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Food Safety and Going Green With Organic Gardening

Consumers are finally beginning to take notice of the fact that many of the food items they are buying for their family are not being grown or packaged in America. More and more cases of unsafe foods are being recalled every day. Shopping for your family may bring to your attention that you can rarely find produce that is grown in America. Much of it is imported from countries that do not have safe health regulations regarding the irrigation of the produce or even  the packaging of the product. We are buying and consuming foods that have been watered with sources that contain bacteria such as E Coli, Listeria and Salmonella.
One way that we as a society, can do our part in trying to feed our children safer food, is to grow some of our own fruits and vegetables by starting an organic garden. Many people stray away from the idea, thinking that food’s purchased at a grocery store are safer due to strict regulations. Although this used to be the case, the regulators have slacked off, so many of our food products are unsafe to consume.
Organic gardening uses techniques that leave off chemical pesticides, which can be extremely dangerous to consume. Organic gardens also use natural fertilizers as opposed to chemical ones. Natural pesticides can be just as effective as chemically engineered products and are much safer to use.

Some of the natural pesticides include many items that you may have right in your kitchen cabinets. Some of these include a mixture of onion juice and pepper. Garlic can also be used as a natural pesticide, and many organic gardeners use plain soap and water that can be sprayed on plants without any ill effects.The use of natural products as pesticides is not only healthier, but it also helps protect the environment. Using homemade mulch, which is easy to make, can help the earth by making the soil rich and fertile without using chemicals.

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Now Is the Time to Prepare for Spring

Brian Farrell with helper plants at Our Commun...
Image via Wikipedia

Now that the summer has passed and autumn begins its transition into winter, gardeners should take advantage of the lull in activity to plan what they want to do in their yards next year. This is the perfect time to start planning what types of flowers and food-bearing plants you will put in your garden. You should also start thinking about any improvements that you might want to start making to your garden plot.

Around this time last year, I undertook a fairly large project in my backyard. Some people thought that I was crazy to build raised beds and fencing during December, but it made sense to me. Not only did I have some free time, I also got to do the work during a time of year when it’s not too hot. This way I will be ready to start gardening as soon as the ground thaws.

I also built a small scarecrow to keep out the birds. It was a simple task. I just used items that I found around the house: an old mop, a torn TapouT shirt and pair of stained pants. It seemed to work fairly well at keeping the birds out. It didn’t, unfortunately, do much to stop the deer that recently moved into the neighborhood after a developer tore down acres of nearby wooded land.

Even if you are not a fan of chilly weather, you can still start planning for next year’s garden. Run outside and take a few quick measurements so that you know what kind of space you have. Then use a piece of graph paper to determine exactly where all of your flowers, vegetable plants and fruit plants will go. By the time spring arrives, you’ll know exactly what you want to do.

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