Most of us have read and/or heard about GMO products and how bad it is for our health. Still, some of us feel somewhat defenseless, especially because 80% of what we find in the grocery stores and supermarkets these days is composed of foods that have been genetically modified. Shockingly, a large percentage of the foods we have always thought of as being "natural" (such as fruits and veggies) are intentionally altered and manipulated at the very DNA level which actually renders it more harmful to us than being healthy or helpful. In addition, besides GMO, we also find a large bulk of produce that are routinely bombarded with toxic chemicals shortly before they are harvested and transported to the shops.
Even something as seemingly harmless and innocent as milk is now considered as a "dangerous beverage" because of all the bacteria, viruses, other substances contained in it and the active hormones, antibiotics and vaccines that are given to the cows (just like pigs, chicken and other animals used for meat) that cumulatively, individually and collectively - for those who consume milk - cause several diseases, not excluding cancer!
Being confronted with this reality and the enormity of the problem, some of us might just find it easier to pretend this is not happening, and may very well choose to go about our normal lives ignoring these facts.
Denial, however, will only get us into deeper trouble. And when it comes to certain things such as the health of the family, I believe knowledge IS power. So, having gained a deeper awareness of GMO products and how much harm they do to the body, we felt we could not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear. Almost immediately, we switched over to organic food. Yes we were instant converts. However, as most informed or "practicing" families would tell you, consuming purchased organic foods is not a cheap approach. But being totally convinced we could not go back on our decision, we knew we had to supplement and do something else, something a little more sustainable without it being too much of an economic strain.
About the middle of last year we converted a few of our garden patches into veggie/fruit/herb beds. We are very thankful that we got a little bit of help from a good friend in establishing our "food garden"... (Ok, ok, a LOT of help!!!) The following months were quite exciting as we witnessed how the seeds germinated and grew into little plants, then big plants, and some we inspected regularly to see them starting to grow fruits and veggies! Of course we already had fully grown guava and mango trees that yield lots of fruits on a regular basis. (Last year's mangoes were particularly big and juicy, not to mention S-W-E-E-T!!)
Among several vegetables we have been able to harvest and consume thus far are: buk choy (pechay), rocket, capsicums, chilli (fruit and leaves for tinola), tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet potato (leaves or camote tops used, so far), malunggay, kangkong, snake beans (sitaw) and others. Our calamansi tree which never gave us any fruits in the past seemingly got lots of encouragement from its neighbouring flora and decided to dance to the music and bear lots of fruits, too! Yes, we have been able to harvest baskets-ful of calamansi used to prepare jugs of vit C-loaded lemonada and some to squeeze over pancit, bistek, arroz caldo and other favourite Pinoy dishes! (The following pictures taken some months ago are of the early stages of the garden and the first batch of veggies we harvested. We have since been able to harvest so much more and mature up some seeds for planting next year; and now that winter has started the garden is going through a "transition" period. Soon we will be looking at suitable plants to grow during the cold months ahead.)
Growing and harvesting your own foods is definitely worthwhile, to say the least. Truly, there is nothing fresher, tastier and more beneficial than produce consumed a short time after picking. For us it is proving to be quite enjoyable, rewarding, convenient and healthy, especially knowing that none of them have been altered / modified in any way nor sprayed with any harmful chemicals. Besides, whilst we are careful to buy CERTIFIED organic products from the supermarkets and specialty shops, we cannot be any more certain about how organic our food is than growing it ourselves! What better incentive is there than that? Our children especially enjoy talking about the fact that this thing or that was "grown and picked fresh from our garden in the backyard." (Of course we had to make sure we only used organic / heirloom seeds to plant. And although the plants have had their share of pest infestation, we still managed to use and consume a good chunk of each harvest. Perhaps in the future we might look at using our own homemade mixture of pest spray such as garlic or vermin spray, etc. to keep the old pests under control.)
Undoubtedly, this tremendously fruitful exercise has given us a foretaste into the kind of self-sufficient lifestyle that has been beckoning us for a long time. And of course, this has been further compounded by obvious health reasons and the desire to stay as far away as we can from "franken-foods" that seem to be springing up everywhere we look. Whenever hubby and I talk about it, we cannot help our minds from wandering into the time when we are able to establish our farm in the countryside, some distance away from suburbia - where we would be able to grow an even larger range of fruits (yes, a fruit orchard sounds perfect!), beds of vegetables and herbs (both culinary and medicinal) sprawled over several acres; and of course raise some animals, too: goats for milk and cheese, a few milking cows and some for beef, a handful of pigs for meat, a pond full of fish, yabbies and other fresh water creatures good to chuck in the barbie, chooks and ducks for eggs and poultry and even several horses for the kids to ride around and play with! And what a life it will be!
This, for us, has been in the cards for a long time now, but God willing, we'll get there sooner, rather than later.
Oh well, we can dream, can't we? :D
Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, sancta Dei Genitrix; nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitabitus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta!
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