Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Gardening in the Suburbs: Keeping it Local

My family and I are strong believers in eating locally and organically. In the late fall, winter and early spring, we get food deliveries from a services called Door-to-Door Organics and in the late spring, summer and fall we are members of a local CSA called Asbury Village Farm.

However, the most local you can get is to grow in your own yard. One of the things my husband and I were excited about when we moved to the suburbs 5 years ago was to have our own vegetable garden. However, as it happened, the house we bought has a backyard that is totally wooded — almost 85% shade. Not very promising for tomatos and other veggies that need full sun. We could grow them in our front yard but these fruits and vegetables would be great eats for the plentiful deer, rabbits and groundhogs that inhabit our neighborhood (makes two liberals want to go out and get a gun!)

So after living in our town for about a year, we were going to the local playground with our son. We parked right in front of a community garden. The gate was opened and we walked in to see approximately 70 or so — 10 feet x 15 foot plots– filled with gorgeous vegetables, berries and flowers. Wow, so cool — we had find out how we could get a plot of our own. A small sign at the gate gave the address of the garden club that ran this community garden. My husband wrote a letter telling our story and requesting a plot to tend. While we waited to hear back we talked to everyone and anyone to find out who we could call to speed and influence the decision making process. I tracked down the woman who ran the club and we called her. We were told that there was a long waitlist for the garden and that someone had to give up their plot to for us to get one — but once you get one you can keep it for life! So, disappointed, we waited.

Then one spring the phone call came. There was a plot opening up and it was ours if we wanted it. The garden organizer warned us that it was next to a tree and was shaded, but the last person who tended it had pretty good success growing tomatoes and other veggies. We jumped at the chance to grow our own food. That was three years ago and this summer we were given a second plot, this one in full sun.

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Don't Be A Turkey: Get Your Thanksgiving Feast Green

Originally posted on The Huffington Post on November 14th, 2007

Photo from Channel14.com.

In 1621 the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians stuffed their faces in an autumn harvest feast–the first Thanksgiving. Although Historians aren’t certain of the menu, it’s safe to say the pilgrims weren’t gobbling up pesticide-smothered potatoes and antibiotic-infused turkey.

Fast forward nearly four centuries, and this Thursday the majority of American’s will sit down to a copious table of factory-produced food. With few exceptions, 178 million plus turkeys will come from animal factories, while the vast majority of our fruits, vegetables; even vino will travel hundreds of miles from foreign farm factories. Such processing plants are reported to have few regulations and less regard for environmental best practice.

While raising turkeys in an industrial setting, or growing corn in a pesticide patch might make our food cheaper and available to a large number of consumers, factory farming comes with serious negative consequences for mother earth–clear cutting, dead zones, water wastage, methane-farting cattle, the list goes on. According to a 2006 study by the University of Chicago*, industrialized livestock produces more greenhouse gas emissions than global transportation.

Such studies come at a time when meat consumption, having quadrupled in the last 50 years, reaches an all-time high. The Worldwatch Institute claims global livestock population has increased 60 percent since 1961, and the number of for-food fowl has flown (try saying that ten times) from a stable 4.2 billion to blasphemous 15.7 billion.

Unlike the wild birds the Pilgrims ate, factory turkeys need antibiotics to stay alive, let alone healthy. Excuse me for being graphic, but the majority of factory-raised animals are reported to live so closely packed together that they have to defecate on each other. Such close-quarters create a cesspool of nasty, even deadly bacteria. I could go on and on.

Now, I’m not saying you should serve tofurkey this Thanksgiving. Although conventional meat production causes deforestation, polluted waterways and greenhouse gas blabidy-blah, I won’t insist you replace the traditional Turkey with a slab of coagulated soybean cake–that would be gross and grossly hypocritical.

Perhaps hypocritical is an understatement considering I can barely go three weeks, perhaps even three days, without vivid fantasies of red meat bbq. Many lonely nights I have resembled the McDonald’s Hamburgler, tip-toeing to the kitchen to gobble a few helpings of red-meat leftovers–ones I had so earnestly tried to refuse at dinner.

Confessions aside, there are a several environmental consequences to consider before we stuff-our-gobs this Thanksgiving day. And although I am not ready to hit up the tofurkey just yet, I sincerely hope to find a way/ask my mom to replace this years Franken-food feast with local and organic produce. In addition to spiking the apple cider, join me this Thanksgiving by following these three simple green food tips:

For the tips, keep reading……

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CSA's: Community Supported Agriculture

Every spring I am reminded of all the beautiful farms in my area and this year we are joining one in our town to receive fresh fruits, veggies and flowers once a week. If you are not able to have your own garden, joining a CSA is an excellent option. By becoming a member or ‘share-holder’ in a local farm you can actively participate by pledging funds in advance to cover costs in order to reap the harvest. Community support allows farmers to gain some financial security without having to spend a lot on marketing or incur large shipping costs. Local Harvest is a great resource with a search feature that finds fresh, wholesome food providers in your area. CSAs are a healthy way to have a connection to what we eat while supporting organic, biodynamic, and ecologically minded growing practices and avoiding genetically modified produce and factory farms. For those of us who live in cities, you can still support local growers. Some CSAs deliver or have pick-ups in urban areas. Farmers Markets, as well as co-ops and restaurants, can also be found through Local Harvest’s website.

Eco-Minded

I have been thinking about what I do on a daily basis to minimize my environmental footprint. There is always more, but here are some examples of what I do:

1. Recycle everything – including plastic bags, bread bags, etc.
2. Support local farmers by participating in CSA’s and purchasing food at coops.
3. Save my own recycling and garbage and take it to the dump myself once a month-cutting the need for garbage pick-ups.
4. Keep lights off unless I need them.
5. Keep the heat low/off.
6. Seek clean power sources.
7. Carpool or bicycle.
8. Find apparel at second hand/consignment stores or seek out sweat-shop free/organics.
9. Participate in activism – donating – volunteering – educating (although I don’t do this as much as I’d like.)
10. When on a hike or just hanging out in the woods – pick up garbage/recyclables and carry them out.
11. Convert the office to recycling.
12. Use energy star appliances.

I know I’ve left stuff out… What do you do?