GMO-free zones, gardening, and Vandana Shiva

[thisficklemob]

I know I tend to get wordy, so here's the take home message of this post up front: If you're concerned about the environment and corporate control of governments... or just if you like to eat fresh food... you should grow some of your own herbs and vegetables. Yep yep

Comments

[easilyirritable]

Thanks for the information, especially the information about growing food indoors! Just so you know, I totally think gardening and growing one's own food is not just a fun thing to do, but I also think it's a form of radical political activism. No complaints from me!

[thisficklemob]

Hee! Glad you agree. Mmm, radical political veggies...

Re: Thanks for posting this

[thisficklemob]

Sure! I think the general rule for linking to us here at Liberal Rage is "go right ahead, and thanks!", as long as you're not linking posts as "check out this idiot" or something. *g*

And all those seed companies are ones I found in a local independent garden store and bought myself... there are tons more organic seed companies online, but I can't particularly recommend any of them since I haven't ordered from them. In person is easier, especially for a beginner. (You can get Botanical Interests seeds at Whole Foods if you can't find them elsewhere.)

[claudia_yvr]

Further to your point about container gardening, you might find this article on rooftop gardening interesting; children's wading pools can also be used on balconies, decks or parking lots. Basically anywhere there's five square feet and some sunshine.

I'm growing quite lots of stuff on my deck this year, and find that it happens to also be a very relaxing hobby. Container gardening doesn't even take all that much work, once you're up and running. Nor is it expensive, especially if you find people to swap seeds and plantings with.

[thisficklemob]

Thanks for that link. I've heard of urban gardens being made out of vacant lots, (and Food from the Hood, a student-run business that has earned its members $140,000 in scholarships), but not community container gardening on that scale. Very cool, especially since grocery stores in low to mid income urban neighborhoods tend to have more expensive and lower quality vegetables than are available a few train stops away in higher income neighborhoods. You can rail against that system, or try to reform it, but the quicker way is just to sidestep it by growing some of your own veggies.

I've heard you can even grown potatoes in bags or trash cans, but since I've never grown potatoes at all, I'd be a little nervous about that. But I have ordered some blueberry plants (unfortunately not organic) to grow on my deck this year. If that works, I'll be in bliss - I love blueberries.

[claudia_yvr]

Mmm, blueberries. I haven't tried growing those, but there are some raspberry bushes in the yard. Strawberries and tomatoes are also super-easy to grow in containers, as are most herbs. And they taste so much better than store-bought!

Next year I'm going to try growing potatoes in a bag. One of these days, I'd also like to try creating a strawbale garden.

If you got a few friends to share the cost, it'd be very cheap to grow your own victory garden.

[thisficklemob]

Ooh, thanks for the potatoes in a bag link. I had a link to a company that stores thousands and sells hundreds of heirloom seeds, and they had some seed potatoes that looked mouth-watering. Then that computer died, and I can't even begin to remember the name of the company, and Google's been no help.

Oh! Here we go! I think this was them... Seed Savers Exchange. Alas, it looks like all their purple potatoes are sold out. (There's a ton of links to heirloom seed purveyors here.

I don't think I'd do a whole victory garden; I don't like chard, and I frankly wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to do with a radish, other than attempt to carve a crane out of it a la a Chinese restaurant, etc. But it's a good suggestion list.