Gardening Part Deux

I have blogged about gardening in my previous blog post, Gardening: Get Your Grandma On, but after my exciting weekend of “farming,” I decided to revisit the topic. (Note: My version of farming is the four vegetable plants and four herb plants that I grow in containers on my patio. Why yes, I am thinking about getting a tractor J ) For those of you youngens, yes this is what happens to you when you get old. Oh and this happens too…

Oh and this…

Anyways, back to gardening...

Why should I grow my own produce?

Well I could ramble on in complete sentences but that does not match my current mood, so I am going to leave you with bullet points:

•     Cheaper than buying fruits and veggies (especially if you buy organic) 
•     Better for the environment
•     Taste better
•     Why not?!?

Beth’s Gardening Tips

Let me preface this section with this. I am no gardening expert, but I do play one on tv.

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      Sunlight: One of the biggest things to consider is sunlight. Most plants need about 6-8 hours of sunlight per day, so if you live in a heavily wooded area you may be out of luck. It is best to select an area that faces east, west, south to ensure your plants will get enough light. If you are directionally challenged, use Google maps to figure it out.

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      Water: Make sure you water your plants using potable water (city water or water out of your spigot). Established plants should be watered every other day or every third day. If your plants start to look limp, you should probably water them. It is best to water plants in the morning.

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      Soil: Your plants will only be as healthy as the soil you put them in.

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      What to plant: Here in Charlotte, if you plant watermelon in the fall you are just setting yourself up for failure. Just because you can get a watermelon year round in the grocery store does not mean they grow all year round here in Charlotte. I will give you a resource with more detail, but to be brief your summer crops include tomatoes, summer squash, cucumber, melons, and peppers. Fall crops include fall/winter squash, apples, pumpkins, kale, and so on. Not much grows in the winter besides hearty, dark leafy greens. Spring brings strawberries, asparagus, and lettuces.

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      Space: Different plants need different amount of plants. Before you go throwing 10 tomato plants in one pot, do a little research and maybe even read the seed packet or those little sticks that they stick in the seedling soil. Just a thought.

The above tips just scrape the surface of all things to consider when gardening. For more information, check out this great resource from Friendship Gardens: http://friendship-gardens.org/resources/gardening-101/

But Beth, I don’t have a lot of space

Neither do I! Luckily, for people like us, if your look up container gardening on Pintrest there are tons of cool ideas.

Local Produce on Campus

Well Beth if you are such a hippy why don’t we have any locally grown fruits and vegetables in our dining halls?!? I would say touché, but I will not because the world of food and the food industry is very complex. We actually do have some local produce in our cafeterias, albeit not consistently and is not marketed as such for a myriad of obstacles. However, even though it is not marketed as such, I am willing to bet my first unborn child that our sweet potatoes were grown in North Carolina. Dorky fact of the day: North Carolina produces over 40% of the nation’s sweet potatoes.

Anyways, incorporating more local produce into our food system is something I have been toying with since I began this job a little over a year and a half ago, so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can find Cloister Honey, Smokey J’s Salsa, Roots & Branches Artisan Crackers, and Uncle Scott’s Root beer in both of our convenience stores on campus.  

Breaking it down

Whether you have a black thumb or green thumb, or are old, young, hippy, not a hippy, country bumpkin, city kid, give gardening a try. Is it the most exciting thing in the world? Nope, but it is pretty painless and…

Plus, you can get your organic produce without the hefty price tag. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go plant my bacon seeds.

Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

Organic

Without fail every time I meet someone new and disclose that I am a Registered Dietitian, I am always prompted for my thoughts on various nutrition topics, which I don’t mind; I just find it entertaining. The most recent topic that was brought up to me was organic, so I thought I would take this opportunity to enlighten you all. For the sake of this blog, I am only going to focus on organic fruits and vegetables.

Should you be buying organic? Are they more nutritious? Do you need to always shop at Whole Foods? Before we jump into those questions, let’s first take a look at what organic means.

What is organic?

Well, according to Jim Gaffigan,

Funny, yet true. Anyways, jokes aside, here is the USDA’s definition: “Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods that integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used.” Yeah…all of that doesn't really mean anything to you does it? Didn’t think so. The USDA has a huge guide if you are really interested in all of the details, but basically for fruits and vegetables it means...

• Land must have had none of the prohibited substances applied to it within the last 3 years
• Crops were never exposed to irradiation, sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, prohibited pesticides, and genetically modified organisms were not used
• Crop pests, weeds, and diseases will be controlled primarily through physical, mechanical, and biological controls. When these practices are not sufficient, a biological, botanical, or synthetic substance approved for use on the National List may be used.

I know, I know, blah blah blah. Basically what I want you to take away from this section is that the term organic does not mean that no sprays were used.

Why do we use pesticides?

I am not trying to trick you on this one; pesticides are used to keep pests away to stop them from killing all of the plants. Case in point, last summer I found this little gem on one of my tomato plants…

…and proceeded to scream like a little girl until I could collect myself to hit it off the plant with a stick, which didn't work very well. Luckily for me, my roommate came home to save both me and my tomato plant. Imagine if you had a whole field of tomatoes and had an infestation of these little guys, it wouldn't be pretty.

Should I buy all organic?

Well, I am not sure about you, but I don’t make enough money to only buy organic fruits and vegetables. If you are trying to be a bit more budget conscious but still want to try to go the organic route, there are some fruits and vegetables that make more sense to buy organically than others. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out a yearly list of fruits and vegetables based on the amount of pesticides used in growing said crop.  EWG puts out two lists, one being the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen.

If you are ballin' on a budget...

but still want to go the organic route, you can spend your money more wisely by only purchasing the fruits and vegetables off of the Dirty Dozen list, that way you aren't paying extra for organic bananas that have such a thick peel (that you more than likely are not eating) and isn't really worth it in the long run.

Organic vs Local

To start with, organic and local are not mutually exclusive, meaning you could find some fruits and veggies that are both local and organic, but more often than not, that is not the case. So I am going to step on my soapbox for a hot second. Just because something it not labeled organic doesn’t necessarily mean that it is not. For example, if you visit a farmers market you may see some signage indicating that no sprays/herbicides/pesticides were used.  There is a good chance that this produce is organic, however becoming a certified organic farm is a very long and expensive process that small farmers may not be financially realistic. In this case, the best way to know is to ask them.

Another entire blog post could be about how you define local because there is not standard definition in terms of miles from where you live and what food products you count as local. For example,   we have a Coca-Cola bottling plant here in Charlotte, which uses local water in addition to whatever other flavorings and colorings they add to their beverages. Is that local? (Steps off soapbox)

Breaking it down

Do you HAVE to buy organic fruits and vegetables? Nope. Should you? It definitely won’t hurt you physically (maybe a little bit financially).  Are organic fruits and vegetables more nutritious? Nope. Coming from the perspective of a Registered Dietitian, I just care that you are actually eating fruits and vegetables. You may want to look all cool and all by buying only organic food, but what good is it doing you if it just sits in your fridge until you throw it out anyways? From the perspective of the pseudo hippy that I am, buying organic and/or local is better for the environment as well. Well, I am off to go tie dye some shirts while listening to Bob Dylan. Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

Gardening: Get Your Grandma On

I have a confession to make to all of you. I do not consider myself to be a grandma by any means, but I have a garden. By garden I mean I have like five vegetable plants, which I affectionately call my farm. Am I good at it? Not really. I try to talk like I know what I am doing, but I am really just an amateur. People seem to buy it though and act impressed when I tell them that I have a farm. Does this make me a grandma? I am not sure but without further ado, here is today's blog...

If you google image search gardening you are greeted by images of three types of people. These three types of people portrayed are as follows: grandmas, kids, and hipsters. Case in point….

This picture is starting to change a little bit. Gardening is starting to move away from just being a favorite hobby of grandmas and hipsters and is spreading to the wider public. With the gardening movement coming to campus with the UNC Charlotte Community Garden Club breaking ground on a garden for students this Friday, I figured there was no time like the present to write about gardening and briefly touch on local food.

Why do people garden?

Well, there are quite a few reasons as to why people garden but one of the biggest one is to grow their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Yes, there are some people who grow things that are inedible, but my thought is why go through with the whole process if you can’t eat. Anyways, by growing your own produce you save yourself a trip to the grocery store.  With the cost of seeds or seedlings being next to nothing, it is cheaper as well.  Also, there is the benefit of consuming local fruits and vegetables, but more on that later.

Another point of interest is that it is better for the environment. Instead of getting tomatoes shipped from Timbuktu to the local grocery store, then you getting in your car to go store to purchase them, you can just walk out your back door and pick one off the plant.

What if I don’t know how?

There are tons of resources out there.  Some of the ones I would recommend are Master Gardeners and Home Gardening.

What if I don’t have space?

You must have not been on Pinetrest in awhile or watched many infomercials lately. Topsy Turvy anyone?

There are tons of ways to grow fruits, vegetables, or herbs in small spaces. From old shoes, to egg shells and everything in between, you can grow plants in just about anything so you don’t necessarily need splurge on that Chia Herb Garden set.

What if I don’t like bugs?

I am with you on that one. After having some fierce battles with caterpillars like these this past summer and almost being attacked by a praying mantis (why yes I did scream like a little girl during both of these battles), I have started to get a little bit braver, but when I really just can’t, I call upon my roommate. If you need her bug removal services let me know and I will send her your way. She prefers to be payed in Doritos by the way.

By the way, did you know that they have green blood?!?

Isn’t there an easier way?

If you really have a black thumb but still want the benefits of eating locally grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs check out local farmers markets or produce stands. There you will have access to fresh locally grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs without having to get dirty or deal with bugs.

Are locally grown and fruits and vegetables healthier for you?

I am going to attempt to answer this without jumping on my hippy soapbox. While there is not a huge difference in terms of levels of vitamins and minerals, there is still a difference. For example, a tomato from Timbuktu is picked before it fully ripe to allow it to hold up for the trip to your local grocery store. Since it was not allowed to fully ripen before it is picked and has a trip that is going to take a couple of days if not weeks, it never got to reach the level of vitamins and minerals that would have otherwise and starts losing them once it is picked. On the other hand, local produce found at farmers markets or roadside stands usually is picked within 24-48 hours of when it is sold and there is no thousand mile journey so it can be picked when fully ripe. Now is this difference going to prevent you from getting cancer or becoming overweight? Nope. The main difference is in the taste. I can guarantee you that a locally grown tomato is going to taste better than one from Timbuktu every time. (Note: I do not know if tomatoes can even actually grow in Timbuktu I only use it because that is where my mother always threatened to send me when I was younger)

If you are on campus and want to check out or get involved with garden check them out…

Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth