Americans tend to be disconnected from their food. To many people, it does not particularly matter where their food comes from or how it comes to be. They do not think twice, or even once, about the lettuce and tomato that came from thousands of miles away to sit atop the hamburger they just picked up from the drive-thru window at the nearest fast food restaurant. So many of us pick our fruits and vegetables from the produce section at the grocery store with the same amount of consideration we give to selecting a box of cereal.
Vegetables can be easy to grow. You may say you don't have an area big enough for a garden, but if you have ten feet of space, you can grow a lot. Don't have a yard? Plant tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs in containers on your porch or deck. Don't have a porch or deck? Plant things in containers inside in front of a window. What I'm getting at is there are no excuses when it comes to getting up close and personal with your food. Michael Pollan has illustrated this well in his numerous books about food and gardening.
Many people say they don't like the taste of vegetables. I'm willing to bet that if those people tasted locally grown, fresh vegetables straight from the garden, they would be amazed at the difference in taste and quality. A tomato that is ten feet away from my backdoor definitely has a different taste than the tomato that came from two thousand miles away.
21 March 2011
20 March 2011
Early Risers
Two weeks is a long time in the life of a seed, so I have learned. It has been two weeks since I planted some seeds in a miniature green house in my laundry room. I had heard that it is a good idea to start things such as broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and peppers inside several weeks before it is time to plant them in the garden, so I did just that.
Every day after planting the seeds, I would stare at the dirt, looking for something to indicate that this was going to work. After four consecutive days of being disappointed, on the fifth day things began to change. The tiniest little green stem was sticking out of the dirt. I didn't even care what it was, I was so excited! Naturally, I beckoned everyone in the house into the laundry room to marvel at this little speck of green by yelling, "It's growing!!". Every day after that, something new would sprout up until, eventually, all 50 pots had something alive in them.
Now my spindly little forest is getting bigger and stronger every day, just waiting for me to plant them outside. It's kind of funny how all of the plants grow at an angle toward the window, but within one day of me turning them the opposite direction they grow back toward the window. What is even more incredible is that out of one tiny seed no bigger than the question mark on your keyboard will come ten, twenty or even thirty pounds of food.
Every day after planting the seeds, I would stare at the dirt, looking for something to indicate that this was going to work. After four consecutive days of being disappointed, on the fifth day things began to change. The tiniest little green stem was sticking out of the dirt. I didn't even care what it was, I was so excited! Naturally, I beckoned everyone in the house into the laundry room to marvel at this little speck of green by yelling, "It's growing!!". Every day after that, something new would sprout up until, eventually, all 50 pots had something alive in them.
Now my spindly little forest is getting bigger and stronger every day, just waiting for me to plant them outside. It's kind of funny how all of the plants grow at an angle toward the window, but within one day of me turning them the opposite direction they grow back toward the window. What is even more incredible is that out of one tiny seed no bigger than the question mark on your keyboard will come ten, twenty or even thirty pounds of food.
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