Phyllis,
The irony of what you have just written is simply amazing. Here in Iowa we
have the best soil on the planet and in most years ample rainfall. Any
reasonable person would assume that raising a garden to provide wholesome,
chemical-free food for the kitchen would be a normal, and relatively easy,
task in rural Iowa. The fact that pesticide drift is making that more and more
difficult is sad beyond words.
Meanwhile, on the computer desk in front of me is a plate of the most
delicious sliced tomatoes--pink brandywine--that I picked from the garden in our
back yard. Everything in our garden is doing very well this year, and it
is all fed only by compost from our pulled weeds, crop residues, raked
leaves, and kitchen peelings and scraps (no meat on the compost heap). We use
no chemicals or artificial fertilizer on the garden. We rarely have to water
the garden because we get plenty of rain. We did go through a brief drought
this summer, about four weeks, but recent rains have saved our crops.
Drought and flooding caused by climate change remain a concern, of course.
The difference between my garden and those in rural Iowa: we live in the
center of Des Moines, near Drake University. We don't have crop dusting
aircraft spraying around our garden, and, fortunately, our neighbors do not use
lawn chemicals.
The fact that we have an easier time growing a chemical-free garden here in
the center of Iowa's largest metropolitan area, compared to people living
in rural areas of the state, indicates that there is something very wrong
with our food production system.
Thanks for the information, disturbing as it is, about gardening in rural
Iowa.
Tom
In a message dated 8/30/2009 1:13:17 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Tom thanks for sending GMO issues and 280, 350, 390 ppm CO2. As a
vegetarian I'm finding it more difficult to buy non tainted plant
products. Gardens in Decatur county have been declining in productivity
and quality the last 6 years. Even if we don't use pesticides and use
organic matter from decayed plants for fertilizer, we are not safe from
crop dusting and extreme drought or flood conditions which have become
increasingly destructive. Phyllis
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