growing our own food

This is a picture of the lettuce in my garden last year. I was blessed to be raised by a father who passed his love of gardening onto me. For many years I took all of his hard work for granted until I started to work with him, and caught the gardening fever. There is nothing like the taste of fresh picked tomatoes, and the strength and sweetness of a homegrown onion. I get home from work, walk into my garden and "pick" dinner. Once you've eaten home grown vegetables, you wonder what they're selling in the supermarket.

Growing your own food or buy locally from local farmers is healthier and good for your local economy. The food is fresher, tastier, and has more vitamins being freshly picked.

Michelle Moore, in Garden & Greenhouse, April 2008, page 12 (www.GardenAndGreenhouse.net) writes:

"Recent reports form the FDA revealed just over 1% of our imported food ever passes through inspection. This is troubling given our food imports doubled from 1997 to 2007 and imported food now comprises 13% of the total US food source. The use of pesticides and chemicals is unregulated in many countries. From the imports that were inspected, 6% were found to have pesticide violations, (compared to 2.4% domestic product), and another four percent contained a bacterial linked to salmonella and dysentery (compared to 1% domestic.) Rightfully so, the tainted products from China resulting in the pet food and toothpast scare has may people rethinking the safety of our food supply."

I grew up in an Italian home where having a garden was just part of life, and it kept us in touch with the earth and her cycle of seasons. Eating fresh vegetables, tomatoes, squash, pole beans, lettuce, onions, with fresh basil and parsley is something I will never give up. Working in the garden is hard work and also a refuge from the stressors of everyday business life. There's just nothing like the satisfaction of caring for the soil and watching plants grow. Our tomatoes are from seeds that my father saved every season for decades, and he remains alive and with us every year that they grow.

I hope that you give home gardening a try. Check out the links on this page, our bookstore, and start planting. You can create a hobby, a family tradition to share with your children, and you'll be eating well. There is such satisfaction in knowing what you're eating.

• KidsGardening.org
• Local Harvest
• Organic Consumers Association

buy local organic foods

• OrganicConsumers.org
• Eat Wild

catalog links

• Gurney's Seed & Nursery
• Burpee Gardening seeds, plants supplies
• Gardens Alive
• Worms Way Indoor and Outdoor Gardening Products

organic seeds

• Seeds of Change "In 1989, we at Seeds of Change started with a simple mission: to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture. We sought to do this by cultivating and disseminating an extensive range of open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower and herb seeds. This is still our mission. "
• Abundant Life Seed Company "At Abundant Life Seeds we have been protecting the genetic diversity of rare and endangered food crops since 1975. Our goal is to offer true-to-type open pollinated varieties grown using only certified organic or biodynamic farming methods."
• Territorial Seed Company "Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political, and cultural threats."