Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Might point out that a big obstacle to eating local is lack of sufficient
diversity in local growers. Where I am in NM it's a huge problem. We're
doing what we can with a wide variety of produce for farmers markets, and
we get to eat what doesn't sell. I just had a fine supper of meatloaf,
potatoes, carrots and onions. At least the carrots and onions had zero food
miles - from our garden. This afternoon we got rained out before market was
half over. And we won't sell carrots picked six days before, so they get
eaten or frozen. 

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 8/6/2007 at 7:44 PM Aliza wrote:

>I thought this fascinating also.  While I know that some folks would
>rather purchase local conventional (by that I mean produced with synthetic
>chemicals etc) I would rather purchase organic shipped especially if I
>know it is fairly traded because of the chemical residues especially with
>the new research showing that the breakdown products of commonly used "low
>toxicity" pesticides/herbicides are very very toxic not to mention the
>footprint of the synthetic fertilizers and ground water contamination.
>
>  Of course my preference is my own wonderful pastured milk/eggs/meat and
>what ever I produce in my own garden and then local organic (dont care
>about certification though).  There are only two or three things that we
>regularly consume here at my house (aside from spices like pepper and
>cinnamon) that we cannot grow with some ease. Bananas, chocolate (we use
>dagoba because it is manufactured less then 5 miles from my house and it
>is fabulous) and citrus like oranges/grapefruit.  I am getting a lemon
>tree and a kumquat tree this winter and those can go inside when it gets
>too cold.  Oh and avocados but they arent too far to ship from california
>as we are just on the border of california and oregon.
>
>Very interesting article.
>
>Aliza