Sustainable living - The Need To Grow Your Own Food

by James Young -- TrueVision

 

 

Due to genetically modified seeds, and the lack of pressure from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce labeling of food products, we no longer know if the food we consume is safe or even what's in it. Therefore, growing your own food is the most logical thing to do. Growing your own food has many benefits. Perhaps the major benefit is the money you save. Growing your own food is like printing your own money! Moreover, you know exactly what you are growing and how it's being grown. (You know all the by-products used to produce your homegrown food.) Growing your own food also provides a major health source by replenishing necessary vitamins, minerals, and enzymes the body needs to ensure good health.

 

Growing your own food is easier than you might think, even if you live in a tiny apartment. However, the ideal situation would be if several people in a neighborhood with backyards collectively grew vegetables and fruits for their group ('a community garden' using the people in that neighborhood to participate creating not only food but a closer social network). Starting your own garden can be with plants that are planted directly into the ground (row planting), or you can build above ground platforms (above ground planting). You can also develop layers or stacked shelves to plant on. Starting and growing a garden depends on how extensive or simple you want it to be.

 

It is easy to learn how to make your own planting soil as well as your own compost to feed your soil. In making your own planting soil, you'll know exactly what is in the soil, right down to the nutrients and fertilizer, to making purified water for your garden (see the video on "The Homemade Water Filter"). Starting a garden can be whatever your budget allows from expensively elaborate to FREE. There are many simple tips to help ensure that your garden flourishes, such as placing broken eggshells in your soil -- serves as a deterrent to crawling pests because of eggshell sharpness -- to placing banana skins in your soil to enrich it. Most importantly, make sure your seeds ARE NOT genetically modified.

 

Realistically, starting your own garden, especially if you have no idea what you are doing, will be challenging. However, besides the rewards of learning something new and having fun playing in the dirt, to eat the food you grow is very exciting because of the effort you put into it. While growing a garden you ’ll get great physical activity. It is a good form of physical activity for young and old.  And even if your mobility is limited, there are gardens that can be grown to accommodate you.

 

Remember, regardless of how expensive or inexpensive your garden is, or how well advanced you are in gardening, and even if you're just a beginner, knowing what you are growing and how it's being grown could save your life. Don't forget to SHARE.