George Markson - Gardening: Growing Organic Food in Your Backyard

In todays society, the organic foods industry and popularity of eating organic food has grown dramatically. We spend extra time and money going to those overly priced farmers markets to buy organic vegetables, yet a lot of us arent 100% sure what the term organic really means and how organic food is actually making us healthy.

Organic food is food that is grown without the use of genetic engineering, synthetic fertilizers, toxic pesticides or drugs. Basically, a 100% organic food means that no synthetic ingredients were used while growing or processing the food. Consuming organically grown food can virtually eliminate exposures to dangerous insecticides known to harm neurological development and increase the risk of cancer in humans. Many studies show that organically grown products have higher levels of minerals and nutrients than products grown with synthetic methods and ingredients. Providing your body with both amazing taste and health benefits, organic food gives you the best of both worlds.

Almost all fruits and vegetables you buy from stores have residues of toxic pesticides. By growing and eating organic food, youre not just keeping chemicals off your plate and eating healthy, youre also contributing towards a healthier natural environment. The use of toxic pesticides to grow food has highly contaminated and polluted water sources. An organic farming system contributes towards a less contaminated quality of water, as it doesnt use any pesticides with harmful elements in it. Organic farming also perks up the soil quality. Studies show that organic farming increases the organic matter content of the soil because of the use of natural manure and compost. Due to the toxic-free soil of organic farms, less water is likely to be lost from the soil, and this gives better environment stability to them even during flood condition and reduces chances of runoffs. Due to the healthy soil of organic farms, plants usually tend to have a higher yield because the soil has a higher water holding capacity. In conventional farming, the high use of chemical fertilizers leads to the erosion of millions of tons of top soil every day and with organic farming that can be decreased due to use of only natural fertilizers. It feels like organic food should be expensive because of how good its quality is but if you think about it, you can reduce so much of the cost by starting your own organic garden, making your own natural compost, and growing your own 100% organic food at home.

Growing your own food is also a form of therapy and exercise. Working in your garden/farm everyday can make you physically and emotionally more fit. It lets you connect to your natural surroundings and rejuvenates your spirit as you take some time out of your hectic schedule to tend your garden. When you harvest and cook your beautifully grown organic vegetables from your own garden, youll feel a sense of self-sufficiency and success. Having a vegetable garden of your own gives you the freedom to plant foods that arent commonly available in stores or are too expensive. With your own herbs and vegetables, you can experiment in the kitchen and create beautiful, delicious, super healthy dishes.