Who has their own veggie garden?

[Lammycat]

Exactly. But someone must, since they sell that Miracle Grow shit. My worst fear with urban gardening is the obvious lead issue. But apparently if you don't grow root veggies (carrots and raddishs and other good stuff) it doesn't transfer so much to the veggies such as tomatoes and other vine type crops. But hell I have raised radishes and onions and still eaten them.

 

Incidently if you have room, cuccumbers are a fun crop, but the best for smaller gardens on a good year are pole beans which keep producing until the frost comes.

 

LouieB

I sometimes buy soil from a local greenhouse because the dirt in my yard, I learned, is all back fill. i wonder if the store-bought soil is chemical-free, now that I think about it.

 

And I've done cucumbers a bunch and they've always turned out very nice. Lettuce, too, always grows well here.

[Mrs. Peel]

Isn't "organic" just without pesticides or other chemicals (i.e. water and sun only)? Who uses chemicals in their home gardens?

 

 

Plenty of people use chemical fertilizers. Or some Roundup to get rid of weeds before they start planting.

[fatheadfred]

Isn't "organic" just without pesticides or other chemicals (i.e. water and sun only)? Who uses chemicals in their home gardens?

 

Add non-gmo seed and to the layperson it is organic. If you are talking the USDA or the various entities that certify 'organic' that is not the case.

 

I do not use chemicals. If I can't grow w/o chemicals, I don't grow it.

[Lammycat]

Plenty of people use chemical fertilizers. Or some Roundup to get rid of weeds before they start planting.

Ah, I wasn't aware chemicals were still a popular item. I guess having dogs my whole life I just never paid much mind to using them. Though they would help rid the weed "problems" swifter, I suppose.

[Lammycat]

Add non-gmo seed and to the layperson it is organic. If you are talking the USDA or the various entities that certify 'organic' that is not the case.

So what is certified organic? Just curious. I can tell the difference between an organic apple and a non-organic apples, for instance. There is a big difference (taste-wise, as well as health) with fruits you eat the skin of.

[M. (hristine]

To be certified organic these are the rules:

 

For crop farms

[LouieB]

Plenty of people use chemical fertilizers. Or some Roundup to get rid of weeds before they start planting.

I figure I will just let the weeds grow until they are so big and obnoxious I have to pull them out. I am not really much of a manicure type of gardener.

 

So what is certified organic? Just curious. I can tell the difference between an organic apple and a non-organic apples, for instance. There is a big difference (taste-wise, as well as health) with fruits you eat the skin of.

There is some sort of definition regarding the number of years that the ground has not been fertilized by non-organic fertilizer. I am sure some intrepid internet person (I am too tired at the moment) can get us the USDA definition. I use compost alot and have used composted manure which is probably not organic, but it has to be better than the soil in my backyard which has endured many years of lead based paint runoff and lead based gasoline fumes from years past, not to mention all the other crap deposited in urban soil. While I suppose I techinically do organic gardening, I would not certify a thing coming out of my patch, but then again the tomatoes are better than the store bought stuff and usually I have enough basil to make pesto and other stuff, so it could be worse I suppose. I don't sweat it too badly. I am not a vegetarian so I have put more henious stuff in my body over the years I suppose.

 

(Cue up "Are you Ready for the Country" by Neil Young....a big influence on me from the early 70s.)

 

LouieB

[alison the wilca]

does anyone know anything about any kind of vegetables that can be grown indoors? we have a very small apartment and no outdoor space of our own but i'd like to grow something. any ideas?

[fatheadfred]

does anyone know anything about any kind of vegetables that can be grown indoors? we have a very small apartment and no outdoor space of our own but i'd like to grow something. any ideas?

 

Difficult to impossible to grow non gmo inside as it has to pollinate. The only thing I have had luck with is basil. I am guessing most herbs can be grown inside. I think some people grow cannabis inside.

[Analogman]

does anyone know anything about any kind of vegetables that can be grown indoors? we have a very small apartment and no outdoor space of our own but i'd like to grow something. any ideas?

 

I saw some indoor growing pod deal on one of those shopping channels once - it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. I can't recall the name of the system though.

[fatheadfred]

does anyone know anything about any kind of vegetables that can be grown indoors? we have a very small apartment and no outdoor space of our own but i'd like to grow something. any ideas?

 

You may consider befriending someone that has some land. Exchange some labor or money for use of an area. But, then you would have to drive, unless it wasn't too far and you could bike, or skateboard while holding onto a truck, or something.

[M. (hristine]

does anyone know anything about any kind of vegetables that can be grown indoors? we have a very small apartment and no outdoor space of our own but i'd like to grow something. any ideas?

Most veggies require full sun and pollinators.

Chicago is home to over 500 community gardens, though!

[alison the wilca]

Most veggies require full sun and pollinators.

Chicago is home to over 500 community gardens, though!

oh cool! I never thought to look for this. I will take a look... there are many gardens near me. i grew basil indoors once but wasn't sure if there was anything that could be done to help veggies along inside. thanks!

[M. (hristine]

Theoretically I'm sure one could grow veggies indoors. You would have to invest in lighting ($300 fixture, $150 for halide and sodium bulbs), hand pollinate and manipulate light/dark periods for flowering and fruiting, and still probably get sub hot house quality veg. $50 tomato anyone?

 

To make the good vitamins, sugars and flavors, food needs lots of sunshine.

[fatheadfred]

Theoretically I'm sure one could grow veggies indoors. You would have to invest in lighting ($300 fixture, $150 for halide and sodium bulbs), hand pollinate and manipulate light/dark periods for flowering and fruiting, and still probably get sub hot house quality veg. $50 tomato anyone?

 

To make the good vitamins, sugars and flavors, food needs lots of sunshine.

 

and a random painted highway and a muzzle of bees

[M. (hristine]

Werd.

[Analogman]

This is the thing I saw on TV:

 

AeroGrow Garden kit

[Sly like a Foxwell]

This is the thing I saw on TV:

 

AeroGrow Garden kit

i saw that freaky ass thing at target.

[Analogman]

I saw it on QVC - I could not recall what it was called earlier today.

[jenbobblehead]

Yea, sometimes these kinds of crops can get funky stuff (I had that happen with brussel sprouts many years ago.) I just grow stuff and hope for the best. The most proactive I ever get are beer traps for slugs, but luckily in recent years we haven't had that much rain.

 

 

Exactly. But someone must, since they sell that Miracle Grow shit. My worst fear with urban gardening is the obvious lead issue. But apparently if you don't grow root veggies (carrots and raddishs and other good stuff) it doesn't transfer so much to the veggies such as tomatoes and other vine type crops. But hell I have raised radishes and onions and still eaten them.

 

Incidently if you have room, cuccumbers are a fun crop, but the best for smaller gardens on a good year are pole beans which keep producing until the frost comes.

 

LouieB

it is leafy greens that suck up the lead, btw, especially spinach. I don't know about rooty veggies. Probably. But not peppers or tomatoes or squash or cukes...

[M. (hristine]

That would be a great device to start seedlings in the spring.

 

Most of the reviews say it grows great herb and lettuce. Not so much on the veggies.

[M. (hristine]

I'll bring the pesto.

[froggie]

I think some people grow cannabis inside.

 

thats either under the house or in the atttic - not that i'd know, of course

[Analogman]

North America tomato industry reeling: growers

 

By Jane Sutton 48 minutes ago

 

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in "complete collapse" and growers in California and Mexico are having trouble selling their crops as U.S. regulators hunt the source of a salmonella outbreak linked to certain tomato varieties, growers said on Tuesday.

 

In Florida, the No. 1 U.S. tomato producer, $40 million worth of tomatoes will rot unless the U.S. Food and Drug Administration quickly traces the source of the outbreak and clears the state's produce, an industry official said.

 

"We've had to stop packing, stop picking," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.

 

"The stuff that should have been harvested over the weekend won't survive more than another day or so. The stuff we have in storage is getting riper every minute and at some point it will have to be disposed of," Brown said.

 

The FDA warned U.S. consumers on Saturday that the outbreak was linked to eating certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing those tomatoes.

 

Major restaurant and grocery chains stopped selling those varieties, and some stopped selling all raw tomatoes entirely.

 

U.S. growers produced $1.28 billion worth of tomatoes last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

Florida produces an annual crop valued at $500 million to $700 million, and supplies more than 90 percent of the nation's tomatoes this time of year, Brown said.

 

The FDA has said that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached but those account for only a tiny portion of the industry.

 

The FDA has said it does not know where the contaminated tomatoes originated. The infections have struck most often in New Mexico and Texas.

 

The FDA has put California on the list of suppliers not linked to the outbreak. But some supermarkets still rejected tomatoes from that state, which is the No. 2 U.S. producer with $400 million in annual sales.

 

"The reality is that the entire tomato industry is being impacted," said Ed Beckman, president of the California Tomato Farmers. "It wasn't really clear that round and Romas from California are safe to eat. That's part of the problem."

 

The FDA said there had been 167 reported cases as of Tuesday, including at least 23 hospitalizations, related to the outbreak since mid-April. The infections were caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of the bacteria.

 

Salmonella bacteria are frequently responsible for food-borne illnesses. Symptoms generally appear within 12 to 72 hours after eating infected food and include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

 

With the tainted spinach scare of 2006 still fresh in their minds, buyers and consumers were unwilling to take chances, growers said. Three people died and more than 200 were sickened by eating spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

 

Mexican growers, who produce 84 percent of the tomatoes imported by the United States, were also feeling the pain.

 

"U.S. consumers have started to reject orders that have already been promised or sent and it is causing a lot of damage to producers," said Mario Robles, who directs the investigation arm of the vegetable association in the state of Sinaloa.

 

Mexico sends nearly 700,000 metric tons of tomatoes a year to the United States in a business worth $900 million, according to a Mexican vegetable exporters association.

 

Exports of Mexican agricultural products soared after the United States, Canada and Mexico lifted all tariff barriers under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

 

But the benefits can easily be wiped out by a sanitary scare like the one in 2000, when the FDA identified a strain of salmonella in Mexican melons and banned their import.

 

That cut the $200 million annual export business down to around $3 million, said Robles, and Mexican growers fear the same could happen to tomatoes.

[fatheadfred]

Maybe I'll be able to earn money from my 17 tomato plants this year.