), Viva paper towels are a good choice for this, but paper towels dry out much faster. First, take 2 T broccoli seeds (inspect them and discard the broken seeds), rinse your organic seeds and drain, then place in a small glass jar and cover with good fresh water. You will soak for a full 24 hours. After soaking, rinse your seeds, and spread them out on your moistened cloth covered cookie sheet. That’s it! Keep a spray bottle near with good filtered water, and just moisten the seeds frequently throughout the day. The sprouts will start to form in a day, and everyday grow a little bigger. Keep spraying with the water, and after a few days they are ready to pick and eat. Broccoli sprouts have so much nutrition. They have phytonutrients that are super cancer fighters. The health benefits come from the glucoraphanin. The body converts this to sulforaphane, and suforaphane protects cells against inflammation. Broccoli sprouts are also full of the antioxidant lycopene which has been linked to reduced risk for cancer and heart disease, to name a couple - there are many more benefits. I just don’t see the downside. Try your hand at sprouting, or at least buy them already sprouted at the store - they are just too good for you to miss!

Tomatoes The fruit that’s vegetable-like. Tomatoes are super easy in the garden. I know at all the major (and even small) nurseries you can buy a variety of starter plants. What I love about the tomato in the garden, well of course they ALWAYS taste better than the green house store bought variety. But also, when tending to your tomatoes in the garden, just run your fingers across the leaves and smell that goodness, I love the way the tomato plant smells. Of course there are so many varieties to choose from, I won’t even begin to guess what you would prefer. Try any, or a few. Tomatoes are a major source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. There we go - lycopene again! They are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. Lycopene is an antioxidant in the carotenoid family. Antioxidants protect your body from damage caused by compounds known as free radicals.When free radical levels outnumber antioxidant levels, they can create oxidative stress in your body. This stress is linked to certain chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s Research shows that lycopene’s antioxidant properties can help keep free radical levels in balance, protecting your body against some of these conditions .

Zucchini This squash is so easy to grow, and the amount of zucchini from one plant is amazing. These are great to buy already as starters from the nursery, and just water and give it sunshine. I love to see the blossoms start, and then I know I will get a zucchini with every blossom. It takes about 60 days to harvest, and its best to harvest when the fruit - yes I said fruit - is around 6 inches long, that is of course unless you are picking the flowers to eat! Have too much? No problem, pick the blossoms and put in your salad, or sauté up with other veggies and top pasta - or zoodles, or even put in the air fryer for a crisper snack. Zucchini has significant amounts of B6, riboflavin, folate, C and minerals like potassium. Not to mention a good amount of fiber.