July 23, 2014
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A little background on me. I grew up always having a garden, always eating fresh, delicious vegetables that my dad grew for us, and my mom always canned and froze the excess so we could eat it all winter. So yes, I’ve always been interested and involved in gardening. I always liked to see how much I could grow, how big the tomatoes could be, etc.

That being said, it wasn’t until four years ago that I realized how important it was to have safe, chemical free food for my family. Four years ago is when my wife was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a blood cancer that attacks your immune system. After Kim’s diagnosis, I did lots and lots of research about what I could do to help her stay as healthy as possible and keep the rest of my family healthy too. I was amazed to find out how much using synthetic fertilizers and chemicals in the production of our food can make to our health or to the earth. I always knew that I needed to be careful using chemicals, but it never truly occurred to me that if I use chemicals to help produce food, that the chemicals would be in the food when we eat it. And I also never really thought that the chemicals and fertilizers we are allowed to use would actually damage the soil and make it less nutrient rich.

Why Should We Go “Back To Natural”?

First of all, what is “Back To Natural“? Back To Natural means caring for the earth the way it was meant to be cared for. What I am specifically talking about is how we grow our food.

We are ALL caretakers of the earth, no matter who we are, where we live or what we do. Our job is to leave the earth BETTER than we found it. Some ways of cleaning up the earth are simple and obvious – don’t litter and clean up after yourself. There are other ways of taking care of the earth that might not be so obvious, especially if you’re someone that doesn’t use the earth for producing food.
One of the most important things that needs to be done, is we have got to take care of the soil. The soil is vital to our existence! If the soil is bad or the soil is gone…we cannot produce the food we need to survive. We need to build the soil up, make it better, fill it with nutrients, stop depleting it, stop taking from the soil without putting anything back. The soil is a living organism and we need to start treating it like one.
Grow My GardenGrow My GardenNatural Gardening Start A GardenHow do we build the soil up? Amazingly, it’s really not that hard. The first thing we need to do is pay attention to what the soil needs. The soil will tell us or show us what it’s lacking, all we have to do is be observant. For example, if the soil needs more nitrogen, the plants growing in it will become light green and maybe eventually even turn yellow. They will literally look “sick”.
The dilemma for most of us, is the way we supplement the soil. The easiest fix for most soil problems is to reach for the synthetic fertilizers and the chemical soil amendments. There are plenty of natural or organic soil amendments that work as good and better than the synthetic chemical solutions we have today. A lot of the time, nutrients get tied up in the soil when we use and overuse synthetic chemicals. If the nutrients in the soil are tied up, the plants cannot absorb them. If the plants can’t get the nutrition they need, how do you expect them to give us the nutrients we need? It’s impossible!
Natural Gardening and Farming is sustainable. Using soil amendments that naturally occur is the best way to boost your soil…seaweed, fish emulsion, composting equipment (online reviews for compost bins are helpful here), Wood Chips - Compostearthworms, worm castings, natural soil conditioners. These are all natural solutions. I’m not saying going “Back to Natural” is always the easiest solution, but I believe it’s the best solution for the soil, for the earth, and for everyone.  Healthier earth, healthier produce, healthier people!!