Eat Your Greens: The Surprising Power of Home Grown Leaf Crops

by David Kennedy

Overview

Turn over a new leaf with these nutritional powerhouses for your kitchen garden

Our industrialized food system is failing us, and as individuals we must take more responsibility for our own health and food security. Leaf crops produce more nutrients per square foot of growing space and per day of growing season than any other crops and are especially high in vitamins and minerals commonly lacking in the North American diet. As hardy as they are versatile, these beautiful leafy vegetables range from the familiar to the exotic. Some part of this largely untapped food resource can thrive in almost any situation.

Eat Your Greens provides complete instructions for incorporating these nutritional powerhouses into any kitchen garden. This innovative guide:

• Shows how familiar garden plants such as sweet potato, okra, beans, peas, and pumpkin can be grown to provide both nourishing leaves and other calorie- and protein-rich foods
• Introduces a variety of non-traditional, readily adaptable alternatives such as chaya, moringa, toon, and wolfberry
• Explains how to improve your soil while getting plenty of vegetables by growing edible cover crops

Beginning with a comprehensive overview of modern commercial agriculture and rounded out by a selection of advanced techniques to maximize, preserve, and prepare your harvest, Eat Your Greens is an invaluable addition to the library of any gardening enthusiast.

David Kennedy is the founder and director of Leaf for Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the elimination of global malnutrition through the optimum use of leaf crops, and is the author of 21st Century Greens and the Leaf for Life Handbook.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550925678
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	814,810
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Dave Kennedy is the founder and director of Leaf for Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the elimination of global malnutrition through the optimum use of leaf crops to support human health. He has designed and implemented projects and workshops involving small scale agriculture and innovative food processing in 13 different countries on four continents. The author of 21st Century Greens and the Leaf for Life Handbook, David is a tireless advocate for the development of wholesome food systems worldwide.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Balancing Our Food System
1. Two Out of Three Cheers: The Power of the Industrial Food System
2. Less of the Same? The Promise of the Local Food System
3. Away from the Market Raising Food, Not Money
4. Scaling the Food Mountain Matching the Parts of the Food System to What They Do Best

Part II: Getting Started
5. Leafing Home The Potential of Home Grown Greens
6. Earthly Paradise Creating Healthy Food Gardens
7. Stellar Additions Dynamic New Leaf Crops for the Home Garden

Part III: Some More Advanced Techniques
8. Vegetable Versatility Growing Multi-Purpose Leaf Crops
9. Two Seasons for Every Purpose Under Heaven? Growing Fresh Greens Year-Round
10. Gardening in 3-D Growing Vertical Greens
11. Have Your Cake and Eat It Too Growing Edible Cover Crops
12. What Lasts Is Not Least Preserving the Leaf Harvest
13. Making Both Ends Meat Concentrating the Nutrition of Green Leaves
14. Recipes From the Garden to the Table

Part IV: Looking Ahead
15. Open-Source Gardening A New Way to Share Information about Food
16. Growing Home Held in the Light

Appendix 1: Seeds and Supplies
Appendix 2: Useful Websites
Notes
Index
About the Illustrator
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Leaf crops produce the most nutrition from the least space while requiring the fewest inputs. The trouble is...many valuable leafy vegetables are unknown to gardeners. Nor do we know how to prepare or preserve them. Dave Kennedy's Eat Your Greens provides all this information. The book should be on the shelf of every serious gardener."
— Steve Solomon, Author The Intelligent Gardener and Gardening When It Counts

"Kennedy's new book is a practical instructional manual on how to grow and prepare leafy edible plants, many of which are unavailable at grocery stores and farmers markets, overlooked by gardeners and rarely considered in the kitchen. It offers a simple, grassroots solution to help counter the immense public-health burden that has arisen from our high-calorie, nutrient-poor diet. Reading this book could change lives, communities and society for the better."
— Sean Clark, Professor and Farm Director, Berea College

"David Kennedy makes a compelling case for home gardens as a vital element of our food system and for expanding our food and garden horizons by growing super-nutritious greens, including some novel leaf crops and traditional crops used in new ways. A great resource for those wishing to increase their food security, Eat Your Greens offers detailed information on growing, eating, and preserving greens that both novice and experienced gardeners will welcome."
— Susan Littlefield, Horticultural Editor, National Gardening Association

"Low-fat or low-carb? Vegan or paleo? Whole grain or gluten-free? Nutrition has become complicated by competing diets and health claims. The world's biggest food corporations add to this confusion and profit from it at the same time. In Eat Your Greens, David Kennedy cuts through the fog and shows us that the journey to optimum health can begin with a single, simple step into the backyard vegetable garden. The message of why and how we can eat more fresh, nutrient-rich greens isn't a marketing ploy designed to bolster some company's bottom line. It's a timeless, universal truth and one that Kennedy tells convincingly."
—Roger Doiron, Founding Director, Kitchen Gardeners International

"Eat Your Greens is a refreshingly thoughtful and practical book for the new wave of savvy gardeners interested in exploring the full potential of home gardens. One of the world's experts on leafy green crops opens his garden gate to show us an amazing array of 21 beautiful and some little-known greens that will make you wonder where they've been all your life. In addition to the directive "Eat Your Greens" we can now add "Read Eat Your Greens" as excellent advice that will make us healthier and happier."
— Anita Courtney, M.S.,R.D., Chairperson / Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition

"Our work is with the poorest of the poor in developing countries and David's training resources have made the greatest impact on what we do but at the same time I have painfully watched the effects of nutritional poverty in the west for years. Everything that I wished could be said to my western friends is in this new book. There is now no excuse to be destined to a life of mediocre health.

It may be hard to believe but a couple of small four by eight foot kitchen gardens, that take minutes a day to maintain can turn the tide of deteriorating old age for so many reasons. Read the book more than once."
— Dale Bolton, Founder and Director of Organics4Orphans.org

"Increase the biodiversity of your diet and your garden by expanding the variety of leaves you eat; often from the plants you are already growing for other uses — even cover crops! If you have heard of eating leaves of some plants, but are hesitant to try them because you have also heard they may contain irritants if not properly prepared, let David Kennedy show you the way. Kennedy's expertise and passion for creating a healthy population with the help of leafy greens are evident in this book. In this ever-changing world we need to stay open to the possibilities of all our gardens have to offer. Great book!"
— Cindy Conner, Homeplace Earth, author Grow a Sustainable Diet and Seed Libraries.

Editorial Reviews

With wit and reason, Kennedy makes a compelling case - based on sound nutritional and sustainability grounds - to start producing and eating more greens. Delicious, leafy green vegetables grown at home can effectively fill voids left by the industrial food system as well as the local food movement by making fresh, highly nutritious foods readily available from small garden spaces and at low costs throughout much of the year. Kennedy’s new book is a practical instructional manual on how to grow and prepare leafy edible plants, many of which are unavailable at grocery stores and farmers markets, overlooked by gardeners and rarely considered in the kitchen. It offers a simple, grassroots solution to help counter the immense public-health burden that has arisen from our high-calorie, nutrient-poor diet. Reading this book could change lives, communities and society for the better. —Sean Clark, Professor and Farm Director, Berea College

Leaf crops produce the most nutrition from the least space while requiring the fewest inputs. The trouble is . . . many valuable leafy vegetables are unknown to gardeners. Nor do we know how to prepare or preserve them. Dave Kennedy's Eat Your Greens provides all this information. The book should be on the shelf of every serious gardener. —Steve Solomon, Author of Gardening When it Counts and Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades

David Kennedy makes a compelling case for home gardens as a vital element of our food system and for expanding our food and garden horizons by growing super-nutritious greens, including some novel leaf crops and traditional crops used in new ways. A great resource for those wishing to increase their food security, Eat Your Greens offers detailed information on growing, eating, and preserving greens that both novice and experienced gardeners will welcome.
—Susan Littlefield, Horticultural Editor – National Gardening Association

Eat Your Greens is a refreshingly thoughtful and practical book for the new wave of savvy gardeners interested in exploring the full potential of home gardens. One of the world’s experts on leafy green crops opens his garden gate to show us an amazing array of 21 beautiful and some little-known greens that will make you wonder where they’ve been all your life. Going way beyond kale and kale chips, readers will learn how to grow greens, extend their harvest, and preserve them for year-round use. Creative and delicious recipes such as Cheesy Grits with Okinawa Spinach and Sweet Potato Leaves Salad are included. Though some of the information is technical, “Greens Guru” David Kennedy shares it in a friendly, easy-to-understand voice that sounds like it could be coming from your neighbor over the fence. In addition to the directive “Eat Your Greens” we can now add “Read Eat Your Greens “ as excellent advice that will make us healthier and happier.
—Anita Courtney, M.S.,R.D., Chairperson / Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition

David Kennedy is one of the rare individuals who is a brilliant analyst, researcher and practitioner. So often we are told what is wrong with the world and less often told what the solution is. Almost never is the solution lived out with a working model of simplicity and function. David does all three with equal depth.

I was very excited when he told me that he was writing Eat Your Greens: The Surprising Power of Homegrown Leaf Crops because I knew it would not just be scholarly but also very practical. Our work is with the poorest of the poor in developing countries and David’s training resources have made the greatest impact on what we do but at the same time I have painfully watched the effects of nutritional poverty in the west for years. Everything that I wished could be said to my western friends is in this new book. There is now no excuse to be destined to a life of mediocre health.

It may be hard to believe but a couple of small four by eight foot kitchen gardens, that take minutes a day to maintain can turn the tide of deteriorating old age for so many reasons. Read the book more than once.
—Dale Bolton, Founder and Director of Organics4Orphans.org

Low-fat or low-carb? Vegan or paleo? Whole grain or gluten-free? Nutrition has become complicated by competing diets and health claims. The world's biggest food corporations add to this confusion and profit from it at the same time. In Eat Your Greens , David Kennedy cuts through the fog and shows us that the journey to optimum health can begin with a single, simple step into the backyard vegetable garden. The message of why and how we can eat more fresh, nutrient-rich greens isn't a marketing ploy designed to bolster some company's bottom line. It's a timeless, universal truth and one that Kennedy tells convincingly.
-Roger Doiron, Founding Director, Kitchen Gardeners International

Increase the biodiversity of your diet and your garden by expanding the variety of leaves you eat; often from the plants you are already growing for other uses—even cover crops! If you have heard of eating leaves of some plants, but are hesitant to try them because you have also heard they may contain irritants if not properly prepared, let David Kennedy show you the way. Kennedy’s expertise and passion for creating a healthy population with the help of leafy greens are evident in this book. In this ever-changing world we need to stay open to the possibilities of all our gardens have to offer. Great book!
—Cindy Conner, Homeplace Earth, author Grow a Sustainable Diet and Seed Libraries.

From the Publisher