Taking Leave

I owe my love of organic gardening to my father, who started growing his own vegetables on the Methodist Church property behind our apartment in the “oil crisis” of the early 1970s. From him, I learned how to compost, properly prepare the soil, plant both seeds and seedlings with appropriate trellises, water and mulch during hot weather, and keep away pests without using chemicals.

“Organic” has taken a bad rap in the US media, thanks to lacksidaisical labeling that allows certain percentages of chemically-based fertilizers and pesticides. My veggies may not look as pretty as the store-bought kind, but they taste sweeter, have more pulp, and have a high yield. More importantly, I know exactly what my kids are eating.

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