Almost once a week I get a link sent to me to watch a documentary about our food source. If you have ever watched any of these then you know there are some very disturbing issues with the way our food is delivered to us in regard to what we are really getting. While we seem to think this is mostly about cows, chickens and pigs and the way they are treated to how they are being fattened up before slaughter, it also has to do with the chemicals used on our fruits and vegetables.

So with this in mind, you may want to start thinking of ways to grow at least some of your own food and become your own food source. Knowing that you can accomplish this with the help of raised beds and small greenhouses makes it a little easier than plowing up half your lawn! You will still need to watch the type of soil you use as well as the seeds you get so you get an organic finished product. Also know that having cedar (non-treated) is also the best type of raised bed to buy.

It was a few years ago when I bought some raised beds and went to my local garden/building supply store and purchased the organic soil in a bag.  I thought I was going to take over the world with my new organic garden!  However, what happened later in the season was something I was not prepared for; I started getting weeds I had never seen anywhere else in my yard!  I asked a friend of mine who is a horticulturalist to come out and take a look.  Once she saw them she asked if I had my soil checked this year.  Well, I hadn’t because I just got it out of the bag.  Hum… she said.

Come to find out the soil I bought wasn’t exactly free of additional substances and introduced a new weed into my yard!  Luckily we were able to contain it to the beds and I have been diligent in picking and removing them.  I was told they would probably not come back the next year; but they did but nothing like the first season.  What I hope is that each year there will be less and less of these pesky weeds.  I still by dirt but I get it tested each year so I know what is going on in the soil!