Fiber is our friend
An honorable individual mentioned to me he was limited in how much gardening his spirit could withstand, but he gardened a little and respected the challenge. My response, “We do the best we can.” An acquaintance from my childhood who lives several hours south of Eureka Springs said he had tried backyard gardening through the years but never could keep up with weeding (fair enough), but he discovered he had a knack for propagating bougainvillea! Impressive!
Everybody’s different. Another friend fills up pots on her deck with an array of peppers and colorful flowers that would be the envy of famous paintings. Another friend cares for dozens of plants – vegetables and flowers – in pots because her rocky plateau is non-negotiable. Gardeners are different and it’s all good, but, besides the food and beauty, there is one benefit from plants we all require – roughage.
Do you grow your own roughage? Beans are rich in dietary fiber, aka roughage, and so are gooseberries. And parsnips, carrots, beets and pumpkins. I’m not fooling! Oatmeal, too, but I don’t grow it. Asparagus and corn and on and on. Some have more than others, and the list is long, so here’s why you should care.
You might be thinking, “So many fibrous things. What about Cheetos®? Sounds like I can get by on beer and Cheetos®.” Lima beans play outfield in the major leagues of fiber, and Cheetos® are second string in third grade recess. It’s your choice how you get your roughage. The point nutritionists emphasize is fiber is a cleaner outer, which keeps your intestines healthy.
Pintos, wheat bran and raspberries, for example, have their personal loads of vitamins and minerals that our bodies use for nutrition, but they also have indigestible parts that tumble along during digestion and gather unhealthy hangers-on like bad bacteria and escort them right on out in poop. Thank you, indigestibles.
It is important to acknowledge that moderation is called for because too much fiber too soon makes a person gassy and bloated – four heaping helpings of really tasty red beans and rice, for example. Also, for conditions such as ulcerous colitis and irritable bowel syndrome, even a moderate amount of fiber can be irritating. This discussion is about growing things in your garden year-round to make access to tasty, healthy fiber content easy.
Like other conscientious gardeners, I begin spring planting by deciding where the roughage will grow, and, in spring, that’s easy. Brassicas such as turnip greens and kale stand strong among the Olympic roughage hopefuls. Also broccoli and kohlrabi, and they all appreciate starting in cooler spring weather. Plus, they are usually reliable unless bugs eat them.
Snow peas and sugar snap peas can also start early and produce into June’s warmer weather. Fiber counters claim snow peas offer a prodigious dose of fiber, plus you can eat them right off the vine. Asparagus provides less fiber per amount than snow peas, but they both are reliable green things on the plate all spring.
Beans, however, have fiber like Jimi Hendrix saw the future. Beans, beans, good for the heart, the more you eat, the more you etc. On a list of fiber content of vegetables, bean varieties claimed 14 of the top 17 spots. Cooked artichoke was a surprise second to white lima beans for Number One. We need our roughage, and beans planted in mid-spring might be your regular assistant, so to speak, all summer. Corn will help, too.
Summer squashes are moderate on the fiber list, sweet potatoes higher and okra lower, but all are contributors to keeping humans on schedule. In autumn, winter squash and pumpkins step right up.
During winter, there are fresh winter radishes, leftover winter squash, greens like kale and chard, carrots and parsnips plus your beans you dried and beets you pickled… do you like these things? I hope so because they provide fiber to keep you healthy, and fiber is our friend and easy to find.