Dirt Cheap?

Like many of you, over the last month I’ve been salivating over the perfect images
of fruits and vegetables in the seed catalogs that I’ve retrieved from the mailbox and have started to dream about “this year's” garden. “Last year's” garden had to be downsized for a variety of reasons. I planted half a dozen cherry tomato plants and a few varieties of herbs. This seemed manageable and I thought for certain I'd have the time to care for them—but I was wrong. The fruits of my labor equated to harvesting one cherry tomato a day for a few weeks. Still, that single, sun-warmed, red globe that burst with juicy goodness when I popped it into my mouth gave me great pleasure.

Two miles down the road at Jilian & Colton’s (daughter and son-in-law) home, their “last year's garden” flourished. Their lives are equally, if not more, full with work on the ranch and at Wild Idea, plus they have two little ones to care for. But still they put the time in—filling nights, weekends, and holidays with gardening duties.

Providing quality food for their children, that is free of all pesticides and herbicides is a huge priority for them, and last year they had a bumper crop of goodness to put up to feed their family.

Their garden success has not been without complaint or devastating loss. I've watched Jilian squish potato bugs, one at a time, from large leafy greens to keep the plants healthy. I have also witnessed a healthy garden one afternoon and the same garden the next afternoon half-eaten and crawling with grasshoppers. 

Indeed there have been many learning curves. In addition to sunshine and water, having a better understanding of plant placement and soil health (and how to maintain it) has been essential in their success. The soil acts as the immune system for the earth and if the soil is under attack, what it produces is more susceptible to disease. The amount of care, time and labor required when growing food is enormous and when quantified in dollars, is most definitely not “dirt-cheap." 

The buffalo are gardeners too. They prune and fertilize naturally as they graze, tilling the soil and planting seeds as they go—keeping the soil in optimal health, so it in turn produces an abundance of food (rain permitting) for them to eat.

In a recent interview, I was asked what I thought was the most important factor in becoming more aware of our food choices? I replied with something like this, “We need to look behind the veneer of packaging and create a relationship with where food comes from. We need to start realizing that our food is "dirt," as all natural food comes from dirt. If we could make that mental switch, maybe we'd care more about how our planet is treated, how our food is grown and what's at the root of the meat we eat.” 

Dirt is not cheap, it’s how we treat it that makes it that way. This philosophy trickles down into our food. It shows up with bargain price tags, but leaves eco-systems, the planet and us unhealthy - complete with an IOU for which we will all be responsible.

My “this year's” garden is looking like it will be a lot like “last year's” garden. So my contribution to the earth is going to be planting native wildflowers for the pollinators, as they have to eat too.

I hope to hit up the neighbors for my produce—maybe get a smoking good deal - by bartering for babysitting? A good deal for me for sure!

____________________________________________________________

NOTE: Jill’s interview mentioned above can be found on:
The Body Breakthrough
A FREE - On-line Master Class with Laya Williams
Achieve & Maintain a Healthy & Fit Body,
Unlock Vibrant Energy & Live with Confidence!
Plus - Receive free gifts!

Sign in on the link below and receive a free invitation to listen in on conversations with health and wellness experts and food producers (including our own Jill O’Brien). Once you are signed up you can tune in on your own time. You won’t want to miss it and it’s FREE. 

http://www.thebodybreakthrough.life