You may feel that growing your own produce is difficult enough, without adding
to the problems by growing them organically. Well, you pays your money and you
takes your choice, as they say, but for me, there are several reasons for going
the whole hog: Firstly, you don't have to worry about handling all sorts of
noxious chemicals, wearing special gear to use it, and all that Secondly, in my
opinion (your mileage may vary here), organically produced vegetables taste
better Thirdly, it's not really that much more work, the methods are different,
but no more difficult Fourthly, organic vegetables are better for you And
finally, why go to all that effort to produce a substitute for cheap
factory-produced food? Much better to go for the good stuff! Eat more fruit and
veg for healthThe British Government is always telling us to eat more healthily.
They say everybody should consume a minimum of five portions of fruit and
vegetables every day.But how many chemicals are there in that much
conventionally farmed produce? Organic fruit and veg may be hard to find at a
decent price. And if you do find a supplier, often the organic produce that is
on offer is not very attractive. It may be better for you -- but it looks
horrible, not at all appetising.So what's the solution?A shock, and a
realisationAround about 1992, I had two young children, aged 2 and 4 years. I
was trying to give them a healthy diet, and they loved carrots. Every day they
would grab at least one carrot each from the vegetable rack, sometimes more. I
was pleased. "They're getting good fibre, vitamins, stuff for their eyesight,
and the chewing is good for their teeth," I thought.Hah.I was watching the news
one day, when a very strange item came on (like something out of a science
fiction story, I thought at the time). The Government was issuing a Health
Warning on... carrots!!! Apparently, because of a rise in some pest or other (I
know now it was carrot fly), farmers had been using huge amounts of pesticide
chemicals, so much so, that the carrots produced contained dangerous amounts.
The advice was to peel them before use.To say I was surprised by this
announcement would be an understatement -- stunned more like, not to say angry.
My kids were being subjected to high levels of chemicals, not just from carrots,
but presumably from all sorts of other supposedly 'healthy' food. And there was
no way to tell: you certainly couldn't distinguish a carrot full of pesticides
from one that wasn't, just by looking at it.I also realised something else:
carrots are a root vegetable. And if a root is surrounded by something, it takes
it in and absorbs it, like a sponge. So peeling a carrot wasn't going to do much
good, if the problem was an excessive level of chemicals.I was living in an area
with no organic retail outlets. The only supermarket was K**kS*ve. I had no
transport. The only solution was to grow my own. So that is what I did -- with
no previous experience of gardening (apart from my cactus collection). If you've
got a good enough reason, you can do anything. That was 12 years ago now, and I
haven't looked back. Not only have I grown lots of really nice food (much
tastier than the shop-bought stuff), but I've had fun doing it, too.So, if you
have any experience of gardening, or none, visit the GardenZone and I will show
you how to get started. Exactly what to do, in English, not garden jargon (you
will get to know what the terms mean, but to start with they are too confusing).
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