GREENBELT THREE SISTERS GARDENS

2012 Theme for Three Sisters Gardens

• One Circle: How to

Grow a Complete

Diet in Less Than

1,000 Square Feet

• By: David

Duhon

14 Foods that can give complete diet in the

1000 square feet of garden space

1. Collards (kale,

broccoli, chard)

2. Parsley

3. Onions

4. Garlic

5. Parsnips

6. Potatoes

7. Sweet potatoes

8. Soy Beans

9. Wheat

10.Filberts/hazelnuts

11.Peanuts

12.Turnips

13.Leeks

14.Sunflowers

Collards

• Widely considered to be a healthy

food, collards are good sources of

vitamin C and soluble fiber, and

contain multiple nutrients with potent

anticancer properties, such as

diindolylmethane and sulforaphane]

Roughly a quarter pound (approx. 100

g) of cooked collards contains 46

Calories.

• Researchers at the University of

California at Berkeley have recently

discovered that 3,3'-diindolylmethane

in Brassica vegetables such as collard

greens is a potent modulator of the

innate immune response system with

potent antiviral, antibacterial and

anticancer activity

Parsley

• In addition to its volatile oils and

flavonoids, parsley is an excellent

source of two vital nutrients that are

also important for the prevention of

many diseases: vitamin C and

vitamin A

• Good Companion plant atracks

predatory insects-especially for

tomatoes

• As parsley seed germinates slowly

(sometimes taking several weeks),

it should be soaked in warm water

overnight before planting. Sow

outdoors in early spring in rows 10

to 12 inches apart, and cover 1/2

inch deep. Later thin the plants to

stand about 6 inches apart

Onions

• With their unique combination of flavonoids

and sulfur-containing nutrients, the allium

vegetables — such as onions — belong in

your diet on a regular basis.

• Onions, and other Allium species, are highly

valued herbs possessing culinary and

medicinal value. Some of their beneficial

properties are seen after long-term usage.

Onion may be a useful herb for the

prevention of cardiovascular disease,

especially since they diminish the risk of

blood clots. Onion also protects against

stomach and other cancers, as well as

protecting against certain infections. Onion

can improve lung function, especially in

asthmatics. The more pungent varieties of

onion appear to possess the greatest

concentration of health-promoting

phytochemicals.

Garlic

• Garlic plants can be grown closely together,

leaving enough space for the bulbs to

mature, and are easily grown in containers

of sufficient depth. When selecting garlic for

planting, it is important to pick large heads

from which to separate cloves. Large cloves,

along with proper spacing in the planting

bed, will also improve head size. Garlic

plants prefer to grow in a soil with a high

organic material content, but are capable of

growing in a wide range of soil conditions

and pH levels.[6]

• Garlic scapes are removed to focus all the

garlic's energy into bulb growth. The scapes

can be eaten raw or cooked.

Parsnips

• The parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a root

vegetable related to the carrot. Parsnips

resemble carrots, but are paler in colour

than most carrots, and have a sweeter taste,

especially when cooked.[2] The buttery,

slightly spicy, sweet flavor of cooked mature

parsnips (often picked after the first frost) is

reminiscent of butterscotch, honey, and

subtle cardamom. Like carrots, parsnips are

native to Eurasia and have been eaten there

since ancient times.

Potatoes

• Wild potato species occur throughout the

Americas, from the United States to

Uruguay. The potato was originally believed

to have been domesticated independently in

multiple locations,[4] but later genetic testing

of the wide variety of cultivars and wild

species proved a single origin for potatoes in

the area of present-day southern Peru and

extreme northwestern Bolivia (from a

species in the Solanum brevicaule complex),

where they were domesticated 7,000–

10,000 years ago.[5][6][7] Following

centuries of selective breeding, there are

now over a thousand different types of

potatoes.[6] Of these subspecies, a variety

that at one point grew in the Chiloé

Archipelago (the potato's south-central

Chilean sub-center of origin) left its

germplasm on over 99% of the cultivated

potatoes worldwide

Sweet Potatoes

• The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine,

bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately

lobed leaves and medium-sized

sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous

root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin

whose color ranges between yellow, orange,

red, brown, purple, and beige. Its flesh

ranges from beige through white, red, pink,

violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Sweet

potato varieties with white or pale yellow

flesh are less sweet and moist than those

with red, pink or orange flesh

• The center of origin and domestication of

sweet potato is thought to be either in

Central America or South America.] In South

America, Peruvian sweet potato remnants

dating as far back as 8000 BC have been

found]

Soy Beans

• The soybean (U.S.) or soya bean

(UK) (Glycine max)[2] is a species

of legume native to East Asia,

widely grown for its edible bean

which has numerous uses

• Soybeans produce significantly

more protein per acre than most

other uses of land.[

Wheat

• In 2009, world production of wheat was 682

million tons, making it the second most-

produced cereal after maize (817 million

tons), and with rice as close third (679

million tons). Wheat was a key factor

enabling the emergence of city-based

societies at the start of civilization because it

was one of the first crops that could be

easily cultivated on a large scale, and had

the additional advantage of yielding a

harvest that provides long-term storage of

food. Wheat contributed to the emergence of

city-states in the Fertile Crescent. The

whole grain can be milled to leave just the

endosperm for white flour. The by-products

of this are bran and germ. The whole grain

is a concentrated source of vitamins,

minerals, and protein, while the refined grain

is mostly starch.

Filberts--Hazelnuts

• The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one

wisdom and inspiration. There are numerous

variations on an ancient tale that nine hazel

trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping

into the water nuts that were eaten by

salmon (a fish sacred to Druids) which

absorbed the wisdom. The number of spots

on the salmon were said to indicate how

many nuts they had eaten. A Druid

teacher, in his bid to become omniscient,

caught one of these special salmon and

asked a student to cook the fish but not to

eat it. While he was cooking it, hot liquid

from the cooking fish splashed onto the

pupil's thumb, which he naturally sucked to

cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom.

This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail (Fin

McCool) and went on to become one of the

most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology

Peanuts

•

• Contrary to what their name implies,

peanuts are not true nuts but a

member of a family of legumes related

to peas, lentils, chickpeas and other

beans. Peanuts start growing as a

ground flower that due to its heavy

weight bends towards the ground and

eventually burrows underground where

the peanut actually matures. The

veined brown shell or pod of the

peanut contains two or three peanut

kernels. Each oval-shaped kernel or

seed is comprised of two off-white

lobes that are covered by a brownish-

red skin.

Turnip

• Pliny the Elder considered the turnip one of

the most important vegetables of his day,

rating it "directly after cereals or at all events

after the bean, since its utility surpasses that

of any other plant." This vegetable is not

particular about the type of soil it grows in

and because it can be left in the ground until

the next harvest, it "prevents the effects of

famine" for humans (N.H. 18.34).

• Turnips grow wild in Siberia and have been

eaten since prehistoric times.

• Turnips are easy to grow if sown in the

proper season. They mature in two months

and may be planted either in the spring, late

summer or fall for roots or greens. The

spring crop is planted for early summer use.

The fall crop, which is usually larger and of

higher quality, is often stored for winter use.

Leeks

• Dried specimens from archaeological

sites in ancient Egypt, as well as wall

carvings and drawings, led Zohary and

Hopf to conclude that the leek was a

part of the Egyptian diet “from at least

the 2nd millennium BCE onwards.”

They also allude to surviving texts that

show it had been also grown in

Mesopotamia from the beginning of

the 2nd millennium BCE.[4] The leek

was the favourite vegetable of the

Emperor Nero, who consumed it in

soup or in oil, believing it beneficial to

the quality of his voice

Sunflower

• Sunflower (Helianthus

annuus) is an annual plant

native to the Americas.

Sunflowers should be allowed

to mature in the garden. There

are several indicators of

maturity. The back of the

flower head will be brown and

dry; most of the yellow petals

will have dried and fallen; the

seeds will be plump; and the

seed coats will be black and

white striped

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