General video · Level B2 - Part 2

10 vegetables you should always grow

Good day, I'm Mark from Self Sufficient Me. And I selected 10 vegetables that you should always grow based on a combination of:

Level: B2 · 199 sentences

Transcript

Good day, I'm Mark from Self Sufficient Me. And I selected 10 vegetables
that you should always grow based on a combination of:
how easy they are to grow,
how versatile they are to use,
how productive the crops are,
how healthy they are to eat
and how good they taste.
This veggie list is ranked from best to awesomeness,
in order of always growness.
Let's get into it.
Number 1 is lettuce.
Who can't grow lettuce?
I can't get rid of it, it even grows in my lawn.
Lettuce is high in nutrients, but exceptionally low in calories.
Lettuce is very hydrating.
If you're feeling thirsty,
have a drink of lettuce by eating it.
Lettuce is good on its own as a salad,
but it's also one of those maker foods that you don't notice until it's not there
like an egg and lettuce sandwich,
the egg is the hero, but the lettuce is what makes it,
or shredded lettuce in a taco.
Or how about lettuce in the base of a prawn cocktail with island sauce?
Now that takes me back.
Number two is carrots.
The reason they started Bugs Bunny was to get more people from a young age, interested in eating carrots.
That's not really true, I just made that up,
but if it was true, that'd be pretty amazing,
but it is true that carrots are good for you.
And although help to improve your eyesight might be a myth,
the antioxidants lutein and better carotene contained in carrots
are known to help protect eyesight.
Carrots have a large temperature growing range, which means...
they can be grown in many climates all year round.
They're also very productive.
I planted these carrots here 4 months ago and they are still producing.
Carrots are a dense food.
So even just a few standard sized ones or several of these small French varieties, are enough to feed a family,
and just like Bugs Bunny, carrots do taste nice.
And they can be used in so many different ways, from raw to cooked.
And that's why they are such a worldwide sensation.
Number three is cabbage.
We were having dinner last night,
and I'll tell you a bit of a story.
I made up some pickled cabbage and radish to go with a curry I knocked up.
The boys and I got the pickled veg and put it on top of the curry.
And I noticed Nina was enjoying her curry with just rice.
And so I told her about a study, that true story, I saw yesterday, that day on the telly,
from the university of Western Australia,
on 900 women who ate cabbage regularly.
And it showed that those who did regularly eat cabbage, were less likely to get heart disease.
Nina immediately added some pickled cabbage to her plate.
Cabbage isn't hard to grow, but if you run into a few problems with pests or the heads taking too long to mature,
try some mini cabbage, they don't take long from seed to harvest,
but one mini cabbage still goes a long way to feed a family
or make a delicious preserve, such as sauerkraut.
Number four is beetroots.
Beetroots, that plural doesn't sound quite right.
Beetroots, let's just call them beets.
It beats the sugar out of me.
And I say sugar, because...
beetroot in a mix of sugar and vinegar
is my favorite way to preserve and eat this fantastic vegetable.
In my circle of friends, there are several who hate beetroot,
and that's a shame because beets are a known superfood, meaning...
there has been studies done that show this vegetable may help to prevent cancer.
More research needs to be done to confirm this,
but it is confirmed that beetroots contain a high amount of vitamins,
and also minerals that are known to have many health benefits.
At the same time, beets are high in fiber, low in fat and low in calories,
and they are really easy to grow.
Plus, you can eat the tops, just like a regular leafy vegetable,
which makes them really versatile and productive to grow in the home garden.
Number five are onions.
You know, when I think about onions, it brings tears to my eyes.
This vegetable is practically in everything from sauces to Bunning's sausage sizzles.
Just remember to put the onions on the bread first,
not for work health and safety reasons, but because it deserves to be first.
There have been a ton of medical studies into the health benefits of onions,
with findings such as helpful in regulating blood sugar,
helps to strengthen bones, lower cholesterol,
inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in our stomach,
boost the immune system,
and the list goes on.
Onions are a pretty hearty crop to grow,
with varieties to suit all climates.
And if you're short on space, well just try some spring onions.
They'll grow just about anywhere, even in a glass of water.
Onions keep for a long time on the shelf, which makes them good for productivity.
And although you'll only ever eat one like an apple once,
a good pasta sauce or sausage sizzle is not the same without it.
Number six is cucumbers.
You know the saying, as cool as a cucumber.
Well, in 1970, they did a study and found that the internal temperature of a cucumber was cooler than the outside temperature on a warm day,
pretty incredible, hey,
not that it's cooler, but incredible that someone would actually do a study to find that out.
Now I know cucumbers are technically a fruit,
but they're mainly eaten as a vegetable.
So I'm calling it a fruitable.
Cucumbers contain zero fat and are made up of about 96% water,
which makes them an excellent low calorie snack for those watching their weight
or constipated.
Don't laugh! If you're chocker up the blocker, eating cucumbers can help you get regular again.
Plus cucumbers are high in nutrients on their own. But as we know,
cucs can be prepared and preserved in tons of different ways
that often enhance their health benefits, such as fermented and pickled.
They even sell deliciously fermented cucumbers at Disneyland.
And I can tell you from personal experience, they're Mickey mouse.
Cucumbers are relatively easy to grow.
And depending on the variety, can be extremely productive, whether you grow a climbing variety or a small bush type, to save on space.
Number seven is peas.
Shelling peas might be easy.
But so is growing them,
and there's not many people that don't like eating them either.
And that's why peas are one of the best staples in the world today.
Peas are one of those foods that taste good and are good for you
because they contain lots of healthy elements, including vitamin K and manganese,
which both can help with healing the body.
As you can see, peas can be very productive,
with this row of snow peas producing five kilograms already.
And the rest of them, we're gonna leave to plump up
so that we can shell and save the seed through freezing to eat later.
Speaking of peas, number eight is beans,
which are even slightly better.
Beans, as most of us know, are one of the most complete foods you can grow,
meaning they contain so many important nutrients,
that you could almost survive on beans alone
and you'd wanna be alone too because if all you ate was beans,
blaming the dog could become a little tiresome.
Beans are not just high in fiber though.
They're also high in protein and B vitamins,
which help with brain and nerve function.
Bean season is coming up for us.
But there are numerous varieties of beans to grow.
So I'd encourage you to have a look through all the thousands of them and experiment.
Yes, these runner beans are often the best still to grow,
but try out some of those other fantastic varieties.
Beans can be grown just about anywhere and are quite forgiving when it comes to soil types,
making them one of the easiest vegetables to grow for beginners.
And because crops of beans are easy to preserve, from canning to dried,
they've been an important food source for humanity for a very long time.
Number nine are tomatoes
and speaking of beans, how good are baked beans in tomato sauce?
A classic match.
Tomatoes are another fruitable.
And if I allowed my personal bias to take over,
I would have tomato.
It would be the top of the toppers, because I personally love eating them and growing them.
There has barely been a day in my life when I haven't eaten a tomato in one form or another.
And lucky me because tomatoes are probably the healthiest food you can eat,
Whether raw or cooked. In fact, it's one of the few foods that when cooked, the health benefits increase.
Tomatoes contain lycopene,
which is what makes them red.
But also, it's a powerful antioxidant,
that helps protect us against cancers and degenerative diseases,
especially as we age.
Tomatoes contain vitamin C, K potassium folate, and many other elements
that help us from heart health, right through to skin protection.
Everyone should grow tomatoes because there's nothing like the taste of a home grown, heirloom tomato.
They beat the supermarket varieties hands down for taste and nutrition.
If you have trouble growing the large tomato varieties, then try the cherry types.
They're just as good and easy to grow.
Once you start, they will come up on their own each season after.
I don't need to tell you how versatile tomatoes are
because tomatoes are all around us every day.
So get into growing some.
Number 10 are potatoes.
There's a good reason why I selected potato as my top 10 of foods that you should always grow,
because without potatoes, you would only have half a meal at McDonald's.
Did you know that a potato has more potassium than a banana?
Potassium is an essential electrolyte needed for optimal muscle functioning.
So when you see a top athlete, like Nadal, eating a banana between sets,
that's why.
Perhaps he should maybe eat some French fries instead.
Seriously, despite the bad name, potatoes are good for you,
especially if you don't drown them in bad cooking fat.
Yes, potatoes are high in carbs, but they are good, complex carbs,
not simple sugars like say sugar.
So although nutrient dense, potatoes are still a good source of fiber,
particularly if you leave the skin on
and they also have other vitamins like B6,
which helps brain function and might even help with depression.
That's possibly why it feels so good after eating bangers and mash with gravy.
Taste is undeniable, I challenge you to find a better tasting vegetable.
And if you grow your own, they are even better because they're fresh and you can try other varieties
that you just don't get in the supermarket or take away fast food places.
You can grow a ton of potatoes and store them for a long time,
and like I've already said, potatoes are a nutrient dense food,
which is one of the reasons why the potato has become one of the most important foods on the planet,
because it literally prevents starvation.
You grow potatoes from potatoes
and it's as easy as bunging a potato into some soil
and digging it up three months later to find it multiplied.
There are lots of potato substitutes and I've tried many of them, even sweet potato,
but nothing grows, cooks feels and tastes better than a potato potato.
And that's why the potato is my number 10.
What do you think of my list of 10 vegetables that you should always grow?
Agree, disagree, what would you include or remove, swap out instead?
Whack it down in the comments section below. I'd be interested to read them.