There are good reasons to grow your own garden

More homeowners are focusing on health by planting their own vegetable gardens this year, rejecting the rising costs of food and fuel and pesticide-laden produce most often found in supermarkets.

Just about every environmental group in the United States, Canada and Europe warns that store-bought produce is loaded with petrochemical pesticides that build up in the human body. These chemicals are being blamed for many illnesses, from autism in children to cancer at all ages.

Growing your own pesticide free food is easy, and there's nothing healthier and as good-tasting as produce picked at maturity right in your back yard. Using organic methods, follow these few simple steps.

1. Prepare your garden the old-fashioned way. Rent a roto-tiller and turn over the earth in a given plot, exposing the earth to the sun and the rain. In early spring, hand-rake the earth and break up the clumps. Dig a 5-inch-deep trench around the plot and fill with sharp stones. This stops voles from burrowing into the garden. Sprinkle the earth with Milky Spore powder to do away with white grubs that eat away at the roots of garden plants.

2. Begin by planting early "cool-season" crops such as spring onions, lettuce, radishes, green peas, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and turnips. A trip to your local garden center will provide you with lots of growing ideas. Don't pick seeds that have been genetically altered, such as GM corn, soy or wheat. These seeds contain the DNA of pesticides. Buy old-fashioned "heirloom" seeds that grandfather planted. Use organic fertilizer, not the chemical kind.

3. As the season warms up and the bugs arrive, control them with "organic insecticides." A simple dusting of plants with diatomaceous earth stops almost all bugs. Organic repellents keep away deer, hedgehogs, rabbits and other animals.

4. Put in companion plants such as mint and other herbs that repel insects and bugs. Plant watermelon, tomatoes and other great garden crops. Plant blackberries and raspberries, as these keep coming back year after year and require little attention.

5. When weeds arrive, pull them out by hand or selectively spray them with an organic weed killer.

If you buy produce at the supermarket, be sure to wash it with warm water, then spray with white vinegar. Mix one part white vinegar to one part water. This helps dissolve pesticide residue. Let sit for 30 minutes, then wash again but with cold water.

Organic bug sprays, weed killers and other natural controls and products can be found at www.milkyspore.com or by calling (800) 801-0061 for a free brochure from St. Gabriel Organics.

Courtesy of ARAcontent