Spring season. Growing vegetables.

Spring season

Growing Spinach, Salat, and Cucumber 

The Spring season has almost opened its doors. It is time to consider planting some of the very old but famous garden inhabitants as spinach, lettuce, cucumber, chard. Soon our tables will be set with beautiful spring salats and our houses filled with refreshing sparkling aromas. 

Spinach-the king of iron and amino acids 

The existence of spinach was known to humanity for at least two thousand years and from time to time it regains its popularity. These days we introduced spinach to smoothies, omelet, and fast lunch solutions-sandwiches. Its benefits are widely known-content of Fe and C vitamins, which is why we consume spinach in lightly cooked form. 

The less known fact is that spinach contains nitrates which can be easily turned into poisonous nitrites. For example reheated meal or presence of petiole. 

Why so many people avoid spinach and should we trust our digestive system when refusing certain food? 

Following examples of children who were introduced to a variety of food choices and accept easily majority, yet some refuse-it can be with certainty said that unspoiled human organism can recognise which food is the right choice and will be beneficial. Later analyses show that organism can refuse food for a variety of reasons some of them are uneasily digesting as in this case could be for nitrates. 

Undeniable amino-acid and vitamin content in this almost rudimental plant is a reason to be consumed in any possible way, although we maybe don’t accept it in raw form( salads, within sandwiches, etc). New ways will include blending and lightly cooking spinach with additional milk and plant-based dairy alternatives. This way half of its content is lost-yet enough preserved to bring nutrients to the organism.

Lettuce

This is one of the easily cultivated plants, which require not too much energy and attention and therefore favorite among cultivators. The majority of people love lettuce, especially these days when we have such great variety. When considering food choices, we can see that people from diverse geo-linguistic groups consume lettuce in a variety of forms and therefore it became a globally cultivated vegetable. We can hardly imagine our spring and summer tables set for any meal without this salat, especially in early spring days when everything is refreshing and full of colors. 

Lettuce is a rich source of vitamin A and K, plus some iron and folate. 

When cultivating lettuce, we can be challenged with many nutrient deficiencies and plagues, pests, and fungal and bacterial diseases. This is why avoiding lettuce when its source is unknown presents the best choice since very often people end up being sick from various bacterial infections after eating it. Escherichia coli is one of the most common inhabitants of lettuce. After being one time sick from explained infection, people will avoid consuming lettuce again. This is very often the case with any type of food since our organism recognizes the source of pleasure and vice versa-when our food choice made us sick and further will not accept it. 

Lately, there is a trend of growing lettuce in wide shallow pots in a controlled environment. When cultivated in such conditions, lettuce is easily controlled and rarely can be contaminated with Escherichia coli ( and Salmonella if watered with clean water and when animals have no access to it). Since lettuce grows fast and doesn't need deep soil for its shallow root, pot-growing at the terrace was one of the most interesting choices many people made during these difficult times of pandemics. Such growing made lettuce always accessible and on the top, refreshing inhabitants among other, often decorating, plants on the terraces. 

“Lettuces have a wide range of shapes and textures, from the dense heads of the iceberg type to the notched, scalloped, frilly, or ruffly leaves of leaf varieties.[15] Lettuce plants have a root system that includes a main taproot and smaller secondary roots. Depending on the variety and time of year, lettuce generally lives 65–130 days from planting to harvesting. Because lettuce that flowers (through the process known as "bolting") become bitter and unsaleable, plants grown for consumption are rarely allowed to grow to maturity. Lettuce flowers more quickly in hot temperatures, while freezing temperatures cause slower growth and sometimes damage to outer leaves.” (1,2,3)

Lettuce was cultivated since the time of ancient Egypt and it was connected to some religious acts. From a plant which seed was used for oil production till the modern version of large green leaves and better taste, texture etc, it was a long way. Finally, some genetic modification was applied too, for better resistance to any intruders and parasites, but this type was not commercially used, at least not yet. Typical lettuce varieties are: romaine/cos, Iceberg/Crisphead, Butterhead, Summercrisp, Celtuce/Stem, Oilseed, Red leaf lettuce. 

An interesting fact is that although made of 96% of water, lettuce has a low water footprint. Each kilogram of lettuce produced required about 200l of water and in addition to this fact, new ways of cultivating (hydroponic) proved very efficient. 

 Cucumber

We think of it as a vegetable but in fact, this is botanically speaking-a fruit! It grows from flowers and contains seeds, therefore it is a fruit. The refreshing smell of cucumber is one of the first associations to spring. We add it to salads, sandwiches, to our water to add some scent and eat it fresh, in so many ways. During a whole year almost till the beginning of winter days, cucumber is at our tables in its fresh form and later, as pickled. 

Easy to cultivate, cucumber these days have a huge variety. Interesting facts are that alternating temperatures order plant sex and further pollination capacity, which will result in fewer fruits if temperatures were unsuitable. Too much sun can be negative, although the plant has its way to protect the fruit, developing large leaves, ready to shade the fruit when the sun is high.

Cucumbers are a great choice for cultivators, when in controlled environments. Because of its fresh taste and high content of B complex vitamins, present one of the favorite food choices. Besides B vitamins, cucumbers contain vitamin K, low sugar, and high dietary fibers. People who prefer a plant-based diet have cucumbers regularly in their meals since they represent an irreplaceable intake of vitamins B.

Once we decide to grow vegetables, mastering some of the basic techniques as control of watering, soil pH levels, preferred nutrients for our plants, and level of sun exposure, we become pleasantly surprised with results, often seeing our plants giving more than expected fruits and later, treasuring them above all. We learn to appreciate life, effort, and every plant along with the enjoyment which comes after eating the fruits of our efforts.