It's the season of the harvest. How lucky we are to have so much beautiful food, fresh and ripe, to put on the table. Especially when it's grown at local farms.
More important is: Do you know where your food is coming from?
We watch with horror the Chinese babies, sick because their milk was adulterated (for profit) with ground up-plastic. U.S. dogs got some earlier. Giant mega-farm businesses produce most of food we take for granted. Much of it is grown overseas supplying ingredients used in everything from cornflakes to canned fruit.
I've been reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" which tells where what we eat comes from and how it's raised or grown. Also I've been watching the locavore movement, which says one should eat stuff grown or raised near home.
I try to be a locavore whenever possible, particularly now when the fall harvest in and the farmers' tables are overflowing with tomatoes, lettuce, corn, melons, beans, carrots, and so much more.
And of course the pumpkins. How can it be fall without "the frost on the punkins."
Being a locavore saves gasoline (transportation from Brazil or Mexico for instance). Also I know that local food is grown under the safety rules of the United States (much better than China's). When I buy food I always look to see if it says "Product of USA." If not, the only other countries I am comfortable with are northern Europe, Israel, Japan and maybe Italy.
Most important, when I buy locally grown food, I am helping our farmers to stay in business. And for our country to continue to grow the food we eat. Farming is a difficult business especially to be profitable. It's enough already to be dependent on foreign oil.
I used to grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables, including starting my own seedlings on the windowsill. But as I checked my records from years back, it seems there were always as many problems as there was the usual happy harvest. Animals mostly, also bugs, fungus, weather, whatever. The squirrels and raccoon used to climb the peach tree and ruin the fruit until they killed the trees.
I now grow the easier, more reliable crops, but this year the woodchuck ate the herbs. The radishes were planted too late and bolted. The deer are eating the lower raspberry bed. But the tomatoes, basil and new upper raspberries are supplying just about the right amount each day. Next year I'm going to go with arugula, cucumbers and beans again, plus a fence.
And start earlier in spring. And fertilize more thoughtfully.
My more adventurous grandchildren planted beans, peas, tomatoes, basil, carrots, squash, broccoli and cucumber. Some has been harvested, some is still ripening. They have mildew but no animal loss.
These days I'm happier buying the superior produce from my local farmers. Experienced farmers. Better than I ever was. Better than I ever grew. And a lot easier.
There's an old English farming saying: "Plant one for the rook, one for the crow, one to die and one to grow." In other words, plant four times more seeds than you expect to harvest. And that comes after several months of hard work, water, fertilizer, occasional pesticides, and expense.
I buy everything I can find at the farms. I've frozen tree ripened peaches, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and corn kernels for that sweet taste of summer during the winter that's sure to come.
We'll eat well. And more important, help American farmers to stay on the land.
The most fun now, especially with children, is pumpkin picking.
Big ones, small ones, decorated ones. Growing pumpkins takes an enormous amount of space for each plant, plus fertilizer, and the right weather (This year it was too wet early on for the biggest crop). At Sergi's one can go into the field, walk among the rows and pick exactly the one that's right for you.
Ruth S. Foster is a landscape consultant. Gardening information may be found on her Web site: mothersgarden.net. Her column appears in the Belmont (Mass.) Citizen-Herald.
author: Ruth Foster