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Not that being part of a trend is ever a good reason to start or learn something new, but if it helps you move forward by being part of the “in” crowd, then you really need to plant your own edible garden this year.

That’s right, having your own vegetable garden is now trendy. In fact according to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writer’s Association (GWA) Foundation, over 41 million U.S. households, or 38 percent planted a vegetable garden in 2009. And, more than 19.5 million households (18 percent) grew an herb garden and 16.5 million households (15 percent) grew fruits during the same period.

The study found that there was a growth in edible gardening from both experienced gardeners and from an influx of new gardeners: 92 percent of respondents had previous experience and 7 percent (7.7 million households) were new edible gardeners.

And one-third of the experienced gardeners grew more edibles in 2009 than in the previous year. The GWA indicates that given the strong response for plans to grow more edibles into 2010, the vegetable gardening trend will continue and there will likely be a new high level of edible gardening activity this year.

Another survey done by the American Gardening Association showed a 19 percent increase in new hobby country farms and urban edible gardens in 2009 over 2008.

So, aside from its popularity, do you need some other reasons to grown your own food?

• The GWA’s survey found that the main reason given for increasing or maintaining edible gardening last year was to supplement household food supply — to help them save money on food. That alone is a very powerful reason.
• There is nothing more local than food grown in your own backyard, your windowsills, or on patio containers.
• Growing your own fruits and vegetables means that you know exactly what does and does not go into your food and exactly where it comes from.
• You will get healthier in a number of ways. Not only will you end up eating more fruits and vegetables, but you will be getting added exercise. Did you know that you can burn as many calories in 45 minutes of gardening as you can in 30 minutes of aerobics? And, working in the garden reduces stress.
• You will get a bigger variety of your favorite fruits and vegetables because you can choose from hundreds of different varieties and you can grow the things you like the best.
• You can teach your children or grandchildren where their food actually comes from and that it doesn’t come from the supermarket but from the soil, the earth that we all depend on.

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How much of my food can I grow in a small garden area? This is the question I receive most frequently from residents interested in starting vegetable gardens. Like all things in life, the answer is: “it depends.” In this case, it depends on the size of the garden, the amount of sun, and what you want to eat.

Since sun and garden space are difficult to change, the easiest way to eat more of your homegrown vegetables, is to start eating vegetables that are high yielding and easy to grow. Hence, we discover the magic of leafy greens.

Leafy greens are a backyard food gardener’s best friend. They are easy to grow, harvest, and cook. They produce an abundance of food even in low-light conditions. Moreover, they taste great, supply excellent nutrition, and look good in your garden. If you are a brown thumb, or a novice vegetable gardener, leafy greens are a great place to start.

While there are numerous varieties of leafy greens to try, I recommend chard, kale and collards. They grow productively all winter long, and even withstand summer heat. Space your plants 1 foot to 18 inches apart, both within and between rows. If you start from seed, sow every few inches in rows and then thin out to the recommended spacing. To allow each plant more room, offset planting between rows so that each plant sits between the two in the next row over, forming a zigzag pattern. Plants can be harvested as soon as they have a fair number of medium sized leaves. It’s better to take a few leaves from each plant, rather than lots of leaves from one plant, so that all of the plants can recover quickly. Harvest with two hands, or using cutters, to make sure you don’t tug on the plant while tearing off the leaves. And the best part is, after you harvest, the leaves grow right back!

There are many ways to integrate lots of leafy greens into your diet. In addition to salad, you can quickly cook leafy greens into any combination of vegetables. Start by steaming them, or stir-frying with olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt. Add them in at the end of your vegetable stir-fries, or boil them in stocks, soups, and stews. Leafy greens go well with meat or tofu, rice, noodles, and many legumes. I like to add leafy greens into my lentil soups. When I cook red beans, I scoop some of the broth into a frying pan and use it to boil the greens with other vegetables.

Adding lots of greens to your diet is an excellent way to improve your families’ nutrition. They are rich in beta carotene, vitamin C, and other anti-carcinogens. They provide excellent sources of fiber, iron, and calcium. In fact, collard greens have the same concentration of calcium as milk. Just 3.5 ounces of chard gives you all the vitamin A and half the vitamin C that you need each day.

Growing more of your fruits and vegetables means eating more of what you can grow. If you want to eat better and grow your own food, plant chard, kale and collards in your garden this year and watch the magic unfold.

Joshua Deutsch is the founder and manager of Backyard Food Gardens, providing food garden installation and complete landscaping services to the East Bay. He can be reached by Email: josh@backyardfoodgardens.com, phone: 510-289-8712, or on the web: www.backyardfoodgardens.com.

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When it comes to a healthy diet, you absolutely must have some variety. Eating the same thing day in and day out is like torture for most, and it also works against the principles of a healthy diet as well.

The good news is that there is a lot of variety you can sample when it comes to healthy foods. About all the supermarkets sustain a great deal of fruits and veggies and wide array of fish, meat, dairy products, nuts, beans, poultry, and lentils. If you’re trying to eat healthier and have a healthier lifestyle, you shouldn’t need to be bored while doing so!

One important part of enjoying this wide variety of foods when trying to eat healthy is to plan your meals so that you know you’re using as many different options as possible. If you combine those items of meats, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains then you know you can have different and interesting meals every time and every day.

As advised by doctors, having a lot of choices for foods is essential for good health and to avoid boredom. Remember that different foods contain different nutrients, so consuming those different foods is imperative for good healthy. One tends to go against their diet when one feels bored or deprived of their favorite foods.

Consuming foods you like is not bad, it’s just that you should eat them in moderation and use balance. You might call good nutrition a trade off, like so many other things in life!

And of course you should get foods from the five major food groups each and every day as well. The groups, as identified by the USDA, are as follows meat and beans, dairy products, fruit, veggies, and grains. Each item in these groups contains different nutrients, so if you have a combination of foods you can make sure you’re getting the right nutrition for your body.

Just choosing food items from the five food groups isn’t going to ensure good health on its own. You can’t have bacon, ice cream, avocados, sweet potatoes, and a big slice of cake and expect to be healthy even though each item is from those food groups! Obviously no one would say that those are healthy food choices even though all five food groups are represented. When you are opting from these five groups be sure to choose the healthy choices from each of the groups.

As an example of this, think of choosing lean meats to get the protein you want without the extra fat and calories of fattier portions of meat. Trimming fat from roast beef or even removing the skin from chicken can aid you with this issue.

As for grains, meaning breads and cereals, you typically want to choose whole grain options rather than refined products. Refined products tend to have their nutrients taken from them when they are refined.

Many bread and cereal products have also been fortified with vitamins and minerals as well. Having fortified products can help your nutritional needs but of course they should never be used in place of a proper diet overall. These products provide great source of calcium to help you bones, teeth, and folic acid that helps women when they are pregnant.

One of the main ways to have a progressing diet is to opt for healthier foods. It is advised that you choose leaner cuts of meat because that is the healthier option. Doing this you will gain the most nutrients and yet still have great tasting foods.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to be healthy and to have a healthy diet, and whatever your goals are as far as fitness is concerned, make sure you understand the basic principles of nutrition. When you completely understand the food groups you will have no problem with staying with your diet. If you want to train for a marathon or boxing match, lose a few pounds or just have more energy, remember that you can use what you know about nutrition to help you for the rest of your life.

If you are looking for workouts to lose weight author and personal trainer Anu Morgan has excellent information for you. Get a copy of her free report, “The Seven Personal Trainer Secrets to Weight Loss” by visiting AnuMorgan.com.