Why an Organic Garden?
Many of us may remember watching our parents and grandparents tending the garden; yanking weeds, checking for infestation, and possibly using colorful language under their breath as they remained at war with the deer and rabbits that happily ate swatches of their precious lettuce in exchange for their droppings.
As we watched them gathering the vegetable garden’s bounty grown from heirloom, heritage seed, we may not have recognized that what was about to be put on the dinner table were organically grown vegetables. What we did noticed was the deep red, delicious juice running down our chins from organically grown watermelon, and the rich yellows and determined snap of kernels of corn as we bit into them. Do you recall the succulent, almost sweet flavor rarely experienced with today’s copycat corn? And tomatoes…fat with juice and bright red and orange in color—never the anemic yellowish-orange of today’s forced hothouse tomatoes. What a shame! But we have a choice. We can return to the earth, dig deep into the rich soil and plant heirloom seed, tend it, water it, and soon, we can be enjoying vegetables with unparalleled flavor that offer the sustenance of minerals and nutrients our bodies crave.
Are you still on the fence about organic gardening? Fair enough. I double-dare you to go to your local market, and buy one hot house imposter tomato and another that was organically grown. Actually, it would be fun to involve the whole family. Now slice both the imposter and the organic and place them on separate plates. Sample each: Do you notice the distinct flavor and texture difference? What about color? Chances are, both your taste buds and eyes will choose the organic tomato, hands down!
It doesn’t take much to get involved with organic growing. Rich soil (refer to our other posts on soil preparation), and a compost pile, heirloom, heritage garden seed, and you’re on your way to better health and a bounty that will never disappoint you or the dinner table!
By Barbara Fix, Lipscomb Enterprises Inc. Researcher & Writer
