Tuesday, March 29th, 2011...12:39 pm

Grow your own!

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Concerned about cost, source, even the methods used to grow your food?

Green Zebra by QuintanaRoo on Flickr

GROW YOUR OWN!

Why garden?

  • Health. Gardening provides exercise and food.
  • Variety. Home gardeners select vegetable varieties for taste or appearance—not on how well a vegetable keeps in the refrigerator, or how well it travels to market. Striped tomatoes, anyone?
  • Heritage. Remember your Grandfather’s amazing heart-shaped tomatoes? Bitter melon, cream peas, mizuna, and Thai eggplants are not available at the grocery store. Grow your history!
  • Cost. Heirloom tomatoes can cost $6.00/lb; a large tomato may weigh a pound. A packet of organic heirloom seeds is about $2. Not rocket science!
  • Safety. When you grow your own organic veg, you know how it was grown. Not shipped across the world, or sprayed with chemicals, or stored in a cooler for 6 months. Eat local!

Learn More

Gardening is a productive hobby, and there is always more to learn.

“Though an old man, I am but a young gardener” Thomas Jefferson

Online Resources

Homeplace Earth: Attend the GROW Biointensive Mini-Farming Workshop at Fool For Art! Cindy Conner, founder of the sustainable agriculture program at Reynolds is giving a free workshop. Great for all food gardeners wanting to make their gardens more sustainable and productive.

Urban Homestead: Pasadena family grows most of their own food on a tiny urban lot. See how they do it.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: Organic, heirloom seed company located in Mineral, Virginia. Specializes in seeds for the mid-Atlantic region.

Virginia Cooperative Extension: Expert answers for all your gardening questions.

Library Resources

Guide to Virginia Vegetable Gardening by Walter Reeves and Felder Rushing

Incredible edibles:  43 fun things to grow in the city by Sonia Day

Rodale’s ultimate encyclopedia of organic gardening:  the indispensable green resource for every gardener

The self-sufficient life and how to live it:  the complete back-to-basics guide by John Seymour with Will Sutherland

Get out there and grow for it!

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