How Freshness Impacts Flavor
Did you know fruits and vegetables grown in the United States may spend up to five days on a truck before arriving at the grocery store? Then, chances are, it sits in the grocery store’s produce section for a few days before you put it in your shopping cart! A lot can happen to produce in a full week!
As soon as a vegetable is harvested, the plant starts to break down. Not only does the nutritional make-up of a plant change – the flavor profile is drastically altered.
For example, spinach can lose 90% of its vitamin C within 24 hours of harvest, and 50% of its folate and carotenoids within a week – and that’s if the spinach is kept refrigerated the entire time after harvest!
So all that “good” we’re supposedly getting from grocery store greens may not be all that “good” after all.
Harvest fresh, organic food right outside your back door is not only fun and convenient – the food is healthier and tastes better.
You’ll be surprised at how different the lettuce tastes, how flavorful your tomatoes are, and how crunchy the cucumbers will be! You’ll also find yourself eating foods raw you’ve never eaten raw before! If you try to eat okra, green beans, or squash raw from the grocery store – yuck! But raw okra, green beans, and squash fresh from the garden? Delicious!
Vegetables high in nutritional value and high in flavor? It’s possible every day with a garden!
HELPFUL LINKS
Want to learn to garden? In Monarch Garden Society we help Houston-area gardeners go from confused about growing in our area, missing important planting deadlines, and wasting precious time and money to feeling confident, eating more from their garden, and saving valuable time and resources!
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Want seasonal recipes and ideas for how to make the garden a part of your everyday life? Check out Monarch Living!
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