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Cabbage Worms Ate My Collard Greens. What’s Eating Your Garden?

When I was checking out my balcony garden, I noticed that one container looked pretty empty. After taking a closer look, I thought to myself…when did I plant aloe?

Turns out it wasn’t aloe, but it was a container that used to be collard greens? Cabbage worms went to town on them and completely devoured them. By the time I noticed, it wasn’t even salvageable so I let them have their way.

I’ve had pest problems before with the aphid infestation and have also wrestled with cabbage worms.

What pests are eating your garden? How to do you combat them without using toxic pesticides?

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Growing Cucumbers Vertically to Maximize Space

A single cucumber plant can spread out over 12 to 20 square feet when grown in traditional rows or hills. But one way to make better use of space and maximize yields is to grow cucumbers vertically – that is, to let the vines expand upward instead of outward, by supporting them on a raised structure. This is a perfect space-saving solution for anyone growing cukes in containers, raised beds, or other small plots of land (like a narrow side yard).

By the way, if you’re looking for heirloom/non-gmo seeds this is where you can order cucumber seeds online.

There are other benefits to growing cucumbers vertically as well. When plants are raised off the ground, leaves are less susceptible to slugs. Since foliage dries off faster after a rain, fungal problems are reduced. And, vertically-grown plants may have more leaf surface area exposed to the sun, resulting in better growth.

The most important way to ensure success with vertical growing is this: Know the difference between vining and bush types of cucumbers – and choose your seeds or seedlings carefully so you don’t end up with a bush variety!

Bush varieties of cukes have been bred to take up less space when grown flat in the garden. While they’re still sprawling plants, they’re not climbers. Instead, they put out vines that radiate only three feet out from the plant’s center – meaning they require only nine square feet of horizontal space, about a third of what a vining cucumber takes up on the ground. But when you grow a true vining cucumber variety vertically, you can grow one or two plants in just one square foot of ground space.

Many people successfully grow cucumbers on long, low supports – three feet high by five feet long, for example. But when you’re really short on ground space, nothing beats growing them nearly straight up, on a tall support of five feet or more. Always start out with your growing structure in place, and then transplant seedlings around it – you’re less likely to damage roots this way.

If you’re growing in containers, use a pot of 21 inches or more, to allow for root room. You can grow four to six cucumber vines this way, with at least a five-foot trellis in or behind the pot.

Cucumbers climb via tendrils – specialized, touch-sensitive leaves that wrap tightly around objects they contact. If your vines seem reluctant to climb, your latticework may be too far apart or the individual bars may be too wide for the tendrils to grasp. Try stapling chicken wire or netting to your structure, to give the vines a toe-hold.

As you experiment with vertical growing, you can create your own plant supports from materials you have on hand.

Sound off

What other tips do you have for growing cucumbers?

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Dairy Free Spinach Pesto

    Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Handful of spinach
  • 8-10 basil leaves
  • Some parsley sprigs
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup each of walnuts and sunflower seeds
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Dash of sea salt and black pepper
  • Optional: 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • Optional: Get crazy and add 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
    How to make:

  • Add all ingredients to food processor.
  • Pulse down to desired consistency adding more olive oil if you want it looser.
  • Serve a top pasta, as a dip, on salads, whatever…

 

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Grow Your Own Gum: The Chewing Gum Alternative

There was a post on The Healthy Home Economist called The Sticky Truth About Chewing Gum that got me thinking about alternatives.

That’s when it hit me, I already have some growing on my balcony garden and so can you.

Why you might want to consider popping that next piece of chewing gum

Before I get into the alternative, I want to briefly discuss some highlights of the post. Chewing gum…

  • …is often made up of lots of artificial ingredients and sweeteners. GMO corn syrup is a popular one.
  • …gets your stomach ready for digestion, but nothing ever makes its way down. Valuable digestive enzymes are therefore wasted.
  • …a cause for a lot of stress in the jaw bone according to an oral surgeon in Dallas.
  • …releases the mercury from your amalgam fillings into your body. This is even more toxic for pregnant women as the mercury makes its way down to the fetus.

The chewing gum alternative

Now that you have the reasons why you might reconsider chewing gum, check out my alternative – fresh herbs.

Yup that’s right. What’s better than chewing on some fresh mint or parsley? Nope, I’m not crazy. As with any alternative there are pros and cons. Let’s weight them.

Pros

  • There are no artificial sweeteners and GMOs. It doesn’t get any more natural than this.
  • If you go with the mint flavor, it will help with digestion.
  • You will save money. Your herbs will last longer and be much more affordable than regular chewing gum.

Cons

  • It only comes in one color – green.
  • Limited flavor selection. Mint comes in spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint, apple mint and pineapple mint. Parsley only comes in one flavor….parsley.
  • No fun packaging and wrapping that you can put in your pocket and get stuck in the washing machine.

There it is your very own chewing gum alternative that you can grow on your own. What’s your thoughts?

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How to Harvest Mint to Promote More Growth

Your mint container is likely overflowing and ready to harvest. If not, it should be. There is a way that you can harvest it to encourage even more growth from the delicious herb.

What you are going to want to do is pinch it from the top. What the hell does that mean? It means that you are going to have to find the sprig that you want and pinch it as close to the next set of leaves as possible. This will help to encourage the plant to grow more.

If that doesn’t make any sense, check out this quick video. It makes more sense visually than written.

What’s your favorite way to use mint?

Where to buy mint seeds? Get them here: http://www.seedsnow.com/collections/types?q=All+mint+seeds

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Keeping Transparent About Sponsors

This is post that I was debating about writing or just letting it pass. I decided to write it because I have been so vocal about having sponsorships. I thought it was only fair.

Last week, I wrote the post about Miracle-Gro being organic and how I didn’t care. In the comments of the Facebook thread, someone mentioned that one of my sponsors was selling Round-Up.

If you’ve been following along the discussions, you would know that this is a product of chemical gardening that I speak out against (some might say too often). When I checked out the link provided for me, sure enough MasterGardening is selling Round-Up.

As I bring new sponsors on, I usually do my due diligence to look into them and what they are offering. Their offering of Round-Up is something that I completely missed. It was a mistake on my end. I don’t fault or blame MasterGardening. They were not trying to trick me. I accept full responsibility.

As soon as I found this out, I cut off ties with MasterGardening and have refunded them. I have nothing against them and appreciate them wanting to be a sponsor. If I would have realized from the beginning that they were selling Round-Up, I wouldn’t have started the relationship.

The reason that I am writing this is because I want to be upfront and honest with you about what’s going on. I don’t want to just sweep it under the table and act like nothing happened. By doing that I think it would be a disservice and disrespectful to you.

What do you think about the situation?

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Cucumber Salad

    Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Cucumber
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1/2 lemon
  • Tablespoon of olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Teaspoon of raw honey
  • Optional: Fresh or dried herbs of your choice
    How to make:

  • Slice up cucumbers into thin discs. You can use a knife, food process or madnolin.
  • Add cucumbers to your bowl.
  • Cut up you red onion and add to bowl.
  • Pour your olive oil and squeeze the lemon over the mixture.
  • Sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Drizzle with raw honey.
  • If you are using, add your herbs.
  • Toss and let sit to marinate for 10-20 minutes.
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Are Conventional Farmers Evil?

There was a great post on Cooking Up a Story titled The Unconventional Harvest: Conventional Dairy Farmer Art Thelen written by Nathan Winters.

The Conventional Side of the Story

Nathan stayed with a conventional dairy farmer, Art Thelen, in Wisconsin and had the chance to check out his farm and speak with art about his farming methods.

Stories like this are great because they give the other side of the story. It’s easy for people to get all preachy and demonize the farmers as if they are intentionally poisoning us and ruining the environment. That kind of attitude doesn’t help to bring about the change that we all want to see happen.

Most of these farmers have been pitched and sold on a way of farming that is supposed to yield more crops, be easier for them to maintain, all at lower costs. So I don’t think it’s the farmers that are to point the finger at. It’s government and the chemical companies to blame.

You Can Justify Anything You Want

With that being said there were three points in the article that stuck out to me. The first was the quote from Art, “Milk is milk! I don’t care if you are payin’ 3 dollars a gallon for regular milk or if you’re payin’ 6 dollars for organic milk. Milk is milk!”

I think there is a huge difference between the milk from a cow that’s been jacked up on hormones, milked for hours and days on end and is fed an unnatural diet compared to one that is grass fed, free roaming and treated more naturally.

The next statement that I had problems with is from Art’s wife. She said, “I am a good mother. Do you think that I would let my kids drink milk if it wasn’t healthy? Are you a spiritual person? I am firm believer that God has given us this technology. He has given us the tools to grow these crops so we are able to feed our animals and ultimately feed the world. When you are a farmer you are very close to God. He looks over the production of our food and he looks over us.”

C’mon religion? You are going to justify that with religion? That’s a faulty argument if I’ve ever heard one. You can twist it to fit anything you want. Pretty sure that terrorists justify what they are doing in the name of religion.

Her argument has zero validity to me. I wonder if she’d say the same thing about abortions, the death penalty and drugs? I mean God obviously gave us all of those too.

The final part of the article that rubbed me the wrong way was how Nathan concluded the article, “Art Thelen was simply doing what he loved and what was best for his family. Most of all, he was doing what he felt God had wanted him to do. Can anyone argue with that?”

Yes this might be true. I don’t necessarily believe that Art is an evil man that is plotting to destroy the environment and our health, but again does that justify what he is doing on his farm? There are plenty of people that love what they do and do it because it’s best for their family. That doesn’t necessarily make it right.

You can justify lots of actions in that way. The Nazi soldiers might not have necessarily agreed with what they were doing, but they carried out their orders because it was best for their families. That statement is likely gonna piss off a lot of people and I’m not comparing Art to a Nazi soldier, but I’m comparing the justifications of the actions.

It’s the Chemical Companies, Not the Farmers

With all of this being said, I don’t think that the farmers are the ones that we should necessarily be pointing our fingers at and demonizing. They have all bought into the system that has been pitched and sold to them. They are busting their asses to get by and doing a pretty good job of it.

It’s the system and those that are selling this to the farmers that are the ones we should be faulting. A farmer like Art can likely run circles around any of us when it comes to working hard. It would beneficial to get someone like him to change his ways than to argue with him.

Sound Off

The question is how do we reach out to farmers like Art to explain the benefits of sustainable and organic practices? What’s your thoughts on Nathan’s story of Art and conventional farmers?

Photo courtesy of Maraker on Flickr

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Is Miracle-Gro Organic? Who Cares?

People often ask me if Miracle-Gro is organic. My response is usually, “Who cares?”

The majority of Miracle-Gro’s product line is filled with chemicals and synthetics. They do have some product that is organic and certified by OMRI.

Scott’s, the parent company of Miracle-Gro, is in bed with Monsanto and are the exclusive agent of Round-Up.

For me, I don’t care how organic one small part of their product line is because ultimately it is going to a company that I cannot support. I’d rather source my fertilizer and other gardening needs from elsewhere than to get organics from a company that I don’t believe in.

This is what it all comes down to. It’s not just about being organic. It’s about what your money is supporting.

I don’t care how organic their product is. As consumers, we vote with our dollars. When you give your dollar to a company like Scott’s you are supporting what they are doing. Even if you buy their organic product, it’s still going to the same company.

Once I learned this, I refused to purchase any more Scott’s and Miracle-Gro products. I also do not recommend them to anyone.

What’s your thoughts on buying Miracle-Gro even if it’s just their organic products?

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The WTF Food News for July 2011

In the “WTF Food News”, I’ll highlight some food stories from the previous weeks that make you tilt your head, curl your brow, lift your shoulders and make that face like you thought you had to fart, but something else came out.

Here is the July 2011 installment:

Fried Kool-Aid a fair hit, Chicken Charlie says
County fairs give us such health conscious foods cotton candy, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies and fried beer. Now they give us their latest creation – Fried Kool-Aid. It comes in the form of doughnut holes. This is what people really need.

Lab-Grown Meat: Food of the Future?
This seems to be the next generation of GMOs to me. There will be no need for livestock as meat can be grown in labs. It’s just scary.

Scientist Develops Steaks From Human Poop
Have you ever had a steak that tastes like a piece of shit? Well a researcher from Japan has developed a steaks that are based on the proteins from poop. I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit.

Horse Semen Shots Taste ‘Like Custard’
Do I really need to make a comment on this one? Do I?

There you go. Is this the future of our food system? What are some other WTF Food News stories that you have seen lately?

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Grow Great Tomatoes Without Using Chemicals

 

It’s frustrating to say the least when you spend hours tending to your tomato garden and the tomatoes still aren’t as big and vibrant as they could be. The soil quality will determine your success with each plant, and the more organic material you mix into your soil (versus synthetics) the better the plant will grow!

Chemicals Aren’t the Solution

Most people do not want chemicals anywhere near their garden, family, dinner table, pets or the soil. They do not want exposure to dangerous toxins and once they contaminate the soil they can take years to get rid of. Avoid synthetic fertilizers (use organic or worm castings instead), toxic pesticides, products with high nitrogen content or nitrogen only.

Tips for Planting Tomatoes

  • When you plant tomatoes, select a location that has full sun all day long. If sun can hit the entire plant, it will grow better and fruit will appear sooner.
  • Spacing is also important. We suggest 3 feet by 3 feet, and no closer.
  • Proper air circulation will reduce pest and disease problems.
  • Stimulating and maintaining healthy, biological soil is also a key component. Soil that drains well is preferred, and adding organic microbes such as beneficial bacteria and Mycorrhizal fungi will extend the root systems and increase water and nutrient retention.

Your Options

Some gardeners use organic compost or mulches to accelerate plant growth and help deter insect infestation and disease. Organic Compost and mulches contain the same microbes, but in a dry formula it takes a lot longer for them to get to the roots and they cannot attach to plant surfaces.

Read some of the comments below to see what tips and tricks others are using to grow tomatoes organically.

Join the discussion … What have you used and are other options for growing great tomatoes without the chemicals?

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Avocado Dill Dressing

    Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1/2 avocado
  • Handful of fresh dill
  • Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Few pieces of red onion
  • Sea salt
  • Splash of water
  • Optional: Raw honey
    How to make:

  • Add all ingredients to food processor or blender.
  • Blend down until smooth.
  • Add more water if necessary to thin out.
  • Serve over a salad or use as a dip.
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How Do You Save Money on Healthy and Organic Foods?

There were a few posts that got me thinking about healthy and organic foods being affordable. The first one came from the New York Times titled A Look at How Many Calories $1 Will Buy.

The article states, “One dollar’s worth of Coke has 447 calories, while $1 of iceberg lettuce has just 16.5.” First off, who really eats iceburg lettuce??! That pretty much summarizes the problem. The cheaper foods are the ones that aren’t the healthier options.

On the same day, I saw another article on MindBodyGreen titled Why Americans Are Getting Fatter. It had an infographic that clearly showed why we have become an obese nation. Since the 1960s, the weight of the average male has increased from 166 to 191 pounds. It also said that the average American spends more money on education, computers or new cars.

When I talk to people about eating non-processed and organic foods, they often balk at the pricing. When I posed that question to friends on Facebook, they chimed in with ways how they avoid eating cheap and fast foods.

Ideas from Facebook Friends

Rachel Hoff suggested that learning how to cook your meals from scratch is a good way. Most people don’t know how to cook anymore because it’s so complex on the TV shows.

Using a slow cooker was recommended by Jesse Mabry. That eliminates the time and not knowing what to cook excuse. You can throw your meal in the morning and by the time you get home from work it is complete.

Other Ideas

Buy from the bulk bins at your grocery or health food store. Not only will this cut down on the packaging, but it’s often cheaper when you buy this way as well. I buy a lot of my dried goods this way such as nuts, seeds, beans and grains.

Join your local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). If you can’t afford it or think it’ll be too much, make it more affordable by sharing or splitting it with a friend or family member.

You can often find deals at your local Farmers Markets. By growing directly from the grower, you are cutting out the costs of the middleman and likely getting fresher food.

You can also grow your own food. If you look at the economics of it over an extended period of time, it makes total sense. Obviously the scalability isn’t there for most of us, but every little bit certainly helps out.

Sound Off

What are other ways that you save money on healthy and organic foods?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uu3hevEtxk

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Garden Product Reviews: Should I Do Them?

When I wrote about having sponsors, some people mentioned that they wanted me to review the products. This is something that I wanted to get more feedback from you on.

To give you my thoughts, a straight review isn’t something that I’m really that interested in. For the most part they are pretty boring. I will definitely be using the products of my sponsors more, but don’t want to dedicate an entire post to a specific product (sans contests).

Before Botanical Interests even became a sponsor, I wrote a post about them. The reason I wrote this is because lots of people kept asking me where to get non-GMO seeds from and the seed companies that I contacted wouldn’t respond. In the comments of that post other people recommended other seed companies as well.

Thrive is another one of my sponsors that recently signed on. I have yet to use their product, but suggest it when people ask me for alternatives to liquid Miracle-Gro. I am going to be using Thrive in my garden, once I get the twig issue resolved.

I am sure not to say that I’ve used it with great results. That would be lying.

What I’ll be doing is if I am doing something and using a product, I will mention it within the post. If you have a question about that product, then feel free to ask via email, comments, Facebook, Twitter, carrier pigeon…whatever.

When using sponsor’s products, I’ve been very clear and upfront that I am not going to blindly say that the product is the shit and works great. If I have used the product and don’t like it, I will certainly say so as well.

The most important thing is that I don’t want to lose the focus of this site, which is to inspire and empower people to start growing their own food and give some gardening tips along the way.

I’m always down for the dialog and discussion, whether it’s by email, in the comments of this site, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube if you have any questions on products. That is, unless, you really want me to do product reviews.

What’s your thoughts?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ca_F3mxBU

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Mashed Cauliflower

    Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • Tablespoon olive oil
  • Dash of sea salt and pepper
  • Any of the following are optional to season as you wish: fresh or dried herbs, garlic, milk, cream or nut milk.
    How to make:

  • Boil up cauliflower in water until tender.
  • Drain cauliflower.
  • You can mash in a bowl or add to food processor (recommended).
  • Add olive oil, sea salt and pepper.
  • Blend down until smooth.
  • To mine I added splash of nut milk, dried herbs and clove of garlic and blended again.
  • Serve as you would mashed potatoes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEBVtiOn9uA

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The Global Food System Isn’t Safe: What to do About It

There was an article in The Atlantic called The FDA Details Its Struggle to Regulate Imported Foods.

In the article it goes into details about the current global food system, the reasons why the FDA cannot ensure it’s safety and regulate all of the imported foods.

Here are some facts for you from the article:

  • Between 10 percent and 15 percent of all food consumed by all U.S. households is imported.
  • Nearly two-thirds of all fruits and vegetables are imported.
  • 80 percent of seafood is imported.

The majority of the produce that we are eating, comes from outside of the United States. Again, this begs the question – where is our food coming from?

The amount of food being imported is also on the rise. In the past 7-10 years that number has increased by around 10%.

Here is the part of the article that caught my eye and ear the most:

…in 2008 the FDA would have needed “1,900 years to check every foreign food plant at its rate of inspections at the time.

Obviously that much time wasn’t spent checking and inspecting the food. This is how the outbreaks and food borne illness occur. I guess all that matters to the FDA is that it’s cheap and one of their friends is getting paid.

So when you are at the grocery store, supermarket, bodega, Whole Foods or where ever you get your food from, this is something that you should consider.

This global food system just ain’t safe. It’s not working and built for our safety. The FDA has pretty much said that they can’t handle it to ensure our safety. Therefore we have to ensure our own safety. Who better?

How can you take your food safety in your own hands? Glad you asked. You can:

  • Start growing your own food.
  • Shop at your local farmers market and ask the growers questions.
  • Join your local CSA
  • At the very minimum, if you are shopping at a local grocery store, buy organic. That’s a pretty safe bet.

We as consumers and individuals have the power to take a stand and make a difference with our purchasing power.

What’s your thoughts on the global food system and what do you do to ensure your food safety?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjc8Yx5_cPs

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It’s Almost July, What’s Growing in Your Garden?

It’s almost July. Crazy ain’t it?!?! Around the country most of you should be at least a month deep into your growing seasons. You should have already thinned out some seedlings after their true leaves shown and done succession plantings.

You’ve already shared your spring garden ideas with me and last month you told me how your May gardening was coming along.

Ginger Renne Doxie had a raised bed built from cinder blocks that had some tomatoes, peppers and radish. She also planned to grow some tomatoes upside down.

Juanita pretty much wrote an entire post about all she had going on from spinach and lettuces that she was harvesting to the onions she was eating daily. It was great to read the excitement in her comment.

Melissa Willis asked if it was a loaded question and said how she went out of control with her plantings, but had not rain in New Mexico. Hopefully she’s had some since.

Well on my balcony garden, I had that issue with the twigs in the soil, but all is not lost. My mint container is doing well. There are two swiss chard containers that I’m harvesting from regularly and using in my smoothies. Also, my Jack Be Little Pumpkin is looking decent so far.

Now on to the important questions and part of the post, what’s growing in your garden this time of the year?

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Thrive Sponsor Profile

I’d like to introduce Thrive as a sponsor of Urban Organic Gardener. I spoke with Heather, the Marketing & Customer Service Specialist for Thrive to learn more about the company. Here’s the Q&A.

What does your company specialize in?
We specialize in helping people live a more natural lifestyle! We’ve been working hard for years to bring sustainable results to our customers we reach them in their homes, in their ponds, in their gardens, in their kitchens and even on their farms.

We do that using THRIVE, our all-natural garden, lawn, and pond application products. In a nutshell, THRIVE promotes growth in your lawn, veggies, flowers, and trees by using a concentrated dose of beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi elements that are already found in nature.

One of the greatest benefits of using our product is that our customers can rest assured they’re doing something good for the environment and doing something great for their plants. It’s a win-win situation!

We have products for plants, flowers, lawn care, vegetables, tomatoes, trees & shrubs, composting, pond clarification, and even pets. After using the products our customers see real results.

What is your best selling product?
We have a three-way tie: Tomato THRIVE, Vegetable THRIVE, and New Plant THRIVE are the hottest this season.

In addition, now that the summer heat has begun in most parts of the country, we’re receiving more calls than ever from people who are looking for our pond clarifier. Plus, our web traffic has substantially increased since we launched our brand new web site.

People all over the country have really embraced this alternative to chemical solutions. It’s easy to use, helps anything that grows, and perhaps best of all, people don’t have to worry about over treating. It is the kind of product that the minute you use it, you just feel better since it does not contain harsh chemicals.

Which of your products do you think is a must have and why?
That’s the beauty of THRIVE as we have something for everyone. Whether your passion is focused towards one area or all areas of gardening and beautifying your lawn and plants, the THRIVE line of products has a product specific to your needs. While there are subtle differences in the products, they all perform the same basic functions for the plants. Simply, THRIVE is designed to release locked away nutrients in the soil, restore biological activity, increase root growth and provide an extension to the root system with the mycorrhizae.

What do sustainable and organic gardening mean to you?
Sustainable and organic gardening are integral parts of living a healthy lifestyle and they’re aspects we believe in wholeheartedly. We appreciate the resources we have around us, and we don’t take them for granted. Things like water, soil, labor, and community support/services are all precious, and the goal is to not use them up faster than they can be replaced. We want to avoid altogether the depletion of natural resources.

We do that by promoting organic gardening, which is growing without using chemical fertilizers. If you can naturally build the soil so that it supports the healthy growth of the vegetation within it, why wouldn’t you? It’s safer for everyone literally especially when it comes to the food we consume.

That’s why THRIVE is such an important part of sustainable organic gardening. It’s all-natural, and doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals. THRIVE helps restore the natural, biological activity already going on in the soil. A great side-effect of THRIVE is that it helps plants retain food and water for longer, meaning you have to water less often.

What’s the one piece of advice that you wish someone gave you when you first started to grow your own?
Always remember that each plant will grow and react differently in different geographic areas and climates across the nation. What may have worked for someone in one area may not work in another area depending on rainfall, drought, soil conditions etc. Always try to assess your conditions and be willing to adapt your practices accordingly.

Be sure to check out Thrive on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube.

Want to reach over 10,000 garden enthusiasts a day? Find out more about becoming an Urban Organic Gardener sponsor.

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Pan Roasted Peaches and Walnut with Tarragon Salad

    Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 large ripe peach
  • Tablespoon of dried tarragon or some fresh sprigs
  • 2 handfuls of walnuts
  • 1/4 of a small red onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of oil divided. You can use olive oil, but I used coconut oil.
  • Bed of greens. Mine were red leaf lettuce and arugula.
    How to make:

  • Heat up a pan and put the walnuts on it to dry pan roast them.
  • Stir occasionally.
  • Cut up your peach into slices and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
  • When the walnuts are slightly warmed. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
  • Add other tablespoon of oil to the pan to heat up.
  • Cut up your garlic and onion.
  • Add tarragon to the heated oil and sautee for a 15 seconds..
  • Add garlic and onion to the pan.
  • Sautee until tender and soft.
  • Add the peach slices.
  • Let them heat up for 3-5 minutes until slightly browned and flip.
  • When the other side is browned, add the walnuts and let all cook for 2 minutes.
  • Serve on top of bed of greens.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbkpBcOh5_I

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Why GMOs Are (Not) Feeding the World

The main reason that so many people get behind chemical gardening and agriculture is the belief that it’s the only way to feed the world. This load of crap has been force fed to us by the same companies that are producing the food. What else do you expect them to say?

They have all of us believing that with the rising population and our limited resources that organic methods of growing food couldn’t possibly feed the world. I have news for you – GMOs aren’t doing such a great job of it either. Here is why:

Top GMOd crops

Three of the top GMOd crops are corn, soy and wheat. Combined something like 80-90% of all of those crops planted are of the genetically modified variety. Even if it’s on the lower end it’s still somewhere around 70%. Source: USDA

This sounds great. We can grow these crop because they are resistant to pests, drought and everything else. So what’s wrong with that?

They don’t get fed to humans

Instead these crops wind up being unnaturally fed to livestock to help fatten them up quicker. Close to 50% of the soy and 60% of the corn grown goes to feeding livestock. Source: Sustainable Table

All right! This is even better because My Plate says that we need protein. Protein comes from meat, and we are getting meat that’s fattening up quick for us to eat.

Not so much. Since these animals are being fed an unnatural diet and being kept in factory farms, this is what contributes to outbreaks such as e.coli and other food scares.

I don’t know the percentage, but whatever doesn’t get fed to livestock is made into food like products using high fructose corn syrup and all those other mystery ingredients.

In actuality, it’s not even being given directly to people to consume.

Wheat is the new corn

The price of wheat has dropped below that of corn. Now livestock is being fed wheat because it’s cheaper. Source: Bloomberg

This is being done for price reasons, not for health.

Ethanol for cars

Behind the scenes, Monsanto, who is one of the main suppliers of GMO corn, has been pushing hard for using ethanol to power cars. This would result in the corn being grown to be used for a gas alternative instead of food.

Conclusion

Those are just a few of the reasons why GMOs are not feeding the world. The crops aren’t even being given to humans to consume. Let’s not even get started on the potential health and environmental impacts of them.

This is another reason to start growing your own food, at least some of it. You can supply yourself and stop supporting this hamster wheel that we are on of continually giving the same companies our money over and over again. Start putting that money towards your farmers markets, CSA or local co-ops. We have the power to shift and change the power. Let’s utilize that.

What are your thoughts on GMOs feeding the world?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYbT0OF7_F8