What to Grow, How Much

Important considerations in what to grow and how much are nutritional values, kinds of fruits and vegetables best liked by your family, the kinds that grow best in your area, amount of gardening space available, and what you best like to grow for reasons of pleasure and satisfaction.

Most fruits and the leafy-green and yellow vegetables are among the best sources of vitamins A and C. Some are good sources of other vitamins and minerals, and others provide important bulk in your diet.

The Garden Planning and Planting Guide should help you decide which vegetables to plant for fresh use and for processing if space permits. Choosing 2 or 3 from each nutritional group will contribute much to a balanced diet for your family.

Garden Planning and Planting Guide Nutritional Value of Selected Vegetables

Figures are for amounts of vitamins and calories per 100-gram sample for cooked vegetables (unless normally eaten raw). Vitamin A is expressed in International Units (I. U.) per 100-gram sample; Vitamin C is expressed in milligrams per 100-gram sample; and Food Energy is expressed in Bilogram calories per 100-gram sample.

100 grams is equal to about 1/2 cup.

Active adults require daily about 5,000 I.U. of vitamin A for men and 4,000 for women; 45 mg. of vitamin C (men and women); and 2,700 calories for men and 2,000 for women.

Vitamin C values are generally higher if the vegetable is eaten raw. An example is cabbage: 93 mg. cooked; 47 mg. raw.

Selecting Varieties

Choosing the best varieties to plant in your area is highly important. Because of differences in soils and climatic factors such as temperature, length of growing season, and rainfall, varieties of fruits and vegetables that do best in one area may do poorly in other areas. Also, some vegetable varieties may do best in spring plantings and others in late summer or fall plantings, due to differences in temperature, rainfall, and day length.

Plant breeders are constantly developing new varieties. It is usually advisable to try these on a limited scale along with varieties you have been growing, in the same season, for comparison.

Many disease-resistant varieties and strains are now available. These should be selected, if adapted to your area.

It is generally advisable to purchase new seed each year. However, leftover seed of some vegetables can be kept in viable condition several years if stored in a cool, dry place (preferably in an airtight container) and protected from rats, mice, and weevils. Exceptions are sweet corn, leeks, okra, onions, parsley, parsnips, rhubarb, and salsify. These generally keep in a viable condition only 1 or 2 years.

It is usually not advisable to harvest and save your own seed from the garden. Many new varieties are hybrids and will not "come true" from second generation seed.