Do these 15 vegetables and herbs all have something in common?
Water Creels Chinese cabbage Chard Beat Green Spinach
These are the 15 highest-ranking plants listed on the 41 great power fruits and vegetables (also known as PFVs), based on research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
You might think that the term “powerhouse” is just a trendy health term (like “superfood”), but it actually has scientific benefits. Powerhouse Foods is a legitimate classification of ultra-nutrient rich fruits and vegetables that significantly reduce the risk of chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.). The PFVs that created this list have high levels of essential nutrients compared to the amount of calories they provide.
But there is another common thread that gardeners find interesting in particular… The top 15 on that list are all cold tolerant vegetables. You may be growing some of them now, and in most durable zones you can continue to grow them up to the depths of winter without a greenhouse.
In my winter garden I noticed that these vegetables are absolutely thriving compared to when trying to grow them in the summer heat (they often rebel (early boltongs) (Blooming) or hardy, bitter leaves). Also, as seen in CDC studies, the top half of the list (most nutritious vegetables) is the crops of the Cruciferaceae family that love cold climates (watercreles, Chinese cabbage, Collards and lush greenery (chard, beet greens), spinach).
What about the vegetables on that list that can only be grown in the summer? Surprisingly, none of them had a nutritional density score above 42! Hmm… you might praise the health benefits of antioxidant-rich tomatoes, but obviously they can’t hold candles in the nutrients of beet greens and leaf lettuce.
And that’s what I think… these cold-resistant plants express special cold-resistant proteins, accumulate sugar in cells, modify cell membranes and tolerate freezing stress, making winters a reality. You can survive. Maybe, perhaps, some of these chemical adaptations also contribute to the benefits these plants have on human health? What if we learned that winter gardening is not only possible for most people, but also healthy for us?
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Growing Vegetables
The top 15 plants on the PFV list are extremely cold and in winter, growing under simple low tunnels covered with midweight frost cloths, in winter (USDA toughness zone 5 or above) You can push limits.
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Gardeners in the cold zone can be grown in spring or fall (for flavor and production). Most of these vegetables grow well indoors in front of sunny windows.
Watercreles, on the list with a score of 100 nutritional density, are actually perennials after zone 6 (probably zone 5 with winter protection). It makes an excellent addition to your perennial vegetable garden (and no, no, the tap forced does not need to be grown underwater or near water. It just requires consistently moist soil).
The nutritious chives that made the list are a must in every perennial herb garden. They are so prolific that the original six bundles I planted years ago were hung on dozens of bundles that I had implanted around the garden and given to friends. And I love multipurpose plants, so chives are one of the best pollinator-friendly flowers.
If you want to try something else, you can also replenish the nutritional density of your great-power vegetables by growing them indoors as microgreens with more nutrients than large amounts of plants. (Minord and turnip microgreens are one of the salad’s favorites. You’ll get the seeds that sprout here.)
