Beautiful Broccoli

Why should you eat broccoli? A ½ cup of cooked broccoli is: An excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate. A good source of fiber. A ½ cup of fresh broccoli is: An excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K.

Vitamin A Is needed for healthy growth Helps you see in the dark Helps keep your skin healthy Helps you fight sickness Other sources: liver, carrot juice, sweet potato, canned pumpkin, cooked spinach, cooked kale, ready to eat cereal, cantaloupe and cooked red sweet pepper

Vitamin K Is the clotmaster! Remember the last time you got a cut? Your blood did something special called clotting. This is when certain cells in your blood act like glue and stick together at the surface of the cut to help stop the bleeding.

What does the dark green color of broccoli mean? The dark green color means it has lots on nutrients. Foods high in nutrients can help you fight certain diseases.

Folate Is a B vitamin that works with other B vitamins to help make and support body cells. Our bodies are made up of about 60-90 trillion cells. askabiologist.asu.edu/ Folate is important in preventing some birth defects and making healthy red blood cells.

Here is a diagram of broccoli

Home Grown Broccoli Facts California is the number one producer of broccoli in the United States. We produce more than 90% of the nation’s crop. Broccoli is available all year long in California. It is grown in four areas: the south desert valley (Imperial and Riverside counties); the southern coast (Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties), central coast (Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties) and the Central Valley (Fresno, Kern, Stanislaus and Tulare counties).

Broccoli looks like a tiny tree!

Go to www. harvestofthemonth Go to www.harvestofthemonth.com and Educators Corner for this great map of California showing each county and the many different crops and farm animals each has. We are very, very lucky to live in a state that can grow so many different crops and support so many farm animals. Some states have such short growing seasons, they can only grow one or two crops.

A Spear of Broccoli History Broccoli has been around for 2000 years. It has been in the United States for only 200 years. The son of Roman Emperor Tiberius loved broccoli so much that he refused to eat all other foods except broccoli for an entire month!

Just the Facts Broccoli was first grown in Calabrese, Italy and was called “brocco” means branch or arm in Italian. Broccoli is the plural form of brocco and refers to the many flower-like shoots that form the head of the plant.

Broccoli in bloom If allowed to grow longer, broccoli will bloom into beautiful yellow flowers.

More Facts Broccoli is one of the most popular garden vegetables because it is very easy to grow. Rich in vitamins and minerals it is also known as the “Crown Jewel of Nutrition”.

This variety is called Romanesco This variety is called Romanesco. Doesn’t it look like a space creature or a space ship!

Sprouting Broccoli Sprouting broccoli comes in both green and purple. It is also called calabrese broccoli.

Quiz Time One half cup of cooked broccoli is an excellent source of vitamins ___, ___ and ____. A, C and K What does the dark green color of broccoli tell you? It is very high in nutrients. You can only get broccoli in the summer time. True or False False. You can get it all year round in California. What does brocco mean in Italian? Branch or arm When eating broccoli, you are eating a flower. True or False True. If not picked and allowed to keep growing, the broccoli would flower.

See how smart you are!!