Home-grown fruit and vegetables for better health discusses nutrition, gardening considerations, and earnings from gardening. Included is a chart addressing yield and value of fruits and vegetables from a quarter acre garden

Lyles, Inez Pass

Martin, Dean

English

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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange SDSU Extension Fact Sheets SDSU Extension 1975 Home-Grown Fruit and Vegetables Dean Martin Inez Pass Lyles Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact Recommended Citation Martin, Dean and Lyles, Inez Pass, "Home-Grown Fruit and Vegetables" (1975). SDSU Extension Fact Sheets. 1219. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact/1219 This Fact Sheet is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in SDSU Extension Fact Sheets by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu. Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. SDSU ® Extension For current policies and practices, contact SDSU Extension Website: extension.sdstate.edu Phone: Email: 605-688-4 792 sdsu.extension@sdstate.edu SDSU Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer in accordance with the nondiscrimination policies of South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Board of Regents and the United States Department of Agriculture. ( FS 535 :TTER ,, ..•..... ··ROWN faui-ri !XTENSION S1:RVfC~ ~ /4 ( ME-GRO\!f ~. ~\ !I i : 11\;../\.f. RU , i 1 11 1 · ·t /r ~ -~S}\~7i, ~•GE ~t . ~•,· I. ~t~.,-~i AN\ ·. 1 \' 1 [: I :· , 'i 'X u/~-~- ·,: '\ \ 1~ ~ rn~ ;,.J Y~.~ by Dean Martin, exten,ion 1homcul_tun,_t, and 1 \ ' - .,,__ ~~ Inez Pass Lyles extension nutnttomst ,~ · FS 535 Gardening is a hobby, a pleasure and also a very profitable spare-time activity. It makes money for you, over $1,000 per acre of garden, and is also very ly a slight loss of vitamins when foods are heated, more so with vitamin C than the others. Light also affects harvested foods, as does cooking long peri-ods in an excessive amount of water. Here are some good rules to follow: valuable nutritionally. Nutrition The foods you can grow in your garden are the most valuable to you nutritionally. They're fresh from the soil with nature's nutrients, and when there's as little time as possible between garden and table, or garden and to the can or freezer, you're assured the highest quality possible. ,. • Cook vegetables and fruits just until tender, ·" When you have a garden, you can have fresh vege-tables and fruits daily all summer long, then, with modern preservation methods, you can extend your garden right on through the winter months, bring-ing top quality a'nd nutrition to the family. __ The foods you produce at home contribute the necessary nutrients from the fruit and vegetable food group, which are principally vitamins A and C. Our needs for these vitamins are expressed when the body lacks them, and that's why the effects produced from lack of vitamins are called "deficiency diseases." Wheri there is a lack of vitamin A in the diet, night blindness may result. Or the skin may be affect-ed. Without vitamin A, skin becomes dry, scaly and rough. Sometimes, too, there are evidences of thin, defective enamel produced on teeth when there is an inadequate amount of vitamin A. Without vitamin C, or with a deficient amount of it, the most obvious result is the deficiency disease, scurvy. And the symptoms are weakness, spongy gums, loose teeth, swollen, tender joints and hemor-rhages in various tissues. In these modern times there aren't too many actual cases of scurvy, but studies show that vitamin C is one of the nutrients most of-ten lacking in the diet. Thus, there are minor symp-toms of the disease showing up frequently, though often not recognized as a vitamin deficiency. Now back to the home garden! Both these essen-tial vitamins mentioned before can be produced right in your garden, and the foods containing them may be preserved in such a way that most of the vitamins arc retained. Foods undergo a gradual chemical change orice harvested; they lose vitamins and the texture changes, so it's important that the time be-tween garden and table or can be short. There is usual-no more. • Cook vegetables and fruits in small amounts of water. • Preserve foods as quickly as possible after they are harvested. • Eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as pos-sible. Nutritious Fruits and Vegetables Some examples of the very valuable foods and their nutrients that you can raise are as follows: (un-less otherwise stated, the figures are for 1 cup of the cooked food) Raw strawberries-slightly over the daily require-ment of vitamin C. _ Spinach-over 2 times the daily requirement of vitamin A. Kale-almost 2 times the daily requirement of vitamin A; over ½ the daily requirement of vitamin C. 1 medium raw tomato-about ¼ the daily re-quirement of vitamin A; about.½ the daily require-ment of vitamin C. · Broccoli-slightly over the daily' requirement of vitamin A; 1 ½ times the daily requirement of vita-min C. Asparagus-about ½ the daily requirement of vitamin A; about½ the daily requirement of vitamin C. Beet greens-2 times the daily requirement of vit-amin A; about ½ the daily requirement of vitamin C. Cabbage-about ½ the required vitamin C. Raw cabbage-about ½ the required vitamin C. Carrots-over 3 times the daily requirement of vitamin A. ½ raw muskmelon-slightly over the daily re-quirement of vitamin A; about ¾ the daily require-ment of vitamin C. Cauliflower-about ½ vitamin C. ~tt~ ~· · ..i./C---::e,,. ~ --~1 ' --- I/ iJ. ;_.J..-.,J---/ -r ; Collards-almost 3 times the daily requirement of vitamin A; slightly over the daily requirement of vita-min C. Raw red raspberries-almost ½ the daily require-ment of vitamin C. Winter squash-over 2 times the daily require-ment of vitamin A. Turnip greens-over 3 times the daily require-ment of vitamin A; slightly over the daily require-ment of vitamin C. 1 medium Potato--½ daily requirement of vita-min C. Gardening Considerations Some of the questions which arise in making the decision to have a successful fruit and vegetable gar-den each year are the following: • Is there a desire to grow and care for fruit and vegetable pfaritsTWitnout such a demetne gar-den cannot be successful. • Is there a desire to have "table fresh" fruits and vegetables for the family's foods needs? Parents who want to provide the best and most economi-cal foods for their families can fulfill such needs by growing and using fresh fruits and vegetables from the home garden. • Is there a desirable site available? The successful garden requires a site which will provide a rich soil, adequate drainage, five to six hours of sun-shine daily, wind protection, freedom from com-peting trees and shrubs, and availability of irriga-tion water. • Is there a desire to plan, plant, care for, harvest, pr~pare and preserve the garden products? Time, thqught, and work will be a necessity for a com-pl~fel y successful garden. It is better not to garden at ~ll than to attempt to garden without taking the time to think through the various aspects of the prqject, without developing the site and the plant-ig.g plan and-without-the -wiUingness to expend-a-ccnain amount of enregy in executing the project. • Is labor-saving garden equipment availa61e? S~@ll, two to three horsepower garden tractors, po\Vered and manually operated tillage equip-ment and a set of well-adapted, clean, sharp high graqe hand t~ls greatly lessen the work load of the family garlten. The idea of planting crops that take larger areas for growth in a corner of the field row crops where field tractor cultivation can be utilized should be considered. • What size of garden is desired? The size of the garden will depend upon the size of the family, the space available, the fruits and vegetables to be grown, the amount of fresh products desired and the 'amount of products desired for preservation. If a year around supply of garden produce is de-sired, the size of the garden should be enlarged to provide for a supply of produce for preservation and storage. • What vegetables and fruits should be grown ? This will depend primarily upon the wishes of the family and the space available. The following lists will be helpful in choosing the vegetables to be grown. I. Highest yielding vegetables in relation to the space they occupy, and the time required to grow them. Tomatoes* Mustard greenst Pole beans Lettuce · Broccoli*t Turnips (turnip greens)*t Onions (from sets) Rutabagas Green beans Cabbage* Beets (beet greens )t Chinese cabbage Carrotst Radishes Chardt Spinacht Spinach, tNew Zealand Cresst II. Vegetables requiring the smallest amount of space. Tomatoes* Lettuce, leaf Pole beans Chardt Beets (beet greens) t Chinese cabbage Carrotst Green beans Turnipst* Mustard greenst Rutabagas Radishes Onions Cresst III. Vegetable requiring considerable space. Broccoli* Parsnips Cabbage* Potatoes* Spinach, New Zealandt Peas Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Melons (Muskmelon)* Peppers Squash*t IV. Vegetables requiring a short season that can be followed by other crops. Green beans Mustard greenst Beets (beet greens) t Onions ( from sets) Early cabbage* Peas Carrotst Radishes Kohlrabi* Spinacht Lettuce Turnips*t *High value vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid foods. tHigh value vitamin A foods '--._/ l j r y VALUE $ 6.00 3.00 7.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 4.00 3.00 3.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 28.00 30.00 30.00 Total $139.00 io io io io io io io io io io io 0 0 0 GARDEN PLOT ~- ----104'----~ 52' . 52' CROP CROP Rhubarb (300 stalks) Sweet corn (12 doz. ears) Asparagus (50 lbs.) Collards (15 lbs.) Kale (100 lbs.) Mustard greens (40 lbs.) Potatoes (l O bu.) (600 lbs.} Spinach (40 lbs.) Beets and greens (60 lbs.) Turnips and greens (60 lbs.) Squash (30 fruits) Onions (l bu.) (50 lbs.) Carrots (l bu.) (50 lbs.} Green beans (1 bu.) (30 lbs.) Muskmelon (30 fruits) Peas (l bu.) (30 lbs.} Currants (18 quarts) Lettuce and Radishes Ca&bage (l 00 lbs.) Gooseberries (15 quarts) Cauliflower (90 heads) 50 Raspberry plants (l 00 pints) Broccoli (150 lbs.) Tomatoes (6 bu.) (336 lbs.) 130 Strawberry plants (130 quarts) (195 lbs.} YIELD and VALUE of FRUITS and VEGETABLES from a ¼ ACRE GARDEN GRAND TOTAL $139.00+276.00= $415 00 Gross earnings from 1 acre garden-4 X $ 415.00= $1660 00 Net earnings frqm 1 acre garden: $1660 minus 20% of 1660.00= $332 00 (cost of seed, labor, etc.) $1660.00 minus 332.00=net= $1,328 00 NET EARNINGS $ 83.00 per 1/16 acre $ 332.00 per ¼ acre $ 664.00 per ½ acre $ 996.00 per ¾ acre $1,328.00 per l ACRE 0 0 0 0 0 M 0 VALUE $ 20.00 25.00 -24.00 15.00 15.00 9.00 8.00 60.00 l 00.00 Total $276.00 *Yield and value will vary according to growing conditions and current prices respectively. Adjust anticipated earnings accordingly. Two small fruits which are quite easily grown in South Dakota and which are valuable sources of ascorbic acid are strawberries and raspberries. Growers can choose from either the June bearing or everbearing type of strawberries and red or black raspberries. Suggested varieties of everbearing straw-berries are the Gem, Streamliner, Ogallala, and Su-perfection. Senator Dunlap and Sparkle are two good June bearing varieties for South Dakota. The Latham and Boyne red raspberries and the Robertson black raspberry are recommended for South Dakota. Earnings from Gardening The chart on the following page illustrates the kinds of valuable, nutritious fruits and vegetables that can be grown in the home garden in South Dakota. The chart is in the design of a garden 104 feet square or equal to one-quarter acre in size. The space allotted to each crop is adequate to pro-vide an ample supply of fruits and vegetables for the average family. The yields listed for each crop are average and the values are very conservative. With these factors in mind it is evident that the gross earnings listed for the garden is a very modest figure. In addition, careful planning will lessen the work of gardening, increase the returns from labor and retain the nutrients provided by the fruits and vegetables produced. The gross earning for this one-quarter acre gar-den amounts to $415.00. Allowing 20% for the cost of seed, fertilizer, labor and other items, the net earn-ings would amount to $332.00 per one-quarter acre. On the same basis a one-half acre garden would return earnings amounting to $664.00 per one-half acre and a one-acre garden would return earmngs amounting to ov_er $1,000.00 per acre! These earnings from the home fruit and vegetable garden will not have to be spent in the food market, but can be used for other essentials or luxury items for the family. Conversion Factors 1 rod-16½ feet or 5½ yards. 1 square acre-160 square rods or 43,560 square feet. (1 rod wide x 160 rods long or 208 feet x 208 feet approx.) One-half acre-104 feet x 208 feet-21,780 square feet (approximately) One-quarter acre - 104 feet x 104 feet - 10,890 square feet (approximately) One city block - 300 feet x 300 feet or 90,000 square feet One city bloclc--2.06, acres 19,066 square feet 8,363 square feet 1 acre = 208' X 208' = 43,350 sq. ft. (approximately) 19,066 square feet ¼ acre = l /16 acre= 104' X 104' = 52'x52' 10,890 square feet City Block-Acre Comparison Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. Hollis D. Hall, Director of Extension Service, South Dakota State University, Brookings. The South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service offers educational programs and materials to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. File: 7.1-1-7-71-rev 3M-6-75-4597 

Home-Grown Fruit and Vegetables

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Home-Grown Fruit and Vegetables

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