Rooting in the Garden

Thinking I hadn't ordered seed potatoes in time--and too eager to wait for their arrival anyway--I cut up four small red organic potatoes that I bought from Earth Fare last month. If my information was correct, an organic potato from the grocery store can sprout and grow into potatoes in the garden, but a run-of-the-mill spud from the store cannot. We shall see.

Unfortunately, I don't know what variety they are; they are simply small red potatoes. I do know, however, they are not one of the three deemed worthy of McDonald's french fries. Follow the link to read more about McDonald's and its influence on potato growers. The site where I obtained the info says it cannot be redistributed or rewritten. After reading the article, I am puzzled. One of the favorite varieties of McDonald's is costly to produce and not very environmentally friendly. Why, oh why, then, are McFries so inexpensive? I think it has something to do with the way our government hands out subsidies. You can go to McDonald's and get a value meal for cheap that is filled with high fructose corn syrup, fat, and many calories. The movies King Corn and Food, Inc., can tell you about the corn, and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, which I mentioned in an earlier post in January, can tell you about the real costs of your happy meal. Fast Food Nation was recently listed in the Audubon Magazine as one of the top ten books on sustainable food. See other choices by following the link.

Well, enough about potatoes. While I was hard at work planting potatoes, beet seeds, green onion seeds, and carrot seeds, Anthony was rolled up like a pupa in his hammock reading. I'm just giving him a hard time. He was actually decimating the backyard, making it less jungle-ish.

Even though I only planted seeds yesterday, I felt as though garden were fuller despite the vast coffee-colored soil and dots of greenery here and there. I think I was "fuller" from the good gardening vibes and dose of vitamin D from being in the sunshine.