... Grocery shopping. Organic 27%/ Australian 86%/ Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients 5%/ Imported 9%. Although I am torn about it, I am starting to buy non-organic goods produced in Australia over imported organic products; it still irks me a bit as I don't like the thought of us or the kids ingesting any pesticides. My initial feelings are that if I am buying imported organic goods from a supermarket, it gives the message to the supermarket chain that that particular organic good is in demand - and if it is enough in demand, there should be a market therefore to grow it organically in Australia? The other alternative of course is to not buy that product at all, but then I'm not indirectly providing feedback to the producers? Does that make sense? But then I worry about food miles, which is why I have starting buying local products! Argh, all a bit confusing.
... Sorting out the worm farm. When I drained off some worm "wee" this morning it was full of worms! Oh oh. So I prepared a new box with fresh newspaper in the bottom (to stop them falling through) and transferred them over. I was really pleased to see that the castings were teeming with wormies, big and small! That layer is almost full so have added a new layer and will start feeding them in that now.
Picking: Strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, silverbeet, baby beets.
Dinner: Wholemeal spaghetti with pesto and cherry tomatoes, and garlic bread.
Reading: The Diggers Club Summer Garden 2008 seed and plant catalogue. Droool.
Contemplating: Where to plant this year's garlic crop since I've ditched using the foam boxes...
9 comments:
YAY! What do you think about the Diggers Club? Is it worth joining? I have it on my list of things to contemplate atm. Do the seeds grow ok in our area?
A word of advice on the worm farms...always leave the tap open with a bucket underneath. I learnt from mistake when I first set it up and ended up drowning/suffocating my worms by accidentally not opening the tap.
Its good to see that yours is still going well though
Yay for the solar cooker! I bake my bread in cake loaf pans as they are smaller and fit in there quite well. Otherwise, I make a free form vienna style loaf on a flat tray. We don't use bread for sandwiches, just toast, so the size of the bread doesn't matter to us much.
Congrats on your solar cooker.... I could use one for the next couple of days with the +40C temps forecast.
I have to admit on the organic v's local debate I go organic.
The health of my family comes first and I do truly believe that conventional produce does them less good. I also have to take into account that most conventional fertalisers and inputs are of a petrochemical base. That means that although they are not transported as far the "food miles" are still there in the end.
As with all such things whether that balances importing tinned tomatoes from the US I have my doubts. Even on imports I try and get the product from the closest country if multiple choices are available.
Kind Regards
Belinda
Hi Kez, I think you have to buy a fair few seeds or plants to make the membership cost worthwhile, but having said that you have great access to heritage varieties that can be hard to source, and a lot of information as well. Most seeds will germinate in most areas, depending on the weather conditions at the time, and they provide information about where and when you can sow them. I really like them, and wil be renewing my membership this year :-)
Hi Butterflygirl. In the bottom tray I have two upturned ice cream containers for any worms that drop in accidentally to climb up onto so they don't drown, because if I leave the tap open the kids play with the worm wee in the bucket!! Msot people do what you do and leave it open though, I gather. I drain it off every other day to try and get around that problem :-)
Hi Suz - I was jsut going to ask you that exact question on ALS! You mentioned in your article about your great bread and I wondered if you had a deeper cooker, but obviously not. I was also thinking of vienna style loaves and (short) french bread sticks (I like to use them for garlic bread) so I'm really glad to hear that your work well like that. Oh and thanks for the ALS article, it gave me the extra incentive to buy one :-)
Hi Belinda, I agree with your thoughts. I now can't help but think of conventionally grown food as unethical (as well as being unsustainable of course), and even aside from the health issues, it's something I don't want to support, even if it is grown locally.
It had never occured to me that the food miles issue is equivalent to the (imported) petrochemicals used in conventional agriculture, so they kind of cancel each other out. Makes much more sense going for all-organic goods now, although I'll keep trying to look for local-organic alternative foods to imported-organic products. Thanks :-)
Cheers, Julie
oh I like your solar cooker! I have never heard of it before until now. How cool!
Thank you too for your thoughts re: organic Vs local. 'Course some other thoughts I've had about this is that just 'cause its not certified organic, doesn't mean its grown unsustainably. We're moving to a small country town soon and there is a producer there that sells veges from other acreages in the area. For many people in the area, selling their excess produce from their vege patch is just a sideline for a bit of pocket money. They are not likely to go through the trouble certification. But yeah, it seems do-able in a small town but a city is another story altogether
And on a related point to Eilleen, there's some recent work on the ways in which 'big organics' aren't sustainable either. Plus, it's hard to know about the work conditions of the employees - I guess when you start trying to buy ethically, it all gets tricky really quickly. Ignorance is bliss and lets us get our shopping done much quicker.
I've ordered the larger size oven Julie. The down side is that they are "on the boat" and won't be here for ages. All that hot, hot sun and I can't use it.:-(
Hi Eilleen :-) You're right of course, and some of the produce I buy from the organic grocer isn't certified either for the same reason, but it's local and the guy who buys it knows it's grown on organic principles. It's a big argument for buying locally isn't it?
Hi Kris - Yes that's one of the sections of The Omnivore's Dilemma that I am reading now - that food can produced without pesticides but still within the industrial system - i.e. a system which itself is totally unsustainable! As I said to Eilleen, it's a big argument for buying from your local small-scale organic farmers, isn't it?
Hi Polly, what a bummer, do you know how long it's going to take? I gathered that it was going to be loooong time, which is why I didn't order it?
Cheers, Julie
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