| There are more reasons than ever why anybody | | | | Even the long-keeping vegetables such as potatoes, |
| with access to a few square feet of the outdoors | | | | onions and squash are noticeably tastier picked |
| should grow their own organic vegetables. | | | | straight from the home vegetable garden; but when |
| You may be shocked at how much of the produce | | | | it comes to peas and corn and salad vegetables- well |
| at your local supermarket has been genetically | | | | , there is absolutely nothing to compare with the |
| modified. Some estimates now put this at over 50%. | | | | home garden ones, gathered fresh, in the early |
| While there is no strong evidence that genetically | | | | slanting sunlight, still gemmed with dew, still crisp and |
| modified foods are immediately harmful to your | | | | tender and juicy, ready to carry every atom of |
| health, there are no long term studies either. Do you | | | | savory quality and taste, without loss, to the dining |
| want to take that risk? | | | | table. |
| Let’s take a look at pesticides and fertilizers. | | | | It is not in price or health alone that home gardening |
| Farmers no longer use crop rotation or natural | | | | pays. There is another point. Agribusiness has to |
| manures to improve soil fertility, so they are forced | | | | grow the things that give the biggest yield. They |
| to use ever increasing amounts of chemicals to | | | | have to sacrifice quality and taste for quantity and |
| improve yields and multiple pesticides to protect the | | | | long shelf life. You do not. The strawberries on the |
| weakened plants. Pesticides penetrate deeply into | | | | supermarket shelves may look bright and red and |
| the leaves of plants and pestiside residues remain | | | | uniform but you will soon find they taste more like |
| even after you have scrubbed them. | | | | the cardboard of their containers when compared to |
| To quote from The Environmental Protection Agency | | | | a home grown variety picked straight from the vine. |
| — “Pesticides are designed to kill pests. | | | | And this brings us to what may be the most |
| Many pesticides can also pose risks to people. The | | | | important reason you should garden. It is the |
| health effects of pesticides depend on the type of | | | | cheapest, healthiest pleasure there is. Give me a |
| pesticide. Some, such as the organophosphates and | | | | sunny garden patch in the springtime, give me seeds |
| carbamates, affect the nervous system. Others may | | | | to watch as they find the light, plants to tend as |
| irritate the skin or eyes. Some pesticides may be | | | | they take hold in the fine, loose, rich soil, give me |
| carcinogens. Others may affect the hormone or | | | | succulent and tasty springtime salads. And when you |
| endocrine system in the body.” | | | | have grown tired of the springtime, come back in |
| Sure you can, and should, buy organic fruit and | | | | summer to even the smallest garden, and you will |
| vegetables but have you seen the prices? Anybody | | | | find in it, every day, a new vista, new pleasures and, |
| with even a modest vegetable garden can grow | | | | yes, new challenges. |
| healthy organic vegetables at much lower cost than | | | | Better food, better health, better living -- all these |
| those at the local supermarket. Not only can you | | | | the home vegetable garden offers you in abundance. |
| grow them at much lower cost, but you can grow | | | | So, turn off that computer, pull out some old clothes |
| them one hundred percent better. | | | | and find a spot to dig. |