Is Switching To Organic Food A Good Move?

When you go to the grocery store, do you drop by the organic food section or walk past it? Do you know what is the difference between the food on the organic aisle and the other aisles? Simply put, organic food is free of chemicals, antibiotics, and growth hormones. In other words, they are truly 100% natural. Read more..

Using Natural Pesticides In Your Vegetable Garden

Pesticides are harmful to us and the environment. There are more than 9,000 different acceptable pesticides that have been approved by the FDA. You may not be able to see, smell or taste them, but unless you eat organically-grown food, you’re consuming them. And unfortunately these pesticides don’t harm only the pests they are intended for. They can pose health risks for us too. Read more..

Organic Chemical Free Gardening

Every year, thousand of chemicals are poured into the environment and millions of gallons of water are needlessly wasted. How? By growing plants. Sure, most of this is done by large agricultural producers, but some of it is still done in personal gardens. And that means that you can make a difference by changing your gardening practices. There are many agricultural producers who have done it, and you can use the same tricks to help your own garden, and the planet. Read more..

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Chances are you may have heard of farm sharing programs or Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs). They have received a lot of publicity and media exposure in recent years for their ability to help bring real food back to the table every night and support local economies at the same time. CSAs are instrumental in helping people to access fresh, local foods directly from the farmer that grows it. Read more..

Going Organic

By now you’ve learned that the way food is grown has a huge impact on its nutritive value and quality. You’ve also learned that many of the current commercial agricultural practices do not produce high quality food. You want to give your family the best but can’t switch everything to organic all at once. So where’s the best place to start? Read more..

The Organic Difference, Part 5

Local and seasonal

Although not actually written into the legal standards that govern organic food, the majority of organic growers support local food initiatives, which encourage consumers to buy their food locally and seasonally. The organic community supports local food initiatives such as farmers markets, where farmers sell their own produce usually in monthly gatherings held in local towns and cities; box schemes, whereby mostly organic fruit and vegetables that have just been harvested are delivered to your door for a fixed fee; and small independent stores such as healthfood stores or organic fruit and vegetable stores. Read more..

Fences, Walls and Hedges – Tips

As with all planting in your garden, keep it local – there are locally distinctive hedgerow types so find out which ones predominate in your area before deciding which to grow.

Consider which hedges attract the most wildlife – oak, blackthorn (sloe) and hawthorn, for example – and help further by planting wildflowers and grasses at the foot of the hedge. Read more..

The Organic Difference, Part 4

Biodiversity

Encouraging natural biodiversity is an inherent aim of organic farming, not only in the greater environment in which the farm exists, but also in terms of the kind of crops and livestock that are being farmed. Organic farmers often grow unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables that are fast disappearing from our countryside, and they are also more likely to rear traditional breeds of livestock, since these will be best suited to the local conditions. Read more..

Organically Grown Foods

The food we eat should be tasty, nutritious and healthy. The way it is grown should help, not harm our environment. But can we really be confident that the fruit and vegetables bought from a supermarket meet these two simple criteria? Are we sure the levels of pesticides, insecticides and fungicides our food has been treated with will do us no harm? Read more..

The Organic Difference, Part 3

Avoiding synthetic chemicals

One of the biggest differences between conventional and organic farming systems is the former’s reliance on synthetic chemicals – either pre- or post-harvest. There is no place in organic farming for synthetic chemical pesticides. Instead, organic farmers concentrate on improving soil health, planting disease-resistant varieties, inspecting their crops frequently, rotating crops, and encouraging natural predators with companion planting and by creating ponds, hedgerows and so on. Read more..

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