Organic vegetables are showing up in supermarkets all across the country, but often at higher prices. If you’d like to avoid pesticides but save some money, now is the perfect time to plan your own vegetable garden. Here are what some of the most popular grow-’em-yourself crops have to offer:

• Bell peppers. Red bell peppers provide three times as much vitamin C as oranges. Nutrient dense, they’re also good sources of vitamins A, B-6 (an especially heart-healthy nutrient), beta-carotene and folate.
• Eggplant. This vegetable’s main virtue: robust flavor and super satisfaction for very few calories. However, eggplant absorbs more fat than any other vegetable, so choose your cooking method wisely. Try broiling, roasting, grilling or stewing rather than frying.
• Peas. If you want a sweet and satisfying low-calorie source of protein, think peas. About three-quarter cup of peas contains as much protein as an egg and less than a gram of fat.
• Romaine lettuce. Rich in vitamins A and C and folate, romaine is a more nutritious alternative to pale iceberg lettuce. In general, the darker the leaves, the more nutrient-packed the salad green.
• Snap beans. Green and wax beans are chock-full of beta-carotene and vitamin C. They’re also good sources of heart-healthy folate.
• Summer squash. Summer squashes are a mild but refreshing nine-calorie-a-cup addition to many dishes. (Tip: Eat squashes with their skins to reap the beta-carotene benefit.)
• Tomatoes. A leading source of vitamin C, tomatoes
  have been heralded as a good-for-your-heart food as well. That’s because they contain lycopene, an antioxidant that appears to have heart-protective powers. The only catch: To benefit from lycopene, the tomatoes must be cooked.

Good Reasons to Grow Your Own

Need an incentive for cultivating your own garden? Here are three!

1. Gardening just 30 to 45 minutes three times a week can decrease your blood pressure, increase your HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
2. Gardening ranks right up there with playing volleyball, brisk walking or golfing when it comes to average number of calories burned (from 125 calories an hour for a 120-pound person to 328 for a 180-pound person—more if your weight exceeds 180 pounds).
3. You’ll ease stress and anxiety, sharpen your mental skills and derive satisfaction from seeing your garden grow.