tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post5567446051873809139..comments2023-04-06T02:43:43.759-07:00Comments on Bitching my way to the Brightside: Spoiled SeedlessCrankyOtterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863609824154763580noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-83742730976399109342007-09-05T16:11:00.000-07:002007-09-05T16:11:00.000-07:00Buy USA first, then Canada, then Europe and then w...Buy USA first, then Canada, then Europe and then wherever else.<BR/><BR/>Closer to home, the better and fresher it is. Also, you get all those lower travelling emmissions and sprayed ripener on your food doesn't happen.<BR/><BR/>I grow potatoes, onions, peppers, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, peas, garlic and I had about 2 carrots come up. But this year is poor - except for the potatoes and onions. Too much drought and with the well I can't justify the extra water. We have melons, pumpkins and LOTS of tomatoes in the field for canning.<BR/><BR/>My garden is organic solely b/c of little people in it. The field is not. <BR/><BR/>I buy in season fruit/veggies that I don't grow either from the fruit farm or Amish nearby. Like blueberries, green beans, cherries, peaches. I have 2 pear trees and a few pears this year. They are only a few years old. You have to have 2 trees to pollenate or like my one tree, there are 5 different grafts on it. So 5 different types of pears. So technically I only need one tree but I have 2.<BR/><BR/>S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-8780426538135830042007-09-05T13:22:00.000-07:002007-09-05T13:22:00.000-07:00So the Chile or US apples are better? Or is there ...So the Chile or US apples are better? Or is there no difference? See, it's just so confusing. Or I'm just too too tired today. LOL. <BR/><BR/>I thought from WA state would be better, as it's closer. As long as those Granny Smith apples actually <I>taste like</I> Granny Smith's and not mushy blah apples. ;)<BR/><BR/>Erika, have you checked out the <A HREF="http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/LocatingLocal.html" REL="nofollow">accompanying website</A> for the book? There're links to all sorts of farmer's markets, etc. That's how I found our local CSA although it was too late to buy shares for this year. And then we planted our own. I've had lettuce, potatoes, onions and some rather puny carrots (our error) from our gardden so far.Up My Mindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14944069908588043309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-36931746830131623952007-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:002007-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:00Like lead paint on toys, if you import from a coun...Like lead paint on toys, if you import from a country that doesn't have policies to protect workers, environments, and products, it can't be a surprise when you find out that it's cheaper because there are corners being cut. Which is one reason I still go to my expensive, price fixing farmers market. <BR/><BR/>That, and I've tried and failed to grow things. Noemi and I tried to garden for a few years, but we'd care for it in fits and spurts, not regularly. So we'd get a giant crop of nasturtiums (tasty leaves for salads), a dozen chili peppers, 4 beans and a gourd. One year we actually grew tomatoes and I found that I could eat one of the cherry sized varietals raw (not a usual occurence for me) so that was a win. But things went much better when we hired Farmer Steve to grow our food instead of doing it ourselves. I don't have a local Farmer Steve yet; I gave up on Mr. Produce after a sad disappointment with bad cherries.<BR/><BR/>I did have access to apples in New England. I made the interesting discovery that Red Delicious apples really are good... but ONLY if you eat them within an hour of being picked. After that, the flavor vanishes, never to be found again. Everywhere I go, I mostly see apples from New Zealand these days. I bought one yesterday, but only one. I'd rather have local apples. Do they even grow apples here?CrankyOtterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02863609824154763580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-62076330818068710382007-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:002007-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00Organic from Chili is not organic from WA.USDA Gra...Organic from Chili is not organic from WA.<BR/><BR/>USDA Grade #1 - is only colour, size and visual. Does it look like an apple?? Therefore it must be an apple.<BR/><BR/>US organic rules and organic rules from other countries are not the same.<BR/><BR/>So... back to the Eat Fresh, Buy Local.<BR/><BR/>Oh... and remember those Chili apples were picked GREEN and may still have been ripened by sprays (organic apples too) before they got to the store shelves.<BR/><BR/>S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-89547686349007983922007-09-05T07:57:00.000-07:002007-09-05T07:57:00.000-07:00"Eat fresh, buy local, grow your own if/where/when..."Eat fresh, buy local, grow your own if/where/when you can" has been my inclination since reading this book. :) Hence our garden this summer. We didn't do too bad considering we don't know what we're doing and didn't spend much time on maintenance other than watering and weeding once or twice...<BR/><BR/>I will say this, though, the Green Apples (supposedly organic) I get at the Natural Food Store taste a million times better than the ones I get anywhere else in town. They buy from Chile, although there are WA orchards they could buy from....I keep mentioning it to them. <BR/><BR/>My next goal: figure out what is in/out of season for the area I'm in.Up My Mindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14944069908588043309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434495502175776916.post-17902060237650228082007-09-05T05:55:00.000-07:002007-09-05T05:55:00.000-07:00"We can't eat GMO food" but we can eat HYBRID ones..."We can't eat GMO food" but we can eat HYBRID ones. HYBRID = GMO. Same thing, just takes longer. You know, the seedless ones?? The one's that if the world comes to an end... you cannot grow.<BR/><BR/>Those seedless grapes come from nice DDT using countries like Chili here. And anyone who says "BUT the USDA/CFIA wouldn't allow that".... let me put it this way. They check ours going out.. but NOTHING coming in. That's what the screaming is about. The Concords come from Niagara, love them.<BR/><BR/>Sigh....<BR/><BR/>EAT FRESH, BUY LOCAL!!! And organic is not better. Unless you prefer bugs in your bed. And yes, b/c of the "we can't spray pesticides" crusade there's more bugs than normal.. even in the beds at fancy hotels in N. America.<BR/><BR/>Gotta love the "I believe everything I read" segment of the population - ::shudders::<BR/><BR/>SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com