Wheatgrass is 70 percent chlorophyll and is known for its beneficial properties when it comes to lowering blood pressure and other medical ailments. You can chew wheatgrass till the cows come home, but it is best to juice it and drink it. An ounce of wheatgrass juice has the nutritional equivalent of eating approximately 2½ pounds of leafy green vegetables.

Wheatgrass has been around for centuries. It wasn't until the 1930s that an agricultural chemist, Charles Schnabel, began to experiment with wheatgrass here in the U.S. Schnabel was a chicken farmer and had sick birds in his flock, so he began feeding them dried, ground-up wheatgrass. Not only did the sick chicks get better, their egg production was better than his healthy hens. He began promoting his findings to large food corporations such as Quaker Oats, and soon they began committing millions of dollars into the study of wheatgrass. A new market started to develop as humans began using wheatgrass in a powder form developed, packaged and sold by Schnabel. By the 1940s, Schnabel's powdered wheatgrass was available nationwide.

Today wheatgrass is usually grown in greenhouses, and while it's still available in powdered form, it's most commonly found growing "live" in trays. Fresh wheatgrass is also available year-round at the Aptos Farmers Market at New Natives. They have it available in 1 and 5 pound bags, already cut, or you can purchase it in trays, small and large.

Fresh wheatgrass contains vitamins C, E and B12, and has 90 different minerals and 20 amino acids [a complete protein].

How to Store: Store the cut wheatgrass in the refrigerator for up to seven days, in an airtight container. Don't wash your wheatgrass – if there is dirt on it, just lightly brush away. Only juice what you are going to use right away.

RECIPES: Green Super Juice, Hawaiian Tripic Wheatgrass Smoothie, Wheatgrass Smoothie, Apple Wheatgrass Juice

This hardy heirloom spinach was introduced to the world by David Ladreth in 1826 and named for his farm in Pennsylvania. Bloomsdale spinach is usually available from winter through late spring. It has rather large, curly dark green leaves, and a nice sweet taste. I find the Bloomsdale spinach holds its shape and texture better than regular spinach when cooked or sautéed, and makes a great substitute for chards or kales. Easy to grow, once planted you’ll have spinach on your table in about 45 days. Spinach is hardy enough to grow in Alaska. California is responsible for growing over half of the US spinach production.

Spinach comes in three varieties: flat, savoy and semi-savoy. Flat or smooth leaf spinach has a mild taste and is used for canning or frozen products. Savoy spinach is dark green with crinkly leaves, and has a similar taste to flat spinach and is usually sold fresh. Semi-savoy spinach, such as Bloomsdale, has a more pronounced winter greens flavor. Look for the large, curly leaves. Windmill Farms usually sells it loose at the Aptos farmers market.

Did you know that spinach contains 3 grams of protein per serving? Spinach is a good source of iron and fiber. Vitamin A and Vitamin C are also present.

How To Select: Look for dark green leaves. Avoid leaves that are yellow, or wilted and slimy.

How to Store: Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to a week. Wash leaves well before eating.

RECIPES: Szechwan Spinach Salad, Wilted Bloomsdale Spinach with Lemon and Pine Nuts

Not only will you be able to find garbanzos in their natural raw form from one of our farmers, but you will also be able to get them in some flavorful hummus from Zena Foods at the farmers market. Garbanzos or “chickpeas” hail from the Middle East. Kabuli chickpeas, the most common variety here, are light golden in color and about the size of a small marbles. Some people say the shape reminds them of a brain. Desi chickpeas are a variety widely grown in India and are usually darker in color, rough textured, and smaller in size. In the eighteenth century, roasted chickpeas were used as a substitute for coffee. A finely ground flour from dried garbanzos is called gram flour or besan, and is used in batters for pakoras in India, gundi dumplings in Israel, an Italian bread called socca, and many other dishes.

Garbanzos are the most widely consumed legume in the world. California grows the most garbanzos in the United States, approximately 8,000 acres per year. However, the largest producer of garbanzos in the world is India. Other places they are grown are Turkey and Australia. Garbanzos have taken up the slack in the legume world for the failed peanut crop from last year. If the weather continues as it is, it will do the same for this year as well.

One cup of garbanzos contains 17grams of fiber and 19 grams of protein and about 260 calories. Vegetarians love them.

How to select: Half-pound bags of garbanzos are pre-packaged at the New Natives stand at the farmers markets. They are considered “dried” but beginning to sprout.

How to Store: Keep them in their bag in your refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe: Indian Chickpea Vegetable Stew with Spinach Basmati Rice

The passion fruit vine grows about 15 to 20 feet per year and will bear fruit for about 6 to 8 years. Make sure to plant it next to a very strong support, since the vine will over take a fence or tree. You will usually find the dark purple-black variety of passion fruit at the farmers market.

Passion fruit is the size and shape of a large egg. The leathery skin is usually brittle and wrinkled looking. Inside you’ll find a gelatinous, juicy interior filled with about 250 to 300 small black seeds. Passion fruit is delicious simply eaten out of hand or juiced. Many like to add the pulp to a fruit salad. The fragrant juice is often blended with other juices to make a tropical beverage. The seeds are edible taste somewhat like guava. There are over 200 species of passion fruit in the Amazon.

One passion fruit is approximately 16 calories, loaded with vitamin A and C, and is an excellent source of fiber, if eaten with the seeds.

How to Select:  When passion fruit is ripe, the skins will have a wrinkled, deep purple old look. This does not mean the fruit in side is rotten. Choose fruit that is firm and heavy feeling.

How to Store:  If you buy fruit that is immature, leave at room temperature to ripen. Once fruit ripens, store in refrigerator for up to a week.