I Love My Aerogarden

For my last birthday, my mother (knowing I love gardening) gave me an Aerogarden Classic. Soon after I got it and we set it up in the kitchen, I got a job out of town and had to leave the Aerogarden growing a batch of lettuces.

Later, after the kids decimated the crop in one meal, we tried growing peppers. They sprouted great and after we transplanted them outside, had a really nice crop.

Now I have a new apartment (still working out of town) and have me Aerogarden here with me. I have just re-set it up with tomatoes and am really looking forward to growing a crop.

I Love my Aerogarden.

People unite to create green neighborhood spaces

Housing prices may be crashing, but there's a new green networking trend that is picking up momentum in neighborhoods across the U.S. Citizens are abandoning expectations that the government is going to implement truly sustainable policies, and they are banding together to create their own green communities and neighborhoods. One example is the Nubanusit Neighborhood in New Hampshire, which is a green neighborhood of single family homes and multiplex units that share an organic farm, office space and common space. According to Lono Hunter, resident of the eco-neighborhood, "In terms of actually living in a way that can help the environment, I think you need the power of numbers." The U.S. Green Building Council is picking up on the trend and says it will begin applying a version of its Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) rating system to entire neighborhoods starting in 2009.

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Users Guide to the Backyard Chicken Movement

Sustainability Tip of the Week

In cities across the U.S., health and organic-minded "locavores" are starting to raise their own chickens. This backyard farmers movement is a direct result of the birth and evolution of the "eat local" consciousness. On a city by city basis, a nationwide grassroots campaign is gradually convincing municipalities to drop previous laws that did not allow small flocks of poultry to be raised in city limits. "Fresh is not what you buy at the grocery store. Fresh is when you go into your backyard, put it in your bag, and eat it," said Carol-Ann Sayle, co-owner of an urban farm in Austin, Texas, located within walking distance from the state capitol. "Everyone should have their own henhouse in their own backyard."

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Organic Facts of the Week

• If
  organic farming methods were practiced on all the planet's food-growing
  land, it would be like taking more than 1.5 billion cars off the road.
  
  
• You can increase your antioxidant intake by 30 percent by choosing organic.
  
  
• The average child in America is exposed to five pesticides daily in their food and drinking water.
  
  
• The
  U.S. water system is regularly contaminated above safe limits
  immediately following chemical fertilizer applications to farm fields.
  
  
• Farms in developing countries that use organic techniques produce an average of 79% more than farms that don't.
  
  

FDA OKs Irradiated Lettuce and Spinach

A product bearing the radura symbol has been irradiated.

Rather than dealing with the problems inherent in a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in mid-September it will allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. Unfortunately, in the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic
chemicals.

While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are currently no labeling requirements whatsoever for restaurants, schools, hospitals, or nursing homes serving irradiated produce or other nuked foods such as beef. Over the past decade, OCA and our allies in the organic community have prevented corporate agribusiness and the nuclear industry from contaminating organic standards. Food irradiation is prohibited on any product labeled as "organic." There is currently a 30 day comment period for the FDA's new rule.

How Do You Know Which Sweet Corn is Genetically Modified?

More than 70% of the corn grown in the U.S. is now genetically modified, but the overwhelming majority of this corn is grown for animal feed and ethanol. Among the marketing problems for the biotech companies is the fact that GMO "sweet corn" doesn't taste very good. The bottom line is that there is very little genetically engineered sweet corn being grown in the U.S. at the present time, so it is highly
unlikely you will be running into this "Frankencorn" at your local farmer's market or natural food store.

Most farmers who grow GMO crops that re-seed, like corn, are aware that they are growing genetically engineered varieties, because Monsanto and the other GMO seed giants require a legal contract to be signed which prohibits the farmer from saving their seeds. And of course we can all be thankful (and vigilant) that genetic engineering is prohibited under national organic standards. In short, support your local and organic farmers and enjoy this year's sweet corn harvest!

Don't let a lack of space stop you

At my home in Alabama, we have dedicated a section of the front yard to
the vegetable garden. This year, we have planted cucumbers, tomatoes,
pumpkins, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and sunflowers. Our plot is not huge, only 4-5 feet wide and 20-30 feet long, but by combining some containers and in-ground plants, we maximize the space and the yield.

I am working in South Carolina for several months and living in a flat, so I am not capable of planting and tending the garden space to which I am accustomed - but this will not stop me.

Two years ago when I was working a year and a half job in North Carolina, I transformed my balcony into a hanging garden thick enough to blot out the afternoon sun. I am doing it again at the new flat.



Even the smallest patio
or porch can boast a crop of vegetables or a garden of flowers
in containers. Planter boxes, wooden barrels, hanging baskets
and large flowerpots are just some of the containers that can
be used. The container gardener is limited only by his imagination.

Last week, I began this year's container garden with two tomato plants, five of cucumber, two bell pepper, and intermixed a few sweet basil plants.



The point is to not succumb to the thought that you don't have enough space to garden - if you have room for a pot, you have room for a garden.