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Red crops are tops

Grow red fruit and veges for glowing good health

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We all know about the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables. The recommended minimum amount is five plus servings a day, as in the 5 + a day health promotion, and the greater the variety of fruit and veges we eat, the greater the health benefits.

Consuming fresh food from each of the colour groups (often dubbed “eating a rainbow”) ensures you’re ingesting plenty of fibre – and getting the phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals our bodies require. Fresh red produce contains higher saturations of specific phytochemicals, which help guard against some of our most serious health problems.

**Why red foods are so good

**In living colour, Phytochemicals give fruit and vegetables their distinctive colours and smells. These work together with vitamins, minerals and fibre in foods to produce a raft of health benefits. The antioxidant properties in phytochemicals help to fight the free radicals that are produced both naturally in our bodies and as a result of exposure to pollutants. Free radicals lead to cell damage and antioxidants are vital in helping to prevent illnesses such as heart and eye disease, and cancer.

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**Powerful properties

**The antioxidant anthocyanin has been the focus of much scientific research in recent years and, according to the latest evidence, has potential health benefits in fighting cancer, neurological disease (eg Alzheimers), inflammation (eg arthritis), diabetes and bacterial infections. All red, blue and black fruit and vegetables have high concentrations of anthocyanin but blackberries have the highest antioxidant levels of all foods in this category.

The phytochemical lycopene belongs to a family of pigments called carotenoids, which may play a role in the prevention of prostate cancer. Lycopene is also thought to offer protection against heart disease. Tomatoes have the highest concentration of this substance but watermelon and pink grapefruit are also good sources.

oost phytochemicals are best absorbed by the body when produce is eaten raw, but tomatoes are the exception to this rule, providing better amounts of lycopene when they are cooked or processed – excellent news for gardeners who enjoy conjuring up jars of chutney, relish and sauces.

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**Red veges to sow or plant now:

**Beets, Chillies, Eggplant, Radishes, Red cabbage, Red lettuce, Red onions, Red peppers, Red potatoes, Rhubarb, Tomatoes.

**Red fruiting plants to plant now:

**Blackberries, Blueberries, Cherries, Chilean guava, Cranberries, Pink grapefruit, Plums, Pomegranates, Raspberries, Red apples, Red grapes, Red pears, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Strawberry guava, Watermelon

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**Berry berry nice

**Imagine having your own supply of freshly picked, luscious berries. Especially when they’re piled high on a summer pavlova. Scientists believe that primitive hunter-gatherers avoided many of the common serious illnesses we suffer from today because they consumed large amounts of berry fruit.

Pavlova and protecting your health – now you’ve got two good reasons to plant and eat lots of delicious berries! The best berries need:

  • A sunny sheltered position (although both cranberries and Chilean guava will tolerate partial shade).

  • Well-drained, deep, rich, loamy soil. Be sure to add plenty of compost. In heavy soils, plant berries in raised beds.

  • Good air circulation – plants should be correctly spaced.

  • Regular deep watering around the roots (don’t water over the foliage and fruit).

  • An application of slow-release fertiliser at planting time (except cranberries).

  • oulching with fine granulated bark or extra compost.

  • Liquid feeding with a high-potash fertiliser (eg Phostrogen) through spring and summer.

  • Protection from mildew diseases – spray your berry plants with a suitable fungicide and remove diseased fruit.

**You say tomato

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**oodern breeding has produced tomatoes with perfect fruit and a long shelf-life but, sadly, less flavour. So many gardeners are turning back to the more flavoursome heritage (heirloom) varieties. Central Tree Crops Research Trust in Wanganui has also found that the heritage variety ‘oxheart’ contains twice as much lycopene as some of the main commercial varieties. other varieties with a high lycopene content are ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’, ‘Amish Paste’ and ‘Black Krim’, followed by ‘Silvery Fir Tree’, ‘San oarzano’ and ‘Polish Giant’.

Limited selections of heritage tomato varieties are available at garden centres or you can order seed from: Kings Seeds, Katikati, Bay of Plenty, phone (07) 549 3409, www.kingsseeds.co.nz Bristol Plants and Seeds, Wanganui, phone (06) 343 6421, www.bristol.co.nz

For fail-safe tomatoes:

  • Sow seed in seed trays so the seedlings will be ready for transplanting to the garden at Labour Weekend or purchase plants and keep them under cover until planting time at Labour Weekend.

  • Grow tomatoes in a warm, sheltered, sunny position.

  • Provide well-drained, rich, friable soil with plenty of compost added.

  • Place stakes in ground before planting tall varieties.

  • Plant slightly deeper than the top of the roots so that roots will form on stems and help anchor the plants.

  • Space plants correctly to ensure good air circulation.

  • Tie plants as they grow and remove laterals as they appear (except for bush and cherry tomatoes).

  • Apply tomato fertiliser at planting time and feed every four to six weeks through the summer. 

  • Ward off pests and disease by liquidfeeding with fish or seaweed fertiliser.

  • Water deeply on a regular basis.

  • Companion-plant basil around the base of tomatoes.

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