Another lovely day here in MD and another day to spend tending to my garden. I am so excited about this years garden. I plan on growing so much more food. Not sure if I will be around this summer to tend to/enjoy it all, but I do have to start my garden in case I am. I love the idea that for very little cost I can provide so much food for myself, family and even friends. I do not have a big backyard at my dads house in the suburbs of Baltimore, but we are using every inch of it to our advantage to grow things. I am on a mission to prove that the idea of a farm is not the stereotypical idea we often think of, I am creating an urban/suburban farm on less than an acre.
We have a small garden plot which will contain: potatoes, Big Boy and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, rainbow carrots, Bloomsdale spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes, pumpkins, oregano, Genovese basil and strawberries. Mostly organic/heirloom seeds.
Then I am using the old wooden swing sets rope ladder as a trellis and using the space between the rope ladder and the tower to create a small garden plot with which to grow luffa gourds. Yes luffa sponges, yes they come from a plant. I will post a picture later once the plants start to sprout and use the ladder trellis.
I also plan to grow sweet potatoes and lavender, but I am not sure where those will go yet, since I will not have space in the garden plot, but trust me I will find a place (with my goal in mind), even if they have to be container plants.
Then there are the perennials. The black raspberries, grapes and blueberries are leafing out. The Damson plums, apples and sweet cherries are all in flower. This year I hope to find an eco-friendly spray solution for the apples so that they wont become all gnarly and wormy. I do not get it! I know of plenty of abandoned orchards that are never sprayed and I always go picking in them, they have wonderful apples, but our own apple tree when not sprayed the apples are always crap. Well, I guess because I have always found my share of free apples, I never bothered with our own tree, but this year I plan on doing something about that. I want to see good apples on our own apple tree. It always gets lots of flowers and lots of crummy apples, but now I want to see good apples!
I have also planted lots of flowers. Marigolds, zinnias, lavender as I mentioned, Helenium and Gaillardias, Cleome, Susans, Milkweeds, maybe others that will surprise me as they were mixed in with the Helenium and Gaillardia seed. These are great additions to the garden, not only because they are beautiful, but because they attract pollinators who will then also pollinate the food crops.
I just went to the Friends of the National Arboretum plant sale, too and I got lemon balm, apple mint, sage, chamomile and wild ginger.
Then there is not only what I have on my property, but the season for foraging for wild edibles is also upon us, so I will probably find blackberries, wineberries and others in the public parks I frequent. I am so excited! Spring is my favorite season weather wise, but summer is the promise of lots of fresh locally grown/foraged food and farmers markets!
Pictures to come later on Facebook.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Organic is not What it Used to be
Selling Out. That is an idea often applied to musical groups, but it can be applied to any group or company. The idea is that as a group gets bigger, they get further away from their original ideas as a group/company. Unfortunately the same thing happens to organic companies. As much as we would like to think that by buying organic foods we are making a good choice, there is much more behind our choices than we would believe and its sad and unfortunate. Unfortunately all choices, even the best ones have negative environmental implications.
What am I talking about, the idea that many organic companies are being sold to larger companies with less of an environmental ethic. The products are not changing, so you do not notice it, but the money is now going to someone else`s pocket who potentially cares less about the environment. So when you buy that box of organic granola you have no idea that down the line the money maybe going big cereal/food companies and ultimately groups like Monsanto. So your organic granola might be putting money in the pockets of GMO. unethical crop growing/ massive corn producing companies anyways. Here is what I mean in a big diagram.
You could say that buying organic foods is still better than not and it is. You could argue that you are still making a statement with your dollars that you want more organic products. However, I still cannot shake that at the end of the day that companies like General Mills who makes Cheerios and is only committed to going GMO free in their regular Cheerios owns many of the organic brands that I often purchase. What does that say about their ethics and values. Yes, at the end of the day I am supporting those ethics and values with my purchases.
It gets worse, unfortunately, here is an article showing which companies Monsanto owns. Many of the same companies as above that own many of the organic brands we buy. Why is Monsanto bad? I could go on forever on that, but here are some of the things that I do not like about them: seed patents, which mean that poor farmers can be sued if Monsanto patented seeds blow onto their farms and grow, GMO seeds which have environmental/ecological impacts that we are not fully aware of yet and the degradation of heirloom varieties of seed/produce by mass production of GMOs. Furthermore, Monsanto CEOs/Bigs have often ended up as FDA/USDA heads. Do we want these people governing how our food supply is taken care of?
http://www.realfarmacy.com/printable-list-of-monsanto-owned-food-producers/
So what can you do? Research. Although that takes a lot of time, it could be the best way to find out what companies are owned by who and what products to buy. Label reading. Look at the organic products you buy and see if the ingredients have changed or if the ingredients or are even still mostly organic. Making your own food. If you buy the basic ingredients and make your food mostly from scratch you will cut out a lot of those companies with questionable big corporation ties. For example make your own granola, instead of buying Natures Path or Cascadian Farms. You can choose the ingredients so they are the most sustainable and healthiest; such as, whole organic rolled oats from a bulk bin, fresh organic berries, locally produced maple syrup and fresh nuts and seeds from bulk bins. Finally, eat closer to the earth. The more fresh fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, etc. that you eat the less boxed items you consume, the less questionable big corporations you end up supporting. Local farmers markets and farm co-ops are the best places to find the most locally produced foods. Don't just buy big name organic brands, look for locally produced organic brands. Finally my favorite idea, foraging and gardening! Not everyone has time for this, but if you do its worth it!
Maine is a great example of state where you can find lots of locally produced organic brands like:
and many others.
My favorite place to find these products was the Rising Tide farmers co-op market in Damariscotta, ME.
In Maryland the Greenbelt Farmers Market is a great place to find local brands such as:
and many others.
So in short you could look at this post as a suggestion to eat within 100 miles of your home; become a locavore.
Also try to shop at local organic stores, rather than bigger ones like Whole Foods. I have never been in a Whole Foods, and I am sure its a nice store, but I find that my local MOM's and Davids have enough locally produced products and are very devoted to the community and its health and environmental wellness that I don't really go anywhere else. Same with Rising Tide.
Here are some webpages about MOM's that will give you an of what kind of company they are:
I know many of you will read this and think ''So What!?''. I know caring about the environment is hard work and costs more money and if we trash the environment it probably will not be our generation that sees the results, but do we really want to leave the planet worse off for future generations, our children and grandchildren. I don't. I am not sorry, I have an environmental moral conscience. I know it is easy to ignore this post and just go on living life business as usual and not worry about the consequences, to be blissfully unaware, but it should make you feel bad, because as I pointed out if you read this whole article, the way our food supply is produced in mass is not good for the long run of the environment. All I ask is that everyone at least make an effort to do their part and if we all did that we could make some sort of dent in this problem of an unsustainable and unhealthy food system. Just make one or two changes. Eat less fast food, more food from produce section, change the type of milk you buy, invest in one local company by buying their products. Everyone can do something, small or large. Whatever you feel like you can commit to doing you should.
I will end with this classic Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that sums up what this blog post might make you feel like. One of my environmental science professors showed this one to me for the first time.
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