I recently ran across this list from the Environmental Workinhg Group that is affectionately called "the Dirty Dozen", or the top 12 fruits and veggies that have the most pesticide in them.
My beloved apples are at the top of the list! Which is why we planted 2 apple trees last year and a third last weekend. (TIP: If you can't get fresh, then make sure you wash the outside of the apple really well to get rid of any pesticide residue.)
Let's see...strawberries, peppers, lettuce, potatoes, blueberries, grapes.....all things that J. and I love to eat and they're on the dirty list! And they are all plants that are super easy to grow. It makes sense, I think, to grow these foods that hard to find locally or that are expensive in the stores. That's how I pick what to grow each year. And I feel better knowing that we'll be eating organic food out of our own garden rather than these chemical-laden foods.
I'm glad to see that some of our other favorite foods are on the "clean list" and are very low in pesticides. I love sweet corn and watermelon in the summertime, and J. is a big fan of pineapples and grapefruit. Of course, we can't grow either of those here in Missouri.
Like many people, I used to use weedkiller on my lawn and grab the wasp spray whenever I saw a bee or a wasp. I will never EVER do that again. Especially now that I know that wasps are a major pollinator and a good insect to have around your house\garden, since they take care of other pests. The pesticides that we use not only kill the bad bugs, but they kill the good ones as well - the ones we need to help us grow our food.
What do you think about this list from the EWG? Does it surprise you at all?
I'm linking up to this week's Farmgirl Friday hop where there's lots of gardenin', cookin' and other interesting adventures going on. Click the link to find out!
This is why I try to grow my own but you cant always. It is so scary to think that things that are supposed to be so healthy for you have the most chemicals on them. We soak everything in baking soda and then rinse with lemon juice. I just hope thats enough!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't surprise me at all... we planted apple and pear trees two years ago. We were advised not to let them bear for the first three years... and we literally picked 40 apples off each of the apple trees last year. We're eager to see what they bear this year (before we pick them!).
ReplyDeleteMary Ann: Thanks for your reply - that's really interesting and a good tip. My trees are so young that I doubt I'll even get fruit thsi year at year two. Maybe on our dwarf winesap. So do you just pick the blossoms off? I'm assuming that's to make sure they focus on roots rather than fruit?
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