Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Eating Organic

There's no substitute for healthy eating on your weightloss journey.  There's no better way to eat healthy than to load up on the organic fruits and vegetables.  This was a good article on eating organic and making a transition from regular to organic foods.  And of course the Eat Clean diet is a great resource. (Have I hyped that book enough yet?)

What is unfortunate is that organic fruits and veggies are often hard to find or are too expensive.  Most of us are on tight budgets, and can't afford to spend our entire disposable income on organic food.  There is a way to get those organics without breaking the bank: Grow your own.

I cannot hype the benefits of growing your own garden enough.  There are several things that growing your own fruits and/or veggies will do for you.

1) You'll know where your food is coming from. I've talked about this before.  Most of us have no idea where our food comes from.  This includes produce as well as meat/poultry, etc.  Where is that lettuce you buy coming from?  Much of what you buy in a typical super-market is grown outside the United States where quality control is minimal.  Additionally, most of the produce is picked long before it's ripe so that it keeps until it's shelved at the store.

2) You'll have the power to provide.  Growing you own food makes you free. You become free from the systems most people depend on for their food.  There is much uncertainty in the world today.  What if there's a trucker's strike?  What if there are storms, floods, fires, or other natural disasters that disrupt the food supply chain.  Can you feed yourself?  Take the power to provide into your own hands.  Grow your own food! 

3) It's an enriching experience.  There's just something about growing your own food that puts you back in touch with life.  It gives you a new appreciation for and a new relationship to food.  It's not just something you find at the store, but something you grow with care and effort.  It could also be a great way to get outside and get that activity level up.

4) Eating food you've grown can help trim that budget.  If you grow your own food, you can offset the cost of purchasing the more expensive healthy foods.  This can make it even more economical to eat healthy than it is to eat the typical commercial varieties.

5) You'll get variety you can't find in the store.  If you're like me, you like your food to be colorful, fragrant, and tasty.  In your garden you can grow rare varieties that you won't find in the store.  Right now I have things such as Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, Black Tomatoes, Purple Cherokee Tomatoes, Yellow Gooseberry Tomatoes, and Yugoslavian Lettuce in my garden.  You'll never find those in the grocery store. 

So how do you begin, if you haven't already?  It's taken me a couple of years to get the hang of the gardening thing, and I'm still no genius.  But every year, you'll get better.  The key is just to start NOW.  It's not too late! 

I highly recommend The All New Square Foot Garden by Mel Bartholomew.  I built my 4x4 boxes for around $60 each.  They are SUPER easy to build, plant, maintain, etc.  For around 5 minutes a day, you can have the best tasting vegetables in your own yard.  This can be adapted to apartment living too!  Check it out. 

As for fruits, I recommend getting a good catalog from a nursery such as the Raintree Nursery

Here are some other resources:
The Backyard Homestead - Great resource for backyard food production.
Seed Savers Exchange - Awesome seeds, great variety.
The Survival Podcast - This guy knows gardening and permaculture.  Check him out!

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