|
Organic and Home Grown Foods |
PDF
|
| Print |
|
E-mail
|
|
Written by Tania
|
Free from pesticides, additives and artificial growth hormones, organic
food appeals to a public wary of chemicals. The production of organic
food is governed by strict standards. For vegetables and cereals these
standards are now laid down in an EU regulation while organic animal
products are controlled on a national basis by the United Kingdom
Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS)
In Organic Farming the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides is
avoided - animals and poultry are raised in natural conditions on
organically farmed land and must mot be treated with antibiotics on a
routine basis. The notion of healthy food produced by natural means has
impressed a public which has become nervous about the chemical
pesticides and additives used in intensive farming and food production.
Although many consumers would express a preference for natural,
additive-free foods, organic food still only accounts for a very small
percentage of the produce bought in Britain.
As an alternative to buying organic fruit and vegetables, you could try
growing your own, if you have a suitable garden or allotment. By doing
this, you will definitely be ensuring that the vegetables and fruit
that you serve up for your family contains more vitamin C than the food
you would otherwise buy in the supermarket which has been transported
and displayed for a day or two and will therefore have lost some of its
vitamin C content.
Tips to help you
establish an organic vegetable garden
- Instead of using pesticides, grow plants and bright,
scented
flowers to attract insects that prey on the aphids that will damage
fruit and vegetable crops.
- Plant aromatic summer savory to protect runner beans,
fragrant
buckwheat to keep pests off broad beans or pot marigolds to prevent
whitefly from infesting the plants in your greenhouse.
- Surround your garden with a thick hedge to attract birds,
which will eat slugs and insects.
- Dig a pond which will encourage frogs and toads - they will
also keep down the slug population.
- Leave a pile of logs to shelter beetles, which will prey on
pests.
- A patch of nettles will attract ladybirds which feed on
aphids.
- Fine-mesh or spun materials placed over susceptible plants
will
keep away carrot fly, cabbage root fly and cabbage white butterflies
without affecting growth.
- A mulching material made of natural bark or wood chippings
suppresses weeds and also contains nutrients that benefits the soil.
- A good natural farmyard manure made up of animal droppings
and
straw added to the soil will provide most of the chemical nutrients
plants need.
- Organic gardeners often prefer to use blood, bone and
fishmeal
through the season rather than more easily absorbed non-organic
products because this keeps bacteria in the soil active which in turn
helps to promote healthy plant growth.
|
